Mark Evans - Raise Your Standards: The Definitive Guide to Building Seven-Figure Sales

The Definitive Guide to Building Seven-Figure Sales

Mark Evans

Stafford Street Press

copyright 2019 mark evans

All rights reserved.

raise your standards

The Definitive Guide to Building Seven-Figure Sales

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations printed in reviews.

isbn 978-1-5445-0535-0 Hardcover

isbn 978-1-5445- 0533-6 Paperback

isbn 978-1-5445-0534-3 Ebook

To My Girls

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v.

If you dont set a baseline standard for what youll accept in life, youll find it easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life thats far below what you deserve.

Tony Robbins

Let me start by saying, I should have never written a book. Well, at least thats what I told myself for long months and thousands of words pounded out at my dining room table, office, local coffee shop, or wherever else I could squeeze some time in.

See, I should never have written a book because Im not an author. Authors are people who went to a fancy school, studied Shakespeare and the Classics. Theyve spent years refining their craft, submitting essays, and smoking pipes in wood-paneled rooms on Harvard Square.

Thats what I used to think.

But, throughout the years watching my familys businesses mature and working for some of the fastest moving and growing companies in the United States, I saw some things that I couldnt keep quiet about anymore.

These companies dont multiply because they got lucky or made a viral cat video. Businesses and salespeople accelerate because theyre intentional about business and sales.

Ive got a soft spot in my heart for small business. I remember being four years old, and my family loading up our brown station wagon with my three sisters and our worldly possessions.

Little did I know that my parents had mortgaged everything to pursue their version of the American Dream. A Dream that looked like a one-employee print shop in southeastern Wisconsin, four hours away from everyone we knew and all of our extended family.

My dad had grown up in the printing business with his father and brothers (hes the oldest of 15 kids!), and while the partnerships had always worked out pretty well, he and my mom were determined to do it on their own.

So they shoved all their chips into the center of the table and bought a small print shop with older equipment and an even older employee that they inherited.

Call it foreshadowing, but the first day there my younger sister Beth almost electrocuted herself by thinking her hair barrette was a key and a wall electrical outlet was a lock! Then, no less than 20 minutes later, Beth fell down the creaky steps that led to the boiler. Imagine being in town for a few hours and the Evans tribe was already familiar with the Emergency Room staff.

Fast forward 30 years later and my parents savor their well-earned retirement. As they should. They built a very successful operation, were a cornerstone of community involvement, and a fixture in the business community. Im really proud of them.

Because of that upbringing, I see every salesperson as part business ownerno matter if theyre a solopreneur or on a large team at a Fortune 500 company. If youre in sales, youre a small business owner. Youre responsible for the success of your book of business, just like business owners like my dad are responsible for the success of their business.

I know I started by saying I shouldnt have written a book, but what I lack in literary prose I make up for in enthusiasm and a willingness to share everything Ive got. Ready to keep going?

Section One

This book is for:

1. People who are new to sales
2. Veteran salespeople
3. Business owners

If youre starting in sales, let me congratulate you. Youre entering the highest earning profession there is! The opportunity to be world-class and make a fortune has never been better. This book will help you get there. And its the book I sure as hell wish I had when I started in my first professional sales gig years ago.

If youre a veteran salesperson, chances are you need a little shot in the arm! We all do. Sales is a tough gig, and you need encouragement just as much as you need oxygen. So if youre trying to grind out a quota, maximize your commission plan and grow your sales career, I have the tools and tactics youre going to love and be able to use immediately. I also know how hard it can be to make action happen. This book will serve as a nice dose of enthusiasm.

If youre a business owner, youre in for a treat. If you put the strategies to work in this book, you can have a sales team that produces consistent results allowing you more freedom in your organization. These systems dont work on their own and need to be implemented with confidence and ruthlessly adhered to if you want to make some real headway.

Business owners are the backbone of the economy and the driver of growth. I know firsthand that an increase in sales doesnt show up on Wall Street or earn a mention in Forbes. An increase in sales means the difference between growing or dying. Its the difference between offering your employees a pay increase or having to let them go. Its the difference between buying new equipment or getting pushed out by bigger competitors. See for business owners, sales arent just numbers. Sales are the absolute lifeblood of your organization. Its the difference between pursuing your dream or having to go work for someone else.

Truth be told, this book is for people like you and I who know well have to work hard and smart to see results. Its for people who keep their eyes and ears openpeople who want to leverage their true potential to create a life of extraordinary proportions.

Its for new salespeople, salespeople who are not where they want to be, and people who are where they want to be but know the value of sharpening their swords. Its for sales thats business to business and business to consumer, nationwide and local, big teams and small teams. Its for people who sell refrigerators and software and cat meme T-shirts. Its for people in big fancy offices and people working out of their basements. Its for CEOs and sales leaders who either grow their business via sales or they go out of business.

In short, this book is for people who actually give a shit about their company, their success, and their future.

So welcome. And, thanks for picking up this book. Honestly, Im honored.

My name is Mark Evans and I wrote this book with a lot of help from my wife, Katie. Im a millennial thats sold something (well, lots of things actually) in this decade. Ive managed new grads and baby boomers. Ive made over six figures since I was twenty-four and am responsible for adding millions of dollars in revenue and developing sales systems that work. I love my wife, mow my lawn while drinking a beer, spend my summers training for triathlons, and believe pure happiness is making my two daughters laugh.