SALES BIBLE by Jeffrey Gitomer

SALES BIBLE
The ULTIMATE SALES RESOURCE
By: Jeffrey Gitomer

Jeffrey Gitomer’s 10.5 Commandments of Sales Success
1. THINK. The sale is in your head.
2. BELIEVE. Develop a four-part belief system that can’t be penetrated.
3. ENGAGE. Develop rapport and personal engagement, or don’t start the selling (buying) conversation.
4. DISCOVER. People buy for their reasons, not yours. Find out theirs first.
5. ASK. Ask the wrong questions – get the wrong answers.
6. OBSERVE. Your ability to observe must be as powerful as your ability to soil and your ability to listen.
7. DARE. Have the chutzpah to risk.
8. OWN. Know whose fault it is when the sale’s not made.
9. EARN. Sell for the relationship, not the commission.
10. PROVE. One testimonial is worth one hundred sales pitches.
10.5 BECOME. You don’t get great at selling in a day. You get great at selling day by day.


1. THINK. The sale is in your head.
“Whichever way you walked into the call, YOU set the tone for the probable outcome. You also set the TONE for your attitude, your enthusiasm, and putting your belief system into motion.” Page: 7
2. BELIEVE. Develop a four-part belief system that can’t be penetrated.
“You have to believe that your products and services are not just the best in the marketplace, but that they’re also the best value for the customer. You have to believe that you can differentiate yourself from your competitor, and that you can prove (through testimonials) that your product is what you say it is.” “You’ve often heard it said that the first sale made is the salesperson – that the customer
must buy you before they buy your company, your product, or your service. In order for this to take place, you have to believe in yourself. I order for that sale to be made, you must first sell yourself.” “But the glue that binds the first three elements of belief (company, product, and self) is the belief that the customer is better off having purchased from you.” Page: 9

