Sales 101: From Finding Leads and Closing Techniques to Retaining Customers and Growing Your Business, an Essential Primer on How to Sell

Adams 101

by Wendy Connick

Learn the ins and outs of sales techniques with this comprehensive and accessible guide that is the crash course in how to sell anything.

Sometimes, it seems like learning a new skill is impossible. But whether you are interested in pursuing a full-times sales career, want to make extra money with sales as a side hustle, or are just looking to turn your hobby into a business, everyone can benefit from knowing how to sell.

With Sales 101 you can start selling now. This clear and comprehensive guide is perfect for those who are just starting out in the sales field. Presented with a casual and an easy-to-understand tone, it gives you the information and training you need to get started.

Sales 101 teaches the basic sales philosophies and tactics that have been successful for centuries, along with newer, more up-to-date information about using the internet and social media to find leads and increase your customer base. Whether you need guidance in making a presentation or closing a deal to handling rejection or managing your time, Sales 101 shares the best advice and solutions to prepare you for a career in the sales field.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2019

Reviews

[Peter Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a good overview of the sales process, basic selling tips and is directed primarily at someone who is or wants to be a professional seller.

The book describes cold calling by phone and emails the main method of selling. And describes some strategies for getting touch-points, by using social media, for instance, to generate warmer leads.

The sales process is as follows:
Prospect for leads -> Initiate contact -> Qualify lead > Present offer -> Overcome objections -> Close sale -> Generate referrals

At its core, selling is about creating positive connections by using their personality as an asset. Good salespeople don't trick people into buying things, instead, they identify their needs and find products that meet those needs.

Good communication is primarily about listening. A salesperson must listen carefully and use open-ended questions to find the prospect's needs, then use the details of the prospect's answer to creating compelling arguments. If you get good at making prospects talk, they will often talk themselves into buying.

To be a good seller, you must understand what kind of problems the prospect experiences on a regular basis. You must understand your particular type of customer, and understand the industry thoroughly.

To initiate the sales process, your first objective is to set an appointment, not sell your product immediately. You start pitching your product once the prospect has agreed to hear more. It's important to ask a lot of questions to see if the prospect actually benefits from the product - and a meeting is much more engaging and effective for the prospect if they are interacting with you continuously, instead of just listening to your presentation. Good questions are: "Have you got a similar product?" and "Is your current product meeting your needs?" - Ask what features that are important to the prospect to it's easier to make a presentation highlighting their needs.

Questions are more likely to get listener thinking than statements. Starting a cold-call with questions, and also asking for permission to tell them more is a good way to open.

When prospects agree to a meeting, it's helpful to follow up with a confirmation email.

It's important to understand who the decision-makers there are and if they are the only one. Ask how much they've spent on earlier products, and what their most challenging problems are.

The sales process does not end with the close, but when you have asked for referrals. The best time to ask for a referral is when they are excited because they've just made a purchase. So make it a habit to ask if anyone they know could benefit from the product, even if you don't make the sale.

Getting referrals actually make your customers more loyal, psychologically, they've become your advocates.

Even if you didn't make the sale, you can ask for a referral. People don't like saying no, and asking for a referral after a rejection gives them an unconscious way to make up for it. Make it a habit to ask everyone for referrals.

If the prospect insists on a knowing a price right off the bat, delay the discussion of price in the appointment by saying that you need to know more about their specific situation before you're able to give a meaningful quote.

To present the product, present the benefits, not its features. When somebody goes to a hardware store to buy a drill, they really want is a hole in the wall, not the drill. Emphasise the ends, not the means.

Good ways to get prospects to get back at you is either a promise of increased revenues, solving a problem or presenting a good idea. If they don't respond, it's often best to act as if they never got the message. Don't put the prospect on the defensive and say "Did you get my message?"

The hardest part about cold-selling is that people have a tendency to automatically ignore salespeople, so it's important to capture their attention fast with a strong opener. It's useful to have a script that's memorized, but don't overdo it.

Objections are often a good thing when they're not excuses since that means they're actually interested enough to think about it. Often their initial objection isn't real, and your objective is to reveal the underlying problem.

Never give discounts. It makes the prospect suspicious of you because it means sticker price you have is not the real price and will expect price cuts on all your future prices. If the price is impossible, offer a cheaper version of the product tailored for their needs, or present other non-monitary benefits to help them justify the price. The objection of price can be handled by explaining why you have set that particular price in detail.

