Rebirth of a Salesman

This book, and the writings of Cian McLoughlin, have a common thread: humility, sincerity, and caring. Rebirth of a Salesman discusses these traits, correlates them to the modern sales professional, and demonstrates how they can be nurtured to position yourself in the rapidly changing sales climate.

Basic sales skills are easily learnt, but these soft skills become increasingly important the more senior the pitch and more complex the product being sold. The eleven topics Cian discusses are highly relevant to the modern B2B landscape, helping navigate the prevalence of buyer committees and managing your ego at every point.

Some stand out moments are:

Storytelling in a professional context. I have seen salespeople roll their eyes at this concept, because they are confusing a professional message with a child's lullaby. This skill is crucial to creating a framework for discussion, supporting your points with evidence and case-studies, and inspiring a vision for your product or service.

Questioning your actions. Cian describes it as "asking why", and there are sound arguments to support the necessity of this skill.

The importance of focussing on your customer. It's one of those concepts that seems obvious, but Cian translates his understanding of this from experience, showing the reader what it means at the highest level.

Intrinsic to the sales process is self-reflection and emotional intelligence. Considering the accelerated pace of change in the sales industry, building a brand and adapting to these changes is greatly important.

Rebirth of a Salesman is a nice book, presented in bite-sized chunks with practical advice and recommended for both experienced sales professionals, and those new to the industry.