CEO and best-selling author Dan Milstein learned hard lessons working his way to the pinnacle of the sales profession. In his new book, Street Smart Selling: How to Be a Sales Superstar, Milstein reaches out to help aspiring salespeople work their way up to join him at the top. In Street Smart Selling, Milstein lays out a detailed set of guidelines that will be useful for ambitious beginning salespeople, as well as for established professionals who wish, to paraphrase the book's subtitle, become Sales Superstars. Milstein's advice ranges from simple things, like how to make and use an effective daily to-do list, to how to develop a long-term career plan. He discusses things like the importance of getting referrals from satisfied customers, how to understand and best use social media like Facebook and LinkedIn, how to maintain lifelong customer relationships, how to make yourself stand out in a crowd, and even how to plan for the contingency of a career change. There is even a section of specific suggestions for sales managers interested in building a stronger sales team, including establishing mentoring programs, recognizing and preventing burnout, and effective coaching. Most of the book, however, is aimed at self-improvement for motivated individuals. Milstein credits his success to his own love for selling; "The salespeople with the best attitudes are those who never lose their passion for sales. Passion helps you get through the ups and downs of sales. You can 'endure' a career without passion, but you cannot be a long-term success unless you love what you do." "Be sure you know why you want to become a sales superstar. You have to understand what pushes you, whether it is financial/compensation, ego gratification, company recognition or something else. List your top two reasons now and then look at them again after three months. What’s changed?" Some successful people reach the top of their profession and try to pull the ladder up after them. With Street Smart Selling, Dan Milstein is doing exactly the opposite, extending a helping hand to anyone willing to put in the hard work to climb up with him. "This exciting book, based on an extraordinarily successful sales career, is loaded with strategies, techniques and methods that you can apply today." - Brian Tracy "His message is clear: love the product, love the customer and do whatever it takes to close the sale." - Kirkus Reviews "STREET SMART SELLING is a polished guide to ultimate salesmanship." -Grady Harp, Top 50 Amazon Reviewer "The skills he teaches can be used by anyone to develop their own business and sales efforts." Ross Rojek San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review "Street Smart Selling offers detailed steps to become a Sales Superstar." Emory Daniels, Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer Daniel Milstein is known as a successful business executive, author, company builder, entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group, an Inc. 500 Company. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Dan and his family experienced hardships and religious persecution, all in the shadow of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Forced to escape the Soviet government, Dan's family fled to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Highly motivated to succeed, Dan worked his way up from mopping floors in a restaurant, through a series of challenging jobs, to establish one of the 15 fastest-growing financial services companies in the United States. He graduated with honors from Cleary University, earning a business degree, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater. He is currently in his second term on the Cleary University Board of Trustees. Under Dan's leadership, Gold Star has grown to be a national leader in the mortgage industry, with offices across the U.S. The company has been named a Top Workplace in Michigan by the Detroit Free Press, and a Michigan Economic Bright Spot by Corp! magazine. Dan has been ranked the #1 loan officer in the United States, out of more than 550,000 professionals in the lending industry. He has been included in the prestigious "40 Under 40" in Crain's magazine, "30 in Their Thirties" in DBusiness magazine, and has been named one of the nation's 40 Top Finance Professionals by National Mortgage Professional magazine. Dan is also the author of The ABC of Sales: Lessons from a Superstar, and 17 Cents & a Dream: My Incredible Journey from the USSR to Living the American Dream. He is also a contributing writer for many business publications. As an author, he has earned awards and honors at national and international book festivals in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New England. In 2012, Milstein was named to the prestigious National Academy of Best-Selling Authors.