3. ENGAGE. Develop rapport and personal engagement.“Engage with questions and try to make them smile, make a friend, establish some rapport, and, if at all possible, find the LINK.” Page: 10
4. DISCOVER. People buy for their reasons, not yours. Find out theirs.
“People don’t like to be sold, but they LOVE TO BUY.”
“People don’t care what you do, unless they perceive it helps them.”
“Their STORY will begin to unfold as you ask motive-based questions. When you ask about their experience, a story will follow. Their story will contain major clues about likes and dislikes and how to establish a real relationship.”
“Their PAST EXPERIENCES will lead to stories both good and bad. Your job is to listen with the intent to understand, never interrupt, and at the end of the story ask more questions.” Page: 12
5. ASK. Ask the wrong questions – get the wrong answers.
“Ask for their opinion often. Not only does it give you the prospect’s perspective (the only one that matters), but it’s also a great test close.”
“And PLEASE NEVER ASK, ‘What’s important to you?’ Find out what’s important by asking other questions.” Page: 15
6. OBSERVE. Your ability to observe must be as powerful as your ability to sell.
“Merely being observant harnesses no power. Looking, thinking, generating ideas, and taking actions as a result of your observations is the power.” Page: 17
7. DARE. “You often hear people say that they wouldn’t or couldn’t go into sales. The reason is they can’t tolerate the risk involved. The uncertainty. The unknown. Or, perhaps more fundamental, they can’t handle the challenge.”
“Success breeds success, AND the confidence to do more. Risk more. Asking for the sale and making it leads to asking for more sales.”
8. OWN. Know whose fault it is when the sale’s not made.
“Don’t blame yourself – Take responsibility for it. Learn from it. And then do something about it!” Page: 18-19
ACTION: “After blame converts to responsibility, ask yourself the question, What can I do to prevent the situation from occurring next time? This requires an idea session – a creativity session, or even a discovery session.” Page: 20
9. EARN. Sell for the relationship, not the commission.
“If you make a sale, you can earn a commission. If you make a friend, you can earn a fortune. In sales you don’t make money – you earn money. If you sell to help the customer, rather than to meet your quota, you will set every sales record in the company.” “Relationships do not happen in one or two sales calls. But what you say in one or two sales calls, or what you do in one or two sales calls, sets the foundation and the groundwork that makes a relationship possible. Your initial friendliness, you initial enthusiasm, your preparedness (especially with points of value for the customer), and your character creates a opportunity for a relationship to blossom, or not.” Page: 21
10. PROVE. One testimonial is worth one hundred sales pitches.
“Testimonials are proof that you are who you say you are, and that your product or service will perform the way you say it will perform.” Page: 22-23
10.5 BECOME. “You don’t get great at selling in a day. You get great at selling day
by day.” – Jeffrey Gitomer
“Sales is not a matter of leads and appointments and closes. It’s not even a matter of the quality of your product or your service response. Sales is a matter of who you are, what your attitude is, and how dedicated you are to personal excellence. It’s how responsible you are for the actions that you take and how sincere you are about helping others win for themselves so that ultimately you can win for yourself. That’s not an idea or a strategy.
That’s a philosophy.” Page: 24-25
“Build friendships. People want to buy from friends, not salespeople.” Page: 44
“Have fun and be funny. It ain’t brain cancer, it’s your career. Have a great time. If you can make ‘em laugh, you can make ‘em buy.”
“Never get caught selling. It makes me mad when a salesperson sounds like a salesperson.
Learn the science and convert it to an art.” Page: 45
Sales Success Formula... AHA!
Attitude – Humor – Action ”This is a combination of elements I have found to be effective for sales achievement. It’s simple on the surface and even simpler in practice. Each element contributes to the whole and is vitally linked to the other two. They are useful by themselves, but together they make sales magic.”
“ATTITUDE. Your positive mental attitude is your driving force to success in every endeavor of your life. Positive attitude is not just a thought process; it’s a discipline and a commitment. Each day you wake to a rededication to being positive, thinking positive, and speaking positive. It’s not something that comes and goes. It’s all-consuming. It makes you feel good all the time on the inside, no matter what the circumstance is on the outside.”
“HUMOR. It’s not just being funny. It’s how you see things. Humor is a perspective for effective living and a successful career in sales. It’s your sense of humor AND your ability to find and
create humor. Making others laugh and feel good in your presence. Making others smile.
Hearing, ‘I like talking to you,’ ‘You make me laugh,’ or ‘You just made my day.’ That’s what humor does. It makes others look forward to talking to you instead of ducking your call. It’s medicine. Sales medicine.”
“ACTION. Walking your talk. Waking up in the morning to a clearly defined set of goals. Having a daily agenda that you’re prepared for. Making the last call. Following your own game plan for success. Doing more than anyone else you know. Doing enough to make yourself proud.”
“Several national tests have revealed these startling statistics about why salespeople fail.”
• 15% Improper training – both product and sales skills.
• 20% Poor verbal and written communication skills.
• 15% Poor or problematic boss or management.
• 50% Attitude. Page: 59
“The Golden Rule of Sales for CEOs Do unto salespeople as you would have buyers and decision makers do unto your salespeople.” Page: 72
“Friends don’t need to sell friends using sales techniques. Think about it. You don’t need sales techniques when you ask a friend out, or ask for a favor – you just ask. Wanna make more sales? YOU DON’T NEED MORE SALES TECHNIQUES; YOU NEED MORE FRIENDS.”
“Think about your best customers. How did they get that way? Don’t you have great
relationships with them? If you’re friends with your best customers, it will often eliminate the need for price checking, price negotiating, and delivery time demands. You can even occasionally screw up and still keep them.”
“There’s another huge bonus to being friends – competition is virtually eliminated. Your fiercest competitor couldn’t blast you away from a customer who is also a friend.” Page: 79
“Work like hell all week – especially on Friday. How you do on the last day sets the tone for the next week. Most people slack off. If you work intensely on Friday, it will ensure success next week and give you a good reason to have a great weekend.” Page: 85
“The WOW! Factor separates you from others. Using WOW! Turns your prospect into a customer. WOW! is your ability to be different. The WOW! factor and your closing ratio have lots in common. If you don’t WOW! ‘em, it’s likely you won’t.” Page: 94
“To sell or not to sell, that is the (power) question.”
“Two of the most important aspects of selling are asking questions and listening. The proper questions will make the prospect tell you everything you need to sell him or her.”
“Combine powerful questions with effective listening skills and you will have the power and self-discipline to uncover facts/needs, then formulate a response that moves the buyer to a decision.” Page: 104
“Questions are to sales as breath is to life. If you fail to ask them, you will die. If you ask them incorrectly, you death won’t be immediate, but it’s inevitable. If you ask them correctly, the answer will be ... a sale.” Page: 106
“Why do objections occur?”
1. Because there are doubts or unanswered questions in the mind of the prospect
(sometimes created by the salesperson).
2. Because the prospect wants to buy or is interested in buying, but needs clarification,
wants a better deal, or must have third-party approval.
3. Because the prospect does not want to buy.
“I guarantee you will get objections if:
1. You have not completely qualified the buyer. (Is he the real decider? Can he really afford it? What is the need and interest level?)
2. You have not established need.
3. You have not established rapport.
4. You have not established credibility.
5. You have not established trust.
6. You have not found the prospect’s hot button.
7. Your presentation was weak.
8.You have not anticipated objections in your presentation and overcome them
before the prospect can raise them. Page: 157
“There are many secrets to becoming a good listener, but the one that encompasses them all
is: Just shut up!” Page: 229
Up Your Income!
“Numbers don’t lie... and they don’t make excuses.”
“Do you?”
“You got into sales because it had unlimited income potential.”
“Are you limiting yourself because you failed to commit to the dedication necessary to achieve ‘unlimited’?”
“Unlimit yourself!” Page: 267