TOP GUN- The Secrets of Relationship Based Selling

The profession of sales has been around for many thousands of years.  Throughout the ages, great religious leaders, politicians and business leaders have acquired wealth, power and influence by learning the “art” and “science” of the selling and persuasion process.  These leaders didn’t acquire their power and knowledge by luck, genetics or birthright- their skills at persuasion were learned skills.

Many thousands of years ago during the time of the Roman Empire, there were two popular orators named Cicero and Demosthenes. These famous orators often spoke to the Roman people.  Both were gifted speakers.  Each time either one of them spoke to a crowd the audience would cheer them on and shout words of encouragement.  It was said that the cheers from the crowds could be heard for miles around -and the rumbling noise of the crowd would echo out and wash across the hot and humid streets and villages of greater Rome like the roar of an approaching tidal wave.

Although both Cicero and Demosthenes received generous applause after each one of their speeches, only one of these gifted speakers consistently took his speaking skills to the next level of accomplishment.

Through his careful choice of words, his tonality and cadence and through his calculated movements, gestures and body language, Demosthenes would motivate the crowd into a frenzy of excitement, and after applauding feverishly, the audience would shout out in unison “LET US MARCH!”

The audience was ready to take action and follow Demosthenes wherever he directed and they would willingly risk their life and their personal fortunes to do his bidding.

Demosthenes clearly understood and applied the power to influence in order to get people to take action.  In the coming pages you will learn how to harness the very same power to motivate your prospects and customers to take action - and to follow where you lead.

Throughout the ages, leaders that have made a long lasting impact on the world we live in have used the power of persuasion and communication to influence hundreds of millions- and even billions of people. Some did this for great noble causes and others used their newly acquired skills for darker purposes.

This priceless gift of persuasion and the ability to communicate more effectively with clients and prospects is available to you-if you know where to look.

There is a big difference between a good speech and one that is good AND motivates you to take action now.  Great speakers (and great persuaders) like Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan had the unique ability to connect with people emotionally and motivate them to act.

Each of these people did not develop this persuasive skill overnight.  They had a very specific strategy that they developed and used over the years to create powerful presentations that motivated and inspired the listener to take action.

On a darker note, Stalin -and especially Hitler- was a powerful, charismatic communicator who was able to connect with the German people at the deepest level and use his persuasion skills to pursue his warped vision of a perfect Arian society.  As a result, he created misery, destruction and death for millions of people in the 20^th century.

One a more positive note, it was said that Winston Churchill typically prepared for one hour for each minute of an important speech that he would deliver.  So if he were to give a 1-hour speech, he would spend 60 hours in preparation. Churchill clearly understood the power of words as a tool of influence.  He would write, draft, edit, practice and re-edit his speeches for hours on end to make sure he was using just the right words and communicating just the right message at just the right time to inspire and motivate the British people to strive for victory.

Failure was not an option for Churchill since many people believe the fate of the world, as we know it hung in the balance.  His words and his passionate speeches helped tip the scales towards victory.

When you think about it, on a more basic level, isn’t that what you and I do every day