I instantly recognized a need to begin giving back to
communities at large. I vowed that if I were able to walk out of the hospital,
I would begin doing just that. It was on that stretcher while waiting to be
admitted, that I wrote my first business plan – to help others near and far
understand how to take their natural talents and convert those into sales and
grow business.
Elinor
Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO
Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results.” Community
Service work teaching job seekers how to sell themselves on interviews to land
their desired job led to the writing of her second best-selling book, “HIRED! How to
Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews.”
OpenView Labs designated Elinor as one of the
worldwide 25 Top Sales Influencers for 2012.
Elinor is known for delivering inspirational keynotes
to standing ovations. She provides consultation, team training, private
coaching and business retreats to GROW your business. The Smooth
Sale product line complements all she does. Elinor is available upon request
for consultation.
Tell us about the genre
of your work.
My
forte is sales through creative business development. I am an advocate for using all types of media
and mediums to build business along with building relationships every step of
the way. Likewise, I use many methods
for teaching my clientele such as webinars, tweets, blogs, articles, books,
videos, training sessions for teams, coaching individuals and coordinating Business
Retreats.
My
style is to commit to continual education and report back what I find to work
best. My mantra is to over-deliver on
value.
Why did you choose this
genre?
Many
years ago, I was a stay-at-home Mom. But
realizing I needed to help earn college money for the children, my husband did
some research on the best avenue for me.
One night he came home to say, “I’ve
got it, you have the personality of a salesperson.” I turned around somewhat appalled, and
quietly asked, “Is that a compliment or
an insult?”!
It
turned out my husband was right. Looking
back, as a child I was always selling my parents and everyone else. My first job in the corporate world did not
welcome women and being the only woman, some very nasty tricks were played on
me. Additionally, they refused to train
me plus I was given the silent treatment.
Wanting to be a good role model and refusing to quit, I kept on doing my
best. By the 4th month I
became the top producer. My secret
technique was being nice to all of my new contacts. They each called me a breath of fresh air and
actually asked permission to buy from me!
How is writing in the
genre you write, different than other genre?
I
learned to write as if we were sitting in my breakfast room having a cup of
coffee together as I share stories about what happened in the field and how I
overcame the difficulties. So the reader is drawn into the story, able to
picture exactly what happened, how it was resolved, and read the end result so
that they may avoid similar difficulties in the future. Most business books are factual and dry
whereas readers describe my books as not only informational but also highly
entertaining!
What are some of your
books, stories that have been published?
Nice Girls DO Get the
Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results, Sourcebooks –
became an international best-seller, translated into several languages and
appeared in TIME Magazine.
HIRED! How to Use Sales
Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews, Career Press –
became an instant best-seller.
I
also write weekly articles for PersonalBrandingBlog.com – rated #5 of all the
blogs available, and many of my articles are syndicated.
Can you tell us more
about your books?
Nice
Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results,
Sourcebooks, 2005
ISBN:
13: 978-1-4022-0744-0
ISBN:
10: 1-4022-0744-1
The
theme of this book is to believe in yourself, strive to do what is right and
commit to learning to improve situations and your status in the work
environment. On the entertaining side,
the book is referred to as a “corporate tell-all” relaying the nasty tricks and
shenanigans women often experience when trying to establish themselves. What the reader derives is how to stand up
for oneself, the relationship build and selling techniques that work best and
how to build a long-lasting clientele.
There formula is there too for those who wish to become the next top
producer of their company.
______
HIRED! How to Use Sales
Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews, Career Press,
2010 – became an instant best-seller.
ISBN: 978-1-60163-142-8
ISBN: 978-1-60163-685-0
HIRED!
explains the process of the sales cycle and how interviewing follows the
same. The book walks the reader through
each step of interviewing explaining the sales techniques that should be
applied at the right moment. Examples
through story-telling provide an accurate viewpoint of how it all works
together for a greater positive impact.
Years of prior community service led this author to recognize the
techniques work well. When the financial
markets dropped worldwide, I knew it was time to write the book.
Where do you get your
ideas for writing?
