World Class Selling
The Science of Selling
The Complete Selling Process
Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE
Book Publishers Network
P.O. Box 2256
Bothell • WA • 98041
Ph • 425-483-3040
www.bookpublishersnetwork.com
Copyright © 2011 by Roy Chitwood
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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LCCN 2011903244
Editor: Julie Scandora
Indexer: Carolyn Acheson
Proofreader: Barbara Kindness
Typographer: Stephanie Martindale
RAVES FOR WORLD CLASS SELLING
“In the past, only the largest companies had the resources to develop a truly professional salesperson. Roy Chitwood has finally and comprehensively documented professional sales training that any company or any aspiring professional salesperson can thrive on. If you are for customer satisfaction as a basis for increased sales success, you can’t afford to let World Class Selling pass.”
—Howard P. Stevens, The HR Chally Group
“I am glad to see the Track Selling System in book form. It has helped me—and will help many others—become a professional salesman.”
—Kenley Lawton, Senior Vice President, The Principal Financial Group
“World Class Selling is outstanding! Our company has rigorously utilized Track Selling as our primary sales tool for the last two years. Our growth rate has tripled that of the rest of the industry! Track Selling is a tremendous competitive advantage. I encourage all selling professionals, except our competition, to utilize it. Our results speak for themselves.”
—William Holl, Former President, Coca-Cola Bottling Company
“Finally someone addresses what today’s business environment requires from the sales reps who sell them. World Class Selling combines the strategic partnership with customers and the training of salespeople in the best handbook ever for how-to selling.”
—George Kemptner, President, Copyprint, Inc.
“This down-to-earth new book contains real life experiences and a proven method of effective selling. A must-have for all sales professionals.”
—Stewart Coombe, President, EnerCom Geothermal
“Chitwood’s experience, professionalism and success come through clear in the reading. So many of our people start shortcutting and lose the sale in the process. With this track and its proven methods, this book is a must for all salespeople.”
—David Miller, Senior Vice President, Franchise Sales, Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates
“World Class Selling is a masterful book written by a masterful salesperson. This step-by-step guide will help novice and seasoned professionals improve their level of sales and increase their sales income.”
—Bill Bethel, Co-Founder/CEO, Bethel Institute
“The techniques behind Track Selling work! I heartily recommend that anybody interested in selling anything to anybody run to the book store and buy two copies—a personal copy and a copy to give to the boss.”
—Rick VonderBrink, Managing General Agent, Med-Care Advantage
“After attending a Track Selling program, I didn’t think Track Selling could ever be improved or enhanced. World Class Selling completes the process started with Track Selling in the best-written, best-formulated and operationally beneficial book relating to sales I have read.”
—James L. Watson, Senior Vice President and Salesman, National American Insurance Company
“We have initiated the Track Selling concepts and techniques to nearly one thousand of our channel partners and have trained our internal sales staff on it as well. I predict that World Class Selling will rise to the top of the growing list of books devoted to effective selling.”
—Dave W. Hanna, President and CEO, State of the Art
“World Class Selling makes professional sales an exciting process of continuous improvement. This systematic sales track steps up sales naturally. It is practical and easy to follow. All of my associates use it to build quality relationships while meeting customer needs. World Class Selling will enhance anyone’s sales productivity.”
—Martin Garaff, Regional Sales Manager,Dynatech Laboratories
“Every person desirous of a successful sales career should commit him or herself to the relevant principles outlined in World Class Selling.”
—Thomas N. Fuelling, President, Lawry’s Foods, Inc.
“Successful selling involves the art of persuasion. Therefore it can be taught and learned. World Class Selling provides an excellent roadmap for helping to accomplish that objective.”
—F. G. (Buck) Rodgers, Former Vice President of Marketing, IBM
“In this fast-paced world of computer-to-computer contact, there is an even greater need for excellent personal-contact selling. If you follow this book from cover to cover, you can become the best there is. It is full of basic information that salespeople can use immediately.”
—Donald C. North, CSE, President, Sales & Marketing Executives International
“Roy Chitwood unscrambles the simple process of getting people to put their money down and buy something, which has become so complicated.”
—Nick Carter, Nightingale-Conant Corporation
“World Class Selling combines the best of research and practice into a must-read handbook for salespeople of all types. Roy Chitwood has integrated many years of proven sales techniques into a practical handbook that makes the sale process easy to learn and profitable to use. Managers should know this tool and buy it for all of their sales and customer contact personnel.”
—William H. Crookston, PhD. The Entrepreneur Program,
University of Southern California, School of Business Administration
“I am continually amazed at how weak so many salespeople are at closing a sale. If they would only embrace a step-by-step procedure, a simple method, their incomes would skyrocket. World Class Selling provides that method.”
—Dick Boudreau, Western Regional Manager, American Linen Supply Co.
“As the business world gets more competitive, there is no room for an amateur in selling. Roy Chitwood can teach everybody the skills, techniques, scripts, and strategies each needs to compete. If you are going to read only one book on selling, it has to be World Class Selling. This is the only sales book you will ever need.”
—Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, National Speakers Association Past President
“World Class Selling is full of truisms directed toward true professionalism and the elevation of the selling process. No matter what the product, it all begins with people-to-people communication.”
—Larry Tucker, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Thermalloy, Inc.
“Finally, a book that vividly explains what the world of selling is all about. No more buzzwords and overused clichés. This is practical, in-the-trenches, real life selling.”
—Les Hewitt, President and Founder, Achievers Canada Seminars, Inc.
“Chitwood takes a no-nonsense approach to the art and craft of selling as it must be practiced in the highly competitive world of today and tomorrow. If you want your customers to see you as an integral partner in the success of their business, the process described in World Class Selling will help you make a quantum leap in that direction.”
—George Morrisey, Author, Morrisey on Planning
“Roy Chitwood’s seven-step process of selling has changed my life. My income has increased more than ten times in ten years. World Class Selling is one of the greatest gifts I have given myself.”
—Stephan Helbock, Tao Communication
“Over the years, I have interviewed many people who wanted to go into sales but had not had formal training. World Class Selling will help those who want to go into the sales profession to understand what sales is all about and prepare them for a successful career in sales. It will also be useful to train new sales employees with little experience.”
