Mastering the Art of Selling Techniques

Bestbookbits.com brings you Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone. Published in 2011, Grant Cardone breaks down the techniques and approaches necessary to master the art of selling in any avenue. You will learn how to handle rejection, turn around negative situations, shorten sales cycles, and guarantee yourself greatness. Cardone will also teach you the success essentials of selling in a bad economy, overcoming core reluctance, filling your pipeline with new business, and staying positive despite. rejection. With the experience of a seasoned sales vet at the helm, Sell or Be Sold will change the way you perceive the sale and life. The written summary can be found on our website, bestbookbits.com. So without further ado, I bring you the book summary of Sell or Be Sold. Chapter 1, Selling, A Way of Life. Selling is a prerequisite for life. Selling impacts every person on this planet. Your ability or inability to sell persuade, negotiate, and convince others will affect every area of your life and will determine how well you survive. Selling is not just a job. Selling is a way of life. Selling, the action of persuading or influencing another to a course of action or to the acceptance of something. A sale is made in every exchange of ideas or communication. There are no exceptions. Health is not a guarantee in life. Health is a commission for taking care of yourself and your mind. When a person successfully sells himself on eating right, working out and taking care of his attitude, he gets a commission of having good health. It's my observation that the most important skills needed in life aren't taught in schools. I spent 17 years getting a formal education and I can tell you that I've learned more from seminars, audio programs, books and talking with other successful business people at conferences than I learned in all my formal education. Salespeople make the world go round. Chapter 2. Salespeople make the world go round. Salespeople drive entire economies. The ability to communicate and convince others is an asset for you. The inability to communicate is a liability. No matter what your ambitions are, you are required to communicate with others. And the better you can communicate, the more people will agree with you. Chapter 3. Professional or amateur. Selling is critical to your survival regardless of your career. And you must decide to become a professional and give up any idea that it's something for others and not for you. You have to decide that you want to start getting your way in life. Quit thinking that it's up to fate or to the gods. It's up to you. The person who knows what he's doing and understands every nuance of his career doesn't have to get enthusiastic. He is enthusiastic. When you really truly know something, you can predict outcomes. He who can predict outcomes. has true confidence and freedom. Chapter 4 The Greats. This inescapable truth is that to be truly great at anything, you must devote yourself, your energy, and your resources to a career in selling. Committing is when you make a firm decision, you quit wandering, and then you follow through on your commitment with actions. The guy who thinks the grass is greener over there is the same guy who never commits to taking care of the pasture he already has. If you want to be successful at anything, you have to commit. You've got to be in it 100% with no other fish to fry. A burn the ship kind of mentality is what it takes to get you to a place where you'll be doing things that will ensure results. You depend on it. The life that you've been dreaming of depends on you getting in all the way now. Commitment equals results equal happiness. Commitment equals results equals happiness. Most people never commit like a fanatics and therefore they never become fantastic. The ability to predict is the first thing that happens when you become a professional. Prediction is the great unknown and very often unrecognized asset of the professional. When I started recording my phone calls and making notes of every exchange I had with customers, I immediately tapped into my ability to perceive patterns and then I started being able to predict. It was so easy and so fast. I carried around an objections notebook and wrote down every customer objection. Later, I would study my notes and start to see that most of my customers were making similar comments. My awareness was raised and I was able to come up with solutions. To know is critical to success, as knowledge equals power in life. To know means you end up with fewer no's. Fewer no's means a better life. My production almost doubled from the simple action of observing. My confidence soared as my knowledge increased, and so did my income. Prediction I could see the future, not because I was psychic, but because I observed the past accurately. Until you become a dedicated student, you cannot gain the skill of prediction. All masters in any career are able to predict accurately. Once you get some sense of possible situations that can occur, start taking notes and record everything you can. Record yourself on video so you can watch yourself, facial expressions, my responses, my tone, my voice, my gestures and wow, there was so much to learn. I became addicted to knowing all that I could. To predict is to know, and to know is to handle situations correctly. This will increase confidence and increase sales. Winning begets winning. A salesman who can't close deals won't like selling. If you're losing more than you're winning, then you need to realize that you're an amateur and it's time to kick up your commitment a notch and become someone who knows what he's doing. The major difference is that the professional is committed and knows what he's doing, while the amateur is not committed and does not know. You are a professional when you can predict results and get them. If you're a professional golfer, it means you've qualified by playing in tournaments against others who have qualified based on your ability to produce results. And just because you're a professional doesn't make you great. To become one of the greats, you have to practice, not just play. To become a great golfer, for example, you have to commit every fiber of your being to the game and still know there's more to learn. Do you see the difference? Most salespeople are amateurs. Some of them are professionals and only a few are greats. Ultimately, it comes down to the level of commitment and dedication you have. The greats can predict. A skill that comes from committing, observing, and predict. A skill that comes from committing, observing, and preparing solutions. To the degree that you can predict, you can respond appropriately. Prediction is the greatest trait of the great salespeople. is the great trait of the great salespeople. Chapter five, the most important sale. Selling yourself only to the degree you are sold can you sell. You have to be 100% certain that what you're selling is better than all other options. This one point is critical for greatness and you cannot negotiate it in any way. You have to be utterly convinced and believe in what you're selling so strong that you become unreasonable. That's right. unreasonable, even fanatical. The word conviction is defined as a firmly held belief. It comes from the word convince, which is derived from the Latin word convict, meaning to conquer. Conviction is the ability to be so firmly sold on your beliefs that you demonstrate to your buyer with such complete and utter certainty that no other choice appear to be available. Why is it that some people do things that others won't dream of doing? It's because they are sold on the idea that it needs to be done for some reason. To the degree that you are sold and become unreasonable in their quest, they will succeed. Being unreasonable means that you are sold on what you're selling, and it is your conviction alone that will sell others on it. Become so thoroughly sold on your product that your conviction is irresistible to others. Not selling is also a form of selling, just in reverse. Get sold and get committed to the fact that you're offering a superior product or a great service that can't be bet. I assure you that the less hung up you are on money, the easier money will come to you. Chapter 6. The Price Myth Price is not the buyer's biggest concern. It's actually at the bottom of the list of reasons why people don't buy. Most sales are lost over unspoken objections. If the price gets too cheap, people won't see any value in the product. Success will always take a professional salesperson who takes the time to sell features and benefits. You have to get your buyer to want your product more than he wants his money. Getting