Book report: Hope is not a strategy by Rick Page

Hope Is Not A Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale

“A meteor shower of change is hitting the world of selling, and many salespeople find themselves and their deals spinning out of control.”

Section I: The Challenge – The Complex Sale

The first section of the book discusses what is making sales more complex. One cause for the change is that the model of the buyer-seller relationships is changing rapidly. Rick Page believes there are five major selling transformations causing this. They are product commodification, disintermediation, e-commerce, customer relationship management, and business partnering. Product Commodification is “the shrinking half-life of technology means that the window of competitive advantage for products is getting narrower.” (Page 4) Disintermediation is the disappearance of the middle man in sales. Cost-focused buyers are the cause of disintermediation. E-Commerce relates to the thought because technology is growing, salespeople will become obsolete. Internet buying has taken easy sales away from salespeople. Business partnering is creating new models for the way salespeople do business.

The

Section II: The Solution – R.A.D.A.R.

Section III: Strategies for Execution

Section IV: Winning Before the Battle – Account Management

Conclusion: