The chapter summaries are provided to give you some flavour of the content of both the book and the semina Chapter 1 The New Improved Consultative Selling Approach Let’s get a meeting by straight up saying something of genuine interest. I was taught that the human mind is incapable of truly cre¬ative thought. Only God is so capable. Whether you believe the Jesuits or not, most new approaches are indeed additions to other work. Therefore, the framework which helps build a new idea or approach is important. The framework I use to sell and to contextualize my ideas stems from relationship or con-sultative selling. In this chapter, I take the well-mapped skills of consultative selling and add to them the necessities to make the first steps of the sales process successful. The right product and approach for the prospect is not able to be thought up in the shower. It takes work, and most often that work takes the form of research into the prospect and the business in which he works. Some lawyers chase ambulances, we salespeople chase meetings. First Contact looks at how to prepare for the call thereby reducing the risk of rejection and then and only then how to engage the prospect with content. Chapter From Virgin to Professional It’s sad that sales people keep looking at the end result without looking at the process towards the result. It is certainly true in sales, perhaps in most endeavours that we begin as novices and progress to greater proficiency as we acquire additional skills. To think that the boss sends green young things out to sell, when they have no idea how, is frightening. That’s what hap-pened to me. I had to develop my own skills, or starve. It would be better if we had some help. In this chapter, we look at the foundations of a successful introduction, thus commencing the progression from the beginner to professional. We look at the need to be able to see the process from the target’s perspective, understand what s/ he is looking for. We begin to understand how research can underpin our confidence and deliver real pertinence into our conversation. understanding. Chapter 3 The What and Why? “Chance favors the prepared mind.” —Louis Pasteur Having a desire to approach the selling task more profes-sionally is one thing, but having the tools to start to develop a successful strategy is another thing altogether. In this chapter, we will look to uncover the target’s real problem and focus on gathering the right information from the various sources. The research phase of the First Contact approach begins with “company self-discovery,” a warts and all analysis of your company’s performance. The research phase culminates with the analysis of competitively advantageous information, allow-ing understanding of the target’s problem and the application of the appropriate solution. Chapter 4 One Client, One Chance By most reasonable accounts, global warming is the issue of the century. Edward O. Wilson explained the situation as “one planet, one experiment.” We have one client, one chance, we have to get everything possible working in our favor. In this chapter, we look at how we can get the external fac¬tors to the phone call working in our favor. One mark of being professional is to be able to limit the opportunity for error. Managing the downside means being able to put yourself in the best possible frame of mind for the call, ensuring the con-trollable environment for the call ensures that our “advertising” will be given the best chance to succeed, and that the tech-nology works every time. How can we best arrive at what I have termed the “strike moment” best prepared? How can we get set to maximize effect, minimize distraction and the opportunity for distrac¬tion? An incredibly important element in getting that all-important first meeting is to be able to be relaxed and focused on the job at hand when the moment arrives to strike. ent and technology Chapter 5 Who’s the Target? What’s the Benefit? “Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to characterise our age.” —Albert Einstein The two topics addressed in this chapter look simple at first glance. Just as many things in life appear simple from the heli-copter view, knowing who to approach in a business and what benefit to describe when you do make the approach, are much more involved than at first sight. It frightens me that we are sometimes asked by managers (usually ones under pressure) to approach companies with no thought as to the approach. It’s the Nike® strategy- Just do it. The target audience for an advertising campaign will be deter-mined following careful research and consideration emanating from the business objectives. So too should the target for our sales effort be given careful consideration and come from the benefits of the product or service we are selling. We target companies where the task becomes as simple as making them aware of our product or service allowing the benefit to convince. Thus we become communicators not salespeople. Determining the target cannot be decided in isolation from the benefit of the product or service we are extolling. Just like trying to pinpoint the target, effectively communicating the benefits looks really simple from top down, but it should not be taken lightly. Most salespeople want to discuss features believing the features build together to add to a bigger benefit. Not so. Our clients today, more so now than ever, want the benefit up front and the features to be able to substantiate the claim of the benefit. Benefits enliven the features. Benefits make the features and the product or service more personal in that they allow the target to see what life would be like if they just bought your product or service. As I write this section I can’t help feeling that it’s just too obvious, the reader knows about benefits. I have to pinch myself, we have all been told but we don’t put it into practice, we fall into features all the time, features must be just that much more comfortable than benefits. I see it all the time, my clients constantly, to their peril, fall into features. To me features are detail which vindicate claims, there is a time and place for validation, but not at the start. There must be a sense of safety in the detail vs. the claim. Chapter 6 Snap Shot Proposition “Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.” —Ronald Reagan “When I think of myself on the receiving end, I think it’s all to do with listening. Yes, but ATTITUDE to the caller is the key word for me–so you need to change my attitude to you as the caller, i.e., I think you are a time-waster or a muppet or both– you need to make me think you are a decent guy who has something valuable to say. Or put another way, I have a closed mind–you need to open it.” —A First Contact Graduate In this chapter, we begin to craft our introductory state¬ments designed to open people’s minds that I have called our Snap Shot Proposals or Propositions our SSPs. We look at how to: Present the benefits avoiding the use of features. Examine the need to be remarkable so as to have stunning cut through. Consider the role for claiming unsurpassed expertise, great skill, or even innovation as a method of delivering relevant dif-ferentiation. I call this professing the message of “Best.” “One has to believe one will be received negatively as a start point–some people are so indoctrinated by their boss/ company or even themselves to the benefits they lose sight of how it sounds to the uninitiated at first telling. If you assume you will get an open door response, you are knocked uncon-scious when it is closed; if you assume the door will be closed, the worst that can happen is you fall right through if it is open.” —Mike O’Reilly Chapter 7 How to Aim the SSP “Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.” —Arnold H. Glasgow So far, we have spent time developing our introduction. We have done our research. We know the company. We know the targets we want to approach. We have identified a problem the targets are very likely or certainly facing. We have confidence in our service or product addressing that problem. We have crafted the resulting benefit to be remarkable and a best solution. In other words, we have our SSP! Chapter 8 Networking You give without recall and receive without forgetting. In this chapter, we take a look at the role that Networks can play in the selling function. Networking is critically important for salespeople at a num¬ber of levels. For us, making First Contact networking is an invaluable tool. A network offers the opportunity to work a way around a gatekeeper. It may provide direct access to the target. Almost certainly it will assist in the research phase of the first contact process. Networking is not a “thing,” it’s a behavior. Someone does not “have” a network. Networks are never stable. They are alive, they get sick, they need nourishment, and they can thrive. People move, change jobs, addresses, phone numbers all the time. Networks are always in the process of growth or decline. They require maintenance to sustain vitality, contact is the fuel of a network’s vitality, and respect for the human con¬nections is the glue that brings it all together. Networking has never been easier. | 
