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Some smarty coined the phase that in sales, 'everything is fair game'. Actually it's quite unfair; tilting unfairly in your favor or someone else's. So are you going to play the game to win? If you are here's your first lesson: winning this game is not a one-time event: it's a daily challenge. And the key to your success is learning how to melt sales resistance like butter.

Online activity has increased over the years. Joe Citizen doesn't hesitate about giving his personal information anymore. But your response better be quick or he will move on. Persistence and follow-up is what your prospects want. Even then 95% will fade away by your second contact.

Competitive marketers that I've studied wander around imitating each other: people following people that are following people who are lost. Everyone gets dumber every year. Prospecting for customers might as well be prospecting for gold. Where are those nuggets?

* Reply to spam mail with your own offer? no, trash them
* Leads from your company's website? most are only lookers
* Open the phone book and begin? I'd rather jump off a bridge

We have already learned discipline and persistence thanks to MLMs who fed us a daily diet of 'you have winner written all over you' or 'you're doing everything right, you just have to do more of it'. Brainwashed to the max we plowed on laboring for prospects knowing full well that nothing begets nothing.

Your text or banner ads are not meant to sell but generate interest. Your killer ad brings them to your door. They are curious enough to respond. Here then is your somewhat interested prospect.

At this very moment you are in that vise being squeezed between marketing and sales. You know, that middle part that binds the two verbs together. Prospects view us as sharks circling for the kill we've all heard the jokes. Somehow you must find the words to rise from the 'sea of sameness'.

To do this you must abandon some old myths and shift your selling mindset.

Sales is a numbers game: Only when all you know is traditional selling. You can change your sales approach and make fewer calls resulting in more sales.

Use a sales script: I can tell when someone is reading a script and I think you can too. Learn to get your message across by knowing your company and product. You will eliminate red flags instantly and people will listen.

Focus on closing the sale: Prospects are people and 'going for the kill' is an old technique that leads to that push-and-pull result you are trying to avoid.

Erasing these myths from your selling mindset will change your next contact by phone. There will be no fear of a positive outcome because mentally you already know it's premature to even be thinking about an outcome. Create a natural dialogue without feeling awkward. Use language that will engage them and not language that triggers rejection.

It's always about answering their unspoken questions. Express the value of doing business with you. Feel them out for that want' vs need' thing and establishing yourself as the choice. Selling is more about listening than it is about talking. Your prospect may be ready to buy and you could be too busy talking to notice.

Your takeaway lesson is: New Thinking = New Results.

2005 Esther Smith About the Author: Smith publishes a weekly syndicated Newsletter: http://www.exec-lifestyle.biz