http://eBookBits.comvisit for more:Your Source For KnowledgeTHE BEST DAMNSALES BOOK EVER16 Rock-Solid Rules forAchieving Sales Success!WARREN GRESHESJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.ffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page iiiffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page iiTHE BEST DAMNSALES BOOK EVERffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page iffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page iiTHE BEST DAMNSALES BOOK EVER16 Rock-Solid Rules forAchieving Sales Success!WARREN GRESHESJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.ffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page iiiCopyright © 2006 by Warren Greshes.All rights reserved.Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923,(978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department,John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax(201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty:While the publisher and author have usedtheir best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties withrespect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specificallydisclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Nowarranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.Youshould consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor authorshall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but notlimited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.For general information on our other products and services or for technical support,please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content thatappears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information aboutWiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataGreshes,Warren, 1951-The best damn sales book ever: 16 rock-solid rules forachieving sales success / Warren Greshesp. cm.Published simultaneously in CanadaIncludes index.ISBN-13: 978-0-471-75728-3 (cloth)ISBN-10: 0-471-75728-4 (cloth)1. Sales personnel—United States. 2. Sales personnel—UnitedStates—Attitudes. 3. Selling. 4. Success in business—United States.I. Title.HF5438.25.G736 2006658.8'1—dc222005026008Printed in the United States of America.10987654321ffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page ivThis book is dedicated to my wife Linda,who at times has had more faith in me than I did,and to my son Michael and daughter Emily,who are all part of the answer to the question:What motivates the motivator?ffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page vffirs.qxd 1/12/06 7:39 AM Page viContentsIntroduction ix1 Attitude and Commitment: It All Starts Here 12 Successful Salespeople See Themselves Successful 113 Setting Goals:Why You Need Them and Why You Need to Write Them Down 254 Successful Salespeople Are in Control 335 The Three Components of an Effective Written Goal 436 The Action Plan:Why You Need One 577 The Three Components of an Effective Written Plan 718 Acting on Your Plan:You Have Twenty-Four Hours to Act on a Good Idea 919 Persistence: People Don’t Fail,They Just Stop Trying 10310 Your First and Most Important Sale Is at Home 119viiftoc.qxd 1/12/06 7:40 AM Page vii11 Successful Salespeople Sell More than Just the Product or Service 13112 Successful Salespeople Create and Deliver Value and Don’t Sell Price 14113 Successful Salespeople Know What Clients Buy and Why 15914 Successful Salespeople Are Experts, Advisers,and Resources 16915 Successful Salespeople Love What They Do 181Index 193viii Contentsftoc.qxd 1/12/06 7:40 AM Page viiiIntroductionBeing a salesperson is the best job there is. It is one of the few pro-fessions in which you can work for someone else and still beworking for yourself. It is also one of the only professions where youcan work for someone else, make as much money as you want, andnot have to beg the boss for a raise.A salesperson’s score is up on the board for all to see, every singleday. Nobody can ever tell you you’re doing a bad job if you’re not.Of course, the down side is: If you’re not doing a good job, there’snowhere to run, nowhere to hide.And therein lies the problem.Most salespeople are not great at what they do. If we looked atevery sales organization in the world, we’d find, for the most part,they break down the same way. Ten percent of the salespeople aregreat; 10 percent should be kicked down the stairs and out the door;and the other 80 percent are merely average.This book is aimed at two of those groups.The 10 percent at thetop, while already successful, are the kind of people who are alwayslooking to get better and can take one good idea and turn it into averitable gold mine. The middle 80 percent need this book becausethey need direction. Most of them are mediocre not because theywant to be, but because they just don’t understand what it takes to bea successful salesperson.ixflast.qxd 1/12/06 7:41 AM Page ixOf course, if those in the bottom 10 percent want to buy thisbook, I’m not about to stop them. But I’m sure as heck not going towaste a lot of time, energy, and money marketing this book to thatgroup. There’s a reason why the bottom 10 percent always seem toremain the bottom 10 percent.Many sales books focus on some part of the actual salesprocess—prospecting, closing, referrals, presentation skills, and so on.Others focus on certain psychological or supposedly new ways ofselling: customer-centric selling; mirroring and understanding thepersonality of the customer; relationship selling.While many of these skills are included in The Best Damn SalesBook