The author admits that until he conducted his “cold-case investigation” of the New Testament, he was an atheist who always followed the evidence to find the truth.  Similarly, a lot of prospects are also non-believers – not necessarily in Jesus – in your product or service. As I read and learned about the author’s methods for uncovering truth, or proof, I felt that salespeople could learn a lot about proof of concept, presenting facts, backing up claims, return on investment, and offering credible testimonials.  That’s not nearly the analogy I’m going to make.

Wallace shared a story in the Forward about the time he was shot by a criminal who was on parole, and was not allowed to have a firearm.  Up until the moment of the shooting, Wallace believed that a bullet-proof vest would stop a bullet.  In the moment of the shooting, he believed in the bullet proof vest.  At that moment his belief changed from “belief that” to “belief in.”  That was the analogy he wished to apply to the gospels. He wondered if he could find the evidence to replace faith (belief that the miracles occurred) with proof (belief in both Jesus and the miracles).

That also happens to be my analogy from the book.  Most salespeople believe that a sales process can help them succeed while the very best salespeople believe in their sales process.