Sales Mercenaries

PASS Publishing of Denham Springs, LA released the First Edition of Your Ultimate Sales Force – 159 Strategies to Generate Referral and Be Worthy of Them! The new book is authored by a writing team of Northwest business people and authors. Pre- order books were shipped beginning just last week, and the authors couldn’t be happier. “It was critically important to get this powerful of a message out to people, especially during these times when people need it most,” said Mike Davidson, who headed up the team of writers.

“Getting 12 authors all going the same way would be one thing,” said Davidson. “But these are entrepreneurs and salespeople. They do things their way, in their time. They are very busy and hard-working, but they are usually going in all different directions.” He said it was no easy task, but “we were proud to still get the book completed with such high quality and still only be 18 months in the works.” The average book takes 2 years start to finish. “And that’s with only one writer, so I think that shows what a team can do. Each team member wrote 2 chapters and also wrote commentary on the other’s chapters. Coordinating all that was a challenge. But there are a lot of unique perspectives and techniques here. For some it was their first writing endeavor and others have some published material and still others have been published authors for years. All of them have their own message. The book is very powerful because of the diversity in the author’s experience. Bringing that all together was worth it because of the need and the relevance of the end-product.” said Davidson. Your Ultimate Sales Force is 24 chapters, in 2 sections and 478 pages. A substantial read, indeed. According to Mr. Davidson, “It is everything that people need to know to launch or survive or thrive in any economy, but especially now.”

Michael Norton, president of Ziglar Inc., of Zig Ziglar sales training and motivational hero fame, said that “Everyone needs to read this book… [it] will take a person’s career and company to the next level again and again.” Videos of each author are soon to appear on CanDoGo.com, Norton’s current sales troubleshooting project. Audio production is underway already; each author reading their own material in the studio over the coming months. “We’re all very excited and motivated to get this message out,” said Shannon Evans, Contributing Editor, of Bainbridge Island.

These 12 Northwest professionals include 5 female professionals and 7 males, with careers spanning virtually every industry. They all live in Western Washington, except Michael Norton who wrote the Foreword and lives in Colorado. Profiles and contact information of each author, more about the book and ordering is available at www.YourUltimateSalesForce.com

It’s okay if you have a product or a service that you are really good at providing, but you just can’t (or just plain-old don’t want to) go out and “sell like hell.” As a sales trainer, I believe that knowledge replaces fear, and that sales can be enjoyable for a real pro. But I also understand that it can be intimidating, and for some personalities, sales can be downright repulsive.  Which is fine. I can relate. Some people are into do-it-yourself plumbing, but not me. I let the experts handle the real dirty work.

But the problem is that in business, Sales is the Lifeblood! Business cannot exist without sales, making that fear or disdain a business killer. Disdain and fear will keep many businesses from even starting, and will be the cause of death for some businesses in your town in the next 30 days alone.

My advice: Hire it out until you can learn to do it yourself, or hire people to do it for your business. Is there any other choices?

I was talking to an expert national sales trainer about the value of  “Sharpening the Sword” and he said flat out that those that stop learning more, stop earning more, and in this economy, may stop earning altogether. We can’t just be as good as we were last year, this year. The competition is steep and the customers are not taking risks with their money.  We must have the best attitude, the best skills, the best products at the best value. We need to be able to express confidently the value of our product or service, and get a commitment ASAP. We have to know how to sell, for the days of the lay-down buyer are history. Integrity, Honesty, Commitment, Sincerity, and Value; that’s what sells. How is your attitude? Confident or fearful?

There is satisfaction in growing. The thrill of the fight and the victory is sweet. And the victory is when the customer wins! Embrace your role as a business person: You are the sales force!

Sales: The transfer of  ideas accompanied by actions.

Force: A powerful effect or influence.

Embrace it.

Sales is sales. The sales process is the same. We can learn  and earn, or we can starve out. The end. Sales knowledge is king, Inventory knowledge is queen, and product knowledge is the jack. Business is sales and sales is business.  Contract sales professionals have a higher price, but a lower cost or no cost. Or more directly, what does it cost to not make the next sale?