Rainmaker! Making The Leap From Salesperson To Sales Catalyst by Carlos Quintero

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent read. This book really covers how to become a top sales person…also known as a Rainmaker! And it does it in such a simple format that has a story behind it where it reads as a regular book. I enjoyed that I was able to learn techniques and remember them instead of just being told as most sales books. It really made me think on what I need to do personally to improve my selling ability and make even more money.

My favorite parts were how they broke down the 5 core roles of sales people so simply and helps you relate to them and understand what you need to do to become a Rainmaker. And I absolutely loved the ABCD Opportunity Grid! That really spoke to me!

I recommend this book to anyone involved in sales who wants to become a Rainmaker for their career!

Jeff Plucker
CEO
Sport of Selling



View all my reviews

This applies to life as well as business.

Most people are chickens. They spend the day
just being like everyone else and doing what
they see everyone else doing. You can count
on chickens to do what is necessary to survive.
They aren’t very pretty to watch because they
don’t do anything much out of the ordinary.
They just hang with the flock and gather around
the feed.

Chickens constitute the majority of
the workforce, accounting for about eighty percent.

Eagles are the ones who soar to great heights.
They amaze the rest of us. They are beautiful to
watch. We don’t know how they do what they do,
but we love it and we wish we were eagles too
(whether we’re willing to admit it or not). They
become leaders. They excel in whatever they
undertake, be it sales, management or both. Sometimes
chickens tend to shy away from eagles… sometimes
out of fear…but also out of jealousy.

Eagles compromise about ten percent of all business
people and workers.

And then we have the buzzards (You know where this
one is going, don’t you.) Buzzards compromise the
lower ten percent of the order.

To put it bluntly…buzzards stink. And if you get
to close to a buzzard, you will end up stinking
too. They are perfectly content to live off of the
misfortune of others. They are bottom feeding
opportunists. Buzzards are ugly. Nobody wants to
be a buzzard. Most people don’t even want to be
seen near one. Smart business owners are constantly
figuring out ways to get rid of buzzards…and
they usually do.

In business, as well as in life…we all need to
strive to be eagles.

If you are already and eagle, you need to do
everything you can to help the chickens around
you become eagles. It is your responsibility.
It should be your calling. You are a valuable
mentor, a trusted advisor and a steadfast friend
to those around you, whether you realize it or
not. People are watching YOU!

If you are a chicken, you need to set your sights
on becoming an eagle. You need to watch the
eagles and study everything they do. Mimic their
moves. Learn to think the way they think. Read,
study and practice becoming an eagle. If you are
determined, you will find a way to soar.

You also need to identify the buzzards around you
and do everything you can to help them to become
chickens. Either that, or find a way to get rid
of them. Not only do they stink, but they will make
your entire business stink.

If you are a buzzard, you need to get off of your
tail feathers and start working your way toward
chicken status at least. And you’d better do it
quickly… or you will end being replaced by a
chicken or an eagle…and ultimately find yourself
in the soup pot!

Andrew Carnegie said there are 3 types of people:

1.Those who only do what they’re told to do (chickens.)

2.Those who can’t even do what they’re told to do (buzzards).

3.Those who see what needs to be done…and do it without
having to be told (eagles).

And it’s that third group that goes on to achieve success,
wealth and fulfillment in life…and in business.

So…which bird are YOU… a chicken, an eagle, or a buzzard?

You need to think really hard about that. The fact is…
your future depends on it.

Thanks for reading this letter and I hope you have
a great day,

Hal

PS. MOTIVATION is a MAJOR KEY to ACHIEVEMENT.
I’d love to bring one of my seminars to your office
for you, your staff and/or sales team. To book Hal
drop a note to the team at sales@sportofselling.com. ]]> http://www.sportofselling.com/chicken-eagle-or-buzzard/feed/ 0 http://www.sportofselling.com/business-must-dos/ http://www.sportofselling.com/business-must-dos/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:24:07 +0000 Jeff http://www.sportofselling.com/?p=144 All great business’s owners, managers and coaches must do certain things to be successful.  They’re not secrets…just must dos.  Here are 3 from Tom Lunginbill, ESPN’s National Recruiting Director, that every great staff must do everyday to put yourself in position to be champions.

1. Prepare your football team
2. Compete on a day in and day out basis
3. Evaluate

The Sport of Selling: Highlight Reel received a FIVE STAR review from Reader’s Favorite!

Book Review

Reviewed by Joy H. for ReadersFavorite.com

The Sport of Selling is a motivational book using the game in the world of sports to help one with successful selling. The author says that building a good sports team and building a good sales force are similar, and he gives strategies used in sports to help teach in the sales area. He gives business ideas and tips, illustrations and strategies throughout this book to show how to form a game plan for one’s business. This book is designed to help each person focus on what needs to be done to make the business a successful one.

