Harvard Business Review recently devoted its annual bi-monthly 2006 summer issue to the subject of sales. HBR mentions that despite sales success as an obviously critical component to the growth of any business, it still lacks the rigorous research methods and understanding that traditional fields like marketing and economics enjoy.



Is it part schmooze, half art, part knowledge?

As an individual working in software and consulting marketing, technical sales lead generation is fascinating to me and I was curious about how a successful lead was nurtured and sowed in this unique arena. Brian Carroll’s “Lead Generation for the Complex Sale” provides great insight into this often poorly addressed process.

Carroll divides the book into three sections:

I. Fundamentals of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale
II. Lead Tactics for the Complex Sale
III. Lead Development for the Complex Sale

First order of business is getting marketing and sales to play together (always an endless challenge). Carroll encourages getting the teams to agree and work out a definition on what truly is an ideal lead and then flesh out this profile with as much information as possible. He goes on to point out that a “multimodal lead generation” program will be the most effective for filling the pipeline with sales leads. (Multimodal meaning the complete marketing mix of PR, Web, Direct Mail, Phone, Email, Events, etc. all working synergistically to drive home the same message).

Note: For you marketing history buffs this is consistent with what the famous Northwestern marketing professor Don Schultz aptly titled Integrated Marketing Communication in the late 1980s.

All good marketers are obsessed with testing and measuring and complex lead generation should be no different. From here messages and tactics can be tweaked with the sales and marketing teams working consistently on improving results.

Carroll finishes the book by examining each different tactic in depth. By treating each of the multimodal arms separately, the reader comes away with a solid understanding and an easy way to reference the information when working on a specific part of the marketing mix.

The anemic treatment within the business press of technical sales and marketing topics is frustrating. “Lead Generation for the Complex Sale” goes a long way to correct this problem. Hopefully, we’ll see Carroll lend some insight into the next HBR article dealing with technical sales.

This is one book that has the power and the practical insights to change how you deal or interact with people. Of all the business books that I have read, this is at the top of my favorite list. This book is worth reading and re-reading. It is a very easy read that explains lucidly the science behind the art of influence and persuasion. The book is very conversational in style and you will have many moments of “Aha’s and Oh-oh’s”. This book teaches you how to be more influential and persuasive in dealing with people and at the same time teaches you how to protect yourself from the unscrupulous people that try to use the influence tools on you in an unethical way. Have you ever had the experience where you wanted to say or do something in a situation but ended up doing quite the opposite (thanks to the savvy influence of the person on the other side)? If you read this book, you will be able to recognize the tools and techniques that are being used on you to influence your decision.



The author outlines the following weapons of influence (his term) in his book:

Reciprocity: People are more prone to feel obliged to return favors offered to them. Influence professionals try to use this principle of reciprocation that is hard wired into the human psyche by trying to garner disproportionate results in return for a small initial favor. A good example of this cited in the book is the clever application of this principle by Hare Krishna society. Krishnas while soliciting for donations, as a first step give a small gift like a flower to the target person before requesting a donation. There by making the target obliged to give a donation in return for the unsolicited gift that was just accepted.

Commitment and Consistency: People are prone to follow through on a commitment that has already been made. Influence professionals exploit your desire to be consistent by getting an initial compliance on a trivial request and later expanding this compliance to a similar request that is much larger in scope and sometimes remotely connected to the original request. They know that once you have committed to an initial request, you are most likely to follow through on their other requests because of your desire to appear consistent.

Social Proof: People are more likely to follow the actions of people that are similar to themselves. This is especially true in conditions of uncertainty where people are likely to use others actions to decide how they themselves should act. Influence professionals use this principle by way of fake advertisements that have average-person-on-the-street testimonials.

Liking: People are likely to agree or say yes to a request from people that they like. People tend to like people that are attractive, that are like themselves, that are friendly, that are complimentary, that have common goals, that make them laugh etc. Influence professionals use a combination of these techniques to appear more likeable and as result increase the odds of you saying YES to a request.

Authority: People tend to put more faith in authority than anything else. People are easily persuaded by people that appear knowledgeable, credible and authoritative on a particular subject. Influence professionals try to benefit from this principle by invoking the pretext of authority or expertise on subjects that they have very little understanding of.

Scarcity: People are likely to want something more strongly when it appears to be dwindling or scarce.

Mind you, this book is not an expose on influence or compliance professionals but rather a very good explanation on how and why people are influenced. Once aware of these principles, you can use them in an ethical manner to influence others and at the same time be able to guard yourself against these same principles when applied by others to exploit you.

Finally, here is a link to an excellent review of the book and an interview with the author Dr Robert Cialdini by Guy Kawasaki.

Note: There are two versions of the book and I happened to buy the older version of the book called “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” instead of the newer version which goes by “Influence–Science and Practice”. My review is based on the older version. Amazon reviews indicate that both versions are pretty much identical.

Two for the Money provides readers with a basic introduction to personal finance and investing. Two For The Money covers a wide range of personal finance topics, including: organizing your finances, budgeting, retirement accounts, investing basics, teaching your kids about personal finance, and caring for aging parents.



Pros:
Covers a wide range of topics in an easy to read, conversational writing style.
Includes some useful tips for reducing expenses.

Cons:
The large number of topics affects the level of detail that is provided for each topic.

Recommendation:
Recommended for readers looking for an introductory book about personal finance and investing.