This book review kicks off our book series where we review some of the most important sales books of the last decade.

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If you are a one-person army or a very small company and you, as the entrepreneur, are the main person responsible for growing the company, then you personally must spend at least 2.5 hours per day growing your company.

This means that you, as the entrepreneur, are responsible for developing and executing a growth strategy, and for growing your customer base, revenue, and other key metrics. This also includes working on sales, marketing, and business development initiatives.

There are six simple steps: Touch it once. Make daily lists of the six most important tasks to accomplish. Plan how long each task will take. Assign time slots for accomplishing each task. Focus on the difficult projects first. Ask yourself, "Will it hurt me to throw this away?"

1. Make daily lists of the six most important tasks to accomplish.
2. Plan how long each task will take.
3. Assign time slots for accomplishing each task.
4. Focus on the difficult projects first.
5. Ask yourself, "Will it hurt me to throw this away?"

When you start your day by tackling the most important task -- it gives you a sense of control and accomplishment.

If you touch it, take action. That's the first step to great time management. Don't open that email or letter until you're ready to deal with it.

The best way to avoid procrastination is to take immediate action. Don't give yourself time to think about it – just do it. This way, you'll avoid the temptation to put it off.

Concentration is like a muscle and it strengthens as you concentrate more. If you stop concentrating every time an email comes in or the phone rings, you actually lessen your ability to concentrate and you become less effective in any situation that requires concentration.

There are a few things you can do to improve your concentration. First, try to do one thing at a time. When you're working on a task, try to focus all your attention on that task and nothing else. Second, find an environment that supports concentration. If you're working on a task, find a quiet place where you can focus without distractions. Third, take breaks. When you're working on a task, take a break every hour or so to give your mind a chance to rest.

Make small steps to improve your sales.

A fun conversation with a sales rep:

CHET: So how did it go?<br/> SALES REP: It didn't work.<br/> CHET: It didn't work?<br/> SALES REP: No. It didn't work.<br/> CHET: Well, how many people did you offer it to?<br/> SALES REP: I offered it to 10 people.<br/> CHET: And nobody bought it?<br/> SALES REP: No, two people bought it.<br/>

To the sales rep, the perception was that eight no's out of 10 pitches made the concept a failure. But do the math: if you have 30,000 clients buying once every three years, that's about 10,000 sales per year. Now imagine an extra 6,000 of them (a mere 20 percent) buying twice per year. What does that do for this business? It's an enormous increase in volume.

Improving your sales process is like tuning a car up little by little over a period of time.

Building a sales machine is not going to be about doing 4,000 things; it's going to be about doing 12 things 4,000 times each.

Key strategies

Key Strategy #1: Manage your time wisely

Good time management allows you to optimize your actions and reduce repetition. Get the most out of your working hours and eliminate unnecessary steps and wasted time.

Products like <a href="/">Poseidon</a> help you save time and learn from what's actually working so that you don't have to worry about starting from scratch when you send a request for a meeting to a prospect every single time.

Key Strategy #2: Institute Higher Standards and Regular Training

1. Make sure the training is relevant.

If employees feel that the training is irrelevant or that it won't help them do their job better, they are likely to tune out or even resist it. Make sure that the training is relevant to the employees' roles and that it will help them improve their work.

2. Keep it interactive.

Employees are more likely to retain information if it is interactive. Make sure that the training includes activities and exercises that allow employees to apply what they have learned.

3. Use a variety of methods.

Employees learn in different ways, so it's important to use a variety of methods to teach them. This might include lectures, videos, hands-on activities, and online modules.

4. Make it fun.

Employees are more likely to learn if the training is enjoyable. Try to incorporate activities that your team wants to do or finds enjoyable, or they won't stick with it.

Hot seat training is a good way to provide feedback and coaching to employees. With this approach, you watch an employee perform a skill or task and then provide feedback and coaching. This approach is often used for difficult or challenging tasks that need more attention than can be provided in a live environment.

Strategy #3: Executing Effective Meetings

1. Every meeting should have a specific goal or set of goals. This will help to ensure that the meeting is productive and that everyone in attendance is aware of what is expected of them.
2. Every meeting should have an agenda that is circulated in advance. This will help to ensure that everyone knows what will be discussed and that they have time to prepare.
3. Every meeting should be chaired by a clear leader who is responsible for ensuring that the meeting progresses efficiently and that everyone is on task.
4. Every meeting should have a time limit. This will help to ensure that the meeting does not drag on and that everyone has an opportunity to speak.
5. Every meeting should be recorded. This will help to ensure that everyone is aware of the decisions that are made and that everyone is held accountable.

Strategy #4: Becoming a Brilliant Strategist

There are three types of leaders: those who focus on tactics, those who focus on strategy, and those who focus on both. A "tactic" is a method used to achieve a shot-term goal like running more ads to get more sales leads. A "strategy" is a detailed plan to achieve a long-term goal like continuously training and educating your sales staff so that they close more sales no matter how many leads they have.

To be the best and turn your business into the ultimate sales machine you need to be able to design your tactics with your long-term strategy in mind.

Strategy #5: Hiring Superstars

Star employees are those who can be counted on to come through in a crisis, who take ownership of their work, and who are always looking for ways to improve their performance. They are the backbone of any organization, and it is essential to do everything possible to keep them engaged and motivated.

What Makes a Superstar? The type of people I'm talking about are those you can put in a bad situation with poor tools, no training, and bad resources and still, within a few months, they begin to outperform your best people or build your company in ways you never dreamed possible. Hiring someone like this is not about luck. It's about understanding the personality characteristics that fit the job for which you are hiring and having the tools to identify the candidates that possess those characteristics.

Strategy #6: Getting the Best Buyers

Best buyers are those customers that are most likely to buy from you again and who also require the least amount of sales effort on your part.

There are a number of different ways to identify your best buyers. One way is to look at your past sales data and identify which customers have purchased from you the most often and/or have spent the most money.

Another way to identify your best buyers is to survey your customers and ask them which features or products they are most interested in. You can then use this information to target your marketing efforts towards those customers who are most likely to be interested in your products.

Whatever method you use to identify your best buyers, it is important to focus your sales efforts on those customers who are most likely to buy from you again. This will not only reduce your sales effort, but it will also increase your sales.

Strategy #7: The Seven Musts of Marketing

This section is a bit outdated... to be honest. Nowadays, most everything is transitioning to online ads.

When you provide valuable content for free, customers are more likely to remember your name and consider you when they need your product or service. Additionally, social media and your website provide a way to connect with potential customers and learn more about their needs and interests. This information can help you create targeted content and marketing campaigns that appeal to your audience.

Public relations can also be used to build a positive image for a company. For example, a company could sponsor a charity event or donate to a local cause. This would give the company a good reputation in the community and make customers more likely to do business with them.

Strategy #8: The Eyes Have It

We human beings remember 20 percent of what we hear, 30 percent of what we see, but 50 percent of what we both see and hear. Obviously your communication impact nearly triples when using visual aids over not using them. Information that is visually illustrated and communicated has a dramatic and direct impact on the brain.

Holmes is very convincing about using visuals to educate your prospective customers. It

This is especially true when it comes to the retention and comprehension of information. A study by the University of Minnesota found that people who received information in a visual form were able to remember it better and longer than those who received it in a textual form. In fact, the study showed that people were able to remember 65% of the information they received visually, while they were only able to remember 35% of the information they received in a textual form.

If you ignore the power of incorporating a visual component into your sales and marketing process, you may as well deliver it in a closet. Fail to stimulate the eyes, and the brain tunes out. As stated in the previous chapter's section on radio advertising, the brain can take in information at 400 to 500 words per minute, yet people speak at only 125 words per minute. We can take in a lot more than we are given in normal conversation or even a lecture if we can stay present. A visually rich presentation keeps the eyes busy and, therefore, keeps the brain more active and alert to learn the information you are presenting.

Rules for Effective Presenting:

1. Rule 1. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid)
2. Rule 2. K.I.F.P. (Keep It Fast Paced)
3. Rule 3. Use “Wow” Facts and Statistics
4. Rule 4. Build in Opportunities for Stories
5. Rule 5. Your Presentation Should Be Curiosity Driven
6. Rule 6. Think of Each Headline as Valuable Real Estate
7. Rule 7. Be Confident but Not Obnoxious
8. Rule 8. Focus on Them, Not on You