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The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies
Chet Holmes has been called “one of the top 20 change experts in the country.” He helps his clients blow away both the competition and their own expectations. And his advice starts with one simple concept: focus! Instead of trying to master four thousand strategies to improve your business, zero in on the few essential skill areas that make the big difference.
Too many managers jump at every new trend, but don’t stick with any of them. Instead, says Holmes, focus on twelve critical areas of improvement—one at a time—and practice them over and over with pigheaded discipline.
The Ultimate Sales Machine shows you how to tune up and soup up virtually every part of your business by spending just an hour per week on each impact area you want to improve. Like a tennis player who hits nothing but backhands for a few hours a week to perfect his game, you can systematically improve each key area.
Holmes offers proven strategies for:
• Management: Teach your people how to work smarter, not harder
• Marketing: Get more bang from your Web site, advertising, trade shows, and public relations
• Sales: Perfect every sales interaction by working on sales, not just in sales
The Ultimate Sales Machine will put you and your company on a path to success and help you stay there!
Too many managers jump at every new trend, but don’t stick with any of them. Instead, says Holmes, focus on twelve critical areas of improvement—one at a time—and practice them over and over with pigheaded discipline.
The Ultimate Sales Machine shows you how to tune up and soup up virtually every part of your business by spending just an hour per week on each impact area you want to improve. Like a tennis player who hits nothing but backhands for a few hours a week to perfect his game, you can systematically improve each key area.
Holmes offers proven strategies for:
• Management: Teach your people how to work smarter, not harder
• Marketing: Get more bang from your Web site, advertising, trade shows, and public relations
• Sales: Perfect every sales interaction by working on sales, not just in sales
The Ultimate Sales Machine will put you and your company on a path to success and help you stay there!
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 259 reviews
July 20, 2016
This book provides a decent overview of sales, with a lot of examples from a successful salesperson. As a forewarning, a large part of my brain is probably devoted to ignoring advertisements and spam, so I have a lot of negative opinions about many sales techniques.
Review of Sales Techniques
Numerous methods and types of sales are discussed, with strategies explained. I have no doubt most businesses would find one or more strategies they haven't thought of. Personally, I reject about half of the strategies for my own business as they involve what I categorize as spam and stalking. Basically, I find methods of advertising to huge numbers people obnoxious if the information wasn't solicited, searched for, or professionally relevant. Am I losing business because of this? Yes. Am I wasting thousands of people's time with their own inboxes, telephones, and computers to obtain one client? No. My guess is this author has probably wasted the equivalent of ten human lifetimes in the amount of time he's made people think about his products and services.
With that being said, a lot of the ideas are useful suggestions for finding ways to sell products or services, or to enhance an existing businesses sales model. I will personally use a lot of the general ideas to improve both mine and my clients advertising and sales gateways, and use them in a way to respect people's time.
Unrealistic Numbers
Another problem I had with the information presented is the same type of problem I have when viewing misleading advertisements. The author was a highly successful salesperson whose sales were for large businesses with huge product investments. Because of this, the example pricing and numbers given were understandably large. However, the way the information was presented mixed these numbers as if to imply regular and small businesses were able to easily achieve such numbers.
At one point, he even suggested using the best case scenarios for advertising income. Work for this joker and earn $100,000, like one person out of a thousand did one year after a very rare corporate sale. Basically, using the earning from the best out of a thousand or even hundred thousand to lead people astray, without explaining the specific case is very unlikely.
I am not sure if this was suggested to use in product or service advertisements, as the example was a salesperson to salesperson employment advertisement. From experience, I've learned that following up with advertisements like this lead me to pushy salespeople who have devised other half-truths and lies they aren't willing to put in writing. What I am paying for won't be product or service research, but to be robbed and bamboozled.
Great Educational Marketing Advice
In all fairness, the category on educational marketing had some great advice. Businesses that market with great information and studies are the types of businesses I usually find and eventually use.
Television, Radio, Billboard, and Newspaper Advertising
Great advice on some ways to format advertisements for these mediums. Although I personally ignore most advertisements, when being entertained, I do find some ads humorous or interesting as a consumer at times.
Website Advertising
His descriptions of a website and his model were decent. He described a main site, with free articles, and compared it with a web site with one feature, a sign-up box. He mentioned more people filled out the sign-up box on the website without other information, but the article website had more traffic.
Interesting to note, although I'd never design a website with only an email sign-up box and product offering. I think it would be very ineffective for anyone but a person who already has a large following. One benefit of a website is to bring in unknown people and provide unique information and services, and perhaps sell stuff also. Website technology isn't designed only to force people sent there to sign up for a constant barrage of a salespersons spam.
Telemarketing
An entire section was the author bragging about how he would repeatedly call and harass tons of people on the phone, and get a few responses and sales. He had a full methodology on mind controlling secretaries over the phone to have them go back and forth to talk to their bosses.
For those in the United States who don't want to be called by salespeople, register at the following to make it illegal for all but researchers and charities to call you:
https://www.donotcall.gov/
Review of Sales Techniques
Numerous methods and types of sales are discussed, with strategies explained. I have no doubt most businesses would find one or more strategies they haven't thought of. Personally, I reject about half of the strategies for my own business as they involve what I categorize as spam and stalking. Basically, I find methods of advertising to huge numbers people obnoxious if the information wasn't solicited, searched for, or professionally relevant. Am I losing business because of this? Yes. Am I wasting thousands of people's time with their own inboxes, telephones, and computers to obtain one client? No. My guess is this author has probably wasted the equivalent of ten human lifetimes in the amount of time he's made people think about his products and services.
With that being said, a lot of the ideas are useful suggestions for finding ways to sell products or services, or to enhance an existing businesses sales model. I will personally use a lot of the general ideas to improve both mine and my clients advertising and sales gateways, and use them in a way to respect people's time.
Unrealistic Numbers
Another problem I had with the information presented is the same type of problem I have when viewing misleading advertisements. The author was a highly successful salesperson whose sales were for large businesses with huge product investments. Because of this, the example pricing and numbers given were understandably large. However, the way the information was presented mixed these numbers as if to imply regular and small businesses were able to easily achieve such numbers.
At one point, he even suggested using the best case scenarios for advertising income. Work for this joker and earn $100,000, like one person out of a thousand did one year after a very rare corporate sale. Basically, using the earning from the best out of a thousand or even hundred thousand to lead people astray, without explaining the specific case is very unlikely.
I am not sure if this was suggested to use in product or service advertisements, as the example was a salesperson to salesperson employment advertisement. From experience, I've learned that following up with advertisements like this lead me to pushy salespeople who have devised other half-truths and lies they aren't willing to put in writing. What I am paying for won't be product or service research, but to be robbed and bamboozled.
Great Educational Marketing Advice
In all fairness, the category on educational marketing had some great advice. Businesses that market with great information and studies are the types of businesses I usually find and eventually use.
Television, Radio, Billboard, and Newspaper Advertising
Great advice on some ways to format advertisements for these mediums. Although I personally ignore most advertisements, when being entertained, I do find some ads humorous or interesting as a consumer at times.
Website Advertising
His descriptions of a website and his model were decent. He described a main site, with free articles, and compared it with a web site with one feature, a sign-up box. He mentioned more people filled out the sign-up box on the website without other information, but the article website had more traffic.
Interesting to note, although I'd never design a website with only an email sign-up box and product offering. I think it would be very ineffective for anyone but a person who already has a large following. One benefit of a website is to bring in unknown people and provide unique information and services, and perhaps sell stuff also. Website technology isn't designed only to force people sent there to sign up for a constant barrage of a salespersons spam.
Telemarketing
An entire section was the author bragging about how he would repeatedly call and harass tons of people on the phone, and get a few responses and sales. He had a full methodology on mind controlling secretaries over the phone to have them go back and forth to talk to their bosses.
For those in the United States who don't want to be called by salespeople, register at the following to make it illegal for all but researchers and charities to call you:
https://www.donotcall.gov/
September 27, 2015
Re-read this book every 30 days for a year, maybe two years, and if you are not at the top of the game then it is time to find a new game.