rid of the problem was, give him love, solve a problem, and you will get the money. Your prospect is never the problem, never. Salespeople, not the prospect, are the ultimate barriers to every sale. You have to get this into your head. Price is not your problem. You are your problem. Customers do not stop sales. It's never about price. It's about love or confidence that the product will solve problems. To be an effective salesperson, you have to believe in human beings. You have to have a positive outlook about people. You have to believe that people are good and that they want to make the right decision. Your buyers are just like you. People want to feel good about themselves and their decisions. Consider How many times you paid more than you could afford and you loved it? Chapter 7. Your buyer's money. Get over the idea that there's a scarcity of money because there isn't. There's plenty of money to go around. If you start looking for prosperity and abundance, you'll see that these things exist all around you. Money is to be used, not possessed. Love your product, love your service, love your customer, and love yourself enough to learn how to hard sell. Second money is easier to get than first money. Second money is easier to get than first money. Your prospect, regardless of what he says, always wants more, not less. Believe it or not, people love to spend money. And the more money they spend, the more they enjoy spending it, and the more they will enjoy their decision. All a salesperson has to do to unlock the door of second money is to get over his own fear of blowing the deal by asking for it. Remember, money is a mental issue, not a shortage issue. Chapter 8. You are in the people business. It's true that salespeople must have a great understanding of their product. One must not forget that it's people who buy those products. That's why it's so vital that salespeople know about people first and products second. Salespeople know about people first and products second. Being superior in product knowledge but inferior regarding people knowledge equals minimal results. If you understand that product before you understand people, you're putting the cart in front of the horse. Realize that you're in the people business first and the product business second. Most salespeople I meet spend too much time selling the product and forget that selling is 80% people and 20% product. Learn to think like customers think. Products do not think, feel, or react. People do. More often than not, salespeople launch into their pitch without knowing anything about the customer, which is the surefire way to miss a sale. Take interest in the client of interest in selling him something. When a buyer goes out looking for a product, he doesn't care how much you know about the product. He only cares about himself, his time, his money, and doing the best thing for himself. He cares most about himself at this time. You and your product are way down on his list of concerns. To be more interested in the customer than you are in yourself, your sales process, your product or your commission, and you will make more sales. True communication requires finding out what is important to people so you can identify what they actually want and then deliver it. Communication equals sales. If you don't get into communication with the buyer, you have no chance of ever making the sale. The dictionary defines communication as a process in which information is exchanged between individuals through common symbols or behavior. The human quality involved in selling can never be replaced, and it becomes even more beneficial the more deeply entrenched we become in the machine age. People are senior to products. Make this a fundamental rule you live and die by. You are in the people business, not the product business. People are senior to products. People are senior to processes employed by companies. No product or sales process will ever be successful if it doesn't make people senior. A product is dead. People are not. A process is for function and it is always less important than people. To the degree that a company's sales process becomes more important than people, the process will fail. People write checks. Policies and processes don't. Products are dead matter and people are alive. Products can be replaced but people can't. Products don't sell themselves but people do. Never forget people buy products and it's your job to sell people on your product not to sell your product to people. Make the individual more important than the individual sale and you'll make more sales. Quit the business you think you're in right now and get into the people business. Chapter 9. The Magic of Agreement. Always, always, always agree with the customer. This is the single most important and most commonly violated rule in all of selling. If you want agreement, you've got to be agreeable with your customers. The common saying that opposites attract doesn't happen to be true in sales. In selling, like attract and like is born out of agreement. I like you because I agree with you at some level. Agree, acknowledge, make the other party right and then close the deal. Agreeing is the road to more sales. Once you've agreed, it's possible to suggest. Agreeing with the customer is senior to all other rules in selling. Agreement is even senior to closing the deal. If you start the relationship off with agreement, you'll have a chance to tell the prospect about your product. Additionally, you'll come across to the customer as understanding, easy to deal with, and professional. Chapter 10, Establishing Trust. A salesperson always gets a decision from his customers. Always. They decide to think about it, and you've got them to do that. You've convinced them to go home and talk about it. They've decided to present it to the board. That was all because of you. When the buyer doesn't trust the salesperson or something about the presentation, he'll add time to the cycle by not making a decision to purchase. Prospects don't make sales, sales people do. Prospects don't make sales, sales people do. As stated earlier, prospects do not stop sales, the sales person stops the sale. Understand also that the prospects do not make sales either. It is the sales person's job to make the sale. Whether or not the sale happens is entirely up to the sales person, not the prospect. In order to make sales, you have to understand the mind of the customer. People believe what they see, not what they hear. Assume that your buyer, no matter how well you know the person, never believes your words and will only believe that which you're able to show him. Never sell with words, always show documentation. Never negotiate with words, write your negotiations down on paper. Chapter 11. Give, give, give. Selling is the act of giving, not getting. Serving, not selling. The old adage is that it's better to give than to receive, but in selling, the only way to receive is to give first. Give, give, give is the assurance of sales, sales, sales. Service is senior to selling and giving is senior to getting. Give all of you to a prospect, not just part of you. Give all your attention, all of your energy, all of your suggestions, all of your information, and then find some more of you to give. Exceed expectations and go all the way with him and then a bit further. Withhold none of you and give yourself without reservation. Always pay attention to your customers and stay with them from the start to finish without allowing interruptions. Show each customer how important they are to you and how they're the most important person in your universe. If you chase two rabbits at the same time, both will get away. Make your total commitment to that one opportunity. that one customer, and let him know that. Human beings are much more valuable than money. Treat them like that and you'll be rewarded. Problem equals opportunities for future sales. And chapter 12, hard sale. The hard sale. It's been said that if you have to ask someone five times before you get a yes, I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know that most people will not buy without asking them to. And people will never say yes to someone who quits asking. It has been my experience at the moment you quit asking, the deal is dead. The willingness to stay and persist even when the prospect becomes noisy is what separates the professional, consistent closer from the amateur who randomly closes deals. If you don't truly believe that your product will somehow bring the buyer more enjoyment, benefit or security than the numbers he has in the bank, then you'll never be a great salesperson. and you'll never fully understand the concept of hard sell. If you can't close, you'll lose. Chapter 13, Massive