Th ere is a silver bullet in sales - when you get to highly motivated decision makers at EXACTL Y the right time: after they experience a 'Trigger Event' BUT (or AN D) before they call your competition. When you have the right timing the sale almost happens by itself- There are few challenges getting to the prospect, understanding their dissatisfaction, presenting a solution, or closing the sale. By luck or sheer numbers you've had timing happen before, "... simple but profound truths that will help you leverage intent for immediate action and cut down the selling cycle, while creating lasting bonds with customers." -Stephen M.R. Covey, author of the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller The Speed of Trust "... an entirely new perspective on things that are hiding in plain sight for all sales professionals. Well done!" -Kevin Fancey, Senior Vice President of Sales, Ricoh Canada Inc "By combining the power of relationships with timing - what Elias and Shanto call "Trigger Events" - the authors present a powerful sales strategy..." -Keith Ferr azzi, #1 NYT Bestselling author of Who's Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone "Elias and Shanto have brought referrals into the 21st Century, showing you how to ... capitalize on the key moments that will bring you success in a busy, fast-paced world. This is a must read!" -Ivan Misner, NY Times Bestselling author and Founder of BNI and the Referral Institute Selling, like life, is all about timing. This book is about timing and understanding the events that trigger timing (Trigger Events) and harnessing them to close more sales sooner. It's about mastering the art and science of getting in front of the right person at exactly the right time--which we call the Window of Dissatisfaction(tm)-- and then doing the right things when you have timing. Knowing that Trigger Events result in highly productive sales efforts and deeply loyal customers will help you to close sales sooner and take home a much bigger commission check. Once you understand this timing--and it's easier than you think--you can learn to take the right action based on the decision-maker's buying mode. You can enjoy a much higher close ratio than you're experiencing right now, on bigger deals that close much more quickly, so you can move on and start selling to someone else more quickly. The secret to being successful in sales is perfecting your timing. That means getting in front of the right person at exactly the right time. To do that, you must understand the power of something that has a dramatic impact on the sales cycle, which most salespeople don't spend enough time understanding. It's called Path Dependency. PATH DEPENDENCY Path Dependency is what happens when decision-makers have done the same thing in the same way for so long that it's easier for them to keep doing the same things the way they have always done them. Most of the time, when you are selling, this is your competition--unless there is a compelling reason to change and a Trigger Event that makes them want to change right now. All salespeople face the same competition: the prospective buyer's predisposition to keep doing exactly what they are already doing. When decision-makers have Path Dependency, the investment of time, money, energy, or attention they've already made in something prevents them from taking a different approach. Just think of the way you type using a standard QWERTY keyboard (which is named after the first six letters in the top row of a keyboard). Most people have been trained to type using that keyboard layout. Why is that? We all type that way because, on the earliest manual typewriters, the keys kept getting stuck when people typed too fast. The QWERTY keyboard was actually designed to keep the keys from jamming the mechanism! The problem is that people wanted to type faster. The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard solved that problem. It allowed people to type faster without the keys jamming. However, people had invested so much time in learning to type with a QWERTY keyboard that they did not want to forgo the investment they had made or reinvest their time, money, and effort in learning something new. This is the power of Path Dependency: almost everyone is still typing on the QWERTY keyboard to this day! The real challenge, and the real competition, is that buyers think they don't have a problem. They're happy with the Status Quo. They are too busy doing what they're already doing (i.e., taking care of things they're used to taking care of) to look at what you have to offer. Initially, it seems as though, no matter what you do, you just can't get their attention. That's the effect of Path Dependency. Once we are used to doing something, it's a lot easier to keep doing what we've always done. Think of it this way: You have a car that you like driving, and have had generally good experiences with it over the years. On your way home from work one night, the transmission breaks. You have the car towed to