Wade and Keri Abed

Our business in life is not to get ahead of others but to get  ahead of ourselves  -  to break our own records, to  outstrip our yesterdays by our today; to do the little  parts of our work with more force than ever before - Stewart Johnson Keri S. Abed and Wade H. Abed Emmitt Smith, #22, was an All-Pro running back for the World Champion Dallas Cowboys. His impressive statistics are well known to football fans. Regularly, Emmitt leads all rushers in yardage gained, yards per carry and touchdowns scored. Little known and seldom talked about is what the football experts, like John Madden, call Emmitt's most impressive statistic.  It's his  YAC numbers. That's correct -his Yards after Contact.   You see, Emmitt is one of those "And then some" performers. He's at his best after the initial resistance.  Emmitt is a model of excellence  on this score for everyone in selling to emulate. We're convinced those three little words - And Then Som

"The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of."   C. S. Lewis Building a professional image tends to soften your market. It facilitates the process of turning prospects into clients. It keeps these clients coming back and endorsing you to others. Building a professional image brings profitable growth to your business or practice. Here are six ways in which you can build your image: 1. Project Success.   Prospects focus on you before they focus on what you are selling. Their perception of you carries considerable influence in their decision to do business with you. Study successful salespeople. Cultivate an appearance that projects an image of competence, confidence, and pride in your sales performance. 2. Project Professionalism.   When prospects and clients come into your office, they expect to see professionalism. Make certain they see and feel

"Salespeople achieve new peaks in performance when they have the know-how, the skill, the enthusiasm and the will to achieve."    - Ron Price Spectacular performances are always preceded by unspectacular preparation. Many people look at the stars in selling and say, "I wish I could perform like they do; I wish I had their knowledge -- their contacts." When salespeople say that, they don't really mean it.  They want the high achievers' skills and, of course, their incomes - but as for the years of unspectacular preparation - that is another matter. We must cultivate the will to be prepared. We must be well versed on our subject. We must know our product, backward and forward. We must know our prospects' businesses and how we can best serve them. We have to put in hours and hours of unspectacular preparation so that we can come up with a spectacular performance at the time of the sales interview. Many times,  the price of success comes in

"Never forget a customer. Never let a customer forget you." Companies rarely have a product design or price advantage for very long.  Their competitive edge, their only major advantage, lies in the professional manner in which their salespeople deliver distinctive service . Your image in business circles and your community has a direct bearing on your sales performance. After the sale has closed  is the time to remember that prospects who purchased the products and paid for them did so because they had confidence in the sales rep and the service that sales rep would provide. Whether or not that confidence will be maintained and even enhanced depends largely upon the manner in which the sale after the sale is handled.  Professionalism in selling requires prompt, personal follow-through.  As Dr. Mike Mescon says,  " Good or bad, right or wrong, clients are most likely to recall the last - not the first - experience. They remember the end of the sto

Plan Logically - Adapt Needfully Study the word PLAN.   To us, it's always meant: Prepare Logically - Adapt Needfully. In other words, make thoughtful, definite plans. Then adapt and modify those plans as the situation might require. Great salespeople, like effective performers in all walks of life, are those who are  organized, flexible, and adaptable . They size up situations and, when the occasion demands, they quickly, effectively and confidently alter their original course and go to "Plan B." In the Navy, this kind of adaptability is referred to as "changing the course." In the Boy Scout training, it' s called "improvising." In football, it's "calling an audible. In selling, it's adapting the prepared agenda to meet the need. In other words, the situation is the boss. In every sales encounter, you must learn to   adjust and adapt . When the prospect starts making objections and offering resistance, "call

Become a Relationship Builder People like doing business with those people they enjoy. They are more likely to make concessions to them. The bottom line is that you can get more of what you want by making prospects feel comfortable. When people like each other, the details rarely get in the way. When people don't like each other, details are likely to become insurmountable obstacles.  - James Henning The well-known investor, Warren Buffett, has three qualifications for judging his investment opportunities. He never invests with anyone he doesn't trust, respect, and like - regardless of how good the numbers look.   How many times have you heard it said, "When all things are equal, prospects have a strong tendency to buy from individuals they trust and like best"? This is easily understood. The interesting thing is this: In this age of relationship marketing, should things not be equal, prospects show the same tendency. Like Mr. Buffett, they still t