Foreword

The nature of sales has changed dramatically since the hugely successful Power Base Selling: Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighter first appeared in 1990. The era of Internet-powered globalization, along with a recent recession, has made buyers more discerning and demanding than ever.

And yet, the fundamentals still apply. Large-scale corporate sales still require preparation, persistence, and a deep understanding of the customer. And they still involve real human beings, with all their brilliance and flaws.

In The New Power Base Selling, the sales world now has an updated guide that takes into account the timeless realities of human nature—as well as the contemporary tools that can empower a sales team to capitalize on that nature.

Through their hands-on research into thousands of sellers and competitive deals, Jim Holden and Ryan Kubacki demonstrate the importance of mastering the intangibles: the internal politics and individual motivations that invisibly—and inevitably—shape every transaction.

At a time when products and services are often at relative parity, these intangibles can be the primary differentiator in the success of a sale. But mastering them requires more than simple alertness; it requires a discipline that borders on the scientific.

In that regard, The New Power Base Selling represents an important advance for the profession of selling. It applies logic and metrics to the complex relationships that determine the outcome of a considered purchase. Then ...

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