Honesty Sells: How To Make More Money and Increase Business Profits [Hardcover]

Steven Gaffney (Author), Colleen Francis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2009

Looking for an edge in today's tough selling market? Honesty Sells challenges you to abandon clichéd sales techniques that rely on manipulation and deceit. Instead, by being honest and open with clients, you will be rewarded with long-term, profitable relationships—at the expense of no one but your competition...

PRAISE FOR HONESTY SELLS

"I've been in the field of sales leadership for twenty-four years with a major organization. I've recruited, trained, and developed thousands of salespeople over those years. Where has this book been? It should be a must-read for every new salesperson. This is a simple topic that isn't easy to execute day to day. Honesty Sells helps you change your mental map about how to approach business and relationships. Do the right thing....always!"
—Scott DiGiammarino, Group Vice President, Ameriprise Financial

"Honesty Sells has already made a huge impact in my business and it's a keeper. I recommend it for any business CEO trying to maximize and keep their profits."
—Richard Strauss, President, Strauss Radio Strategies, Inc.

"Honesty Sells is not just a book for salespeople. As a public relations professional, Gaffney and Francis's solid principles and coaching have helped me to develop and maintain relationships that are key to the success of my business."
—Avery Mann, Director of Media & Public Relations, FOX TV's America's Most Wanted

"Literally thirty minutes after absorbing their sales advice, I was on the phone applying concepts and strategies that enabled me to effectively move forward a deal accounting for 57 percent of my quota for the entire sales quarter. Here's the best part: this was during my first month on the job."
—Raj Shahani, Yahoo!

"Thank you so much for the inspiration. Your selling techniques were just the shot in the arm that this old veteran really needed. I have four new clients in just a week's time! Hip hip hooray!!"
—Nancy Daniels, Regional Director, HelmsBriscoe

"A top-notch sales pro who knows how to make progress in a difficult market. Bad economy. Government sales. Makes no difference—the job gets done."
—Paul Lemberg, Lemberg and Associates

"In addition to the practical and proven tips and techniques, this advice is based on extensive sales research and investigation with respect to what produces results. All the 'out of the box' suggestions are attention-getting but also get results!"
—Janet Armstrong, Director, Management Consulting, Ajilon Consulting

Editorial Reviews

Review

?The book has methods that do not rely on old tricks, gimmicks or mind games. Instead, it shows you how to create immediate and lasting increases in your sales by selling yourself and your products, openly and honestly.? (Banana Q Business Buzz , October 2009)

From the Inside Flap

Being in the top ten percent of sales performers today means first letting go of many old stand-by ideas that used to work but now only get between you and the sale. Overly aggressive cold calling, too-polished presentations and corporate brochures, and insincere closing tricks and tactics are not just out of date but—nine times out of ten—unsuccessful. That's what makes Honesty Sells different. This method doesn't rely on old tricks, gimmicks, or mind games. Instead, it shows you how to create immediate and lasting increases in your sales by selling yourself and your products, openly and honestly.

Has a prospect ever told you they'd do one thing only to do the exact opposite? Have you lost business because a prospect never bothered to respond to your offer? Have your clients ever abandoned you for your competition without any explanation? Honesty Sells gives you the proven strategies to reduce lost sales, stop clients from defecting to the competition, and increase your profits with those clients in whom you've already invested time and effort.

You won't find short-term tactics or manipulative strategies here. Instead, you'll find an effective, real-world model for building open, honest, and long-lasting relationships with your clients—the kind of relationships that can withstand the lure of lower prices and slick competitors and lead to increased leads, sales, repeat business, and long-term profits. Sure, building these client relationships takes effort, but top sales professionals know that the payoff is well worth the cost.

Honesty Sells uses examples from real salespeople and real clients to show you how to:

• Use the fine line between persistence and stalking to achieve an instant eighty percent increase in call-back ratios
• Increase your average order size by up to fifty percent
• Multiply profits up to fifteen times by increasing repeat sales
• Prevent communication breakdowns even with your most difficult clients
• Increase client responsiveness and close the door on your competitors
• Reduce the length of sales cycles by up to thirty percent
• Disarm and turn around client objections quickly and effectively

Today's savvy customers are too smart to fall for cheap sales tricks. Instead, they want trusted, long-term, value-based relationships with their suppliers that ensure consistent profit for all parties. Give them that and you'll keep your clients for life . . . honestly!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470411538
• ISBN-13: 978-0470411537
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,571,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all salespeople and managers!, June 23, 2009

By 

D.Wis (Toronto, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honesty Sells: How To Make More Money and Increase Business Profits (Hardcover)

The title speaks for itself. Over my career of many years in retail and corporate sales, I've seen it time and time again where I've worked with other sales rep who lie to their customers-to make a quick buck only later to earn a reputation as being a con and losing customers in the long-term. The book carries many examples that I was able to relate to where customers haven't told the whole truth, dragged on the sales cycle, and even didn't admit they weren't the actual buyer and had a major influence from other senior management in the company. It gave me a lot of food for thought as well to think about how honest I am with myself in terms of cold calling and how productive I am as a sales rep. It's a book you'll come back to more than once and really provide you a lot of ideas on how you can become the most ethical and responsible sales rep out there!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honesty Sells is a phenomenal resource for my team!, June 25, 2009

By 

Tya Bolton, Exceptional Business Solutions (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honesty Sells: How To Make More Money and Increase Business Profits (Hardcover)

What a great resource! Having honesty at the heart of communications is detrimental. The personal stories were a great touch and the timing of the book couldn't be more perfect. The world needs this in such a tight economy where it's much more likely for struggling minds to be unethical to stay in the game.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Book Does Not Advocate Honest Selling, December 23, 2009

By 

Gill E. Wagner "Honest Selling" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Honesty Sells: How To Make More Money and Increase Business Profits (Hardcover)

This book does not foster honesty in sales. It perpetuates the myth that sales is about closing. It perpetuates the false assumption that prospects are liars. It perpetuates the misguided belief that prospects are too stupid to figure out what is best for themselves without being guided by you -- the salesperson. It perpetuates the self-centered thinking that a salesperson's job is to guide prospects to buying what he or she sells. It perpetuates manipulative tactics -- even their wording examples for overcoming objections show their complete lack of understanding of what Honest Selling really is.

Bad: This book continues the self-centered, "it's all about the close" thinking that is responsible for everything wrong in sales.

Worse: It does so under the guise of honesty.

If you believe in Honest Selling then do not waste your time with "Honesty Sells."

Gill E. Wagner, President, Founder & Creator of Honest Selling

P.S. If you want a MUCH more detailed version of this review, visit my blog at [...].