August 26, 2013
Some useful ideas for those of us who aren't in sales. My biggest takeaways:
*dedicate 1 hour per week on areas that need improvement that otherwise wouldn't get attention
*When pitching, always put things in terms of the customer's benefit/point if view, not you or your product's advantages
*Don't waffle when trying to make a sale. A great example was a real estate agent who told a couple about to buy their first house something like "Now buying a house is a big decision and shouldn't be rushed into..."
*Measure effectiveness (people respect what you inspect)
*Don't engage in self-talk like "I can't ...", "I'm no good at ..." because your mind can't always distinguish thoughts from truth and eventually you'll start believing yourself
*dedicate 1 hour per week on areas that need improvement that otherwise wouldn't get attention
*When pitching, always put things in terms of the customer's benefit/point if view, not you or your product's advantages
*Don't waffle when trying to make a sale. A great example was a real estate agent who told a couple about to buy their first house something like "Now buying a house is a big decision and shouldn't be rushed into..."
*Measure effectiveness (people respect what you inspect)
*Don't engage in self-talk like "I can't ...", "I'm no good at ..." because your mind can't always distinguish thoughts from truth and eventually you'll start believing yourself
May 18, 2010
Best business book ive read in a long time. This is the type of book that gets you thinking, pumped, and read to take action all at once. No one has the ability Chet Holmes has to make this information be relevant and also help guide you to take action.
This is a book I will re-read as many times until it becomes second nature. The tips, the exercise, and the stories that are intertwined throughout the reading make this a great experience and tool for anyone creating a business, works in sales, or wants to know about creative marketing.
This is a book I will re-read as many times until it becomes second nature. The tips, the exercise, and the stories that are intertwined throughout the reading make this a great experience and tool for anyone creating a business, works in sales, or wants to know about creative marketing.
July 11, 2009
One of the best business books I've ever read. One of those books that captures the whole picture. Right there with Go It Alone.
try this RAS recording shit.
My method of learning from my books is not good enough. I remember thinking that this book was awesome. I can't remember anything important from it. My circling quotes is not capturing what really matters. The essence of the book isn't in the quotes. I need a system of note taking. Someway to refresh myself on the important outline elements of the book. Not just memorable quotes.
Quotes:
"I realized that becoming a master of karate was not about learning 4,000 moves but about doing just a handful of moves 4,000 times."
"Implementation, not ideas, is the key to real success."
"The first thing you do to anyone who applies for a job in your company is to reject them, telling them why you don't think they can do the job. It's not that you don't want to hire the person. It's that you're looking for the unique personality profile that becomes more effective in the face of adversity."
"I know other trainers say to thank prospects for their time, but I do not agree with that philosophy. This shows that you consider their time more valuable than yours. It also suggests to them that listening to you is far less important than other things they could be doing. It belittles everything you have to say. Never apologize or thank them for their time. If you do a good job, then they will thank you."
"Remember to keep a tone of authority. That keeps assistants off-guard. They don't know if they have any power over you yet. The minute you start sounding like a salesperson, you give them that power and they will wield it well. You must keep them off-balance."
"Sales Steps:
1. Establish Rapport
2. Qualify the Buyer (Find the Need)
3. Build Value
4. Create Desire
5. Overcome Objections
(Notice the parallels here with the Game. They just took well understood sales techniques and repackaged them.)"
"Once you have shown them the problems, paint the pictures of their wonderful future with your products or services and you will create desire. Just be sure you are painting a picture of their future and not just your products. Remember that features tell, benefits sell. Don't tell them what it is, but rather why they need it."
"Attitude is the only thing we can control in life, yet it's also the most powerful. You can't control your spouse, your kids, the weather, your coworkers, or the economy. You can try to better understand each of them, but you can't control them. All you can control is your perception and your attitude."
try this RAS recording shit.
My method of learning from my books is not good enough. I remember thinking that this book was awesome. I can't remember anything important from it. My circling quotes is not capturing what really matters. The essence of the book isn't in the quotes. I need a system of note taking. Someway to refresh myself on the important outline elements of the book. Not just memorable quotes.
Quotes:
"I realized that becoming a master of karate was not about learning 4,000 moves but about doing just a handful of moves 4,000 times."
"Implementation, not ideas, is the key to real success."
"The first thing you do to anyone who applies for a job in your company is to reject them, telling them why you don't think they can do the job. It's not that you don't want to hire the person. It's that you're looking for the unique personality profile that becomes more effective in the face of adversity."
"I know other trainers say to thank prospects for their time, but I do not agree with that philosophy. This shows that you consider their time more valuable than yours. It also suggests to them that listening to you is far less important than other things they could be doing. It belittles everything you have to say. Never apologize or thank them for their time. If you do a good job, then they will thank you."
"Remember to keep a tone of authority. That keeps assistants off-guard. They don't know if they have any power over you yet. The minute you start sounding like a salesperson, you give them that power and they will wield it well. You must keep them off-balance."
"Sales Steps:
1. Establish Rapport
2. Qualify the Buyer (Find the Need)
3. Build Value
4. Create Desire
5. Overcome Objections
(Notice the parallels here with the Game. They just took well understood sales techniques and repackaged them.)"
"Once you have shown them the problems, paint the pictures of their wonderful future with your products or services and you will create desire. Just be sure you are painting a picture of their future and not just your products. Remember that features tell, benefits sell. Don't tell them what it is, but rather why they need it."
"Attitude is the only thing we can control in life, yet it's also the most powerful. You can't control your spouse, your kids, the weather, your coworkers, or the economy. You can try to better understand each of them, but you can't control them. All you can control is your perception and your attitude."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2008
I promise that this will be the first and last sales book I add to my list. The books author, Chet Holmes, claims to be "Americas greatest sales and marketing executive". That may or may not be the case. Regardless, he does not lack hubris. Just ask him who's the best. Anyway, Chet has developed "12 skill areas" that will help anyone sell stuff better than they ever have before! For our reading convienience he's broken down the 12 skill areas into 12 chapters! You will only need to read these 12 chapters to become a, ahem, "master" (read: top flight sales honk). So do I feel like I learned anything from this book having read (literally) dozens of sales books before this? Verily nay, I don't think so. The true test of my Masterful abilities will be tested when I try to sell my wife on the idea that I need a new Mercedes-Benz S500 AMG. If you see me driving this car around remind me to change my 2 star rating to 5. I have no problem giving credit where it's due. Until then, 2 stars in more than enough.
July 15, 2017
Excelente libro para aprender muy variadas técnicas sobre como vender más y con mejores márgenes. Una obligación tenerlo muy cerca y altamente recomendable releerlo de vez en cuando para recordar los consejos prácticos para atraer muchos más prospectos y cerrar más negocios..
May 29, 2021
Chet is amazing and his 12 Key Strategies are sound as a baby. The Ultimate Sales Machine is a must-read for anyone selling anything.
I do, however, have to say upfront that some of the 12 strategies will only help people running a business with a sales team such as training, workshop meetings, and top producers. Chet, no doubt, wrote the book with business owners in mind, yet with a little bit of creativity, someone like you will be able to adapt many of these strategies for your solo-startup or side hustle.
12 Key Strategies of The Ultimate Sales Machine
Management
For a solopreneur or side hustler, this section is not as useful because most of it has to do with how to build an ultimate selling team. But you will get a sense of how Chet writes and whether you'll want to continue reading this amazing book.
1. Productivity
2. Training
3. Workshop Meetings
4. Top Producers
Marketing
The book was published in 2007 but feels like it was written in the '90s. These strategies focus more on the fundamental marketing and sales techniques rather than all the current social media marketing buzz. It's actually refreshing to read a book that doesn't talk about social media!
So with a little bit of creativity, these strategies can be adapted to any technology available to us now.
5. Buyers Pyramid
6. Marketing Tools
Sales
Fundamental all the way! Chet writes with detail and step-by-step how you can build your client base with loyal buyers. He insists that you stop at nothing using your Pigheaded Discipline and Determination - a phrase he used multiple times throughout the book - until you get the sale.
This does not mean you have to be one of those annoying salespeople who keep on badgering you to buy their product. Chet guides you through a proven sales strategy with many steps that will provide true value for your ideal buyers.
