Sales & Selling Books - Page 3

Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales

Bob Burg

List Price: $14.95 By: Mcgraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 68 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Absolutely fabulous! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Cannot imagine how I have made it this far in business without this book. Bob Burg's advise is priceless.

Editorial Review:

Once upon a time, "networking" meant shaking hands and passing out business cards. But in a sell-saturated world of junk faxes and telemarketing, virtually everyone-from sales reps to self-employed psychotherapists-needs a tested system for building lucrative contracts... one that sets them apart from the pack. Endless Referrals is that system. Developed by top communications pro Bob Burg, this powerful guide shares his carefully cultivated secrets on... Networking anywhere... how to make profitable contacts on airplanes, at health clubs-wherever chance meetings occur; Using the telephone... how to master an indispensable-but often intimidating-instrument of communication; Remembering names and faces... how to greet any contact warmly and personally-simply by following 6 easy steps; Following up... how to make sure business-ready prospects never think of anyone else; Communicating one-on-one... how to recognize-and respond to-a prospect's innermost motives, feelings, and desires.

Selling to Big Companies

Jill Konrath

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Kaplan Business Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $9.34

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Struggling to Get Your Foot in the Door of Big Companies?

Setting up meetings with corporate decision makers has never been harder. It's almost impossible to get them to pick up the phone. They never return your calls. And if you do happen to catch them, they blow you off right away.
 
It's time to stop making endless cold calls or waiting for the phone to ring. In today's crazy marketplace, new sales strategies are needed to penetrate these big accounts.
 
Discover how to:
•        Target accounts where you have the highest likelihood of success.
•        Find the names of prospects who can use your offering.
•        Create breakthough value propositions that capture their attention.
•        Develop an effective, multi-faceted account-entry campaign.
•        Overcome obstacles and objections that derail your sale efforts.
•        Position yourself as an invaluable resource, not a product pusher.
•        Have powerful initial sales meetings that build unstoppable momentum.
•        Differentiate yourself from other sellers.
 
Use these sure-fire strategies to crack into big accounts, shrink your sales cycle and close more business. Check out the Account Entry Toolkit for ideas on how to apply this process to your own unique business.

The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream

John Zogby

Amazon Price: $43.79 List Price: $59.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Tantor Media Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $38.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

tedious, with pre-determined outcomes 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

great premise but falls way short with little useful future insight and plenty of opinion vs. legitimate analysis

Zogby goes past daily polls to go for deeper themes. This is provocative; thoughtful. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In the media John Zogby parlays his political polls to promote his somewhat (I use the word reluctantly) maverick role within the spread of political opinion researchers. Four years ago I felt his observations were right on the mark, and he was picking up on undercurrents before anyone else. In this election I've found his insights to be running against the tide by insisting (at the time of writing this review) that the presidential race is still close. He knows that our unfolding history can turn on a dime, but all other evidence I've seen suggests quite a large seminal change is going on. But either way, as an opinion researcher (in New Zealand) I continually admire the work of this man. He clearly wears on his sleeve a lifelong interest in our changing society - and his is a curiosity that gets piqued whether he's running political polls or the marketing surveys which make up 75% of his work. Everything fascinates him. He's certainly a colleague I'd happily do lunch with.

In this book he takes a bite of a mighty big topic: where is society shifting, and what will be the dominant values in a few years time?

Unlike many other trend-spotting books (remember the Greening of America in the 1970s?) Zogby eschews the frenzied "this just in from the heartland!" tone and instead thinks about all the bits of jigsaw he sees in his opinion research work. As he points out in chapter one: there can be interesting connections between quite disparate fragments of research.

Now how does he piece together the changing social puzzle? Overall Zogby sees evidence of at least 6 big themes. I'll mention two but all are about a return to values of co-operation, authenticity, acceptance of diversity. As he says: he means none of this in a Pollyanna kind of way.

Trend. Society will become less divided, not more so. People will tend to seek common ground rather division. As he points out, investors (this is before Wall St feel) were great supporters of Bush in 2004, and also of Eliot Spitzer (and that was before HE fell also.) These investors, who were actually the majority of Americans, weren't hidebound by party colours. They sought values that were offered at both ends of the main political spectrum. He sees this kind of reach-across-the-aisle middle ground increasing.

