Summary of The #1 Sales Team

Stephan Schiffman

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Qualities

Applicable

Recommendation

Traditional sales management has gone the way of the dial telephone and black and white TV. Today’s sales staff needs more than an administrator. Sales managers must be mentors, coaches and teachers – and still make their quotas. Author Stephan Schiffman covers the basics of selling, based on his “four-and-a-half step” sales process. He holds salespeople responsible for continually moving prospects toward the “Next Step” in the process to keep the sale alive. He offers managers systems for tracking sales activity and evaluating employee performance. He explains the essentials of group and one-on-one coaching, and offers a plan for an eight-week coaching program. The book also contains an appendix of outstanding resources including time-tested cold-calling techniques, ways to ask the client to move to the next step in the sales process and suggestions on time management. Schiffman works hard to sell his ideas. After all, he is the consummate salesperson. getAbstract recommends this book to salespeople and to sales managers who seek a more systematized approach.

About the Author

Stephan Schiffman, a leading sales expert and corporate trainer in the U.S., has written several bestselling books including Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!) and The 250 Questions to Close the Deal.

Summary

The Numbers Game

Selling is a numbers game that hinges on ratios; how many times do you have to make a call or a presentation to get a sale? Use a process that shows you what you – and your staff – must do to get results.

The first phase of the “four-and-a-half step” sales process is getting an appointment. Determine how many calls a salesperson needs to make to get a first appointment. How many does it take to close a sale? The appointment-setting phase requires enthusiasm fueled by energy. The next phase in the process involves collecting information and making the right presentation, and then moving the prospect through the sales process. The last phase of selling requires “value retention skills” – techniques that allow the salesperson to preserve the value of the proposal when closing the deal.

Most novice salespeople start out enthusiastically but lose steam when they don’t get immediate results. As a sales manager, combat your employees’ frustration and sustain their enthusiasm by explaining how much work is involved in making a sale, and clarifying the timing of the average sales cycle for your product or service. Passion alone will not guarantee success...

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