by Barry Silverstein
There is no shortage of business books that address ”change.” In fact, it may be one of the hottest topics in the business book arena. While Brett Clay’s book is change-focused, it is unique in that the author focuses exclusively on sales.

Corporate sales organizations don’t necessarily like change–it can disrupt the way their salespeople deal with customers, and it can affect the all-important pipeline of new business. But Clay is a realist–he recognizes that ”salespeople and their companies must not only adapt to change, they must lead change, driving real outcomes on behalf of their customers.”

The author knows that salespeople are not likely to read anything that takes a prolonged effort and impairs their ability to spend time selling. Undoubtedly, this is one of the reasons Clay structured the book as he did: It is comprised of digestible little morsels called ”Secrets,” each of which is a mere two pages–but with just enough detail so a salesperson can act on it. Every secret is comprised of three sections:
”What I Need to Know,” ”What I Need to Do,” and an ”Action Summary,” which contains bulleted advice. Each secret also contains a one-frame cartoon that succinctly captures that secret’s primary message.

The secrets are held together by a ”Change Leadership Framework” that the author uses to break the book into five ”disciplines,” including ”Change Response” and ”Value Creation.” While at first this may seem like a somewhat artificial structure, it further segments the more than 100 secrets into sections that can be reviewed individually or as part of the whole.

The secrets themselves are at times obvious (”Always Have a Plan”), but more often than not they are intriguing (”Delivery Trumps Relationship”) and occasionally even provocative (”No One Needs Your Product”). The content of each secret is expressed in simple down-to-earth terms, but the author isn’t afraid to include more complex conceptual ideas when necessary. His apt descriptions of buyer types in animal terms is especially vivid: ”Stay Away from Chickens,” ”Follow the Chameleons,” ”Help the Geese,” ”Count on the Beavers,” ”Comfort the Mules,” and ”Stay Away from Turtles.”

The book is very well-designed, which greatly enhances readability. There are plenty of bold heads, bullets, and other graphic symbols. A mock system of color tabs that makes for easy section identification is included, and a bound-in ribbon bookmark is a nice touch.

Clay writes in a conversational, friendly style, which helps mask the fact that talking about change can be disconcerting if not downright terrifying for a salesperson. Even if a salesperson follows just some of Brett Clay’s secrets, however, that individual should be able to overcome their fear of change and embrace it.

–ForeWord Clarion Reviews
To view original Clarion Review click here.

Bellevue, WA (PRWEB) July 19, 2011

Brett Clay, author of ‘Selling Change, 101+ Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change’, named the best business book of 2010 by Independent Publisher Book Awards says the closing of Borders Books not only marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new era, but it also demonstrates the fate of companies that follow the approach of change management, rather than change leadership.

Borders Books Union Square San Francisco, May 2011

“The liquidation of Borders Books marks the end of the paper-book and brick-and-mortar bookstore era. And it heralds the new era of the electronic book and Internet bookstore,” says Clay. While ebooks sales have already exceeded paper book sales, according to Amazon.com, the permanent closing of 400 book stores is a vivid milestone in the evolution of the publishing industry.

Borders’ management faced formidable constraints, such as store leases, that inhibited its ability to shift with the market. The Borders situation further demonstrates the paramount importance of agility in today’s market. In the past, managers used return-on-investment arguments to justify their budgets and spending. “Today, managers should be prioritizing investments using ‘agility-on-investment’, or ‘AOI.’ That is, the amount of agility gained from a particular investment,” says Clay.

The idea of adapting to a change in the environment and then utilizing ‘change management’ processes to execute the adaptation is no longer effective. “If you are adapting to a change, you are already in a follower position. As the Borders case demonstrates, that position can be fatal,“ says Clay. Many people are still operating in the mindset that “change” is some mysterious environmental phenomenon that must be adapted to, much like adapting to the weather by putting on a raincoat. Technology has obsoleted that mindset. “Today, ‘change’ is not some mysterious phenomenon—it’s your technology-enabled competitors. And you have two choices in dealing with them: 1) lead, or 2) lose. The traditional option of following and adapting doesn’t exist, anymore,” says Clay.
The winners in today’s market are the highly agile companies that are making change happen. Borders shows the fate of those who are not.

