Mastering Method Selling

Book excerpt: Selling as art is the underlying theme of a new book from one of America's most prolific sales professionals, James M. Rankin. Grounded in the artistic principles of Method Acting, Rankin's, The Magic of Method Selling teases out the evolutionary concepts applicable to selling and presents them in a lively, informative, and usable fashion. The author's enthusiasm and desire to motivate sales professionals energizes every page with a fast-paced presentation that keeps reader eagerly turning the pages. Rankin's unique approach is drawn from the life-long work of Russian acting teacher and director, Constantin Stanislavski whose famous Method Acting techniques endure through the nearly 80 years since his death. The author's model for sales success reflects Stanislavski's deep belief in the importance of liberating the innate creative processes of human being, allowing them to fully develop the realism necessary for successful performance. The Magic of Method Selling posits each sales presentation as a performance that must be fresh and new every time the salesperson is "on stage". The notion that a system I used on "acting" techniques is a reliable basis for successful sales performance is a novel proposition. Reader of The Magic of Method Selling may be pleasantly surprised as they follow Rankin through an easy-to-follow demonstration of the correlations between Method Acting and Method Selling from the initial preparations through the final presentation. Profoundly embracing the power of mental attitude, Rankin wraps attitudes around realistic action for salespeople to incorporate into their sales development repertoire. He overtly takes a "whole person" approach to developing a successful sales persona, emphasizing the interrelatedness between mental and physical activities that leads to a closed sale.