Featured Alumni

The following is a success story from a sales professional while on a course based on The Complete Guide to Successful Selling book, along with the companion Complete Guide to Successful Selling Workbook. This program covers the precise technology vital to successful sales at all levels.

Doing the ‘Complete Guide to Successful Selling Professional Sales Course’ while on a new sales job proved very beneficial!

I improved my understanding of establishing and continuing my relationships with prospects and found the section on ‘Control’ very helpful in spotting a weak point I had in selling and the course has given me something I can do about it.

I am feeling more confident in my sales activities because I can see what I am doing right, where I can improve and how to improve.

The course is easy to do, with well-organized data that helps one really look at the sales cycle, break it down into its parts and therefore make it possible to strengthen the whole by strengthening the parts.

I like the practical exercises and demonstrations as they help cement and expand my understanding of the principles involved.  It is great to study from the viewpoint of selling my product and specifically using these principles to improve my sales.

I feel more certain as to what I need to do to increase my sales and I am sure I will be able to do so by better applying the materials of the course.

In the first week after starting the course, I got 3 sales at the beginning of the month, which is a very good statistic!

I look forward to doing the rest of the course and therefore increasing my skills even more!

T.M.

Watching the sales team, spotting where they did well and being very aware of the sales process, even a 30-year veteran salesman who is now raving that it’s the best job he’s ever had!

He’s reading the book at night and applying it to improve his sales. We would have had a lousy trade show if we hadn’t all done this course as there were obviously less buyers attending. But instead we did great even after raising our prices 15%. We’re now on track to beat every other year and we’ve been in business for over 30 years.

What the course personally taught me as the Sales Manager, was how to strategize and work out sensible tools that aid my sales force. My job is to figure out the packages and specials and give them to my team as tools to assist them in their sales. I hadn’t realized this was part of my job, to create sales games for my sales force.

It has totally changed my sales peoples’ viewpoints and they are now a winning T-E-A-M!”

J.D.

Some sales trainers teach that “conviction” is the ground zero of successful selling, defining conviction as “a strong belief.” You may have heard the term “Conviction Selling” used before.

Another term of similar meaning is “Certainty Selling.”

The definition of “certainty” is “something inevitable, a conclusion or outcome that is beyond doubt.” The word is derived from the Latin certus, meaning “sure, fixed.”

Whether one calls it conviction selling or certainty selling, if a salesperson is certain of the quality and the exchange value of their product, and their skill in applying the technology of selling, their confidence will be evident in every stage of the selling process, and first and foremost, in their quality and certainty of communication.

Do you have total confidence in your product and your ability to apply the technology of selling?

Selling is a technology, and you can master it!

I purchased  The Complete Guide to Successful Selling and I wanted to share some of my achievements in using the book.

I found the points on building agreement and discovering interest amazingly simple and worth the time and effort to establish with a client.

I noticed a tremendous increase in my ability to match and raise another’s tone level as well as establishing agreement and overcoming the client’s doubts and fears. In fact I watch them melt in front of me.

I am in the wedding business and my success rate is nearly a one-for-one closing ratio since purchasing this book (and I have raised my prices by as much as 25%).

So with a better closing ratio despite price increases, I am on target to triple my income!

This is all with just reading through the book once, understanding the ideas presented and putting a couple of the points to use.

I am now going through it again, from the beginning, to take my understanding to a higher level.

This time I am actually doing the drills, essays and demonstrations from the Complete Guide to Successful Selling Workbook (I didn’t do them the first time through).

I plan really master all eight steps of selling and integrate fully all of the sales tools.

It all dovetails perfectly, fills in the many missing gaps from other sales manuals I’ve read and the book distills it all down to the basics. I appreciate your book and I would say it was worth the price many times over!

A.G. 

There are many myths about selling, and one of the most common is that a salesperson is born with the ability to sell: “you either have it you don’t”.

Without question, communication is the heart of life, and the key to success in all areas of it. But what isn’t well known is that communication can be vastly improved with the proper training! In fact, simply by learning the basic principles of communication, one can markedly improve his or her communication skills.

But while good communication is essential to selling success, there is much more to the technology of selling.

That technology includes understanding the principles of effective control, the laws of interest, the fundamentals of human emotions, and the ability to apply management by statistics. Effective selling also requires a good knowledge of one’s product.