—Abdullah Mat Zaid, President, MAS Catering, Malaysia Airlines
“World
Class Selling is a great
combination of technique and the practical experience of a superb
salesman and teacher, Roy Chitwood. It is not a book to read and put
away. World Class Selling
is a must for the beginner
and a vibrant review for the
professional of the success patterns of world-class salesmen and
companies.”
—Jack Root, Business Consultant to Management
“It’s important training for salespeople and sales managers. Outstanding examples make all the important points easy to grasp. Sales today must depend on sincerity, believability, and credibility. This book attests to that.”
—Claudia J. Bowers, CSE, Chairman of the Board, Sales and Marketing Executives International
“I’ve used these concepts in every conceivable situation, including business selling, family situations, executive management, human resource situations, and dozens of other areas. Track Selling is more than selling—it is a communications protocol. World Class Selling is bound to become a key addition to the bookshelves and briefcases of leading salespeople, managers, and executives throughout the business world.”
—Lee Zinsli, Healthcare Executive Vice President, Brim, Inc.
“Selling investors, strategic partners, regulators, payers, and employees all must happen before any product is sold to a customer. Behind every successful medical innovation is a great salesperson. World Class Selling teaches selling as a process with skills that are learned. Chitwood’s methods are the keys to succeeding, whatever your field.”
—Max Lemberger, Producer, Minnesota Medical Frontiers
“World Class Selling presupposes today’s salesperson must be positioned as a professional with all the educational and experiential credentials necessary to succeed. This book will equip the serious-minded sales practitioner to succeed in the twenty-first century. The contents of this book will provide you with a competitive advantage.”
—John A. Counter, CME, Managing Director of Marketing, AAA Auto Club South
“In my more than thirty years of building, managing, fixing, and consulting to sales organizations in all industries, I have missed the availability of one all-encompassing textbook and manual, one selling source book. Now we have one with World Class Selling. I would recommend this complete and scientifically practical guide to anyone at any level of business. It is a world class book on a very important subject.”
—Kenton Cooley, Managing Partner, Topline Group
“World Class Selling is a very practical book that actually teaches the selling process step-by-step. It gives salespeople the techniques and procedures they need to make immediate sales.”
—Bill Renfro, President, Renfro Foods, Inc.
“Success in selling an insurance program encourages continued effort. If you know the program will have positive results, the easy part is selling the program as you follow the seven steps of Track Selling. Although I use the basic concepts of Track Selling toward all areas of my life, World Class Selling is a reminder of many areas which need brushing up on.”
—Jack R. Powell, Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Cal Comp Insurance Company
“Pros know sales success is never easy. World Class Selling will simplify the path to higher performance and earnings. Roy Chitwood lights the path to success with his classic wisdom, systems, and today’s techniques.”
—Patty DeDominic, Founder and CEO, PDQ Personnel Services, Inc.
“Since meeting Roy Chitwood over ten years ago, my success in all business matters has increased tremendously. Our company structures everything that has to do with customer relations according to Chitwood’s methodology, and it works beautifully. I am extremely pleased to see that Roy has decided to share his knowledge in World Class Selling. If it sold for a thousand dollars, it would be an incredible value!”
—Gale Banks, President, Gale Banks Engineering
“World Class Selling is an excellent compilation of the Track Selling System concepts. Beyond that, it represents a forward look into the future of selling products to purchasers that buy for their reasons. This book can become the framework for any successful sales organization.”
—H.K. Broxey, Longview Fibre Company
“When I was introduced to Track Selling, I was a good salesman. Roy Chitwood aided me in becoming an excellent salesman and manager. World Class Selling is a way of communicating what you must know to be truly successful!”
—Jerry D. Beck, Former COB-CEO, Mighty Distributing System, CEO, TEC International
“Roy Chitwood has accomplished the Herculean task of pulling together all the sequential steps and fundamentals of making a sale and of making a sale stick. Pros can use World Class Selling as a check-up. Beginners, as a shortcut, crash course.”
—Dan S. Kennedy, Author, No B.S. Sales Success
“World Class Selling is one of the most comprehensive guides to professional selling that I’ve ever read. Chitwood addresses individual attitude and purpose, deals with technique and then goes on to deal with the process in depth.”
—Bryan Bennett, Executive Chairman/CEO, Movers International
“World Class Selling is the definitive text on the profession of selling. Chitwood provides a true win-win situation for all involved! This is a very readable discourse on the track method—a can’t-put-it-down thriller!”
—Chris Billat, President, Benchmark Strategies
“Yesterday’s
and today’s successes do not guarantee tomorrow’s. World
Class Selling provides
critical material on Track Selling. When fully grasped, it will make
your success in the future much more obtainable. Having taken my
first sales course from Roy Chitwood in 1978, I found this
to
be one of the most valuable learning tools anyone could ask for.”
—Gerald A. Johnston, President and CEO , Johnston & Culberson, Inc.
“Reading and following the guidelines vividly described in World Class Selling will help anyone gain insight that leads to the road of success. The short chapters with hard-hitting points will keep your attention and the exercises and Things to Remember reinforce the major points. This book is a practical compendium of sales understanding, sales techniques and procedures synthesized in pragmatic rather than theoretical prose.”
—Jack Bunis, Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, Cair Systems
“World Class Selling takes an approach that works and converts it to a simple, understandable process that increases the salesperson’s chance of success and subsequent client satisfaction due to the reliable qualification process. This shouldn’t be a book you read and put on the shelf. Like any quality process, it should be used, refined, and adapted on a daily basis.”
—Roger Stedronsky, President, Motivation Media Inc.
“Most selling books are pure motivational hype. It’s nice to see a book that finally teaches the selling process. The techniques used in World Class Selling are invaluable.”
—Louis Csabay, Assistant Vice President, Cosmair Inc.
“World Class Selling is an excellent text for salespeople, regardless of experience or years at the job. It is an excellent tool to organize not only thoughts, but actions that will lead a salesperson toward a successful close.”
—Jackson C. Oswald, National Account Manager, Graybar Inc.
“Whether you have been in sales two weeks, two months, two years, or twenty years, you cannot help but get great ideas to help you be a better salesperson if you read World Class Selling.”
