Book Description

Contains the industry's most powerful methods for marketing and selling your company's recruiting services to prospective clients.

Tape One: The Power of Candidate Marketing

How to gain access to decision makers -- Storyboard your marketing script -- Discover hidden business opportunities -- Handle common objections and concerns -- Build name recognition and credibility through associations -- Establish high-quality dialogue -- Turn prospects into clients by closing on commitments.

Tape Two: Aggressive Sales, Research and Lead Generation

How to improve your selling skills -- Set higher standards for your prospects -- Qualify early to increase your odds -- Follow the paper trail to high-quality leads -- Create a market genealogy to guide your research -- Utilize the Internet and other sources of unpaid advertising -- Maximize your advertising and direct marketing results.

Plus, answers to these common questions:

Should I market outside my area of specialty? What if my marketing presentation falls flat? How often do I visit my prospects? Is it wise to market my service to internal recruiters? ... Read more

Reviews (19)

The only book you'll need on effective selling
Zig Ziglar's "Secrets Of Closing The Sale" is probably the best book I've ever read. Not only does it provide you with everything you will ever need to be successful in the world of selling - it thoroughly entertains as well. "Secrets" provides readers with interesting and humorous stories meticulously tied in with step by step actions and exact scripts for sales people to use in specific situations.

All you have to do is adapt these scripts to your situation and you are ready to start selling more of what you sell.

Zig covers - how to use a tape recorder to explode your selling power - how to use voice inflection to communicate your message more effectively - how to make you and your prospect both winners when you close the sale - and so much more.

Ziglar even has various free items that he will send you scattered throughout the book. Just by responding I've already received three free gifts including an incredible audio casette on voice inflection. It's incredible.

I hope to get to see Zig live one day. He's an incredibly powerful speaker and author. Get this book - even if you have to steal it.

If you do steal it though, read it, learn to sell, sell something, get your commission, then go pay for the book. Zig deserves to get paid. He did a fine job on this one.

The only book you'll need on effective selling
Zig Ziglar's "Secrets Of Closing The Sale" is probably the best book I've ever read. Not only does it provide you with everything you will ever need to be successful in the world of selling - it thoroughly entertains as well.

"Secrets" provides readers with interesting and humorous stories meticulously tied in with step by step actions and exact scripts for sales people to use in specific situations.

All you have to do is adapt these scripts to your situation and you are ready to start selling more of what you sell.

Zig covers - how to use a tape recorder to explode your selling power - how to use voice inflection to communicate your message more effectively - how to make you and your prospect both winners when you close the sale - and so much more.

Ziglar even has various free items that he will send you scattered throughout the book. Just by responding I've already received three free gifts including an incredible audio casette on voice inflection. It's incredible.

I hope to get to see Zig live one day. He's an incredibly powerful speaker and author. Get this book - even if you have to steal it.

If you do steal it though, read it, learn to sell, sell something, get your commission, then go pay for the book. Zig deserves to get paid. He did a fine job on this one.

Raymond A. Mardo III Mailto:raymardo@raymardo.com

Don't pollute your mind with this waste of time.
These techniques may have worked 40 years ago but, now, in 2004, buyers are keen to this "old pro's" dialogs. After reading this book, "The Closers" and "How to Master the Art of Selling", you will see the difference I'm talking about and realize that this book is a joke.

zig you're alright
but your book didn't knock my socks off. At least two thirds of the book are more or less a waste of time and teach about closing only in the form of annecdotes - then every little story has a headline and the "close" gets a name, the soundso-close, and he drones on and on and then towards the end of the book finally he is getting somewhere. Still, I think that Ziglar is mostly good at selling cooking pots, (I even believe he was good at it), and himself. But since buyers and markets always change and salespeople should change alltogether with them in order to stay on top, we should turn to other authors in the meantime. I recommend SPIN Selling and QBS. This one here is still at times enjoyable and I am not saying I didn't learn anything or that I wasn't inspired at times. But not a treat and no matter how good he's been and still is, old school is over and I am looking for something fresh. When you're not Zig, don't sell like him, it may not work. Everything from chapter 25 on, however, is worth the money, this is where he covers objections and how to handle them. Also, I never knew the guy (I'm German). When I started to listen to his audio programs on motivation (How to stay motivated) he made a lot more sense to me.

Invest in "Secrets"
While attending a sales class last spring, I met a salesman in my company who was consistently performing at top levels. I asked him his secrets, and he suggested I buy this book and read it. "I could let you borrow my copy," he said with a smile, "but if you invest in your own copy you'll get a lot more out of it."

He was so right. This book shows a lot of tips on closing the sales: how to make the sale when your customers don't show up for appointments, how to handle complaints on price, how to help the prospect sell HIMSELF on the product/service. I don't know how I was ever selling anything before reading this!

It's a delightful read, written with humorous stories and pertinent examples in every chapter. And despite its age (written in the 1980's) it consistently provides good advice. Everything I have read in "Secrets" has been a boon.

Does it work? Well, now I'm the top salesperson in my market area and in the top ten in my region, whereas before reading "Secrets" I was near the bottom in both. ... Read more

