What's the secret to sales success? If you're like most business leaders, you'd say it's fundamentally about relationships-and you'd be wrong. The best salespeople don't just build relationships with customers. They challenge them. The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades. Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale business-to-business solutions. The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles, and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance, only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance. Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products, Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money. They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives. Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection, they are assertive, pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale. The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to the average sales rep. Once you understand how to identify the Challengers in your organization, you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force. The authors explain how almost any average-performing rep, once equipped with the right tools, can successfully reframe customers' expectations and deliver a distinctive purchase experience that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and, ultimately, greater growth.

Praise for SMART CALLING "Finally, a sales book that makes sense! As a master sales trainer, Art nailed—no, obliterated—the number one fear of selling in this great book: cold calling! Let him teach you to stop cold calling and start Smart Calling!"—LARRY WINGET, television personality and New York Times bestselling author "Smart Calling is the benchmark as the highest professional standard for effective cold calling. Take the initiative to read and implement Art's rational principles and you will sell much more and develop a prospect base of potential customers who will call you when they are ready to purchase or graciously take your future calls. This is THE BEST sales text I have read in the past twenty years."—REX CASWELL, PhD, VP, LexisNexis Telephone Sales "You get only one chance to make the right impression in sales. If a top prospect gets a hundred calls a week, you want to be the one he remembers and buys from. Art's proven methods create a unique brand for you and position your offering as the best option. Art's advice isn't just smart, it's priceless."—BOB SILVY, VP, Corporate Marketing, American City Business Journals "Smart Calling effectively enables inside sales reps and organizations to accomplish a top priority—acquiring new customers. Art's pragmatic and actionable techniques will increase productivity, success, and professional satisfaction."—BILL McALISTER, SVP, Inside Sales, McAfee "A must-read, must-own book for anyone who wants to increase their sales right away with less effort and more fun. I'm so sure this book is a winner for anyone who needs to call prospects that I'll personally assure you that your results will increase noticeably after reading it, or I'll send you your money back."—MIKE FAITH, CEO & President, Headsets.com, Inc. "If you need to make a first call to anyone, for whatever reason, this book is for you. More than common sense, it's a real-world, no-fluff, simple approach that anyone can use to be successful."—DARCI MAENPA, President, West Coast Chapter, American Teleservices Association; Director, Member Support, Toastmasters International

How do the best salespeople connect, influence and persuade? With stories. 'Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell' takes you on a high-stakes sales journey, using stories to establish rapport and trust, deliver insight, inspire action and close the deal, and in doing so win new friends and collaborators. When you share purposeful stories in your client conversations, you'll create more new business than you thought possible. Sharing more than 50 stories from around the world, Mike draws on his diverse international sales career to teach and demonstrate the power of storytelling -- from first hello to signed contract. You'll learn stories to help you: Establish rapport and trust Present challenging insights Differentiate your solution Share your company values Unstick negotiation stand-offs Create better business outcomes. This book will change the way you think about selling. Rather than seeing your role as that of a transactional deal closer, you'll become a story master, creating new stories for your clients.

For Advertising Sales Reps Selling To Local Small Businesses Only. Stop Believing The Lies And Myths That Keep You From Being The Top Advertising Rep In Your City. Stop Listening To Gurus That Never Sold Anything In Their Life. Do you sell advertising to local small business owners? Selling Local Advertising is written specifically for advertising sales reps and their managers. Whether you sell direct mail, newspaper, radio, TV, or other media, the rules are the same. Why? Because you are talking to the same customers: Small business owners that don't want to give you money. Know How Your Small Business Advertising Prospect Thinks. Written by someone who sells advertising, but who has bought hundreds of thousands of dollars in local advertising, and has interviewed hundreds of small business owners...your customers. Does any of this sound familiar? Your prospects go into hiding when you call or visit. You keep hearing that your ads aren't in the budget. Business owners keep putting you off until "business picks up" You keep hearing the same excuses as to why "Now" isn't a good time. Clients keep complaining about price...price...price... You keep hearing that advertising doesn't work anymore. That All Stops Now. Would you like to know what your prospects are thinking when you are talking to them? Written from the advertising buyer's point of view, Selling Local Advertising gives you everything you need to know to go from being a "pest" to a "Welcome business advisor" Stop Trying To Sell Advertising To Closed Minded Prospects. Concentrate On The Easy Effortless Sales. You Will Never Run Out Of Eager Prospects If You Know Where To Look. Put These Proven Real World Ideas To Work For You, And ... Your advertising clients will be looking forward to your visits. Your clients will be bragging to their business friends about what great results you got for them. The best referrals in the world, just waiting for your call. The complete system revealed. You can sell advertising to groups of advertising prospects, hanging on your every word. Every step is revealed in complete detail. The complete system that the author is using right now. Everything you read in this book is working, right now, for hundreds of advertising sales reps to multiply their sales. Why is this book not 300 pages? We took out everything that doesn't work. If you have been looking for the real deal. You want real methods that are tested, proven, and will work in any areas of the country. You have just discovered The Mother Load. My suggestion? Read fast, take notes, and hit the ground running.... From The Author... I'm just like you. I sell for a living. Have you ever heard that "selling is a numbers game"? Sure, so have I. But you care about getting this sale... today. I wrote this book for you. The vast majority of books on selling are written by people who have never sold anything except books. I sell advertising to small business owners, just like you do. I've also bought lots of advertising for a retail store I own. I'll tell you the inside secrets of how to sell advertising by knowing how advertising buyers think. How do you answer objections that you are getting every day, right now? It's all here. Go to the picture of the book and click "Click To Look Inside". I'll see you on the inside. Claude.