7. Ideal Buyers
8. Dream 100 Strategy
9. Presentations
10. Close Sales
11. Follow-up
Operating Your USM
The very last section of the book is the shortest (should only take you 30 minutes or less to read), thank God, because it mainly talks about topics covered over and over again in books like Think & Grow Rich and Psycho-Cybernetics and all the replicas we get in modern-day self-help books. Once you've read a few, you understand the topic. If you have not read either of those classics, then I highly recommend reading them.
12. Apply, Track, Improve
Should you buy The Ultimate Sales Machine?
Yes, The Ultimate Sales Machine is amazing for people who sell something whether that's a product or a service. So far, it's the best book on sales I've ever read.
I do, however, have to say upfront that some of the 12 strategies will only help people running a business with a sales team such as training, workshop meetings, and top producers. Chet, no doubt, wrote the book with business owners in mind, yet with a little bit of creativity, someone like you will be able to adapt many of these strategies for your solo-startup or side hustle.
12 Key Strategies of The Ultimate Sales Machine
Management
For a solopreneur or side hustler, this section is not as useful because most of it has to do with how to build an ultimate selling team. But you will get a sense of how Chet writes and whether you'll want to continue reading this amazing book.
1. Productivity
2. Training
3. Workshop Meetings
4. Top Producers
Marketing
The book was published in 2007 but feels like it was written in the '90s. These strategies focus more on the fundamental marketing and sales techniques rather than all the current social media marketing buzz. It's actually refreshing to read a book that doesn't talk about social media!
So with a little bit of creativity, these strategies can be adapted to any technology available to us now.
5. Buyers Pyramid
6. Marketing Tools
Sales
Fundamental all the way! Chet writes with detail and step-by-step how you can build your client base with loyal buyers. He insists that you stop at nothing using your Pigheaded Discipline and Determination - a phrase he used multiple times throughout the book - until you get the sale.
This does not mean you have to be one of those annoying salespeople who keep on badgering you to buy their product. Chet guides you through a proven sales strategy with many steps that will provide true value for your ideal buyers.
7. Ideal Buyers
8. Dream 100 Strategy
9. Presentations
10. Close Sales
11. Follow-up
Operating Your USM
The very last section of the book is the shortest (should only take you 30 minutes or less to read), thank God, because it mainly talks about topics covered over and over again in books like Think & Grow Rich and Psycho-Cybernetics and all the replicas we get in modern-day self-help books. Once you've read a few, you understand the topic. If you have not read either of those classics, then I highly recommend reading them.
12. Apply, Track, Improve
Should you buy The Ultimate Sales Machine?
Yes, The Ultimate Sales Machine is amazing for people who sell something whether that's a product or a service. So far, it's the best book on sales I've ever read.
September 10, 2021
A world-class marketer and salesman reveals the strategies and tactics behind his success. The material is explained well, with plenty of examples. I found some of the approaches a bit slimy. He says don't lie, but don't tell the whole truth. He advocates leading prospects on, which I find disingenuous. For example, he says you should tell prospects, "We're in touch with your competitors" to imply that you're working with them, when you're really just marketing to them. I don't deny his success or the effectiveness of the techniques, I just don't like that approach to sales.
A major point is that the key to success is pig-headed discipline and determination (powering through implementation, despite short-term disappointment).
Notes
Add strategic market data to marketing and sales materials, rather than just dry, factual product data. Market data motivates people who don't realize they need product/service. For example, a carpet cleaning company should explain how carpet cleaning makes home healthier (market data), rather than just stating that it cleans X feet of carpet for $Y (product data).
When customer asks to be sent info rather than committing on the call, say, "We'd be happy to send the info. In fact, it's already on the way. Let me tell you what happens to people who receive the info. Either they read the info and they're so impressed that they sign up, or they're in such a reactive mode reacting to their business that they never take the time to read the info or to improve their business, and they do nothing. My question for you is: are you the type of person who would rather take action and learn how to double your business, or are you too busy reacting to your business to take the time to learn the skills to improve?" This led to a 50% increase in closes.
1/3 of people will buy something else offered at point of sale. Offer add-on sales at point of purchase. You can have a partner company offer your product as an add-on at its point of sale.
Offer educational seminar/workshop to prospect: "I'm with XYZ company. We have a new program to teach business owners like you how to be more successful. Have you heard of it? We feel it's our obligation to make sure local businesses are successful as possible. So, we've underwritten a program to show you the 5 most common reasons that businesses fail. It also shows the 7 ways to become the most popular [business type] in the community. In the next week we'll be showing this to every other [business type] in the community and thought you'd want to learn the same thing. Are you interested in being more successful in your business and guarding against the problems your type of business faces? I'm one of the speakers who presents this info. The session includes my content and Q&A. What's a good time?"
When you sell, you break rapport. When you educate, you build it. When you sell, people resist you. When you educate, they don't.
The one who gives the market the most and best info beats those who give just product data.
Market data is way more motivational than product data. Most people think of a shoe as a shoe (product data). But when you learn that your feet connect to the rest of your body (market data), that makes the show much more important. Tell why your product/service is important.
Find the "smoking gun": a single fact that positions your offering above competitors. To find the smoking gun, look at market data over time to identify trends.
The best salespeople are high-dominance, high-influence types, with bravado.
Put on an educational seminar. Call prospects and say, "I'm sure you're aware of our company, we've been helping law firms be more successful for 50 years now. We recently commissioned a study on what's going on in the legal market, and we've learned that there are some pretty serious challenges facing lawyers. Since our survival depends on your success, we wanted to make sure that you saw this info and had every opportunity to be ahead of the problems. We put this info into a very succinct executive committee orientation, and we're now showing it to all the top law firms. We're in touch with [names] and are arranging to show this at one of their management meetings. We want to make sure you also see this info." This motivates with fear and uses social proof.
Affiliate marketing is a much faster way to grow than other forms of marketing. Partner with non-competitors who sell to your market.
Make your website an info source that people refer other to. Think of your website as a community; focus on it, not you. Get involved with and serve that community. E.g., Stonyfield Farms site offers info on organic farms, environmentalism, wellness.
Start presentations with overview of industry over time, to get audience interested and show that you know something they don't.
In presentations, don't pitch your product. Only use it as an example (such as in section titled "What to look for").
You'll see more prospects by offering education than by trying to sell your product. A great education can help them realize they need your product.
Never call it a presentation; that sounds like a sales pitch. Call it an orientation or executive briefing.
Rather than selling your product directly, sell an educational program that ultimately sells the product more effectively.
Offer a free report to prospects, and rather than just sending it, present it live for a better sales opportunity. Say, "We present the report to go the extra mile. It has graphics, and we make it an orientation that we present live."
To establish trust, make prospect feel that they're working with an expert. Do that by educating and giving valuable info that helps them succeed.
Establish rapport by asking great questions and finding common interests. Use business questions to get into their personal life.
An objection is an opportunity to close. Always agree with objections; prospect will drop their guard. If prospect says your product is too expensive, say, "That's certainly a good reason not to invest today." Pause, then say, "But tell me, is money the only thing standing between you and the product?" If there are more objections, they'll surface. Then say, "So, if I can find a way to help you afford the product, you'll buy it?" Then help with financing, or create more desire by showing how not buying will cost more in long run.
Offer a free bonus product/service with the sale, to motivate them to buy now. Reverse the risk to neutralize objections by offering money-back guarantee. To make it stronger, tell them they can keep the bonus even if they claim guarantee.
Bond with clients. Ultimate goal is that biggest clients become friends. Become involved in their lives and success of their businesses. Bond through structured follow up.
A major point is that the key to success is pig-headed discipline and determination (powering through implementation, despite short-term disappointment).
Notes
Add strategic market data to marketing and sales materials, rather than just dry, factual product data. Market data motivates people who don't realize they need product/service. For example, a carpet cleaning company should explain how carpet cleaning makes home healthier (market data), rather than just stating that it cleans X feet of carpet for $Y (product data).
When customer asks to be sent info rather than committing on the call, say, "We'd be happy to send the info. In fact, it's already on the way. Let me tell you what happens to people who receive the info. Either they read the info and they're so impressed that they sign up, or they're in such a reactive mode reacting to their business that they never take the time to read the info or to improve their business, and they do nothing. My question for you is: are you the type of person who would rather take action and learn how to double your business, or are you too busy reacting to your business to take the time to learn the skills to improve?" This led to a 50% increase in closes.