Book Description

We found the truly gifted law professors most law students can only dream about – the professors who draw rave reviews, not only for their scholarship, but for their ability to make the law easy to understand.We asked these select few professors to condense their courses into a single lecture.And it’s these lectures you’ll find in the Law School Legends Series.With Law School Legends, you’ll get a brilliant law professor explaining an entire subject to you in one simple, dynamic lecture.The Law School Legends make even the most difficult concepts crystal clear.You’ll understand the big picture, and how all the concepts fit together.You’ll get hundred of examples and exam tips, honed over decades in the classroom.But best of all, you’ll get insights you can only get from America’s greatest law professors! ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Strategy as a selling tool, powerful and well encapsulated.
Useful and self-contained. To anyone involved in selling, both tangibles and intangibles, this book provides a basic and powerful methodology based on a "non-manipulative selling philosophy" that is easy to understand and rather straight forward to apply. It is specially good for seasoned salespersons that can recognize familiar components of the traditional sales approach and that have the true experience to value "life-long" realtionships with customers. For consultants and sellers of intangibles, it provides a valid road map to identify role-players and decision-makers. For new salespersons, it helps them to think strategically. The authors seem to forget the permanent pressure salespeople have and the way sales objectives are set, so some comments do no fit the real world (like relinquishing an account, or letting a client go away), and fall in a rather romantic view of the profession. Although at first it seems geared toward large corporate and tangible accounts, with a little manipulation and some easing of documentation (desk-time) requirements, the methodology can be used in any selling environment. It is straight-forward and simple to use; reduces uncertainty about the process and provides the user (the salesperson) a sense of control over his/her environment and participants. Since change is a constant, and salespeople are inmersed today in a variety of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) strategies and techniques, this books fits nicely within it since it is the Customer and our Relationship with him/her that is at the center of it. It is a good, solid investment.

Opportunity Management Process
Many times a sales person can get confused identifying the players, the probability of change, the timing, the competition, the politics of a sales opportunity. Following the Strategic Selling process lays out an effective plan that leverages the key benefits of the sellers/buyers solution, and minimizes price as the principle buying criteria. Strategic Selling provides a process for what successful sale people do consistently-Plan. This book lays out a process that is also a two day class used by many global corporation's sales forces. The book is not a replacement for the class, but if you are selling B2B the process is well documented, and will put you on the right track. I have been teaching and using this process for 13 years and I have not found a better sales opportunity planning process. I think you can learn more from this book than from 100 sales calls.

Helpful prospecting book
This book is great and has helped me tremendously in being more confident in prospecting new business for my line of work. It gives excellent advise on deal making - everything from the initial sales call to closing the deal. It hits on points critical to strategic planning and developing a strong sales action plan. An A+++ book!!

This Teaches you how to go into a Sales call
This will Teache you how to go into a Sales call, With a plan, outline and a goal, Very good worth buying, giving to your sales managers.

A solid book
This book is not an easy read. It is logically arranged and provides excellent insight into certain apsects of strategic selling but it is very long and it is quite dry.

While it does contain very valuable and usable insight, I feel that the underlying process behind the whole concept is beginning to look slightly dated now. This process is 25 years old after all and the world has changed immeasurably during this time. There are other books available that are firstly easier to read and secondly more cutting edge in terms of the methology they suggest. ... Read more

Book Description

Drawing on his forty plus years as a world-class motivated speaker, Ziglar shows precisely how to achieve what people desire most from life -- to be happy, healthy, reasonably prosperous and secure, and to have friends, peace of mind, good family relationships and hope.

Reviews (21)

The best of Zig Ziglar
Zig's popularity didn't really explode until this book was released for the first time in 1993. And most authors choose to refer this book, out of all other ones Zig has written for others to read. Instead of focusing on just pure motivation, Zig teaches the art of living a happy, well-balanced life. The books starts off by raising you out of the trench of depression, then by giving you hope, arming you with a positive attitude and then instructing you with the best goal setting program I have ever read. Some parts of the book in opinion were quite dull and could use more follow up information,
but just the a good orchestra the final product was beautifully composed. If you're looking for a fun, humorous and simple book, I strongly suggest you take a look at Zig's Success for Dummies first, before buying this one. If you have one you do not need the other. The reason I like SFD better is because it combines his books See you at the Top and this one together.

excelent book, more than a must read, it is a must do
This book is based on biblical teachings, therefor the infomation that it contains will change your life forever. If you apply yourself and respond to what Zig Ziglar says, your life will change. How do I know that the information in this book works, well I am seeing the proof in my own life. This book will help you to apply GOD's teachings to your everyday life. This book is easy to understand and is very streight forward. I encourage everyone to not only read this book, but to apply these biblical teachings.

Right on Target Advice!
"In my own life I always pray for guidance as I choose my goals," writes Ziglar. In the margin I dated it and wrote "I do too." This book contains so much rich, practical, doable wisdom, not wonder it's a classic for achievers. Persistence leads to desired results. He quotes Robert Collier in making the point when he noted, "Success is the sum of small efforts--repeated day in and day out."

Ziglar talks about seeing one's self in the mind's eye as a prelude to accomplishment. "I dreamed overy forty years ago that I would be traveling the world, making speeches to every conceivalbe kind of group. I literally saw myself in front of vast audiences making those talks," he tells us.

On feeding success mentally, he reminds us of the necessity to surround ourselves with people who are going to edify us. He adds, "read good books." This is one such good book. Read it!

A message for Andrew Diamond
Dear "Jesus save me from Zig",

Why should the other reviewers have to disclose their faith? That is absolutely ridiculous!!! Christians have the same rights to free speech that other religious groups so freely enjoy without having to put up with that kind of discrimination. If you directed that sort talk to any other group than Christians your review would be considered discriminatory towards the group and potentially racist if the group was predominately of one ethnic background such as muslims or jewish people and in fact it probably wouldn't even get posted. Who do you think you are saying these people have to disclose their religious beliefs? They don't!!! And by the way, it's not as if they are trying to hide it. You make it sound like a right wing conspiracy. Why do you even care? It's obvious this book is written for people who can appreciate motivational speaking and the benefits of a positive mental attitude from a person as successful as Zig Ziglar. I bet your life is just teaming with accomplishments... This book is for people who have the ability to respect other people and their beliefs. I can't even believe that your review got posted!

People like you want free speech as long as it's not from a Christian or conservative point of view. People like you want no discrimination but you discriminate against Christians. People like you want to save whales, spotted owls and bambi but reserve the right to kill an unborn child if it's not convenient to have a child at that point in their life. Do you even realize what a double standard you have? You and your kind want free speech but don't want to hear about anything that goes against your liberal way of life.

