1. Prepare for each call

·Adjust your mindset. Helping your customer to buy more products and services that are beneficial to them is first class customer service ·Decide in advance what customer commitment you would like by end of call. Is it an order or is it commitment to next stepping stone?— e.g. to take another follow-up call next week or an introduction to real decision makers or influencers ·Prepare your opening and questions which need to be asked to define needs and wants for your propositions (see below).

2. Know your sales propositions

To take a simple, neutral example, if your product is a coffee cup that keeps coffee warm 4 times longer that an ordinary cup. Define potential WIFM (‘what’s in it for me?’) for customer. It could be that user loves hot coffee and won’t drink it cold. This means that every time they have to take a call or are interrupted they have to re-visit vending machine. This might take them 5 minutes which on an average day could cost them 20 minutes total. (1hr 40mins per week). What else could they be doing with their time? What’s opportunity cost and what’s direct cost in terms of salary? Once these costs are quantified they represent real value of your proposition.

3. Define questions to be asked

Have a list of questions to ask that lead to defining needs and wants for your propositions. Customer needs are logically based. For example, I need a car to get me from A to B and almost any car will get me there. I want a BMW because I enjoy kudos and prestige. Needs are tip of iceberg and are very easy to identify (by you, and your competitors too!). Wants are much harder to access and seller needs to develop trust of customer which is built on personal credibility and trust coupled with ability to ask intelligent, incisive questions; and of course, harnessing skills to actively listen to answers in order to summarise customer’s needs and wants accurately and concisely.

4. Motivate customer to answer your questions.

Did you know that your book's back cover information is, after cover, best way to sell more books? And, that most authors, emerging and experienced, miss this opportunity to engage more potential buyers?

Your book's front cover and sizzling title must impress your buyers in four seconds. If they like it, they will spend eight seconds on your back cover ( mini sales letter)-a great opportunity to convince them that your book is necessary for their success.

Does your back cover pass test?

Five Best Solutions to Biggest Book Back Cover Mistakes

1. Mistake: Too many non-powerful words and too busy to have a focus.

Solutions: A back cover of 6 by 9 inches should have under 70 words. Use sound bites; picture and emotional words; benefits, not features; and testimonials to capture your readers' attention and to keep your message focused. Make every word count and be willing to get five-fifteen edits, because outside of book's message is 10 times more powerful than inside pages.

2. Mistake: Too much superfluous material on back cover. Do you have too long an author's bio or large photo? Potential buyers want to know how book will help them, teach them a skill, or entertain them.

Solutions: Write only a one or two-line bio on back cover. Put your photo and more bio on inside of back cover. Omit features such as format information, which belong in book's introduction. Connect with your buyer emotionally with specific, powerful ad copy. For self-help books use bullets with specific benefits, and enough of right kind of testimonials to sell your book in 8 seconds. For fiction, modify to include a bit of plot, with a powerful quote or dialogue. Use bookstore models to assist you.

3. Mistake: Repeating book's title at top of back cover.

Solutions: Since your potential buyers already know title and are stimulated enough to look at back cover, hook them with an emotional question or benefit-driven headline at top..