The Sales Assassin is the ultimate master of sales passion and discipline, the Sales Assassin Master (aka SAM) of your own destiny; focused on a results-driven willingness to be prepared to control your own destiny. The SAM must be a master of perseverance, self-control and must possess the spirit of being responsible and accountable for your successful performance. The path to Sales Assassin success—the path to positive thinking and to controlling your sales destiny as a SAM—begins with the 9 Belts of Sales Assassin Mastery.

The 9 belts in the SAM Sales Philosophy are not intended to be progressive, but instead they are a series of elements and skills that exist independent of one another. Collectively, they provide a professional foundation for sales success:

SAM Belt 1: Passion, Dedication, Courage
Discover what drives your heart, mind and spirit in your sales profession and in life! The art of mastering SAM status requires Outrageous Passion, Dedication and Courage (PDC). PDC is an internal mindset and a set of strong emotions and confidence that will move you past your comfort area. Passion: having a wholehearted conviction that, whatever you decide to pursue, you’re going to be the best at it! Dedication: having a “self-sacrificing” commitment to what you do on a daily basis! Courage: having the ability to act in spite of fear of failure or rejection!

SAM Belt 2: Mental Preparedness Development
Condition your mind to receive new ideas! Your mental preparedness is a core aspect of any sales endeavor. If true sales success has evaded you then you must be willing to de-program and make room for new ideas and concepts. Your mind must be conditioned and prepared to engage every challenge within the sales cycle and in life.

SAM Belt 3: Establishing the Sales Assassin Mindset
Control how you think, act and react! In business, our intelligence is just the starting point and will only get us so far; the rest is developed via our experiences. Our mindset is our fixed mental attitude that predetermines our response to and interpretation of the situations we face each day in the workplace and in life. The key to controlling our mindset is to control the obstacles and distractions that keep us from achieving whatever we set out to conquer each day.

SAM Belt 4: Goal Setting and Achievement
Know your target goals and plan your attack! To have any shot at success, you first have to know what you want to achieve and then you must have a plan to achieve it. Choose SMARTS goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound, stretches you. Set “target” goals and “challenge” goals.

SAM Belt 5: Client Qualification Process
Know your client and isolate the “hot spots!” The sales qualification method that is too complex can impede the sales process. The method that is not precise enough could stall the process or forfeit the opportunity all together. The SAM qualification process is the ability to use precision to load, lock, aim and zero-in on the target information required to close the deal.

SAM Belt 6: The Mastery of Leadership Integrity
Practice what you preach: lead with integrity! How sales professionals and leaders function, make decisions and communicate their decisions demonstrates whether (or not) they can be trusted. The irony is we generally know when we are leading with integrity, but the validation by others is our reality check.

SAM Belt 7: Reinvestment in Your Business and You
Create the competitive distinction! The concept is easy to understand: YOU are your business; your business is YOU. Reinvesting into the business of “You” means investing time and resources into learning about how to be a better salesperson. Creating a unique message is a marketing strategy that businesses always use to differentiate themselves from the competition. Differentiating yourself and creating a positive distinction from your competition is also necessary.

SAM Belt 8: Lessons of Life
Learn from your successes as well as your failures! Your life experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly should make you stronger and smarter. The key is in understanding how to recognize these lessons and use them as a vehicle to adapt, grow and sustain. Remember, the only constant is change. Life’s lessons are your ability as a SAM to not only adapt to change that a sales life demands, but more importantly to be facilitator and leader of your own change vehicle.

SAM Belt 9: Lifestyle Change
Make a mental and emotional commitment! Becoming a Sales Assassin Master means making a mental and emotional commitment to completely changing your behaviors and the way you think, act and react to situations. It’s about replacing bad habits with positive ideas, concepts and new habits that have a dynamic impact on your journey to becoming more successful in sales and in life.

When you understand the importance of each belt and how to embrace the concepts you must achieve to be awarded each belt, this is an accomplishment worthy of respect and one that measures another step toward success.

Anthony Caliendo is a self-made man, entrepreneur, corporate visionary, leadership coach, and author of The Sales Assassin – Master Your Black Belt in Sales. Learn more at www.thesalesassassin.com.