In Conversation With ‘The Sales Assassin’ Anthony Caliendo

The title of his book may sound a little scary, but Anthony ‘Sales Assassin’ Caliendo is here to help you, not hurt you.

In The Sales Assassin: Master Your Black Belt In Sales, Caliendo takes readers through a multi-stage program to help salespeople improve their ability to connect with customers, close deals and grow revenue for their organization. Caliendo should know: over the course of his career he’s sold everything from stocks and mortgages to real estate and Italian cheese. He’s now a sales coach and motivational speaker for a number of organizations.

Salesforce Canada spoke with Caliendo by phone to get a preview of the book and some thoughts on how Canadian salespeople can kick-start their self-development right away.

Sell From The Inside Out: According to Caliendo, many salespeople should probably be in a different profession. Even those who are good at it should probably be selling something other than their current portfolio of products and services. That’s because too many salespeople make it obvious they don’t really believe in what they’re doing, he says.

“I call it PDC—passion, dedication and courage,” he says. “Take many Canadians and their love of hockey. Can you muster up that same passion for what you’re selling every day? That’s what you have to tap into if you want to make a lasting connection with people.”

Think Like A CEO: “Salespeople can’t think of themselves as just working for a company or an individual,” Caliendo says. “Every sales person out there has to be focused on building a business, not being employed by a business. The best ones realize that being a sales person is like being your own boss. You can dictate a lot about you want and how you start your day and how you end your day. And you can make a difference every single day.”

Use Technology As A Tool, Not A Crutch: Caliendo says he has been fascinated to see how CRM, mobile apps and other cloud-based tools have changed sales as a profession. He says excellence in sales will be defined in the future by how well technology is used to bring customers and businesses closer together—something that may be a fine art.

“We have to make sure we don’t develop relationships with technology instead of with people,” he says. “No matter what kind of technology you’re using, you have to focus on building relationships and your own brand. If you do that, the technology that you have is going to take you to a whole different level.”

Complement your reading of The Sales Assassin and check out Salesforce’s free eBook: