INTRODUCTION

IT MAY SEEM as if there are nearly as many books about sales on the market as there are salespeople. They all promise to make you better at what you do. They all offer variations on similar themes. Many of them have some useful points to make.

But I believe that a key component—an essential factor—in achieving sales mastery has been generally overlooked by self-appointed sales gurus. Through my own hard-won experience and study of the marketplace, I have come to believe that sales mastery depends first and foremost on achieving peerless self-awareness—what I call Sales Awareness.

Know Thyself was carved into the stone at the entrance of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, in ancient Greece. This dictum became the foundation of ego transcendence and human self-development through the ages. Clearly, even the ancients understood that discovering one’s true self was the key to success in every area of life. Applying this to the field of sales, I believe that understanding your true self and unleashing its power can guarantee sales success no matter what you are selling.

Achieving SALES AWARENESS can be as simple as 1-2-3:

1. Ask great questions. Great questions position you as a leader and quickly set up an advantageous power dynamic with the customer. They also begin the flow of valuable information in the right direction—from buyer to seller.

2. Identify and then solve your customer’s problems. Revealing a prospect’s pain and then offering valuable assistance or information to alleviate it compels the buyer to lower his defenses and encourages the prospect’s natural tendency to buy, thus fulfilling a need.

3. Make the sale. Operating from a position of SALES AWARENESS—awareness of both yourself and your customer—you can close more sales and perform beyond your expectations (and your boss’s). It’s all about waking up and using that new level of awareness to achieve both your own goals and your customer’s. When you’re engaged in SALES AWARENESS, sales can be the most satisfying job there is. Are you ready to begin?

Selling

Selling is the greatest occupation on the planet. It combines so many wonderful elements of a happy life: autonomy, creativity, profound human interaction, complexity, challenge, and the potential for unlimited rewards.

My dad was an old-school salesman. After a stint in the Marine Corps, he got a gig selling encyclopedias door to door. Talk about hardcore. He used to tell me stories of people calling the cops on him and having him arrested for soliciting.

Undeterred, he kept at it until he found other sales opportunities that were more lucrative and less stressful. He loved sales. It made sense to him. My dad did not finish college, but that never held him back. He worked hard, but, more important, he worked smart. He was always around for family functions, ball games, and events. And he always had plenty of money for vacations, a nice house, and nice cars. He never seemed to struggle for much of anything.

After some false starts in my early years, working my way through the transportation industry, my dad said to me, It never made sense to me that a person would go to work and know exactly what they were going to do that day. I prefer a more adventurous approach to life; one where I am in control of my own destiny.

Prior to that, I had never considered following in my father’s footsteps, but that statement shook me to my core. I suddenly thought, What if I were to look into sales as a way to achieve the success I’ve always wanted? It worked out so well for my father. Why couldn’t it work for me?

I think everyone has a moment or two when, based on a comment, event, speech, or experience, his entire life changes. Well, that was my moment. I had been running around working hard, but I had not been working smart.

I decided right then that I was going to learn how to sell. It was the best decision I ever made. Fortunately, I had the world’s greatest salesperson—my dad—as a mentor, but it still took a lot of studying and practice to master it all.

Perhaps like you, I was not born with my dad’s gifts. He is a people person and has an uncanny ability to let things go. He never takes offense at anything. In fact, I would say my dad doesn’t really understand what rejection is. It is a not factor for him.

I am not that way. I am an introvert. I worry. I have a difficult time letting things go. Rejection hurts me deeply. These are not the classic qualities of a great salesperson. Yet, with time, patience, study, self-awareness, and practice, I have been able to work through these issues. The point is, if I could overcome my insecurities and become a successful salesperson, so can you.

The Greatest Profession

In my opinion, knowing how to sell is the single most important skill to have in any field, without exception. Selling is nothing more than seeing the value in something and then being able to communicate that value to another person in a way that moves him to act. No matter what you do, you could undoubtedly use that skill.

There is a myth out there that owning your own business is the only way to find satisfaction and take control of your life and finances. I totally disagree. Sales is the other option, and it is a better one. Much better. Much, much, much better.

Besides being an entrepreneur, sales is the only occupation I can think of that allows you to enjoy an unlimited potential for income—and even business owners face the inescapable reality that much of their time is spent selling. Ask any one of them. And then ask him about the burden of overseeing production and distribution, dealing with shrinkage or theft, handling bookkeeping, accounting, personnel issues, fraud, healthcare, lawsuits, returns, overhead, and the rest. Still think owning a business is the golden ticket?

In sales, all you have to worry about is selling. Once you’ve undergone some good training and summoned up some self-discipline, sales can provide you with unlimited income as well as the time and energy to spend on family, friends, hobbies, adventures, travel, or anything else your heart desires. I truly believe it’s the path to genuine work/life balance.

Training and Self-Discipline

I have heard plenty of horror stories from people who have attempted a career in sales. I get it. I had to go through some terrible times myself. It can be rough in the beginning. But so is anything worthwhile. Nobody said it would be a walk in the park.

Remember learning how to ride a bike? I bet you suffered a few scraped knees and perhaps a bruised ego, but you pushed through and mastered the skill. The challenges in sales