Selling the Wheel

Book excerpt: Once upon a time, there was a guy named Max. One night, Max has a brilliant idea. He set to work and after years of trial and error, he invents the Wheel. But how can he sell it? Human beings have been getting along very well without the Wheel for thousands of years and when Max tries to sell them the Wheel they laugh. Max refuses to give up, and with the help of Ozzie the Oracle, Max and his wife Minnie discover each of four essential selling styles: Closer, Wizard, Builder and Captain & Crew. Each style is suited to a different type of salesperson and matched to what customers value the most at a particular phase of the market's development. In the end the Wheel is more than the product used as an example in the story; it is also a symbol of market cycle. As the market evolves, then so also must selling style and strategy change. There is no right way - and no one company can be all things to all customers.