TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read - Sam Reads Books on Sales and Customer Service Tactics -- So You Don't Have To

We’re back with the second installment of ‘Sam Reads Books So You Don’t Have To,’ this time, she’s picked up a few that pertain to sales, customer service, and closing those deals promptly. 

Want to read along? Here are the latest titles:

• Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service by Ari Weinzweig - A guide to positioning yourself as a service-first pro and go-to for your customers.
• Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away From Your Competition by Anthony Iannarino - Advice for displacing competition and building lasting client relationships.
• Maximizing Your Business Value Playbook by Tom Bronson - A list of real-world examples of common business concepts and details that should not be overlooked

No time to read? Here are Sam’s thoughts and takeaways!  

Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service by Ari Weinzweig

I thoroughly enjoyed this guide. It’s the perfect size to delve into advice for bettering one’s business. In four parts, Weinzweig walks readers through creating and delivering excellent service to retain good customers, combat angry customers, and offer better service in general. Critical knowledge like handling customer complaints and measuring service metrics to manage future sales practices are included.

The illustrations and funky font styles helped to break up the dialogue and keep your reading experience fun. My top takeaways are to remain calm and supportive around customers, no matter their temperament, but especially if the transactional experience gets tense. While I don’t work in a sales role, I found this helpful advice for anyone who works with external (or internal!) partners and wants to improve how they communicate, react, and respond to frustrating situations. After all, the customer is always right…right?

Channel Takeaways: 

• Set yourself apart from others and provide the best service stack to your customers for continuous success.

• Learn from a decades-old bakery that has been curating top-notch customer service since the dawn of their business.

• Realign your temperament and communication methods to deliver your business offering to your targeted audience effectively. 

Eat Their Lunch by Anthony Iannarino 

Eat Their Lunch is a crucial tool for those in sales/marketing. Ultimately, I feel like this was a book for decision-makers fresh on the scene, so it’s not like your entry-level sales associate will be making the big decisions, especially considering the concept of “dream clients” and “future partners.”

Eat Their Lunch is divided into three parts: curating actionable insights into how to position yourself in a valuable way toward your potential new clients, establishing nurturing campaigns that confirm your competitors’ displacement, and cultivating a retention relationship with your dream client once you’ve brought them under your wing.

Confidence and diligence to learn are common themes throughout elevating your sales pitches and inquiries within this text. You’ll become an enhanced candidate for your potential new client if you can define their current and future needs and goals and fully understand their mission and sales goals. Knowing them better than they know themselves will help nurture that relationship's future for time to come. Other tips include calling instead of emailing and embracing selfless pursuits in relationship cultivation.

This text contained nothing mind-boggling or jaw-dropping but helpful reminders and action steps to help you evaluate your mindset when pursuing new clients and elevating your business over the competition.

Channel Takeaways: 

• Navigating and learning YOUR value proposition is pivotal to establishing a strategic partnership that can produce business success. 
• Knowing your dream clients better than they know themselves and developing nurture campaigns can set you ahead of the competition. 
• Become an SME (Subject Matter Expert) and FITFO (Figure it the F*** Out)

Maximizing Your Business Value by Tom Bronson 

Whether you’re just starting your business or are a seasoned veteran of the Channel, Tom Bronson’s playbook is a go-to tool for maximizing your business value, seizing opportunities, and growing your solution set—all in less than 200 pages.

The book is divided into eight parts, covering topics like Financial Reporting, Budgeting, Tracking KPIs, Measuring ROI, Building Recurring Revenue, and more.

According to the book, only 17% of attempted transactions actually reach the finish line, putting that pool of businesses in a very prepared position to close deals and get the job done. That leaves a whopping 83% of transactions that have failed at some point in the process, whether during initial communications, a bungled closing, or somewhere in between. Bronson aims to help readers prevent those failures by consistently improving all aspects of your business and leaving nothing to chance.

Tom Bronson, the founder and active consultant for Mastery Partners, has the tips and tricks that every VAR, MSP, ISV, Vendor, and distributor might need to further their business and better maximize their overall value. After copious hours of notetaking and annotating, this was a little dense for my role and daily activities. Still, it is DEFINITELY for someone with more decision-making freedoms and a valuable tool for overarching success.

Channel Takeaway:

• There are many achievable pathways for closing deals, seizing opportunities, and not ending up in the large pool of contenders who don't quite make it to the finish line. You can't win them all, but you can definitely lose at several points throughout the sale without processes in place.