Above Quota Performance: Tips and Techniques to Becoming a Master Sales Pro

by Steve Weinberg

Overview

Named Best Business Book by the New England Book Festival 2024!

MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF SALES PROS REGULARLY FAIL TO ACHIEVE THEIR ANNUAL SALES TARGETS.

Shocking, right?

But it doesn't have to be this way. Sales is no longer a simple linear process, and thus professionals in the industry-and

those who hope to enter the industry-require new skills to deal with the profound changes in the digital marketplace.

Filled with the type of tips and techniques that only a long, successful career in sales could otherwise gain you, this book

will teach you how to:

• Generate and qualify leads

• Identify buyer roles and why they buy

• Understand the buying process

• Utilize Value Propositions

• Use LinkedIn for Business Development

• Master Your Sales Presentation

• Close Enterprise Deals

 

ABOVE QUOTA PERFORMANCE is filled with actionable, step-by-step guidance that will help rookie and seasoned sales pro alike find greater heights of success in their sales careers. By the end of this book, readers will fully understand why these tips and techniques work and how they can be applied to their current and future sales opportunities. With the right training, skills, and techniques, anyone can become a master sales pro.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781956450286
Publisher:	Armin Lear Press
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	364
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Steve Weinberg has spent most of his life selling and helping others sell better, sell faster, and sell more. He is an expert at building, guiding, and sustaining high performing sales teams, and creating exemplary standards in account management. He has over three decades of leadership experience in sales, including Vice Presidencies at Dun & Bradstreet Software, AC Nielsen, Solcorp (then part of EDS, now HP), McCormack & Dodge, Deloitte and Touche, and most recently as Director of Sales at Accuity (now Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions.) Steve was also the President of Cyborg Systems, which was acquired by Hewitt Associates (now Aon) in 2003. In his last assignment Steve had the difficult role of managing a team of salespeople as well as carrying his own quota. While in this role Steve led the salesforce in sales achievement and closed the largest sale in the company's history. Steve earned a B.A. in Economics / Business Administration from North Park University, and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago. He is also a CPA and has experience in accounting, consulting, and as a graduate-level Economics instructor. He is married and has two adult children.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Paradox of Selling

Why is it so difficult?...............................................................1

Section 1

1: More Than 50 percent Of Sales Pros Do Not Achieve Their Sales Quotas .....................7

2: What Is "The Edge" And How Do I Get It?........ 13

3: If You're Not Winning, You're Losing .............19

4: Why Sales Trainers Are Often Wrong ...........25

Section 2

5: Mastering the Enterprise Sales Process........ 45

6: Identifying Buyer Roles..................................... 59

7: Understanding the Buying Process ................75

8: The Real "Why?"................................................. 85

9: Who is the "Real" Competitor?....................... 93

10: Why Didn't it Close?....................................... 105

Section 3

11: Value Propositions and How They Help Sales...................................................... 119

12: Value-Based Pricing........................................ 127

13: The Mathematics of The Sales Funnel........ 133

14: The Sweet Spot to Prospect......................... 145

15: Effective Lead Generation............................. 155

16: How to Use LinkedIn for

17: The Best Questions to Ask............................ 195

Section 4

18: Acing the Sales Presentation........................ 219

19: Make Your Sales Presentations

20: Avoid Competing on Price........................... 257

21: When Is the Greatest Amount of Interest in Buying?.............................................................. 269

22: Responding to Requests for Proposals 273

23: It's About Time................................................ 281

24: Characteristics of High Performers ...........287

Epilogue: The Future for the Sales Profession..... 303

Appendix A: Takeaways........................................ 311

Appendix B: Bonus Tips....................................... 317

Appendix C: Acronyms....................................... 323

Appendix D: Sales/Discovery Checklist ..........327

Appendix E: Lead Qualification Checklist 331

Editorial Reviews

"Whether you wish to run a world-changing global company or make enough money to be comfortable for generations, you need to know how to sell and how to motivate those that sell with you. There is no more difficult role in a company than that of a salesperson. In order to succeed you need to approach the journey with curiosity, diligence, and practice. Steve Weinberg's, Above Quota Performance, is a great place to start your understanding of the true complexity of the science of selling. This work is a treasure trove of wisdom: understanding that objections are golden opportunities to understand the motivation of a buyer, articulating a meaningful value proposition that excites (or irritates) a prospect toward an action, and realizing that price is perhaps the least important element of a deal are only some of the lessons contained. I urge you to read with a notebook handy. You will want to refer back to those notes frequently as you embrace your selling education."

-Hugh M Jones IV is the Chief Executive Officer

of RX (Reed Exhibitions) in Richmond, England, UK.

He was formerly the CEO Of Accuity, a RELX Company, and has successfully sold several companies.

"Steve Weinberg brings decades of selling and management experience to the topic of enterprise sales, and he knows the research. Above Quota Performance is smart, timely, and clear about myths versus realities in this area of business. If you're a seller, the book is worth it for the practical checklists alone. And if you're a sales manager,

his discussion about the characteristics of high performers and the implications of new buying processes for value propositions, effective sales presentation, and responding to RFPs are essential reading."

-Frank Cespedes, Ph. D. is a senior lecturer at the

Harvard Business School and subject matter expert specializing in aligning sales and strategy. He is the author of: Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing, Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors That Drive Effective Selling and five other books.

"Above Quota Performance is a book written by a practitioner for practitioners. It's a book that could only be written by a one who has learned their craft over a lifetime. If you are looking for answers to the question, "How do I achieve above quota performance," let this book be your guide."

-Anthony Iannarino is the author of

Elite Sales Strategies: A Guide to Being One-Up,

Creating Value, and Becoming Truly Consultative.

"This is a terrific book for all salespeople. It addresses all critical performance challenges that salespeople face in this rapidly changing world. It is a fast read and it contains many golden nuggets that salespeople can use to close more sales and hit their quota."

-Gerhard Gschwandtner is the CEO of

Selling Power magazine (www.sellingpower.com.) He is the CEO of the Sales 3.0 Conference and has over 15,000 followers on LinkedIn.com. He is the founder of MindSet Science, a founding member of the Sales Enablement Society, and an Advisor to DocuSign.

"A ton of actionable ideas for salespeople and sales managers. A MUST for your sales library."

-Dr. Tony Alessandra is the founder of

Assessments 24x7 and the author of The Platinum Rule for DISC Sales Mastery & People Smart in Business, Non-Manipulative Sales and The Platinum Rule for Sales Mastery.

From the Publisher