Jeffrey Gitomer

OPINION: This edition’s column is an extract from The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, first published in 2009.

OPINION: It’s estimated that half of all sales are made on the basis of an established friendship, so if you’re not making nice you’re missing out on half of your market.

OPINION: Distinguishing between fact and fantasy, truth and falsehood, logic and emotion are valuable tools in sales, as in life.

OPINION: Without regular engagement with your social media followers (potential customers), your social media business strategy is going nowhere.

OPINION: A commitment to daily outreach takes little time and has profound long-term benefits.

OPINION: If you want to know how good you really are, be your own customer and find out.

OPINION: Building relationships is a key element in the process of securing a strong portfolio of sales.

OPINION: Maintaining healthy relationships with your customers takes effort, and hard work.

OPINION: Working hard to help your customers achieve their goals will go a long way to helping you succeed in your own pursuits.

OPINION: If you consider your own purchasing decisions and understand the thought processes behind them, you will be better prepared to make sales to your customers.

OPINION: Sometimes you need a creative approach to get your message through.

OPINION: Words matter, and what you say can make or break your chances of making the sale.

OPINION: Existing clients are a valuable source of future business.

OPINION: Objections are part of the sales game, so you need to give your customers good reason to buy from you.

OPINION: Salespeople must make sure the hard work is done before they get into the CEO’s office.

Don’t view a knockback or similar hurdle as a reason to give up, but rather an added incentive to make the sale.

A major part of becoming successful in sales is understanding the customer’s motives, and connecting with them.

Learning to effectively deal with pressure and stress will have benefits at work and at home.

Personal things in common between you and your customer lead to a friendship, a relationship, and lots of sales.

A large number of conditions need to be met if you are to become your prospective customer’s salesperson of choice, and none of them involves price. 

The ‘type’ of salesperson you are will go a long way to determining how well received you are by your boss, your co-workers, and your clients.  

Lots of time and money is wasted on sales proposals that are turned down, but if you think it’s not you … think again.

When it comes to sales proposals, the first thing you need to do is determine if it’s a price proposal or a value proposal.

The most coveted prize in selling, other than a sale, is an endorsement.

Prospective clients signal their intent to buy from you by asking questions about your product and service, but many salespeople miss the cues. 

If you play close attention and listen, you won’t miss the signs that your prospect is ready to buy.

Where you set your personal ‘edges’ says a lot about the relationships you are capable of building.

It’s not the company, it’s the people in the company – it’s you.

Price shouldn’t be a problem for a salesperson who has done their homework and believes in their product.

Those who think the grass is greener on the other side need to think again.

Napoleon Hill was on to it almost eight decades ago when he wrote that knowing your purpose was the first step in developing persistence.

Long-term, prosperous relationships are built on adding value and focusing on outcomes to customer problems.