1/3 of people will buy something else offered at point of sale. Offer add-on sales at point of purchase. You can have a partner company offer your product as an add-on at its point of sale.
Offer educational seminar/workshop to prospect: "I'm with XYZ company. We have a new program to teach business owners like you how to be more successful. Have you heard of it? We feel it's our obligation to make sure local businesses are successful as possible. So, we've underwritten a program to show you the 5 most common reasons that businesses fail. It also shows the 7 ways to become the most popular [business type] in the community. In the next week we'll be showing this to every other [business type] in the community and thought you'd want to learn the same thing. Are you interested in being more successful in your business and guarding against the problems your type of business faces? I'm one of the speakers who presents this info. The session includes my content and Q&A. What's a good time?"
When you sell, you break rapport. When you educate, you build it. When you sell, people resist you. When you educate, they don't.
The one who gives the market the most and best info beats those who give just product data.
Market data is way more motivational than product data. Most people think of a shoe as a shoe (product data). But when you learn that your feet connect to the rest of your body (market data), that makes the show much more important. Tell why your product/service is important.
Find the "smoking gun": a single fact that positions your offering above competitors. To find the smoking gun, look at market data over time to identify trends.
The best salespeople are high-dominance, high-influence types, with bravado.
Put on an educational seminar. Call prospects and say, "I'm sure you're aware of our company, we've been helping law firms be more successful for 50 years now. We recently commissioned a study on what's going on in the legal market, and we've learned that there are some pretty serious challenges facing lawyers. Since our survival depends on your success, we wanted to make sure that you saw this info and had every opportunity to be ahead of the problems. We put this info into a very succinct executive committee orientation, and we're now showing it to all the top law firms. We're in touch with [names] and are arranging to show this at one of their management meetings. We want to make sure you also see this info." This motivates with fear and uses social proof.
Affiliate marketing is a much faster way to grow than other forms of marketing. Partner with non-competitors who sell to your market.
Make your website an info source that people refer other to. Think of your website as a community; focus on it, not you. Get involved with and serve that community. E.g., Stonyfield Farms site offers info on organic farms, environmentalism, wellness.
Start presentations with overview of industry over time, to get audience interested and show that you know something they don't.
In presentations, don't pitch your product. Only use it as an example (such as in section titled "What to look for").
You'll see more prospects by offering education than by trying to sell your product. A great education can help them realize they need your product.
Never call it a presentation; that sounds like a sales pitch. Call it an orientation or executive briefing.
Rather than selling your product directly, sell an educational program that ultimately sells the product more effectively.
Offer a free report to prospects, and rather than just sending it, present it live for a better sales opportunity. Say, "We present the report to go the extra mile. It has graphics, and we make it an orientation that we present live."
To establish trust, make prospect feel that they're working with an expert. Do that by educating and giving valuable info that helps them succeed.
Establish rapport by asking great questions and finding common interests. Use business questions to get into their personal life.
An objection is an opportunity to close. Always agree with objections; prospect will drop their guard. If prospect says your product is too expensive, say, "That's certainly a good reason not to invest today." Pause, then say, "But tell me, is money the only thing standing between you and the product?" If there are more objections, they'll surface. Then say, "So, if I can find a way to help you afford the product, you'll buy it?" Then help with financing, or create more desire by showing how not buying will cost more in long run.
Offer a free bonus product/service with the sale, to motivate them to buy now. Reverse the risk to neutralize objections by offering money-back guarantee. To make it stronger, tell them they can keep the bonus even if they claim guarantee.
Bond with clients. Ultimate goal is that biggest clients become friends. Become involved in their lives and success of their businesses. Bond through structured follow up.
October 7, 2018
Very interesting approach to sales processes that shifts the focus to organizational basics before going into specific advice regarding sales pitches and strategies. Chet Holmes' emphasis on discipline and determination is very welcome, especially as founders typically enjoy reading self and business improvement articles and books, but tend to somehow believe their company is impervious to the common sense around standardization, time management, and true focus on organizational alignment towards efficiency and improvement: typically, they dip a toe into the process design waters and quickly return to their "It's best if I just do it myself" ways, quickly deeming information management efforts useless. The result is an organization that will never be able to scale, as crucial strategic information is forever retained exclusively in the founder's brain.
The book was released in 2007 so don't expect data analytics to be a part of it; tech-wise, it's still marvelling over e-mail. That doesn't mean it isn't a relevant read, since its insights on organization are very practical and on-point; just don't expect it to be cutting edge in terms of advertisement.
The book was released in 2007 so don't expect data analytics to be a part of it; tech-wise, it's still marvelling over e-mail. That doesn't mean it isn't a relevant read, since its insights on organization are very practical and on-point; just don't expect it to be cutting edge in terms of advertisement.
December 23, 2016
Okay, it's another American book on business and this one is perhaps even more `American' than all the others. Everything is repeated, data is served in very small chunks, the author is shamelessly self-promoting on every single page, etc...
BUT
I do believe the content of this book and the learning you get from it are extremely useful to increase your company sales productivity. I also liked the link the author makes between business and life. Success in either one basically requires a very similar set of skills.
The Ultimate Sales Machine is a very practical book with exercises, examples, simply laid out strategies and tactics. The key learning, which I love, however, is not do-this-and-do-that but that `pigheaded discipline and determination' will bring you everywhere you want. And that's a great thought for (business) people to understand.
BUT
I do believe the content of this book and the learning you get from it are extremely useful to increase your company sales productivity. I also liked the link the author makes between business and life. Success in either one basically requires a very similar set of skills.
The Ultimate Sales Machine is a very practical book with exercises, examples, simply laid out strategies and tactics. The key learning, which I love, however, is not do-this-and-do-that but that `pigheaded discipline and determination' will bring you everywhere you want. And that's a great thought for (business) people to understand.
November 7, 2020
Most normally I would have given this book four stars, but there is a specific section about The 100 Dream Clients, that set the difference apart. It simply get me waken up by the potential of acquiring really high-quality clients, I used to think of going with big clients as improbable and too early, but when you think about it, sometimes you need one client to complete your career!
Decent book with good insight and in-depth instruction on how to market you services and generate more clients. It’s mostly a marketing and business-management book rather than a sales book, since the part where it divulge to sales techniques into closing more is pretty basic and there is only one chapter about.
It’s a book worthy to read, it provides insights that I haven’t read before in other books, and the writer in indignant in his field. Pretty recommended.
Decent book with good insight and in-depth instruction on how to market you services and generate more clients. It’s mostly a marketing and business-management book rather than a sales book, since the part where it divulge to sales techniques into closing more is pretty basic and there is only one chapter about.
It’s a book worthy to read, it provides insights that I haven’t read before in other books, and the writer in indignant in his field. Pretty recommended.
May 4, 2016
Learned nothing
October 13, 2016
An excellent step by step guide to help grow any business. A great guide to be reviewed and studied again and again.
February 22, 2024
This was a tough one to finish, and if it weren't our company's book of the month provided to us honestly I'm not sure I could have even convinced myself to finished it. With each sales book we read I feel more and more confident that the administrative side is for me. There is plenty of marketing or sales tactics that can be applied in other areas, but the advice in these books so often it feels abrasive or self-betraying.
The big one I resonated with in this book was the principle of time blocking and saving the company money by being effective in your day to day tasks. However, it didn't feel as prophetic or energizing as management had made it seem. Other self-help or scientific based books about the brain or our attention span feel less critical of the individual and get the same points across.
Shout out to those whose lives were changed by this book, you keep us in business and I'm glad that we are all created with individual talents and interests.
The big one I resonated with in this book was the principle of time blocking and saving the company money by being effective in your day to day tasks. However, it didn't feel as prophetic or energizing as management had made it seem. Other self-help or scientific based books about the brain or our attention span feel less critical of the individual and get the same points across.
Shout out to those whose lives were changed by this book, you keep us in business and I'm glad that we are all created with individual talents and interests.
March 11, 2020
The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies by Chet Holmes is a book I first read back in 2015 when I was first starting to grow the Organize 365 team as a corporate team. At this time, the business began to sell physical products rather than professional organizing services. This book gives education and case studies on many important topics in building a functional business including time management, training, effective meetings, strategy, hiring, and customers. If you want to learn how to build your business and actually sell your product, I recommend this book for growing businesses.
