Every once in a while, life hands you a wonderful bonus. This was the case three years ago, shortly after I was hired by Doering & Brown, an office equipment company in London, Ontario, Canada. My mission, which I unwittingly chose to accept, was to build a supply department from scratch. The company was impressed with my management, sales, training, and building skills and they chose to overlook the fact that not only did I have no computer skills to speak of, I also knew nothing of the supply industry and could not identify a cartridge if my life depended upon it.

     Can you imagine a more auspicious beginning? Needless to say, my learning curve was one of gigantic proportions. That notwithstanding, my mandate was to get this division up and running
and to do it quickly.

     Enter Ann Barr to the rescue. My boss, a copier guy at heart rather than a detail-oriented supply person, had somehow gotten his hands on one of Ann’s manuals. He handed it to me and said  “Here, read this.” He wisely beat a hasty retreat before I could pepper him with a million questions. This was my introduction to Ann’s book entitled, Telemarketing Sales Training- Winning Strategies. It consisted of both a Workbook and a Manager’s Guide. This was the forerunner to Ann’s current book, 28 Days to Increased Telephone Sales.

     I began to read voraciously, and was amazed at what I saw. Her knowledge of this industry was outstanding and her advice was rock solid. Here, before me, was a perfect blueprint to success!  If there was one thing I’d learned during my many years of experience in management and sales, it was, if you find something that works brilliantly, don’t reinvent the wheel. Just use it and apply it over and over again. This is exactly what I did with Ann’s material. Her book introduced me to powerful telephone scripts, the ten step sales call, TimeBlocks and time robbers, handling objections and much more. All of the information was extremely specific and gave me tangible tools with which to work..

     Everything in the book proved to be exceptionally valuable. The two most critical elements to me were the ten step sales call and working in TimeBlocks. The ten step sales call warms up any cold call and allows you to “ask for the sale” in record time. Working in TimeBlocks can and did increase sales by up to 25%. These became my way of life and the results speak for themselves. I started with sales of zero and within 16 months had achieved sales of approximately $60,000 monthly. I finished my first fiscal year as the company’s top producer, achieving 268% of my quota. This would not have happened without Ann Barr’s book. It was definitely my shortcut to success.

     Next I began to expand the Supply Division. Once again, a book of Ann Barr’s was my lifesaver.  Her Secrets of Successful Supply Sales, told me everything I needed to know to create a successful supply department. It included information on wording of ads, hiring, necessary elements for a successful work environment, supply agreements and much more. It also contained the scripts, and TimeBlock information from her previous book. Within a year, armed with all of this information, I had hired a staff of four supply sales representatives and had built a winning team. One of my new reps qualified for President’s Club in his first year in sales. Once more, this would not have happened so quickly without the aid of Ann’s book. Throughout my tenure with Doering & Brown, I also worked with Ann’s book Telephone Sales Scripts.   It contains highly effective scripts for every situation imaginable.

     I have since gone on to form my own management consulting firm. I now specialize in working with both Canadian and American companies to significantly increase sales, productivity, and customer service. This is partially due, in no small measure, to the wisdom and knowledge that Ann Barr graciously shares in all of her books.

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