Here is a compilation of traditional Sales Advice and some popular Sales Methodologies from a variety of sources.

Traditional Sales Advice

• Brian Tracy is one of my favorite speakers, and his tape series "The Psychology of Selling" is the first one I listened to to start my sales career. His concepts are crystal clear, easy-to-understand, and always a refreshing view on the basics of sales. I took from Brian the basics like the Ben Franklin Close; the four Buyer Personality Types; and the concept of Approaching the Prospect.

• Tom Hopkins. It seems like Tommy has been around forever, but I only started listening to him in the summer of 1998. He is easy to listen to in his latest "Low-Profile Selling" and provides a solid foundation for sales. His sales career was in Residential Real Estate, and he has a number of wonderful techniques for sales reps calling in the living room instead of the board room.

• Zig Ziglar. A giant in the industry. I have a copy of "See you at the Top" which provides a valuable outlook on sales. I got a lot of value from his personal productivity; goal-setting, and planning advice.

• Anthony Robbins. I have his Unlimited Power set of tapes, which covers some dramatic ways of communicating with people. I learned about Audio, Visual, and Kinesthetic personalities, and I was fascinated by a discussion of outcome-based behavior. Although Tony can be a bit much at times, the core of his message is incredibly valuable.

• Ralph Roberts. A riot to listen to, Ralph has a tape of his book "Walk like a Giant, Sell like a Madman". Ralph's advice is to promote yourself, which is a solid life skill for anybody, whether in sales, accounting, or plumbing.

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Sales Methodology

It has been said that "Salespeople sell in two ways: By Process or By Accident, and Accidents don't happen often enough!" These processes are the most effective in my opinion, but remember that the Harvard Business Review published a study in 1989 showing that any process can result in powerful sales improvement.

• Sandler Sales System is an oustanding solution for technology sales. One of my frustrations early on was that all my favorite speakers were "livingroom reps" who called on residential clients e.g. Realtors, Insurance Agents, etc. It was difficult to find a speaker, let alone process, that dealt with my needs in the software market. Sandler provides a series of steps in locking down a sale that allow the buyer to control certain elements while not giving away control over the sales cycle.

• Solution Selling is another good fit for Corporate Service Sales. For an eye-opener, read the first chapter, "The Ten Faces of Pain." I borrowed the book from somebody I was interviewing, and after reading this chapter, immediately ordered a copy from Amazon. If this paragraph motivates you likewise, click here.

• SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham. SPIN is another wonderful methodology for the technical sales environment. It is structured around Situation, Pain, Implication, and Need Payoff questions. When working with a prospect, These phased conversation topics help advance the sale through a sequence of "wins" on the way to the final order.

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