Second - we have an increasing demand for truth. As Zogby points out, we're in the age of spin doctors and we've moved past cynicism (ignore what they say) toward a much more active demand for real, authentic truth. Our demands of companies (don't spin, just tell the truth) and of politicians is creating a new climate for authenticity. As Zogby says: "we're saying goodbye to smear and smash."

Overall I think the book mostly succeeds, especially in terms of drawing out big themes and chewing these around and giving examples to illustrate what's going on. There are implications for marketers, but the ramifications are far wider than that, and I wouldn't pigeon-hole this book as being a business book. It is for anyone interested in the way we're heading.

What I feel the book lacks - and perhaps this comes from Zogby's natural pollster's caution - is any sense of certainty about his conclusions. The way we'll be ...is what the title talks about. In five years? Ten years? 20? Zogby is vague about the rate of change. There's certainly a sense that there are some big changes going on, and yes, Zogby articulates them well, but I didn't emerge with a confidence that these changes are necessarily long-lasting let alone permanent.

In research we often argue over what makes a fad versus a trend; and by my definition at least, a true trend reflects an underlying fundamental human need in the way that a hoola hoop does not. Zogby, I feel, argues from the position that society naturally tends towards these deep-seated needs - working together, being authentic, living a good life rather than a materialistic one - but in my lifetime I've just seen too many aberrations from this norm to have full confidence in his thesis. If Zogby is saying we're trending toward being less greedy, less materialistic, less selfish, then I wonder why our societies did that bad power-suited greed thing in the 1980s, and again earlier this decade when Hummers looked such a success and Fortune was singing the praises of Enron. Can it happen again? Will the social chemistry be any less volatile?

To this extent, the author doesn't really test his over-arching themes. Even so, the book made me stop, made me think, made me re-evaluate and in quite a few patches made me professionally envious too. In an admiring way. It is an engaging, readable and in many places a quite personal book.

I give it four stars and warmly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

In the tradition of Why We Buy, preeminent pollster John Zogby identifies key trends in American culture and suggests how companies from the Fortune 500 to the neighborhood deli can use this information to improve their business.

The 29% Solution: 52 Weekly Networking Success Strategies

Ivan Misner, Michelle R. Donovan

Amazon Price: $14.93 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Greenleaf Book Group Press Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $12.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Reference to Keep You on Track 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The authors start out with the premise that although networking is proven to be valuable in business, it is still rarely taught in business schools.

The book begins with a self-analysis test to help determine one's networking skills. Topics and assignments are broken down into 52 weeks, with spaces in some of the chapters for you to write in the book as you do that week's assignment. (Not every week has a writing area, so you may want to keep a separate notebook or keep notes and action steps on a Blackberry/PDA.)

It could almost be called Networking for Dummies or for Introverts or even for Clueless. I say that because the book addresses so many topics that brought some former co-workers and bosses to mind. MANY people who are in business at various levels could be helped by networking, but are not born schmoozers or networkers, and don't know where to begin.

This book charts out one of the simplest game plans for success that I've seen in quite awhile. It is not all new knowledge, but it is all in one place, so you can check off your progress and see what the next step is for growing your skills and your business. The plan is simple, but not always easy. As the authors say, it's netWORKing, not netEATing or netSITTing.

Topics included may require major changes or just minor tweaks to a person's life. Examples are: being accountable to a group, writing thank you notes, being engaging, writing a press release, getting and giving referrals, following up, being a change agent, becoming an expert, and more.

Recommended for complete wallflowers and introverts who may even know but don't ever DO. It's also good for extroverts and "self-made" individuals who think they are the best networkers in the world but who need refinement and more focus on others than just their own abilities and personality.

Terrific reference book to use and refer back to again and again.