These are a few things I pulled from the book that are simple, yet so important in building a successful business in selling: 1) Did you know the four P’s of marketing are: Product; Price; Place; and Promotion? 2) Listen to this great sales advice: “Make your weakness your strength, thus your strength becomes your weakness.” 3) If you don’t ask for a sale, you don’t have a chance to land the client. 4) More great sales advice: Make Yourself Necessary. If you weren’t there tomorrow, would anybody miss you at work? 5) You would be surprised at what a big smile can do for your selling!

As one of the fastest selling books on the market today, I found The Sport of Selling to be a very informative book for anyone owning their own business. It is easy to read with each chapter describing its contents with comical graphics, lists, quotes, charts, graphs and Do You Know sections to reinforce and explain what is written. I would recommend this book to anyone having a business or starting a business. These same strategies will work for any business small or large and would be a good investment for your business.

Jeffrey J. Plucker

Hall’s Book Exchange

August, 13, 2011

11am to 1 pm

Jeff will be at the Hall Book Exchange on August 13, 2011 signing copies of his fast rising book.  Below is the story…

Newly Released Book Shows How Sports Can Improve Any Company’s Bottom Line

From football, basketball, and hockey to bowling, fishing, and golf – sports of any kind have valuable lessons that can carry over into a person’s business life for positive results. Author Jeffrey Plucker, in his book The Sport of Selling: Highlight Reel uses facts, statistics, strategies, quotes, and information from the world of sports, and translates them into effective approaches any business can implement for improving their sales and bottom line.

In his book, Plucker offers advice like: “Play Your Position. Someone has to block, someone has to run, someone has to pass. You don’t want your quarterback playing middle linebacker. You don’t want your sales person editing contracts. Make sure you have all your employees doing what they are experts at and not other people’s jobs.” And… “Reel them in. Closing is like fishing. Once you have a client hooked, you still don’t have them in the boat. There is a time to keep the line taut and other times to let the fish run. That’s what angling is all about. Closing a deal is the same way. There are times you need to keep them engaged and other times you need to allow them to rest.”

Plucker who has pitched to over 50,000 businesses and well over 100,000 customers attributes much of his success in the sales world to lessons he has learned over the many years he has either participated in sports or been a spectator. A graduate of Auburn University, he played a year with the Men’s Club Soccer Team and any intramural sport he could find a team for. His love for sports, and soccer in particular, is still a strong part of his life.

When he entered the business world, Plucker found himself using sport strategies either for his own motivation or to create an impetus in people who worked for him. And the approach proved to be extremely successful. So much so that Plucker began to keep notes and organize the information he was using into a business playbook…and the idea for his book was born.

Published by Boutique of Quality Books Publishing Company, the book is available at www.shop.boutiqueofqualitybooks.com as well as through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, and booksellers across the country. The book is also available in Kindle, Nook, and iBook formats.

Along with his book, Plucker offers sales consulting strategies and support through his website www.sportofselling.com

For the full article please visit Cumming 11Alive.

Now it’s time to finish the site, design the marketing pieces and plan the summer book stops!

In sports and business (especially sales) many times you need to force the other person to make a move. If you sit and react to them they control the pace of the game. Make them react to you instead.

As a defender I used to force the offensive guy to do something by pretending to go after the ball or them. The reason I did this was because their mind was on how they were going to pass the ball or get by me. Their body was able to continue to bring the ball up acting on muscle memory. So when I lunged at them their mind had to stop thinking about what they were going to do with the ball and instead process how they were going to protect it. And that in itself protected my team.

In sales a potential client thinks more about the possibilities and directions of going with you, shopping around, how this might affect something else, etc and not the simple decision of yes, I’m buying. Thus you need to get them off the dreaming and mind wandering and focused on finalizing the deal.

And you do that by making them react to you!

To set the scene the discussion is about guys playing bad.  This is what Mack said about his staff…

“If one guy is playing bad, I can replace him.  If 3 guys are playing bad, I’ve got to replace you!” Mack Brown

Mack said he’s been saying that for 27 years to coaches.  His point is you have to always be looking to hold people accountable in order to be successful and to grow.  You cannot sit on your laurels and expect to be at the top.

In business it’s the same.  As a manager you can fix a single problem fairly easily.  You are never and should never be held hostage by one employee.  If your success is all on one person you need to study the ‘eggs in one basket’ theory.  And as a manager that is your job.  Handle each problem as it comes and don’t let them pile up.

But once the problems have piled up we get into the issue is it the employee or is it the manger?  It’s the same as ‘is it the team or the coach!’  So when things are going bad as a manager you need to look in the mirror and make sure it’s not you…because the people sitting in the nice big pretty offices with really comfortable leather chairs are looking at you.

As you are managing the employees holding them accountable they will manage you and hold you accountable.