—Mike Frank, CSP, CPAE, Past President, National Speakers Association
“The new salesperson and the seasoned professional will both find a lot of value in World Class Selling. The key word is complete. This book covers the whole process.”
—James W. Newman, CPAE, Author, Release Your Brakes, President, The Pace Organization
“We at Senco have been using the Track Selling System for over fifteen years. World Class Selling will be a requirement for all of our salespeople, both newly hired and experienced, for a follow-up to their on-going training.”
—Jerry Carter, Senco Products, Inc.
“World Class Selling cuts right to the heart of the sales process. This book reflects the author’s deep understanding of sales as a value-building process, and every page offers sound advice for the sales professional.”
—Tom Ingram, Professor and Chair, College of Business, Colorado State University
“World Class Selling does an excellent job of explaining the effective sales process. This new book is an excellent tool for enhancing anyone’s skills in both selling and communications!”
—James L. McCarty, Senior Vice President, Ecolab, Inc.
“Finally a book that is more than motivational hype. World Class Selling teaches the selling process and techniques that are invaluable.”
—Roy Benirschke, President, Eastman & Benirschke
“Having trained over twenty-five thousand salespeople, I eagerly read this new book to see what new light could be shed that would apply to selling any product, service, or idea. Roy Chitwood is a genius to be able to invent a book full of workable, practical ideas for any of us that sell. You will be underprivileged if you don’t have this book.”
—D. John Hammond, Past President, National Speakers Association; CEO, American Motivational Association
“Every once in a while, a book comes along that spells out the basics with simplicity and great insight. This is one of those books. Practice Roy Chitwood’s methods. The results will speak for themselves.”
—Linda Ehlenberger, Vice President of Sales, Holland America Line Westours Inc.
“World Class Selling is, without doubt, the best and the most powerful sales tool a professional salesperson can, and should, possess. If you purchase the book for no other reason, purchase it to learn the best closing question anyone has ever come up with. I use it in both my professional and personal life with equal success.”
—Alan G. Julier, Sales Manager, Krautkramer Branson-Hocking Inc.
“Chitwood has an incredible knack for taking something as complicated as the selling process and making it simple. World Class Selling is an educational program that anyone can use and from which they can easily learn. Chitwood not only provides leadership to the sales profession; he also has elevated it.”
—David Yoho , The Professional Educators Group
“World Class Selling is truly world class and will be regarded as such—as the seminal work on the subject—long into the future. I’ve given it to my daughter Mary with my enthusiastic endorsement as she started a new job.”
—Harry G. Bubb, Chairman Emeritus, Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company
“I have employed the Track Selling System successfully in telemarketing, third-party retail selling networks, and other marketing programs. The unique mix of straightforward process and sophisticated marketing concepts makes it a useful tool for the beginner and seasoned professional. If you are seeking to improve effectiveness by being of greater service to your customer, I highly recommend that you read and study World Class Selling.”
—Steve Tonissen, Senior Vice President, Comshare, Inc.
“UCLA’s retired coach, John Wooden, was basketball’s master of detail. Roy Chitwood is selling’s master of detail. He has turned the art of selling into a science. World Class Selling is your blueprint for superstar sales performance.”
—Neil Cannon, Chairman of the Board, Schmidt Cannon, Inc.
“A book on selling which is incredibly useful for everyone even if ‘sales’ isn’t in your title.”
—Todd Hartwell, Director of Marketing, Diesel Jeans & Workman
“World Class Selling provides logical and understandable material that will help any salesperson become more effective. If you really want to understand what a true sales professional is and how to become one, then you need to read this book. Roy Chitwood has provided a great service for the sales profession.”
—Donald Gessel, President, Washington Energy Services
“During a forty-year career in sales, sales management and executive management, I’ve studied and implemented many sales processes. Roy Chitwood has developed the best I’ve seen. All of our sales consultants have been trained in this discipline and our results have increased significantly. I have become an ambassador for this process.”
—Richard M. Nelson, President & CEO, The Grant Nelson Group
“Roy Chitwood is in a class by himself with World Class Selling. Buy it, read it, and reap the rewards.”
—John Imlay, Author, Jungle Rules; Chairman, Dun & Bradstreet Software
“World Class Selling is a bible for the sales professional. As I hire additional sales directors, it will become part of their orientation and ongoing professional development. This book will assist us in developing and retaining our key business partners—our customers.”
—Jay Youell, Vice President of Sales, Human Affairs International, Inc.
“I recommend this book to all firms committed to serving their customers’ needs through relationship building. The process recommended in World Class Selling recognizes the customer’s needs and commits the sales professional to connect directly with and fulfill the needs of the customer, not the product. This approach lays the foundation for longer-term customer relationships and sales.”
—Wendy Weir, Manager, DSM, BC Gas Utility Ltd.
“Chitwood has done what other writers have tried and failed to do—represent the selling cycle from beginning to end. No matter how long you have been in sales, a day or a lifetime, you will find areas in World Class Selling that will help you to be even more successful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be a professional salesperson, and even more so to the individual who is in the world of sales.”
—Ken McCrocklin, President, Ke-Re, Inc.
“The active learning that is promoted by the skill-building exercises in World Class Selling virtually guarantees that readers not only will remember but will also be able to skillfully use all of the techniques and strategies that they have learned. The steps in the sales process and the strategies of selling are illustrated with fascinating examples and case studies that breathe life and drama into every page of this outstanding book.”
—Donald J. Moine, PhD, Sales Psychologist; President, Association for Human Achievement, Inc.
“Successful selling requires a process based on integrity, a sincere concern for the needs of the customer and a set of skills that assures a high probability of a mutually beneficial relationship with a customer. World Class Selling fulfills that need admirably. Mastering his seven-step selling process is a must for every salesperson regardless of the product or service being sold.”
—Jack Asgar, President, Practical Management, Inc.
“Roy Chitwood is one of the very important sales tools that has contributed to the success of our company. Through the focus on Track Selling, our Account Executives have been able to close business that would have otherwise gone to other people selling a similar service. The investment we have made in training has paid outstanding dividends. The methods in World Class Selling give an excellent return on investment.”
—Bob Waldorf, President, Idea Man, Inc.
“Bravo! It was long overdue, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading World Class Selling. It is the ultimate guide on how to properly sell anything to anyone. It definitely works as we have established company sales records every year over the past four years!”
—Victor W. Sterne, Vice President, Medicus Systems
“World Class Selling is the first of its kind that focuses in on the specific issues and problems of the expert professional salesperson. It’s usable, practical, and has unique ideas and solutions. It teaches the techniques and processes that can be used every day, and it provides the materials, forms, and guidelines necessary to make the process happen. Chitwood brings the selling process to an all new state-of-the-art level.”
—Raymond J. Hall, Executive Vice President and CEO, Electronics Representatives Association
“Finally a definitive step-by-step sales process is explained in a fast moving, well-written book by a true master of sales!”
—Robert A. Chesney, Executive Producer, Window on Wall Street
“As Roy Chitwood states: ‘When selling becomes a procedure, it ceases to become a problem.’ World Class Selling shows that sales is a method of communication and provides a procedure of communicating which will always ensure that the customer is satisfied. This procedure is valuable not only in a person’s professional life but also in his or her everyday life. Professional salespeople are the result of correctly following the seven steps.”
—K. M. Dowlson, Western Regional Manager, CFM, Inc.
“World Class Selling is first-class reading! As a salesperson for over twenty years, I can honestly say the selling principles covered in Roy Chitwood’s new book work in the real world. World Class Selling should be required reading for every salesperson. It will be for all Mighty Distributing salespeople!”
—Gary Vann, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Mighty Distributing Systems of America, Inc.
“The quality of material, insight, depth of logic, and new ideas give Roy Chitwood’s efforts a five-star rating. World Class Selling is must-reading for the serious sales professional trying to either move to the next level or greatly enhance his or her income.”
—Bill Shearer, President, East-West Broadcasting Company, Inc.
“At last, a book that takes the reader through a simple seven-step, world class selling process. Recommended reading for everyone in the sales profession.”
—Jack I. Criswell, CSE, Executive Director, Sales and Marketing Executives International
“No sales office should be without this book! While newly hired salespeople will find a solid blueprint for sales success, the experienced salesperson will appreciate the finer points that will help him or her reach the highest level of sales success.”
—Gerhard Gschwandtner, Publisher, Selling Power
“World Class Selling is an easy-to-read book with great ideas to help every salesperson increase their sales, his or her self-esteem, and customers’ satisfaction.”
—Dr. Tony Alessandra, Author , Non-Manipulative Selling, People Smarts
“Chitwood’s three decades of sales experience come out clearly in this logical and systematic new book. No matter what the product or service, World Class Selling is the backbone to success in sales.”
—Jeffrey M. Abrahams, President, Qualyvendas, Brazil
“Top-rate material! I have used the seven steps of Track Selling to close most of my biggest deals. To say that was worth millions would be an understatement.”
—David H. Schwartz, President, Super Marketing
“Roy Chitwood’s seven-step process served as the foundation for my final presentation to the search committee to obtain my current position. World Class Selling packages Chitwood’s philosophy and process as an ongoing, working document for all of us in sales.”
—George J. Twiss, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Fox Communications Corp.
“World Class Selling will be considered a classic for today’s market and for years to come. Roy Chitwood and his Track Selling System are a combination that has no competition.”
—Don Estrin, CME, Founder and Former Chairman, Move Management by Ryder; Former President,
Sales and Marketing Executives International
“Roy Chitwood’s profound analysis of the psychology of both seller and buyer in World Class Selling has global value. It is the principles of marketing wherever you are—in New York, Tokyo, or even Beijing. I am learning a lot from this great book.”
—Tom Ikehata, Former President, CEO and General Manager, Far East, Spalding Japan Co., Ltd.
“What a whale of a product! Lots and lots of good stuff for everyone in sales. I’ve been selling since age twelve, yet I’m digging into Roy Chitwood’s World Class Selling almost daily for new and helpful ideas.”
—“Rocket” Ray Jutkins, Professional Speaker and Marketing Consultant
“World Class Selling professionally sells to salespeople exactly what they need most. Chitwood not only stresses professionalism but also defines clearly how all salespeople can be professional. World Class Selling provides a track that will lead salespeople to success, not only in achieving that original order but also in establishing repeat customers and clients.”
—Jack Berman, Berman Publications
“An outstanding book by a most respected professional. Clear. Complete. Highly recommended.”
—Nido Qubein, Chairman, Creative Services, Inc.
“Roy Chitwood has done it again! One of the real sales masters has taken sales to a whole new level. This book is a must resource and a must read. Marvelously done and masterfully written!”
—Bill Brooks, Author, Niche Selling: You’re Working Too Hard to Make the Sale
“If you want your sales in the world-class category, you’ve got to find world-class material and a world-class teacher. You’ve got them both right here. Go directly to the cash register.”
—Danny Cox, Speaker, Author, Leadership When the Heat’s On: Seize the Day
“Instead of creating reverence for past answers, World Class Selling flings the door open to a new paradigm for sales. Roy Chitwood goes beyond traditional hype to provide sales professionals with a workable roadmap to a value-based, client-centered selling process. This principle-based book is money in the bank. It’s something sales professionals need to read—right now.”
—Terry L. Paulson, PhD, CSP, CPA; Author, Paulson on Change: They Shoot Managers Don’t They?
“Roy Chitwood correctly spots the problem: The buyer has become sophisticated. In World Class Selling he covers why and how to establish the long-term relationship that creates profit through stability. His seven steps to Track Selling are a blueprint for success.”
—Jim Tunney, EdD, CSP, CPAE, Professional Speaker and Former NFL Referee
“The techniques in World Class Selling were instrumental in helping me launch a successful career at Hewlett-Packard in the 1960s and later helped Scott Blum and me build Pinnacle Micro into a world-class company in the 1990s.”
—Bill Blum, President and CEO, Pinnacle Micro, Inc.
“Anyone interested in becoming a sales representative should buy World Class Selling. It contains instructions and examples that, if followed, will help you to become successful.”
—G.W. Hogue, Assistant Vice President of Sales, Lance, Inc.
“World Class Selling is a practical and proven approach that explains the ‘how-to’ of the sales process. The application of the insights and process outlined in this remarkable book will give your professional sales team a competitive advantage.”
