Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play
The new way to transform a sales culture with clarity, authenticity, and emotional intelligence.Too often, the sales process is all about fear.Customers are afraid that they will be talked into making a mistake; salespeople dread being unable to close the deal and make their quotas. No one is happy.Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig offer a better way. Salespeople, they argue, do best when they focus 100 percent on helping clients succeed. When customers are successful, both buyer and seller win. When they aren't, both lose. It's no longer sufficient to get clients to buy—a salesperson must also help the client reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.This book shares the unique FranklinCovey Sales Performance Group methodology that will help readers:• Start new business from scratch in a way both salespeople and clients can feel good about • Ask hard questions in a soft way • Close the deal by opening minds
Stats for nerds
6recommend
6mentions
6people
2009–2025years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The only sales book I've ever read that presented a sales process I thought I could do and not throw up was "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play". I strongly recommend it for someone doing exactly what you're doing.
- I am an engineer and have been working in Sales Engineering for more than 15 years now. You are on an interesting and fruitful quest and I wish you well.
The biggest shift in moving from engineering to sales is that your priority is no longer being the smartest person in the room. Unless, of course, you understand that the smartest person in the room is the person who gets the deal done in a mutually advantageous way. There will always be someone who wants to appear smarter than you, LET THEM. Your goal is to make a living.
The one thing I would say to remember is that your integrity is the most valuable thing that you have, bar none. Don't trade it away for anything. Over the long-term, sales is about finding a great solution that meets the needs of your customer, not winning deals or negotiations.
Here are a few books I found useful in my journey: * Let's get real or let's not play - https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Real-Not-Play/dp/1596592060 * The Three value conversations - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Value-Conversations-Customer-Lo... * Never Split the Difference - https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-De... * Leadership is Language - https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Language-Changes-Differenc... * Draw to win - https://www.amazon.com/Draw-Win-Course-Innovate-Visual-ebook...
- The first book I read about sales emphasized inquiry before advocacy. Let's get real or let's not play by Mahan Khalsa.
I read it at a point in time for my startup when we had done as many Customer Discovery interviews as we could in our local market, and were trying to achieve a first sale or pilot project with customers in more innovative markets. The inquiry phase of solution selling connected with and reinforced the customer discovery process, but provided some indication of how to move forward, and cautions about moving forward too early with a proposal.
The key to sales is solving problems. You claim to have a product that addresses a large "potential" - what problem, and for who, does it solve? Can you measure the impact of the solution?
If you have a product that solves a problem, what is the least intrusive thing you can ask of a potential customer for you to identify if they perceive they have that problem, and if they recognize the impact of solving it?
If you cannot mutually identify the problem and impact of the solution, a prospect may only entertain your talkative nature to solve the problem of looking busy to their superiors.
Track the observable characteristics of your prospective customers that are the best indicators of if they have the problem you solve, or not.
Figure out how long it takes you to identify if they have the problem, or not.
- "Let's get real or let's not play" by Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig
- Sales engineering is definitely the place to start, the requirements are (a) technical ability balanced by (b) an ability to communicate clearly and (c) listen to customers and/or get them to talk about their problems, and be able to map them to your software's capabilities (or to know right away it isn't a fit and point them elsewhere).
A good sales engineer is a "glue player", in that they do a combination of: - Presenting the company, or products, or concepts/architectures to prospects customers and partners
- Demoing products and concepts that illustrate some kind of meaningful benefit for the audience rather than just "this button does X"
- building technical champions in your accounts - taking people out for tea/coffee/libations , lunch and learns, listening to them, white boarding with them, basically teaching them to sell on your behalf at their companies because their jobs are easier if they have your product
- Qualifying and scoping opportunities with your wingman, the account manager. This is figuring out what the customer needs, if you can fill that need with your software, and what is missing.
- Scoping and executing a proof of concept, which is half engineering , half performance art. Basically it's about validating to a customer in a time boxed project that they can achieve their goals with your software
- On site customer support, when the support line isn't enough
- On site architecture / solution support, when post sales consulting isn't enough
- Sometimes crafting quotes, deals, and proposals though often this is in the account manager's wheelhouse
Good books on solution selling (ie. Focusing on customer success rather than "dumping the license keys and running") include "Let's Get Real or Let's not play" by Khalsa and Illig or "Insight Selling" by Schulz and Doerr. I also recommend a course or book on building good presentations such as from Mandel Communications.
If you can demonstrate technical and presentation skills in an interview and give a good demo (record yourself to practice), you'll likely get an SE job. Your comp will usually be 70/30 or 60/40 fixed/variable and you'll be comped based on your region's sales performance.
From there, the next step after a few years is to sales specialists (basically a sales account manager specialized in a product area) or account manager (general sales rep). These pay more variable comp (60/40 or 50/50), lower base pay, but strong accelerators after you hit your quota (this is where you hit $400k+). This requires knowing sales processes and building relationships with sales management that you'll gain as an SE. Some companies aren't great at growing their SEs into reps, some are - jump elsewhere after a couple of years if you're stuck in a "hey geek give us a demo" transactional relationship with your sales team.
Once you get into pure sales, it is way more about deal structuring , relationship building , managing your support network (SEs, consulting, support, proposal building, field marketing) to focus on your accounts, and relentless repetitive discovery and qualification of needs - and being able to be rejected a lot without getting depressed. Technical stuff takes a back seat though still is helpful for credibility and bullshit detection. It's not for everyone (I don't think I can do it, but never say never). But the upside if you're good at it or at a growth company can be high.
- I have been sales for years - the books mentioned are good not great. If there was one that was my favorite out of the 200+ ones I read, "let's get real or let's not play" by khalsa. It is good for you for several reasons: 1. based on consultative services not product sales 2. the audio is hands down the best. It brought tears to my eyes that I had to learn by hard knocks what he shows you to do. 3. it is greared to setup a win win situation and define precisely the value you are providing at the core of the business.
