Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I am a senior associate with a major executive search firm and by reading this book and FOLLOWING its advice I hve increased my appointments by 100%. This by far the best book of its kind-increasing your opportunity to MAKE the sale -it works.

I have read a lot of Stephan Schiffman's books. This one is a great guide for keeping you focused on what really matters - getting the sale (or at least the next action). The points flow nicely, and you will learn a lot in a short period of time.

It is worth every penny!

Make It Happen Before Lunch is a must read for anyone who wants to learn the "tricks of the selling trade." I've read loads of business books, but rarely have I read a book that gives you "how-tos" that I couldn't wait to try out. And, try out I did! Best of all, everything I tried worked "as promised." Everyone on our executive team has read the book (some of us have read it twice). I plan to keep it handy and re-read it at least once a month until I've tried every helpful hint. I'd have given the book six stars if I could have.

Mr. Schiffman's book made so much sense to me. It is a real (for a change) guide to finding and closing sales and other business deals. I found it informative and refreshing with so many new and old strategies that I need for my career. It was well written and it inspired me. I do think some of his ideas will change the way I deal with perspective and new clients.

Many people seem to have talent and still fail in sales and in business. Make It Happen Before Lunch is truly a guide about execution. Sales ability, Good Business Ideals and Desire have left many talented people still sitting in the starting blocks. This book shows you how to execute and put your talents to use and go from zero to good or even good to great! A must read for anyone serious about succeeding or going to the next level in sales, business and anything you want to achieve.

Stephan is so great at giving practical advice and action steps for being successful in sales and business. I really like that he pushes you outside of your comfort zone and uses his own experiences as examples. I also think he is very ethical in the way he has done business personally. If I remember one story in this book correctly, he was at one point broke and didn't know where his next paycheck was coming from when he kept dialing and made a sale. Wonderful example! I also have read Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work, and Telesales.

Professionals need to resharpen their tools every so often, and Schiffman's book is a good way for a sales professional to reharpen their's. The book is a concise, enjoyable and easy read that takes 50 rules, and breaks them down into three parts - core ideas for achievement, or "the right stuff"; tools for making things happen in your business relationships; and keeping your focus over time. For the sales pro, this is a great way to get back to the basics.