About Change Leadership Group and Brett Clay
Clay is the author of “Selling Change,” named the best business book of 2010 and best sales book of 2011, and he is the CEO of Change Leadership Group, LLC, a firm that helps clients improve their sales, marketing, and leadership capabilities. A veteran of 20 years in international sales and marketing management, most recently with Microsoft Corporation, he is an award-winning author, award-winning marketer, trainer, speaker, consultant, and business leader. http://www.ChangeLeadershipGroup.com.

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View the original article, here.

Brett Clay, author of the award-winning book, ‘Selling Change, 101+ Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change,’ announced that Change Leadership Group® is offering a 100 percent rebate to the first 250 readers who buy ‘Selling Change’ and post a review of the book online.
The announcement coincides with the launch of the ebook version of ‘Selling Change,’ now available from all major retailers including Amazon.com, Apple iBooks Store, BarnesandNoble.com, Borders.com, Google eBookStore, Kobo.com, Sony and others.

‘Selling Change’ has been called, “the go-to handbook of leadership in this decade,” by Independent Publisher Book Awards.

Jeff Keen, CEO of USA Book News, said “’Selling Change’ is an outstanding leadership handbook that all salespeople, managers, and executives should read.”

Jeffrey Hayzlett, former CMO of Eastman Kodak, and best-selling author of The Mirror Test said, “The most value is created by driving change. But now, it’s not a luxury—it’s survival. Read this book and thrive!”

Gerhard Gschwandtner, publisher of Selling Power magazine said, “‘Selling Change’ is a must-read for sales executives in 2011.”

Jeffrey Gitomer, bestselling author of The Little Red Book of Selling said, “This is the first POSITIVE book about change in a decade . . . at a time when we need it most! Buy it today, and implement it as fast as you can.”

Rebate Terms for the Book, “Selling Change”
Eligibility requirements: either hard cover or ebook purchases; reviews of the book “Selling Change” appearing on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Google eBookstore, Apple iBookStore, Kobo.com and GoodReads.com; limited to the first 250 people to submit rebate requests to rebate(at)sellingchange(dot)com. Disparaging or inflammatory reviews are not eligible. Offer ends July 30, 2011. Terms and conditions available at http://sellingchange.com subject to change.

‘Selling Change, 101 Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change’, by Brett Clay, Non-fiction; Hardcover $22.95, ISBN 978-0982295236 ; ebook $9.95, ISBN 978-0982295243; Available wherever books are sold.

About Change Leadership Group and Brett Clay
Clay is the author of “Selling Change,” named the best business book and best sales book of 2010, and is the CEO of Change Leadership Group, LLC, a firm that helps clients improve their sales, marketing, and leadership capabilities. A veteran of 20 years in international sales and marketing management, most recently with Microsoft Corporation, he is an award-winning author, award-winning marketer, trainer, speaker, consultant, and business leader. http://www.ChangeLeadershipGroup.com.

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Press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/ChangeLeadershipGroup/SellingChange/prweb8594960.htm

Brett Clay, author of the award-winning book, ‘Selling Change, 101+ Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change,’ announced that ‘Selling Change’ has been released in ebook format and is now available from all major ebook distributors and retailers.

The ‘Selling Change’ ebook is available for purchase from book retailers, including Amazon.com, Apple iBooks Store, BarnesandNoble.com, Borders.com, Google eBookStore, Kobo.com, Sony and others.

The ‘Selling Change’ ebook is also available for check-out from over 13,000 libraries using the Overdrive digital media service.

Author, Brett Clay, said, “The recognition the hard cover edition has received from the awards organizations has been incredible. Now, the same book will be available in digital form, greatly expanding its availability.”

