The New Strategic Selling summary

Introduction

The New Strategic Selling by Robert B. Miller Sales success depends on building the right strategic position. Not simply mastering individual selling tactics. Imagine managing Manchester United against Real Madrid.

You would not walk onto the field without a game plan. Sales work the same way. You need more than good technique. You need a strategy.

The New Strategic Selling shows how to position yourself before pursuing a complex sale. It explains who influences the decision. It shows how to recognize threats before they become problems. And it helps you create outcomes where both you and the buyer win.

strategy and tactics

Strategy and Tactics. Your selling ability depends on both strategy and tactics. Yet many companies fail to develop a real strategy.

They make the mistake of planning as they go. Most sales representatives focus heavily on tactics. They concentrate on the sales process itself. They think about what to say.

They think about what to do next. But they spend less time considering their overall position. Strategy and tactics must work together. Think of strategy as your homework before the sale.

You establish a plan in advance. Then you adapt that plan as circumstances change. You cannot have lasting success without strategy. It is like going into battle without understanding the battlefield.

Strategy and tactics address different objectives. Strategy focuses on your long-term position. Tactics focus on immediate actions. Your short-term objective might be making a particular sale.

Your long-term objective might be building a durable client relationship. Tactics help you win individual sales. Strategy helps you manage the larger account. Neither works well without the other.

Clever tactics might secure a quick sale. But that sale may not support your long-term objectives. It may not serve the customer's long-term interests either. If it does not, the customer may never buy from you again.

Strategic selling therefore begins before the individual's sales conversation. It begins with understanding where you are. It requires knowing where you want to go. And it requires making each tactical move support that larger objective.