Book Review: Making the Number by Greg Alexander, Aaron Bartels, and Mike Drapeau

First, a definition for Sales Benchmarking from Wikipedia: A sales management process used to compare a company’s sales force against other companies or against industry performance. The purpose is to identify opportunities to improve performance and to focus the efforts of a sales organization.

This book was a tough read. It is not a story of the greatness of slaes techniques. It is a text book that educates the reader on the powerful practice of benchmarking for sales. It is not for the weak at heart or those who are not prepared for the journey. It is a science manual not a motivational tome. This review is directed at the sales leaders out their that need to gain a competitive advantage. All of the entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders in sales that read my blog should heed my advice and consider this a book you should get on the shelf. That is, after wearing the page corners with many thumb turns.

Delivery: 7

As much as I appreciate the need to break the lessons of Sales Benchmarking into compartments and define them in detail, I have to say most people will never make it through this entire book. The language is just to high brow, and the data is too much for the busy mind of the sales leader. That said, it is well presented and thorough in its delivery. If you do absorb and finish this book, you will have a tool set that gains you advantage of the rest of the sales leaders in your industry. Short of the alliances needed to accomplish your goals this book is thorough and leaves little to the imagination.

Concept: 10

While so many in the leadership community are expected to deliver tangible metrics to their CEO, the sales leaders speak to the art of sales not the science. This is why, as Greg and his team point out, the life expectancy of the Sales VP is less than 2 years. With this book we now have a set of measurements that you can track, compare, benchmark, and recycle for the good of your sales community.

There is no better way to guarantee success than to find best practices and implement them. “Making the Number” delivers a concept that will work for anyone willing to commit to the complete process. I believe this because it is not far from what I do when I establish strategy and process for my own clients.

Message: 8

There is only one detail in this book that I would not adhere to. This may be because I am used to the startup mentality of getting it done with less. Perhaps it is that so many of the companies I work for do not have peers yet. What is involved in this process of benchmarking is comparitive analysis. Alexander, Bartels, and Drapeau recommend, well really insist that you go to an outside organization to analyze this data. I feel that this is something that the leaders must do themselves. True, this is a monumental task, but in the doing is the understanding. If you uncover this data alng with your team the process holds a grat deal of education and so many breakthroughs come from this research. The authors will have a litany of reasons why this is too complicated, but I hold to my opinion.

Aside from this one difference in opinion, I agree with every iota of what they are sharing. From measurements to data study, from comparative analysis to execution, the manner in which the team helps you strive to become a world class sales team is one I would recommend for all companies.

Overall score: 8.5

The only things that stop this book from getting a higher rating are:

1. As a text book/science manual it is not palatable to the entire community. It is not a question of education, but a question of the time it would take to read, absorb, and accept the concepts as the right ones. Take me for my word, they are, but it will cost the writers some of their readership. Perhaps a “Sales Benchmarking for Dummies” accompaniment is in order.
2. The book is really meant for the sales leader in the large organization. Not enough time is spent sharing how the smaller company can take advantage of these practices. This is not to say that the concepts will not work for any sales team, just that there are not enough examples in the book. Perhaps a “Sales Benchmarking for Startups” book is in the works. If not, maybe Greg and I should talk.

To read more about the book go to  – http://salesbenchmarkingindex.com/

Also, check out this webinar from Greg - http://www.b2bpowerexchange.net/video/greg-alexander-sales

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