Jesus save me from Zig!
I bought this expecting motivational insights a la Earl Nightingale, but instead I get a sermon I could hear in any fundamentalist church. I think the other reviewers should have to state their religious beliefs as part of the review process. I bet all the 5 star reviewers are Born Agains. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Superb! 100% useful
This is the BIBLE for customer focused consultative selling!

If you are a sales professional or manager interested in revving things up and taking your sales team to the next level this is the program to do it! Step by step instructions for detailed account management , opportunity assessment , identification and how to build trust, get the customer to help you understand their needs and then to help you close the deal!

The system is like all Miller- Heiman programs- very detailed and filled with examples. This is perfect for helping salespeople who tend to go to one person at a client and not expand into the account- learn about other people and how they can influence decisions. Underlying message is the more your know- the less you hear "NO!"

I first did this program as a salesperson over 10 years ago- since then I have taught the program 4 times- I personally learn each time I do so. Other programs by Miller-Heiman are all built upon this program and its sister program Customer Focused Selling. Their advanced LAMP ( Large Account Management ) program requires this as a pre-requisite.

Clients of Miller-Heiman include big pharmaceutical companies, top automotive manufacturers and suppliers, I took a class in Chicago with the sales team responsible for selling the big 3 transmissions! Telecon companies use Miller-Heiman. Electronics mega-sellers use the system. Can your business benefit from the system designed to maximize the output of every sales call?

Then bid with confidence! Great book to read before your winter sales team meeting.

Don't Get Lost in the Sales Cycle
It would be great if you could develop some new technique for walking into a large corporation and closing a major sale on the first visit, but it rarely, if ever, happens. Chances are, you're in for drawn-out process with lots of players. Most corporate sales professionals meander through this process hoping to "do what it takes" to close the sale. Miller, Heiman finally offer up a way of keeping score -- of knowing where you stand in the process and what you have to do to keep it moving in the right direction. By developing a standard nomenclature to discuss buy types and their relevant position in the sales process, Miller, Heiman allow you to keep track for yourself, but discuss it with your sales management. This is likely the most important book about the strategic side of selling. I can guarantee you this: read this book -- practice the technicques within, and you will never find out you lost a sale after the fact.

A comprehensive sales methodology
_Strategic Selling_ is a valuable book, especially for those of us who are not "salesmen" in the classic sense, but have to operate in the Complex Sales environment. Consultants and Client Relationship Managers will find it especially valuable.

_Strategic Selling_ provides valuable insight into how to set up "Win/Win" situations: it begins by identifying the different kinds of "Buyers" in every sales situation, the roles they play, and what constitutes "Value" to them.

It then provides a mechanism for identifying what you do not "know" about the various Buyers, with the objective of finding out. It is an approach which helps you paint a complete picture of the dynamics at work in a selling situation, so that you can operate effectively within it.

Finally, it provides a mechanism for "keeping the sales funnel full" -- a challenge which most people operating in cyclical industries can identify with.

Following this methodology can help you ensure that you do not blunder around in ignorance in a Complex Sales environment -- you will know at least as much as the next guy, and probably much more. And you will be actively doing something about it.

Rackham's _SPIN Selling_ is a good complementary book to _Strategic Selling_, as it provides a tactical approach -- the "How To" as opposed to the "Why".

_Strategic Selling_ is an interesting -- though not uncomplementary -- contrast to Holden's _Power Base Selling_. Both approaches can provide insight into the inner workings of the Complex Sale; however, _Strategic Selling_ focuses less on manipulating the political forces at work, and may thus be more palatable for some

Excellent system for sales analysis
Strategic Selling is a long time favorite of mine because of the simplicity and structure to the method. Especially for the new salesperson, this book provides the tools to effectively handle complex sales situations. ... Read more

Download Description

You can't touch, hear, or see your company's most important products. . . . So how do you sell, develop, make them grow? That's the problem with services.

This "phenomenal" book, as one reviewer called it, answers that question with insights on how markets work and how prospects think. A treasury of hundreds of quick, practical, and easy-to-read strategies, Selling the Invisible will open your eyes to new ideas in this crucial branch of marketing, including:
*Why focus groups, value-price positioning, discount pricing, and being the best usually fail
*The vital role of vividness, focus, "anchors," and stereotypes
*The importance of Halo, Cocktail Party, and Lake Wobegon effects
*Marketing lessons from black holes, grocery lists, the Hearsay Rule, and the fame of the Matterhorn
*Dozens of proven yet consistently overlooked ideas for research, presentations, publicity, advertising, and client retention . . . and much more.

Based on the author's twenty-five years of experience with thousands of business professionals, this book delivers its wisdom with unforgettable and often surprising examples--from Federal Express, Citicorp, and a growing Greek travel agency to an ingenious baby-sitter, Fran Lebowitz, and the colors of oranges and lemons.

The first guide of its kind and a book already causing a sensation in the business community, Selling the Invisible will help anyone marketing a service, a product, or a career. Read it, and you almost certainly will understand why two advance readers call it the best book on business ever written. ... Read more

Reviews (103)

A "renewing of vows" between you and your consumer.
Harry Beckwith has boiled down the art of marketing into many small and easy to understand words of wisdom.

If you are in business you have to read this book. Whether you are an owner, CEO or department head, Beckwith lays out the essential tools to market your company, and sites fresh examples to illustrate. He says "Marketing is not a department" and he's right--it is your front line (sales people) to your CEO and everyone in between. Everyone at your company is involved in marketing your company-and the author makes sure you get the message. Stop wasting time with ploys that don't work. COMMUNICATE with the consumer and you will see increased sales and market share.

"Selling The Invisible" serves as a "renewing of vows" for those well into their careers. It provides a way to go from a jaded attitude to a fresh perspective and look at your company from the outside. If you think you've heard it all before, you haven't heard it like this. A clear a concise "handbook" for modern business.

Finally a Marketing Book that Applies to NonProfits!
Most marketing books are aimed at businesses that sell stuff, which makes them fairly inapplicable to the NonProfit world. "Selling the Invisible" comes the closest I've seen to helping market what NonProfits do. That's because "Selling the Invisible" focuses not on marketing products, but on marketing services, which makes it a great book for NonProfits.

