SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - December 6, 2010) - Endless and impossible targets, the pressure to create revenue and off the wall office one-upmanship are the stuff of comedy in this satirical debut novel highlighting the ups and downs of life in sales and balancing the new business pipeline of requirements with closing a deal. Launching today, The Deal is available as a free eBook and can be downloaded at www.saleslovesfinance.com. It takes a no-holds-barred view of the age-old tenacious relationship between sales and finance, with something for everyone: comedy, corporate intrigue, and even some office romance.
The Deal tells a story all too familiar to those in corporate office culture. An overly aggressive salesperson, hell bent on making High Achievers Club, is forced together with a by-the-numbers, buttoned-up accountant to resolve the problems that plague so many companies: walking a tightrope between the new business pipeline of requirements and closing the next big sales deal.
Praise for The Deal
"This is a very original -- and very humorous -- look at the intricate relationship between sales and finance. It delivers the pivotal lessons of the new era of computing in an entertaining way. A great read."
Marc Benioff, Chairman & CEO, salesforce.com
"The book is sophisticated enough to blow past the ordinary stereotypes of what makes up a sales 'guy' and a finance 'person' and shows you the more granular -- and truer -- way they interact at companies. Then it goes on to give you guideposts on actually resolving those often destructive tensions. I literally read this short book in one sitting."
Paul Greenberg, Author, CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition
"The move to cloud computing is, rather than some assume, much more than a replacement of in-house IT with outsourced. Rather it is a fundamental change which enables a level of transparency, collaboration and efficiency that was simply impossible previously. The Deal tells that story in an engaging and entertaining way."
Ben Kepes, Industry analyst
The Deal was done in collaboration with FinancialForce.com, the leading provider of online cloud accounting solutions. The FinancialForce.com team contributed real-life anecdotes from their experiences of working closely with sales and finance teams who have found success in moving to cloud CRM and accounting solutions.
"The Deal is the new handbook for those frustrated stars of sales and finance who know there's a better way to work together," said Jeremy Roche, President & CEO of FinancialForce.com. "The Deal is a satirical way to look at a serious subject and shares our goal to unite sales and finance. We hope people enjoy this creative and humorous approach to telling an important story and can take some inspiration from it."
Free copies of the book are available while stocks last at the DreamForce conference this week, booth #806 or go to www.saleslovesfinance.com to download a free copy of the book for Kindle, iPad or other e-readers.
Excerpts from the book
Dave Whitman, Sales: "We are not on the same side. You're in Finance. I'm in Sales. We're the chicken and the fox. The dying man and the buzzard. The dingo and the baby. We are natural enemies. It's nothing personal. It's just the way it is. Your job is to make my life harder. My job is to prevent you from torpedoing deals."
Jessica Holmes, Finance: "If the company is a body, Sales is the ears. Finance is the brain. We take raw information and do something with it. And we're the heart. Because the lifeblood of this company is revenue, and who controls that? We do. We regulate the blood. Which makes us the liver, too, now that I think about it. And the spleen. We manage the waste of your expense reports. We're essentially the entire body. Except the ears."
"...we have a gnome. To tell who last updated the spreadsheet. We call him Gerald. He's--"
"A gnome."
"He's a little toy with green boots and a red hat. You know. A plastic toy. And if you need to update the spreadsheet, you look around the office to see who's got the gnome. Then you ask them to email you the spreadsheet. And you take the gnome, so the next person knows who has the latest version. It's not as stupid as it sounds."
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Maria Krinsky
Reidy Communications for FinancialForce.com
maria@reidycommunications.com
(415) 704-5012