Selling the Wheel

If you are looking for some light, entertaining reading with a great wallop, then Selling the Wheel is for you! Not intended as accurate historical tale, Selling the Wheel is a parable about sales and the sales cycle. The insights and lessons to be learned from this book are many, and they are not limited to those of us who have "sales" in our blood. In fact this approximately 255-page book may be the most valuable to the non-sales types of the business world, especially if you are an entrepreneur or inventor.

The story begins with the fundamental questions – Who are your customers? Then moves on to an equally fundamental next question – who are your competitors? The book covers the entire sales universe and includes all the major issues of sales and marketing. Described in exquisite detail are the four selling types – The Closer, The Wizard, The Builder, and The Captain & Crew. There is a sales type that is best suited for different types of salespersons and selling situations and not surprising, it is also matched to what customers value the most in a particular phase of the market’s development. You will no doubt recognize why a product didn’t make it. And if it was your product, unfortunately, this book may have come too late. But having read the book, you will now be more informed and next time more prepared. The book is full of tips for salespeople, entrepreneurs, marketing managers and others who want to really understand what sales is all about. Regardless of your perceived sophistication about the subject, you are bound to learn something. And you are guaranteed to be entertained.

Jeff Cox is a creative and prolific professional writer. He has also collaborated on several other business books – Zapp, Heroz, and The Goal. He is also the author of The Venture, a Novel for Entrepreneurs.

Howard Stevens is chairman of the HR Chally Group. Chally has collected and analyzed data about salespeople since the mid 1970s.


Selling the Wheel
Jeff Cox and Howard Stevens, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2000, 255 pages