The Quintessence of Sales: What You Really Need to Know to Be Successful in Sales

This book from the Quintessence series offers essential know-how on the theory and practice of sales, the main turnover and value driver of any business. Sales can be seen as the “front line” where key business successes are prepared and put into practice. Sales managers and salespeople, but also professionals from production, technology, and marketing will benefit from the concise presentation of the relevant topics. Having read this book, you should have a good understanding of the key stages of the sales process from acquiring new clients (or selling to old ones) to closing the deal, and be familiar with the most typical sales performance issues described here. Moreover, in order to create a strong sales environment, you will know which qualities are needed both by sales leaders and ideal salespersons, and how to build a winning sales team and a high-quality sales organisation. Finally, by applying the principles of sales-centric business management, you will be readily equipped for immediate and lasting sales success.

About the Authors

Stefan Hase studied business administration in Hamburg and began his career in sales in 1993 at Konica Business Machines. In 1997, he moved to Triumph-Adler, where he became human resource manager. He was there responsible for the operative personnel development of 2.500 employees and the transformation of the company into a sales driven enterprise.

On the basis of his rich experience, he founded Wirkung Plus in 2004. The subsidiary Eins Plus – Deutsche Vertriebsakademie followed in 2008. Stefan Hase works as business consultant, trainer, and keynote speaker for many well-known customers – such as Hewlett-Packard, DNV GL, Samsung, and Sennheiser – both on strategic and operational level.

Over the last decade he has designed and conducted numerous sales programs in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and trained hundreds of employees in the above-named markets. Besides his highly appreciated classroom sessions, he is also very successful in the field of coaching sales managers in their daily business. His accompaniments of relevant projects in markets such as Brazil, China or USA has provided him with a vast experience from eastern to western sales styles. He is one of the few globally experienced sales specialists.

Corinna Busch completed her vocational training as a shipping management assistant and received a B.A. in Logistics Management from Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA). After three years of working in sales and customer service positions, she studied Organizational Behaviour (M.Sc) at Aston Business School, UK. She studied, among others, the behavior of employees, teams and organizations in the implementation of strategic decisions. She came to Wirkung Plus in April 2012. As sales coach and consultant, she advises, trains and coaches employees from various industries along the sales process. At Eins Plus – Deutsche Vertriebsakademie, she is also responsible for the sales training of students who are enrolled in the FIBAA accredited distance-learning degree course “Sales & Management (B.A.)”. This training program takes place in cooperation with the Euro-FH in Hamburg (University of Applied Sciences).