In sales, there is never really a conclusion. Certainly each quarter or year ends. Each sales cycle ends. But each ending provides a brief respite before you are thrown back into another deal. While reflecting on the material you have just read, always remember that you are going to be called on to do it again tomorrow. In this final chapter, we provide a few suggestions on how to integrate everything you have learned in a holistic fashion, enabling you to keep running the marathon that is sales.

Be Passionate

Out of the many people interviewed for this book, nearly four out of five identified passion as a key reason for, or indicator of, success in a salesperson. Customers are buying the chance to improve some aspect of their business, and if you are passionate about your company, your products, and their application to the customer's project, you are much more likely to get the deal. Passionate people also attract and inspire others.

Find products, companies, and customers who excite you. Use that passion to fuel your activities and to fire up your customers and coworkers. Balance this with an equal level of engagement in your personal relationships and life outside work. Pursuing your bliss outside the workplace makes you a more interesting and exciting person to be around in the workplace. If you become so dedicated to your career that you let your personal life falter, you will be on the path to burnout. This will benefit neither...