Alex Goldfayn - 5-Minute Selling: The Proven, Simple System That Can Double Your Sales ... Even When You Dont Have Time

ALEX GOLDFAYN

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SELLING BOLDLY

2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-119-68765-8 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-119-68770-2 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-1-119-68768-9 (epub)

Cover design and image: Wiley

To Lisa, who makes our lives possible with quiet elegance and grace.

And to Bella and Noah, who both inspire me daily and teach me that anything is possible.

I completed writing this book in early 2020, pre-Covid 19, pre-lockdown. It was written in normal times, for normal times.

In the ensuing months, the world changed dramatically, and with it, business.

In turn, the selling process was turned upside down:

Outside salespeople could no longer be on the road.

Nearly all salespeople started working remotely, from home.

So did most of our customers.

And so, the rules of engagement have changed.

And you will find that, compared to normal times, all of the proactive selling techniques described in this book are even more important and effective in a world changed by pandemic.

This is because 5-Minute Selling is about systematically communicating with our customers and prospects, and showing them that we care about them.

It's about being more present.

It's about helping more customers more.

And our customers need this more than ever. Especially in a crisis, or a recession.

They haven't heard from a lot of salespeople during the pandemic lockdown, nor after.

My clients reported nearly unanimously during the lockdown that their competition was not calling on their customers. I heard varying versions of this quote countless times: My customers report that I'm the only one calling them. The competition must not care.

Think about your own phone during the lockdown. Were suppliers calling much? As you'll read in this book, suppliers don't call very much in good times.

Now? Most of your competition is in a defensive position.

As I write this, very few salespeople are on offense.

It's understandable. Salespeople are paralyzed by fear. And not just fear of rejection, but fear of job loss; fear for their families; fear for their health.

Here's the thing though: our customers are also afraid. For their health. For their families. For their jobs.

Our customers need us now.

Your customers need you, especially now.

Don't leave them stranded.

Be present.

And guess what?

This is far easier post-pandemic than in normal times.

Your customers are far more available during this crisis, and in its aftermath.

You can reach anybody you want, because nearly everybody is available.

Many of our customers are working at home. Nobody is traveling. Nobody is going to meetings except virtual ones.

It's interesting that post pandemic, with the decrease in in-person selling, the telephone is our single most important tool.

Post-pandemic, the telephone is just as important to successful selling as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, before email.

Luckily, a significant portion of this book is about quickly planning your highest-impact proactive calls, and making them. You'll learn who to call and what to say, and a variety of ways to ask them what you can help them with.

And you'll develop an expertise that will help you succeed now during this difficult time and also one that will serve you well for years and decades to come.

So let's play some offense.

Let's go help our customers and prospects.

Let's help them through this time.

And as a result, they will remember you forever.

And they will reward you with business now, and for many years to come.

Good luck, and best wishes for good health and great success.

Alex Goldfayn

May 15, 2020

Today I run a thriving consulting business, but it hasn't always been this way. Multiple times in our lives, my wife of 19 years, Lisa, and I have been flat out of money. Thankfully, those years are distant in the rearview mirror, but the thing I remember most about those times is that in the early years, when we were in our 20s, she believed in me more than I believed in myself. That means, quite literally, that neither this book, nor the four before it, nor, quite frankly, anything else that I've attained professionally would have happened without her support, grace, invaluable input, and love.

My children, 11-year-old twins Bella and Noah, are my reason for doing this work and enduring the risks and travails of entrepreneurship. They're a daily inspiration to me: Noah is deeply insightful, effortlessly analytical, wise beyond his years, and playful, and he has a depth of self-control and determination that most adults would be thrilled to have. Meanwhile, Bella is incredibly focused and strong, has a wicked sense of humor, and is a wonderful friend to those who are close to her. She's also a world-class expert at perseverance, particularly when it comes to her chosen sport of ninja, at which she excels. I work to make these amazing little people proud.