Former NFL quarterback and later business executive Fran Tarkenton once remarked: “If football taught me anything about business, it is that you win the game one play at a time.” In sales, as in football, the variables that impact these plays are immeasurable. But readers will get an excellent look at how to move the ball forward with Sales Success Stories, featuring top sales performers relaying their personal anecdotes and advice.
To compile this book, Scott Ingram, host of Sales Success Stories podcast, asked 20 top 1% performers to explain their “secret sauce”—the mindset and approach that separates their track records from their sales peers. Their answers are divided into 60 compelling entries, presented under four categories: “Mindsets,” “Relationships,” “Sales Careers” and “Sales Process.”
For example, in “Mindsets,” Wiley Publishing sales superstar Dayna Leaman, recounts the strategy of determination and persistence she used to land a big higher education textbook sale. It was tantamount to “driving a car from both the front and back seats,” she writes. In “Relationships,” Trong Nguyen, who has worked in healthcare, telecommunications, insurance, and financial services, takes the contrarian approach, questioning the value of a business lunch, if there’s no strategic planning done in advance.
While these top sales people work in a wide range of industries where having specific skillsets are critical, a common theme emerges: No matter the niche, developing highly refined listening skills is often the key to success.
Ingram includes profiles of all the sales pros, noting the professional arc of their careers, as well as “Fun Facts” about their personal lives. It’s a smart strategy—reminding readers that despite the Olympian-grade business feats of these pros, they are very human folks who also like to travel, collect vinyl records and ride a Pelaton.
While the expected audience for Sales Success Stories would be sales people, this book offers valuable advice for anyone who sets their sights on success, regardless of their business title.