There can be a vast difference between a person trained in the technology of selling and one who is not.

A properly trained salesperson will earn considerably more money and enjoy greater job security than one who is untrained. For an organization, the difference between a trained sales staff and an untrained one can mean the difference between failure and success.

Selling is a technology, and you can master it!

For more information on The Complete Guide To Successful Selling go here

A logical step in learning the subject of selling is to define the most important term:

“SELLING, the act of assisting, inducing or being responsible for a person buying a product, service, property or idea.” — Modern   Management Technology Defined

Sell: A standard dictionary definition of “sell” includes “to exchange or deliver for money or something of value.”

The definition of selling makes it clear the job of the salesperson is often to correctly answer the prospect’s questions, and assist him or her in making the purchase.

At other times the salesperson must induce (lead or move) the prospect through the steps of the selling cycle, using the prospect’s interest as the guide.

Although there are many steps to the selling cycle, including discovering interest, handling objections, and closing, “assisting” and “leading” summarize the two primary actions of selling.

And please note the statement in the first definition, “being responsible for a person buying a product, service, property or idea.”

One of the definitions of “responsible” is “able to be trusted or depended upon, reliable.” With that meaning in mind, the definition of “selling” as shown above emphasizes customer satisfaction as a critical element of selling success.

© 2011 Hubbard College of Administration. All Rights Reserved.  Quoted material by L. Ron Hubbard: © 1976 L. Ron Hubbard Library.  Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce a selection from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. IA # 11042201

Much has been written and taught about selling, yet despite the primarily good intentions of the people who teach it, the technology of selling is riddled with misconceptions and missing information.

Traditionally, sales experts have taught that selling contains four primary elements:

• The ability to discover important information relevant to a prospect’s interest, which is often referred to as asking “probing questions.”
• Handling objections.
• Closing skills.
• The importance of intention to success.

Although that short list of fundamentals is important, it comprises only a portion of the extensive technology of selling.

Small and Large Sales

The topic of small versus large sales is a common subject of discussion amongst sales trainers.

A sale of relatively small value can be accomplished quickly, during one call or one meeting, or selling can extend over a long period of time with very few limits on the budget.

Defining a small sale versus a large one is relative and depends on the consumer and the product.

Small sales include an inexpensive item of almost any kind, for example, a $100 piece of jewelry, a slightly more expensive item such as a personal computer, or even higher priced items that can be financed on the spot, such as a new car.

Relationship Based Selling

Large sales are often referred to as relationship based selling, especially those involving significant commitments and contractual agreements that may require months and several meetings to complete.

Although distinct differences exist between a small sale and a large one, the steps of the selling cycle for both types of sales are based on similar principles, all of which are fully addressed in the Hubbard College sales training.

Millions of dollars are invested annually in sales workshops, seminars, training CDs, videos, books and sales management consulting. Visit your local bookstore or library and you will discover shelves of books on sales.

Although most sales experts are personally successful at selling, the majority of them teach very similar concepts. And thousands of books have been written on selling techniques as well. It’s like having dozens of slightly altered recipes for the same chocolate chip cookie. And the two words that seem to be repeated most often are “closing” and “objections.”

Effective closing and the skill to handle any objection are certainly important, but those are only two of the steps of selling.

For many salespeople success is a hit or miss proposition; some weeks are good, others poor, and many don’t have a high degree of confidence or security in their job. It’s commonplace for an organization to have one or two successful sales reps and a revolving door for all the others.

Why? What are the missing ingredients? What’s missing in so many schools of sales training?

To begin with, it is important to identify all the elements of the selling cycle, from initial contact to the final step of the selling, delivery.

Another factor that sets sales training at the Hubbard College apart from others is an understanding of the rules that govern communication and human emotion, and their importance in the technology of selling.

Selling is based on specific principles and rules. Learn them and you will be successful!

Over the years the Hubbard College has trained thousands of people on the rules of successful selling, and one of the most essential lessons to learn is that SELLING IS A TECHNOLOGY.

Selling at the highest levels is a highly accomplished skill based on four primary factors:

– Communication

– Emotions

– Control

– Interest

Although all of the factors named above are vital, communication is the most important.

By developing a customer relationship with communication, the ability to apply the technology of emotions, positively control a prospect through the steps of selling, and discover and expand interest, can be successfully accomplished.

Communication comes first, and then the rest of the tools of selling can be applied.