Steve Lentini - Sales Success for the Rookie: How to Succeed At Sales Right From The Start

Published by Motivational Press, Inc.

1777 Aurora Road

Melbourne, Florida, 32935

www.MotivationalPress.com

Copyright 2016 by Stephen P. Lentini

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means: graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission, in writing, from the authors, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, article, book, or academic paper. The authors and publisher of this book and the associated materials have used their best efforts in preparing this material. The authors and publisher make no representations or warranties with respect to accuracy, applicability, fitness or completeness of the contents of this material. They disclaim any warranties expressed or implied, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. The authors and publisher shall in no event be held liable for any loss or other damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. If you have any questions or concerns, the advice of a competent professional should be sought.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

ISBN: 978-1-62865-276-5

Acknowledgements

First and foremost I thank God for every blessing and in fact every moment of my lifefor all of my gifts and talents and I strive every day to use them to the fullestgiving God all the praise and glory.

I want to thank Justin Sachs, President of Motivational Press, and all of the Motivational Press staff that I have worked witheveryone reflects the attitude of service and all have done a great job and cheerfully.

This book would not be in your hands without Justin and his capable crewthank you, thank you, thank you!

I want to thank Toni Stone who inspired me to keep going, who, edited the first edition and helped me with chapter titles and so many things. She taught me to say thank you when life says hooray and to say thank you when life is not cheering you on, after-all, everything is just a perspective.

And to my children, Beth, Lisa and Paul, My Son in Laws, Greg and Neilyou are my best work on this planet and I am so very grateful for what each of you bring to my life. Teagan and Logan and Taylor, my grandchildren again, my cheerleading squad.

I want to say thank you to Kathyann, To Melissa, Ashley, Chris, Thomas, Ma, my granddaughters, Lacey and Lauren.

To all of the students and clients who are the reason I do what I do, thank you.

To my family, who helped shape me, especially Frank, who inspired me to sell..and to Dave, who has since left this world, who taught me the power of no and how to live independent of the good opinion of others and to all my brothers and my sister Lorraine who always helps and inspires me. To Stan, my twinthanks for always showing me..wellme. And Seb, my oldest brother still to this day is an shining example of keep going no matter what.

To my Mother Rose and Dad, who showed me what perseverance meant. They raised seven children and always did the right thing. For Rose, integrity was key.

To my friend and business partner, John Smith, MJ, his wife. We have shared much and so very memorable. So much more to go and I am very grateful we met and for all you do and have done for me.

To Warren Gibbons, Paolo Scoglio, Mary Franklin and Nancy Chisholm, who helped teach my classes and kept me grounded.

To Jeff Ferreira, Jim Kaloutas, Jim Robbins, Sue DiiOrio, Rich DiiOrio, Pat Tormey, Joe Waldbaum and Dave Gilman, your friendship and success is an inspiration.

To my friends, Phil Albright, Ron Loto, Maggie Lohnes, GaryBrustas, George Leon, Jodi Knight, Peter Panagakos, John and Pat Calvert (Pat I know you are watching from heaven) and Paul Dimanno, also now watching from heaven, being able to speak to you anytime is a real gift, you are all blessings in my life.

To Gifford, Tod, Rich, Tim, Wendy, Robin, Deb, Michelle, Tracy and Steve Overton, Tadd and Julie, Christopher, Alexthanks for helping me stay grounded and for knocking off my crown every so often.

To Michael Swaidner of POP Color Printing who made this first editions a reality.

To Mike Palechek, Thank you all, your support and referrals have been instrumental in my success..

To Marc Borak and all the folks at Borax Paper, Eric Steen, and the Infusytems team, David Hirsch, Cindy Ciaccio, Sid Lerman and all the folks at Weeks Lerman, Steven and Larry Stern and all the folks at Supreme Industrial you all had a positive impact on my life and contributed greatly to getting me started on my path .of independent consultant, speaker and trainer

I am so very blessed and grateful to have you all in my life.

Thanks Doll

Regards, Steve

Foreword 1
A few thoughts to prepare the ground

When I met Steve, I was 29 years young and I had been selling software to pharmaceutical customers for almost 6 years. Early on, I had been very successful in my career and I had mentors that helped me learn the basics of selling.

However, in the two years before I met Steve, I had switched companies two times and I was probably 6 months away from leaving sales altogether. I was struggling with my own identity as a salesperson and everything was an effort. I was having trouble with my interactions with colleagues and management.

In my very first discussion with Steve (now almost 11 years ago), Steve taught me that If you move towards the uncomfortable , things will change, you will change. He said that you should not expect a different result if you continue doing things the same way you always have. I am glad I listened.

Are you ready to get uncomfortable?

In a recent conversation with Steve, he reminded me that the idea of being comfortable in your life/career has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. As we look at the world around us, we see people gravitate to alcohol or drugs to seek out comfort. In order to be successful, we must live in the world of being uncomfortable, we must not fear saying how we feel, we should not fear change.

Steve bestows gratitude on everything that comes. Even when the world seems to be working against me, he helps me to see the lesson in it. He has helped me acknowledge how I feel, and not simply react to stimuli. Instead I have learned to address how I feel and find a way to say it. This has helped me interact with customers, my colleagues, and even my in-laws. When I am with a customer, I have prepared for our meeting, I stay fully present, I observe, I listen, and when the time comes, I say what I feel.

To do this effectively, I had to learn how to say what I feel, and I have to get uncomfortable.

Many sales training programs may help you learn how to deal with situations that come up, but true life rarely mimics these situations. Also, our customers are smarter than thatthey dont want to hear script, they want to buy from a real person.

Steve has taught me how to say what needs to be said, what I feel , without it being scripted. Steve was a Sandler trainer and he learned a lot about what it takes to be a good salesperson but Steves sales training is not a role play. It can be applied to any customer, any experience. By learning how to listen to your customer, not being afraid of the uncomfortable, place gratitude on what comes, you change. Only then, can you help your customer, and your company, be successful. Ultimately, though, Steve has changed me, not just the salesperson or sales manager. He has changed the person I am.

My thoughts and words have power

I realized that I was blaming others for my current situation. I blamed the companys management for not being customer-centric and I made wild accusations about their motivations. I had completely taken on the victim role and hadnt recognized how I had created my situation and how I needed to change. Everything I thought had power, my words had power, and I was not powerless. I can now recognize these thoughts when they come up Even though negative thoughts can find their way in, I can recognize them, bless themand send them away. I am not perfect, and my words may sometimes reflect this, but because of Steves teaching, I can hear myself now.