Buyer behavior has changed the marketplace, and sellers must adapt to survive The Collaborative Sale: Solution Selling in Today's Customer-Driven World is the definitive guide to the new reality of sales. The roles of buyers, sellers, and technology have changed, and collaboration is now the key to success on all sides. The Collaborative Sale guides sales professionals toward alignment with buyers, by helping them overcome their problems and challenges, and creating value. From building a robust opportunity pipeline and predicting future revenues to mastering the nuances of buyer conversations, the book contains the information sales professionals need to remain relevant in today's sales environment. Buyers have become more informed and more empowered. As a result, most sellers now enter the buying process at a much later stage than the traditional norm. The rise of information access has given buyers more control over their purchases than ever before, and sellers must adapt to survive. The Collaborative Sale provides a roadmap for adapting through sales collaboration, detailing the foundations, personae, and reality of the new marketplace. The book provides insight into the new buyer thought processes, the new sales personae required for dealing with the new buyers, and how to establish and implement a dynamic sales process. Topics include: Selling in times of economic uncertainty, broad information access, and new buyer behavior Why collaboration is so important to the new buyers The emergence of new sales personae Micro-marketer, Visualizer, and Value Driver Buyer alignment, risk mitigation, and the myth of control Situational fluency, and the role of technology Focused sales enablement, and buyer-aligned learning and development Implementation and establishment of a dynamic sales process The book describes the essential competencies for collaborative selling, and provides indispensable supplemental tools for implementation. Written by recognized authorities with insights into global markets, The Collaborative Sale: Solution Selling in Today's Customer-Driven World is the essential resource for today's sales professional.

Buyer behavior has changed the marketplace, and sellers mustadapt to surviveThe Collaborative Sale: Solution Selling in Today'sCustomer-Driven World is the definitive guide to the newreality of sales. The roles of buyers, sellers, and technology havechanged, and collaboration is now the key to success on all sides.The Collaborative Sale guides sales professionals towardalignment with buyers, by helping them overcome their problems andchallenges, and creating value. From building a robust opportunitypipeline and predicting future revenues to mastering the nuances ofbuyer conversations, the book contains the information salesprofessionals need to remain relevant in today's salesenvironment.Buyers have become more informed and more empowered. As aresult, most sellers now enter the buying process at a much laterstage than the traditional norm. The rise of information access hasgiven buyers more control over their purchases than ever beforeand sellers must adapt to survive. The Collaborative Saleprovides a roadmap for adapting through sales collaborationdetailing the foundations, personae, and reality of the newmarketplace. The book provides insight into the new buyer thoughtprocesses, the new sales personae required for dealing with the newbuyers, and how to establish and implement a dynamic sales process.Topics include:* Selling in times of economic uncertainty, broad informationaccess, and new buyer behavior* Why collaboration is so important to the new buyers* The emergence of new sales personae - Micro-marketerVisualizer, and Value Driver* Buyer alignment, risk mitigation, and the myth of control* Situational fluency, and the role of technology* Focused sales enablement, and buyer-aligned learning anddevelopment* Implementation and establishment of a dynamic salesprocessThe book describes the essential competencies for collaborativeselling, and provides indispensable supplemental tools forimplementation. Written by recognized authorities with insightsinto global markets, The Collaborative Sale: Solution Selling inToday's Customer-Driven World is the essential resource fortoday's sales professional.

Foreword Dave Stein xiPreface xvAcknowledgments xixDefinitions xxiPart I Foundations of the Collaborative Sale 11 "The Story" and What's behind The Collaborative Sale 3The Collaborative Sale 7What Is Sales Collaboration? 92 Solution Selling Meets the New Buyer 13The Emergence of the New Buyer--Buyer 2.0 16The Effect of Information Access on Buyer 2.0 Behavior 16The Millennials Are Coming 21The Effect of Economic Uncertainty on Buyer 2.0 Behavior 23Buyer 2.0 versus Buyer 1.0 27Adapting to the Buyer 2.0 Paradigm 28The Relevancy of Solution Selling and the Evolution of the Collaborative Sale 33The Story (Continued) 353 What the New Buyers Expect: Situational Fluency 39Seller Agility 42Situational Fluency 44Components of Situational Fluency 45Hiring for Situational Fluency 50Developing Situational Fluency 51Technology's Role in Situational Fluency 53Part II Three Personae of the Collaborative Sale 574 The Micro-Marketer Persona 59Why Be a Micro-Marketer? 60Micro-Marketers Demonstrate Situational Fluency--With Constraint 62Micro-Marketers Create Their Own Personal Brand 63Planning and Executing a Micro-Marketer Strategy 66Enabling the Micro-Marketer Persona 74The Story (Continued) 825 The Visualizer Persona 85What Is a Visualizer? 85Buyer States and Strength of Vision 91Visualizer Conversations 95Embracing the Visualizer Persona 99The Story (Continued) 1016 The Value Driver Persona 105Focusing on Value 107What Is the Value Driver Persona? 107Using a Collaboration Plan--A Buyer Alignment and Risk Mitigation Strategy 115The Myth of Control 118Create an Online Collaboration Site 119Collaborating to Close 121Enabling the Value Driver Persona 122The Story (Continued) 124Part III Making the Collaborative Sale a Reality 1277 Establishing a Dynamic Sales Process 129Buyer-Aligned Sales Process 134Dynamic Sales Process 135Automating Dynamic Sales Processes 137Expanding the View of Sales Process 138Sales Process Enables Management and Marketing 1408 Coaching the Collaborative Sale 143Sales Management Cadence 144Motivation 1519 Implementing the Collaborative Sale 157Right Process: Buyer-Aligned Learning and Development 159Right People: Talent Assessment and Analytics 162Right Tools: Focused Enablement 167Committing to Success--Individually and Organizationally 177Epilogue 179Afterword 181Appendix 183Essential Competencies for The Collaborative Sale 183Additional Collaborative Selling Tools 186Contributors 195Keith M. Eades 195Timothy T. Sullivan 195Robert Kear 196James N. "Jimmy" Touchstone 197Dave Christofaro 197Kenneth Cross 198Tamela M. Rich 198Index 199