How to use this book ... (... or not to)

We learn by questioning. Little kids are great sales people because they are always asking "Why?" That is a great start and it is simple. Via the Dali Lama, we learned that Buddhist philosophy teaches to question everything: Siddhartha supposedly told his disciples to question everything, even what he taught them. The Socratic method of learning lies in asking questions. Christ advised his disciples to do the same. Today Pope Francis admonishes the faithful not to fear questioning. Even Albert Einstein spoke of the importance of questioning. Do not take anything at face value.

Here is another premise of this book: Occam's Razor. Know it? It states that in any given situation it is most likely the simplest solution or explanation is the best. With that consider another construct of the razor: don't over think the situation; be observant, and remove anything that does not make sense.

When questioning, keep it simple and have no fear or apprehension. The worst that can happen is "no" as a response. So what; move on. But never be hesitant about questioning as long as you are polite, direct, and to the point. Emotion has no place here (do not take it personally); however, "sales" for the prospect many times is emotional process, but "business" is not.

Give yourself credit for having a brain, despite all other influences to the contrary. I accept that you have one; use it. If you don't, this book won't work for you.

What you find following is the result of years of experience of not only myself but many others as well as observations of both good and bad across the continent.

What is presented herein works; it worked for me and worked for the people I observed doing it. The question is, will it work for you?

T hat depends upon you. If you are seeking information to validate your decision to accept sales as a career, you will find straight forward "talk" to consider. If it makes sense to you, if it resonates, whether you have yet to start your career or have already started, then work to make it yours.

You can't do me any more than I can do you. See the chapter on "Making it yours" to understand some methods you may employ to take ownership and put your stamp on what you have learned to do.

The internet is crowded with information about selling: how to techniques; psychology of selling; psychology of buyers; how to read body language to your advantage; consultant selling, solution selling, commodity selling, financial selling, prospecting, closing, qualifying, training, consultant services, and on and on and on. Find what you like, see if you can make it yours; if it resonates, and try it.

To imply that the methods herein are the only ones that work would be the height of conceit and erroneously proselytizing. And I hate that.

There may be times when you are told "what" to do, rather than "how" to do it. Learning "how" is a better route than being told "what". If all you are hearing is "what" to do, find someone who will show you "how", otherwise, leave.

Look for a "mentor", someone in the organization who is willing to guide and help you through the early days and months of your career. Look for someone who is very good at what they do and has had a lot of time on the job; someone you feel confident can show you, or at least explain, "how".

Make your own decisions. But think first. Do homework, research, due diligence, until you are satisfied that the path you choose is the right one for you.

Don't fear failure. It is part of learning, an important part. Don't let failure stop your enthusiasm, your desires. A good leader will understand his failures as well as those of his followers and not begrudge or judge them for it.

Just don't stew over it or make failure a habit.

Odds are that you will come across many people, both sales people and buyers, who are prone to saying "trust me" as a way to acceptance. You may take for granted that many buyers do not trust sales people for any number of reasons, some because of pervious bad experiences, some because they lack confidence, some because they feel no resonance and make a negative decision based on first impressions. But trust is critical to success today, and continued success tomorrow.

Lincoln said that you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time; Robin Williams said that you can fool some of the people all of the time and "abuse" the rest. But you can count on what goes around comes around; it is like a law of physics.

Take what you read within here, make it yours, and use it to your advantage. Or, consider all this and make your own, educated, decisions.

Trust me.

The Sales Professional's Index

The following is the result of a lot of internet searching and the credit goes to the authors of numerous blogs and sites offering sales help and solutions on many levels. It should be remembered that while the internet is considered to be an ocean of information, parts of it are shoals two inches or less deep.

The point remains, however, that sales today is not perfect, nor are sales professionals, managers, and buyers and a process that is a combination of natural aptitude, science, and art is about as difficult to corral as it would be to herd cats. Sales is neither fish nor fowl but a simple process that is equally valuable to the buyer as it is to the sales person

Use your own best judgement, but keep in mind the lessons that lurk behind the lines. Trust your gut.

12.3% of all jobs are in sales, inside and out

1 Trillion dollars are spent annually on sales forces

55% of sales people should be doing something else other than sales

64% of sales people fail because they are in the wrong sales job

50% of sales managers admit they are too busy to train or develop their sales force

50% of sales people have no planned approach

50% of sales professionals do not have a playbook

The win rate exceeds 50% for 66% of the companies that have a defined sales process

Those with a playbook are 33% more likely to be high performers

The national sales closing rate is estimated to be 27%

67% of all sales people do not attain individual quota

27% of all companies do not even know if their sales force has...