Supremely Successful Selling: Discovering the Magic Ingredient

Chapter 8

Failing to Prepare Is Preparing to Fail

SETTING THE VISIT can be tough. I know how difficult it is.

I've been selling for a long time. I find I agonize more about making the phone call for the visit than I do about the actual presentation to the likely buyer.

So don't be concerned if you feel pangs of anxiety. I've found that without challenge, there is no achievement. Remember, when you get the visit you're 85 percent on your way to making the sale.

Here are 13 steps that are necessary to ease those palpitations in the tummy and help ensure that you get to see the person. George Allen, the renowned football coach, says that winning can be defined as the science of being totally prepared. Luck doesn't favor the lucky. It favors the prepared.

1. Send the type of letter I've recommended. There's a sample in the Appendix. Be certain to revise it in any way that helps make it your own.

2. Practice (practice, practice) your opening. Even with all my years, I still write out what I am going to say on the phone. Success happens when luck meets preparation and practice.

A reporter interviewed history's greatest cellist, Pablo Cassals, on his 90th birthday. “Why are you still practicing four hours a day after all these years?” he asked Cassals.

“Because I think I am making progress.”

3. Even though I prepare a script, so to speak, I, of course, don't read it. It has to sound spontaneous.

Writing it out means I don't miss anything. And the truth is, it gives me confidence. Keep ...