No-Fear Sales: A Real-World Guide to Customer-Focused Sales Success

By Crystal D. Smith

A career in sales offers a unique opportunity for the salesperson to determine their own salary! But even though hundreds of companies are posting sales positions, many people are too afraid to step into the role. Or perhaps you are new to sales and you haven't quite found your path to closing more sales each month.

No-Fear Sa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bravier Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9780578766331

Crystal D. Smith

Crystal Smith is a seasoned sales professional with fifteen years of experience directing sales teams for two of the world's largest hotel chains. Crystal has overseen sales department revenues totaling over $80 million over the course of her career, At her core, Crystal is a mentor, a coach and a sales speaker that emphasizes customer-focused sales strategies, personal accountability and organization to increase sales revenues for your team. For more information on the author and for bookings, visit www.nofear-sales.com.

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NO-FEAR SALES

A Real-World Guide to

Customer-Focused Sales Success

Crystal D. Smith

Bravier Publishing Company

Derwood, Maryland

Copyright © 2020 by Crystal D. Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission from the author.

Bravier Publishing Company

Derwood, MD

Publisher’s Note and Disclaimer:

This is book is designed to provide authoritative information regarding the subject covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering nor is responsible for; legal, or accounting services. If legal, accounting, or industry specific advice is required, the services of a competent professional in those areas should be sought.

Interior Book Layout © 2017 BookDesignTemplates.com

No-Fear Sales: A Real-World Guide to Customer-Focused Sales Success/ Crystal D. Smith. -- 1st ed.

ISBN 978-0-578-76541-9

Dedications

I dedicate this book to my husband, Daymain who would never let me forget that I had a book to finish. Thank you, honey, for being my biggest fan.

And to my pastors and mentors, Drs. James and Stacia Pierce without whom I would never have had, the gumption nor the commitment to be able to finish it. Thank you for your love and wisdom.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

PART I: MINDSET

POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE (PMA)

ENERGY AND HEALTH

RESILIENT AND RELENTLESS

PART II: THE SALES PROCESS – QUALIFYING THE BUSINESS

IDENTIFYING AND LOCATING NEW CUSTOMERS

MAKING CONTACT

THE CALL: TO SCRIPT OR NOT TO SCRIPT?THE APPOINTMENT AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS

THE MEETING: GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

PART III: THE SALES PROCESS: CLOSING

PRESENTING SOLUTIONS

HANDLING OBJECTIONS

REINFORCING THE SALE: THE RELATIONSHIP BEGINS

PREFACE

In 2001, I graduated from Florida A& M University with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a dream of making it big as a junior account executive for some internationally known PR firm.  But a funny thing happened on my road to fortune with the intent of shaping public perception.  I applied for position after position in the public relations and marketing departments of various companies, and the interviewer or recruiter would ask me if I was interested in sales. In fact, my first job out of college was a paid internship in the advertising sales department for Southern Progress Corporation, a major magazine publisher in Birmingham, Alabama.

Two months into the magazine internship, I was recruited as account executive for a promotional products company. This was another sales job, but I heard the words account executive and thought I was on the path to PR. In many public relations firms, the term account executive refers to someone who manages the activity for one or more specific accounts. To be clear, I didn’t apply for sales positions. I was recruited. I had originally applied for an internship in the marketing department of that same magazine publisher in Birmingham but ended up in the advertising department (where magazines actually make their money.) It was while working a second job as a restaurant hostess, that the owner of a small promotional products distributorship discovered me and gave me my first salaried position as a sales account executive. It seemed that a life in sales was chasing me down!

The truth was that I had no desire to be in a sales position. I hated being sold to mostly because I wasn’t qualified to buy much more than gas and milk at the time. Due to my own personal hang-ups with family and finance, I hated asking people for money.  How could anyone think that I would be a great salesperson?

A year after graduating college, I became an on-air personality for a local radio station in Montgomery, Alabama and thought I was finally free of the sales noose and back on my original path to mass communications. My show was rated number one for its target demographic and time slot (known as a daypart) and I was able to work my way into a position as a promotions director for four radio stations.  I was hosting major events and getting calls from competing stations in the area.  Finally, I thought, I am doing what I went to school for!

But life is never without its twists and turns. My, then-fiancée, now husband and I welcomed a baby boy into the world in 2004 and my meager radio salary was not enough of a contribution for the three of us to live on.  So, my husband accepted a position that took us to Nashville. With no connections and little experience other than in radio and sales, I was starting from ground zero. I had exactly two interviews. One interview was for an insurance salesperson position. There was no actual salary just commission and the pride of essentially running my own business. At the time, I couldn’t see this as a viable option since I knew nothing about insurance and had no connections in the city. Hard pass.

Naturally, I called the local broadcasting stations seeking a job. They had no on-air or promotions positions available, but they could definitely use more salespeople.  And so, it went that I began to learn how to sell radio advertising for what is now iHeartMedia but was then Clear Channel Radio, the largest radio broadcasting company in the United States.

Four years and three cities later, with family in tow, I found myself starting a position as a sales manager for one of the largest hotel chains in the country.  This account-management type of sales position was vastly different from my experience in radio sales.  There was more of an emphasis on building and maintain client relationships and becoming a trusted advisor, rather than how much advertising time you sold that day. On my first day on the job as a hotel sales manager, I inquired, So, am I just trying to get as much money as I can for a hotel room? The general manager of the hotel looked at me with a curious, and somewhat dubious expression and said, Hotel sales is more like a marriage and less like a one-night stand. We have something called rational pricing. You know what? Let’s get you some training.

That was the beginning of what has been nearly two decades of training and experience in account management and sales leadership in the hospitality industry. With the right training, I fell in love with the process of building client relationships to help capture and increase revenue for my company. I enjoyed watching accounts grow as I graduated from order-taker to consultant. I finally understood how my study of public relations, the practice of guiding public opinion, helped me to create successful sales campaigns and recover from service challenges. For years I had been dodging sales positions only to find that I was now hooked on the art of the sale. Selling got under my skin. It’s in my blood and it has provided a comfortable lifestyle for my family. My hope this book will help accomplish that for you

INTRODUCTION

Real-World Coaching

In 2016, after reading five sales books in one year to sharpen my skills as a sales director, I became aware of one thing that was lacking: real-world application. There was great advice and there were stories but, as a sales director, I found that the books were great for a theoretical knowledge of sales and I understood it because, at the time, I had been selling for over a decade. But I couldn’t help thinking that these books would not have helped me when I was just starting out in sales because they were written with a premise that you are already selling, just not to your full potential.  They assumed that you knew your product but there was something about your sales style, process, or outlook that needed an adjustment.

I was looking for a book that would teach what I was preaching to my sales team. I wanted something that not only helped them rethink their attitude about sales and customer service, but also gave them the sales steps and call scripts to get started. To be fair, there are hundreds if not thousands of sales books that have been published and I only read five of them that year.  I did, however, select the top five books