—Thomas J. Bligh, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Genie Industries/Terex
“Most books emphasize what should be done and leave out the how-to-do-it. World Class Selling Roy Chitwood’s proven step-by-step Track Selling provides the tool for a person to become a productive salesperson.”
—Robert M. Randolph, Chairman and CEO , Professional Management Institute
“An irresistible read; educational, inspiring, enlightening, full of proven basic skills, techniques, and philosophies in a simple how-to-use format. The reader is likely to feel a renewed pride and respect for the important and ever-shifting role of a professional salesperson.”
—Don K. Covington, Jr., CSE, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing Executives International
“Roy Chitwood really understands the selling process. His seven steps of selling are practical, powerful, and results-oriented. World Class Selling is a must-read for every new sales professional as well as veterans working in today’s challenging and exciting markets.”
—Ted Kemper, President, The Canadian Training and Development Group, Inc.
“World Class Selling is the cornerstone to my personal and professional success. Chitwood’s book on his selling process is the most comprehensive, understandable treatment of the subject I have yet read. Selling is a skill everyone should have, and Chitwood’s publication is absolutely a ‘must’ addition to the library and knowledge base of any serious professional.”
—Kirby Fox, Founder and CEO, EXCELL Executive Leadership Exchange
“World Class Selling is a great text and one every sales professional should buy and read, as it will help sharpen his or her skills in the selling process, utilizing invaluable techniques.”
—Robert R. Sharp, President and CEO, AAA Auto Club South
“World Class Selling is one of the best training-type books I have seen. It provides step-by-step procedures for becoming a consultative sales professional but is practical enough that the user still keeps his own personality. Each step in the process is explained clearly and thoroughly with dialog that adds clarity and life to each step of the system.”
—Don Butler, President and CEO, Employers Group
“I have attended Roy Chitwood’s seminars several times both in the United States and Japan. At the conclusion of the training, all of the participants understand what selling is and how to sell. World Class Selling contains the techniques Roy Chitwood has spent half of his life developing.”
—Tomio Joichi, President, Business Brain Co., Ltd., Japan
“Roy Chitwood embraces the ethical selling strategies that have made today’s top professionals successful. Readers that invest in themselves and take the time to implement the techniques and strategies described in World Class Selling will quickly develop the skills that set them apart from the competition.”
—Joe Scharbrough, Consultant, McGladrey & Pullen, LLP
“I have consistently prescribed Roy Chitwood’s training programs. Now, with the publication of World Class Selling, I can send my clients and students to the bookstore to have their prescriptions filled for effective, professional selling.”
—“Dr. Revenue” John Haskell, Sales and Marketing Consultant; Instructor, USC Business Expansion Network, Fast Trac Entrepreneurial Training
“World Class Selling covers every aspect of the selling opportunity in a format that is easy to read, understand, and implement. Anyone can enjoy success in the sales profession if he or she takes the time to read this book and apply it to his or her business. Chitwood covers the smallest details, such as attire and not accepting drinks, which can be lethal to success.”
—Bob Aldridge, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries
“In World Class Selling, Chitwood looks at the entire selling process from top to bottom and gives the reader a new perspective on what it takes to be a world-class seller. Salespeople who work through this program will become better communicators and enrich their professional career —and their personal life as well. If you want to reach your goals, this is a path well worth taking.”
—Christen Heide, Executive Editor, Sales and Marketing Publications, Editor, Marketing Times, The Official Publication of Sales and Marketing Executives International, The Dartnell Corporation
“World Class Selling is not only an excellent how-to quantitative guide to high sales achievement but an in-depth qualitative how-to guide as well. Chitwood combines all of the softer skill sets with proven sales techniques and successfully marries all the elements in an easy-to-use format. World Class Selling will bring participants to the top 2 or 3 percent of achievers in the sales profession.”
—L. Bryant Barry, CSE, Director of Sales, Animal Health Division, Sandoz Agro, Inc.
“World Class Selling is practical and gives people the actions, techniques and procedures they need to make sales now.”
—Robert D. Johannsen, CSE, President, Entre Computer Center
“In World Class Selling, Roy Chitwood speaks from a world of experience. That experience, so generously shared with me over time, is what I attribute to the fact that today, I, too, have become a world-class salesman. World Class Selling is a good start for anyone who desires to be among the best.”
—James C. Naleid, President, Investment Counsel, Lokken, Chestnut & Cape Inc.
“Roy Chitwood’s system offers a crisp, clear, and organized method of selling that is easily understood by our sales professionals and management. It has proven tremendously effective in converting interested shoppers into satisfied customers. In all my years in retail, I have never seen a sales method that compares! It really works!”
—Rick Haux, President, The Bedroom Super Store
“After nearly thirty years in the marketing business, I have yet to see a book that builds the reader’s self-esteem and confidence the way World Class Selling does. There is no doubt that if a sales organization embraces the philosophy and follows the system, it will be successful beyond its expectations.”
—John D. Eastham, Managing Partner, EMB Partners
“World Class Selling is unique and certainly applicable to selling any product or service. It is a must for all sales personnel. It should be studied and constantly referred to as different types of sales, customers, objections, and competitive situations materialize. In time, it should be the most dog-eared book in the sales library. Track Selling is the best sales habit any true professional salesperson can develop.”
—Douglas Hill, President, California Moving and Storage Association
“The fundamental principles of Roy Chitwood’s method of Track Selling have brought many rewards to me and my family. His system of planning and development lends itself to more than selling. It makes your whole life easier to manage.”
—Ken Baroni, Salesman
“World Class Selling is a wonderful text on selling to adapt for today’s competitive industrial society. It precisely analyzes the complete selling process leading to successful results with not only a scientific but also a humanistic approach. I recommend this valuable work to all sales professionals throughout the world.”
—Hiroh Kuno, Executive Director , International Marketing Council of Japan
“World Class Selling is, indeed, a well thought-out, comprehensive approach to sales. Chitwood moves the field, in a very practical way, in a direction so likely to yield both higher ethics and higher performance.”
—Jeff Cox, Cox Creative Works
“Roy Chitwood provides a selling philosophy that creates a caring and dependable approach of partnership in serving the prospect’s or client’s needs. World Class Selling should provide many sales managers and salespersons with a unique track to follow in dealing with all situations that arise in communicating ideas to others. The system has great merit.”