"Selling the Invisible" is not a how-to book. Instead, it is a thoughtful guide, providing insights on how marketing works and how prospects think. The chapters are short - more like snippets than chapters - each with a single thought that moves you towards the next thought. I have read this book a number of times, and I can never get past 3 or 4 of its tiny chapters without stopping to scribble down notes, or to consider just how our clients (and our own organization) are currently doing things. I have even found it helpful in thinking about different ways to market my own book on NonProfit board recruitment.

The book starts by asking first things first: Are you sure what you have to market really is worth telling people about? Have you surveyed clients to find out if your service really is a quality service? Are you really providing what the community needs? Beckwith aims right for the heart.

Once you are convinced you have a quality organization to talk about, he moves you through all the thought processes that should go into that marketing. But don't expect to move quickly. Expect your brain to light up in thought. Keep a note pad handy.

Here are just some of the things I love about this book:
Under the heading 'Fran Lebowitz and Your Greatest Competitor,' comes this quote:
"Your greatest competitor is not your competition. It is indifference."
And under the heading 'The Value of Publicity,' you will find this:
"There are six peaks in Europe higher than the Matterhorn. Name one."

The last chapter is a discussion of other books that can help round out the reader's understanding of marketing. Because Beckwith takes a systems approach to the subject and not a 'sell-the-widget' approach, many of these books are applicable to the NonProfit world as well.

As someone who spends a lot of time combing bookstore shelves for business books that translate well to the NonProfit world, "Selling the Invisible" is one I would strongly recommend.

Short, Concise...Very Insightful
Having spent much of my career in the I.T. services sector, I thoroughly enjoy researching other interests and broadening my understanding of topics that can enrich my life and career. In the area of marketing services, this publication provided ample, tangible information on modern marketing and exceeded my expectations in a number of ways.

First, the covers of this book are not too far apart, which is a rare find these days. Often, writers try to impart an excessive amount of irrelevant information in their writings, as though their real ambition is to write the next, great American novel. This book is different.

This publication is short, concise and filled with valuable information. If you are in the business of marketing, you need this book. For anyone in the service industry, consider giving yourself an edge over your competition by reading this insightful book, and putting into action the relevant suggestions of the author.

Mixed Review: frequently just scratches the surface
The ideas that the author brings up are good, but too often I felt like I wanted more. The second section was irritating. I got the feeling that the author has extensive experience in advising others, but little experience in personally carrying out - nice stories and good talk, but few real world details. On the other hand, I have been able to apply some of the ideas to my business. Stick it out past the second section and it gets a lot better.

Bottom line: Not the only book you'll need to learn about marketing your service, but a worthwhile investment.

Do you keep using people who don't do little things right?
Selling the Invisible is must reading for anyone who wants to understand what it really means to run a service business. Your clients will know good service when they "see" it, but they most likely won't be able to tell you what it is. Beckwith can and does. Good service is all about doing the little things to help your customers "like" you. It's about creating relationships with new friends. Read this book, and you'll find out that it's not the most technically competent business that wins, it's the most likeable one that will. We're all very lucky because it's not really hard to do the little things that'll please our customers. Or is it? ... Read more

Book Description

How do some salespeople consistently outsell their competition?Why does closing work in small sales but fail in larger ones?How can salespeople dramatically increase their sales volume from major accounts?

Spin Selling has the answers.Developed from 12 years of research into thousands of sales calls, the SPIN strategy is already being used by many of the world's top sales forces.If you're in sales - or if you manage a sales force - you need these revolutionary, easy-to-apply techniques.

With wit and authority, Neil Rackham explains why traditional sales models don't work for large sales.He shows how conventional selling methods are doomed to fail in major sales.And he unfolds the enormously successful SPIN strategy, using real-world examples and informative cases.The methods are controversial, and they often go against the grain of conventional sales training,.But the powerful evidence Rackham presents will convince and convert you. ... Read more

Reviews (46)

Absolute must read
intially the Name "Spin Selling" came across to be as some cheesy and manipulative model being taught by the author.
after reading various books and attending seminars and workshops i was consistently referred to this book.
also i researched some of the high-performance Sales Professionals and most of them had training on SPIN Selling, so
i finally decided to read Rackham's book "SPIN Selling" and
i'm glad i did and yes this book i feel is the Foundation of all the Modern Sales Training out there.

His Training is backed with extensive proof and facts and every single advice is backed by extensive research conducted by huthwaite. very impressed.

"Situation - Problem - Implication and Need-Payoff", these are the four types of Questioning you will learn and the Value and relative importance of each and in what order to be used effectively.

the biggest lesson for me is the Difference of a "Implied Need" compared to "Explicit Need" and how it all boils down to uncovering "Explicit Needs" and to communicate with customers about "Benefits". this book also clears a very common mistake a lot of us do, to look at a product or solution's advantages and convey that as Benefit to customer. As per the author a "Benefit" is one that solves a Customer's "Explicit Need".

don't be discouraged by any review that writes off the book's style of writing to be research oriented, the book is around 190 Pages and it's worth the weight in gold.

A Book For The True Professional
A breath of fresh air. The profession of Sales is plagued with all sorts of nonsense, most of it annecdotal at best. Little actual research has been done to identify good processes for sales professionals and consequently we get idiotic advice ranging from "Always Be Closing" and endless manipulative closing techniques for doing so, to recommendations on how to sell "anything to anybody." Such sales tactics are precisely the reason salespeople have been saddled with negative stereotypes.

SPIN Selling is the result of extensive observation and analysis of sales calls by behavioral researcher Neil Rackham. His findings are both practical and useful, and are well presented in this book. As sellers, we might give some thought to how we would like to be treated as customers - something that should not be a revelation, but is. We should understand the customer's goals and objectives and help them be successful if we want to be successful. Forget your scripted sales pitch, leave your brochures in your briefcase, ask questions and listen to your customers to understand their needs BEFORE presenting your product. Surprisingly, this will actually shorten the selling cycle and will result in better long-term customer relationships. Rackham's concept of an "Advance" as an objective way to measure the progress of a sales call is, alone, worth the price of this book.

