University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Strikingly Different Selling
Book

Strikingly Different Selling

6 Vital Skills to Stand Out and Sell More

Dale Merrill, Scott Savage, Jennifer Colosimo and Randy Illig
FranklinCovey Publishing, 2022
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

If you think most B2B service offerings sell themselves the same way, you’re right – but you don’t have to join the herd. Dale Merrill, Scott Savage, Jennifer Colosimo and Randy Illig reviewed the online presentations of five leading B2B professional services firms. The websites looked the same. Even when the authors switched around the firms’ names and logos, nothing about the message changed. Such uniformity makes it tough for B2B salespeople to convince prospects they offer something distinctive. The authors explain how salespeople can distinguish themselves and their companies to stand apart from their look-alike rivals – and to sell their individual services.

Summary

B2B prospects want everything associated with B2B salespeople and their firms to be “strikingly different.”

What do B2B prospects want from the salespeople who call on them? Comprehensive sales research indicates they want B2B salespeople to present distinctive proposals, sales messages, sales dialogues, and products or services. Your prospects want your proposal to be “strikingly different.”But many salespeople and their firms struggle to find meaningful ways to stand out from the crowd. Even when they offer great services, their messages remain strikingly average.

Research sifting through more than 14,500 B2B prospects indicates that a scary 42% don’t notice any significant differences among B2B sellers. Many report that most sellers are the same – they’re all average.But B2B prospects don’t want average; they want special, exceptional and singular – positively above average.

All sales activities, including proposals, must pass the “RDM” test: are they relevant, distinctive and memorable?

How can your firm and your salespeople differentiate your ...

About the Authors

Dale Merrill is a global managing director at FranklinCovey. Jennifer Colosimo is the president of FranklinCovey’s Enterprise Division. Randy Illig is a sales performance expert at FranklinCovey, and Scott Savage is a consultant and public speaker on sales, leadership and negotiation.   

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