Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles fo sales greatness: How to make sales FOREVER (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Book Series)

by Jeffrey Gitomer

And it's not only preparation about the sale -- it's your personal preparation for sales -- your personal training. How ready are you?

Get ready baby. Turn off the TV a...

"The workday day starts the night before." My friend, Scott Crawford, and I had breakfast together one morning at Einstein's. We started to talk philosophically about sales and business, and out of the blue, he dropped this gem: "My grandfather always told me, 'Scott, the workday starts the night before.'" I ran to get a napkin so I could write it down. I asked Scott to tell me more and he did. It was all about preparing. It was all about getting ready for the next day. I can inflict major pain on you right now by asking what it is that you do to get ready for your next sales day. Your answer is somewhere between drinking, watching sporting events, or watching TV reruns. How pathetic is that? Well, actually some people don't consider that pathetic. They would be your competition.

Work while others sleep. I wake up early every day. I run to my computer and I begin to write. I've been doing that for 12 years. So far the net is five books, 700 columns, not to mention 1,000 presentations to companies all over the world. Before you get up in the morning, I'm already making money. I usually stay up until about 1:00 a.m. From 11:00 p.m. 'til 1:00 a.m., things are quiet. Like anybody, sometimes I fiddle on the Internet. Yes I'm an Ebay addict, but I also surf around to clients' websites just to see what's going on. To see if I can learn anything new. And to see if I can come up with any ideas. I've only been doing that for five years. The point is I take those extra three or four hours a day and earn more in that time, when most people are asleep, than they do when they're awake.

Principle 3 PERSONAL BRANDING IS SALES: IT'S NOT WHO YOU KNOW, IT'S WHO KNOWS YOU Brand Me. RedBites Build your personal brand and customers will call you. Build your personal brand and customers will be loyal. Position more, compete less. Who sees you? Who appoints you? It depends on who knows you! Who values you and your knowledge?

Personal branding is ... Create demand for your product or service indirectly. (Through means other than direct advertising.) Get the business community to have confidence in you -- as a respected high caliber individual. Get the business community to have confidence in your business -- Earn a reputation for quality performance so good that it's talked about. Establish yourself as an expert -- Why just be in the field, when you can be perceived on top of it? Be seen and known as a leader -- Stand in front of the group, and tell them or get involved in a group and lead them. Show up where everyone is -- all the time. Be known as an innovator. Be known as a person or business of value. Be known as a resource. Separate yourself from competition -- Get in front of the pack and set a standard. Gain professional stature -- Your image is determined by others. Your outreach determines your image. RED WHINE ... "Nobody knows me." Build your image -- and the image of your business -- by being a consistent positive performer. By associating with quality things and people. By delivering what you promise. Get talked about in a positive way. As a result of your total branding and marketing outreach, make your phone ring with qualified prospects -- then convert them to sales.

Do everything with a creative flair ... Something that makes the time and effort you gave worth remembering. Memorability is a vital link to building market awareness.

Become a resource ... It's much more powerful than someone perceiving you as a salesman or entrepreneur. People will want to be around you, and pay attention to what you say, if they believe what you say and do has value to them and their business.

Have a good time doing it. People who take it too seriously have problems sorting out what's important in the world. Treat it like an important game. Play as hard as you can to win.

Strive to be the best at whatever you do. Go for the personal goal -- be the best. Not the material goal -- make a lot of money. Be the best and the money will automatically show up.

Become known as a person of action ...

The result of these actions will be a person who is known for getting things done -- a leader. It's not just a reflection on you -- it's a reflection on your company, the products and services you offer, and your personal brand. It's something you can't place a value on or buy, but it's the difference between sale and no sale. And the difference between having to sell, and people wanting to buy. The result of these actions will be a brand new you.

"In sales, it's not who you know. In sales, it's who knows you." Positioning helps you get known.

Who values you and your knowledge? Most salespeople stop at the end of the selling process. They go through the same old crapola of prospect, appoint, present, close, follow-up. That sales strategy will lead you no place but to another sales job. If you want to build a relationship, if you want to get referrals, you have to become known as an expert or the expert in whatever you do. This requires hard work and study on your part. If you're not willing to do that, my immediate recommendation is run down to the post office and get a nice safe job down there selling stamps at the counter. If your customers value the knowledge and the expertise that you have delivered to them, they will think long and hard before they entertain the dregs of humanity who also sell your product. You may know them as your competitors.

