Metaphorically Selling: How to Use the Magic of Metaphors to Sell, Persuade, & Explain Anything to Anyone [Paperback]

Anne Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2004

Billions of dollars are left on the table and hundreds of ideas fail to get off the ground every day because of the over-communicated society in which we live. Salespeople, managers, consultants, CEOs, and even the president of the United States, are constantly challenged to pierce through this information clutter to get others to see the unique value of their services, explanations, and propositions. Metaphors solve that problem. Metaphorically Selling provides a unique four-step model that shows anyone, easily and quickly, how to become a master of metaphor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A quick enjoyable read...Miller goes beyond the quick fix of most business books." -- MARKETING TODAY.COM

"An extremely valuable supplement to the personal library of anyone in careers that involve sales, negotiation, presentation..." -- MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"Metaphors are communication home runs. This book shows you how to hit them." -- CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Packed with more than 250 examples...it’s a novel, entertaining, and practical approach to the utilization of often-overlooked communications tool." -- FREQUENT FLYER MAGAZINE

May's "Must have!" selection -- SALES PRO MAGAZINE

About the Author

Anne is founder of Chiron Associates, Inc. For the last twenty years, she has specialized in sales and presentation skills seminars, speaking, and consulting for high profile associations and Fortune 1000 companies, like Yahoo! Citigroup, and the UN, both in the United States and around the world. She has appeared on Bloomberg News Radio and CNNfn and has been featured in numerous online and offline publications and guest lectured at Columbia Business School. She is the author of "365 Sales Tips for Winning Business," "Presentation Jazz!" Anne holds her MA from The University of Wisconsin and resides in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Chiron Associates Inc (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976279401
• ISBN-13: 978-0976279402
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Metaphors come in handy for more than just selling, March 11, 2006

By 

Meryl K. Evans "Content Maven behind meryl.net" (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Metaphorically Selling: How to Use the Magic of Metaphors to Sell, Persuade, & Explain Anything to Anyone (Paperback)

Who knew selling could be fun? Learn how to use metaphors in making the sale. The book isn't just for people who do sales, but anyone who has to do any kind of persuasion even for marketing a one-person business. It's a surprise this book isn't better known as it's a superb, fun, and educational read.

Why not just buy a book on language or read up on metaphors? Miller uses examples of applying metaphors in business situations, something you won't find in metaphor-related books.

The book starts off with the "Sorry Seven," seven kinds of people who tend to put listeners to sleep. The book is divided into four sections. The first shows why you should use metaphors in making your case. They help appeal to both sides of the brain. Miller uses Robin Williams and Joe Friday to represent the right and left brains respectively. This is a clever way to remember which side of the brain is which in terms of telling (Joe Friday) and showing (Robin Williams).

Section two shows how to create effective metaphors with a four-step workout (no running involved). Section three is about applying the power of metaphors in the selling process. You've heard "Practice makes perfect" and section four is about practicing with the metaphors. In this section, Miller encourages becoming a clipper for clipping quotes and other gems. She also shares her valuable collection of quotes to get you started.

This book not only serves as an educational read that's as fluid as reading a work of fiction, but also as a reference and a workbook as the end of each chapter has worksheets to practice using metaphors.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you buy only one book on selling, buy this book, December 9, 2006

By 

Black Raven (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metaphorically Selling: How to Use the Magic of Metaphors to Sell, Persuade, & Explain Anything to Anyone (Paperback)

First let me say I am not an author scatching another authors back (I don't know about you, but I don't even read reviews by other authors because they all reveiw each others books. It is much more helpful to me when I read a review from another salesperson, someone who is in the trenchs or came from the trenchs. I do not know the author, never heard of the author before this book, am not a fan, am not a student at some gurus feet. I am a guy trying to pay my bills and make a better life for my family. And I do it by selling.

I have been in sales and marketing for over 25 years. I have read enough books on sales to fill a library. Some good, most just raw material for confetti, with a few books that are great. I feel this is the most important book anyone in business or selling can read.

I have lost sales even though profit analysis and side by side cost analysis both dramatically reveal the supremacy of the course of action I propose. I go slow, get agreements all the way through, heads nodding, even agreement that they want to go with what I propose. And there are STILL cases where I am flabbergasted and frustrated because the deal doesn't close! Then I know - THEY JUST DIDN'T GET IT! Going slow, getting agreements along the way and my point went right over their heads.

I sell a service to physicians...and they are doctors, not business people. In fact that is how I found this book. I knew I had to find some method of better communication that would allow me to make critical points easy to understand by a lay person without loosing their power. Through searching on google I found a link to this book and the author.

The magic of this book is it immediately enables you to communicate powerfully and effectively with anyone about anything, and in a way that sticks in their mind and they REMEMBER. And in sales and business that is critical to success.

This is why I feel Anne Miller's book is the most important book you will read and this is a book that will put money in your pocket! You will sell more, period.

This book would be number one on my recommended reading list, the next 2 books on sales I would recommend after this are Value Forward Selling by Paul R. DiModica, and Never Cold Call Again by Frank J. Rambauskas Jr.
All three of these books are no b.s, practical, and most importantly, they work in the real world.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rope when you're trapped in quicksand, April 5, 2006

By 

Philip Hamilton (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Metaphorically Selling: How to Use the Magic of Metaphors to Sell, Persuade, & Explain Anything to Anyone (Paperback)

Thesis: Business people leave a lot of money on the table because they aren't able to communicate the unique value of their services. Strategic usage of appropriate metaphors helps solve this problem by giving the prospect a clear understanding of the value of your services.

Structure: 24 chapters spread over four sections:

1. The Case for Metaphor
2. Building Metaphor Muscle
3. Selling with Metaphors
4. Metaphor Maintenance

What are Metaphors, and When do You Need Them? (Ch. 2 and 3; pp. 13-26)
Metaphors are shortcuts to instant understanding through the use of powerful imagery. As Anne says on page 13, "Information + Metaphor = `I see what you mean!'" She provides real-world examples from famous figures and also includes practical worksheet tools (pp. 18-23) to help you start your way down the road to metaphor mastery. Chapter Three underscores the importance of using metaphors whenever you sense your audience slipping away from you.

Burners: Explain, Simplify, Reinforce Points (Ch. 15; pp. 87-97)
The more we talk, the less people listen. Brevity is the soul of wit, and Ann shows how this applies to sales. Use metaphors to produce simple, concise, and relevant points that will help you make more sales in less time.

Travel to Other Worlds (Ch. 23; pp. 137-139)
Anne uses this brief chapter to drive home the point that true metaphorical mastery means being able to use metaphors from different aspects of life and the world as a whole. For example, your sports metaphors may work wonders with many, but they certainly won't work for everyone. You need to expand your metaphorical horizons. A worksheet on page 139 helps you think about using different metaphors to produce similar imagery.

An excellent tool for our selling toolkit.