As a sales professional with many years' experience, and now as sales training manager for a division of a Fortune 500 company, I highly recommend this book and the methodology Rackham describes. There are other good books for salespeople - but if I could only recommend one, this would be it.

Great methodology
As a sales trainer, I found this book to present a wonderful methodology for both salespeople new to the business as well as seasoned salespeople. The SPIN principle (Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff) works in almost any sales environment whether you are selling big ticket items to large accounts or volumes of small ticket items.

Overall, I found "SPIN Selling" to be a great book for addressing the strategic and tactical aspects of selling. In addition to this book, I highly recommend the book "Cognitive Selling: Proven Fundamentals and Techniques of the World's Most Effective Salespeople" by Todd Bermont. "Cognitive Selling" is the perfect complement to "SPIN Selling" as it provides a methodology for maintaining a winning attitude and frame-of-mind which is essential to succeed in selling.

Neil Rackham gets it right
SPIN Selling was the first sales book I ever read, back in the days when I sold copiers. Ten years later, as the owner of a sales training company, I still utilize those very principals of questioning Rackham taught me way back when. The key to sales is to have a process, a process within a process. Rackham adheres to this very foundation. This book is guaranteed to make you money!

Todd Natenberg, Author of the book, "I just got a job in sales! Now what?" A Playbook for Skyrocketing Your Commissions (www.toddnatenberg.com) and President of TBN Sales Solutions

Definitly BUY THE BOOK ..Skip the audio
I love SPIN Selling, the book and workbook. Also Major Account Sales Strategy. When I bought the CD I was thinking I could add a tool to my audio library and have more constant exposure to the concepts. But no

This audio was worse than my grade school educational film series. The reader is dull, boring and almost put me to sleep in the car. This is GREAT material. Everyone that is considering any of the books I would heartily give them a 5 of 5 stars.

I fast forwarded through the entire first cd, hoping that I would start hearing the same "meat" I read about in SPIN. What Iheard was a lot of "pre-program" dialog.

If I could speak with Neil Rakham I would say, "Neil, this is an outstanding program. Please get a reader with more emotion". ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Advanced Selling Techniques
Another Brian Tracy classic. This tape series is the advanced compliment to The Psychology of Selling. It goes into greater detail the reasons why customers buy and how to know your customers and build critical relationships in order to position yourself against and beat the competition. Step by step examples of how to prospect and set personal sales goals help any salesperson who is willing to apply himself rise to the top ten percent in their industry. The entire series is well worth reviewing every few months to sharpen the focus on getting to the main decision makers and closing sales. ... Read more

Book Description

Find The Keys To Sales Success!

Success Can Be Yours With Brian Tracy's The Psychology of Selling!

The world's foremost producer of personal development and motivational audio programs now offers an expanded version of Brian Tracy's sales classic.

The Unsuccessful Salesperson says, "The other guy has the best territory." The Successful Salesperson says, "Every territory is the best one." The Unsuccessful Salesperson says, "That company will never buy." The Successful Salesperson says, "I can make that company buy."

Confidence and self-esteem are just two of the factors that separate the successful salesperson from the unsuccessful one. In this comprehensive program, Brian Tracy, an expert sales trainer, shares more than 50 practical, day-to-day techniques for increasing your confidence in your sales abilities and boosting sales profits, including:

• The two major "motivating" factors in closing a sale

• The three "hot buttons" to push when selling to businesses

• How to avoid the five simple errors that spell the difference between success and near-success

Brian Tracy will help you master the art of closing the deal. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Brian Tracy is the best
Selling is so much more than fast talking and the gift of gab. To truly selling, you need to understand the mental game: of yourself, the buyer, and the prospect. Brian delves into all aspects to produce a program that is rock solid. The Psychology of Selling covers all the basis from prospecting to closing to overcoming objections. Adhering to the sales philosophy of kiss (keep it simple silly), this is a quick listen for anyone looking to boost their sales.

Todd Natenberg, Author of the book, "I just got a job in sales. Now what?" A Playbook for Skyrocketing Your Commissions

Tracy is top notch
Some people might look for inconsistencies to Tracy's advice, however, this series has helped me improve my sell's skills more than any other sale's instruction that I have listened to or read. If you you are looking for an academic approach to psychology and selling this book will not include a large amount of quoted research. However, if you are looking for some ideas and skills to apply to interacting with clients or prospects this series is a wealth of practical information. I have yet to find a self help book free of inconsistencies or unsubstantiated data. Psychology of Selling is not an exception but it has too much practical benefits to pass up the knowledge out of a lofty sense of academic integrity.

The modern way to sell
Brn Tracy's approach to selling may be a turn off to car salespeople and telemarketers, but is a breath of fresh air to all real salespeople.Tracy takes a consultative approach to selling. He teaches you how to ask questions, not merely read a script. He shows you how to build rapport and trust. And most importortly, he shows you how to create win/win situations with your clients.I also recommend Advanced Selling Strategies by Tracy and the unabridged audio tape program from Nightingale-Conant The Psychology of Selling and Advanced Selling Techniques.Your sales will soar and you will create happy customer relationships.

One of the best
Brian Tracy has been a favorite for about 15 years. His approach to sales is direct and to the point. He discusses the importance of relationships, of having the customer know you care, of good listening and question asking. He speaks about solution selling and consultative selling. Brian has taken more than 20 years of his experience, successes and mistakes, to come up with this incredible program. I prefer the unabridged version, but this abridged version provides you with some very valuable information, strategies and techniques.

For those who found Brian Tracy's work lacking, I wonder if they really listened to the program? I also wonder if they are nearly as successful, in career, personally and financially as Brian Tracy? I detect a note of sour grapes, probably due to the ego destroying way in which Brian nets out his simple program. Heck, as with most things, if the information is not applied or acted on, then the information is useless.

