next step. Such a focus takes into account the value of your own
time and respects the value of your customers’ time.
There are no hard and fast rules here. Be willing to experi-
ment and make mistakes. Experiment to discover what works best
for you. We will make some suggestions about things you might
say, but keep in mind that these are only suggestions. Selling is a
highly personal process, which is why a prepared script produces
only limited results. Being yourself and using your own words are
far more powerful.
When I (AF) first started to learn how to sell, I was instructed
to use one of several scripts. I picked one. After several months
with no success, I decided to choose a different script. Surely the
problem was the script, I thought. I talked to several others who
were doing well in the organization and asked for their script. I
took what they gave me, but after several months of using the new
sales script I still had little success. I found the script frustrating
to use because whenever a prospect went outside the script I felt
lost. My energy was consumed in solving the dilemma of getting
back to the script.
Because of my lack of familiarity with selling at the time, it took
almost two years before I realized that the script doesn’t matter
much: It’s not what I say; it’s how I say it! After I realized this, I
memorized my opening only. Then I had a list of questions to qual-
ify each prospect. I was no longer concerned about a script, and I
no longer became lost in the process. An important change oc-
curred: I started making sales!
If you are thinking that a script will cure your lack of sales, think
again. By focusing on the tools we have provided in this book, you
will be able to get rid of that script forever.
The Sales Map is a framework that enables you to apply what
you have learned here. If you do everything well in your business,
but fail to master selling, your business will not amount to much.
But if you master selling and are less than proficient at providing
your goods or services, at least you will have lots of customers to
practice on until you gain the proficiency you may lack. It all hinges
on selling.
You may have some resistance to accepting the importance of
selling in business. “This is not fair,” some people in our Training
sessions have told us. Perhaps it really isn’t. But we are not arguing
the importance of selling based on fairness. Life isn’t fair. Surely
The Five-Step Sales Map 223