an eBook, available in all digital formats, by Peter Bourke,
VP & Senior Principal at The Complex Sale, Inc.

The more you sell, the less the client trusts you to tell them the truth. The more you sell, the less inclined the client is to listen. The more you sell, the more you tend to look (and act) like a hammer looking for a nail – where any nail will do. In reality, the more you sell, the less you win.

Selling is what the client expects. The problem – most prospects don’t want to be sold and the ones that do are likely the least attractive targets for your sales teams.

On the other hand, the “UnSelling” approach is designed to shift the typical buyer-seller relationship from “subservient” to “collaborative” and does so because the seller resists the temptation to “tell” (or sell), preferring the more consultative approach of focusing on understanding the problem the client is intent on solving. Experience has shown that the better we understand the client’s problem, the less we have to sell (if at all).

UnSelling is a new and very different way to “sell.” The essence of this approach to working with prospects and clients is ensuring the prospect is convinced that we aren’t a hammer looking for a nail. UnSelling ensures that we can lower the buyer’s natural defenses about someone trying to “sell” them so that we can have a far more productive relationship with the buyer that is built on trust and collaboration. A relationship where we can provide honest, useful advice and gain credibility (and preference) in the mind of the buyer.

And by doing so, encourage them to share more information about their needs, their priorities related to this initiative, and their personal agendas – all of which improves our ability to serve them effectively. What we’ll explore in this book are the attitudes, tactics, and strategies that aren’t traditional selling approaches. In fact, from the client’s perspective, it doesn’t even feel like they’re being sold.

This eBook will leverage the fundamentals of The Complex Sale’s Winning Opportunity Strategies methodology and includes tools for your team to win the most strategic deals in this counter-intuitive approach that includes:

• Qualifying new clients that requires no “selling” – period!
• Understanding how to create a collaborative relationship with the prospect so that your sales teams can understand the truth from the client – not what they want you to believe
• Techniques for uncovering and proactively dealing with likely client objections and concerns – early in the buying and selling process
• Finding ways to influence the evaluation and decision process for both the client’s benefit – and yours
• And determining how to take control of the buying/selling process – not being victimized by it

Your sales people and leaders will never “sell” the same way again – and will win more as a result.