This is great stuff, and it has been proven to stand the test of time. New to sales or a seasoned vet? Give this a listen. I'll bet you find some things that you stopped doing or maybe a few new things to reignite your career. Listen, take notes, and take action on this material.

I also recommend the "The Accidental Salesperson". Great stuff, that works!

Should be called "The Art of Deceit and Manipulation"
I picked up this book as a primer on selling, as I had heard good things about Brian Tracy's previous works. While it did provide an overview of selling techniques, what I heard was a review of selling techniques that I thought (perhaps hoped) had gone out of vogue many, many years ago.

For example, in order to "sell better" he suggests that confidence is key. And in order to shore up confidence, he recommends saying "I like myself, I like myself, I like myself..." over and over to oneself. Then he describes multiple ways to deceive and manipulate prospects so that they will buy your products.

Here's a radical concept: instead of this approach, what if salespeople increased their knowledge of their products, worked to understand their prospects' business and business problems, then worked collaboratively with them to solve their problems? Thereby increasing the salesperson's success, maintaining their integrity and thus building a basis for authentic self-confidence?

Nah, I guess that would take too much work.

There is absolutely nothing new here. In fact, the techniques it espouses are exactly the stereotypical "sales techniques" that have led this profession to be viewed with such disdain among the public at large. Very interesting, given that Mr. Tracy opens his talk with an assertion that the sales profession is a noble one (a view that I share, overall) and has somehow just gotten a bad rap. I'd suggest that books like this are a part of that problem. ... Read more

Book Description

Caps for Sale, a timeless classic, is now available as a musical narrative on cassette. The memorable melodies and catchy lyrics of the "Caps" songs are simple to learn and easy to sing. Recording artist Ann Marie Mulhearn brings the story to life in a new and mesmerizing way. This easy-to-read and sing-a-long story about a peddler and a band of mischievous monkeys is filled with wonderful background sounds, mischievous monkey music and splendid arrangements. Great for card rides, nap time, bed times or anytime, the musical version of Caps For Sale will have your children listening, reading and singing along again and again. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

A truly great kids book!
This is a sweet story of a peddler who sells caps. The illustrations are superb, and the story is fun. The seller carries his supply on his head. (First is own cap, then the...). One day he sits under a tree and when he awakes nearly all the caps are missing! Where did they go? Well, buy this book and read it aloud to your kids and have a great time together.

A true classic
This book is well loved by my son and myself.

I love books that have simple pictures that add to the text rather than distract. I like the simple story line. I particularly like that this book can be used as a stepping stone to other activities (acting like a monkey, balancing hats on your head etc.)

The repetitive nature and sing songy words are wonderful for prereading skills. My son loves to act like a monkey stealing my hat as we read this book.

A true classic.

A Good Story for the Kids
A timeless tale written in 1940 still attracts young children's attention. This is a very humorous, easy to understand book to read aloud. The story is accompanied with brightly colored pictures that actually tell the story. After reading it through children can re-tell the story by just looking at the pictures.
It is a story that children will pass on to their friends.

Give me back my caps!
Caps for Sale is a family favorite. My husband does a wonderful job at making the monkey noises. It's a fun story to act out.

fun story
This is a fun story that teaches colors while telling a very funny tale. My son thought it was hilarious when I turned the page and he discovered *what* had taken the peddler's caps. ... Read more

Book Description

The man Business Week calls "the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age" explains "Permission Marketing" -- the groundbreaking concept that enables marketers to shape their message so that consumers will willingly accept it.

Whether it is the TV commercial that breaks into our favorite program, or the telemarketing phone call that disrupts a family dinner, traditional advertising is based on the hope of snatching our attention away from whatever we are doing. Seth Godin calls this Interruption Marketing, and, as companies are discovering, it no longer works.

Instead of annoying potential customers by interrupting their most coveted commodity -- time -- Permission Marketing offers consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily. Now this internet pioneer introduces a fundamentally different way of thinking about advertising products and services. In his groundbreaking audiobook, Godin describes the four tests of Permission Marketing:

* Does every single marketing effort you create encourage a learning relationship with your customers? Does it invite customers to "raise their hands" and start communicating?
* Do you have a permission database? Do you track the number of people who have given you permission to communicate with them?
* If consumers gave you permission to talk to them, would you have anything to say? Have you developed a marketing curriculum to teach people about your products?
* Once people become customers, do you work to deepen your permission to communicate with those people?

And in numerous informative case studies, including American Airlines frequent-flier program, Amazon.com, and Yahoo!, Godin demonstrates how marketers are already profiting from this key new approach in all forms of media. ... Read more

Reviews (110)

Finally focused marketing on customer needs does exist...
Everyday your letterbox is full of leaflets you never read, your banker send you a new financial proposal you already have in your portfolio... All these papers will go directly to the trash can, but interrupt your customer's life: time, privacy and peace of mind. This is the waste created by the "interruption marketing", which is not using correctly customers' databases or is bombarding TV spots you do not watch during film breaks.

Is this time over? Not sure when you see all e-mails or phone calls you receive to promote products of no interest for you. How to get your Attention in the middle of this information overload? Simply by asking your permission.

Seth Godin, who created Internet marketer Yoyodyne and sold it in 1998 to Yahoo, where he is a vice president is explaining to us how to do it in "Permission Marketing". With practical examples he shows us how to start a relationship with a customer by offering added value. Main ideas are around personalization, long-term relationship and truth building. Customer then is expecting information from you focused on his own needs. The challenge is to move from market share to customer share.

But how is this possible? The use of New Information Technologies and Internet allows a one to one communication with a customer with focused information and at a low price. This is really the contribution from "New Economy" and Permission Marketing is giving the keys to understand how these New Information Technologies allow focusing on a customer more and more demanding. The traditional marketing is moving quickly to One to One marketing.

