Why Killer Products Don’t Sell: How to Run Your Company to a New Set of Rules

196 Pages·2008·1.467 MB·English

by  Ian Gotts, Dominic Rowsell

“Ian and Dominic’s sharp and lucid analysis of what works and
what doesn’t is both compelling and instructive. This is a must read
for any business in a competitive market place.”
René Carayol, author, internationally renowned business guru,
and media personality
“I really enjoyed reading the book. In fact, once I started I wanted
to finish reading to the end in one sitting. Why? Well, the book has
some really solid messages and has a good way of putting it over.
I feel I need to read again and plan to dip back when I need a
refresh. It is easy and amusing and so should probably be read once
and then referred to again and again.”
Mark Varney, Strategic Sales Director, Atos Origin
“Coming from the procurement field I was pleasantly surprised to
find how readable the book is even though I am not well acquainted
with all the associated jargon. I was much impressed by the compre­
hensive action plans and by the substantiation of the effectiveness of
these provided by the customer endorsements – the proof of the pud­
ding is in the eating!
My only regret is that the book was not written 25 years ago as
it would have enabled me to better understand where sales and mar­
keting people were coming from because where they wish to go they
always make abundantly clear.”
Stephen Wicks, Head of Procurement, European Space Agency
“Direct, pungent and straight to the point A book that finally
takes marketing out of the box and onto the next level. Why Killer
Products annihilates all conventional thinking on the subject and
offers a radical new recipe for dealing with customers. Consolidated
mental processes are reprogrammed in order to be capable of per­
ceiving needs in a new way and create a durable linkage with the
Customer. The result is an infallible marketing strategy which gen­
erates and sustains added value over time. In essence the book
provides an innovative set of tools capable of dealing with today’s
marketing chaos, and this I must say is no simple matter. Well
done.”
Nigel Zanenga, Global Network Manager East Asia, UniCredit
“Strategy is good, execution is even better, but nothing else counts
if sales are on the floor. Ian and Dominic have written a lucid and
energetic book that gets to the bottom of the fundamental sales
problem: killer (and other) products rarely walk straight out of the
door. The key contribution is simple, like the best ideas – sales fail
if we miss the value culture dominating the thoughts and actions
of buyers. It’s not a difficult door to unlock because this action-
able book provides the keys. Highly recommended to thoughtful
leaders.”
Jyoti Banerjee, Co-founder, M Institute
A sale is the key and core element of every successful business. There
are a 1000+ books available around the subject. But Why Killer
Products Don’t Sell is different as it uses a very strong angle which
is buying behaviour. Whether you are a service company or a prod­
uct focused organization, no company continues to have a killer
product as markets evolve. Therefore even the best products need a
competitive sales approach. This book gives you very good insight
and ideas on how to optimise your sales process. The examples can
easily be related your own situations and is recommended to anyone
who wants to grow their business.
Steen Foldberg, Managing Director, Merrill Lynch Luxembourg
WHY KILLER

PRODUCTS

DON’T SELL

WHY KILLER

PRODUCTS

DON’T SELL

How to run your
company to a new
set of rules
Ian Gotts &
Dominic Rowsell
Copyright © 2008 Ian Gotts and Dominic Rowsell
First published in 2008 by Capstone Publishing Ltd. (a Wiley Company)
The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, PO19 8SQ, UK.
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Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Foreword xiii

Introduction xv

What this book is about xv

Why we wrote this book xvi

A bar in Rotterdam xvii

Who should read this book xix

How to use this book xxiii

1: Some killer products really don’t sell 1

So many products, so few sales 1

Heroic failures 4

So firstly, what is a failure? 8

2: It’s not how you sell, but how customers buy 11

Sales is sales is sales – right? 11

Four buying cultures 14

How does all this relate to Geoffrey Moore’s Chasm? 17

WIIFM – so what exactly does all this mean to me? 19

How do people buy? 22

Momentum = getting the right people on board 26

Managing risk 27

3: If they are buying – are you selling? 29

Choosing the correct buying culture 29

Exploring the buying cultures 31

Different buying cultures, different operational cultures 37

vii
Contents

What does a Value Captured company feel like? 40

What does a Value Created company feel like? 43

What does a Value Added company look like? 47

What does a Value Offered company look like? 50

4: The best kept secret – Value Created sales 53

Why Value Created 53

Why do so many companies get it wrong? 55

Vital signs 56

Why is Value Created difficult? 62

A Value Created salesman working in a Value Added company 63

And now some good news 66

5: The magic of a Value Created company 71

The perfect storm 71

The case for change 73

Management 74

R&D 79

Marketing 80

Sales 82

Delivery 94

Support 95

Safety notes 99

6: So what can I do about it? 109

CEO 109

CEO of a start-up 110

Chief Operations Officer 111

Sales Director 112

Head of M&A 113

Head of Marketing 114

viii