Awards for ‘Selling Change’:
“Best Sales Book of 2011” – Axiom Business Book Awards
“Best Business Book of 2010” – Independent Publisher Book Awards
“Best Sales Book of 2010” – USA Book News
Finalist—“Best Business and Economics Book of 2010” – ForeWord Reviews
Finalist—“Best Management and Leadership Book of 2010” – USA Book News
Finalist—“Best Business Book of 2010” – Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Finalist—“Best Business Book of 2010” – National Indie Excellence Book Awards

Praise for ‘Selling Change’:
“Do you think change is scary and borders on impossible? Think again. ‘Selling Change’ shows how to more effectively sell your ideas, products, and services to your employees, stakeholders, and customers. Author, Brett Clay, has translated the complex and abstract principles of change psychology into an easy-to-read, fun, and practical format that business leaders and salespeople are sure to find valuable,” said Jim Barnes, awards director, Axiom Business Book Awards.

“‘Selling Change’ is a handbook that shows how to lead customers or stakeholders through change and create high value for them in the process—and that’s why it’s a must-read for salespeople and business executives in 2011,” said Gerhard Gschwandtner, publisher, Selling Power Magazine.

‘Selling Change, 101 Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change’, by Brett Clay, Non-fiction; Hardcover $22.95, ISBN 978-0982295236 ; ebook $9.99, ISBN 978-0982295243; Available wherever books are sold.

About Change Leadership Group and Brett Clay
Clay is the author of “Selling Change,” named the best business book and best sales book of 2010, and is the CEO of Change Leadership Group, LLC, a firm that helps clients improve their sales, marketing, and leadership capabilities. A veteran of 20 years in international sales and marketing management, most recently with Microsoft Corporation, he is an award-winning author, award-winning marketer, trainer, speaker, consultant, and business leader. http://www.ChangeLeadershipGroup.com

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Press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/changeleadershipgroup/sellingchange/prweb8591814.htm

Bellevue, WA (Vocus/PRWEB) March 25, 2011

Adding to a growing list of accolades, Axiom Business Book Awards announced that Selling Change, 101+ Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change by Brett Clay won the Gold Medal Award in the sales category, naming it the “Best Sales Book of 2011.” In separate news, ForeWord Reviews named ‘Selling Change’ a finalist in the Business and Economics category of its 2010 Book of the Year Awards. Final ForeWord Reviews winners will be announced at the American Library Association conference in June, 2011.

Awards for ‘Selling Change’:

 
“Best Sales Book of 2011” – Axiom Business Book Awards
“Best Business Book of 2010” – Independent Publisher Book Awards
“Best Sales Book of 2010” – USA Book News
Finalist—“Best Business and Economics Book of 2010” – ForeWord Reviews
Finalist—“Best Management and Leadership Book of 2010” – USA Book News
Finalist—“Best Business Book of 2010” – Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Finalist—“Best Business Book of 2010” – National Indie Excellence Book Awards

 

Praise for ‘Selling Change’:

 
“Do you think change is scary and borders on impossible? Think again. Selling Change shows how to more effectively sell your ideas, products, and services to your employees, stakeholders, and customers. Author, Brett Clay, has translated the complex and abstract principles of change psychology into an easy-to-read, fun, and practical format that business leaders and salespeople are sure to find valuable,” said Jim Barnes, awards director, Axiom Business Book Awards.

“’Selling Change’ is an outstanding leadership handbook that all salespeople, managers, and executives should read,” said Jeff Keen, president and CEO of USA Book News.

“‘Selling Change’ is a handbook that shows how to lead customers or stakeholders through change and create high value for them in the process—and that’s why it’s a must-read for salespeople and business executives in 2011,” said Gerhard Gschwandtner, publisher, Selling Power Magazine.

“The most value is created by driving change. But now, it’s not a luxury—it’s survival. Read this book and thrive!” said Jeffrey Hayzlett, former CMO of Eastman Kodak, change agent, and best-selling author of The Mirror Test.

