David Fitzgerald - The Buying Curve: HOW TO TRULY MASTER THE COMPLETE SALES PROCESS

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2014 David Fitzgerald and Karen Holden . All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/30/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4143-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4297-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4144-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922391

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Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9

1. Chapter 10

1. Chapter 11
2. Chapter 12
3. Chapter 13
4. Chapter 14
5. Chapter 15
6. Chapter 16

1. Chapter 17
2. Chapter 18
3. Chapter 19
4. Chapter 20

This book is dedicated to Eddy and Lori who left the presentation way too soon. R.I.P

Over the last 25 years there have been numerous influences that lead to the writing of this book, but throughout the 15 years it took to write this book, I must firstly recognize Karen Holden for her patience, professionalism, and friendship because without her this book would not exist. Big thanks to Robert Kistner and the Villa Group, Shari Levitin and her staff, Ivan Kurtz (his 20 years of partnership, friendship and inspiration) all the sales people and managers I have had the pleasure to work with throughout the years (sorry I was a tad intense sometimes). Thank you to my family in England for their support, Maru for motivating me to finish the book.

To Lori who passed away during the writing of this book. To my children, Liam, Sofia and Dominique, a very special thank you and my sincere apologies as I should have spent more time with each of you instead of being in the sales room.

Lastly to the Thousands of Prospects that I toured and allowed the experiences we shared to the understanding of the Buying Curve.

If we ALL knew everything . no one would ever write a book

What exactly is a Buying Curve?

Through the years we know that schools have bell curves to evaluate students, we all have experienced learning curves, business schools teach S curves, supply and demand curves all to ensure success and profits for businessesall types of businesses, but if you web search buying curves or even business buying curves, you actually get pages of websites regarding womens fitness options. We hear the words buying curve used all the time, but if you cannot find it on a web search , what exactly is a buying curve?

A buying curve is the process by which everyone, conscious or otherwise, follows in order to purchase something. Buyers go through a buying curve when they buy and sales people follow a variation of that specific process to get the buyers to buy their product.

A successful salesperson understands that the Buying Curve is designed to walk the prospective buyer through the necessary steps in purchasing their product. Each step of the buying curve, or sales process, is essential to overcoming peoples fear of being sold, creating interest and desire with the end result of a purchase.

The Buying Curve is made of two important aspectsthe most important, The Sale and the most frustrating, No Sale. As you can see by the curve chart below, each aspect contains various steps that will either gain you a sale or lose your sale.

No matter what you are trying to sellfrom a clunker to a castle and everything in betweentheres a buyer out there for it. Somewhere, in fact, there are likely lots of buyers out there for it. The trick isas the sellerto unconsciously use the Buying Curve and understand what will motivate the buyer to buy and, more importantly, for you not get in the way of the sale.

For a good long while more than 25 years, I have been selling timeshare and been very good at itgenerating almost 1 Billion dollars in sales. Having spent decades observing what works and what doesnt work in every sales situation possible. I have also seen the industry morph from a basic buy a week a year program into a multi-faceted, multi-option, socially aware product which can meet the needs of any potential buyer. In this book, I share it all with you.

This is not a sales motivation book, as there are thousands of them already out there. This is the real deal. After years of providing sales training workshops around the world on understanding the steps of the Buying Curve, I have now given in to the many requests of writing this book as a guide to helping all types of sales personnel. Whether you are a rookie wanting to learn the right sales habits, or youre lost and need a new style, or youre very successful in your field and need a reminder of what made you great.

In the chapters that follow I will break down all of the steps of the Buying Curve, both the Sale and No Sale, but I will also include chapters on how to fix what went wrong and expand your horizons to be successful and be a leader in your field by coming full circle back to being prepared for your next sale.

Chance favors the prepared mind. This famous philosophers line is quoted time and time again but it still rings true each and every day. The process of preparing the mind must include attitude, aptitude, people and selling skills, as well as product knowledge. If you are not properly prepared, you are not selling from a position of strengthyoull be on the defensive from the start. To achieve this, the first step to a successful sale is to be prepared for everything and anything.

Would you agree or does it sound a tad dramatic? Do you believe that YOU are prepared to close a sale? In my years as Sales Director, I have seen and still see salespeople who do not understand the importance of preparation. Without a solid foundation of preparation combined with the right attitude, you will crack under the weight and pressure of a sales career. A prospect or clients first impression of you can make or break the sale. Your body language, enthusiasm and mental state all create the foundation on which a sale will be built. Preparing an effective image will enhance communications with your prospect. Think of it as getting ready for a first date.

Preparation is doing everything necessary to completely focus on the task of making a sale. All other obstacles must be eliminated. All successful salespeople prepare themselves mentally and physically every day. Good preparation gives you an unfair advantage over your competition and your prospect. Believe me when I tell you that your prospects prepared themselves before they met you, so why not be prepared to be in front of them? Preparation leaves nothing to chance. Only you, your prospect and your knowledge of the buying curve to close a sale should be factors.