According to best selling author, John Jantsch “Selling has changed because the world of buying has changed.”

The vast majority of us are educating ourselves and thus making more buying decisions from the internet!  Even my 84 year old father buys online from Amazon, Ebay and several other favorite websites and occasionally his buying decisions are influenced by ads he views in printed publications as well as ads he views online via his email service provider.  My father is a great researcher and the internet allows him to gain access to information quickly and efficiently which further enhances his buying decisions.

In Jantsch’s newest book “Duct Tape Selling – Think Like A Marketer, Sell Like A Superstar” he guides us down the path of understanding what it means to sell in today’s world and how to guide our prospects along the buying process by teaching. 

Several decades ago the idea of giving a prospect any information until they became a customer was unheard of! But today the opposite is true, the more value you deliver the more likely this type of selling converts to leads and sales.

How The Elements of Selling Have Changed

Jantch outlines this brilliantly with examples and steps for each of the following:

  • Listening is the new prospecting
  • Educating is the new presenting
  • Insight is the new information sharing
  • Story building is the new nurturing
  • and how value delivery is the new closing

Reputation Building

We now manage our reputation both offline and online.  Our website and social media presence allows us to expand our reach and at the same time requires us to carefully manage our reputation.  I like that Jantch suggests  we ‘resist the urge to cut and paste our resume” into our websites and social platforms.

I see this often on LinkedIn where profiles read like a boring resume. What the internet allows us to do is expand on our resume and create a brand and value proposition. This is exciting that we have the ability to test and tweak our online profiles and website quickly and easily as we hone in on our brand messaging and update when necessary.

Strategy Before Tactics

Jantsch always teaches how important your marketing strategy is before the implementation of any tactics and this book is no exception.  He suggests  the following tactics:

  • Create an expert platform with your online presence
  • Become an authority by building your reputation and sharing your expertise
  • Mine networks and build relationships
  • Build your sales hour glass which takes prospects down a path from interest to solutions to closing the sale

 As we all adopt the new model of social selling into our sales process we spend more time building relationships, problem solving, educating our prospects and becoming valued, credible resources that people want to do business with. 

I’d like to point out that this book ( along with the other three of Jantch’s books)  offers solid concepts along with specific steps and the resources to implementation.  This is by far one of the best books I have read this year and I have added it to my entire library of business books by John Jantsch and I hope you will too.

“Today’s sales superstars attract, teach, convert, serve, measure and most important, guide their clients and prospects while developing an individual brand that stands for trust and expertise.”

—>>Get John Jantch’s newest book “Duct Tape Selling.”