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Reading Group Guide

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Discussion Questions

1. In terms of your business, discuss the Oracle's Bedrock Questions listed at the end of chapter 2, the first being: Who are your customers?

2. Who are your competitors?

3. Why do customers want what you are selling? (That is, what are the values that your product or service provides for them?)

4. What makes customers prefer to buy from you?

5. What might cause customers to prefer to buy from your competitors?

6. What added values do your salespeople have to offer customers in order to make sales?

7. Turning to the Summary, "The Wheel of Sales," at the end of the book, which of the four selling styles ­ Closer, Wizard, Builder, or Captain & Crew ­ is most appropriate for you and your customers? If you find your sales strategy has mixed styles, which should you adopt as your dominant style?

8. Based on your answer to the previous question, what kinds of actions and incentives might help your salespeople improve their effectiveness with customers?

9. Both near-term and longer-term, where is your strongest competitive threat likely to come from? Will it be from those offering a lower price on essentially the same thing that you sell? Or will it be from some company offering new technology and higher performance? What can you do now to prepare for and counter that threat?