Hawk Keith - Get-real selling: your personal coach for real sales excellence

I am extremely beholden to the sales greats that have come before me in my business career. They have no idea how much they have influenced my skills, knowledge, beliefs, and success. Mert, Hunter, Fred, Lou, Brian, and my Irondog buddies, I hope you know how much you have shaped me and my career. Michael Boland, my co-author and business partner, also tops my list of greats who have influenced my professional development. There would be no Get-Real Selling without this relentless sales professional.

From a personal perspective, all of my work is inspired by the great family that surrounds my every thought. My sons Matt, Ryan, and AJ inspire effort, discipline, and finding fun in all things I do. Beth and Laura, my daughters-in-law, have brought much-needed female perspectives, love, and laughter to our lives. Our grandchildren, Nathan, Page, and Ella Rose, are joys who keep us young. My parents, Dean and Mary, are joyous, solid people who gave me a firm foundation on which to grow. Finally, my wife Judy is the core of my inspiration with her love, compassion for work, and self-discipline. With her constant focus on the family as our Number One priority, she is at the heart of what is truly Real. Thanks to one and all.

Keith Hawk

I learned early in my life to associate with those who are best in class, and to help others become the same. It started with my upbringing back in Frog Hollow, Pennsylvania, where my parents Joe and Renee instilled the gifts of faith, family, love, and hard work in my six brothers and sisters and me. My professional growth was shaped by mentors such as Carlos, Page, Ed, David, and Bob, who afforded me the opportunity to grow on the international stage. Thanks also to my associates at Wilson Learning and Performance Technologies, who for 25 years set the standards for excellence, and to my clients, who required my firm to continuously reinvent itself. I am also indebted to my co-author and partner Keith Hawk, who is the consummate sales professional, leader, family man, and most importantly, my friend.

I am grateful to my daughters, who all grew up in Performance Technologies and contributed to its success, and to our close family - daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren - all of whom are one anothers best friend. Finally I am eternally grateful to my wife Emilee, whose unconditional love and support has sustained us through our epic journey. She is truly the greatest get-real sale of my life!

Michael P. Boland

The secrets in this book guided me in successfully transforming a six hundred-person sales organization. The examples and insights are real world and can be put into action today and every day after. It should be on every sales executives book shelf.

R ON L AMB , Vice President of Sales, Reynolds & Reynolds

Let us start by using one of the techniques we recommend in this book. We bet you are wondering, Who are these guys? And why do they think they have something to say that will help me sell better? Heres our answer.

We have spent our entire professional lives in the world of selling. We have been on-the-street sales professionals, sales managers, and sales VPs of large corporations. As owners of a business consulting and training firm, we have consulted with hundreds of sales executives and conducted over a thousand seminars on a myriad of selling skills topics. Over the last three decades, we have developed strong, specific opinions on what defines sales and sales-leadership effectiveness. We have learned from great successes and from the occasional disappointment.

We thank you for your interest in getting Real. We want to help you maximize your potential. We want to validate your belief that selling is one of the worlds most noble professions, one that truly contributes to society. By definition, salespeople make things work better that is what we DO. People do not buy unless there is something missing or something wrong in their business or their life. As sales professionals, it is our job to discover things that are wrong and make them right with our solutions.

If you are a working sales professional who is intent on becoming more consciously competent, meaning you want to vividly understand what it takes to be great, then this book is for you. If you are interested in cutting through garbage to find specific processes, skills, and tools you can use with enthusiasm and relentless dedication to get measurable results, then this book is for you. Its all about getting Real in sales.

You now know who we are and where were coming from. We hope weve stirred your curiosity and desire to improve. Let us help you get there with Get-Real Selling!

Its been a pleasure working with Keith Hawk and Michael Boland, seasoned and successful veterans of sales and sales leadership, on Get-Real Selling . It was vitally important to them both that this book really deliver on its promises to you, a sales professional whos thirsty for ways to improve your effectiveness. I hope youll agree that theyve done just that.

Keith and Michael dont spend hundreds of pages on broad, high-level theories . They prefer to cut to the heart of what it takes to be great in the noble profession of selling. With this in mind, we structured this book in three unique ways: