1. 1-Sentence-Summary:
1.1. Agile Selling helps you become a great salesperson by identifying how successful people thrive in any sales position with the skills of learning and adapting quickly.
2. Favorite quote from the author:
2.1. "Eat your pride; ask for help earlier rather than later." - Jill Konrath
3. 3 lessons:
3.1. Always try to see your situation in a new light and never have a negative attitude, whether you fail or succeed.
3.1.1. Learning sales is more than just a matter of getting the right information
3.1.2. Develop the mindset that releasing your negative emotions will keep your motivation high.
3.1.3. The uncertainty when you don't know how to do it will kill your motivation with sales.
3.1.3.1. And if you don’t change your negative perspective you might quit entirely.
3.1.4. Instead of sinking under the weight of it all, assess where you are and make changes.
3.1.5. Failure doesn’t have to keep you from progressing.
3.1.5.1. It has this inherent benefit of making you re-evaluate your process and improve.
3.1.5.2. An example:
3.1.6. Set the right goals to motivate yourself regardless of how much success you’re experiencing.
3.1.6.1. It helps to look back at your past performance to discover where to go next.
3.1.6.2. You might, for example, see that you made 15 sales last month and go for 25 this month to make sure you’re improving.
3.2. Don’t fail early, win quickly by prioritizing the most important details that will make you feel more confident.
3.2.1. When you begin a new endeavor, whether it’s a job or a new product you’re selling, take it slow.
3.2.1.1. But also make sure to get in a small success not long after starting.
3.2.1.1.1. If you don’t, it could be easy to start feeling self-doubt and thinking about quitting.
3.2.2. Whenever you do have a hard time at the beginning of something new, it’s not your fault.
3.2.2.1. This is just the nature of learning in unfamiliar situations.
3.2.2.2. One expert in sales management says that it usually takes even the most well-versed salespeople eight months to adjust.
3.2.3. Focus first on what’s most important.
3.2.3.1. The purpose of this is to help you get situational credibility, or the ability to know what you’re talking about when conversing with people in the industry.
3.2.4. To do this, prioritize these three most important aspects:
3.2.4.1. Language
3.2.4.1.1. To master the language that people use in the field, jot down any word you hear that you don’t know and learn it’s meaning.
3.2.4.2. Buyers
3.2.4.2.1. Knowing your buyers involves finding out who in the company does the purchasing and developing a relationship with them.
3.2.4.3. The Status Quo
3.2.4.3.1. Gain an understanding of which products your prospective clients are currently using.
3.3. You need good communication skills to personalize your pitch.
3.3.1. When you’re trying to sell to someone, they don’t care about the details of the product or how much you want them to buy it.
3.3.1.1. What people really want is a personable experience.
3.3.2. Show them that you care and to do that you need to know how to communicate well.
3.3.3. Make sure you do some research on your prospects before you meet with them.
3.3.3.1. Focus on getting to know their needs and what they’re looking for.
3.3.3.2. Understanding a little of their personality might also help you to know what to expect when interacting with them.
3.3.4. Think deeply about what questions you want to ask them.
3.3.4.1. Consider ways you can find out how changing what product they use will affect their business.
3.3.4.2. An especially good question to ask would be one that helps you get to know the risks they’re considering when they thinking about using your product instead.
3.3.4.3. The aim is to find out how you can meet their needs.
3.3.4.4. Don’t just spout off facts about your product when they respond.
3.3.4.4.1. Instead, ask follow-up questions to understand them more deeply.