Unsticking Deals: Why Deals Stall, How to Unstick Them, And How to Prevent Them From Sticking in the First Place by James Muir
About the Book
Stuck deals are arguably the biggest problem in sales. Depending on the industry, between 40-60% of all sales are lost to no-decision.
The implications are staggering. This fact means that the problem of stuck deals and “no-decision” effectively doubles the cost of every sale, and wastes somewhere around one-half of every sales professional’s time.
The good news is that if we can unstick our deals (or even better, prevent them from sticking in the first place) we can effectively double our sales, dramatically shorten our sales cycles, and double our commissions.
What you will learn in Unsticking Deals:
- Surprisingly, stalled deals are caused by just three things. The Universal Root Cause Maxim explains the three reasons deals stall in a single sentence.
- The five common sales issues that cause sales professionals to stick their deals.
- The three things that cause customers to suffer from indecision and how to overcome them.
- Why deals stall due to business case issues and the three simple things that need to be in every business case to prevent stalls.
- Five key prevention strategies that will prevent your deal from ever sticking in the first place.
- The five key plays for unsticking your deals – complete with templates and examples.
This book is designed to be a quick reference guide. Each chapter has been designed to be brief and concise with actionable steps you can take right now to unstick your deal.
Once you’ve identified why your deal is stuck you can jump right to that chapter for solutions. These short chapters are arranged into six logical parts:
- Part 1 – Preventing Deals From Sticking
- Part 2 – Unsticking Plays
- Part 3 – What Causes Stuck Deals
- Part 4 – Strategies for Unsticking Deals Caused by Sales Issues
- Part 5 – Strategies for Unsticking Deals Caused by Client Indecision
- Part 6 – Strategies for Unsticking Deals Caused by Business Case Issues
This book is for all those entrepreneurs, business leaders, and sales professionals who want to close those bloated pipelines and prevent deals from getting stuck in the first place.
Reading this book will teach you how to unstick deals, shorten your sales cycle, and prevent deals from sticking to begin with.
About the Author
James Muir is the founder and CEO of Best Practice International and the bestselling author of the #1 book on closing sales – The Perfect Close: The Secret To Closing Sales, which was featured on episode 149 of The Marketing Book Podcast in 2017.
James is a 30-year veteran of sales having served in every role – from individual contributor to executive VP.
James has an extensive background in healthcare where he has sold to and spoken for the largest names in technology and healthcare including HCA, Tenet, Catholic Healthcare, Banner, Dell, IBM and others.
And, interesting fact – he is an accomplished guitarist!
Listen to the Interview…
Links…
- Unsticking Deals: Why Deals Stall, How to Unstick Them, And How to Prevent Them From Sticking in the First Place by James Muir (Amazon)
- Unsticking Deals website with free resources
- James Muir website
- James Muir (LinkedIn)
- The Perfect Close: The Secret To Closing Sales by James Muir (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Strikingly Different Selling: 6 Vital Skills to Stand Out and Sell More by Dale Merrill, Scott Savage, Jennifer Colosimo, and Randy Illig (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- A Mind for Sales: Daily Habits and Practical Strategies for Sales Success by Mark Hunter (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Sales Gravy: Sales Training & Enablement Solutions (Jeb Blount)
- Anthony Iannarino – The Sales Blog
- The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success by Anthony Iannarino (Marketing Book Podcast interview, including links to all previous interviews)
- The Growth Leader: Strategies to Drive the Top and Bottom Lines by Scott K. Edinger (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- The AI Edge: Sales Strategies for Unleashing the Power of AI to Save Time, Sell More, and Crush the Competition by Jeb Blount and Anthony Iannarino
- SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
- How to Get a Meeting with Anyone: The Untapped Selling Power of Contact Marketing by Stu Heinecke (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Get the Meeting!: An Illustrative Contact Marketing Playbook by Stu Heinecke (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Rehumanize Your Business: How Personal Videos Accelerate Sales and Improve Customer Experience by Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Buyer Personas – Revised and Expanded: Gain Deep Insight Into Your Customers’ Buying Decisions and Win More Business by Jim Kraus and Adele Revella (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision by Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Bullseye Marketing: How to Grow Your B2B Business Faster 2nd Ed. by Louis Gudema (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
- Virtual Selling: A Quick-Start Guide to Leveraging Video, Technology, and Virtual Communication Channels to Engage Remote Buyers and Close Deals Fast by Jeb Blount (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
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