Bill (or “Coach” Brooks as he was known by so many) dedicated his life to elevating the respect paid to those of us involved in professional selling. He championed (and genuinely enjoyed) the day-to-day life of the salesperson, and always took pride in the fact that he’d “raised himself from failure to success in sales.”

He’d been fired from his very first commission-only sales job and his tireless struggle to become a top sales superstar always showed up in Bill’s disdain for “overblown theory” and his constant desire to match the “game plan” to street-smart how to’s.

To realize his vision of helping sales professionals enjoy the success he knew they could achieve, Bill became a highly successful sales author, speaker, and consultant. He even distilled the essence of his salesmanship “take-aways” into IMPACT selling, which remains one of his enduring legacies.

In short, Bill proved to be the consummate entrepreneur as well as sales professional.

But more than that, Bill was – more than anything – a genuine coach and teacher whose first goal was always to move people to mastery, to the level where they could independently teach others from their own uniquely developed insights.

We received countless calls and letters during the weeks following Bill’s death. Each told a tale, wove a story, or related an anecdote about how Bill spent one-on-one time with clients and colleagues, always encouraging them, suggesting business ideas and telling them that he was always only a phone call away whenever they needed advice.

In short, Bill’s real ambition was to grow his clients – and his company – far bigger and higher than he could reach on his own. He worked tirelessly to build a self-sustaining, corporate-level company by personally recruiting highly skilled people, and installing proven systems. And he succeeded!

The Brooks Group’s 20+ employees are here to carry Bill’s legacy into the future not only by delivering and building upon Bill’s street-smart yet strategic sales and sales management training programs, but by continuing on his legacy of coaching sales professionals into mastery and independence.

We’ll always remember Bill’s reminder that “Your Sales Success Is Our Life’s Work.”