Do not read Permission Marketing if you want to lose your customers to the profit of your competitor knowing how to build long-term relationship with them. If you add One to One from Don & Martha Peppers to your readings, you will be well prepared to succeed in front of the marketing shift arriving with the "New Economy".

A watershed book--I recommend all my clients read it
Internet marketing and relationship marketing are the subject of numerous books, but Seth Godin's Permission Marketing does a better job of explaining the concepts better than any other single volume.

Permission Marketing explains the differences between Interruption Marketing (old-style newspaper, TV and radio ads) and Permission Marketing--where visitors ask to be kept informed and willingly share information about themselves and their purchasing needs. It reinforces the successes I've enjoyed in over twenty years of marketing and shows how customer relationship-building techniques that were previously inefficient and, thus, unaffordable are now within the reach of all.

Permission Marketing cuts through the clutter of marketing theory and web technology and provides a highly readable, jargon-free conceptual framework for viewing web marketing in an new light. Throughout, Permission Marketing emphasizes integrity and customer respect--in contrast to books which are often subconsciously predicated on an adversarial relationship with prospects and customers.

Permission Marketing will change the way you think about advertising and marketing and suggest a whole new approach to your web site. It will inspire you to break out of the mold of price advertising.

Excellent
I "stumbled" in to Search Engine Marketing and now "do it" for a living with car dealerships in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This book, in it's first few pages, helped me. NO I don't know the author :)

David Saunders, Concord, CA

Want to learn about true, effective marketing...read this!
Mr.Godin is an excellent teacher of how to market effectively. Before reading this I thought of marketing probably like most do. I thought to be successful in marketing and advertising, that big was the way to go...big magazine ads, t.v. spots, target a large audience and you're sure to get lots of customers, etc. WRONG!

Mr. Godin hits the bull's-eye on the type of marketing that it takes to acquire and keep customers in your business. It is not mass marketing to anyone and everyone that's going to do it. But rather, Mr. Godin shows you how to set up a specific strategy, a clever method in which to acquire the type of customer you want to your particular business. If you own a sports shop, then your ideal customer wouldn't be a chef or a construction worker who just happened to walk into your store...it would be the die-hard, sports enthusiast that you want to attract. Mr. Godin shows you how to attract your "ideal" customer; He teaches you how to get your ideal customer to come to you.

I didn't fully understand all that "Permission Marketing" was really about until Mr. Godin broke it down and explained it to a tee. If you can get a potential customer to say "yes" to you prior to the sale, your chances of acquiring them as an actual customer dramatically increases. This is what Mr. Godin shows you how to do. He is a wise marketer and you can be too! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

read this review
So there are steps in every transaction. The whole point of this book is that you don't create lifelong relationships with strangers. Every sale consists of multiple mini sales.
turn the page
click the link...

You go to amazon
browse through books
see related books
browse through reviews
buy the book

While some of the data relating to the internet is outdated, the fundamental message of the book is still strong. Those who think traditional media outpace targeted ads are dead wrong. ... Read more

Book Description

Build A Powerful Telephone Sales Presentation with RING UP PHONE SALES!

Ring Up Phone Sales teaches telephone sales professionals the techniques to communicate using the telephone.This audio book tackles real-life telesales scenarios in a clear and entertaining style.Learn key telephone sales strategies such as:

Asking Questions
Building Relationships
Handling Objections
Selling Benefits
Establishing Credibility
Closing Sales
Much, Much More

Ring Up Phone Sales is easy to follow.It delivers comprehensive step-by-step telephone sales training in a concise format.Real-life telephone challenges are presented in this stimulating, audio book format.Best of all, managers, trainers and professionals can incorporate RING UP PHONE SALES into their training package.

Ring Up Phone Sales is ideal for sales professionals, call center managers, telesales representatives and trainers.It is based on the telephone sales training book Friendly Persuasion:Dynamic Telephone Sales Training and Techniques For The 21st Century. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Excellent phone skills training
We learned quite a bit from this book. In particular, the sections on building the presentation was real good. It's a book all phone sales people should read.

PERFECT FOR INSIDE SALES REPS!
We were very happy with Ring Up Phone Sales. I've
bought several books about phone sales. This one
presented everything clearly - I took notes the whole
way through. It talked about selling benefits, asking
questions, presenting a story. I felt the training was
very effective! It was easy to listen to and really
packed with info.

A Helpful Tool
Coen's audiobook gets straight to the point. There's no mindless babbling about some new magical technique that will increase sales 2000%. Coen covers the ground telephone sales reps and their bosses must know inside out. This is one of the best teaching tools I've come across because it's done in a straightforward manner that everyone can understand.

Excellent , concise and very helpful!
Our company found Ring Up Phone Sales to be very useful. We took notes throughout the audio book and turned those notes into mini-workshops for all our sales reps. It was concise and clear and outlined very well. Simple methods that we started using on the telephone right away!

GARBAGE!! BUYER BEWARE!
This tape sounds like it was recorded on a five-dollar tape recorder (pops, hisses, and low-quality stretched tape sound). More over, the information is blatantly inaccurate. Dan Coen can't even accurately differentiate a "feature" from a "benefit." He actually explains them in reverse on the tape! To add insult to injury, the delivery of the material is all wrong. Dan Coen is telling you how to communicate effectively over the phone AND HE CAN'T EVEN COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY ON THE TAPE! What an insult! Instead of speaking at an understandable conversational pace of approximately 150 WPM this guy is blowing the doors off my ears at a pace of more than 250 WPM. Finally the material is barely Sales 101. The sales ideas and suggestions haven't even been competently applied to relate to phone sales. A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. I took a chance and got burned. I should have just tossed my money into the TRASH (which is a good place for this work). Beware of this self-proclaimed subject matter expert. FAKE ALERT! Not even worthy of the 1 star I had to give it. If you buy it, you will not see stars but you will see red. ... Read more

Book Description

They are hooked on your product. Now what? How to ensure an order? The nation's top sales trainer shares the secrets the best salespeople use in the most important and difficult part of the sale--closing. You'll find the answer to almost every objection you've ever faced, or will face in the future. In addition, you'll learn what influences a sale long before you reach the close--for example, would you know what to do if the prospect didn't make eye contact? Or if he/she moved closer to you? Tom Hopkins answers these questions and many more in this invaluable audio. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

It Helps
This is helpful. This can be useful for those that are new to sales. Some of the information should already be intuitively known by people that have common sense. Tom Hopkins is just as good as many of the other sales masters.

