Robert L. Shook - The Perfect Sales Presentation: These Five Top Sales Professionals Show You, Step by Step, How To Sell Successfully

PROSPECT: I said Im not interested.

SALESMAN: I understand, Bill. But before I leave, may I ask you a question? Youre familiar with the value of the U.S. Patent Office, arent you?

PROSPECT: Yes, I am. What are you getting at?

SALESMAN: Well, believe it or not, during John Quincy Adamss administration, Congress came within three votes of killing it! Congress believed that all the good ideas had already been patented and wanted to save the taxpayers money. Since then, of course, weve been deluged with technological inventions: radios, automobiles, television, typewriters, dictating equipment, copying machines, computers, orbiting satellites, and who knows what all, even in your own business. The question I would like to ask before I leave, Bill, is: Have you closed your patent office?

PROSPECT: No. Not if you put it that way, Michael.

SALESMAN: Well, sit down for a few minutes and let me show you whats in this briefcase.

THE PERFECT SALES PRESENTATION

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BANKS

BUSINESS WRITING

CASHING IN ON THE AMERICAN DREAM

DOING IT NOW

EFFECTIVE LISTENING

GET A JOB IN 60 SECONDS

GET TO THE POINT

GETTING THINGS DONE

GUERRILLA TACTICS IN THE JOB MARKET

MARKETING YOURSELF

NO BULL SELLING

NO NONSENSE MANAGEMENT

184 BUSINESSES ANYONE CAN START AND MAKE A LOT OF MONEY

168 MORE BUSINESSES YOU CAN START AND MAKE A LOT OF MONEY

PAY YOURSELF WHAT YOURE WORTH

THE PERFECT SALES PRESENTATION

THE RENEWAL FACTOR

THE ROBERT HALF WAY TO GET HIRED

SPEAK FOR SUCCESS

THE 220 BEST FRANCHISES TO BUY

YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING

WHAT THEY DONT TEACH YOU IN HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

THE WINNING PERFORMANCE

THE PERFECT SALES PRESENTATION

A Bantam Book
Bantam hardcover edition / December 1986

Cover photo credits:
Mary Kay Ash: Francesco Scavullo
Buck Rodgers: Bachrach
Bettye Hardeman: Bern-Art Studio
Joe Gandolfo: Dick Phillips
Martin Shafiroff: David Savatteri
Author photo of Robert L. Shook by David Kopolvic

All rights reserved.
Copyright 1986 by Robert L. Shook.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shook, Robert L., 1938
The perfect sales presentation.

1. Selling. I. Title.
HF5438.25.S56 1986 658.85 86-47566
eISBN: 978-0-307-80362-7

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words Bantam Books and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

v3.1

To Bettye, Buck, Joe, Marty, and Mary Kay

Without whom the Perfect Sales Presentation wouldnt have been possible.

In memory of my brother, Richard R. Shook

Acknowledgments

This book could not have been written without the participation of the five members of the sales experts panel: Mary Kay Ash, Joe Gandolfo, Bettye Hardeman, Buck Rodgers, and Martin Shafiroff. Each devoted many hours of valuable time, giving me full cooperation in my research. I am truly indebted to these dear, wonderful friends.

I am grateful to Jim McEachern, CEO and chairman of the board of Tom James Company, who generously gave me his valuable time and shared his sales knowledge. The Tom James Companys highly professional sales organization also provided me with vital data on the mens clothing industry. And special thanks to Tom Jamess super salesperson, Naresh Khanna, whom I had the privilege to observe in action when I spent a day in the field with him in Atlanta. And also to Jim Rieser, their representative in Columbus.

My thanks to Warren Cox, Judi Levine, and Mary Liff for their assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.

As usual, my good friend and agent, Al Zuckerman, served as my mentor. I always appreciate his advice. And last but not least, a special thank you to my editor, Linda Cunningham, who insisted that I rewrite a major portion of the manuscript after I thought I was finished. I did, but with reluctanceand when the manuscript was completed, I knew Linda was so right.

Its easy to write a good book with the kind of support these wonderful people gave me.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

I spent seventeen years in sales prior to becoming a full-time writer, so I know the importance of getting right to the point.

The purpose of this book is to teach you how to make The Perfect Sales Presentation. To anyone who earns his or her livelihood selling, the possession of such a sales presentation is utopian. Imagine being able to apply infallible selling techniques every time you are face-to-face with a prospect. During my selling days I often fantasized about the joy of being equipped with such surefire ammunitiononly to dismiss my thoughts as pipedreams. Is perfection ever attainable?

For the record, I never entertained the illusion that I alone could create a perfect sales presentation. I think it would be presumptuous for anyone to attempt that feat singlehandedly. However, I did believe that such perfection could be approached through the joint efforts of some of the worlds greatest salespersons; it would take a combined effort of a group consisting of the top sales experts in five very different fields.

In my search for the ultimate sales presentation, I organized the most distinguished group of sales experts ever assembled. Each of these five people is the best in his or her field. From their combined, varied sales experiences and vast acumen the ideal sales presentation has evolved.

Allow me to introduce the five members of this elite group, some of whom may already be familiar to you: