Getting to 'Closed': A Proven Program to Accelerate the Sales Cycle and Increase Commissions [Paperback]

Stephan Schiffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2002

Learn effective strategies to turn prospects into revenue-from the nation’s leading sales prospecting expert.

There’s a crisis undermining American business. Salespeople spend far too much time calling and re-calling people who don’t know what they want to buy, aren’t really interested in buying, or have no authority to buy. Salespeople may think a contact is a "strong prospect" because the person is pleasant on the phone, says a presentation is "interesting," or makes other pleasant, but commitment-free remarks. Salespeople wait for prospects to say the word no before concluding that nothing meaningful is happening with that contact. All too often, salespeople continue investing significant amounts of precious time even after they hear "no."

The result is a time management nightmare that invariably leads to income crises and lost productivity, says bestselling author and sales trainer Stephan Schiffman. For the first time, Schiffman shares all the strategies and tools of the ranking system and prospect management process he created to help salespeople at all levels and across all industries. The system builds effective strategies into the daily selling routine and increases revenue almost immediately. In Getting to "Closed" salespeople learn how to:

• Carefully define and rank prospects according to action and commitment rather than "gut feeling."

• Recognize "no" answers, even when they don’t have the word no attached to them.

• Calculate exactly how many daily cold calls are necessary to hit quarterly and yearly quotas and forecast revenue with breathtaking accuracy.

• Use team selling to rescue "lost" sales and sell at a higher level within the target organization.

Many sales books offer general advice on how to turn prospects into customers. Schiffman’s proprietary system, which has been implemented by over 100,000 salespeople at companies like Airborne Express, Nextel, WorldCom, Time Warner Cable, and others, is based on real numbers and ratios. Schiffman delivers a clear and proven action plan that transforms careers and increases real sales.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephan Schiffman is a certified management consultant and the founder of one of the country’s fastest-growing sales training companies. He has helped over 500,000 professionals become more successful through motivational seminars, workshops, and lectures. As a result, he has been rated by Selling Power magazine as the nation’s leading sales prospecting expert. Schiffman is the author of 18 books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and is a frequent guest on national radio and television programs.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

What You’re Holding in Your Hands Increases Sales

The ideas in this book are part of a system that’s been used successfully by hundreds of thousands of salespeople around the world. It is the number one process for increasing revenue by managing prospects effectively. It is also the very best process for permanently changing an organization’s sales culture for the better.

The key to Getting to Closed is the Prospect Management System. This system has been: • Implemented at companies like AT&T, Federal Express, Merrill Lynch, MCI/WorldCom, Sprint, Exxon-Mobil, Motorola, and Lexis-Nexis • Successful in virtually all industries • Licensed in North America, Latin America, and the Far East

The program you’re holding in your hands right now is the single most effective program there is for increasing sales revenue tracking and maximizing relationships with prospects and customers.

We’ve gotten testimonials in praise of this program from salespeople in just about every industry you can name, but the one I want to share with you now is one that came our way recently from a salesperson in Austin, Texas. He wrote: "If you do what Steve Schiffman says, you will be successful."

I pass along that quote because I want to impress upon you the importance of implementing what’s here. Practice new approaches to selling and strategizing. Don’t adopt one or two parts of the program that feel familiar and try to use just those segments. Use it all, and you’ll increase your income.

Follow all the instructions that appear in the main chapters of this book. Complete all the end-of-chapter tests. Make the principles in this book second nature in your selling routine. If you do this, you will be successful because the system will build in strategies that will automatically move your most important business relationships forward. That’s my promise to you.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; 1st edition (June 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793153891
• ISBN-13: 978-0793153893
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephan Schiffman has trained more than 500,000 salespeople at such firms as AT&T Information Systems, Chemical Bank, Manufacturer's Hanover Trust, Motorola, and U.S. Health Care. Schiffman is president of D.E.I Management Group and the author of such bestselling books as Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!) and Closing Techniques (That Really Work!).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Reduce the Sales Cycle, September 5, 2002

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting to 'Closed': A Proven Program to Accelerate the Sales Cycle and Increase Commissions (Paperback)

There are several excellent books on sales and sales training. This is one of the best. It offers what I consider to be a uniquely comprehensive, cohesive, and time-effective system which Schiffman calls a "Prospect Management" program. Apparently this system have been adopted, in some instances modified, and then implemented by more than 1,800 different organizations. I agree with Schiffman that the word "organizations" is more appropriate than "companies" because colleges, universities, and churches as well as other non-profits must also generate substantial revenue from their respective constituencies. If anything, their need to manage their "prospects" effectively is even greater than is the need of for-profits. Benefactors, for example, must be convinced to sustain (if not increase) their financial support; volunteers must be enlisted; and staff members must "buy into" necessary changes in policy and procedure. All organizations (regardless of size or nature) will derive substantial benefit from the wealth of information and insights which he shares in this book.

