Any recommended books on communication and verbally selling?

[downsidesunny]

Hello everyone. I just finished reading "The Millionaire Fastlane " and I really enjoyed it. I would like to start my own company, but I feel I'm missing something that would be necessary for success. I'm naturally a shy person when meeting new people and that certainly can't be good when speaking with potential clients and trying to sell a product. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a book that would help me get past this issue. Obviously going out and doing it is the best method to gain experience. However I would like to have some foundation on the subject before I just go out and try. Ideally the book I'm looking for would cover persuasion on how to sell product. Many thanks to those of you who read this. Any help is appreciated.

 

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[The-J]

Communication and Persuasion 101: Required Readings

How To Win Friends and Influence People: Dale Carnegie - Provides the foundation for social communication in all contexts. How to be friendly, how to be agreeable, all with the goal of being respected, liked, and trusted.

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion: Robert Cialdini - Learn to understand what it takes to persuade someone. Provides the basics for persuasive communication to get people to understand your own point of view and act on it.

Secrets of Closing the Sale: Zig Ziglar - An introduction to persuasive selling of products and services with applicable techniques that will get people buying right now. Generally considered a must-read among salespeople and business owners alike.

Tuition: Free.

Textbooks may be bought at damn near any bookstore or on Amazon. You will not be graded or receive any credit for this course, however it will get you ready for more specific and advanced topics in persuasion, such as selling to businesses small and large, writing sales copy, effective networking, and penetrating seemingly tight-knit networks of successful people.

 

[Bono]

Communication and Persuasion 101: Required Readings

How To Win Friends and Influence People: Dale Carnegie - Provides the foundation for social communication in all contexts. How to be friendly, how to be agreeable, all with the goal of being respected, liked, and trusted.

Harnessing the Science of Persuasion: Robert Cialdini - Learn to understand what it takes to persuade someone. Provides the basics for persuasive communication to get people to understand your own point of view and act on it.

Secrets of Closing the Sale: Zig Ziglar - An introduction to persuasive selling of products and services with applicable techniques that will get people buying right now. Generally considered a must-read among salespeople and business owners alike.

Tuition: Free.

Textbooks may be bought at damn near any bookstore or on Amazon. You will not be graded or receive any credit for this course, however it will get you ready for more specific and advanced topics in persuasion, such as selling to businesses small and large, writing sales copy, effective networking, and penetrating seemingly tight-knit networks of successful people.

Dale Carnegie - The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking

 

[Formless]

Psycho-Cybernetics/Zero Resistance Selling and exposure therapy.

Selling is 90% mindset and 10% technique.

Any time I tried to sell a smart client using common 'techniques' they closed themselves off because they could smell bullshit manipulation attempts from a mile away. Seriously 80% of the bullshit about selling is just that, bullshit about selling that sounds cool for motivational videos and small penis/big truck fantasies of manliness.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Psycho-Cybernetics/Zero Resistance Selling and exposure therapy.

Selling is 90% mindset and 10% technique.

Any time I tried to sell a smart client using common 'techniques' they closed themselves off because they could smell bullshit manipulation attempts from a mile away. Seriously 80% of the bullshit about selling is just that, bullshit about selling that sounds cool for motivational videos and small penis/big truck fantasies of manliness.

It's definitely about mindset, and technique is important too. Mindset affects technique in that a poor mindset leads to poor technique, and any client in person, over the phone, or even browsing a website senses it.

The selling mindset is a lot about confidence, and confidence is gained through experience. So, I wouldn't simply say the techniques are bullshit, but there's definitely a gap between utilizing technique poorly & utilizing it with great impact.

It's great to read the books and learn the basics, but then you have to put them into practice by using them, failing, thinking they're bullshit, and then modifying & adjusting until they fit your personality and start working for you. Then when you start having success you gain confidence, and the real power of the techniques is unleashed when they become second nature.

