In this book, Anthony Parinello—sales guru and trainer to over one million salespeople—presents tried-and-true techniques for getting invited back for a second interaction with potential prospects and customers. This three-part book uses the sort of practical feet-in-the-street style that Parinello’s followers love to teach salespeople the down-to-earth how-to’s of getting the second appointment and performing Parinello’s proven “two-call close.”
Table of Contents:
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction xxi
CHAPTER 1 Success and Your Sales Career 1
The Complacency Challenge 2
A Word about Self-Sabotage 2
To the Importance of Overcoming Success Phobias 4
Take a Deep Breath . . . 5
Change the Message, Change the Results! 6
Mastering the Process—and Getting the Appointment! 7
Here’s Our Starting Point 7
Keep Your Commitments 11
CHAPTER 2 Who’s Who in Your Target Organization? 13
Target People with Influence 14
Target People with Authority 15
Target People with the Authority to Approve 17
Second Meetings and the “Trilogy” of Your Sales Cycle 19
Reality Check: Your Hottest Prospect 19
CHAPTER 3 Four Categories 23
Silent Adversaries, Silent Allies 23
The Role of the Recommender 24
The Influencer’s Role 26
The Decision Maker’s Role 27
The Approver’s Role 30
Lock in What You’ve Learned 32
CHAPTER 4 Selling Across the Enterprise 33
Principle 1: Think Outside the Owner’s Manual 33
Principle 2: Invest Your Time Intelligently 34
Principle 3: Think Lifetime Value—By Aligning Your Sales Process to the Organization 37
Lock in What You’ve Learned 39
CHAPTER 5 Pathways to the Right Second Appointment 41
Exploring 42
Initiating 45
Sponsoring 46
Leveraging 48
CHAPTER 6 Building a Foundation 53
Visualization 53
The Ultimate Sales TIP 55
TIP Step One 56
TIP Step Two 57
A TIP Example 57
Don’t Leave Home (or Your Office) Without It 57
Lock in What You’ve Learned 60
CHAPTER 7 Putting It All Together 61
What We Know for Sure 61
Defining the Sales Process 62
Your Constant Improvement Campaign (CIC) 64
A Thing of Beauty 66
Time to Revenue 66
Managing Your Process, Not Your Time 67
Priority One: Revenue Activity 68
Priority Two: Conversion Activity 69
Priority Three: Sponsorship Activity 70
Lock in What You’ve Learned 72
CHAPTER 8 The Five Deadly Sins of Appointment Setting 73
Sin Number One: Talking, Not Speaking 73
Sin Number Two: Using Bad Language 75
Sin Number Three: Monopolizing the Conversation 77
Sin Number Four: Stretching the Truth 80
Sin Number Five: Being a Space Invader 81
Lock in What You’ve Learned 83
CHAPTER 9 Points of Entry 85
Interacting with the Recommender 86
When Posing Questions to a Recommender 87
Interacting with the Influencer 88
Key Winning Results for the Influencer 89
When Posing Questions to an Influencer 90
Interacting with the Decision Maker 92
When Posing Questions to a Decision Maker 93
Interacting with the Approver 96
When Posing Questions to an Approver 99
The Best Call You Can Make 100
CHAPTER 10 10 Principles for Delivering More
Second Appointments 103
A True Story about Effective Targeting on the First Appointment 107
Another True Story about Effective Targeting on the First Appointment 108
Go Beyond Your Comfort Zone 109
CHAPTER 11 Three Strategies to Appointment Success 113
Key #1: Establishing Your Target and Building
Credibility before Your First Appointment 114
Key #2: Know How to Build Rapport with
Your Prospect 118
Key #3: Determining Your Contact’s Criteria for Evaluating Your Message 125
Matching the Criteria 131
Lock in What You’ve Learned 132
CHAPTER 12 Your Appointment Agendas 133
Functions 135
Features 135
Advantages 136
Benefits 136
What’s Next? 137
First-Appointment Issues for the Recommender 137
First-Appointment Issues for the Influencer 138
First-Appointment Issues for the Decision Maker and the Approver 140
Your Appointment Matrix 144
Lock in What You’ve Learned 145
CHAPTER 13 Your Four Goals for the First Meeting 147
Tell ’Em, Sell ’Em 147
What Should You Try to Accomplish during the First Appointment? 148
Entrances and Exits 148
Do Logo Gifts Really Deliver Customers? Two True Stories 152
CHAPTER 14 Presenting Your Ideas with Conviction 155
Your Convictions Must Be Convincing 158
Eight Habits of Highly Committed Salespeople 159
Don’t Get Carried Away by Your Confidence (A True Story) 161
Patience Is a (Sales) Virtue! 162
CHAPTER 15 Going Past the Sale 165
Play It Cool with Recommenders 165
Play It Cool with Influencers 166
Play It Cool with Decision Makers 167
Play It Cool with Approvers 168
Now, You Give It a Try 170
CHAPTER 16 Needs and Wants 173
Questions to Ask Yourself 173
Studying Needs 175
Uncovering Needs with the Approver (Typically a
Driver Personality) 175
Uncovering Needs with the Decision Maker (Typically an Expressive Personality) 176
Uncovering Needs with the Influencer (Typically an Analytic Personality) 177
Uncovering Needs with the Recommender (Often an Amiable Personality) 178
What Happens Next? 179
Mind the GAP 180
What Else Goes with the GAP Analysis? 183
Lock in What You’ve Learned 183
CHAPTER 17 The Rules of Correspondence 185
Recommender: Write from Functions to Features 186
Influencer: Write from Features to Functions 187
Decision Maker: Write from Advantages to Benefits 189
Approver: Write from Benefits to Advantages 190
Putting Postage on Your Correspondence 192
Lock In What You’ve Learned 192
CHAPTER 18 Keys to Telephone Success 195
General Observations 195
Lock In What You’ve Learned 203
CHAPTER 19 The First Appointment—Tactical
Approaches 205
Reality Check 205
What to Say 207
Do You See What’s Happening Here? 208
What If the Approver Picks up the Phone? 209
If You Get Dumped into Voice Mail 210
The Squeeze Play 211
The Third-Party Introduction 212
“Tactical Air Support” from Your CEO, President, or Owner 214
Lock In What You’ve Learned 215
CHAPTER 20 Action Items—Windows on the Second
Appointment 217
Action Items for Recommenders 218
Action Items for Influencers 218
Action Items for Decision Makers 219
Action Items for Approvers 219
Practice Makes Patience 221
CHAPTER 21 The 10 Powers 225
Are You Ready? 226
The 10 Power Steps 229
Lock In What You’ve Learned 238
Index 239
A Special Offer 245
