Pitch Perfect by John Leach & John Moon.
Published by Capstone Publishing Ltd

John Leach and John Moon draw on over twenty-five years of experience in helping businesses and individuals to achieve sales and business development excellence.

John leach is MD of Winning Pitch Ltd, a management consultancy running in-house and public programme to assist their corporate clients to improve their market share and sales performances. This book aims to instil confidence in the salesman, and to encourage sustainable innovation where it matters.

Divided into four main sections, the first deals with business development success and performances. The second with the three main principles set out by the author, the third with the finding, winning & keeping of customers and the last with how to pull everything together. The step-by-step approach is easy to follow and the illustrations and examples make perfect sense. It’s a very good textbook.

Pitch Perfect
Review by Melissa Pell, new business director, TriDirect.

What is one of the most important components of a successful company – and one that is most lacking in corporate life today? Yes, the skill of business development and customer retention.

We all know that in today’s crowded marketplace, more than ever, competitive advantage needs to be articulated and differentiation needs to be demonstrated. Yet in environments where we are overloaded with information, we need to be able to sift out and implement the ‘most effective business and management innovations quickly.

The Pitch Perfect view is that business development has evolved, with the sales role becoming a problem solving and consultancy one. Consequently, a complete new set of skills is required. However, much of what is covered in the book is about understanding the subtle interactions between people and what motivates and satisfied those relationships. All to often, we make life difficult for ourselves by over completing ideas. Pitch Perfect is simple, down to earth book that offers practical solutions. If you really do want to win, then this is the book for you.
Read On!

Pitch Perfect

Date issue: Tuesday 29 June 2004

Any salesperson worth their salt will tell you that you can never think you know everything about your craft. A good thing, then, that books such as these are routinely published to allow sales professionals to brush up on their skills. Of course, Pitch Perfect doesn’t purport to be brush up guide, but in fact it fulfils this functions perfectly well.

Authors Leach and Moon have put together a wonderfully stimulating product which, while often going over predictable ground, (“first impressions count”) still manages to do so in a concise and entertaining way. It would be easy for a book like this to tackle sales motivation in a hackneyed way, but we’re impressed by the relaxed and easily digestible way in which the book’s Pitch Perfect principles are ahem, pitched.