There are millions of sales professionals in the worldwide economic community. And all of them, in one way or another, are striving to be successful. I know from my own studies and twenty-three years of observation that a significant percentage of these men and women will fail. Despite their best efforts, they won’t be able to make enough money to support their families. They will become frustrated, burn out, and eventually just quit the sales industry altogether. You may be struggling with these issues right now.
But there is an answer to the dilemma, and you will find it in a unique combination of three common words: High Trust Selling. What does that mean?
If you picked up a copy of this book, then clearly you’re interested in growing into a more effective salesperson. But I have better news for you: If you are careful to apply the concepts of high trust selling and the fourteen “Laws” described in this book that govern selling success, your sales business will do more than merely improve—it will explode. I can say this with a high degree of certainty because I’ve not only implemented high trust selling in my own career with great success, but I’ve also seen it work in the lives of thousands of people to whom I’ve taught it.
Take one of my clients, Steven Marshall. A decade ago, Steven couldn’t even see the bar of sales success. This year, he is the bar of true success in the sales profession. Ten years ago, Steven sat in the audience at one of my events, merely hoping for a small nugget of wisdom. This year he stands on stage with me, sharing his story and the lessons he’s learned with other sales professionals. Ten years ago, Steven was only twenty-one years old, but ambitious. This year, Steven turned thirty-one. He’s still ambitious. After all, he still has a lot of life to live. And the truth is that because he follows the principles laid out for you in this book, his business and his life will continue to be more abundant than most salespeople will ever imagine. But hopefully not more abundant than you can imagine.
When Steven was introduced to the principles of high trust selling, he was twenty-one and his income was below poverty level. He was a salesperson trying to make it in the dog-eat-dog world of sales with nothing but ambition and a knack for persuasion—and he wasn’t making it. He was heavily in debt and his tax returns for the previous year reported an income of about $10,000.
But as he began to immerse himself in the truths of high trust selling and began applying the Laws to his sales efforts, something unexpected began to happen. People began to listen to him more readily. Sales were made more naturally and more often. Success in the sales business was no longer a hope; it became obtainable, and not just monetarily. Yes, his income doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled—and continued to climb. But more than that, a life he never thought possible began to emerge. More money, but with it, more time off. Greater success, but with it, greater significance. His success in sales began to usher in the kind of life he had only dreamed of.
As Steven discovered, sales are made when trust exists. But in the sales profession there’s more to steady success than being a trustworthy person—although that’s certainly where it starts. Long-term sales success happens when high trust exists—when you are a trustworthy salesperson running a trustworthy sales business, and when it’s clear to your clients that you are a person of integrity who will not only do what you say but who also has the means to deliver. It is one thing to be a trustworthy person with a sales job; it’s another to be a trustworthy salesperson with a reliable business.
A trustworthy person will do everything in his power to follow through on what he has promised—and that’s very important. But if a trustworthy person is not also an efficient salesperson running an efficient sales business, trust will only go so far. It may land a sale or two, but it rarely will last beyond that. High trust is necessary to climb to the top, whether you’re selling cars or copiers; hats or home loans; footwear or financial services. And high trust happens by design, not by accident. It’s earned and preserved, but never finagled.
Despite what you’ve read or been taught to this point in your sales career, it takes more than fortitude and flattery to become great in the sales profession. If you are a trustworthy salesperson running a respectable, reliable sales business, you will succeed in the sales profession . . . in less time than you think and with much less stress than you’re accustomed to. More than that, with high trust on your side you will climb to the top of your industry and remain there.
It was no accident that Steven Marshall attended my seminar in 1992 as a salesperson struggling to make ends meet. And it’s no accident that you’re reading this book right now, at this point in your sales career. For Steven, my seminar was more than a wake-up call—it was the means for a new life, on and off the job. For you, the principles within this book can be the means to realize your dreams, your chance to turn things around, to take your sales to higher and higher levels, and to usher in the life you’ve only dreamed of.
What Steven learned back in 1992—and continues to apply to his sales business today—is the same truth that you will read in this book. Since 1992, Steven has simply applied the Laws of high trust selling to his approach to sales—and he’s reaped the rewards. Within this book are the stories of dozens of salespeople just like you, who through applying the principles of high trust selling have received much more from their jobs and from life than they’ve ever thought possible.
When I’m speaking at an event, I often look excitedly into the faces of those in the crowd and wonder: Who’s going to be the next Steven Marshall? It’s the same question I ask myself now as I share these selling truths with you, because I know that if you apply what you’re about to read, it will change your sales business forever. And more than that, it will change your life. That is my greatest hope for you as we begin. And that, I pray, is your greatest hope too.