ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Creating a book is very much a team effort. We are indebted to our agent, Jackie Meyer, our “secret” line editor, PJ Dempsey, and to the following individuals on the McGraw-Hill team for the magic they create behind the scenes: Donya Dickerson, Chelsea Van der Gaag, Pattie Amoroso, Cheryl Hudson, and Steve Straus.

We would like to add our special thanks to our editor extraordinaire, Casey Ebro, whose guidance made the book 10 times better after every draft. We are grateful that you took us to task for any logical inconsistencies. And we appreciate your pushing us to make the book more personal even though both of us are wired for process.

Finally, this book would not have been possible had we not been able to stand on the shoulders of giants, including Aaron Ross, Trish Bertuzzi, Jeb Blount, Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, Zig Ziglar, Neil Rackham, Stu Heinecke, Mark Roberge, Mike Weinberg, and so many others.

To my clients: inside this book are our secrets, revealed. Twenty-eight years of figuring out how to start conversations consistently with people we don’t know. Getting them to buy predictably so that your businesses can scale and grow. In the late 1980s, we tweaked regular mail to improve response rates, then predictive dialers, and now, the Internet. It’s an honor and privilege to teach, mentor, fight in the trenches, and emerge victorious with you.

To my business partner, Bob Kelly: you are a superb sales executive and true master of the sales conversation. I hope we continue working together until we both decide the beach (and golf for you) are more fun than crafting e-mail sequences and building buying scenarios.

To my husband, Jeff: Do you know how many cold e-mails you’ve read, FTRP and AWAF calls you’ve listened to, and top-of-funnel schematics and drawings you’ve viewed? And have you ever objected to a “Honey, can I run this by you?” You are a gift to me.

To my beautiful daughter, Nicki: I love your laugh, and it’s so incredibly adorable the way you roll your eyes every time I start conversations with people at airports, in restaurants, waiting in line, asking them what they do, how they describe their job, what they like most about it, what their clients are like. I appreciate your allowing me the opportunity to indulge my curiosity and desire to learn and connect. You are my light. You take my breath away.

And finally to you, my dear reader and newfound friend: I’m so happy you picked up this book. You and I, we’re in this together. I’ve done my best to share what I’ve learned in the 28 years I’ve spent doing what I love. In these pages, I hope you find the true secret to predictable prospecting.

—MLT

Those who know me well know that I was born, for better or worse, with intellectual wanderlust. Rather than pursue mastery in a single domain, I strive to hit the professional reset button about once every three years. I was incredibly lucky during my 16 years at Gartner Inc. to have a series of extraordinary bosses who understood my personality and allowed me to reinvent myself as I transformed from engineer to analyst (Greg Sheppard) to product developer (Nir Polonsky) to product manager (Ken Davis) to B2B marketer (Michael Yoo). I owe a special thanks to Nir, Ken, and Michael for showing me the McKinsey way of problem solving and people leadership. After Gartner, I reinvented myself yet again as a sales and sales operations leader with the help of Manny Avrimidis, Jamie Conklin, Alexander Saint-Amand, and Giacomo Iacoangeli.

This book is for each of you and for countless others who have invested in my personal and professional development and fueled my growth.

—JDD