—Jack O’Loughlin, CME, Past President and Chairman, Sales and Marketing Executives International
“It’s great to see such a no-nonsense, practical guide to selling. Follow the seven outlined steps and you will be on the way to World Class Selling.”
—Janice M. Szur, CSE, CME, Automation Resource Corporation
“World Class Selling is a common-sense guide that enables a salesperson to make more sales, build long-term customer relationships, and out-perform the competition every day. Roy Chitwood has given us a proven formula for success and prosperity.”
—Charles Gordon, President, Renewal Concepts
“Learning and using Roy Chitwood’s highly effective selling method has changed my career and life. I always shunned selling—feeling uncomfortable and ill-prepared to sell. I especially encourage those who feel they cannot sell to use this scientific approach to selling. It provides the selling differential so vital to success in our hyper-competitive markets.”
—Ron Holm, Training & Selling Solutions, Inc.
To Anneli,
my love, my friend, my life partner
In Memoriam
To my brother Jim,
one of the best salespeople I ever met
To the sales professionals of the world ...
They make our life better.
CONTENTS
PART ONE: What Every Professional Salesperson Needs to Know
Chapter 1 Selling in a Challenging Environment
Chapter 2 There’s Nothing Wrong with Selling
Chapter 3 The Five Buying Decisions
Chapter 5 Selling Is Selling Is Selling
Chapter 6 The Objectives of Your Sales Call
Chapter 7 Let Your Prospects Do the Talking
Chapter 8 The Art of Asking Questions
Chapter 9 The Six Buying Motives
Chapter 10 Guiding Your Prospects through the Five Buying Decisions
PART TWO: The Seven Steps of Track Selling
Chapter 12 Step Two: Qualification
Chapter 13 Step Three: Agreement on Need
Chapter 14 Step Four: Sell the Company
Chapter 15 Step Five: Fill the Need
Chapter 16 Step Six: Act of Commitment
Chapter 17 Step Seven: Cement the Sale
Chapter 18 Mastering the Seven Steps of the Track Selling System
PART THREE: World Class Selling in the Real World
Chapter 20 The Impact of Your Appearance
Chapter 21 You’re in the People Business
Chapter 23 Managing Time Effectively
Chapter 24 Building a Successful Career in Sales
Chapter 25 Applying World Class Selling to Your Work and Personal Life
I WANT TO PERSONALLY THANK the many people who have helped me and made a contribution to World Class Selling.
A special thank-you to all the clients of Max Sacks International with whom we have had the pleasure of working for the past fifty-plus years and from whom we learned so much. And to the thousands of individuals who have responded to me in writing, by phone, fax, and e-mail, thanking me for the impact the Track Selling System has made on their lives.
A special thank-you to my editor, Kathy Bradley, for her immeasurable contribution.
To the staff of Max Sacks International, including Rick Cobb, Al Kauder, Ray Felix, Ron Holm, Jason Kleid, Alex Rasmussen, and the distributors and facilitators who deliver our World Class Track Selling System workshops worldwide.
A super-special thanks to my manager of Special Projects, Jamee Smith, for her contribution in keeping me on “Track.”
Also, to the many people on our staff of consultants who have contributed to World Class Selling, including Gerri Knilans; Betty Platts; Bert Barer, PhD; Rose-Lise Obetz, PhD; Tim Branning; and Terry Roberts. These people have contributed their brilliance, creativity, and hard work to making World Class Selling a great success.
And last but not least, to all my friends and relatives who have supported me during the past several years as I have grown to be a better salesperson, teacher, businessperson, and above all, a more loving and caring human being.
Ron Holm
Salesman
WHEN THE FIRST EDITION of Roy Chitwood’s World Class Selling was published, the U.S. economy was enjoying the post-Reagan and Clinton years of prosperity. The Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall were falling. The world was experiencing its first sea-level change since World War II.
Through the 1990s, the economy grew, in-bound sales phones rang, and salespeople became well-paid order-takers. Professional selling skills—highly prized in the 1970s and ’80s—were nice-to-know but not essential. Roy’s first edition was released into that era.
The context of release date with this second edition is a different and more compelling era. Beginning a decade ago, Y2K was followed by the economic dot.com bomb collapse. September 11 became forever etched in our memory and triggered conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that remain unresolved as this book went to print. Corporate frauds of mammoth scope caused names like Enron and Madoff to become notorious synonyms. The years 2008 and 2009 were scary and vexing when more than fifteen million US workers were unemployed and businesses failed. Internet selling blurred international boundaries, and for the first time, a true global market resulted. Local sales phones stopped ringing. Another sea-level change had occurred.
During this second decade of the twenty-first century, the global economy is improving. Peak sales professionals and their leaders realize now is the time to sharpen selling skills and grab market share at the expense of laggard competition. Sales teams grow, optimism increases, and the need for sales professionalism rises. The selling process Roy explains in this book has never been more timely or needed.
Salespeople who consider reading and using the principles of World Class Selling ask, “What will it do for me?”
Think about the ancient Buddhist proverb, “When the student is ready, the master appears.” If you are an experienced salesperson who read and used the first edition and enjoyed success with it, this book will be most valuable to you. Why? Because the second edition gives new ideas and best practices you can immediately translate into more sales.
Do you wonder what’s the best way to:
• Shorten sales cycles?
• Sell to multiple decision-makers?
• Handle complex sales cycles?
• Defuse irate customer service issues?
• Structure a proposal template?
• Set agendas for product or service training?
• Obtain funding from bankers, venture capitalists, and other sources?
• Integrate the sales process—a missing link—to CRM and SFA software applications?
• Get a pay raise from your boss?
• Convince your spouse or significant other to join you on a long trip in a recreational vehicle—an idea you’ve secretly coveted, at least before the price of gas spiked?
Stop wondering! Track Selling as a communication model is used for all these purposes and more.
For those newer to selling—or whose experience is as order-takers—this book will be most important to you. Why? Because to break old bad selling habits, a successful selling blueprint is needed. Otherwise, novice salespeople keep doing some right things as well as some wrong things. And the longer they keep doing those wrong things, the better they become at getting worse every day.
