Dear Sales Professional:

In the age of the Internet, how much do customers actually need you in order to buy products like yours? For that matter, how much money could your company save by eliminating you as a middleman between it and the customer?

Here`s a hard fact: In today`s world, salespeople who are just order-takers and don`t add value have no business on a company`s payroll. The solution has to do with making better sales calls, and that takes planning. Action Selling has an exciting new answer. But first let`s talk about what you need to accomplish.

If you have a question about how to plan sales calls that really add value, click on "Ask The eCoach".

We are committed to your professional success.

Duane Sparks Author of Action Selling

Without a Plan, You Have No Value

Time is money, and customers know it. If they invest their precious time in you by agreeing to let you make a sales call, what do they get in return?

The answer had better be something much more than a spiel crammed full of product information that they could have found more quickly and easily on a web site. If it isn`t, then customers don`t want you to call again. Worse yet, you`re just a drag on your employer`s payroll. And sooner or later, your employer is going to figure that out.

Today, more than ever, salespeople have to add value to the relationship between buyer and seller. Customers should be glad to hear from you. And they would be-if they saw you as a trusted advisor who helps them improve their business.

Customers should be glad to hear from you. For that, you need a plan.

How do you earn the right to be seen as such an advisor? By acting like a professional. You have to conduct purposeful calls that move the sales process forward toward solutions that solve real problems and meet real needs. I mean every call, every time. Sales calls like that don`t just happen. You need to plan them. And you need a process that allows you to create and execute an effective plan, adapting it as necessary.

Most salespeople are frankly rotten at planning. They don`t have a process for it, and they don`t have the time (or don`t take the time). The ideal solution would be a planning process that is not only effective but simple and fast.

In a moment, I want to point you toward something revolutionary when it comes to simple and fast. But first let me say a word about "effective." When I say that Action Selling provides an effective planning process for sales calls, I don`t just mean that it keeps you moving toward a sale. I mean that it keeps you moving toward a relationship in which you become a trusted business partner. One who adds value in customers` eyes. So that they`re glad to hear from you.

Now for the part about simple and fast: Imagine that with two clicks on any Internet device, you could get a tailored Action Selling plan for any sales call. Intrigued? Check out our new Sales Call Navigator.

Action Selling In Action

Dakota Supply Group, based in Fargo, N.D., is a major Midwest distributor for a wide variety of mechanical, electrical, and communications products. President Tom Rosendahl has agreed to make Dakota a beta-test site for Action Selling`s new planning tool, Sales Call Navigator.

Explaining why he introduced Action Selling to his company, Rosendahl says: "I really liked the planning aspect of the Action Selling process and the idea that salespeople need to be professionals. If salespeople don`t add value to the process, customers don`t want them to call anymore."

Rosendahl also liked the strength of Action Selling`s follow-up programs that reinforce learned behavior when salespeople finish class and return to the job. That`s why he is eager to implement Sales Call Navigator. Navigator will be the ultimate reinforcement tool because it gives salespeople an easy way to plan every sales call, every day, using the Action Selling process. Two clicks on any Internet-enabled device create a complete Action Selling call plan tailored to an individual client situation.

For information about how to make sales training pay huge dividends, contact Action Selling at 1-800-232-3485.

Call planning made easier than ever! Learn about Action Selling`s new Sales Call Navigator.