entrepreneur: john deal [the supersalesman]

ive completed the prerequisites and am officially starting as an independent insurance agent this week. the last couple of weeks ive been product training, prospecting + strategising. ive got my target market. ive qualified several leads + explored the business connections in my social network.. all that's left is face-to-face meetings + the sales pitch. my goal is $240k in annualised premiums at a commission of 37%. i look forward to working ten-hour days, getting paid same day direct deposit on advanced commissions, helping my family, having free time + finally being able to finance my investment ideas + other entrepreneurial pursuits. i came across this article on inc.com about john deal, the supersalesman..

"You can tell a lot about what you're up against in a sales pitch by the way they serve you coffee," John Deal mumbles to me, as the others in the room noisily take their seats around the conference table at a well-known British engineering and defense contracting company on a dreary day in central England. I take this to mean that Deal has his work cut out for him, given that his prospects have unceremoniously plunked down in front of him a jug of scalding coffee and a stack of plastic cups, with no cream or sugar in sight.

Deal begins making his case to six poker-faced executives, who proceed to blast him with an array of questions that cast doubt on his product, his business plan, his prospects for survival, and possibly his sanity. Every sentence seems to start with, "What I don't get is," or "The sticking point with me is," or "But how can you possibly...?"

Forty-five minutes later, however, the managers have changed their tune. Now they are asking about partnership opportunities and setting up more meetings. Someone has produced cream, sugar, and real coffee cups. It seems like a stunning turnaround to me, but on the train back to London, Deal is less sanguine. "On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 means they're handing you a check on the spot, and 1 means they've thrown you out," he says, "that was a 5." Having already seen Deal in action several times, I get his point. Hard-nosed investors, wary customers, skeptical potential partners, distracted politicians -- Deal has an uncanny ability to convert them not merely to interested players but to enthusiastic supporters. And though not all of them are ready to hand over checks, some seem pretty close.

"i have a definite talent for convincing people to try something new. i am a good salesman. when im on form, I can sell anything to anyone." --anonymous traveling salesman.

"im a traveling man. moving thru space and. space + time. got a lotta things ive got to do. but god-willing im comin back to you. im leavinnn-in-in-in-innnn..." --mos def 'traveling man.'