Watch my video review here (available March 16, 2020): https://youtu.be/rWMM3_WaGu4
Watch my video review here (available March 16, 2020): https://youtu.be/rWMM3_WaGu4
March 25, 2018
Chet Holmes' The Ultimate Sales Machine was given to me as required reading for a new job. I dived into and quickly learned that it is different than most business books. This one lays out clearly what you will need to do in order to gain an edge in the working world. Even though the word "sales" is in the title, this could be your bible for any business role. I recommend this read for anyone who leads a team, is in marketing or is an entrepreneur.
This is the type of book that you will need to keep referencing so I recommend you get a version that works for you to reference easily.
This is the type of book that you will need to keep referencing so I recommend you get a version that works for you to reference easily.
September 24, 2019
Chet is a sale genius! I recommend the book to anyone who is looking to grow his/her enterprise. Now on the flip side if you are in tech or other digital industries you might want to look up to additional support as the book has a strong emphasis on personal selling. Still a must read for BDMs, sales directors and others working in commercial b2b enterprises.
May 23, 2018
There are many great tips in this book, with one of his main themes being that of dogged perseverance as the main key to sales success. However, he does not posit many entirely new suggestions. It was not a waste of time, however I would not include it in a sales curriculum.
February 18, 2022
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I haven't had much experience with sales, and I felt this was a great introduction and overview of the field. There are principles that you can tease out and apply to your personal and professional life if you are looking to grow. I would recommend.
January 19, 2019
I'd give it 5 stars if it was more relevant for b2c businesses too. Still good read. Need to read it again when starting to implement.
December 30, 2020
I think overall I like what he said which is pretty much consistency is key.
April 2, 2019
This is a great resource if you’re new to sales.
October 18, 2022
Really useful, full of gems will revert back to. But it’s painfully boring to read and took me way too long
January 30, 2018
Оценка больше за материал, чем за подачу. В книге много воды. Хотя нет — В КНИГЕ ОЧЕНЬ МНОГО ВОДЫ!
А теперь к сути. Ultimate Sales Machine — самая правильная книга по продажам, которую я читал. Продажи — это следствие, а причины — маркетинг, тайм менеджмент, найм персонала, «облизывание» клиента и так далее. Именно о причинах идёт речь в книге.
Материал, который подаётся в книге немного устарел, но основы будут актуальны и сегодня. Если в общем — маст рид для тех, кто строит свой бизнес и кому нужны хорошие продажи.
А теперь к сути. Ultimate Sales Machine — самая правильная книга по продажам, которую я читал. Продажи — это следствие, а причины — маркетинг, тайм менеджмент, найм персонала, «облизывание» клиента и так далее. Именно о причинах идёт речь в книге.
Материал, который подаётся в книге немного устарел, но основы будут актуальны и сегодня. Если в общем — маст рид для тех, кто строит свой бизнес и кому нужны хорошие продажи.
June 4, 2018
Ultimate Sales Machine Book review:
Some good information but far too much noise surrounding it which would benefit from better editing. Most of the content was good but I disliked his chapter on hiring and thought it offered some poor advice.
Chapter 1
Importance of time Mgmt
Six tasks per day maximum
Six hours of productive time per day
Aim to be proactive not reactive
Sales need to be doing 40-60 cold calls per day especially at the start. Record your calls to make sure you are doing, expect this to take circa 2.5 hours a day.
Have templates for sales meetings, post meeting templates to record set details e.g. budget expectations, name of buyer, structure of organisation, preferred contract type, etc
Chapter 2
Importance of training and lack of training= unstructured company and random results
Insist on sales training!!!
Set out training plan and get buy-in to it. Include external training e.g. tall Matt. Look to work shadow people by be mindful of copying mistakes. Enjoy the RiskCo meetings and use it as a “hot seat” training experience.
Value of training is most accomplished through regular training as people become more open to engaging and taking the lessons on plus it compounds on previous training.
I could offer to do some contract training.
Chapter 3 - effective meetings
Dedicate one hour every week to PPP Planning, procedures and policies.
Your aim should be to write out how every detailed step of critical tasks is undertaken. So much level of detail that if 50 new people joined within one week they could all learn the job!
Workshopping is the most effective way of doing this. Has an example of how to ask the team “three things they would improve” and then collate the results. Assign actions between the team and then report back to the team with PPP tools to help the team.
I should plan, test and policy every step of the cold calling process.
10 step process to implement a new policy:
1. Get everyone to feel the pain!!! Best way is to ask them what the top three challenges they face are?
2. Hold a workshop to generate solutions.
3. Develop a conceptual solution
4. Test the conceptual solution on top talent first - they will give the correct detailed PPP solution for others to follow
5. Set a deadline for testing conceptual solution
6. Document step by step solution
7. Hold show and tell and role playing training sessions
8. Have another workshop on how to improve
9. Monitor the procedure directly
10. Measure and reward the outcome - make the reward a ceremony so that people receive public praise.
Chapter 4
Aim to be a brilliant strategist who can also knuckle down to implement at the tactical level.
The strategy should be to educate clients on their market. Same as Shipley look to tell them about themselves not about us in the first instance. Aim to “reset the buying criteria”, for example with water, show data about the long term trends of increasing environmental legislation, increasing water prices, increasing options for water supply and discharge via privatised markets. Then swoop in with our ability to help.
I need to create a “stadium pitch” that holds all potential buyers in a room. E.g. Do you want to decrease your costs by a completely outsourced solution?
Position yourself as an expert via your market education. Creating this pitch requires market data and this needs to be generated through market research e.g. tools that Sherrie showed me.
Aim to find the “smoking gun” that influences the market e.g. water fines are increasing OR companies are overpaying across the industry OR water impacts on operations…
Chapter 5
The sales superstar needs to be hired based on personality. He recommends the DISC personality test.
Dominance and Influence are the key characteristics for sales. The never say die ego that always needs to dominate is a key characteristic for persistence and closing.
Advocates rejecting at telephone interview stage. Then if they fight their corner, go on to the real interview:
Relax - allow them, may encourage them to open up about who they really are.
Probe - very important to react positively to everything they say to keep them honest and comfortable
Attack - final test of their character after they have committed of themselves…
Overall not the strongest of chapters, very weak on how to manage people but good insight on what makes a tenacious sales person.
Chapter 6
Very important to focus your efforts on the best buyers, those companies who buy big, buy quick and buy more often. Similar to the basketball expression if the well is pumping oil you keep pumping.
He writes out an entire script that he used on page 1928. My version (needs work) “I'm sure you're aware of our company in the waste sector but this is actually the smaller part of our business, Suez is the largest water company in the world. We have products and experience across all sectors in the water market. We recently commissioned a study into what challenges the UK industrial sector faces in relation to water. We have several food and beverage manufacturers who we are currently consulting with on this issue including: AB and Beverage, Coca cola, Heineken e.t.c.”.
Needs to use fear and include “social proof”,needs to be phrased carefully do as to be true but ambitious.
This must be backed up by solid research.
The importance of chasing dream clients cannot be overstated. JFDI and continue to keep chasing them until they feel obligated to do business with you! Build a list of my dream 100 clients and chase them.
Build a list of dream affiliates (those in similar markets that don't offer our services).
There are a few good exercises to do in this chapter.
Chapter 7
Ask for all the marketing and PR materials that have been produced to date for both IW and SASUK.
Essential that there is a strong collaboration between sales and marketing. Aim for “stacked marketing” where all PR, marketing, web etc is coordinated with a consistent message, look and feel built on your “stadium pitch”.
Importance of visuals in any promotional material e.g. dust mite close up for the carpet cleaning business. Consistent use of colour builds a brand awareness.
Corporate material should repeat the data, visuals and messages of the “stadium pitch”. Repetition is a form of learning and we are aiming to teach the client about their industry and our contribution.
Build a PR strategy aimed at the South of England. Include top publications, top clients, top products and then write articles to get published with plenty of photos. Build a casebook of material for attending events. If this can reinforce the stadium pitch and the corporate material it builds brand loyalty and prevents competitors stealing it effectively. Key to making this happen is to build relationships with the trade press, phone them and attend their shows on a regular basis.