Action. Take massive action. Most people incorrectly estimate the amount of effort it takes to get the results they want. When it comes to taking action, never think in terms of balance. Always think in terms of massive amounts of action. Assume in the case of action that the more is better and less is nothing. Whatever you think you need to get the job done, increase the amount far more than you think is necessary, and you'll get the results beyond your wildest expectations. The amount of success you have is limited by the amount of action you take. Stay away from the people who tell you to stop working so hard, and suggest that you should relax and take it easy. You can take it easy once you make it. For now, take action, and take it in massive quantities. It's been said that there were three kinds of action in life. Number one, the right action. Two, the wrong action. Three, no action, which will always result in nothing. And in my world, there's a fourth kind of action, massive action. That's the one I live by. You've heard the saying, go big or go home. I say go massive, not passive. Go massive, not passive. The phone does not work. It's the person on the phone who's working. When you're not perfect and polished, the only way to compensate is by taking lots of action. No one will pay you for what you know. They'll pay you for what you do. Decide to produce something and produce it in massive quantities, and you will win in life. Production results in happiness. People feel better when they are producing, and the more production they generate, the better they will feel. Money may not make people happy, but production will. In the words of Dr. Michael D. Bakey, man was born to work hard. In sales, massive action is the one single thing that will generate your increased success more than any other. If you want to guarantee X, take massive amounts of action that will achieve X in abundance. Your problem will no longer be how to achieve an abundance of X, rather it will be how to manage the abundance of X. By taking enough massive action, something will be changed, something will be created, and results will be attained. All fire requires constant fuel, and success in sales requires more action. The 10x rule. If you want one thing, take massive action equal to at least 10 times what you will think it will take to ensure that you attain that one thing. If you do that, you won't have to hope, wish, cross your fingers, or pray for what you want. What you want and far more will come to you when the right amount of action is created. Put your attention on massive to ensure that you don't become passive. Act like a madman when it comes to action and get completely unreasonable about what you think it will take to get the job done. Be without sanity or logic or reason when it comes to taking massive amounts of action and you'll reach heights that others never dreamed possible. Massive action first equals new problems but then will equal massive sales. And chapter 14, the power base. Work your power base. I can assure you that if you don't stay in touch with your power base, including your previous customers, you'll never attain power in your business. Never neglect your former customers. If you want to guarantee certainty in your sales production and ensure yourself a long and happy career in selling, stay in touch with people in your power base. Keep as much attention on the people you've just sold as you do on the people that you want to sell next and build. power from your power base. Chapter 15. Time. How much time do you have? The most powerful man in the world has 24 hours a day to get done what he needs to get done. The richest man in the world has 3,600 minutes in a day to earn his money. The most educated man in the world has 168 hours in a week to learn. The greatest athlete in the world has 365 days in a year to train. How much time do you have? It's actually a lie when you tell yourself you don't have enough time. The fact is, you have the same amount of time as everyone else. You just aren't using it effectively. We all have the same 24-hour days amounting to 8,760 hours a year. 8,760 hours a year. If you agree that time is money, then you should inventory and protect your time just like you would anything that is valuable. Maximizing every minute of every day. Make the decision now that you're controlling time and time is no longer controlling you. Change your mind about time and decide that you have plenty of it. Become a master of the clock, not a slave to it. And chapter 16, attitude. A great attitude is worth more than a great product. People will pay more for an agreeable, positive and enjoyable experience than they will for a great product. A positive attitude is a thousand times more important than the product itself. No one buys a jacket like this because they need it. They buy it because it's beautiful and it makes them feel good. Never let anyone convince you that people won't pay more for a great attitude and great service. The ability to be positive at all times, whether you're winning or losing, is one thing that will ensure you're a winner in the end. Attitude is senior to it all. Attitude is senior to it all. The reality is people with good attitudes are luckier than people with bad attitudes. There is no treasure greater than a great attitude and no way to get real treasure without having a great attitude. Remember that a product can be shopped, but a great attitude cannot. A price can be beat, but an attitude is priceless. There's nothing more valuable to anyone than a positive person. People will always act according to your attitude. If it's negative, expect a negative response. When it's positive, you can expect a positive response. How you act towards others will be how they'll act towards you. Your attitude precedes everything that happens to you in life. You are a product of all that you surround yourself with. That includes the TV you watch, the newspapers you read, the friends you have, the movies you go to, your hobbies, your interest, your family, and everything else that you are involved with. Thoughts come before actions, and your actions then determine your life. Once you get control of how you think, you will then get control of your actions. And chapter 17, the biggest sale of my life. Attitude is senior to product. Protect yourself from negative information. Be careful where you get your advice when you're going after your dreams and goals. Even the people who love you the most can offer information that could possibly cause you to get off the path of your dreams. Buyers don't buy until someone sells. And if it doesn't take two, it only takes one. Is that a complaint or an objection? They're just complaints. Your ability to persuade others determines by itself you how well you will do in all areas of your life. Selling is an absolute necessity for really living life and making dreams come true. While selling is a career for many, it's a requirement for all. You need to sell, negotiate, and persuade others in life to get what you want. How well you can do that will determine what kind of life you will have and how many people you can influence. And chapter 18, the perfect sales process. Wives are making more of the decisions about what is brought and how money is spent. Basically, the sales process is finding out the following about the buyer. Who you are. What do you want? Why do you want it? What do I have that will fulfill your wants and needs? How do I show you so you can make sense of it? Make an offer that can be funded, and then close, deliver, and follow up in the hope to repeat the process with you and others. The best salespeople I know are straight shooters. They don't play games, they tell it like it is, and they know how to get the job done without manipulations and tricks. The best sales processes are short rather than longer. Ideally, the salesperson is sensitive to the client's time, willing to spend as much time as necessary, but never interested in wasting time. Sales processes should be built to satisfy the following in this order. 1. Customer. 2. Salesperson. 