”This is the first POSITIVE book about change in a decade … at a time when we need it most! Buy it today, and implement it as fast as you can,” said Jeffrey Gitomer, bestselling author of The Little Red Book of Selling.

”This powerful, practical book shows you how to make more sales, faster and easier than you ever thought possible!” said Brian Tracy, bestselling author of The Art of Closing the Sale.

‘Selling Change, 101 Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change’, by Brett Clay, Non-fiction, Hardcover, $22.95, ISBN 978-0982295236, Available wherever books are sold. Volume purchasing available through 1-800-CEO-READ. Coming soon in Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Polish.

http://ChangeLeadershipGroup.com/BestSalesBook2011

About the Author
Brett Clay, author of ‘Selling Change’, is the CEO of Change Leadership Group, LLC, a firm that helps clients improve their sales, marketing, and leadership capabilities. A veteran of 20 years in international sales and marketing management, most recently with Microsoft Corporation, he is an award-winning author, award-winning marketer, trainer, speaker, consultant, and business leader. http://www.ChangeLeadershipGroup.com.

# # #

www.ChangeLeadershipGroup.com

Read the PR Web Press Release

There Is Always a Better Way

#1 Importance of coaching

Your performance will always be higher if you have a world-class coach than if you try to learn something on your own. I had been working very hard, on my own, to learn how to podcast. But, here was someone who had been working very hard—for a lot longer. I wish I had met him sooner. You can try and try, but you’ll get better faster and you’ll be better in the end, if someone shows you all the tricks and tips.

#2 Kaizen

Things are changing so rapidly that you must always be changing and improving. A couple years ago when I began scouting for web platforms and podcasting solutions, a certain set of capabilities were available on the market. Two years later, all the vendors have added functionality and the assumptions of two years ago are no longer valid. To maximize my efficiency and quality, thereby remaining competitive, I have to update my information—and my tool suite. In other words, I have to by committed to openness and continuous incremental improvement.

#3 Simply Showing Up

A couple of years ago, when we were defining scope at the beginning of a consulting engagement, a client said, “We don’t need to outrun the bear, just our competition.” He was referring to the joke where a bear comes into the camp where two boys have pitched their tent. As one boy starts putting on tennis shoes, the other asks, “Why are you putting on tennis shoes instead of running away from the bear? Aren’t you scared?” The boy responds, “No, I’m not scared. I don’t have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you. …Bye!” Outrunning your competition is usually simply a matter of just showing up on the playing field. When it comes to innovation, the competition often doesn’t bother to show up to the game. So, on one hand, I was very humbled at the podcasting workshop by how much there is to know that I don’t know. On the other hand, at least I had showed up—about 53 times. The last time I looked on iTunes I had 53 episodes on my podcast. Even though I have a lot more to learn, at least I am on the field (on the Internet actually) and I am learning.

What opportunities should you be showing up to capture?

What has changed since you originally started—and that you now need to upgrade?

Who can you find who knows 10 times more than you do—and can give you a huge productivity boost?

Trend #1: The salesperson of yesterday is becoming extinct.

Gerhard Gschwandtner, CEO of Selling Power magazine and host of the Sales 2.0 Conference, predicted that up to 15 million traditional sales positions will be displaced by technology over this decade. The trends of globalization and Internet-empowered buyers are devaluing the roles traditionally filled by salespeople—to provide product information and take the order. Gschwandtner says, “70% of purchasing decisions are now made online, before the buyer comes in contact with a salesperson. Customers are on the web, so if salespeople and marketers are not on the web, they’ll lose the business to competitors who are.” Gschwandtner continued, “A new breed of salesperson, which I call Salesperson 2.0, will evolve that is highly proficient with technology.”

Trend #2: The customer is in control.

The Endangered Species

Trend #3: Marketers are becoming publishers.