Listen to Tony Robbins or Jordan Belfort and it's quickly apparent that they do use the techniques they teach, and they use them with maximum impact, because they put their selves out there, took the beatings of failure, and modified until they got results.

Jordan and Tony will look you dead in the eye, tell you exactly what they're doing, and still sell you with the techniques, but they weren't born with a natural ability to do it. They had to learn, fail, & try again.

Most people can learn to sell if they're willing to start.

The question is, will you stick with it long enough to build a process that gets results?

 

[downsidesunny]

Thanks for the comments guys. I've already downloaded a few of the books to read. @SinisterLex, I'm actually currently reading Tony Robbins book "The Giant Within" so I definitely understand what your saying. However I didn't think about Jordan Belfort. The only information I know on him was from the movie "The Wolf of Wallstreet". He seemed extremely disingenuous, but if the movie was portrayed accurately he must have been a good seller. I'll take a look at some of his books as well.

 

[Formless]

Perhaps it's an environmental thing. I have tried it a lot of times. (This doesn't mean '3' It means '100s'. And UK business-people have not been very receptive to me using common 'influence techniques' on them.) Most of my successes came from me being genuine, honest, and laying all the cards out on the table, which often included saying things like 'We won't be able to beat them on price, unfortunately.' Without a 'but' (that I replace with an 'and' to avoid antagonism ) Without incessantly repeating their name because Dale Carnegie said that 'everyone loves the sound of their own name.' etc. People can smell that from a mile away, and they don't like it.

The theme has always been that I just have to be myself, try to help them (not 'help them through selling my product' or 'help them using our services' but just help them, like a friend) then people come back to me. Even if they don't buy today, they recommend me because I treat them like people. And this is especially true in bigger sales.

Basics help, but basics vary. Culture, as well as your own perceptions, play a big role in this stuff. Try to hard-sell a Chinese businessman, or motivate a French person with a 'corporate vision' and see where it gets you.

As for my disdain for the hard-sell, Grant Cardone-y school of thought, is that I honestly think it's very much like the motivation industry. Unrealistic and unsustainable fluff that is looking for a quick buck, preying on people's indecision while covering it with the words 'value' and 'helping the customer'.

Do not interpret this as a statement of fact, because it's a limited opinion based on limited experience. Just like everyone else's.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

The theme has always been that I just have to be myself, try to help them (not 'help them through selling my product' or 'help them using our services' but just help them, like a friend) then people come back to me. Even if they don't buy today, they recommend me because I treat them like people. And this is especially true in bigger sales.

This is influence

 

[Deleted20833]

A book I would HIGHLY suggest would be Sell Or Be Sold by Grant Cardone as far as getting better at sales

As far as getting over your shyness is concerned...it's like when I first started training boxing

I ask one of the guys there...how do you keep your composure after getting punched in the face?

"Get punched in the face enough times to the point you're use to it."

Same to you...you get over your shyness by just doing it over and over to the point
you're use to it

 

[ZCP]

Zig Ziglar

 

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[Kevin Peter]

Verbal Self Defense - Lillian Glass

 

[RBefort]

A book I would HIGHLY suggest would be Sell Or Be Sold by Grant Cardone as far as getting better at sales

As far as getting over your shyness is concerned...it's like when I first started training boxing

I ask one of the guys there...how do you keep your composure after getting punched in the face?

"Get punched in the face enough times to the point you're use to it."

Same to you...you get over your shyness by just doing it over and over to the point
you're use to it

This...Grant Cardone anything. Subscribe to his channel for free, watch his shows, read his articles and books. Get the meerkat app and watch his daily stuff FOR FREE. Sure, he has some other programs you can buy as well throughout the year. Millions on the Phone was a 3-4 hr webinar that taught you phone pitches and other stuff...basically covers what you are scared about. I hate the phone, but can talk to people in person OK.

 

[eekern]

Oren Klaff Pitch Anything !

 

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