I'm not a fan of "The Donald" and I had never seen his hit show until last week. Bernadette, my wife, seems hooked on "The Apprentice" and makes a habit of watching every Thursday while I usually go off to our den to read a book. Each week, she encourages me to watch - and each week I decline. I keep telling her she is probably the only person over 35 to be interested in his show. "Oh, I think you'd be surprised," she tells me.

Last week I referred to the Runaway Bride in my newsletter and told Bernadette I was amazed at the responses I got from readers. "Why don't you write about The Apprentice," she asks. "You'll be amazed at all the selling insights you can cull from each episode. See what kind of response you get."

So, reluctantly I watched the show. However, while I watched, it was through the lens of the sales trainer that I am. When I conduct a Sales Training Seminar, I often ask salespeople and sales managers to name their most important tool - one they rely on every selling day. Surgeons have a scalpel, sculptors their hands, cooks their favorite knives: "What is the ultimate selling tool you rely on," I ask them? They never get the right answer. I hear: palm pilot, cell phone, support staff, products, yada yada yada, etc.

However, the most important tool for the sales professional is "words." It is the "words" you use that sets you apart from others and determines your level of success. So as I watched Tana - the street smart one - and Kendra - the book smart one, I listened to their words. Both Tana and Kendra claim to have sales backgrounds so they should be savvy in the use of words.

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