Customer Reviews

Mega-Selling: Secrets of a Master Salesman

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As a relative new comer to the financial planning industry I am hungry for insights into how I can sell larger and larger cases. As a result, I read a lot of the sales books written by the giants in our industry, but none have been as valuable as David Cowper's Breakthrough: Take Your Business and Sales to the Top.

David emigrated to Canada in 1957 with only $40 in his pocket. Now, after 39 years in the life insurance business, he sells $100 million dollar cases. His new book reveals, for the first time anywhere, the strategies he has used throughout his life to open new markets, prepare for cases and close sales.

Right from page one, Breakthrough: Take Your Business to the Top grips the reader and doesn't let go. It is written in a fast-paced, easy-to-understand style. David Cowper takes the reader deep inside the psychological drama of over thirty different cases that cover all of the different stages of his long career. In each case I felt as if I was right inside the prospect's office with him, straining to overcome the client's objections, feeling heartbroken when the case seemed to collapse and then euphoric when the deal finally closed.

One of the earliest chapters in the book is called 'Creative Survival.' It describes how David Cowper entered into the life insurance business and the early struggles he faced while trying to keep his career alive. I really identified with this chapter and was relieved to know that someone as successful as David Cowper wasn't always that way -- he went his first three months in the business without a single sale. Although it was tough for him he still kept his sense of humour. I'll always remember the exploding soup can story that saved his career.

The rest of the book outlines the strategies that David Cowper used to grow from his humble beginnings to becoming a founding member of Top of the Table. He really makes you believe that if he can do it so can you and I. And, more than that, he actually shows us how he did it. He explores in great depth the importance of both knowledge and passion in a life insurance agent's career. In fact, in one story he shows us how he won the confidence of the key player in a $42 million case, simply by pointing out the suicide clause in the insurance policies.

If you've ever wanted to know how to get tough prospects to start talking and trusting you and treating you like someone who can help them, you had better read David Cowper's strategy on disarming the prospect. This was the most important thing I learned in the book, and I have now changed the way I approach a prospect. Like David Cowper I tell my prospects that there is a good chance they won't need my services, which is difficult because I'm afraid of losing the business. But afterwards I find the prospect opens up to me and we are able to work together to solve whatever problems their business is facing.

In the last chapter, David Cowper makes the fantastic prediction that in the near future it will be possible for a life insurance agent to have a one billion dollar year. He makes this statement on the strength of five opportunities he sees for our business in the 21st century -- such as the knowledge worker market and the golden age of entrepreneurs. And believe me, those are five opportunities I'm definitely going to take advantage of.

Some very high-profile agents in our field who read advance copies of this book recommended it to me as "the best book on life insurance they have ever read." After reading it from cover to cover in just a couple of days I must absolutely agree. I will definitely apply David Cowper's Breakthrough strategies as I develop my own megacase business.

BREAKTHROUGH: A GUIDE TO THE TOP

David Cowper's guide to success in sales begins as a sleek black limousine pulls to a curb. Once inside the limousine, Cowper has 15 minutes to close a deal and open the door to a $100 Million life insurance policy. As this scene suggests, Cowper's book is both an account of his own internationally renowned career and a guide to those seeking to follow in his footsteps. At once readable and perceptive, Breakthrough contains two key messages. The first is that "We don't earn a living, we learn a living." Cowper demonstrates conclusively that insurance professionals need solid knowledge of a prospect's own circumstances, of insurance products, and of relevant social, governmental, or business influences. In scene after scene, Cowper allows readers to watch as he puts his own knowledge to work in selling a variety of difficult cases. Cowper's second message is that persistence pays off. Closing multi-million dollar deals can require weeks, months, or even years of courting strong prospects. What does a sales professional do during this time? Cowper provides sales and marketing strategies to follow. He also recommends visualisation and focus as ways of maintaining the drive necessary to pursue cases over long periods of time. Breakthrough provides a model of success which is clear, readable, and filled with memorable detail. It offers sales professionals at all levels a rare opportunity to watch as a master salesman clinches deal after deal.

This book should be given to every new salesman in any industry. Cowper's field is insurance sales, but his insights, I believe, extend to all fields. It is an amazing book. It is a how to book, but he backs everything up with examples from his time in sales. His examples are like a story, you're interested and it feels like he is talking directly to you. I felt so inspired after reading this book, that I even thought about going into sales. I will not, however, it will help me in many other areas in my life when I have to persuade someone.

I bought this book on the glowing reviews of others and was incredibly disappointed. The "secrets" the author reveals is very generic info, the like of which you can get with any other sales guru.

What you will get here is a lot of the author's war-stories and his climb to the top of the life insurance sales rung and if that's your thing, than more power to you. What I was really looking for was a book that gives you help for this current economic environment and sales climate. Things simply aren't the same now as they were back in the 70s and 80s when a lot of these old sales gurus made their mark. What we need is someone who is RIGHT NOW successfully navigating the sales field with current conditions. The internet has changed everything. People are much harder to get to. Clients are marketing-numb and more sales resistant than they used to be 30 years ago. Although I'm a HUGE Brian Tracy fan, I feel the same way about some of his sales advice.

So if you like good sales stories from the trenches (including the "BIG ONE", the $100,000,000 sale that the author bases his book around). then you will enjoy this. If you are looking for nuggets of wisdom that will give you the leading-edge in your sales field right now, you will be very disappointed as I was. Wish I could get my money back. Sorry to rain on the parade, but I want others to be aware and not fall into the same trap I did.

The content of this book is awesome. It helped me a lot in my sales. The book in like new condition. Definitely worth a buy.

I lucked upon this book, meaning that I did not realize so much of the book would apply to my field, Insurance Sales. It is an excellent book for any salesperson, particularly those who sell in the service area direct to consumers. Worth the read.
Another great "sales" book is "20 Days to the Top". The "CLEAR" technique of questioning is worth the price of the book 10 times over.

Mr. Cowper's book on selling, is more like a mentor writing on what he learned from life. Few books inspires like this gem. I am forever grateful for being his protege!