Principle 4 IT'S ALL ABOUT VALUE, IT'S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP, IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT PRICE The 6.5 principles of giving value and being valuable. Free Speech. Price vs. Value, the REAL way to beat "price." RedBites Give value first, don't add it. Make friends before you start, or don't start. Act professionally, talk friendly. Sales for the moment. Friends for life. Sales for the commission. Value for the fortune.

Value is something done for the customer, in favor of the customer.

put myself in front of people who can say "yes" to me and I deliver value first. Make it your mantra.

Send them information about how they profit, produce or succeed, and they will devour EVERY WORD.

3. Don't focus on the sale, focus on the lifetime use of the product or the service. Get your probable purchaser to visualize what life will be like after they take ownership. If you can concentrate on use and ownership, then you can focus on cost and long term value as opposed to price. The key is that the customer must visualize this at a time when they are also focusing on "how much is

Let me make one more side note here. Sometimes the price is precluded by someone who says to you, "We've spent our whole budget." That person is not a decision maker. He or she is a budget spender. And the entire time they are spending their budget they are predominantly focused on price. My goal when I'm in a sales situation is to somehow get to the person that makes the budget. The person that makes the budget can add a zero and make another budget.

"Price or profit Mr. Jones. Which would you rather have? Price lasts for a moment Mr. Jones, profit lasts for a lifetime."

Here's the problem. What I've just challenged you to do will double your workload as a salesperson. You now have to go into the sale with productivity ideas and profit ideas. The good news is not only will your workload double, your sales will double along with it. The better news is most salespeople will not do the hard work that it takes to make selling easy. There's not much competition at the top of the sales ladder. But the best news is you will be in control of your own outcomes.

put myself in front of people who can say yes to me, and I deliver value first.

works. Find something that your customer considers valuable and give it away. It only needs to be information that will help him or her build their business so you can earn yours. Word of caution: My method of selling or should I say, getting the customer to buy, takes hard work and most salespeople are not willing to do the hard work that it takes to make selling easy.

Make friends before you start, or don't start. When I meet a prospect on a sales call, the first thing I do is establish some kind of rapport that includes finding some common ground. I laugh with them, I talk to them about them. I establish some credibility with them and then I begin my sales presentation. I would rather walk out of a sales presentation from a prospect who says, "Let's get right down to business." What he's really saying is, let's get right down to "How much is it?" I don't win sales on price. I win sales on friendship. I give the "price sales" to someone else. They're the biggest pain in the ass on the planet, and so are the people associated with them.

Act professionally, talk friendly. Too many salespeople think they have to be professional in order to gain buyer credibility. Nothing could be further from the truth. Me? I'm friendly. I try to act as professionally as I can but I always err on the side of being too friendly. The stiff sales professional will give a bid or proposal and if it ain't the lowest, he walks away with a goose egg. Me? I'm the friendliest and I'm the highest. I wonder if there is a correlation there? Now I'm not saying be...

Sales for the moment. Friends for life. Sales for the commission. Value for the fortune. Early on in my writing career I created a quote, "If you make a sale, you can earn a commission. If you make a friend, you can earn a fortune." This philosophy is rarely used in sales. Those who employ it are the top performers and the top paid salespeople. They build relationships. They don't worry about their quotas. They concentrate on the value they provide to their customers and the corresponding orders that accompany it. I challenge you that this is the single hardest lesson to learn and at the same time, it is the single most powerful and most financiall...

Principle 5 IT'S NOT WORK, IT'S NETWORK The 21.5 best places to network. RedBites Get face to face first. Networking eliminates cold calling. Networking leads to referrals.

Networking is life skills and social skills combined

What are the principles of networking? to get known by those who count to get more prospects to make more contacts to make more sales to build relationships to make a career advancement (or just get a job) to build your reputation (and be seen and known as consistent)

Secret: Get respected by those who count -- don't just attend -- get involved and lead.

Big secret: The key advantage is that networking is relaxed: business leisure. The workday is busy: business frantic. You'll get more done and see more people in the leisure zone.

Make contacts, make sales, eliminate cold calling, build your career, build relationships, build your reputation, and make friends. I have met my lifelong best friends networking and I also do business with them -- thousands of dollars worth.

THE BEST NETWORKING BOOK EVER: Harvey Mackay's Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty.

To make the most of a networking event, spend 75% of your time with people you don't know. -- Jeffrey Gitomer

How do you get an appointment? You ask. Well, not quite. You engage, you spark, you provide value, you interest, you create desire.

RED SELLING RESPONSE ... "If all you have is a product or a service no one will meet with you. If you have a profit driven answer, everyone will meet with you."

You need to build your expertise beyond your brochure and your price list. Instead of studying TV at night, you need to become an expert in the industry or categories you cover, you need to know where your prospect or customer uses your product or service to build their business and make a profit.