3. Management last. Most selling programs were designed to satisfy what management wants, but in reality, management isn't buying the product, and in most cases, isn't selling it. Here are the most critical five steps that you must ensure in every sales situation, whether it be in person, on the phone, or over the internet. Number one, greet. Two, determine wants and needs. Three, select product and present, build value, and four, make proposal. And five, close the transaction or buyer exits. When determining wants and needs, you are not selling. You are asking and listening. Remember, all purchases or investments are trying to solve a problem or some sort. All of them. You don't buy a drill because you want a drill. You buy a drill because you want a hole. Shorten your demonstration process to laser focus what you will make your product a must have for now. What are those few things that will make sense of? all the other things. What is the senior or dominant buying motive in how your buyer will justify and validate this product as the right thing to purchase? The demonstration of your product is where you build value, create urgency and increase the desire for your buyer to give you money for the product you are offering. Make a proposal. I always make a proposal, always. Even when the people are not ready, I make an offer. Many people suggest not presenting all buyers with figures. But I believe that if you don't present them, you can never come to an agreement. You must become a pro ninja master closer of all situations. Become a pro ninja master closer of all situations. A great closer needs hundreds of closers, not just a few. The pro needs a complete commitment to fresh and innovative ways to handle any closing situation that arises. Salespeople who can't close will start to avoid all the other vital necessities of selling. such as prospecting, following up, and even having a positive attitude. And Chapter 19, Success in Selling. Treat success as your duty, obligation, and responsibility, not as a choice or as a job. Luck is just one of the byproducts of those who take the most action and are the most prepared. Be honest with yourself on every sales cycle. Ask yourself, why didn't I get the sale? What could I have done differently? Where did I miss it? How could I have better justified the cost? Where could I have gotten them financing? Why didn't I get the in front of the decision maker? I only asked for the order twice. Be honest, brutally honest with yourself and take complete responsibility for the outcome. In order to demand consistent sales success, you have to 1. Decide you are ultimately responsible for the sale. 2. Make it your duty, obligation and responsibility to make the sale. 3. Take massive amounts of action, followed by more action until the sale is made. 4. Accept no excuses, reasons or logic and figure out how to make it work. 5. Prepare yourself daily to handle all obstacles, stalls, reasons or barriers you will encounter with a client. Chapter 20. Sales Training Tips It is not enough just to read a book or listen to an audio program. You have to practice, drill and rehearse. Practice, drill, and rehearse. From astronauts to athletes, they all practice, drill, and rehearse over and over again until each move, response, and reaction has been worked out. A Navy SEAL submerses himself in his training so he not only knows exactly what to do in any situation, but also to give himself supreme confidence. And chapter 21, create a social media presence. Obscurity, not being known, is the bigger problem. than money. Obscurity, not being known, is a bigger problem than money. If people don't know who you are, then they cannot do business with you. If they know you but aren't thinking about you, they won't do business with you. You have to be known, thought about, considered, and hopefully the first or dominating choice in your client's mind in order to ever sell anything to anyone. It is a fact of life that to the degree you get attention, you will at some point get criticism. Go to work to prosper, not to work. The 10 commandments of sales. Be proud and be positive. Dress for sales success. See the sale. Be sold on your offer. Know your value proposition. Always agree with your client. Super freak demonstration. Be time efficient. Assume the close. Always persist in the close. And chapter 22. Quick tips to conquer the biggest challenges in selling. How to handle rejection is the key. Try to avoid it and you are doomed because you will withdraw. If you start to think less of your product or offer after being told no, then you are being sold on someone else's agenda. When you are told no or not yet, or be brought from someone else, you have been rejected. You will only feel rejection as a negative sensation if you do not take full responsibility for the situation. It will be critical to your sales success that you keep your environment positive. In sales, lacking discipline is going to negatively impact your presentation, motivation, ability to predict results, follow-up, and your ability to keep your pipeline full. Lack of discipline is rampant in sales because so many sales positions are commission-based. This allows a salesperson to believe he or she can self-manage and get away with spotty, undisciplined activity. The economy will disappoint anyone who operates with this sense of freedom. If you want sales success, you must exercise discipline. Don't compete, dominate with your product, company, personality, and your offer. If you aren't the difference maker, then others will forever outsell you with a cheaper price or better offer. The goal is to provide your client with so much attention, follow-up, and service that you can't be competed with. Find a way to differentiate yourself. The value proposition should always be what you bring to the table. Closing is not selling. Closing has been taught as though it is a sales technique, but it is only an extension of selling and is in actuality a completely different art. Selling is identifying needs, selecting the right solution, and then demonstrating how your product or service solves the problem. Closing is getting the buyer to take action and to agree to exchange something of value. for what it is you offer. That is, close on your offer and solution. Closing is an art and anyone can learn it. Closing requires a tremendous arsenal of techniques, transition responses, counters and strategies. Nothing is happening to you. It is happening because of you. The great thing about fear is that it isn't real. I know that when you're experiencing fear, it might feel real. but it actually does not exist in the physical universe. Fear does not exist in the physical universe. The way to kill fear is by taking action. Taking action on the things you fear is how you build courage. Courage is an exercise in action. It's not just a trait. Everyone has the ability to be courageous. You just have to take action. The more you do that which you fear, the more courageous you become. When you are faced with a prospect or client who gets emotional, and demonstrates an emotional outburst with you, know that you are getting close to making the sale. Never take it personally, never react to it, and never become emotional as a response. A true professional salesperson is motivated by truly helping others. You are in business where communication is your number one weapon. You can't help anyone if you can't effectively communicate with them. Be prepared so that you always have a response for every situation. Keep a diary of every objection you hear and immediately work out how you would handle a similar objection in the future. Make a list of every objection you hear so you are cognizant of what you might hear. And then practice handling them all in a manner that will assist you in making the sale. It is always the salesperson's duty to break the ice when establishing a relationship. I believe a lot of depression is actually a mislabeling of inactivity. Your lack of consistency always boils down to a lack of real discipline. Believe in your product and service and negate your fear by getting into action. Pure, massive action will drown fear in no time. Rich men and poor men alike all have the same amount of time in any given day. The question is, Whether you are working for your dreams or working for others'dreams. Can't make the shot you never take. Wayne Gretzky. The person who controls the sale is not the person simply asking questions, but the person who can get answers to questions. A diamond is only coal until the right amount of pressure is applied for the right amount of time. And last, the traits of a great sales person. Is willing to be told no. Ask for the order regardless. listens selectively, stays sold on his or her own story, asks questions, gets answers to questions, knows that price is not the issue, is willing to pressure and persist, believes in selling as a good thing, and last, trains and prepares consistently. And that's a wrap on Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone. Subscribe to our channel for future summaries and check out our website bestbookbits.com. for the written summary and more. To buy the book, use the website store where you'll find this book and hundreds more to browse and purchase. Thanks for watching and I hope you learned a thing or two about selling. Have a great day.