Roy teaches, “The sales professional has formed the habit of doing the things necessary, even though they may include things he or she dislikes doing.” In every company, successful people must do things to be successful that they don’t enjoy. In sales, that may mean making cold calls and becoming conditioned to leave voice mails or not flinching at abrupt endings. It may mean closing a sale—facing the moment of truth—and dealing with fear of rejection.
Due to the complexity of selling, salespeople need help every step of the way, especially steps they don’t enjoy. In that context, imagine using a single communication model for the following:
1. Make your prospects’ buying experience more enjoyable by causing them to feel they’re in control of the sales process. Accomplish it with the Five Buying Decisions, also known as the buyer’s hidden agenda.
2. Appeal to your prospects’ emotional reasons for buying, woven into dialogues, voice mails, and e-mail. Your key is use of the Six Buying Motives, also known as the hot buttons of selling.
3. Give yourself and your sales team a blueprint to sell your products or services; use the Track Selling System: seven steps to a sale.
Recently a workshop participant asked me to describe a situation where Track Selling didn’t fit. My answer was, “I can’t. In my twenty-five years of business experience, I haven’t had a situation where it didn’t fit.”
Track Selling truly has universal application.
Practitioners of Track Selling form the right habits—based on correct principles—and persist over time to succeed. Roy’s teachings become a base of success habits and propel readers to better sales results and to become peak producers in their fields.
Since Roy acquired Max Sacks International following Max’s passing in the 1970’s, his goal and life’s passion has been to improve the sales profession and those involved in selling. He is highly regarded among his peers, and his influence extends around the globe. Such was the case when he served as president of Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI). He has helped many thousands of sales professionals, including me.
When I was invited to add an Afterword to Roy’s second edition, I thought of a treasured twenty-five year relationship with the author, his company, Max Sacks International, and the process—the Track Selling System.
Early in my career, I worked as a member of a customer service team for a developer and publisher of accounting software. My employer decided to provide a sales method and training for hundreds of our independent resellers. Channel members were long on technical skills, but struggled with selling. The hope was: improved field-selling skills would improve profitability, loyalty, and market share at the expense of the competition.
During a three-month evaluation, top sales training programs were reviewed. My employer concluded the Track Selling System from Max Sacks International provided the best balance of sales method as well as people-skill training. Partly because I had never sold before and partly due to fate, I was involved in a proof-of-concept field test.
During that process, we adapted the principles of Track Selling for the accounting software sales cycle. Over a period of twelve weeks, we met with twenty-three prospects. The results were dynamite. Of the twenty-three, one bought a competitor’s product, another did not make a decision, and twenty-one bought our product. As Roy says, “When selling becomes a procedure, it ceases to be a problem. If it is not a procedure, it will always be a problem.” Track Selling is a procedure that works!
That was 1986. We trained hundreds of resellers and saw great results. Years later, I started my own software-reselling company. We used Track Selling as our approach to sales opportunities. Our firm’s sales placed it in the top 1 percent of resellers nationally, and much of our success was due to the principles and techniques of Track Selling.
Salespeople and their managers ask three questions: Does Track Selling work? Can the skills be easily transferred to salespeople willing to learn and try? Can this book be a significant contributor to selling success? My Track Selling experience during the past twenty-five years says the answers are yes, yes, and yes.
Rather than provide a travelogue most readers would find boring—and quit reading before the end—here are three examples of Track Selling epiphany moments. They are offered from personal field use as a Track Selling salesperson beginning in the 1980s and later as a Max Sacks distributor and senior instructor to thousands of workshop participants.
1. Initial product excitement has dwindled regarding Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) tools. A major missing link in those tools is a how-to process that can be translated electronically into a step-by-step guide.
Imagine your computer screen with your CRM/SFA software with the personal information you have completed for the prospect’s rapport-building questions. (Step 1: Approach), answers to vital questions (Step 2: Qualification), an Agreement on Need as discovered during qualification (Step 3: Agreement on Need), information to show and tell about the salesperson’s company based on what was learned during qualification (Step 4: Sell the Company), which features and benefits to present and samples of buying-motive appeal (Step 5: Fill the Need), how to close and deal with objections (Step 6: Act of Commitment), and what to do to after the sale to avoid buyer’s remorse (Step 7: Cement the Sale).
Track Selling makes it happen. As a process-integration model for CRM/SFA, Track Selling is elegantly simple and simply elegant. Salespeople are excited and supportive using tools that give an immediate return on their investment of time. The principles of Track Selling guide them. Sixty percent of Track Selling participants enjoy a 30 percent or more increase in sales. Best-selling practices are perpetuated.
2. In addition to process, World Class Selling describes the psychology of selling and has been field-tested literally thousands of times. This is not pop psychology run wild. These are true principles that can be adapted to any reader’s sales environment.
Imagine an epiphany moment when a salesperson discovers these truisms about selling:
• The way to control a conversation is not by talking; it’s by listening.
• The only time you know what your prospect is thinking is when he or she is talking and you (the salesperson) are listening.
• The human mind is able to multi-task when it is listening but not when it’s talking.
• Therefore, whenever the prospect is talking, you know exactly what they are thinking.
• You control and direct what the prospect is thinking by asking open-ended fact-finding questions and open-ended feeling-finding questions of interest and importance to the prospect.
• Since people buy emotionally—and justify the purchase logically—feeling-finding questions are more valuable to the sales professional than fact-finding.
• Even though feeling-finding questions uncover buying motives (the emotions leading to buying decisions), most salespeople are oblivious to that fact. As a result, they erroneously dwell on facts only and overlook their prospects’ likes, dislikes, opinions and experiences. Novices to selling don’t know what they don’t know. Without a winning procedure, selling will always be a problem to them.
• Therefore, sales pros that skillfully include feeling-finding questions during qualification create a differential over their competition and win more sales.
Salespeople who discover and adjust their selling method are excited and enjoy more success. It’s an example of how Track Selling helps to better qualify. It’s just one of the seven steps. There are six more with great advice and how-tos for every step. It’s good stuff!
3. As of 2010, the results of Track Selling are astounding. Since 1958, more than two hundred fifty thousand sales professionals from more than three thousand corporate clients in twenty-one countries have benefitted from Track Selling. As a sales process, it has proven effective in scores of industries—high-tech and low-tech, public sector, and private sector—for more than fifty years. An average graduate increases his or her sales by 30 percent. Track Selling has survived the test of time and been found worthy of high praise. It’s been a privilege to be part of the process.
