How to Acquire Clients: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner

Follow the expert advice in this book––the fourth in The Ultimate Consultant Series––and you won′t fall victim to the success plateau that undermines many consultants. If you feel that your work has become easier, it may be that you′re not climbing "up" but rather moving laterally. And, sooner or later, your plateau will begin to erode and you′ll find yourself on a decline. In How to Acquire Clients, Alan Weiss, internationally recognized consultant and author of the best–selling Million Dollar Consulting, shows you how to continue to move "up the mountain."
"Alan Weiss′s wisdom wins contacts, clients, and contracts. Buy this book and use it every day."
––Jeff Gitomer, author, The Sales Bible and Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless
"Concise, practical, real–world strategies to get the contract. Weiss reveals how to land the big business fast."
––Randy Gage, president, Gage Direct Marketing
"Alan Weiss has done it again! This book is a real eye opener for those of us who may have fallen into what he describes as ′the success trap.′ Incredible insight into how to recharge your marketing and sales batteries!"
––George Morrisey, author Morrisey on Planning series
"How to Acquire Clients should be required reading for anyone who sells for a living. I read this book and was struck by how relevant Alan′s advise is to what we need to do––and keep doing."
––Jarvis Coffin, CEO, BURST! Multimedia, LLC


Spis treści:
Introduction.
C H A P T E R 1 Identifying Targets of Opportunity: You Seldom Awake in the Morning withPeople Waving Money in Your Face.
Three Conditions Essential to SuccessfulSelling.
Generalizing and Specializing: The Viewfrom Contrarian Land.
Customized Assaults: When There Is a Single Target Too Appealing to Resist.
Strategies for Isolating and Hitting NewTargets of Opportunity.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 2 How to Prepare for Success inAcquiring New Business: The Allies Didn t Simply Decide to Take a TripAcross the English Channel One Morning.
The Frontal Attack.
The Flanking Maneuver.
Infiltration.
When the Buyer Comes to You (Build It,and They Will Come).
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 3 How to Build Relationships withEconomic Buyers: Most Consultants Don t Stop Selling LongEnough to Really Make a Sale.
Behavioral Predispositions: Funny ThingsThat Buyers Do.
Controlling the Discussion (Killing MeSoftly with His Song . . .).
Emotional Targeting.
Drawing a Line in the Sand for UnacceptableBehaviors.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 4 Rebutting Objections Once and for All: If You Hear a New Objection, Then You Haven tBeen Listening in the Past.
The Four Major Areas of Objections.
Rebutting Arguments in the FourBasic Areas.
Visualizing the Future.
Sample Objections and Rebuttals.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 5 Sixteen Great Acquisition Sources: Why Go Around the Block to Get Next Door?
The First Four.
The Second Four.
The Third Four.
The Fourth Four.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 6 Winning Friends and InfluencingPeople: How to Build Support from Those Who LoatheYour Arrival.
Providing Value Early and for Free.
Building Momentum Among Key Advisors.
Dealing with Committees.
Overcoming Threat Factors.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 7 Gaining Market Share from Others: Stealing Is Legal in the Sales Business.
Harvesting Low Hanging Fruit .
Creating High Visibility.
Waiting for Someone Else s Bad News.
More Techniques to Trespass on OthersProperty.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 8 Guaranteeing the Ultimate Business:Repeat Business;
Ho w to Think of the Fourth Sale First.
What Is the Fourth Sale?
The Three Keys to Cementing RelationshipsRather Than Selling Business.
Developing Trust Through Pushback.
The Present–Value Discount Principle in Action.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 9 A Dozen New Sources of Clients: The World Is Changing and So Are Your Prospects.
1. Global Alliances.
2. Remote Learning.
3. Entrepreneurs.
4. Universities and Higher Education.
5. The Professions: Medical, Legal,Accounting.
6. Mature High–Tech.
7. The Retired, the Recreating, the Hobbyist.
8. Behavior Modification.
9. Life Balance.
10. Sales Skills.
11. Cultural Accommodation.
12. Knowledge Assimilation/ManagementApplication.
From My Time in the Trenches.
C H A P T E R 10 The Process of Selective Acquisition: How to Reject and Abandon Business in Orderto Grow.
The Ten Very Good Reasons for RejectingProspective Business.
The Five Very Good Reasons for Pullingthe Plug on Existing Business.
Managing New Business Potential and Profit.
The Mercedes–Benz Syndrome.
From My Time in the Trenches: Chapter 10.
From My Time in the Trenches: The Book.
Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Alan Weiss–author, international consultant, highly sought keynote speaker–is the founder and president of Summit Consulting Group. His clients have included Hewlett–Packard, State Street Corp., Fleet Bank, Coldwell Banker, Merrill Lynch, American Press Institute, Chase, Mercedes–Benz, GE, American Institute of Architects, and Arthur Andersen. He is the author of The Ultimate Consultant (Jossey–Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001) and Getting Started in Consulting (John Wiley & Sons, 2000). Weiss resides with his wife Maria in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

Okładka tylna:
Follow the expert advice in this book––the fourth in The Ultimate Consultant Series––and you w on′t fall victim to the success plateau that undermines many consultants. If you feel that your work has become easier, it may be that you′re not climbing "up" but rather moving laterally. And, sooner or later, your plateau will begin to erode and you′ll find yourself on a decline. In How to Acquire Clients, Alan Weiss, internationally recognized consultant and author of the best–selling Million Dollar Consulting, shows you how to continue to move "up the mountain."
"Alan Weiss′s wisdom wins contacts, clients, and contracts. Buy this book and use it every day."
––Jeff Gitomer, author, The Sales Bible and Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless
"Concise, practical, real–world strategies to get the contract. Weiss reveals how to land the big business fast."
––Randy Gage, president, Gage Direct Marketing
"Alan Weiss has done it again! This book is a real eye opener for those of us who may have fallen into what he describes as ′the success trap.′ Incredible insight into how to recharge your marketing and sales batteries!"
––George Morrisey, author Morrisey on Planning series
"How to Acquire Clients should be required reading for anyone who sells for a living. I read this book and was struck by how relevant Alan′s advise is to what we need to do––and keep doing."
––Jarvis Coffin, CEO, BURST! Multimedia, LLC