Managing the big sale

by John V. Crosby

The "big sale" differs from other kinds of sales for many reasons. It means more money, it takes more time, and it involves more people. But the single most important difference is that it isn't a single event. It's a process that must be managed from initial contact to long after "a sale" has been made. That process begins by identifying potential relationships and then developing them for the long term. Success comes from managing the information that drives these relationships as one continuous loop, from strategy to tactics to sales contact - and back again. And failure to do so means failure to make the sale. That's why Managing the Big Sale is such important reading. Its five parts provide all the practical guidance needed for developing marketing and sales efforts that work relationally - that draw together all the best insights and information from a company's marketing strategies, its marketing tacticians, and its sales force - to create and manage the entire process from init