The fuel for these customer-driven buying cycles is Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah’s concept of “remarkable content”– information and entertainment that attracts and engages buyers. The need to produce this content requires marketers to acquire new competencies. Rosenberg noted, “marketing organizations increasingly look like publishing and media organizations.” For example, a new trend in 2011 is the use of video, which is being enabled by technologies that greatly reduce the cost of producing video content. Speaker, Dave Fitzgerald went so far as to proclaim, “The whole world is going to video.” Marketing organizations, therefore, must now learn to be competent in video production.

Trend #4: Sales operations is becoming the revenue engine.

While remarkable content is the fuel, sales operations teams are becoming the engine on which marketing and sales are run. As most of the marketing and sales cycle increasingly happens “online,” the people, processes and technologies used to create and operate those “online” activities become mission-critical for the business. Michael Gerard, VP, Sales Advisory Practice at IDC, summarized, “The sales-operations function will be the driving force for productivity improvements in 2011.”

Sales 2.0 Conference Discussions

Get Sales 2.0 Conference recap information from web tools expert Miles Austin, president of Fill the Funnel, via the links below, or read more impressions and takeaways on the Sales 2.0 Conference blog.

Sales 2.0 Day 1
Sales 2.0 Day 2

About Change Leadership Group and Brett Clay
Clay is the author of “Selling Change,” named the best business book and best sales book of 2010, and is the CEO of Change Leadership Group, LLC, a firm that helps clients improve their sales, marketing, and http://sellingchange.com [leadership] capabilities. A veteran of 20 years in international sales and marketing management, most recently with Microsoft Corporation, he is an award-winning author, award-winning marketer, trainer, speaker, consultant, and business leader. www.ChangeLeadershipGroup.com.

[Reprinted courtesy of the Independent Publisher Newsletter. To see original post, click here.]

Do you love marketing? Do you consider yourself an awesome promoter? Do you relish the thought of standing on the street corner yelling, “Books for sale! Books for sale! Come buy my awesome book!”? If you are like most authors, you prefer to be writing, rather than promoting. The task of marketing a book can be daunting, to say the least. But, it can also be fun and rewarding. After all, wouldn’t it be nice if someone read your book after all the hard work and money you put into it?

The secret to turning the daunting task of book marketing into fun and profit is “engagement.” Whatever the genre of your book, there is a group of people who love the genre and want to converse with authors and other readers. Those people are called “fans.” Oh yeah, remember that noun? Engaging with fans is fun — and can even be profitable.

Wired magazine’s Kevin Kelly wrote an article a couple of years ago called 1,000 True Fans, as a follow-up to Chris Anderson’s famous article and subsequent book, The Long Tail. In The Long Tail, Anderson observed that only a few artists, musicians and authors have best sellers that sell millions, or even tens of thousands of copies. The rest of the authors sell only a few copies of their works. He argued that the only winners in the market are aggregators like Amazon, who sell one or two copies of many, many different works.

Kelly followed up, saying there is a middle ground between having millions of fans and no fans — having a thousand fans. Kelly proposed that it is feasible for an artist, musician, or author to have a thousand true fans who spend one hundred dollars per year to engage with him or her, yielding one hundred thousand dollars of annual revenue. Let’s assume for a second that you are not a celebrity who has already received advance royalties on one hundred thousand copies of your book and that selling a thousand copies of your book would be a great start. Kelly says you can nurture a thousand true fans, but only if you engage with them directly.

So, what are some ways to engage with your prospective readers? You’ve already heard the drumbeat: so-cial-me-dia, so-cial-me-dia. Today, the staples of social media are primarily Facebook and Twitter.

If you already have a Facebook fan page for your book, how can you make it better? Is your Facebook page linked to your Twitter account? Are they branded with your book? Here are my book’s Facebook and Twitter pages, which might give you some ideas: http://Facebook.com/SellingChange and http://Twitter.com/SellingChange.

