Seal the Deal - Introduction - What’s in It for You

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by McQueen

Seal the Deal presents relationship management as an asset-driven way to sustain and accelerate business growth. The introduction reframes “sales” as a necessary engine for professional services and explains how shifting attention away from relationship asset management slows results. It addresses common barriers solopreneurs and service professionals face—anxiety, discomfort with selling, and negative associations—and emphasizes building a structured, customizable system to generate opportunities while preserving time for client work.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResumes

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time4 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

What’s in It for You

Developing New Business, Your Way

© 2007 by Suzi Pomerantz, MT., MCC. excerpt from Seal the Deal (HRD Press, Inc.) . All rights reserved. [www.sealthedealbook.com](www.sealthedealbook.com) Introduction This is a book about relationships. More specifically, it is about managing relationships as assets. I know, I know--you thought it was about sales. It is. I once heard a speaker named Lou Heckler say,“Business moves at the speed of relationships.”He’s right. You may have heard the term relationship asset management.1 If you constantly manage your relationship assets, your business will move at a constant speed. If you shift your focus or divert your attention, even for a moment, from Relationship Asset Management, you will find that your business will slow down proportionately. If you think of sales as the vehicle that propels business, relationships are the engine and you are the driver. This book is your road map. How fast and how far you want to go is up to you. There are no limits. As Yogi Berra once said,“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.” Selling professional services does not have to be one of those happenstance, if-you’re-lucky kind of things. You can have a plan, you can have systematic steps to get there, and you can have a road map to follow. What’s in It for You You are great at what you do. You are so good at it, you’ve entered the world of self-employment and you have your own business as a consultant, a coach, a therapist, an attorney, a facilitator, an accountant, a chiropractor, a project manager, a trainer, an advisor, a whatever! Do you have a selling system that integrates networking, marketing and sales? Where will your next clients come from? Where will your leads come from? Do you think of yourself as a consultant, a coach, a counselor, an advisor, a chiropractor, a project manager, a whatever and not as a sales person? As a sole proprietor or small business owner, chances are you are not only the president/CEO, but you are also the janitor, receptionist, CFO and COO! And, you are, whether reluctantly or not, the SALES EXECUTIVE for your business. As Sam Horn of TongueFu has said,“a sole proprietor is a SALE proprietor.” Likewise, if you are a solo practitioner, you must also be a sale practitioner. You may be an experienced solopreneur looking for a structured format for sealing the deal and supercharging your sales to take your business to the next level. (A system is defined as a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole, and as a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.2 ) The system set forth in this book applies equally well to seasoned practitioners as well as the newbies. In fact, I was already doing a six figure business when I started applying the ten 1 See Business Is a Contact Sport, by Tom Richardson and Augusta Vidauretta. (Indianapolis: Alpha Books 2002) . 2 Oxford American Dictionaries © 2007 by Suzi Pomerantz, MT., MCC. excerpt from Seal the Deal (HRD Press, Inc.) . All rights reserved. [www.sealthedealbook.com](www.sealthedealbook.com) steps I’ve laid out for you and in the first year of using the system I saw a 95.6% increase in revenues. Either way, this book is for you! Or maybe you’re a retiring baby boomer looking for your next avocation. You may be an employee, tired of slaving away for someone else’s gain, ready to break out on your own to join the global, networked economy of free agents. Either way, you’ve probably considered some form of consulting as an option for what you can do to leverage and apply your corporate experience as a free agent. This book can help you make it a reality. Your success is hinged on your sales abililty. ‘Sales’ is not a dirty word! Selling executive coaching, consulting, or any professional services to corporations can be challenging, particularly given the abstract, intangible nature of those services. Complicating that is our sometimes-negative percep

FAQs

What is the main concept introduced in Seal the Deal?

The book focuses on managing relationships as assets to keep business moving at a steady speed. It frames relationship asset management as the driver of performance, not just sales activity.

Why does the book challenge the way people think about sales?

It argues that sales is not inherently negative and is essential for acquiring clients, especially for professional services with intangible value. It explains how perceptions and discomfort can block business growth.

What does Seal the Deal promise to help the reader do?

It guides readers to take new actions and adjust mindsets about business development using a systematic process. The approach is positioned as concrete, focused, and customizable to the reader’s style.

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by McQueen