Make It Happen Before Lunch: 50 Cut-to-the-Chase Strategies for Getting the Business Results You Want [Hardcover]

Stephan Schiffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2000

Taking his cue from the legendary Hollywood deal maker, Swifty Lazar who once said “Make something happen before lunch,” Stephan Schiffman has boiled down his extensive business experience into inspirational lessons that any business professional can use. Now Schiffman focuses his attention on the art of building and maintaining business relationships. Drawing on his lifetime of experience training sales people at Sprint, AT&T, American Express, and Chase, Schiffman offers fifty invaluable nuggets of field-tested business advice including: Discover the joy of rejection. Don’t take yes for an answer. Remember people live 2 weeks at a time. Don’t confuse an obstacle with a tragedy. With each tip providing a fresh insight into overcoming whatever the business world throws at you, Schiffman will change the way you think about business and success.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Advance Praise for Stephan Schiffman’s Make it Happen Before Lunch "Stephan Schiffman can make a believer, and a winner, out of almost anyone!" -- Ken and Darla Dolan, hosts of the nationally syndicated radio program "The Dolans" "Required reading for those interested in developing a personal marketing campaign or career plan. In today's economy, that's everyone." -- Leslie Hamilton, coauthor, The 100 Best Nonprofits to Work For "Schiffman is an internationally recognized sales trainer who speaks my language: practice, prospect, present, progress!" -- J. Alexander Hill, VP, Sales and Distribution, Nomadic Display "Steve Schiffman's training is a guaranteed winner. Our sales have increased 200% within six months, thanks to Steve's techniques!" -- Linda Garland-Cowley, Director of Sales and Marketing, Kaiser Permanente [Flap copy] Your very next business appointment, meeting, or phone call may be the one that uncovers the opportunity you were born to pursue … the open door that will finally allow you to turn your major life goal into a reality. Will you recognize that opportunity when you see it? Will you know how to make the very most of it? If you implement each of the strategies in this book, the answer will be "Yes." According to Stephan Schiffman, a renowned corporate consultant who has worked closely with many of the world's top companies and CEOs, there is one key characteristic that all successful people have in common: They sense almost instantly when there is a chance to establish an advantageous business or professional alliance -- and when they recognize such an opportunity, they quickly take steps to move the relationship forward to a Next Step that helps both parties. Schiffman's systems have delivered results for over 450,000 salespeople at companies like Aetna U.S. Healthcare, AT&T, Merrill Lynch, MCI/WorldCom, Sprint, Exxon-Mobil, and Lexis-Nexis. In Make It Happen Before Lunch, he offers 50 proven, easy-to-implement strategies that show you exactly how to move ahead to the all-important Next Step in virtually any business relationship. You’ll learn how to get your next phone call returned, how to set up a meeting with a reluctant prospect, and how to use a single, simple question to find out exactly where you stand with your contact (and what to do next). Once you learn to use his 50 strategies to make something good happen before lunch, you'll get in the habit of setting something important in motion for the future, each and every business day. That’s a habit that pays off handsome dividends. Chock-full of rules, tips, strategies, and anecdotes applicable to virtually every business situation, Schiffman's blueprint for high achievement shows you exactly how to: • Establish quickly whether your relationship is "alive" and capable of moving forward right now • Throw the conversational "ball" in a way that dramatically increases the likelihood that the other person will respond positively to your suggestions • Prioritize your day so you connect with the most promising contacts first • Act where you want to be, not where you are • Keep setbacks in perspective … and be ready to move on at peak effectiveness to the next prospect • Create a sense of urgency in others about agreeing to a Next Step with you • Reshape your product, service, or promotion to match what your contact is trying to accomplish Whether you’re in finance or sales, management or outside consulting, high or not-so-high on the corporate ladder, you’ll get more of what you want out of work -- and out of life -- when you let Stephan Schiffman show you how to Make It Happen Before Lunch. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephan Schiffman is a leader in motivational and sales training and a sought-after consultant and business strategist. He has been cited as "America’s #1 Corporate Sales Trainer" and is acknowledged as the country's foremost expert in the area of prospecting skills. As founder and president of D.E.I. Management Group, he has overseen the training of nearly half a million professionals throughout the world in interactive seminars and workshops. He is the author of the bestselling business classic Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work. His other books include The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Salespeople, Make It Your Business, and The Consultant’s Handbook. Mr. Schiffman's systems have been implemented at companies like Aetna U.S. Healthcare, AT&T, Merrill Lynch, MCI/WorldCom, Sprint, Exxon-Mobil, and Lexis-Nexis.

About the Author

Stephan Schiffman (New York, NY) has been cited as America’s #1 Corporate Sales Trainer. He is the author of numerous best-selling books including Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work (now in its 4th edition).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071360719
• ISBN-13: 978-0071360715
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,028 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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insights Into Getting Meetings With Decision Makers, September 26, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Make It Happen Before Lunch: 50 Cut-to-the-Chase Strategies for Getting the Business Results You Want (Hardcover)

Most salespeople know just what to do when they get in front of a decision maker who has a need. But most salespeople spend too little time with new decision makers. The salespeople either put too little effort into prospecting, or stay focused on cold leads much too long. Stephan Schiffman takes dead aim at that problem and provides ways to motivate you to take an more energetic approach, to implement a system to help you get there, and to keep you perservering until results occur.

Although there was much good advice in the book, I thought that his descriptions of the psychology of exploring over the telephone setting up a face-to-face meeting was masterful. The book deserves five stars for that section alone!

Basically, he wants you to realize that every objection to having a meeting that you will ever get will come in one of only about a dozen forms. If you think about these objections, you can create a response for each that leads naturally back to your question, 'Are you free to meet with me at 2 p.m. on Wednesday?' He provides a number of useful examples that he uses in his training business to help stimulate your imagination.

I also thought that his advice to leave voice mails where you offer to tell the prospect something important about a well-known company (that happens to be your customer and has agreed to be a reference) is likely to make it easier to make the initial telephone contact.

Depending on the type of customer you deal with, you may need to soften or harden the method he describes, but the basic concept of being focused on getting the meeting first is a very good one. By asking people to commit to action, you tell whether you are creating a live relationship or not. If not, ask 'why not?' and learn something. The book basically turns what most think of as rejection into progress. I thought that was a great way to turn around stalled thinking about selling.

After you have finished the book, ask yourself what other requirements you have in order to make progress in what is important to you. Then consider whether you are making enough progress in those areas. If not, create a system and set of self-motivations to assist you in implementing that system. You should be able to make vastly more progress as a result.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical Guidelines Rather Than Immutable Rules, January 5, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Make It Happen Before Lunch: 50 Cut-to-the-Chase Strategies for Getting the Business Results You Want (Hardcover)

Schiffman divides 50 "Rules" (or Guidelines) into three major groups. Part One: rules that will help you adopt -- and reinforce -- the right core ideas for achievement, day in and day out). Schiffman calls this process "Obsessing about the right stuff." Part Two: some tools you can use to make the right things happen in your business relationships. Part Three: rules for keeping your focus over time...and persevering when people give you "static", aggravation which is pretty much inevitable. The title should not be taken literally. Obviously, as Schiffman already knows full well, not everything happens before lunch...or by day's end. He asserts that high achievers "have three things going for them": They know what they want to accomplish when considering an opportunity to make a good business relationship happen; they recognize other opportunities which will not make a good relationship happen; and finally, "they've figured out how to spend the vast majority of their time in the first situation -- and how to avoid spending any more time than necessary in the second situation." Who will derive the greatest benefit from reading this book? Anyone who needs "cut-to-the chase strategies" for getting the business results they desire. Does Schiffman believe that such results can be achieved before lunch? Of course not. My own opinion is that unless strategies such as these are implemented, someone else will have you for lunch...not as a guest but as an entree.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guaranteed Results, October 29, 2000

By 

Linda Berry (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make It Happen Before Lunch: 50 Cut-to-the-Chase Strategies for Getting the Business Results You Want (Hardcover)

Stephan Schiffman's practical approach, to understanding both business and personal relationships, is clearly demonstrated in Make It Happen Before Lunch. Filled with rich personal experiences and awe-inspiring strategies, this should become a textbook by which business development is done. Adapting what I've learned, my sales has increased tremendously. Thank you Stephan, for allowing us the opportunity to prosper from both your mistakes and successes.