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Copyright 2014 by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. and Tigran, LLC
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ISBN 978-1-4555-5058-6
E3
How to Master the Art of Selling
The Official Guide to Success
Mastering the Art of Selling Real Estate
Low Profile Selling
Sell It Today, Sell It Now, co-authored by Pat Leiby
The Certifiable Salesperson, co-authored by Laura Laaman
Selling for Dummies
Sales Prospecting for Dummies
Sales Closing for Dummies
How to Master the Art of Selling Financial Services
Selling in Tough Times
Other books by Ben Katt
Joyful Relationships
The Power of Persuasive Preaching
Tom Hopkins
To my beautiful and loving wife, Michele, who said yes to sharing her life with me.
Ben Katt
To Kristina, my dear wife, who faithfully stands by her sales man.
The authors would both like to acknowledge and thank Judy Slack, Vice President of Business Development for Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for her role in keeping the communication flowing between all parties involved, coordinating the workflow, and copyediting the original draft of this manuscript.
Special thanks, also, to the legions of sales professionals around the world who allow us to continue to practice our craft. Thank you for constantly challenging us to come up with new ways to help you do the job of serving your clients well.
You wont win every potential sales opportunity. Even the highest-income-earning sales professionals in your industry walk away empty-handed at times. Its simply the nature of the business. Once you readily admit that, youll stop looking for the magic bullet for closing every sale. Then youll be in the right frame of mind to learn strategies that can help you win more sales than ever beforeincluding those where the buyer says no, not once but multiple times.
Selling is a gamea sportwhere the players prepare, do the best possible job they know how to do in the field, and take home the trophy of a closed transaction frequently enough to satisfy their drives for success and desires for accomplishment. However, when people dont win often enough, they leave the field of sellingsome battered and broken. The truth is that selling can be a brutal sport when you take it on without knowing the rules and nuances of the game.
The goal of this book is to help you sell victoriously more often than you do now. On the one hand, these pages will delve deeply into the nuances of presenting products and services to potential clients. On the other hand, youll discover how to quickly step away from the game in order to keep your mental bearings in the sales processand then never lose control of a selling situation again.
In short, this is a book of strategy. Youll learn how to use a sales compass thats called the Circle of Persuasion. With it, at any given moment during the sales process, youll be clear about the next step you need to take to stay on the path to a closed transaction. Youll also be able to make the right choice when a buyer presents you with the inevitableand often unexpectedfork in the road to a closed sale.
This book will not cover where and how to find new business or how to gain confirmed meetings with buyers. It wont provide you with any follow-up strategies, either. It is totally focused on the actual sales presentation, from the moment you begin to establish rapport to when your buyer gives you the final yes.
Always know that there can be any number of reasons why buyers initially say no to your offering. What you do when you hear them say it will make a world of difference in your level of success. In fact, when you learn how to use the strategies in this book, youll actually look forward to hearing the word no, not just once but several times in the selling process, because youll know exactly what each no means and what you should do or say next.
Too often, salespeople allow selling situations to become uncomfortable when a buyer is resistant or hesitant. They start to feel rejected or defeated. They mentally pack away their sales materials and start thinking about the next appointment. Unfortunately, those defeatist thoughts and feelings show in their demeanor and attitude, and the entire sales process comes to a screeching halt. The average salesperson ends up leaving those selling situations with his head down and his tail between his legs, after making a farewell request to the buyer for permission to stay in touch.
Keeping in touch is certainly better than being told never to contact the buyer again. However, just imagine how the average salespersons life would be different if, when he heard the buyer say