into three parts: Part One: Laying the Groundwork for Success; Part Two: Prospecting Techniques and Scripts; and Part Three: Closing Techniques and Scripts. I suggest you start with Part One, and the Ten Characteristics of Top Sales Producers, to see how many of these you are practicing now and how many you can begin incorporating into your sales life. Each of these core characteristics are practiced by top sales producers across all industries, and even incorporating just one a week can cause a huge shift in your perspective and in your sales results. One of my go‐to techniques, for example, is recording and critiquing yourself every day for 90 days.
You have probably heard of this suggestion of recording yourself, and your company may regularly record your calls now, but how often do you take it upon yourself to review your own calls? Just this one technique will have a dramatic and instant impact on how you sell, and I personally doubled my income in 90 days by applying this technique in my own career. Every other characteristic will also add to your success, so study and apply each characteristic starting today.
Next, in Part Two: Prospecting Techniques and Scripts, you will find current and proven scripts to help you cold‐call prospects and qualify better prospects. You'll find many current and proven rebuttals to the blow‐offs you may be encountering now (things like, “I'm not interested,” and “I'm too busy,” and so on). You'll also find ways to qualify in crucial, core areas like budget, interest, and competition. Remember that you can't close an unqualified lead, so learning how to carefully qualify a prospect (without interrogating them) will immediately take your sales skills – and closing results – to another level. As with all these scripts, make sure to invest the time to adapt them to your product, service, and personality. Make them your own and then commit to memorizing them and using them until they become automatic for you. This is how you will develop the habits of a Top 20 Percent producer.
In Part Three: Closing Techniques and Scripts, you will finally learn some advanced skills to help you handle a variety of situations that may frustrate you today. Among the techniques you will learn is how to use tie‐downs to build a yes momentum. This is important, because in today's sale, the game isn't about pitching and pitching and then ending with a grand close or prayer that someone buys. The game is, instead, about presenting your product or services gradually and getting buy‐in from your prospect so you know how the sale is going. As you successfully get that buy‐in, asking for the sale becomes a natural part of the overall sales process. By the time you do, you should have a good idea of what the result will be – and how to handle it.
There are also many word‐for‐word scripts to help you deal with the objections and stalls you may be struggling with now. You will find proven ways to handle things like, “I want to think about it,” and “The price is too high,” and “We're happy with who we're using now.” Once again, your task here is to carefully study these word‐for‐word scripts, adapt them to your product, service, and personality, and then practice, drill, and rehearse them until they become your new and improved way of automatically reacting and presenting. If you do this, you will begin closing more sales with less rejection.
You will also read about a way to stand out from your competition and position yourself to be the go‐to vendor or solution just when your prospect is in the market (page 248). It is called “Send Out Cards” (https://www.sendoutcards.com/mrinsidesales). This completely automated service allows you to send customized greeting cards (and even gifts) to prospects and customers with the click of a button. The real power, however, is your ability to set up an automatic drip campaign that will send any prospect in your pipeline cards at any interval you choose. This system has made me hundreds of thousands of dollars in business that seems to have appeared out of the air. In reality, people are just reaching out to me when they finally need help – motivated to do so by monthly cards they receive. In this way, I'm able to stay “top of mind,” and they remember to reach out to me when they suddenly decide to do something about their inside sales training needs. Using the link mentioned here, you learn more about this valuable service, and even can try it out by sending a free card to yourself – I encourage you to do this today.
Finally, a last note to you, my fellow sales producer. Remember, you can become a top producer if you are willing to put in the time to learn and then practice the techniques you will find in this book. I want to encourage you with all of my heart. I guarantee that you and your family will have an infinitely better life if you just commit yourself to the strategies, scripts, and techniques you'll read in this book. Look around at the top producers sitting next to you or in your industry and say to yourself: “If they can do it, I can do it better.”
And you can.
Part I
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR SUCCESS
Chapter 1
What It Takes to Be a Top Producer
Ten Characteristics of Top Sales Producers
If you are reading this book right now, then I know you want to perform better in your sales career. If you are a business owner, then I know you want to help your sales team accomplish more. It shows that you are willing to take the time to search out strategies and learn the word‐for‐word scripts that will give you an edge over your competition. That's a good thing, but are you ready to really commit to doing the things that will catapult you into that rarified stratum of top sales producers?
You know the top producers I am talking about. They are the ones who are always at or near the top of the sales production list every month, who always win the sales contests, and who always seem to be in a good mood. They are positive and confident, and they have that feeling that no matter what happens to the leads or the economy or the company, they will find a way to succeed.
Years ago I heard a sales motivator say:
“If you are willing to do the things that most sales reps aren't willing to do, then soon you'll be able to do and have the things that most sales reps will never be able to do and have.”
When I heard that statement, I was a struggling sales rep, and I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was at a crossroads in my career (and my life), and I was either going to find a different way of making a living, or I was going to go back to school and get out of sales altogether.
What I did was commit to being one of the top producers.
I heard another motivator say that if the grass looks greener on the other side of the street, then you need to fertilize your lawn. He said that you don't have to change where you are in order to succeed, but rather that you can bloom where you are planted.
And as I mentioned before, I had many examples of that in the company where I worked. The top producers made it look easy. They never seemed to struggle. They instead seemed to intuitively know how to handle almost any sales situation. It was inspiring and intimidating at the same time. It wasn't until I finally made a commitment to be one of them that I saw how much time, discipline, and effort they put into being the best.
While it did take a lot of effort for me to get there from where I was as a struggling sales rep, with commitment, determination, and daily focus, it was all worth it. Once I became a top producer, I felt like I knew the secret of what it took to live a better life, to enjoy the job and profession that just 90 days before I hated. Suddenly, I understood how easy it was – once I was ready to do the things it took to be a top producer.
And you can do it, too.
The good news, as I have said, is that success leaves clues, and if you are willing to invest the time, money, and effort into completely changing your results and your life, then you can. You can bloom where you are planted, and you can start enjoying the things that top producers take for granted – the things that most sales reps will never get to enjoy.
You will find what I consider to be the top ten characteristics of top sales