Cardone will also teach you the success essentials of selling in a bad economy, overcoming core reluctance, filling your pipeline with new business, and staying positive despite. rejection. With the experience of a seasoned sales vet at the helm, Sell or Be Sold will change the way you perceive the sale and life.

The written summary can be found on our website, bestbookbits.com. So without further ado, I bring you the book summary of Sell or Be Sold. Chapter 1, Selling, A Way of Life. Selling is a prerequisite for life. Selling impacts every person on this planet.

Your ability or inability to sell persuade, negotiate, and convince others will affect every area of your life and will determine how well you survive. Selling is not just a job. Selling is a way of life. Selling, the action of persuading or influencing another to a course of action or to the acceptance of something. A sale is made in every exchange of ideas or communication.

There are no exceptions. Health is not a guarantee in life. Health is a commission for taking care of yourself and your mind. When a person successfully sells himself on eating right, working out and taking care of his attitude, he gets a commission of having good health.

It's my observation that the most important skills needed in life aren't taught in schools. I spent 17 years getting a formal education and I can tell you that I've learned more from seminars, audio programs, books and talking with other successful business people at conferences than I learned in all my formal education. Salespeople make the world go round.

Chapter 2. Salespeople make the world go round. Salespeople drive entire economies. The ability to communicate and convince others is an asset for you.

The inability to communicate is a liability. No matter what your ambitions are, you are required to communicate with others. And the better you can communicate, the more people will agree with you.

Chapter 3. Professional or amateur. Selling is critical to your survival regardless of your career. And you must decide to become a professional and give up any idea that it's something for others and not for you. You have to decide that you want to start getting your way in life. Quit thinking that it's up to fate or to the gods.

It's up to you. The person who knows what he's doing and understands every nuance of his career doesn't have to get enthusiastic. He is enthusiastic.

When you really truly know something, you can predict outcomes. He who can predict outcomes. has true confidence and freedom. Chapter 4 The Greats.

This inescapable truth is that to be truly great at anything, you must devote yourself, your energy, and your resources to a career in selling. Committing is when you make a firm decision, you quit wandering, and then you follow through on your commitment with actions. The guy who thinks the grass is greener over there is the same guy who never commits to taking care of the pasture he already has. If you want to be successful at anything, you have to commit.

You've got to be in it 100% with no other fish to fry. A burn the ship kind of mentality is what it takes to get you to a place where you'll be doing things that will ensure results. You depend on it.

The life that you've been dreaming of depends on you getting in all the way now. Commitment equals results equal happiness. Commitment equals results equals happiness.

Most people never commit like a fanatics and therefore they never become fantastic. The ability to predict is the first thing that happens when you become a professional. Prediction is the great unknown and very often unrecognized asset of the professional.

When I started recording my phone calls and making notes of every exchange I had with customers, I immediately tapped into my ability to perceive patterns and then I started being able to predict. It was so easy and so fast. I carried around an objections notebook and wrote down every customer objection. Later, I would study my notes and start to see that most of my customers were making similar comments.

My awareness was raised and I was able to come up with solutions. To know is critical to success, as knowledge equals power in life. To know means you end up with fewer no's. Fewer no's means a better life. My production almost doubled from the simple action of observing.

My confidence soared as my knowledge increased, and so did my income. Prediction I could see the future, not because I was psychic, but because I observed the past accurately. Until you become a dedicated student, you cannot gain the skill of prediction. All masters in any career are able to predict accurately.

Once you get some sense of possible situations that can occur, start taking notes and record everything you can. Record yourself on video so you can watch yourself, facial expressions, my responses, my tone, my voice, my gestures and wow, there was so much to learn. I became addicted to knowing all that I could.

To predict is to know, and to know is to handle situations correctly. This will increase confidence and increase sales. Winning begets winning.

A salesman who can't close deals won't like selling. If you're losing more than you're winning, then you need to realize that you're an amateur and it's time to kick up your commitment a notch and become someone who knows what he's doing. The major difference is that the professional is committed and knows what he's doing, while the amateur is not committed and does not know.

You are a professional when you can predict results and get them. If you're a professional golfer, it means you've qualified by playing in tournaments against others who have qualified based on your ability to produce results. And just because you're a professional doesn't make you great.

To become one of the greats, you have to practice, not just play. To become a great golfer, for example, you have to commit every fiber of your being to the game and still know there's more to learn. Do you see the difference?

Most salespeople are amateurs. Some of them are professionals and only a few are greats. Ultimately, it comes down to the level of commitment and dedication you have. The greats can predict.

A skill that comes from committing, observing, and predict. A skill that comes from committing, observing, and preparing solutions. To the degree that you can predict, you can respond appropriately.

Prediction is the greatest trait of the great salespeople. is the great trait of the great salespeople. Chapter five, the most important sale.

Selling yourself only to the degree you are sold can you sell. You have to be 100% certain that what you're selling is better than all other options. This one point is critical for greatness and you cannot negotiate it in any way.

You have to be utterly convinced and believe in what you're selling so strong that you become unreasonable. That's right. unreasonable, even fanatical.

The word conviction is defined as a firmly held belief. It comes from the word convince, which is derived from the Latin word convict, meaning to conquer. Conviction is the ability to be so firmly sold on your beliefs that you demonstrate to your buyer with such complete and utter certainty that no other choice appear to be available. Why is it that some people do things that others won't dream of doing?

It's because they are sold on the idea that it needs to be done for some reason. To the degree that you are sold and become unreasonable in their quest, they will succeed. Being unreasonable means that you are sold on what you're selling, and it is your conviction alone that will sell others on it. Become so thoroughly sold on your product that your conviction is irresistible to others. Not selling is also a form of selling, just in reverse.

Get sold and get committed to the fact that you're offering a superior product or a great service that can't be bet. I assure you that the less hung up you are on money, the easier money will come to you. Chapter 6. The Price Myth Price is not the buyer's biggest concern. It's actually at the bottom of the list of reasons why people don't buy.

Most sales are lost over unspoken objections. If the price gets too cheap, people won't see any value in the product. Success will always take a professional salesperson who takes the time to sell features and benefits. You have to get your buyer to want your product more than he wants his money.

Getting rid of the problem was, give him love, solve a problem, and you will get the money. Your prospect is never the problem, never. Salespeople, not the prospect, are the ultimate barriers to every sale. You have to get this into your head.

Price is not your problem. You are your problem. Customers do not stop sales. It's never about price.