Objections that they have a competitor can be handled by letting them know you're familiar with the product and ask if they have any trouble with a common issue with the competitor. If all fails, ask if you have permission to contact them in a month to ask how things are going. Be nice about rejection. It's basic human nature to feel guilty when the rejected party is nice about it.

Again, don't make discounts. Don't make your product too cheap. People are well aware that they get what they pay for. Everyone assumes there's a catch when choosing the cheapest available option.

When networking, have a good elevator speech: Know how to describe what you do in a way that intrigues the listener in a short span of time.

As a sales newbie, I gained a lot of value from the book. And I'll use some examples for reference in the future. It's a good book and I recommend it to for anyone wanting the fundamentals of selling down.

[Đỗ Vương · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty brief and general guidance to step in sales jobs. One of the things I like in this book is the article where it suggested that we shouldn't trick the gatekeepers. Even though this measure takes us a little bit more time to apply, I still believe that it would bring us the long-term benefits and the sustainability in sales careers.

[Evvan Erb · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book has some good information on the sales cycle and how to be a sales person, it is highly repetitive and limits itself to “How to Be a Classic Salesperson 101”. While I understand repetition is necessary for learning, this book is so overt about it that it feels like I’m being hit over the head with the same info twenty times. Phrases and sentences are reused ad nauseam to the point that the same phrase is repeated 8 times in 3 pages with no attempt to reword or further clarify. The way the book is written makes it seem like the reader is expected to have no work/life balance and focus entirely on selling and networking 80% of the time they’re awake. If this books was half the length and re-titled OR covered more than just the basic sales cycle and basic information on how to preform each step of the cycle, I’d happily give it more stars.

[Kristina Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literally all common sense and basics of sales. Nothing here you don't already learn the first week in a sales position. Nothing useful for someone who has worked in sales and is looking to bump the numbers.

[Kari Olfert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 it was good. Covered all of the angles and gave future options

[Julián Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. I landed on the sales business around a year ago with no experience at all. It was very challenging and it still is, but I managed to rise quickly into sales management by reading some books like this. Although I agree this is fairly basic (and that's what you can expect) I do believe it gives a fair and clear overview of what is sales about.

I would definitely recommend it to someone who's breaking into the sales world. Another plus I found on this book is that, unlikely most sales books nowadays, this book doesn't relies on that lousy unrealistic narrative of "you can sell it all, and if you don't it means you don't have the attitude and the ability to do it". This books assesses sales slumps, bad days, frustration and many other issues you can have as a salesperson in a healthy and very realistic way. I'd say that is what makes this book different from others.

Finally, I think this books is highly re-readable, since its very clearly divided on different sub-topics and it is very useful to come back and review the basics every once in a while.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great refresher on the basics. I even got some new angles to look at my sales process/approach, which is exactly what I was looking for.

[Labiad Hamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books to learn selling in the small details I recommend it for everyone who want to dive in that important skill

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for people without background in selling.

Learn the fundamentals of selling and the strategies used by professional salesman.

[MariWabiSabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably written for a high school audience. Definitely not much helpful content for anyone who has ever worked to sell anything before.

[سامح دعبس · Rating 5 out of 5]

قرأت النسخة العربية التي ترجمتها مكتبة جرير تحت عنوان: "مبادئ المبيعات ١٠١"
الكتاب مفيد جدا للمبتدئين أمثالي في إعطاء صورة عامة عن مراحل البيع ونصائح وتويجيهات في كل مرحلة.

[Mohamed Rafeek]

An excellent book for beginners who want to start their career as sales specialists. The book talks about finding leads, whether virtually or via face-to-face meetings. Highly recommended.

[Fero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dobre onboarding intro pre niekoho, kto nikdy nerobil sales

[Jsph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I read a book about sales.

The book is about how a salesperson's sales cycle from contacting leads to asking for referrals from them.

I feel like the book could have been shorter than what is right now.

Overall, the book can give insights on how a salesperson handles leads, sales, and referrals.

[Sophia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to give up on the book less than 5% in when it was stated that an MLM company was a good starting sales position to get experience.

First, most MLM companies do not give tangible training on selling a product since they are recruitment based. They are about selling a lifestyle to entice other people to enter a sales job.

Secondly, many hiring managers have stated that they will not hire anyone who lists MLM experience on the resumes. So positioning that as a good way to enter into higher level sales jobs while the opposite is true makes me weary to trust the rest of the advice in the book. Or at the very least, question the authors knowledge and research skills.

[Jauhar Maaliy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're making a good foundation to comprehend about sales, it can be a good book. A good start book to learn sales, but It's so basic book to answer some advance questions.