Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

Chapter 1. Taking the Seven Steps to Sales Success

I am not one of those sales coaches who believe that everyone has the potential to be a great salesperson, any more than I believe that everyone has the potential to be a great actor, a top-notch surgeon, or an ace fighter pilot. I have worked with some of the truly great salespeople, and I have noticed something about them that makes them quite different from other people.

Great salespeople are usually people persons. They are curious. They engage others in conversation. They get fully involved in other people's lives, even if it's only for that moment when they're making the sale. They have a genuine interest in other people, in the situations those people are in. They nurture relationships, and through those relationships whatever products and services they are selling tend to sell themselves.

Just because you have "the gift," however, does not mean that you are destined to be a great salesperson. I have seen many talented candidates fail miserably, simply because they didn't have the right mindset, the right mentor, or the sticktoitism required to succeed.

In this chapter, I reveal the seven steps you need to take to get from point A (where you are now) to point B (the success you dream of). These steps will work not only in your professional life but also in your personal life, and true success requires attention to both. Maybe you have what it takes to be a great salesperson and maybe you don't. This is something you need ...