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What is the best book on sales?

RBefort

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I picked up SPIN Selling from the local library, and will also pick up Influence, Browne's book, and Holmes' book...and will provide my honest opinion after reading all (if I remember to come back to this thread). I can't imagine Belfort's program not being worth the price with his background in sales...I watched the video on youtube that was pretty long where he describes some things. I had 2 pages of notes pretty quickly. The $2k will probably be made a million times over if it helps you sell. Maybe pick it up after you created your business and use it as a tax write-off? (not sure if you can, but I always wanted to go work for a sales company and ask for this in training).
 

Brander

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Forget the scammers like Belfort - he had to sanitise the shit out of his system to be able to sell it due to his deal with the government. They did not sell that way. The pressure tactics they used really gives bite to the system, not this sanitised thing he is pushing.

You are better off with the unknown classic I have recommended on this forum for years
Harry Browne. Buy it there directly from his widow, it's the cheapest not from overpriced resellers.
 

arcola

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I'm kind of skeptical about the Belfort stuff. Anyone who has read Tony Robbins knows a lot of Belforts motivational stuff is taken word for word almost....state management, standards, vision, rituals...almost everything..

@AllenCrawley
 

Daniel A

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Mastering Influence by Anthony Robbins - Step by step blueprint on how to become a top Salesman. Talks about the psychology, the strategy and the tactics. Its the complete package. And it only costs $300. (Audio CDs + Workbook). If you can only buy 1 thing, buy this.

The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes (book). $30. It will give you a complete blueprint on how to maximize your sales & marketing efforts. Everything will be firing on all cylinders. Shows you how to setup systems for your sales & marketing.

The Ultimate Business Mastery by Anthony Robbins and Chet Holmes. $2000 ($10,000 now?). Takes all the concepts from the Ultimate Sales Machine, and Mastering Influence, and goes WAY deeper in each of them. This program is for CEOs. ITs gives you a complete blueprint, strategy & tactic layout on how to run your Sales & Marketing (Each component: Agents, advertising, presentations, etc). This is 70+ hrs of material in a DVD format. Everything is step by step, it has a logical flow to it. It has assignments as well. I highly recommend this program.

My thoughts on Straight Line Persuasion System. $2000. Not worth the money. I went through the entire 10 (or 12?) DVDs and its a diluted version of Mastering Influence. Jordan's thoughts are ALL OVER THE PLACE. And its hard to follow. It could of been easily only 1 DVD. The summary is: 1) Be sharp as a tact. 2) Your tonality is extremely important. There is no homework, no blueprint, etc. Its very ad hock.

Bottom line, if you want a complete system, get Mastering Influence: (Step by Step, applicable to all sorts of industries, has homework, easy to follow). If you have the money, go for the Ultimate Business Mastery program.

I hope this helps.

Greg

Well, you sold me hahaha. It sounds like you know what you are talking about and thank you I'll look into those.
 

RBefort

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SPIN Selling was very good, I thought....I have no experience in sales whatsoever, but I enjoyed it and learned a lot to put into practice!
 
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NoveltyInSpades

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Second that.

The best book I ever read on sales is How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling by Frank Bettger.

I second that.

2 other quality sales books on my shelf:
-How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
-You Can Negotiate Anything - Herb Cohen
 

DaRK9

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The Unfair Advantage Sell with NLP. The title threw me off a little but a friend recommended it and its actually pretty good. Its basic social engineering with a twist geared towards sales. Most of it was stuff I learned for in-house security testing, I had just never though to use it for sales for whatever reason.
 
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royalflush

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Pitch Anything by Oren
Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
Jordan Belfort's Straight Line System
 

Fox

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After JAJTs recommendation a long time ago to read this book I have to second what he says here.

I also want to add that if you are starting a sales intensive business, make sure you can scale before you sock 3 years into it... Don't ask me why I know.

Oh and the Zig Ziglar sales book is pretty good too.

Been trying to buy Spin Selling in audiobook format and doesn't seem available from my region. Can you guys in the US still buy it?
 

jlwilliams

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Glad to see this old thread. I may not have seen it had it not been resurrected. Lots of good reads posted this far.

While I agree that there is no one "best" book and agree that experience trumps education, I think that hammering on those truisms is kind of superficial. Saying those things smacks of condescending put downs masquerading as wisdom. Yeah, no kidding doing is better than reading, but we all started somewhere. Should a young (or new) guy not read because reading is somehow playing the wantrepeneur? Is reading always analysis paralysis, or is it wise to keep filling your mind with knowledge. Finding and using what works, discarding the useless or that which doesn't fit ones environment.

Last point. Anyone who has experience and knowledge within their field will do well to keep reading on their area of expertise. Things change, not least of those being the human memory. It's amazing what we forget. It's even more amazing how much more we get from re learning the basics, viewing them through experienced eyes. In short, if you think you know your game, spend some time re examining those things you think you already know. You may see something again as if you are seeing it for the first time.
 

Ubermensch

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I've been doing sales for 10+ years now.

I can tell you with some certainty that SPIN Selling is by far the most ACCURATE book on effective selling I've ever seen. By that I mean if you look at what the top salespeople do, and compare it to what is in this book, it lines up 1:1.

Be warned - it isn't a "feel good" story book. It is a serious book on sales methods with plenty of examples and explanations for everything.

If you are serious about picking up a serious book on sales - you really can't go wrong with this.

And if you find you are in need of a pick-me-up book on selling and attitude go find Og Mandino's Greatest Salesman in the World. It's essentially sales brainwashing - repeating good advice over and over for about 10 months in incremental steps. I found when I was down and out and just hated people and picking up the phone, this book (audio version anyway) really helped put my mind back in the right place.

Word. Where'd you hear about SPIN Selling? Pleasantly surprised to see someone else quoting the book.
 

Siberia

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What is the absolute best book that you have ever read on all things sales?


"The monk who sold his Ferrari" (Robin Sharma)

A simple story ... but of considerable strength.

Disarming in its dynamic and amazing technique of narrative.

Sometimes we just need a nice full of hope to improve ourself.

It's a story you won't forget as long to live it with passion.
 
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