Upon
attending my very first networking event as an entrepreneur, I experienced one
of two reactions: The men laughed
thinking a woman couldn’t possibly know enough to be a sales trainer and the
women ran away hearing I was a sales trainer.
I went home to read marketing materials, as my message was obviously way
off the mark. The common theme was,
“write a book”. Since no one was talking
to me, I had all the time to do so.
What is your favorite
thing about your book?
I
believe the Nice Girls book is classic in that etiquette is included in the
sales know-how. It’s appropriate even
with the advance of social media. Good
manners will never go out of style or be unappreciated. The book brings acclaim from around the world
and puts a smile on everyone’s face who reads it.
Likewise,
much about HIRED! will remain in fashion.
Everything I write about is based upon building relationships,
understanding the needs of others and working to solve their problems. So no matter the new technology, the
principles will always be the same. My
favorite thing about HIRED! is that it has helped many people land their
desired job. It’s community service at
its best because it teaches the reader from their point of reading forward to
become strong in their field. Additional
opportunities arise due to the goodwill the book produced.
Why and when did you
begin writing? Is there any one person
who had a big influence on you or encouraged you to write?
Nice
Girls was my first attempt at writing.
It was the marketing materials that encouraged me. If I didn’t try writing, I would never know
if I could succeed. The first publisher
said yes and it became an instant success. It’s a remarkable record, and that
is why I wrote the second book to make certain it wasn’t just “luck” as some
said but that I was actually good at what I did.
What is your writing
schedule? What atmosphere do you need to
write?
Being
goal-driven, I set the number of pages per day that I expect to write but
include an overall number of pages for the week. Therefore, if one day I fall short, I make it
up on Saturday to fulfill the weekly goal.
My first book was written in 3 months; being highly competitive with
myself, I wrote the second book in two months.
A third book is in the works and that goal is six weeks to completion.
What projects are you
working on now, or plan for the future?
Speaking programs are being planned now
and should begin in the Spring. I’m
working with another who is an outstanding fundraiser. This will be a community effort to help
people land the job they desire and to give a portion of the proceeds to
medical research.
What kind of advice or
tips to you have for someone who wants to write and be published?
My
expertise is in the non-fiction area based upon my personal experience. In this realm, write what you know well. What were your experiences? What difficulties did you have to overcome to
do well? How did you overcome those
difficulties and what was the outcome?
How did all of this further your endeavors? Are there stories you may share to make the
book more personal and engage the reader?
Before you begin writing, mentally review the highlights of what you
wish to share. Perhaps these topics will
become the chapter headers and then the rest of the information will be easier
to fill in.
Final
word here is do not doubt yourself.
Write what you believe helped you and will serve to help others. Believe in yourself and others will believe
in you.
Are there any other
comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers?
Many
people belong to writing groups while others agonize over every paragraph and
title. Some I know took ten years to
write their book and it became outdated before ever going into print. My advice is to commit to writing your book
without second guessing yourself. When
you ask opinions, each person will give you a different one serving only to
confuse. Find quiet time to write and
answer only to yourself. Most likely
your answer will be the right one.
What do you do when you
are not writing?
Monday
through Friday I work on my business and that invariably involves writing in
the form of email or posts. But on
Friday afternoon through Sunday, I enjoy time with family and friends. Travel has always been a passion and I get
away as often as possible.
Include anything else
you may wish to add.
In
today’s world, your book is now a business card. The book establishes your credibility. People know who you are and where to find
you. The Resource Section in the back of
your book may point readers to other events with which you are involved. You will find the book is a springboard into
other activities such as speaking, guest appearances on shows, and requests for
collaboration.
What “Made It” moments
have you experienced in life?
The
book made all the difference in my business.
It was more than worth the effort.
I have enjoyed the following due to becoming a credible author:
Delivered
Keynotes: in Paris, France and at large conventions across the U.S
Honored
by OpenView Labs of Boston MA, listed in their “Top 25 Sales Influencers for
2012”
The
“Global Leadership Award” will be received by Powerful Women Int’l. on
International Women’s Day 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment