The Accidental Salesperson: How to Take Control of Your Sales Career and Earn the Respect and Income You Deserve

209 Pages·2000·0.92 MB·English

by  Chris Lytle

The
Acciden
t
a
l
Salesperson
The
Acciden
t
a
l
Salesperson
How to Take
Control of Your
Sales Career and
Earn the Respect
and Income
You Deserve
Chris Lytle
American Management Association
NewYork•Atlanta•Boston•Chicago•KansasCity•SanFrancisco•Washington,D.C.
Brussels•MexicoCity•Tokyo•Toronto
SpecialdiscountsonbulkquantitiesofAMACOMbooksare
availabletocorporations,professionalassociations,andother
organizations.Fordetails,contactSpecialSalesDepartment,
AMACOM,adivisionofAmericanManagementAssociation,
1601Broadway,NewYork,NY10019.
Tel.:[phone] Fax:[phone]
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative
information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with
the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering
legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or
otherexpertassistanceisrequired,theservicesofacompetentpro-
fessionalpersonshouldbesought.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Lytle,Chris.
Theaccidentalsalesperson:howtotakecontrolofyoursalescareerand
earntherespectandincomeyoudeserve/ChrisLytle.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8144-7083-1
1. Selling. 2. Successinbusiness. I. Title.
HF5438.25.L93 2000
658.85—dc21 00-038092
(cid:2)2000ChrisLytle.
Allrightsreserved.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
Thispublicationmaynotbereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,
ortransmittedinwholeorinpart,
inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofAMACOM,
adivisionofAmericanManagementAssociation,
1601Broadway,NewYork,NY10019.
Printingnumber
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction vii
Part 1: The Choice . . . the Chart . . . the
Challenge
Chapter1: TheChoice 3
Chapter2: TheChart 19
Chapter3: TheChallenge 35
Part 2: Transforming Sales Departments into
Sales Forces
Chapter4: SalesDepartmentorSales FORCE? 51
Chapter5: Lessonsfrom‘‘TheTour’’:Developinga
High-Margin Mindset 64
Chapter6: WhyYouMustQuitMaking
‘‘SalesCalls’’ 78
Part 3: Doing Everything Better: The
Systematic Approach to Every Step
in Your Process
Chapter7: GettingintoSeeAnybody:Steps3–9
inYourProcess 93
v
vi Contents
Chapter 8: Whatto DoifYou‘‘Accidentally’’Get
anAppointment:Steps10,11,and12 115
Chapter 9: Do YouQualify? Steps12(Continued)
and13 130
Chapter 10: DoingtheWorkbeforeYouGetPaid
forItandOtherSecretsofSuccess:
Steps14 and15 142
Chapter 11: ‘‘Closing’’Is aFunnyWordforIt:
Step16 152
Chapter 12: NoDessert untilYouFinishYourPeas 169
Chapter 13: ServiceIs NotSomethingYouDo
WhenYou’reTooTiredtoSell 180
Conclusion: WorkingYourWaytoSuccess 191
Index 199
Introduction
Do You Believe In Destiny?
It is no accident you picked up this book. You may not have
chosen sales as a profession; it may have chosen you. That
applies to most of us. It is why The Accidental Salesperson title
struck a responsive chord with you. You ‘‘ended up’’ in sales
insteadofplanningthiscareer.Nowyoursuccessdependson
your ability to sell your ideas, concepts, processes, and prod-
ucts to others—to sell on purpose, even if you ended up in
salesaccidentally.
You bring a lifetime of experience to this book. You al-
ready have gained plenty of wisdom about what works and
what doesn’t work in selling. This book will reinforce every-
thing you are doing right. It will gently correct your course
whereyouare offtrack.
You will quickly internalize the principles of selling on
purpose. That’s a promise. You won’t have to compromise
your values or change your personality to benefit. Having a
newframeworktothinkaboutwhatyoudogivesyouapow-
erful edge over those accidental salespeople who have yet to
embracea philosophyofselling.
This is not a sales book for dummies. Far from it. It’s a
book for thinking people who realize they must sell more
and who want to understand what works in sales today and
