Recommended Books/websites On Sales Techniques

cutnroller

If I have overlooked a previous thread on this topic my appologies. Just wondering if anyone has any favorites/recommendations.

I have found in my previous limited experience in "selling" has been fairly natural and easygoing process. Never felt like I had to "close" it just kind of happened. This new enterprise will be different in that I know most of my competitors will really have the selling aspect really wired tight. I know I will have to become much more of a "salesman" but I'm not quite sure how comfortable I am with scripts and being too rehearsed. Ive witnessed some veteran salesmen in action and quite frankly was very put off by it all. Any advice?

Grumpy

Search this website and you will find quite a few good titles.

Brian

High Trust Selling, by Todd Duncan

Brian Phillips

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cutnroller

Thank you Brian i'll look for that one.

Grumpy, I did search and although there are many mentions of books throughout the forum on various threads, I could only find one that actually had "book" in the title and it was a shortlived thread. I thought that actually having a thread with "sales" and "books" in the title that dealt specifically with that topic might be benificial to any future searchers on that topic.

I also realize there are many web sites on the internet dealing with this topic, just wanted to get some feedback on which sites, if any, some of the forum members have had success with.

Again, if I have overlooked a specific thread my apologies. Cheers

Grumpy

Anyone in sales or business should read "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. It is not sales specific but it great for goal setting, which is a large part of sales.

Also I recommend anything audio by Brian Tracy or Zig Ziglar. There are a few others like Tom Hopkins and even some manufacturers have their own sales techniques put on tapes.

ProWallGuy

Go to Michael Stone's website, Markup & Profit. Sign up for the free newsletter. A lot of decents tips in those.

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mickeyj

I second the vote for Zig Ziglar. Down to earth and applicable to any business.

Mike Finley

Dale Carnegie - How to win friends and influence people. Isn't a sales book but anybody in sales should know it cover to cover.

Teetorbilt

IMHO sales people are born. I have one bro, current wife and some friends in this catagory. They are unique people, you may be able to learn some of their traits but unless you are born into the fold, you'll always be a wannabe.

I know that I couldn't deal with the rejection rate over time.

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Pearce Services

What are you selling? Who will you be selling to?



.

You should not feel compelled to adapt someone elses sales style to your presentation. The canned presentation, although appearing to be professional, can be a turn off to many people. This may vary regionally, but here in Boston, I believe people want to deal with real people, and not feel that they are just the name that appears in the "insert name here" section of someones presentation.

I've sold for companies that try to push a very rigid presentation structure, and found that talking with clients not to them, and especially listening to them are more effective. Just know what you are talking about, be confident, believe in what you are offering, and know your competition better than they know themselves, and you will successful, and you will earn their trust in much less time than your competition.

Read all the books you want. But sell with a style that matches your personality, not that of the authors.

Guerilla

The Bible of the one call closer is called appropriately,

"Closers" by Jim Pickens and is edited by Ben Gay

I agree about any Brian Tracy or Zig Ziglar Books. They are all incredible sources of sales information and closing techniques.

"How to Close Every Sale" by Joe Girard

Sales Closing for Dummies by Tom Hopkins

Stephen Schiffmann has several good books like "250 Sales Questions to Close the Deal".

The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer

The Greatest Sales Book Ever Written by Dean Gould

Sales Questions That Close the Sale: How to Uncover Your Customers' Real Needs by Charles Brennan

I have a few hundred titles on sales in my library at the office.

There are also alot of good sales tape programs from companies like Nightingale Conant.

I have several like:
Close the Deal by the Sandler Sales Institute
Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
Secrets of Power Negotiating by Roger Dawson
and others by Ziglar, Tracy, Hopkins, and several other authors.

And as for salespeople being born this is a great book to teach you HOW to hire a great sales person:

Great Salespeople Aren't Born, They're Hired: The Secrets To Hiring Top Sales Professionals by Joe Miller

I really only looked at one book case but there are litereally hundreds of GREAT books on selling.

I would recommend finding a few authors that fit your style and then read everything they have.

Richard Burns

Sal616

i am also a fan of Zig and tom hopkins, and was too lazy to read "think and grow rich" so i got it on cd yrs ago, although i know i do have a natural talent for having customers trust me , you still need to knwo the psychology and steps to a sale, and you have to constantly be willing to learn new ideas and techniques, as i was told "when you are green you are growing , when you ripen you will rot".

easyrider241

Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie ....

vinylguy

OK GUYS! all these good titles and yet not one person mentioned phil rea. if you never heard of him you had better get aquinted. he's the best and only about the home improvement industry as well. has great audio stuff. just get it then you will beleive plus they over a 100,000$ money back gaurentee if you don'tr increase your sales by $100,000 in a year they'll give you $100,000 hows that for confidence?

RowdyRed94

Catch Paul Montelongo if you can. He did a builder's seminar here recently and offered a boatload of good ideas. You can get his weekly tips by email.

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mtpgoat

Start With No - Jim Camp

marc

Phil Rea's book is called...How to become a millionaire selling remodeling.
Pretty good book.