Old School Book Review: Rethinking Business to Business Marketing (Paul Sherlock)

The cool thing about reviewing a book that you first read twenty years ago is that you know (for sure) that the insights have stayed with you over time. Such is the power of “Rethinking Business to Business Marketing” by Paul Sherlock, that I find myself regularly recalling the advice it contains and applying it to sales opportunities today.

Published in 1991, this book was written by a Sales and Marketing VP that also had a background in psychology. This combination helps a C-Level salesperson understand why we sometimes win (and lose) deals due to unseen emotional connections, why it’s better to spend a limited expense budget on a great business lunch as opposed to a perfunctory dinner, and why even the most highly technical sales (he uses the example of aircraft engines) are ultimately driven by emotional components. Even if the buyer thinks they are being completely dispassionate, someone had to create a weighting, somewhere – probably buried in a spreadsheet – that valued “Financial Stability of Supplier” over “Thrust to Weight Ratio”, or vice-versa. Your brand image may change over time, but you need to know whether you are perceived, for example, as the “feisty challenger that tries harder”, the “safe choice”, the “local option”, the “low price leader”, etc. Once that brand is in your prospect’s mind, it’s easier to sell to the strengths than to fight the perception.

There is some deep research that went into this book. Almost Freudian at times, he relates the tales of two sales reps – one that wins an opportunity that was clearly a reach, and the other who loses a deal that seemed to be a slam-dunk fit. It turns out that in the first case, the rep triggered a powerful, emotional reaction because she reminded the buyer of a beloved daughter, and in the second case the rep unfortunately evoked memories of the (less beloved) ex-spouse. Neither buyer realized this was happening at the time, by the way. It all happened subconsciously, and only through meticulous research did this hidden, unintended preference emerge.

This is not a trendy book. Currently, there is one review of this book on Amazon. On the plus side the reviewer agrees with me that “This book is as relevant today as it ever was - and full of great advice.” So if I ask you to join me for a business lunch, you should probably say yes because we will make it memorable.

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