PART ONE THIS IS SILVER BULLET SELLING 1

CHAPTER ONE

You Don’t Have to Be a Natural-Born Salesman 3

CHAPTER TWO

I’m a Salesman and This Is My Story 7

What’s in a Name? 8

Changing Lives Six Steps at a Time 9

CHAPTER THREE

Why You’ve Got to Read This Book 10

The Six-Step Silver Bullet Selling Process 10

Who Wrote This Book Anyway? 12

Why I Wrote This Book 14

How to Get the Most Out of This Book 15

CHAPTER FOUR

Why a Sales Process? 17

The Gift of Gab Doesn’t Necessarily Translate into Sales Commissions 17

Lowering Resistance and Raising Receptivity 19

In Sales, Communication Is King 20

Playing with Emotion 21

CHAPTER FIVE

What Is This Bullet Selling Process, Anyway? 25

The Six Steps: An Overview 26

Great Sales: One Part Process, One Part Personality 28

A Little More Effectiveness Leads to Dramatic Results 31

PART TWO SIX-STEP BULLET SELLING PROCESS 33

Step One Pre-Call Planning 35

CHAPTER SIX

Pre-Call Planning Overview 36

The Importance of a Quiet Mind 36

CHAPTER SEVEN

What Pre-Call Planning Really Means 41

Pre-Call Planning Means Research 41

Pre-Call Planning Definitely Means Appearance 43

Getting There on Time Is Pre-Call Planning 44

Rehearsing Is Pre-Call Planning 45

Pre-Call Planning in Team Selling Situations: The 10 Key Issues 46

Getting the Names Right Is Pre-Call Planning 48

Pre-Call Planning Is Ironing Your Briefcase 49

CHAPTER EIGHT

Pre-Call Planning Checklists 51

Examples: Pre-Call Planning Checklists 51

Pre-Call Planning Tips 54

Step Two Building Rapport 57

CHAPTER NINE

Building Rapport Overview 58

CHAPTER TEN

Preliminary Pleasantries and the Agenda Statement 63

Preliminary Pleasantries Start the Ball Rolling 63

Transitioning to the Business Conversation 64

The Agenda Statement 65

Begin Every Meeting with an Agenda Statement 75

Serving Up a Million-Dollar Loan at Mickey D’s 76

Passion Is Contagious 78

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Building Rapport by Playing the Credibility Card 80

Positive Effects of a Credibility Statement 81

Three Questions on Every Buyer’s Mind 82

Putting It All Together 91

Using the Credibility Statement 92

Building Rapport Tips 92

Step Three Discovery 95

CHAPTER TWELVE

Discovery Overview 96

Discovery Is More than Fact Finding 97

Listening to Understand versus Listening to Respond 100

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Goals of Discovery 107

Discovering the Buying Gap 107

Listening Is the Gateway to Rapport 108

Discovery Generates Buying Momentum 110

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Tools You Need to Accomplish the Goals of Discovery 111

Buying Criteria 111

Uncovering Buying Criteria 115

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

You’re Only as Smart as the Questions You Ask 119

Asking Questions Is Not an Interrogation 120

It’s Not about Pain 121

The Importance of Taking Notes 122

Discovery Question Flow Example 126

You Know What Happens When You Assume . . . 129

Discovering Where the Emotional Criterion Is Hiding 130

What If You Sell Boring Products? 130

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The Discovery Summary: So Important, It Gets Its Own Chapter 133

Discovery Summary: Taking Discovery to the Next Level 134

Example Discovery Summary 138

A Few Choice Words about Sales Cycles 140

Discovery Tips 141

Step Four Tailored Solution 143

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Tailored Solution Overview 144

Where We Are in the Process 145

The Solution Presentation: Not Your Father’s Sales Presentation 148

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Your Solution Presentation Agenda Statement 150

Single-Call versus Multiple-Call Close 150

Begin the Solution Presentation with an Agenda Statement 151

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Your Business Philosophy 155

Building Your Business Philosophy 155

The 3×3 Presentation Technique 156

Building Your Business Philosophy 158

How Do You Compete? Figuring Out Your Competitive Advantage 162

CHAPTER TWENTY

Presenting the Details of Your Solution 164

Presenting the Details of the Deal 164

It’s All about WIIFM 164

Features, Bridges, and Benefits 165

Linking FBBs to What You Learned in Discovery 168

Proposal Best Practices 174

How to Use Evidence 176

Organize Your Evidence 177

Trial Close: Testing for Buyer Reaction 178

Put Passion into Your Solution Presentation 179

Step Five Addressing Concerns 181

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Addressing Concerns Overview 182

Two Secrets You’ve Got to Know before Addressing Any Concerns 186

Two Situations We Don’t Want to Get Into 189

How the Real Pros Do It 190

Two Skills to Master 190

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Executing the Addressing Concerns Process 191

The Six-Step Addressing Concerns Process 191

The Process Is Not Bulletproof 192

Transitioning to the Addressing Concerns Process with a Trial Close 193

The Four Types of Buyers 193

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Responding to Concerns 212

Three Ways to Respond to the Cost Concern 213

Addressing Concerns Other than Cost 223

Trial Close 225

Using the Addressing Concerns Process at Home 228

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Vaccinating the Buyer against the Competition 231

Tips on Addressing Concerns 233

Step Six Closing the Sale 235

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Closing the Sale Overview 236

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

What Closing Is All About 239

Closing Is a Process, Not an Event 239

Closing Rewards the Persistent: A Lesson from Dr. Seuss 240

When-at-First-You-Don’t-Succeed Success Stories 241

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Closing the Sale: Firming Up Details and Setting Expectations 243

Asking for the Order Is Closing 243

Three Possible Outcomes 246

PART THREE AUXILIARY FIREPOWER 255

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Additional Ammunition 257

Reserve Power 258

More Bullets for Your Chamber 258

What’s Next? 276

The Silver Bullet Community 277

APPENDIX

OutSell Consulting: “Our Business Is Your Business” TM 278

OutSell Driving Principles 278

Four Spokes of OutSell 279

Index 281