Editorial Review:

In many ways, success at networking is the uncommon application of common knowledge. Most people understand that networking is important to their success--they just lack a step-by-step process to get the results they want. Almost no one really implements a comprehensive methodology that will build a business through networking. Thus, the need to network is 'common knowledge,' and the development of the methodology required to be successful at it is the 'uncommon application.'

By reading this book, you will experience the true essence and meaning of networking. The 29% Solution gives you the answers to two conflicting questions that a business owner or salesperson faces every day: How can I tend to my existing clients while at the same time network for new business? and, Should I place higher value on my current clients or on new clients?

Words that Sell, Revised and Expanded Edition

Richard Bayan

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $9.43

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

More than 6,000 words and phrases that make the difference between "yadda-yadda-yadda" and copy that sells

Looking for a better way to say "authentic?" Words That Sell gives you 57 alternatives. How about "appealing?" Take your pick from 76 synonyms. You'll even find more than 100 variations on "exciting." Fully updated and expanded, this edition of the copywriting classic is packed with inspiration-on-demand for busy professionals who need to win customers--by mail, online, or in person.

• More than 75 lists of powerful and persuasive words and phrases, including 21 new lists for this edition
• Cross-referencing of categories to jump-start creative thinking
• A crash course in basic copywriting techniques
• Helpful lists of commonly misspelled words, confusing words, pretentious phrases to avoid, and more

Roget's is fine for writing term papers and letters to the editor, but when it comes to the business of writing copy that translates into sales, there is no substitute for Words That Sell.

Find the perfect words and phrases to win over customers

Grabbers that get attention:
No-risk offer * One day only! * No strings attached! * What have you got to lose? * All the right ingredients * Inside information * Do you enjoy...? * Leap into...

Descriptions and benefits that create appeal:
Irresistible * winning * zesty * huggable * satisfying * You'll fall in love with...* Your ticket to... * king-size * Gives you the power * baby-soft *

Clinchers to win over your customer:
Reap the benefits today * Don't miss out! * No risk now, no risk later! * You can do it!* You be the judge * Send for our free catalog * 100% satisfaction guarantee

Special strategies that seal the deal:
Five-star quality * You're worth it * Don't fall for... * We make life easier * You're one of a select few... * discriminating * Your thoughtful gift

Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to Find, Build and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Books)

Jeffrey Gitomer

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: FT Press Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $7.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Just terrible 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I really wanted to like this book. To give you an idea of how hard it is to do that, by the third page he has already told you that he's going to proliferate the YES!Attitude product line indefinitely. By the next page, he's solicited your ideas to leverage it and make money together. Oh, and did I mention, right around then he warms you *never* to use the phrase YES!Attitude in any presentation you might do without his express permission because he owns all rights to it. Basically, a marketing ploy dressed up as a book. And just way to smug and self-satisfied for my tastes. You expect rah-rah, but he's too busy patting himself on the back to even cheer. Sorry to the other reviewers, but I think this is only 1 star.

Editorial Review:

Every business winner has one thing in common: a YES! Attitude that's powerful enough to help them achieve the impossible! You say you weren't born with a YES! Attitude? No problem! Jeffrey Gitomer will give you all the tools you need to build one. As the world's Number 1 expert in selling, Gitomer knows more about attitude than anyone. Now he's brought those lessons together in a book you can read in one sitting - a book that'll change your life! What makes this book unique? It's not just "inspiration": it's a complete, step-by-step, fully-integrated game plan for understanding and mastering your attitude. You'll learn specific things you can do to maintain your intensity, drive, and commitment, discover "attitude gems" that capture the value of thousands of dollars of books and courses, learn how to overcome the most dangerous "attitude busters" then learn how to maintain your YES! Attitude every day, for the rest of your life!

Permission Marketing: Strangers into Friends into Customers

Seth Godin

By: Free Press Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $29.42

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 133 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Essential marketing material 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The permission marketing concepts are essential for all marketers. And of course no one writes a more entertaining read than Godin.

Great Book So Far, Especially for Realtors! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not done reading it yet, however, so far it is just what I expected and great for Realtors!

Good read 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Nutshell review - A good read written in a easy to read style. Good insights and ideas. Worth reading.

