Book Review: Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play

Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship by Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig. Forward by Stephen R. Covey

Chia-Li Chien | Aug. 09, 2011

“Sales skills are life skills. What makes us better at sales makes us better in life,” according to Let’s Get Real authors Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig. Years ago many of my consulting business colleagues were wondering how to increase the sales of our service. We came across a few ideas and applied them, but nothing really dramatically changed the sale results. Then I integrated a new CRM (customer relationship management) system and we began to remodel our internal marketing and sales processes. Lesson learned—it is all about the consistent processes you build for your own business and continuously improving it as you see fit.

This book is a MUST read, full of techniques, processes, steps you can follow if you are in complex sales that involve multiple people, interactions, significant investments and nontrivial business issues. I wish I had had this blueprint to follow before I went about trying to reinvent the wheel. If it works for FranklinCovey Sales Performance Group, it can work for you too.

The goal, according to the authors, is to create win/win value for both the buyer and seller. We as the seller must create an environment to let the buyer come to the conclusion that it is a win/win situation when working with your or purchasing your products.

My clients often ask for an introduction to my other clients. I always recommend that they have a prepared agenda and have an end in mind. That intention will bring both buyer and seller closer to the next step. Otherwise, you are just wasting your and your prospects’ time.

A couple weeks ago, we’ll call him John, came into my office to sell his service. Aside from the fact that there was no agenda presented when we began the meeting, John actually went on non-stop for an hour without asking me one single question about my business needs. Toward the end of the meeting, John saw my next appointment arriving outside the conference room. He then asked me “What do you think?” And I said, impatiently and in contrast to my usually much nicer persona, “I think your service sounds just like a religion; you either believe it or you don’t. I don’t quite get it.”

One process presented in this book makes you aware of how observing how solution providers use your time is a great way to judge them (i.e., how they sell is a free sample of how they solve). You can go through a number of samples and templates for yourself and try them out in your business. The authors have already taken on some of the hard work of process for you. Now it’s time for you to change them to fit your business and “get REAL and not play.”

Remember, the goal is not just to create an abundance of new business—it is to make your good business valuable!