Quotes from reputable trade sources are worth far more than anything we write in our own pitches… Target some easy wins first e.g. CIWEM magazine now that there is a new editor. Any old website to start with will help and then build that back up through the business to get sponsorship for better investment in trade publications.
Try to get a photo of myself in an article to help build my own personal brand. Even a photo of me on site will help in the corporate material.
Do the exercises in this chapter and get Niki's help with them.
Rules of trade shows:
Get noticed - be the fun booth!
Capture leads - give people multiple choice feedback forms to get more accurate response.
Organise charity events. Wateraid will be a good one for me, do fundraising events and use these to network. How I do this across the South of England is the challenge… To get people to attend on a Friday night with their partners would be the ultimate.
Identify your “market influencer” and then engage them to help sell your product. If you have enough clout, or influence over someone else who does, an awards ceremony is a great marketing event
Setup your own trade association to engage your dream 100. Run an industry teleconference on popular topics to help engage, could be done as a webinar. Set up a bunch of these in advance to make sure we have the content to fill a year ahead. I could augment the topics and content of the water podcast but run them as webinars with a Q&A session. Particular examples could be contract law.
If the webinars got a following they could be marketed to the utilities market to promote their messages to the industrial customers e.g. value of water saving, what industrial effluents cause most harm, how to notify of a pollution incident.
Hold monthly meetings with marketing to audit progress against the objectives.
Chapter 8
Use the limbic system in the brain to communicate hard messages at the same time as your words. Use charts going into the red and use redundancy/depression images to illicit the fear stages. Then use successful images (project completion ribbon cutting), etc to show the successful solution.
Body parts help draw attention.
Getting people to draw over a webinar/telecom significantly helps keep their engagement. Even if it is just a triangle, get this exercise worked through with the team in a workshop before trying on the clientbase.
Wow facts get the audience really invested in your authority. Work really hard to find these so that people see you as being an industry expert. This then leans over into the sale side. Failure rate or changes in competition are the easy ones to find. Look also at supply chains and how they are changing - consolidation, internet, e.t.c. learn a few general market trends and drill these to the specific for the wow facts.
Communicate in stories wherever possible. Read a book on how to craft stories, do some story workshops. His story on following up a bad sale to get further sales is a really good one (p.162).
Make presentations curiosity driven, keep the audience hanging on to see what the next slide is e.g. “this means you have some serious competition which we now look at in the next slide”, “this means that you can incur some hefty penalties if you don't adhere to the legislation, the next slide shows you how to adhere”...
Put more effort into the headlines of the presentation than into anything else! These do the most work for you.
Build rapport by asking them to stretch with you! Or engage them on their problems “misery loves company". Ask for their personal work challenges then broaden to what they see as industry challenges. Close this out by
“Those challenges you’ve mentioned come up a lot with other clients. That’s one of the reasons we had some research conducted about our industry/market/profession. Our findings were so profound that we put them into an executive briefing that’s quite revealing. Here. Let me show you some of this data.”
“Turn your mirrors into windows!” focus on other people not on yourself.
Communication mediums:
Tone - practice sounding like an investigating detective to get the authority you need in your tone.
Body language - “You know what? I think I can show you this better if we sit side by side.”
8 mistakes in presentations:
1. Thanking people for their time - puts you on the back foot.
2. Hands in pockets - too lackadaisical, always out in front above the waist.
3. Sitting down - always ask if people mind you standing because you feel more comfortable, noone ever says no.
4. Being led by questions - return the questions to the presentation (by asking return questions if necessary) and maintain control.
5. Relying on the materials - keep your enthusiasm and personality present.
6. Too serious - always include a joke!
7. Failing to practice - make it exciting, fast-paced, draw conclusions, know the material, be dynamic.
8. Unsure what comes next - know the “patter between the panels” is key to engagement via presell, preframe and promise of what is to come…
Lastly, don't call it a presentation call it an executive briefing.
Chapter 9
1. Choose dream 100
2. Choose simple, inexpensive and useful gifts to weave into a narrative. He has a list on page 178
3. Send a brief call to action letter, page 178 has example
4. Set a calendar of monthly gifts and fortnightly newsletter updates.
5. Follow up phone calls after every communication, script on page 184 and cold calling script on page 186
6. Present the executive briefing, use prize for best presentation competitions to get the sales team learning from each other. Page 187 encoursges use of internet presentations for smaller pitches.
“To build the Ultimate Sales Machine, you must devote machinelike precision to chase and tackle those dream prospects”
Chapter 10
Learn the seven sales steps by memory:
7. Establish rapport
8. Qualify the buyer (find the need)
9. Build value
10. Create desire
11. Overcome objections
12. Close the sale
13. Follow up
Rapport
According to the Encarta World English Dictionary, rapport is “an emotional bond or friendly relationship between people based on mutual liking, trust, and a sense that they understand and share each other’s concerns.”
Selling breaks rapport, educating builds it.
Ask personal questions early - how long have you been in this line of work? What do you think of the industry? More examples on page 196.
Enjoy and make it fun, especially with humor. Even send a joke once in a while but keep this to a minimum.
Remember that “misery loves company” let people moan.
Be interested and fascinated in them.
Find common interests and “mirror” their body language.
Do explorative training sessions on rapport building within the team. Ask them how many things they can find out about clients and hold a competition!
Qualify the buyer - Andy's “discovery” stage
Develop six to ten questions that will gain the information needed on each prospect and memorise it. Put this into templates so that it is easily recorded before and after. Try to pre-empt where you think they will be and then listen empathically when they answer. Say things like I thought you would have been X so I'm surprised that you are Y can you tell me why this was chosen?
What are you three main challenges in relation to your mail manufacturing process?
What are your criteria for making a buying decision on a product or service like ours? This question needs to be done more subtly than it is written e.g. what factors make you choose one product/service over another?
Asking the right questions can get the person to close themselves.
Build value
Whether you ever do business with us or not you should know some of this information we have gathered on being successful in your marketplace.
Deliver the one to two minutes core story (stadium pitch).
Create desire
• Lead them through a series of questions to intensify their desire
• Present killer data that truly motivates them to action
Our core story on the market trends etc builds up to this. People are more inclined to protect what they have than to pursue new opportunities (Kahneman links).
“Features tell, benefits sell” tailor this sell to “their benefits” not our products. Remember MCT got a five mill contract on the back of fuck all!!!
Overcome objections
The better you qualify them the fewer objections you should face. Top sales people qualify the heck out of a prospect to learn all possible buying blocks.
Standard closing questions to get the prospect thinking of what they lose out on are on page 203.
Have a mindset that “an objection is an opportunity to close”. Always agree with an objection first then follow the disagreement steps from leadership training.
Isolating the objection is a powerful strategy to close someone.
Close the sale
Weak ego strength and fear of rejection stop people closing. Just go for it!
Chapter 11
Follow up needs to be structured to keep in the client’s mind. The follow up needs to reiterate the client's hot buttons for buying to keep them respecting you and trusting you.
1. First follow up letter - within two hours and use the template on page 214 (personal, compliment, hot buttons, personal close) add educational marketing materials.
2. First follow up call - call with a non-sales call to maintain contact e.g. “hi, I was thinking about the way you manage xyz and I just thought that zyx may be of use if you haven't already tried it”
3. Send something personal - send an article related to a personal connection you made e.g. mountain biking. He recommends using a standard humourous email at this stage, can be templated.
4. Organise a bonding event e.g. meal, party etc
5. Second follow up email or card - tell them the next step
6. Plan a family event
7. Offer something else e.g. a networking introduction to another company
8. Another email - template it
9. Offer more help e.g. training via webinar
10. Invite them into your personal life e.g.go mountain biking
Chapter 12
Positive mindset stuff “fake it til you make it"
Your brain is most receptive to setting goals first thing in the morning and last thing at night so these are the times to focus on goal setting and visualisation e.g. a successful sell.
Phrase goals and desires in the present tense to cue your autosuggestion activation.
I have to wake up on time Vs I must not oversleep
“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”
Create a RAS recording to listen to before sleeping suggested statements on page 232. Include the “I love cold calling” one.
