Five Minutes with VITO

by David Mattson and Anthony Parinello
c.2009, Pegasus Media World,  14.95 / $15.50 Canada, 103 pages

In your left hand, you gripped your briefcase. In your right hand, you had keys and a half-finished cappuccino. Your jacket was slung over your left elbow.

Other than that, you came back to the office, empty-handed. Again.

How is it that your co-workers are making sales, but you come up with nothing but embarrassment? Obviously, somebody's selling. Why not you?

Maybe you're targeting the wrong people. In the book "Five Minutes with VITO" by David Mattson and Anthony Parinello, you'll see how to get to the top, in more ways than one.

As a salesperson, you know that talking to anyone other than the Decision Maker is a waste of time. You need just five minutes with VITO.

VITO is the Very Important Top Officer. The individual with ultimate power and authority over everything in the organization.

Wait.

Talk to the Big Kahuna? In person? What would you possibly say?

First of all, understand that you have much in common with VITO. Secondly, know that developing a sales relationship will be easier than you realize, as long as you're armed with some information.

In this book, you'll learn step-by-step ways to gain VITO's trust by learning to sell like VITO. You'll learn about the Sandler Submarine, and how it can mean sink-or-swim for your success. You'll see how the Five Waves can get you the all-important appointment with VITO. You'll know how to get past an aggressive "gatekeeper," and you'll see how to best utilize the first eight seconds with your future new customer.

I think this book would definitely be useful in conjunction with a big dose of common sense and steady supervision. Particularly for a newbie sales staff, "Five Minutes with VITO" may be a good book to have on-hand. §

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives with her two dogs and 11,000 books.