Try this: (In a non-salesy, friendly way), say to the prospect, "I'm an expert at (what you do), and, Mr. Jones, you're an expert at (what they do). Surely, as you discuss our service, questions about productivity and profitability will arise. I'm sure you agree that the right information needs to be presented so that the most intelligent decision can be made, true? (Get commitment) And questions might arise about our service. I'd like to be there to answer questions about my expertise so you can make a decision that's in the best interest of your business." (If this fails, try adding on the phrase -- "Pleeeeaaase, I'll be your best friend.")

Get the prospect's personal approval. "Mr. Prospect, if it was just you, and you didn't need to confer with anyone else, would you buy?" (The prospect will almost always say yes.) Then ask, "Does this mean you'll recommend our service to the others?" Get the prospect to endorse you and your service to the others, but don't let him (or anyone) make your pitch for you.

2. Get on the prospect's team. Begin to talk in terms of "we," "us," and "the team." By getting on the prospect's team, you can get the prospect on your side of the sale.

3. Arrange a meeting with all deciders. Do it any (ethical) way you have to.

4. Know the prime decider in advance. "Tell me a little bit about the others." (Write down every characteristic.) Try to get the personality traits of the other deciders. 5. Make your entire presentation again. You only have to do this if you want to make the sale. Otherwise just leave it to the prospect. He thinks he can handle it on his own, and will try his best to convince you of that. If you think you can get around these five steps, think again. (It's obvious you're looking for shortcuts or you would have properly qualified the buyer in the first place.)

2.5 The most powerful qualifying question you can ask is (AND IT MUST BE ASKED EXACTLY THIS WAY): "Bill, how will this decision be made?" Bill will give you an answer. AND YOU FOLLOW UP WITH THE QUESTION: "Then what?" And Bill will begin to give you the saga about how the decision is really made. You ask "then what?" four or five times and PRESTO!, you'll have the name of the real decision maker.

Can't get past the gatekeeper? You suck! It never ceases to amaze me how many salespeople will whine to me that they couldn't get past the gatekeeper. How many times do you have to get hit over the head with a hammer before you finally decide this isn't working? If you can't get past the gatekeeper, why don't you simply create a different approach? My first recommendation is, don't go to the gatekeeper. Stand out in the parking lot and ask anyone besides the gatekeeper and they will help you. But there's a secret to getting past the gatekeeper every time. And I'm going to share it with you now so that you can use it forever. Go up to the gatekeeper and ask for someone in sales. A salesperson will appear in under three minutes ready to tell you everything about everyone. That's the job of salespeople, tell people things. They will lead you to the CEO and as you're walking down the hallway they will tell you the kind of car he drives, what college he attended, the name of his children, his favorite sports team and his golf handicap. He will reveal all the secrets of the company and will do so gladly. That's the secret. Ask for someone in sales. And then make your request of him or her.

Principle 7 ENGAGE ME AND YOU CAN MAKE ME CONVINCE MYSELF Ask the wrong questions. Get the wrong answers. Ask smart questions, they think you're smart. RedBites Asking powerful questions will make prospects think in new ways. What you ask sets the tone and the perception of the buyers. What you ask determines their response. What you ask makes or breaks the sale. Your questions are a critical factor in the way your customers perceive you.

Here are 9.5 benefits to make sales by: 1. Qualify the buyer. 2. Establish rapport. 3. Create prospect disparity. 4. Eliminate or differentiate from the competition. 5. Build credibility. 6. Know the customer and their business. 7. Identify needs. 8. Find hot buttons. 9. Get personal information. 9.5 Close the sale.

Here are some good examples: If your husband died, how would the house payments be made? How would the children go to college? If your most important customer called right now, how would you get the message? If your long distance charges were 30% higher than they should be, how would you know?

Here's a winner: Scott Wells, of Time Warner Cable in Raleigh, came up with a grand-slam home-run question in training session -- The objective was to ask a prospect qualifying questions about getting cable TV, and sell all premium channels possible. Scott asked "If you owned your own cable channel, Ms. Jones, what would be on it?" WOW, what a question -- it draws out all the likes (and perhaps the dislikes) of the customer, and puts every answer in terms of the sale being made.

How many of your salespeople did not meet their sales goals last year? Why? (What was the major cause?) What plans have you made to ensure that they will this year? What type of personal development plan for each salesperson have you put into place? How do you support your sales staff? How much training did you budget last year? How much did you wish you'd have budgeted? When training takes place, how do you measure each individual's professional development progress?