Set lifetime goals and view them every day e.g. car dashboard, to get the RAS working on them. Template on page 233.
Measuring effectiveness
“People respect what you inspect”
Record all details in Salesforce to get fuller picture of success.
Follow up:
Remember that breaking through the clutter, even to get hung up on, now gives you a tiny filament of contact. If you immediately fax a note, you’ve strengthened the filament. So a fax should go off immediately that says: “You just hung up on me, but I don’t think you understood the significance of my call or you would not have done so. Consider this: [pitch again what they’ll learn from the “orientation”]. From page 237
Some good information but far too much noise surrounding it which would benefit from better editing. Most of the content was good but I disliked his chapter on hiring and thought it offered some poor advice.
Chapter 1
Importance of time Mgmt
Six tasks per day maximum
Six hours of productive time per day
Aim to be proactive not reactive
Sales need to be doing 40-60 cold calls per day especially at the start. Record your calls to make sure you are doing, expect this to take circa 2.5 hours a day.
Have templates for sales meetings, post meeting templates to record set details e.g. budget expectations, name of buyer, structure of organisation, preferred contract type, etc
Chapter 2
Importance of training and lack of training= unstructured company and random results
Insist on sales training!!!
Set out training plan and get buy-in to it. Include external training e.g. tall Matt. Look to work shadow people by be mindful of copying mistakes. Enjoy the RiskCo meetings and use it as a “hot seat” training experience.
Value of training is most accomplished through regular training as people become more open to engaging and taking the lessons on plus it compounds on previous training.
I could offer to do some contract training.
Chapter 3 - effective meetings
Dedicate one hour every week to PPP Planning, procedures and policies.
Your aim should be to write out how every detailed step of critical tasks is undertaken. So much level of detail that if 50 new people joined within one week they could all learn the job!
Workshopping is the most effective way of doing this. Has an example of how to ask the team “three things they would improve” and then collate the results. Assign actions between the team and then report back to the team with PPP tools to help the team.
I should plan, test and policy every step of the cold calling process.
10 step process to implement a new policy:
1. Get everyone to feel the pain!!! Best way is to ask them what the top three challenges they face are?
2. Hold a workshop to generate solutions.
3. Develop a conceptual solution
4. Test the conceptual solution on top talent first - they will give the correct detailed PPP solution for others to follow
5. Set a deadline for testing conceptual solution
6. Document step by step solution
7. Hold show and tell and role playing training sessions
8. Have another workshop on how to improve
9. Monitor the procedure directly
10. Measure and reward the outcome - make the reward a ceremony so that people receive public praise.
Chapter 4
Aim to be a brilliant strategist who can also knuckle down to implement at the tactical level.
The strategy should be to educate clients on their market. Same as Shipley look to tell them about themselves not about us in the first instance. Aim to “reset the buying criteria”, for example with water, show data about the long term trends of increasing environmental legislation, increasing water prices, increasing options for water supply and discharge via privatised markets. Then swoop in with our ability to help.
I need to create a “stadium pitch” that holds all potential buyers in a room. E.g. Do you want to decrease your costs by a completely outsourced solution?
Position yourself as an expert via your market education. Creating this pitch requires market data and this needs to be generated through market research e.g. tools that Sherrie showed me.
Aim to find the “smoking gun” that influences the market e.g. water fines are increasing OR companies are overpaying across the industry OR water impacts on operations…
Chapter 5
The sales superstar needs to be hired based on personality. He recommends the DISC personality test.
Dominance and Influence are the key characteristics for sales. The never say die ego that always needs to dominate is a key characteristic for persistence and closing.
Advocates rejecting at telephone interview stage. Then if they fight their corner, go on to the real interview:
Relax - allow them, may encourage them to open up about who they really are.
Probe - very important to react positively to everything they say to keep them honest and comfortable
Attack - final test of their character after they have committed of themselves…
Overall not the strongest of chapters, very weak on how to manage people but good insight on what makes a tenacious sales person.
Chapter 6
Very important to focus your efforts on the best buyers, those companies who buy big, buy quick and buy more often. Similar to the basketball expression if the well is pumping oil you keep pumping.
He writes out an entire script that he used on page 1928. My version (needs work) “I'm sure you're aware of our company in the waste sector but this is actually the smaller part of our business, Suez is the largest water company in the world. We have products and experience across all sectors in the water market. We recently commissioned a study into what challenges the UK industrial sector faces in relation to water. We have several food and beverage manufacturers who we are currently consulting with on this issue including: AB and Beverage, Coca cola, Heineken e.t.c.”.
Needs to use fear and include “social proof”,needs to be phrased carefully do as to be true but ambitious.
This must be backed up by solid research.
The importance of chasing dream clients cannot be overstated. JFDI and continue to keep chasing them until they feel obligated to do business with you! Build a list of my dream 100 clients and chase them.
Build a list of dream affiliates (those in similar markets that don't offer our services).
There are a few good exercises to do in this chapter.
Chapter 7
Ask for all the marketing and PR materials that have been produced to date for both IW and SASUK.
Essential that there is a strong collaboration between sales and marketing. Aim for “stacked marketing” where all PR, marketing, web etc is coordinated with a consistent message, look and feel built on your “stadium pitch”.
Importance of visuals in any promotional material e.g. dust mite close up for the carpet cleaning business. Consistent use of colour builds a brand awareness.
Corporate material should repeat the data, visuals and messages of the “stadium pitch”. Repetition is a form of learning and we are aiming to teach the client about their industry and our contribution.
Build a PR strategy aimed at the South of England. Include top publications, top clients, top products and then write articles to get published with plenty of photos. Build a casebook of material for attending events. If this can reinforce the stadium pitch and the corporate material it builds brand loyalty and prevents competitors stealing it effectively. Key to making this happen is to build relationships with the trade press, phone them and attend their shows on a regular basis.
Quotes from reputable trade sources are worth far more than anything we write in our own pitches… Target some easy wins first e.g. CIWEM magazine now that there is a new editor. Any old website to start with will help and then build that back up through the business to get sponsorship for better investment in trade publications.
Try to get a photo of myself in an article to help build my own personal brand. Even a photo of me on site will help in the corporate material.
Do the exercises in this chapter and get Niki's help with them.
Rules of trade shows:
Get noticed - be the fun booth!
Capture leads - give people multiple choice feedback forms to get more accurate response.
Organise charity events. Wateraid will be a good one for me, do fundraising events and use these to network. How I do this across the South of England is the challenge… To get people to attend on a Friday night with their partners would be the ultimate.
Identify your “market influencer” and then engage them to help sell your product. If you have enough clout, or influence over someone else who does, an awards ceremony is a great marketing event
Setup your own trade association to engage your dream 100. Run an industry teleconference on popular topics to help engage, could be done as a webinar. Set up a bunch of these in advance to make sure we have the content to fill a year ahead. I could augment the topics and content of the water podcast but run them as webinars with a Q&A session. Particular examples could be contract law.
If the webinars got a following they could be marketed to the utilities market to promote their messages to the industrial customers e.g. value of water saving, what industrial effluents cause most harm, how to notify of a pollution incident.
Hold monthly meetings with marketing to audit progress against the objectives.
Chapter 8
Use the limbic system in the brain to communicate hard messages at the same time as your words. Use charts going into the red and use redundancy/depression images to illicit the fear stages. Then use successful images (project completion ribbon cutting), etc to show the successful solution.
Body parts help draw attention.
Getting people to draw over a webinar/telecom significantly helps keep their engagement. Even if it is just a triangle, get this exercise worked through with the team in a workshop before trying on the clientbase.
Wow facts get the audience really invested in your authority. Work really hard to find these so that people see you as being an industry expert. This then leans over into the sale side. Failure rate or changes in competition are the easy ones to find. Look also at supply chains and how they are changing - consolidation, internet, e.t.c. learn a few general market trends and drill these to the specific for the wow facts.
Communicate in stories wherever possible. Read a book on how to craft stories, do some story workshops. His story on following up a bad sale to get further sales is a really good one (p.162).
Make presentations curiosity driven, keep the audience hanging on to see what the next slide is e.g. “this means you have some serious competition which we now look at in the next slide”, “this means that you can incur some hefty penalties if you don't adhere to the legislation, the next slide shows you how to adhere”...