In closing, a personal tribute and thanks. Roy and I began working together in the 1980s, and he invested much time, personal mentoring, and resources in my development. In 1989, our nine-year-old daughter Amy was diagnosed with a type of malignant brain cancer called medulloblastoma. She died a year later.
For family reasons, I needed to step away from my work at Max Sacks for several years. During my absence, Roy was supportive, understanding, and a true friend.
That was twenty years ago. Several years ago, I renewed my Max Sacks relationship as a distributor and began, again, to help salespeople obtain better results with Track Selling. It’s been a wonderful and incredible experience.
The year 2009 brought new and difficult challenges for Roy. It’s now my privilege to stand with this dear friend and mentor and, perhaps, in some small way, repay his help to me. I am proud to be counted as a supporter, fan, and friend.
As this second edition goes to press, I offer wishes, of good luck and good selling to Roy Chitwood. I know the best is yet to come!
Love and support,
Ron
Salesman
THE NEW AND CRITICAL ROLE OF SALESPEOPLE
RECENTLY THE HR CHALLY GROUP completed the first World Class Sales Benchmarking Study. This eighteen-month project was sponsored by AGT, Alcoa Building Products, Hobart Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, The Mead Corporation, Northern Telecom Limited, Reynolds & Reynolds, Steelcase, Unisource, and the International Benchmarking Clearinghouse, part of the American Quality and Productivity Center.
The results of this research project focus on what customers want from sellers, critical salesperson skills, and the eight most important sales benchmark areas that contribute to bottom-line profitability.
WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT FROM SELLERS
Interviews with over a thousand corporate customers established three major needs that customers expected vendors and sellers to address, even though they were not confident they could fill them.
1. Customers want to narrow their own focus to the few things they do best and outsource the rest without the added overhead costs of supervising their suppliers.
2. Customers want sellers to know their business well enough to create products and services they wouldn’t have been able to design or create themselves.
3. Customers want proof—hard evidence—that their supplier has added value in excess of price.
THE CRITICAL SALESPERSON ROLE
To evaluate a vendor’s or seller’s potential to fulfill these three needs, these corporate customers specifically judged salespeople on combinations of only seven factors. These seven, listed in descending order of frequency cited, are:
1. Managing our satisfaction personally
2. Understanding our business
3. Recommending products and applications expertly
4. Providing technical and training support
5. Acting as a customer advocate
6. Solving logistical and political problems
7. Finding innovative solutions to our needs
Customers believe that salespeople who excel at these seven factors can best fill their three major business needs.
Our interviews with these corporate customers also resulted in their “voting” a group of sellers as “best” or “world class.” While none of these sales forces was viewed as perfect, they have committed themselves to the goal of meeting all three major customer needs.
By benchmarking these top ten sales forces, we identified the critical success factors for sales and the standards of sales excellence. Benchmarking pinpoints how world-class sales forces manage customer satisfaction, understand their customer’s business, and deliver other critical benefits.
THE BASICS OF WORLD CLASS SELLING
The overriding philosophy of the best sales forces, simply stated, is: “Be the outsource of choice.”
The basic priority, therefore, is to provide salespeople who add value to the customer’s business.
Adding value requires at least three critical elements:
1. Identify the business needs of customers.
2. Develop the added services to wrap around products that will guarantee improvement in the customer’s business.
3. Measure for continuous improvement refinements as well as proof for customers that their business was improved.
NEW REQUIREMENTS, NEW CULTURE
To be the “outsource of choice” forces a seller to refocus the corporate culture. Creative engineers or other technical experts who invent new products are not enough to sustain a competitive advantage. Too many new products do not match customers’ priorities, are too difficult to understand or use, or are simply not needed.
The focus must change from product to benefit or business result. Grandiose products and services with more capacity, features, or options are often just seen as overpriced. Additionally, products and services must be simple to use and manage, either in their own right or because the seller manages the complexity as part of the sale.
The focus must also change from price and delivery to utility and ease of use, not only of the product but also in doing business with the seller. The salesperson of choice will take responsibility for managing the relationship—the “partnership”—between seller and customer. This will require the role of the salesperson and, consequently, the role of the sales manager who trains and develops the salespeople to change.
Our top sellers are changing from peddlers to relationship managers, from order-takers to consultants. In some cases, order taking, service, technical support, and product expertise need not be directly provided by the salesperson.
While the requirements are changing and many of the solutions are new, the approach the top sellers use is remarkably consistent, either intentionally by benchmarking others, through partnerships, or coincidentally by addressing their own needs. Through a “total quality” styled approach, they are investigating and analyzing their customer needs and problems. They are reorganizing their processes, developing new skills, creating new measures and new standards and, most of all, committing to the need for continuous improvement.
The most basic tenets of total quality management require the biggest investments to be in people and measurement. In fact, the hallmark of how the world-class selling companies can be recognized is in their approach to people and their approach to information and its management.
This leads the greatest single effort toward selecting, developing, and supporting a new kind of salesperson—a fully professional, competent businessperson who delivers real added value.
In short, we’re talking about salespeople who understand World Class Selling.
Howard P. Stevens
CEO, The HR Chally Group
IN THE CURRENT UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC climate, there seems to be no real sense of job security. In fact, the very idea of it grows more and more elusive with every high profile corporate layoff. The dot-com bust and huge cutbacks at corporate giants are only a few examples of the economic shocks that have become commonplace. Add to that the recent revelations of rampant business fraud among some of the country’s largest firms, companies where the leadership has betrayed and bankrupted loyal employees as well as trusting investors, and a sense of fear and mistrust are added to the working population’s general fear over job security. To add to it, many large corporations have chosen to send more and more work overseas, taking advantage of inexpensive foreign labor. Even the advent of the Internet is causing its own problems as virtual suppliers begin to replace the pivotal human interaction between buyer and seller, resulting in a reduced need for staff and loss of jobs. Also, as more companies utilize the practice of reverse bidding in the electronic marketplace, they inadvertently lose thousands of dollars as they spread themselves far too thin, creating unnecessary economic turbulence within the company as they try to be all things to all people.