Playing to Win or Afraid to Lose
Stepping Up and Stepping Into Sales
by
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Both entrepreneurs and those who play sports know that when you have a good feel for the game, you can move about the court with ease, even when you have only about 50 to 70% of the information. Even without complete information, you can still sense when to step into action and when not to. It is a letting go and sensing where the game is moving. I have always referred to it as being comfortable “living in the gray.” Many aren’t, and these folks do not belong in sales. Those who are comfortable with “the gray” usually excel.
Any good salesperson is a performer. The great ones know it and thrive on it. For them it is like performing on a high wire without a net. In golf, the caddy might help with club selection and advice on how to play a particular shot, but in the end, it is the player who has to make the shot, the one who has to make it happen. To succeed in sports, you have to be relaxed, believe in yourself, trust yourself and be focused only on that ball. In this manual you will learn how to adapt and apply these concepts, how to work your plan, how to author your shots and how you can dictate play and win.
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About the Book
Charles Barrett, a catering and event sales veteran of Marriott International, shares a blueprint to not only survive but thrive in sales.
Whether you are a newcomer to sales, a veteran or thinking of switching careers, you will find value in this manual that covers the all-important very basics of selling. Barrett counters the myths, misconceptions, and self-imposed limitations salespeople place on themselves --and reveals how to overcome them.
He also addresses such issues as:
• Why you have to be a risk taker in sales.
• The one big mistake many make when they sit down with a potential customer for their first face to face meeting and how you can avoid it.
• The most taken for granted/overlooked part of a proposal and yet, in the end, it is the most important piece. He provides the answer with examples to turn that all around.
• What you can do to engage or re-engage buyers who are locked into a “it’s all about the price” mindset.
• How to negotiate with difficult negotiators or the person who is constantly stalling.
• How using pro-active selling skills will always lead to much more value based, not price based, conversations—and how value based conversations will always be where you want to play the game.
Barrett highlights the four pillars of selling as well as the six critical habits that form the must-have foundation for succeeding in sales. Other topics include prospecting and solicitation, networking, conducting well thought out and strategic first meetings and site reviews as well as creating customer focused and customer friendly proposals. How to manage your most important resource—your own time and how to successfully acquire the “gold keys” of sales—customer referrals and testimonials round out the picture.
Filled with real-life examples, inspirational quotes and insights on securing customers trust this manual is an essential resource for anyone who wants to succeed in sales.
About the Author
Charles Barrett worked for Marriott International for 34 years. He was Director of Catering Sales for one of the company’s flagship hotels-- The New York Marriott Marquis Hotel. He is a Founder and Past President of the New York chapter of Nace (National Association of Catering and Events) and he is on the Advisory Board of the Hotel Chinese Association in New York. He brings an authentic and unique perspective to learning how to be an indispensable sales performer in the world of catering and event sales.
charlie@playingtowinorafraidtolose.com