This book changed my career 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book changed my career - ever since reading it I've pushed the surf company that I work for to adopt the marketing tactics that are so eloquently laid out in this book. We have just gotten to a level now where we're ready to begin implementing those concepts and a lot of people at work are very excited about the prospect of increasing our sales.

The entire concept of permission marketing seems like a natural way to rise above the noise of traditional interruption marketing techniques and Seth lays it out in a manner that's not only informative, but it's also fun to read.

Another aspect of this book that I like a lot is that it's such a trip down memory lane - Seth goes into the histories of a large number of Web 1.0 Internet startups and talks about their attempts at using Internet marketing. The fact that this guy was able to make so many nuanced observations back in the early years of the World Wide Web is a credit to his foresight and natural marketing capabilities. I highly recommend this book to anyone running (or in my case, helping run) a small business.

Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results

Jack Mitchell

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hyperion Amazon Marketplace: 115 new & used starting at $1.64

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A master of customer service reveals his secrets for developing long-lasting business relationships and customer loyalty. "We shower our customers with attention. There's no doubt in my mind that our philosophy can be applied to selling just about anything -- from aircraft engines to beanbags." (Jack Mitchell) The only way to stay in business is with customers, and Jack Mitchell knows how to attract them, and how to keep them.

He has a deceptively simple but winning relationship approach to customer service -- that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack's business philosophy is based on "hugs" -- personal touches that impress and satisfy the customer, such as: -- Remembering the name of your customer's dog
-- Calling a customer to make sure he's satisfied after a purchase
-- Having a "kids' corner" with TV, books, and treats
-- Knowing your customers golf handicap
-- Introducing customers to business contacts
-- Letting your customer use your office to make a personal phone call This is a proven theory -- hugging works! Mitchells/Richards achieves among the highest margins in its industry, as well as amazing customer loyalty. Complete with anecdotes that exemplify outstanding customer service, Hug Your Customers shows how any business can adapt this hugging philosophy to attract great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service has become the difference between success and failure, Hug Your Customers shows how Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings the results you're looking for.

Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship

Mahan Khalsa, Randy Illig

Amazon Price: $17.79 List Price: $26.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Portfolio Hardcover Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $10.30

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The new way to transform a sales culture with clarity, authenticity, and emotional intelligence.

Too often, the sales process is all about fear.

Customers are afraid that they will be talked into making a mistake; salespeople dread being unable to close the deal and make their quotas. No one is happy.

Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig offer a better way. Salespeople, they argue, do best when they focus 100 percent on helping clients succeed. When customers are successful, both buyer and seller win. When they aren’t, both lose. It’s no longer sufficient to get clients to buy—a salesperson must also help the client reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.

This book shares the unique FranklinCovey Sales Performance Group methodology that will help readers:

• Start new business from scratch in a way both salespeople and clients can feel good about
• Ask hard questions in a soft way
• Close the deal by opening minds

Salesforce.com For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Tom Wong, Liz Kao

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: For Dummies Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $13.41

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ready to start solving business challenges with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software? Interested in the latest enhancements and updates to Salesforce.com? Salesforce.com For Dummies, 3rd Edition, has just what you need!

Salesforce.com is like an assistant for your sales, customer service, and marketing efforts — one that never takes a day off and never asks for a raise. Because it’s an Internet service, you sign up and log in through a browser, and it’s immediately available. Salesforce.com For Dummies, 3rd Edition shows you how to choose the right edition of Salesforce.com, and then how to use it to:

• Prospect, manage accounts, develop contacts, and calculate forecasts
• Manage your customers and your teams, and close more business
• Analyze, migrate, and maintain your data
• Track and resolve customer service issues
• Generate and pursue more sales leads and boost your revenue
• Use Salesforce with Google AdWords and manage your Internet marketing
• Integrate Salesforce.com with ERP applications for greater value
• Make sales data available to sales reps, managers, and executives
• Follow the sales process from lead to close and see how to maximize your productivity

You already know how competitive business is today, so there’s no time to lose! Salesforce.com For Dummies, 3rd Edition gets you going with this all-important CRM technology right away.