why it works. Best of all, there are no tricks, techniques, or
high-pressuretacticsto learn.With afewsubtlebutpowerful
refinementsinthethingsyou’realreadydoing,yoursaleswill
vii
viii Introduction
soar. This is a ‘‘why to’’ book filled with principles that work
over andoveragaininselling.
Youareabouttolearnhowtotakecontrolofthedynam-
ics of a selling situation and leverage every client contact.
Very soon, you will be relying on your extraordinary selling
skillsinsteadofthefaxingskillsthatreactivesalespeoplerely
on.Expecttoshortenyoursellingcycleandslashthenumber
ofobjectionsyouhaveto overcome.
That’sjustthefirstthreechapters.
In the remaining chapters, you will learn specific strate-
gies for every stage of the selling process. Occasionally, you
will remark to yourself, ‘‘I do that already.’’ That’s good. My
challenge to you is simply to do it more often and do it on
purpose.
The Accidental Salesperson is not a survival manual. It is
amanifestoforproswhowanttothriveinsales.It’sabooster
shot forpropellingplateauedveterans tothenextlevel.It’sa
starterkitfortherecentgradwhohasjustdiscoveredthatthe
bestjobs outthereare salesjobs.
As a professional speaker, I promise my audiences more
usable information per minute than any speaker out there.
Well,thisbookcontainsmoreusableinformationperchapter
than anythingon the market. All youhave todo is read and
apply the concepts to your current situation. You don’t even
have to finish the book before you start applying its princi-
ples. Each chapter spotlights a powerful concept that’s self-
contained and immediately applicable to your very next cli-
ent contact.
SomethingSocratessaidmayhelpexplainwhythisbook
will haveanimpactonyou.
‘‘I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make
them think.’’ Although Socrates said it in Greek twenty-four
centuriesor soago,itisstillrelevant.
My role is to get you to think about what you’re doing
andwhyyou’redoingitthatway.Eachchaptersuggestsspe-
cificrefinementsyoucanmakeintheway youdobusiness.
Opportunities abound for salespeople who sell on pur-
pose.
Toknow andnottodoisnottoknow.Educationwithout
Introduction ix
action is entertainment. While I hope you enjoy the book,
understand that it was written for your improvement, not
your enjoyment. You can read about a concept today and
apply it today. You’ll get the most out of The Accidental Sales-
person by purposefully and immediately applying the con-
cepts.
Everyprospectyoumeetissilentlysaying,‘‘Showmethat
you’redifferent.’’
Are you ever going to show them. (Notice there is no
questionmarkafterthatlast sentence.)
I don’t like long good-byes nor am I fond of long intro-
ductions. You’re ready to start selling on purpose. So let’s get
started.
Part 1
The Choice . . . the
Chart . . . the
Challenge
Chapter 1
The Choice
It’s11:45A.M.
Acoworkerwalksintoyourofficeorpeersoveryour
cubicleandsays,‘‘I’mhungry.’’
‘‘Metoo.Let’sgotolunch,’’yousay.
‘‘Wheredoyouwantto go?’’
‘‘Idon’tknow.Wheredoyouwant togo?’’
‘‘Whatare youhungryfor?’’
‘‘Nothingspecial.You decide.’’
Chances are you have had this conversation recently with a
coworkerorspouse.Withsomanyrestaurants,narrowingthe
choiceto justonebecomesadauntingtask.
Acomedianoncejokedthat‘‘peopledon’tgotoDenny’s
Restaurants.Theyendupthere.’’
They end up there precisely because they begin without
aplan.Theyreacttothehungerpanginsteadofanticipating
it. It doesn’t occur to some people that they’ve been getting
hungry every four hours or so of their waking lives. When
they finally choose a place to eat, a long line or waiting list
often confronts them. As a result, they ‘‘end up’’ settling for
somethingless.
But we’re still hungry, so let’s get back to the restau-
rant—any restaurant. Have you ever watched people order?
Some people summon the harried waitperson and want her
toactasarbiter.
‘‘If you were me, would you have the steak or the fish?’’
they’ll ask, as if one or the other of these portion-controlled
entreeswouldgivethemamemorableculinaryexperience.
3