‘There is no sale without PAM – pain, authority and money’
Author Tom Fedro keeps the tone of this keen guide to increasing business skills light and with a jovial sense of humor that makes his writing and guidance accessible to all readers. The opening of his guide sets a fine tone – ‘Every deal — without exception — revolves around one conceptual package, a core set of qualities that I’ve previously referred to as PAM. While she can be elusive, she must be at the table for a successful sale to take place. The three components of PAM are pain, authority and money. If you can’t find her when you’re looking at a deal, you’re probably wasting everybody’s time.
For example, consider the importance of those three pieces and how crucial it is that they all work together: if there’s no pain, there’s no motivation to close — and no deal. If you have pain, but the person across the desk doesn’t have the authority to make a decision — there’s no deal. If you’ve found the pain and authority, but the prospect doesn’t have the money to move forward — you don’t have a deal.’
Throughout this book Tom offers little gems of advice, such as, ‘Salespeople must see themselves as the chief executives of their own business. They’re just outsourcing their product development, administration, marketing and finance. Regardless of the company you’re working for, you must invest in yourself first by continually seeking ways to develop your skill set, and improve your craft. Make training a continual effort. There’s a whole world of training options out there to keep you sharp. I encourage you to get out and do a training program once or twice a year.’ ‘The seven major obstacles a salesperson faces in pursuit of substantial deals – fear, inertia, timing, disaster, not having PAM in the building, no-decisionitis, lack of urgency,’ ‘The most common major mistakes made by companies when pursuing high-dollar deals: talking too much, not asking enough of the right questions, not selling as a team, ignoring influencers, offering free trials, not asking for business, failing to find PAM, lack of preparation, not paying attention to competitors, not knowing how to overcome objections, not having a strategic response to objections.’ And many more tidbits that underline Tom’s insights and productivity drive.
Mixing significant insights and solutions with pertinent case studies as illustrations makes this book and invaluable asset to all salespersons, no matter the level on the hierarchy. This book is easy to read and absorb and is one of the most practical guides for significant sales technique improvements. Highly Recommended.