Put more effort into the headlines of the presentation than into anything else! These do the most work for you.
Build rapport by asking them to stretch with you! Or engage them on their problems “misery loves company". Ask for their personal work challenges then broaden to what they see as industry challenges. Close this out by
“Those challenges you’ve mentioned come up a lot with other clients. That’s one of the reasons we had some research conducted about our industry/market/profession. Our findings were so profound that we put them into an executive briefing that’s quite revealing. Here. Let me show you some of this data.”
“Turn your mirrors into windows!” focus on other people not on yourself.
Communication mediums:
Tone - practice sounding like an investigating detective to get the authority you need in your tone.
Body language - “You know what? I think I can show you this better if we sit side by side.”
8 mistakes in presentations:
1. Thanking people for their time - puts you on the back foot.
2. Hands in pockets - too lackadaisical, always out in front above the waist.
3. Sitting down - always ask if people mind you standing because you feel more comfortable, noone ever says no.
4. Being led by questions - return the questions to the presentation (by asking return questions if necessary) and maintain control.
5. Relying on the materials - keep your enthusiasm and personality present.
6. Too serious - always include a joke!
7. Failing to practice - make it exciting, fast-paced, draw conclusions, know the material, be dynamic.
8. Unsure what comes next - know the “patter between the panels” is key to engagement via presell, preframe and promise of what is to come…
Lastly, don't call it a presentation call it an executive briefing.
Chapter 9
1. Choose dream 100
2. Choose simple, inexpensive and useful gifts to weave into a narrative. He has a list on page 178
3. Send a brief call to action letter, page 178 has example
4. Set a calendar of monthly gifts and fortnightly newsletter updates.
5. Follow up phone calls after every communication, script on page 184 and cold calling script on page 186
6. Present the executive briefing, use prize for best presentation competitions to get the sales team learning from each other. Page 187 encoursges use of internet presentations for smaller pitches.
“To build the Ultimate Sales Machine, you must devote machinelike precision to chase and tackle those dream prospects”
Chapter 10
Learn the seven sales steps by memory:
7. Establish rapport
8. Qualify the buyer (find the need)
9. Build value
10. Create desire
11. Overcome objections
12. Close the sale
13. Follow up
Rapport
According to the Encarta World English Dictionary, rapport is “an emotional bond or friendly relationship between people based on mutual liking, trust, and a sense that they understand and share each other’s concerns.”
Selling breaks rapport, educating builds it.
Ask personal questions early - how long have you been in this line of work? What do you think of the industry? More examples on page 196.
Enjoy and make it fun, especially with humor. Even send a joke once in a while but keep this to a minimum.
Remember that “misery loves company” let people moan.
Be interested and fascinated in them.
Find common interests and “mirror” their body language.
Do explorative training sessions on rapport building within the team. Ask them how many things they can find out about clients and hold a competition!
Qualify the buyer - Andy's “discovery” stage
Develop six to ten questions that will gain the information needed on each prospect and memorise it. Put this into templates so that it is easily recorded before and after. Try to pre-empt where you think they will be and then listen empathically when they answer. Say things like I thought you would have been X so I'm surprised that you are Y can you tell me why this was chosen?
What are you three main challenges in relation to your mail manufacturing process?
What are your criteria for making a buying decision on a product or service like ours? This question needs to be done more subtly than it is written e.g. what factors make you choose one product/service over another?
Asking the right questions can get the person to close themselves.
Build value
Whether you ever do business with us or not you should know some of this information we have gathered on being successful in your marketplace.
Deliver the one to two minutes core story (stadium pitch).
Create desire
• Lead them through a series of questions to intensify their desire
• Present killer data that truly motivates them to action
Our core story on the market trends etc builds up to this. People are more inclined to protect what they have than to pursue new opportunities (Kahneman links).
“Features tell, benefits sell” tailor this sell to “their benefits” not our products. Remember MCT got a five mill contract on the back of fuck all!!!
Overcome objections
The better you qualify them the fewer objections you should face. Top sales people qualify the heck out of a prospect to learn all possible buying blocks.
Standard closing questions to get the prospect thinking of what they lose out on are on page 203.
Have a mindset that “an objection is an opportunity to close”. Always agree with an objection first then follow the disagreement steps from leadership training.
Isolating the objection is a powerful strategy to close someone.
Close the sale
Weak ego strength and fear of rejection stop people closing. Just go for it!
Chapter 11
Follow up needs to be structured to keep in the client’s mind. The follow up needs to reiterate the client's hot buttons for buying to keep them respecting you and trusting you.
1. First follow up letter - within two hours and use the template on page 214 (personal, compliment, hot buttons, personal close) add educational marketing materials.
2. First follow up call - call with a non-sales call to maintain contact e.g. “hi, I was thinking about the way you manage xyz and I just thought that zyx may be of use if you haven't already tried it”
3. Send something personal - send an article related to a personal connection you made e.g. mountain biking. He recommends using a standard humourous email at this stage, can be templated.
4. Organise a bonding event e.g. meal, party etc
5. Second follow up email or card - tell them the next step
6. Plan a family event
7. Offer something else e.g. a networking introduction to another company
8. Another email - template it
9. Offer more help e.g. training via webinar
10. Invite them into your personal life e.g.go mountain biking
Chapter 12
Positive mindset stuff “fake it til you make it"
Your brain is most receptive to setting goals first thing in the morning and last thing at night so these are the times to focus on goal setting and visualisation e.g. a successful sell.
Phrase goals and desires in the present tense to cue your autosuggestion activation.
I have to wake up on time Vs I must not oversleep
“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”
Create a RAS recording to listen to before sleeping suggested statements on page 232. Include the “I love cold calling” one.
Set lifetime goals and view them every day e.g. car dashboard, to get the RAS working on them. Template on page 233.
Measuring effectiveness
“People respect what you inspect”
Record all details in Salesforce to get fuller picture of success.
Follow up:
Remember that breaking through the clutter, even to get hung up on, now gives you a tiny filament of contact. If you immediately fax a note, you’ve strengthened the filament. So a fax should go off immediately that says: “You just hung up on me, but I don’t think you understood the significance of my call or you would not have done so. Consider this: [pitch again what they’ll learn from the “orientation”]. From page 237
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2019
This is a great sales textbook. It give you a step by step protocol for managing your business.
August 20, 2021
Updated: August 2021
I poured over this book with pen in hand and journal at my elbow. Much like "The Secrets of Question Based Selling" by Thomas Freese, this book could be the only sales book you will ever need. Much like QBS, the secret is to actually apply what you are reading.
Holmes's premise is simple: there are 12 areas you need to focus on like mad in order to be successful at sales. He outlines the 12 areas, gives practical steps to making them happen, then tells you to get started. The book is full of examples and exercises.
If you are in sales, or better yet management or business ownership, you need to read this book.
---------------------------------
Original review: December 2020
Fantastic! The author says on the introduction that the reader will agree with everything he says, but will still fail to apply the ideas unless he/she applies (and here's his oft repeated motto) pigheaded discipline and determination.
Listened to the audiobook, but purchased the paperback before completing because I knew I would need to go through it again.
I poured over this book with pen in hand and journal at my elbow. Much like "The Secrets of Question Based Selling" by Thomas Freese, this book could be the only sales book you will ever need. Much like QBS, the secret is to actually apply what you are reading.
Holmes's premise is simple: there are 12 areas you need to focus on like mad in order to be successful at sales. He outlines the 12 areas, gives practical steps to making them happen, then tells you to get started. The book is full of examples and exercises.
If you are in sales, or better yet management or business ownership, you need to read this book.
---------------------------------
Original review: December 2020
Fantastic! The author says on the introduction that the reader will agree with everything he says, but will still fail to apply the ideas unless he/she applies (and here's his oft repeated motto) pigheaded discipline and determination.
Listened to the audiobook, but purchased the paperback before completing because I knew I would need to go through it again.
April 2, 2023
A 12 point guide to assist sales professionals to implement a 'pig-headed level of discipline and determination'. It goes through everything from preparation, the actual sales discussions, follow ups and mentality as well as attitude. A must read for any sales professional in any industry.
January 16, 2024
Extremely practical and informative. Bonus chapter got a little weird.
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