It's about love or confidence that the product will solve problems. To be an effective salesperson, you have to believe in human beings. You have to have a positive outlook about people. You have to believe that people are good and that they want to make the right decision. Your buyers are just like you.

People want to feel good about themselves and their decisions. Consider How many times you paid more than you could afford and you loved it? Chapter 7. Your buyer's money. Get over the idea that there's a scarcity of money because there isn't. There's plenty of money to go around.

If you start looking for prosperity and abundance, you'll see that these things exist all around you. Money is to be used, not possessed. Love your product, love your service, love your customer, and love yourself enough to learn how to hard sell.

Second money is easier to get than first money. Second money is easier to get than first money. Your prospect, regardless of what he says, always wants more, not less.

Believe it or not, people love to spend money. And the more money they spend, the more they enjoy spending it, and the more they will enjoy their decision. All a salesperson has to do to unlock the door of second money is to get over his own fear of blowing the deal by asking for it. Remember, money is a mental issue, not a shortage issue. Chapter 8. You are in the people business.

It's true that salespeople must have a great understanding of their product. One must not forget that it's people who buy those products. That's why it's so vital that salespeople know about people first and products second. Salespeople know about people first and products second. Being superior in product knowledge but inferior regarding people knowledge equals minimal results.

If you understand that product before you understand people, you're putting the cart in front of the horse. Realize that you're in the people business first and the product business second. Most salespeople I meet spend too much time selling the product and forget that selling is 80% people and 20% product. Learn to think like customers think. Products do not think, feel, or react.

People do. More often than not, salespeople launch into their pitch without knowing anything about the customer, which is the surefire way to miss a sale. Take interest in the client of interest in selling him something. When a buyer goes out looking for a product, he doesn't care how much you know about the product. He only cares about himself, his time, his money, and doing the best thing for himself.

He cares most about himself at this time. You and your product are way down on his list of concerns. To be more interested in the customer than you are in yourself, your sales process, your product or your commission, and you will make more sales. True communication requires finding out what is important to people so you can identify what they actually want and then deliver it.

Communication equals sales. If you don't get into communication with the buyer, you have no chance of ever making the sale. The dictionary defines communication as a process in which information is exchanged between individuals through common symbols or behavior. The human quality involved in selling can never be replaced, and it becomes even more beneficial the more deeply entrenched we become in the machine age.

People are senior to products. Make this a fundamental rule you live and die by. You are in the people business, not the product business. People are senior to products. People are senior to processes employed by companies.

No product or sales process will ever be successful if it doesn't make people senior. A product is dead. People are not. A process is for function and it is always less important than people.

To the degree that a company's sales process becomes more important than people, the process will fail. People write checks. Policies and processes don't. Products are dead matter and people are alive.

Products can be replaced but people can't. Products don't sell themselves but people do. Never forget people buy products and it's your job to sell people on your product not to sell your product to people. Make the individual more important than the individual sale and you'll make more sales.

Quit the business you think you're in right now and get into the people business. Chapter 9. The Magic of Agreement. Always, always, always agree with the customer. This is the single most important and most commonly violated rule in all of selling.

If you want agreement, you've got to be agreeable with your customers. The common saying that opposites attract doesn't happen to be true in sales. In selling, like attract and like is born out of agreement.

I like you because I agree with you at some level. Agree, acknowledge, make the other party right and then close the deal. Agreeing is the road to more sales. Once you've agreed, it's possible to suggest.

Agreeing with the customer is senior to all other rules in selling. Agreement is even senior to closing the deal. If you start the relationship off with agreement, you'll have a chance to tell the prospect about your product.

Additionally, you'll come across to the customer as understanding, easy to deal with, and professional. Chapter 10, Establishing Trust. A salesperson always gets a decision from his customers. Always. They decide to think about it, and you've got them to do that.

You've convinced them to go home and talk about it. They've decided to present it to the board. That was all because of you.

When the buyer doesn't trust the salesperson or something about the presentation, he'll add time to the cycle by not making a decision to purchase. Prospects don't make sales, sales people do. Prospects don't make sales, sales people do.

As stated earlier, prospects do not stop sales, the sales person stops the sale. Understand also that the prospects do not make sales either. It is the sales person's job to make the sale. Whether or not the sale happens is entirely up to the sales person, not the prospect. In order to make sales, you have to understand the mind of the customer.

People believe what they see, not what they hear. Assume that your buyer, no matter how well you know the person, never believes your words and will only believe that which you're able to show him. Never sell with words, always show documentation. Never negotiate with words, write your negotiations down on paper. Chapter 11. Give, give, give.

Selling is the act of giving, not getting. Serving, not selling. The old adage is that it's better to give than to receive, but in selling, the only way to receive is to give first. Give, give, give is the assurance of sales, sales, sales.

Service is senior to selling and giving is senior to getting. Give all of you to a prospect, not just part of you. Give all your attention, all of your energy, all of your suggestions, all of your information, and then find some more of you to give. Exceed expectations and go all the way with him and then a bit further.

Withhold none of you and give yourself without reservation. Always pay attention to your customers and stay with them from the start to finish without allowing interruptions. Show each customer how important they are to you and how they're the most important person in your universe.

If you chase two rabbits at the same time, both will get away. Make your total commitment to that one opportunity. that one customer, and let him know that.

Human beings are much more valuable than money. Treat them like that and you'll be rewarded. Problem equals opportunities for future sales.

And chapter 12, hard sale. The hard sale. It's been said that if you have to ask someone five times before you get a yes, I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know that most people will not buy without asking them to. And people will never say yes to someone who quits asking.

It has been my experience at the moment you quit asking, the deal is dead. The willingness to stay and persist even when the prospect becomes noisy is what separates the professional, consistent closer from the amateur who randomly closes deals. If you don't truly believe that your product will somehow bring the buyer more enjoyment, benefit or security than the numbers he has in the bank, then you'll never be a great salesperson. and you'll never fully understand the concept of hard sell. If you can't close, you'll lose.

Chapter 13, Massive Action. Take massive action. Most people incorrectly estimate the amount of effort it takes to get the results they want. When it comes to taking action, never think in terms of balance. Always think in terms of massive amounts of action.

Assume in the case of action that the more is better and less is nothing. Whatever you think you need to get the job done, increase the amount far more than you think is necessary, and you'll get the results beyond your wildest expectations. The amount of success you have is limited by the amount of action you take. Stay away from the people who tell you to stop working so hard, and suggest that you should relax and take it easy. You can take it easy once you make it.