Schiffman carefully organizes his material within three separate but interrelated Parts: The Fundamentals, Learning the System, and Getting Up and Running. The foundation of the "Prospect Management" program consists of complete and current information about prospects which is prioritized and then classified within four active stages of the sales cycle. First, decision-makers who have agreed to a preliminary meeting; next, decision-makers who then specifically indicate interest and agree to discuss budgets and pricing; next, decision-makers who have made at least a verbal agreement; and finally, decision-makers who have become customers, (i.e. signed a contract). Schiffman also has another category, "Fallbacks/opportunities": assumed but unverified decision-makers with whom initial contact has been made but who are not as yet prospects. "These are candidates, suspects, leads or referrals -- people [you] want to do business with, but with whom [you] do not yet have a real relationship." Because change is the only constant in today's business world, Schiffman correctly emphasizes the importance of constantly updating the prospect database. Hence the need for constantly obtaining new information. Subjected to rigorous evaluation, the information is converted it into intelligence data which guide and inform the "Prospect Management" program.

As Schiffman would be the first to point out, the "Prospect Management" program as he presents it may not be wholly appropriate in all respects to a given sales organization. That is to say, decision-makers must be prepared to make whatever modifications may be necessary. For example, consider how varied sales cycles are (e.g. those for a Boeing 777, an SUV, a major appliance, an insurance policy, or a pair of sneakers); also, the differences between and among so-called "inside" and "outside" salespersons; also, the number of decision-makers and decision-influencers involved. Nonetheless, the basic principles of Schiffman's "Prospect Management" program remain valid no matter who is selling what to whom.

Some of the best material is provided within five appendices but I strongly recommend that they be read only after reading the 20 chapters which precede them. Schiffman introduces and then explains his system step-by-step. There is a continuity to his thinking which is reflected in the sequence of the material provided. With great care, he "walks" his reader through that material. Also, at the end of the first 18 chapters, he includes a "Quick Quiz" for the reader. (The correct answers can be found after the final chapter.) If at times the narrative seems redundant (and it does), that is because there are several key points worthy of being reiterated. The accumulative impact ensures that those key points will be retained in the reader's mind long after the book has been read.

Obviously, I think highly of this book. However, given the importance of maximizing sales and (yes) commissions, I think salespersons and especially those who supervise them should consult several different sources of information and counsel. Therefore, I also highly recommend Rackham's SPIN Selling, Boylan's The Power to Get In, and Werth's High Probability Selling. Each of these also offers much of value. However, I again stress the importance of formulating, implementing, and then constantly fine-tuning a cohesive, comprehensive, and time-effective sales program. For that reason, I'd start with the "Prospect Management" program and modify accordingly.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionary system for increasing sales, July 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Getting to 'Closed': A Proven Program to Accelerate the Sales Cycle and Increase Commissions (Paperback)

Direct, powerful, and easy to implement.

Like a lot of great ideas, Schiffman's system seems obvious -- once you've used it for a while. The fact is, though, he's come up with a remarkable, and remarkably simple, sales management tool that no one else has.

I predict that this book will change the way a lot of sales departments around the country and around the world operate. Required reading for every person who sells for a living or manages salespeople.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, February 25, 2003

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting to 'Closed': A Proven Program to Accelerate the Sales Cycle and Increase Commissions (Paperback)

Stephan Schiffman's short to-the-point book features his new Prospect Management System, which is designed to help you become a more effective salesperson. This hearty addition to sales literature shows you how to be more systematic as you generate prospects and devote your attention to the ones who are most likely to buy. Instead of just playing a numbers game, Schiffman emphasizes ratios, so you can zero in on your best clients while developing new prospects - since only a few leads become sales. The book's charts and examples illustrate its principles, although the quizzes after each chapter seem unnecessary. If we were hawking this book, we from getAbstract would pitch it to those who sell big ticket items by developing leads through cold-calling.