This popular sales tips & tricks books was written by by Jeffrey J. Fox.

Key lessosn from the book:

What is a great rainmaker?
- Brings in business
- Brings in more revenue, more profit
- Brings in new revenue, new customers

Dollarize your selling proposition
- The true value of a products benefits
- i.e. a $7k water filter system can reduce waste costs by $10k, increase output by $5k, for a savings of $8k

Never admit to having competitors
- Never call them by name
- Never use "Competitors"
- Never insult other firms => as you may be insulting your customer

Mottos
- If you don't do business with me, we both lose
- Compete for inches (more calls, pre-call planning, no typos)

Get Out there
- Get meetings with customers
- Ask for the sale
"Thank you for taking the time. Based on our experience with companies like yours and based on my research, we are confident we can save your company $10,000. May I continue?"

The first buy-signal: "We work with X, good, cheaper!"
The mere fact that the customer, Jayne, agreed to meet with you implies that she thinks you can help.

Turn $6 into $60,000
Do not be cheap with pennies when dealing with customers (especially new ones).

Selling is a contact sport
- Face to face
- Find new customers, retain old customers
- practice, plan meticulously
- 3Cs: Contact, Connect, Close

Rolodex roulette
- use, visit, purge, update
- Contains customer, contacts, reference, referrer, prospects, advisers, suppliers, friends, family

Getting the appointment
Pre-call Homework
- identify decision makers
- areas of need
- how can I help
- cost of not doing business
- find hot issues

Pre-call Planning
- Blue print to engage / sell
- address customer concerns, dollarized value
- questions to ask

Sales Plan
- 3 to 4 sentence letter to decision maker
- Objective is to get customer to take a follow up phone call, NOT TO SELL
- Present financial benefits to customer
"I have talked to 10 of your customers... You will be interested in what they are saying about you. I'll bring that information with me."

Follow up phone call
- Objective to get an appointment
- Have a plan if customer picks up the phone,
- Or if you get voice mail

How to start a sales call / meeting
When meeting with a client avoid the cliché of bonding with the customer (i.e. I see you like to fish, hey me too). It is just plain stupid. Only after the sales call, and if you really care, should we ask about that big trophy in the glass case. At the very start of the meeting be sure to confirm the customer's availability,
"We agreed to 15 minutes, is that still okay with you?"

This will achieve the following:
- Confirms time
- Getting to a yes
- Customer is engaged
- Avoids blocker "how long are you gonna take?"
- customer believes she is in control
- Customer agrees to the meeting (buy signal)

Asking for the order
- Customer expects / wants the salesperson to ask questions
- "May I explore some ideas with you?"
- Take a stroll, factory tours are buy signals

Getting client referrals
Ask with aided prompts "Are there ____ (members of your country club) who want to get the same deal?"
- reinforcement of correct decision, good price
- to decline is to discredit your customers own discoveries
- all sales are from leads, introductions, or referrals

Free is not a loss leader
Loss leaders are losers - they lose you money attract the wrong customers are should never be part of sales or marketing campaign. Free is a good customer getter as good customers know what "free" means
Good faith that a successful experience will lead to a purchase

KILLER SALES QUESTIONS #1, #2
Do not assume who the decision make is and do not assume that the person who says they are the decision maker, really are.
"In addition to yourself, who else is involved in ____ (decision making process)?"
"And what might their concerns be about going forward?"

Customer participation
Leads to persuasion so let them take the pen and crunch some numbers, eat the cookie (if you sell cookies), let them use the calculator. When the customer invests effort, time or money in the buying process they are closer to buying. Try to get the customer to:
- provide a deposit
- take a survey
- visit a website
- Plant tour / Visit place of business
- talk to references
- Answer questions
- Give opinions

Do not burden customers with to-dos and do not make it hard to participate.

[From the Great Books Series.  Also Read The Success Manual - Encyclopedia of Advice - Contains Summaries of 100+ Greatest Books & More...  ]