For now, take action, and take it in massive quantities. It's been said that there were three kinds of action in life. Number one, the right action.

Two, the wrong action. Three, no action, which will always result in nothing. And in my world, there's a fourth kind of action, massive action. That's the one I live by. You've heard the saying, go big or go home.

I say go massive, not passive. Go massive, not passive. The phone does not work.

It's the person on the phone who's working. When you're not perfect and polished, the only way to compensate is by taking lots of action. No one will pay you for what you know. They'll pay you for what you do. Decide to produce something and produce it in massive quantities, and you will win in life.

Production results in happiness. People feel better when they are producing, and the more production they generate, the better they will feel. Money may not make people happy, but production will. In the words of Dr. Michael D. Bakey, man was born to work hard.

In sales, massive action is the one single thing that will generate your increased success more than any other. If you want to guarantee X, take massive amounts of action that will achieve X in abundance. Your problem will no longer be how to achieve an abundance of X, rather it will be how to manage the abundance of X.

By taking enough massive action, something will be changed, something will be created, and results will be attained. All fire requires constant fuel, and success in sales requires more action. The 10x rule.

If you want one thing, take massive action equal to at least 10 times what you will think it will take to ensure that you attain that one thing. If you do that, you won't have to hope, wish, cross your fingers, or pray for what you want. What you want and far more will come to you when the right amount of action is created. Put your attention on massive to ensure that you don't become passive. Act like a madman when it comes to action and get completely unreasonable about what you think it will take to get the job done.

Be without sanity or logic or reason when it comes to taking massive amounts of action and you'll reach heights that others never dreamed possible. Massive action first equals new problems but then will equal massive sales. And chapter 14, the power base.

Work your power base. I can assure you that if you don't stay in touch with your power base, including your previous customers, you'll never attain power in your business. Never neglect your former customers.

If you want to guarantee certainty in your sales production and ensure yourself a long and happy career in selling, stay in touch with people in your power base. Keep as much attention on the people you've just sold as you do on the people that you want to sell next and build. power from your power base.

Chapter 15. Time. How much time do you have? The most powerful man in the world has 24 hours a day to get done what he needs to get done.

The richest man in the world has 3,600 minutes in a day to earn his money. The most educated man in the world has 168 hours in a week to learn. The greatest athlete in the world has 365 days in a year to train. How much time do you have? It's actually a lie when you tell yourself you don't have enough time.

The fact is, you have the same amount of time as everyone else. You just aren't using it effectively. We all have the same 24-hour days amounting to 8,760 hours a year. 8,760 hours a year. If you agree that time is money, then you should inventory and protect your time just like you would anything that is valuable.

Maximizing every minute of every day. Make the decision now that you're controlling time and time is no longer controlling you. Change your mind about time and decide that you have plenty of it.

Become a master of the clock, not a slave to it. And chapter 16, attitude. A great attitude is worth more than a great product. People will pay more for an agreeable, positive and enjoyable experience than they will for a great product. A positive attitude is a thousand times more important than the product itself.

No one buys a jacket like this because they need it. They buy it because it's beautiful and it makes them feel good. Never let anyone convince you that people won't pay more for a great attitude and great service. The ability to be positive at all times, whether you're winning or losing, is one thing that will ensure you're a winner in the end.

Attitude is senior to it all. Attitude is senior to it all. The reality is people with good attitudes are luckier than people with bad attitudes.

There is no treasure greater than a great attitude and no way to get real treasure without having a great attitude. Remember that a product can be shopped, but a great attitude cannot. A price can be beat, but an attitude is priceless. There's nothing more valuable to anyone than a positive person. People will always act according to your attitude.

If it's negative, expect a negative response. When it's positive, you can expect a positive response. How you act towards others will be how they'll act towards you. Your attitude precedes everything that happens to you in life. You are a product of all that you surround yourself with.

That includes the TV you watch, the newspapers you read, the friends you have, the movies you go to, your hobbies, your interest, your family, and everything else that you are involved with. Thoughts come before actions, and your actions then determine your life. Once you get control of how you think, you will then get control of your actions. And chapter 17, the biggest sale of my life.

Attitude is senior to product. Protect yourself from negative information. Be careful where you get your advice when you're going after your dreams and goals.

Even the people who love you the most can offer information that could possibly cause you to get off the path of your dreams. Buyers don't buy until someone sells. And if it doesn't take two, it only takes one. Is that a complaint or an objection? They're just complaints.

Your ability to persuade others determines by itself you how well you will do in all areas of your life. Selling is an absolute necessity for really living life and making dreams come true. While selling is a career for many, it's a requirement for all. You need to sell, negotiate, and persuade others in life to get what you want.

How well you can do that will determine what kind of life you will have and how many people you can influence. And chapter 18, the perfect sales process. Wives are making more of the decisions about what is brought and how money is spent. Basically, the sales process is finding out the following about the buyer.

Who you are. What do you want? Why do you want it?

What do I have that will fulfill your wants and needs? How do I show you so you can make sense of it? Make an offer that can be funded, and then close, deliver, and follow up in the hope to repeat the process with you and others.

The best salespeople I know are straight shooters. They don't play games, they tell it like it is, and they know how to get the job done without manipulations and tricks. The best sales processes are short rather than longer.

Ideally, the salesperson is sensitive to the client's time, willing to spend as much time as necessary, but never interested in wasting time. Sales processes should be built to satisfy the following in this order. 1. Customer. 2. Salesperson. 3. Management last.

Most selling programs were designed to satisfy what management wants, but in reality, management isn't buying the product, and in most cases, isn't selling it. Here are the most critical five steps that you must ensure in every sales situation, whether it be in person, on the phone, or over the internet. Number one, greet. Two, determine wants and needs.

Three, select product and present, build value, and four, make proposal. And five, close the transaction or buyer exits. When determining wants and needs, you are not selling. You are asking and listening. Remember, all purchases or investments are trying to solve a problem or some sort.

All of them. You don't buy a drill because you want a drill. You buy a drill because you want a hole. Shorten your demonstration process to laser focus what you will make your product a must have for now.

What are those few things that will make sense of? all the other things. What is the senior or dominant buying motive in how your buyer will justify and validate this product as the right thing to purchase?