Just awful
This audio tape was embarrassingly useless. Hot tips like "don't wear too much jewelry", "where to sit at a conference table", and "use a cell phone and fax machine" don't get the listener anywhere close to understanding how to close a sale, how to overcome buyer hesitation, etc.

Sales Tips That Really Work
Tom has a very easy approach to selling--one that works. He focuses on the words that make all the difference in a sales presentation and puts forward very clear solutions that can gently push the prospect into buying. I love his non-agressive manner which is so different from the pushy sales types that tend to dominate in the market-place today. Use his principles and it could pay for the cost of this cassette many times over.

Essential Knowledge for Sales Professionals
This is a very affordable way to "attend" one of Tom's seminars. This tape runs about an hour and covers all of his principles. Tom is not a self-declared sales guru, spare bedroom consultant, or business philosopher. He has achieved tremendous sales success in the real world. Tom makes just as good a teacher as he does a salesman. You can use Tom's techniques to sell your prospects without them realizing that they're being sold. Tom's the best sales trainer I've come accross. I also recommend Dan Kennedy's paperback "No B.S. Sales Success." ... Read more

Book Description

"Filled with powerful principles that anyone can use to become a top-producing salesperson."

- E. Anthony Reguero, Chartered Financial Consultant

GET THEM TO APPROVE YOUR AGREEMENT

Renowned sales trainer Tom Hopkins provides you with the hands-on tools and techniques you'll need to execute this crucial part of sales negotiation -the close. Whether you1re a newcomer to sales or a savvy pro, Sales Closing For Dummies™ will help you turn opportunity into bottom line results!

BECOME A CHAMPION CLOSER

• Lead a sale without being pushy• Read the signs of an interested potential buyer• Use questioning methods that lead to the close time and time again• Help clients feel good about their buying decisions• Keep your clients' business and develop loyalty

Read by the author. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

ABC ALWAYS BE CLOSING!
I've been in Real Estate sales for just over a year. This is my first "sales" job so I was looking for something to help me with my closing skills. After reading the first 10 chapters of this book, I picked up several techniques and ideas from Tom's strategies that helped me. They helped me so much in fact, that I got two listings in one week! The commission on those two listings totaled $20,610! If I could recommend any sales book for a beginning sales person, or an experienced sales person that just needs some new ideas, this would be it!!!

A must-have for anyone in sales!
I found this book to be very helpful. My close ratio has increased by 150%! But most importantly, now that I have this knowledge I can finally afford a pool table for my basement and daily veterinarian appointments for my cat!

Tom is the Master Closer
I've been involved in sales for over fifteen years and I have yet to see another speaker/author come this close to perfecting and teaching the sales process. There are many other fine teachers, but Tom Hopkins seems to be the easiest to understand and the easiest to follow - even for the newest of my salespeople. And since he applies his disciplines to all industries, this may be the only sales guide you need - what a way to clean up that library! Truly a fine compilation of the best sales closings and how to use them. ... Read more

Book Description

Joe Girard went from being a failure -- thrown out of high school, fired from over forty jobs, lasting only 97 days in the U.S. Army -- to being named in the Guinness Book of Records as "the world's greatest retail salesman" for 12 consecutive years.

Reviews (12)

This book couldn't put me down
This book offers a deep insight into the most amazing life achievements of a man called Joe Girard. I enjoyed the author's great sense of humour, which made the book a fun to read. His obvious passion for life and selling cars, would surely inspire anyone who is interested in improving their sales technique. A great read for anyone wanting to sell their soul. Jo Sea

Practical advice and plain talk.
J. Girard lays the business out where it should be: Sales is not for the faint of heart and the only way to truly succeed is to win the customer, close the customer, then pay the customer to send you more customers. His best advice: It is better to sell more product with a smaller commission than sell less and have to max out every deal. Also that every sale is really made to 250 people (even though that is less now because people are less connected). The book was funny because the prices on the cars and services was very oudated in my copy.

Joe Girard would never sell a car to me.
I can't really recommend this book. Joe Girard comes off very much like a salesman -- the kind I run from when *I'm* buying a car. He talks about using flattery to get the customer in the door. Of course, I don't think a salesperson should antagonize anyone, but he makes it sound like the phoney kiss a-- talk that so many tranparent salespeople use. Small lies are okay, he tells us. For example, a customer calls and wants a powder blue car with options X, Y and Z. Maybe he only has options X and Y and his car is gray. Nonetheless, he says he has the car the person wants anyway, and come on down. He can talk him out of powder blue and into gray later, and the missing option probably doesn't matter a lot anyway, and he can sweet talk the prospect. That's dispicable and a con. He talks about having every brand of cigarette in his office (the book was written in the 70s) so if the customer wants to go out for a smoke, he has no excuse to leave the office and postpone the sale. He talks about keeping *liquor* in his office to loosen up the prospect (Serving liquor to people who take test drives in unfamiliar cars! What a swell guy!) He drinks along--water, of course. Don't want *him* to be "relaxed," do we? It sounds like the sort of thing Jenny Jones would do--Oh, wait, she has!

I find a lot about this book unsavory. There are some good general tips about prospecting and bird-dogging, but these are available in other selling books that I don't want to take a shower after reading.

I also have to disagree about some things he things are bad habits. It sounds like a good idea to not join the "bull pen" and yak with the other salesmen. However, to a *certain* degree that is not a bad thing to do: it builds camaraderie and steels oneself for the difficult task of selling. Of course you don't want a salesforce that stands by the water cooler all day, b