Also, LinkedIn is quickly becoming a powerful platform to build and engage fans. It has as many or more features than Facebook or Twitter. You can create your own discussion group, post presentations, post videos, create an event calendar, link your blog, link Twitter messages, post documents related to your book, and more. As an author, you want as many people “following” you as possible, so you’ll want to be a “Linked In Open Networker” (a.k.a. “LION”) and join the TopLinked.com group. I joined TopLinked several months ago and have acquired 3500 additional followers. Once you are TopLinked, be sure to put the word “LION” in your name and include an email address. That way people know you want to be followed and they will be able to send you a connection invitation. To see an example, here’s my LinkedIn profile page.

While Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are great vehicles to engage fans, fans will only stay engaged if you are constantly providing content for them to consume. Of course, we’ve all heard, over and over, about the importance of blogging, i.e. writing articles that are published on the Internet. We’ve also heard about the trend of “microblogging,” otherwise known as “Tweeting.” Here are a couple of other ideas that I personally find very exciting.

First, is the concept of an online radio show (a.k.a. podcasting). After the first interview on the radio tour for my book I called my publicist and asked, “How can I have my own radio show?” Turns out, it’s easy — and fun! All you need is a USB microphone and an iTunes account. Your radio show (here’s a link to mine) should discuss topics that fans of your book will be interested in. My book is on business, leadership and sales. So, I interview authors, scholars, and business people about ways listeners can grow in their businesses or in their lives. The neatest part is that both you and the interviewee benefit. You benefit by providing valuable, interesting, or entertaining content to your listeners and the interviewees benefit by getting their name and message in front of your listeners. One of the fun aspects, though, is that a radio show is like a networking aphrodisiac.

When I attend a conference or event, instead of begging for attention, I ask the speaker or celebrity if he or she would be willing to do a radio interview. They always say “yes!” They won’t help me promote my book and probably won’t even remember I’m an author, but they’ll remember I’m going to interview them and promote their work. So why promote other people’s work? You are providing valuable content to engage your audience, you are increasing your knowledge, expertise and professional network, and when interviewees promote their interviews on your show, they are inadvertently promoting you too!

The other concept I’m excited about is video. This one is a bit more costly than a USB microphone. But, it can also be fun for you and engaging for your fans. Being in front of a camera may seem as natural as lying on a bed of nails — at first. But, if you’re not having fun, neither will your fans. So, just have fun with it. No one will see your videos until you publish them, anyway. A great way to get started is to interview guests on video for your radio show. Didn’t know radio shows can have video? Have you heard of Howard Stern? Subscribers to your iTunes podcast channel can view video on their iPhones, iPods, and iPads.

Also, you can create multiple YouTube channels (here’s one of mine). For example, you can have one channel all about your book and another channel for your interviews. Another common recommendation is to capture short interviews with readers of your book. These testimonials make great fodder for your Facebook fan page and LinkedIn discussion group. Certain genres, especially in non-fiction, lend themselves naturally to video. For example, my book is comprised of a hundred and one, 2-page “chapters.” I’m in the process of creating a short video on each chapter. Of course, it’ll take me awhile (years?) to create a hundred videos. But, that’s the fun of it. And every time I publish a video it’s a vehicle for engaging with fans.

The daunting task of book marketing can be fun and it can be profitable. We are fortunate to live in an era when the rules of book marketing have been turned upside down — as evidenced by the recent bankruptcy filing of Borders Books and the disappearance of hundreds of local newspapers. We no longer have to beg, plead and hope we are one of the fortunate few picked to get a chance at best-sellerdom. We no longer have to beg, plead and hope for national print media coverage to reach our prospective audience. We live in an era where we can engage directly with fans to market our books — and have a lot of fun doing it.

About the Author

Brett Clay is the award-winning author of Selling Change, 101+ Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change. He is also the host of The Actuation Zone radio show and is the CEO of Change Leadership Group, LLC, a management training and consulting firm. Brett@SellingChange.com 1-800-351-LEAD

[Reprinted courtesy of the Independent Publisher Newsletter. To see original post, click here.]