The demonstration of your product is where you build value, create urgency and increase the desire for your buyer to give you money for the product you are offering. Make a proposal. I always make a proposal, always.

Even when the people are not ready, I make an offer. Many people suggest not presenting all buyers with figures. But I believe that if you don't present them, you can never come to an agreement. You must become a pro ninja master closer of all situations.

Become a pro ninja master closer of all situations. A great closer needs hundreds of closers, not just a few. The pro needs a complete commitment to fresh and innovative ways to handle any closing situation that arises. Salespeople who can't close will start to avoid all the other vital necessities of selling.

such as prospecting, following up, and even having a positive attitude. And Chapter 19, Success in Selling. Treat success as your duty, obligation, and responsibility, not as a choice or as a job. Luck is just one of the byproducts of those who take the most action and are the most prepared. Be honest with yourself on every sales cycle.

Ask yourself, why didn't I get the sale? What could I have done differently? Where did I miss it? How could I have better justified the cost?

Where could I have gotten them financing? Why didn't I get the in front of the decision maker? I only asked for the order twice. Be honest, brutally honest with yourself and take complete responsibility for the outcome. In order to demand consistent sales success, you have to 1. Decide you are ultimately responsible for the sale.

2. Make it your duty, obligation and responsibility to make the sale. 3. Take massive amounts of action, followed by more action until the sale is made. 4. Accept no excuses, reasons or logic and figure out how to make it work. 5. Prepare yourself daily to handle all obstacles, stalls, reasons or barriers you will encounter with a client. Chapter 20. Sales Training Tips It is not enough just to read a book or listen to an audio program.

You have to practice, drill and rehearse. Practice, drill, and rehearse. From astronauts to athletes, they all practice, drill, and rehearse over and over again until each move, response, and reaction has been worked out. A Navy SEAL submerses himself in his training so he not only knows exactly what to do in any situation, but also to give himself supreme confidence.

And chapter 21, create a social media presence. Obscurity, not being known, is the bigger problem. than money.

Obscurity, not being known, is a bigger problem than money. If people don't know who you are, then they cannot do business with you. If they know you but aren't thinking about you, they won't do business with you. You have to be known, thought about, considered, and hopefully the first or dominating choice in your client's mind in order to ever sell anything to anyone.

It is a fact of life that to the degree you get attention, you will at some point get criticism. Go to work to prosper, not to work. The 10 commandments of sales. Be proud and be positive. Dress for sales success.

See the sale. Be sold on your offer. Know your value proposition.

Always agree with your client. Super freak demonstration. Be time efficient. Assume the close.

Always persist in the close. And chapter 22. Quick tips to conquer the biggest challenges in selling. How to handle rejection is the key. Try to avoid it and you are doomed because you will withdraw.

If you start to think less of your product or offer after being told no, then you are being sold on someone else's agenda. When you are told no or not yet, or be brought from someone else, you have been rejected. You will only feel rejection as a negative sensation if you do not take full responsibility for the situation.

It will be critical to your sales success that you keep your environment positive. In sales, lacking discipline is going to negatively impact your presentation, motivation, ability to predict results, follow-up, and your ability to keep your pipeline full. Lack of discipline is rampant in sales because so many sales positions are commission-based. This allows a salesperson to believe he or she can self-manage and get away with spotty, undisciplined activity. The economy will disappoint anyone who operates with this sense of freedom.

If you want sales success, you must exercise discipline. Don't compete, dominate with your product, company, personality, and your offer. If you aren't the difference maker, then others will forever outsell you with a cheaper price or better offer.

The goal is to provide your client with so much attention, follow-up, and service that you can't be competed with. Find a way to differentiate yourself. The value proposition should always be what you bring to the table.

Closing is not selling. Closing has been taught as though it is a sales technique, but it is only an extension of selling and is in actuality a completely different art. Selling is identifying needs, selecting the right solution, and then demonstrating how your product or service solves the problem.

Closing is getting the buyer to take action and to agree to exchange something of value. for what it is you offer. That is, close on your offer and solution.

Closing is an art and anyone can learn it. Closing requires a tremendous arsenal of techniques, transition responses, counters and strategies. Nothing is happening to you.

It is happening because of you. The great thing about fear is that it isn't real. I know that when you're experiencing fear, it might feel real.

but it actually does not exist in the physical universe. Fear does not exist in the physical universe. The way to kill fear is by taking action.

Taking action on the things you fear is how you build courage. Courage is an exercise in action. It's not just a trait.

Everyone has the ability to be courageous. You just have to take action. The more you do that which you fear, the more courageous you become. When you are faced with a prospect or client who gets emotional, and demonstrates an emotional outburst with you, know that you are getting close to making the sale.

Never take it personally, never react to it, and never become emotional as a response. A true professional salesperson is motivated by truly helping others. You are in business where communication is your number one weapon.

You can't help anyone if you can't effectively communicate with them. Be prepared so that you always have a response for every situation. Keep a diary of every objection you hear and immediately work out how you would handle a similar objection in the future. Make a list of every objection you hear so you are cognizant of what you might hear.

And then practice handling them all in a manner that will assist you in making the sale. It is always the salesperson's duty to break the ice when establishing a relationship. I believe a lot of depression is actually a mislabeling of inactivity. Your lack of consistency always boils down to a lack of real discipline. Believe in your product and service and negate your fear by getting into action.

Pure, massive action will drown fear in no time. Rich men and poor men alike all have the same amount of time in any given day. The question is, Whether you are working for your dreams or working for others'dreams.

Can't make the shot you never take. Wayne Gretzky. The person who controls the sale is not the person simply asking questions, but the person who can get answers to questions.

A diamond is only coal until the right amount of pressure is applied for the right amount of time. And last, the traits of a great sales person. Is willing to be told no.

Ask for the order regardless. listens selectively, stays sold on his or her own story, asks questions, gets answers to questions, knows that price is not the issue, is willing to pressure and persist, believes in selling as a good thing, and last, trains and prepares consistently. And that's a wrap on Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone. Subscribe to our channel for future summaries and check out our website bestbookbits.com. for the written summary and more.

To buy the book, use the website store where you'll find this book and hundreds more to browse and purchase. Thanks for watching and I hope you learned a thing or two about selling. Have a great day.

Transcript for:Mastering the Art of Selling Techniques

Transcript for:
Mastering the Art of Selling Techniques