Thread: Best book for selling?

I forgot to mention a book that I think is by far, not only the best sales book, but the best book on life in general. "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. Imo it's a book I think everyone should read, then read again and again!

Originally Posted by Kung Fu Steve

1. Ziglar on sales

2. Ziglar's secrets of closing the sale

This...

The best book on Selling?

Sales, being the oldest profession, is a vast subject. There are various challenges in selling, and the best book depends on what your challenges are. You don't walk into the doctor's chamber and have him write out a prescription without checking your symptoms - do you? Likewise, diagnose your problems and then get started.

Are you looking for motivation, sales strategy, product sales, professional services selling, cold calling, networking, C level selling...?

How to Sell Anything to Anybody by Joe Girard [Amazon Affiliate Link]

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger [Amazon Affiliate Link]

These are two "old school" classics that helped me tremendously in my young salesman days.

Girard is the Guinness Book of World Records World's Greatest Salesman.
He sold Chevvys. Three a day. Every day. For years.

Bettger is a former minor league baseball player who ended up selling insurance for a living.
His book gives you a great foundation on the importance of record keeping and enthusiasm.

These two books combined will give you a solid foundation in sales.

Have fun, and good luck!

Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness by Jeffrey Gitomer

I have a pretty well known systematic approach i will post. Quick and to the point.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

After you have found your lead and qualified him or her into a prospect this is how a good sales meeting will go.


The first section of the sales meeting is the Approach included in the approach is the following.

Start by obviously introducing yourself and shaking the customers hand, tell them the company you represent and give them your business card. Ask for theirs in return.

Complement them on something in their office like a picture to build rapport. Chat it up for a minute or 2.

Then get down to business, explain why you are there. Ex "I was having lunch with Angela the other day, and she indicated to me that (customer company) may be a great fit with (your product). Give a little elevator speech that is geared more toward the customer ex: "(my company) is in the business of helping your employees work smarter and more efficiently through blah blah."

Then you must confirm that the time for the meeting is still ok. Ex "we had arranged for about 25 minute meeting, is this still Ok?"

Go over what the meeting will be like. Ex "i am going to start by asking you a few questions about (customer company), i am going to try to get a feel for the way y'all operate, then i am going to give you a brief demonstration, then if there seems to be a fit i will go into a value analysis. Is this ok with you Mr Prospect?"


Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

Now you go into the second part if the meeting, the needs "identification" this is where you probe for any possibility of a problem your product can solve.

Start this off by making sure you are meeting with the correct decision maker. Ex "can you tell me a bit about your decision making process concerning purchases like this?" If someone else is involved as well try to get them in there too.

Then make sure that they are in a position to buy. Ex "Mr prospect, is it safe to assume that if (my company) can provide a great deal of value to (your company) the funds will be available to make the necessary investment?"

Then start asking about the company pertaining to your product. For my sales staff i train them to ask about their current providers if my service, what they are currently paying, how satisfied they are. You want to be able to present why your product mixed with these findings will provide some kind of value. Confirm everything they say make sure they know you are listening.

Once you uncover a problem focus on it. Ex "if this problem goes unsolved this could mean a great deal of money left on the table for (customer company) couldn't It?" Light a fire under their ass here. Make them definitely consider taking action. This is important.

When they confirm your previous question go ahead and give your sales person need payoff question. Ex "Mr prospet, i agree with you. If i could show you how (my product) can solve this problem, potentially worth thousands, with just a small one time investment, would you be interested?"

They always say yes. They can't say no to that question if you do it right.




Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

Now is the product presentation. You gear this to the problem you found. You cycle through this a couple of times. Use visual aids, testimonials, examples of your product. Keep the customer involved.

Feature- "one thing we do at (my company) is (some feature) it does this, this and this.

Benefit- "what this means for you Mr prospect is... this is how this could help you (of course relate this to the problem uncovered earlier) with your problem"

Understanding- "do you understand how this will help?"

Do this for a while and then wrap up. Summarize what you went over, why it will solve their problem and tell them you are exited to show them exactly what kind of value you can provide. The value analysis is the next step.


Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

Now you are at the financial analysis part of the sales meeting. At this time you should have taken notes and know a bit about their current systems and what it costs them etc.

Ex- You explained earlier that your company's annual sales are around 1.2 million. Well my product has been shown by (various sources) to provide an average increase in sales performance of roughly 15% but to be conservative we will use 10.

Figure out their gross margins- (lets say 50%) so according to what we have calculated we could see an increase of over 60,000 minus the investment (in your product) of 3,000 means roughly 57,000 to your bottom line. Wow, 57 grand could sure buy you a nice new (something related to a hobby they like, like a boat or something, get this information back while building rapport) and that was being conservative.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk