Introduction

Dear Fellow Sales Professional:

I want this book to be the most important book you will ever read in your sales career.

Actually, I want you to look back at this and someday say that this was the most important book you've ever read in your life. I know that is a strong statement, but let me tell you why. Years ago, I was introduced to a sales philosophy and given a set of tools and techniques that changed all my sales results, and literally changed my life. I went from a struggling salesperson who hated his job, hated prospecting for business, and hated rejection, to a success. I went from driving a beat-up Nissan hatchback to driving a new Mercedes Benz. I went from struggling to pay my credit cards each month to buying my first home and furnishing it just the way I wanted it. I went from dreading waking up every morning to waking up with an enthusiasm and confidence I had never known was possible. And it was all from learning and practicing the habits and techniques I am going to teach you in this book today.

Please don't think I'm bragging, because I am not. Instead, I like what Anthony Robbins said once: "I am not telling you these things to impress you, but rather to impress upon you." What I'm trying to impress upon you today is that if I-a failing and resentful sales rep who thought that life should have dealt him a better card (I was too good to be cold calling as an inside sales rep! I should be doing something more interesting and prestigious with my college degree)-could turn my attitude, my results, and my life completely around to having the kind of freedom and success I never thought possible, that if I could do all that using the skills, philosophy, and scripts contained in this book, you can do it too.

In fact, I guarantee that if you will just follow the advice you will read in this book, you, too, can completely change your sales results. No matter how poorly (or how well) you are doing now, you can immediately begin doing better. You can begin prospecting with confidence and even get to a place where it becomes fun. Imagine that! By using the scripts and techniques in this book, you can also begin closing more sales and handling objections and stalls-that may frustrate you now-with ease. And as you learn these powerful and proven techniques, you will not only grow more confident, but you will begin to stand out in your company and in your industry. Soon, you will find yourself in the top elite of producers-the "Top 20 Percent," as I like to call them.

As you begin to change your sales results, your life will change as well. Not only will you begin elevating your lifestyle, but your future will begin to change, also. You will begin thinking about things you may not be considering now, like perhaps moving into management or becoming a director of sales or VP of sales. Some of you will begin thinking of opening your own company and using the strategies you will learn here to build a highly successful inside sales team of your own. As you become more successful using these techniques, your world will open up for you, and the sky will become the limit.

As you do all this, you will be changing your family's lives as well. Suddenly you will be able to afford a better house, better cars, and all the stuff you may wish you had now.

Your kids will be able to go to better schools because you will have the resources to afford them. You and your spouse will begin vacationing in the spots and staying in the hotels you always dreamed of staying in, if that's important to you. You will begin saving more money for retirement, and putting money into other savings and investments. You will begin living with a sense of security that you may only dream of now, because you will no longer have financial insecurity. You will be able to sleep better at night because you will finally possess the key to selling well.

All these things and more are available to you once you read and make a commitment to learning and using the strategies, scripts, and techniques you'll find in this book. Again, I know this to be true because it happened for me. Not only that, but since I figured out the secret to selling easily and with less rejection, I have also taught it to hundreds of companies and thousands of sales reps. Have they all had the results I'm promising you here? Sadly, no. Unfortunately, many sales reps were too lazy to put in the relatively brief amount of time necessary (about 90 days of committed effort) to change the way they were doing things. Instead, they continued to ad-lib their way through their sales calls, and simply relied on their old habits. As a result, as they say, "if nothing changes, nothing changes." And nothing did for them.

However, there have been hundreds of sales professionals who were ready for a better life and were willing to make the commitment, put in the effort, and follow the advice detailed in this book. They, without fail, have achieved a higher level of success and the ease and comfort that come from mastering these proven sales strategies and techniques. And, yes, many of them have gone on to be in the Top 20 Percent, and even the Top 1 Percent of the sales professionals in their respective industries. And you can, too.

I developed a mantra when I was learning these techniques all those years ago, a mantra I used to say to myself to keep me practicing and to keep me committed to changing my results. I invite you to adopt it as well. As I sat at my desk in the sea of sales reps, I would look around at the top three producers at my company (out of 25 sales reps-many struggling like me), and I thought about the results they consistently produced. They were always on top of the revenue production each month, and they were the ones who drove the nice cars, wore the nice suits, and won all the bonuses. I remember thinking that they had the same amount of hours in a day as I did. They had access to the same scripts and leads. They were selling the same product I was. That is when I developed this mantra:

"If they can do it, I can do it better!"

I was convinced that if they could do it-heck, they were just as human as I was-then I could do it better. I burned with a desire to change my life. I was sick and tired of struggling, and I knew that if they could achieve the results I wanted, then I could and would dedicate myself to learning better techniques and to critiquing myself and my approach daily (through listening to my recordings), and I would invest the time, money, and energy needed to become a top producer.

I did. By relentlessly studying, learning, and applying the strategies (especially the "Ten Characteristics of Top Sales Producers") you will read in this book, and by memorizing, drilling, rehearsing, and adapting the word-for-word scripts you will find here, within 90 days I became one of the top three producers in my company. I still remember the incredible feeling I had when I went up before all 25 reps to accept my award for being a top producer. I still remember my commitment to myself as I walked back to my chair: "And you just wait until next month," I said under my breath as I took my seat.

Nine months later, by continuing to practice and improve, I was the top producer out of five branch offices in Southern California. That next year the company elevated me to the sales manager of the other 25 sales reps in our office. Within one year, I had doubled our office's production by carefully teaching and coaching adherence to the proven principles you'll read in this book. Most sales reps I worked with immediately increased their sales, and many even moved into the Top 20 Percent. Without fail, everyone I have worked with over the years since sees improvement in direct proportion to their commitment level and their adherence to the principles and scripts in this book.

Why You Need Phone Scripts

As far as "phone scripts" go, let's address the raging debate about whether inside sales reps should use scripts or not. Everyone has an opinion on this, and while some may be on the fence about it, most people are either very against using a scripted approach, while others advocate using scripts and spend a lot of time and effort creating them for their teams. Those who don't believe in using them cite many reasons, including:

• Using scripts makes you sound like a telemarketer.
• Following a script is too confining-you have to be able to "go with the flow" of a conversation.
• You can't consult with a prospect if you're following a script.
• Scripts all sound so "sales-y" that it turns prospects off.
• People can always tell that you're reading something, so you sound unprofessional.
• You can't script out everything-sometimes you just need to be able to ad-lib a little.
• Scripts were okay in the beginning or as a guide, but now that you're a "pro," you don't need them.

And so on. I bet you can think of a few reasons yourself why you'd never be caught dead following a script.

Then there are those who believe that you absolutely must follow a script. Having written several books on phone scripts, you can imagine I subscribe to this group. Some of the reasons I believe you should follow a script are:

• Following a script actually makes you sound more professional.
• Using a carefully constructed script...