SELLING THE WHEEL - An Amazing Sales Fiction!!!

SALES & MARKETING! Whenever we hear these words (especially those who are uninitiated), the first thing that pops in our mind is a salesman at our doorstep, trying to sell us some something. There’s a general perception around sales & marketing that they are entry level jobs. Something which probably isn’t very intellectually challenging but rather is a labor-intensive profession. Up until now I have been guilty of believing most of these.

Our lack of knowledge is partly to blame for the misconceptions a lot of us have developed about sales & marketing universe. Luckily, a friend of mine recommended me this book – ‘Selling the Wheel’ which I would credit for enlightening me about this very interesting and crucial vertical of any and every business.

The book revolves around the lives of a young entrepreneur couple ‘Max’ & ’Minnie’ set in the pre-wheel era. Max invents the wheel and believes that it’s so revolutionary an invention that everyone will line up outside his workshop to buy the wheel whatever the costs. To his utter disappointment, that isn’t how it goes down instead he’s being laughed at for trying to sell the wheel.

Here’s when Max’s & Minnie’s entrepreneurial journey begins. Being counselled by the great oracle, the couple starts the hunt for their perfect sales manager and as their business grows, so does their sales strategies. Along the story line, you experience the metamorphosis of the product along with the market, you see the 4 types of sales geniuses, the couple hires along the way, going ALL IN to become the best.

The book very elegantly conveys the message of Doing the right thing at the right time. You understand how a Closer cannot deal in selling a commodity as it isn’t there in her blood and how you can’t expect a Captain & her crew to sell THE DREAM, THE FUTURE to a commoner. Each of the 4 sales strategy have their own market, their own capabilities to handle the breadth and depth, their nitty-gritties and their nuance. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance that we understand who our clients are and what they want, and then choose the most apt strategy to seal the deal.

The author has very gracefully woven all these mini lessons into the story, thus keeping the reader engaged in the twists and turns of the fiction, all the while very subtly schooling us. A very peculiar example of it is the merger between Max Wheel Company & Imum Industries, after years of competing with each other, leading to Maximum Wheel Corporation. The names combining to unwind a clever plot by the author, it’s like a great magic trick that finally unfolds and leaves the audience in a state of Awe.

And if you are thinking that it’s a 250-page tale about a fantasy world, a world which probably all of us have sometime conjured in our minds, dreaming to be the owner of a huge corporation, making exponential growth with every right decision after another, let me clear it out for you! You couldn’t be further from the truth. The book brings in a handful of very real and existential crisis in the lives of the entrepreneur couple, leading to them making their fair share of bad decisions. Teaching us, that life’s always messy and it can get messier if one is careless about it.

A very real and maybe a little sad truth the author shares with us is - you cannot have it all. As a product grows and sets its foot in the final phase of the market, it reaches a commodity status. Its utility at that stage of product life is so wide-spread that it’s practically impossible for any single entity to control and cater to all aspects of it. Here is where the author reveals that any corporation should at maximum operate in only 2 of the 4 segments if they want to be profitable. Otherwise the complexity, the economies of scale and economies of scope altogether go haywire. And this choice of field of operation should meticulously consider the strengths and the vision of the company as a whole or else it can lead to catastrophic ends to a once gigantic organization. That precisely was the fate of Imum Industries.

On a lighter note, the author doesn’t forget to add a little spice to the story with the a few fortunate accidents which leads to another notable invention by happenstance. All in all, the book not just opens you up to the sales world but also inspires you to learn a thing or two about marketing by developing in you an appreciation for the skill of salesmanship.

To all my friends out there, especially people in the STEM field, I believe it would be worth your while to give this book a read. If you are a budding entrepreneur, it’s a MUST READ!!!!!