CEO and best-selling author Dan Milstein learned hard lessons working his way to the pinnacle of the sales profession. In his new book, "Street Smart Selling: How to Be a Sales Superstar, " Milstein reaches out to help aspiring salespeople work their way up to join him at the top.
In "Street Smart Selling, " Milstein lays out a detailed set of guidelines that will be useful for ambitious beginning salespeople, as well as for established professionals who wish, to paraphrase the book's subtitle, become Sales Superstars.
Milstein's advice ranges from simple things, like how to make and use an effective daily to-do list, to how to develop a long-term career plan. He discusses things like the importance of getting referrals from satisfied customers, how to understand and best use social media like Facebook and LinkedIn, how to maintain lifelong customer relationships, how to make yourself stand out in a crowd, and even how to plan for the contingency of a career change.
There is even a section of specific suggestions for sales managers interested in building a stronger sales team, including establishing mentoring programs, recognizing and preventing burnout, and effective coaching.
Most of the book, however, is aimed at self-improvement for motivated individuals. Milstein credits his success to his own love for selling; "The salespeople with the best attitudes are those who never lose their passion for sales. Passion helps you get through the ups and downs of sales. You can 'endure' a career without passion, but you cannot be a long-term success unless you love what you do."
"Be sure you know why you want to become a sales superstar. You have to understand what pushes you, whether it is financial/compensation, ego gratification, company recognition or something else. List your top two reasons now and then look at them again after three months. What's changed?"
Some successful people reach the top of their profession and try to pull the ladder up after them. With "Street Smart Selling, " Dan Milstein is doing exactly the opposite, extending a helping hand to anyone willing to put in the hard work to climb up with him.