Customer Reviews

Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive : Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition (HarperBusiness Essentials)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anyone interested in making sales (Any type of sales) their career, would benefit from reading this book. Much of the text borders on the obvious, however it's strange how often we neglect the obvious. I first read this book (9) years ago. I continue to pick it up to this date as a refresher. Harvey Mackey does an excellent job of making this a "I can't put it down book" Non-avid readers will breese through the pages. Must read!

Some worthy information about particular business issues are raised and noted, and for the most part this is an off-the-cuff soliloquy talk about how Harvey views business, and the world. There is nothing more amusing than some wealthy person in business who thinks they have the answers and the remedies for the rest of us. Written in the late 1980s, some of the attitudes presented towards hiring potential employees will become evident. All in all, this is an easy and quick-read.

I read "Swim With The Sharks" front-to-back, however each chapter concerns a different topic, so one does not have to read this book straight through from page 1 to the end.

One thing I found a bit quirky were the consistent references to allegedly "successful" collegiate and professional sports coaches. I don't feel it's an appropriate analogy to commonly equate coaches with the situations outside of the sports world. The sports culture is often not applicable to making a business deal, dealing with corporate culture, and/or avoiding mistakes with people socially. The sports in itself is a microcosm of society, but a separate world within its own. Time and time again I would chuckle to myself as I would read a quote made by Vince Lambardi, some NBA coach, or read a personal anecdote from the now disgraced coach Lou Holtz. Having to read Yogi Berra's lobotomy-like quotes and philosophy was quite dull, and not very informative.

Some helpful and practical information is the "66 question customer profile," as well as the "12P Competitor profile." I liked his noting (book written 1988) of how people who usually don't have money go out and buy a brand new "prestigious" car that depreciates.

Mackay also reminds us (or me atleast) of the importance of writing small yet important things down on paper and/or notepads.

One of his tips on how to save time is to drive near the front of a grocery store you plan on shopping in. Then look for how many people are in line. If its too crowded don't go in. Thanks Harvey. You've changed my life with your insights.

He also tried to break an attempt by his employees to form a union, which he lost. He openly stated how he conned very employee into thinking they were "special" and "important" with his one-to-one meetings with them. It didn't work. They didn't buy it.

He does understand (see "Dig You Well Before Your Thirsty") the art of the schmooze in talking with celebrities such as O.J. and world figures such as Castro about things that they do, and interest them in their free time and NOT about what they do for work.

All in all, useful things can be gleaned from "Swim With The Sharks," and it's a very quick read.

This is a great book, whether you're an MBA or just someone trying to get an advantage in everyday life. Harvey Mackay's lessons are to be treasured--he was way ahead of the curve in the mid-1980s. It may be hard to appreciate this today because some of the advice isn't fresh anymore: we all have phones in our cars and we all use answering machines to screen calls and we all take notes on the run on little portable recorders. --Well, many of us do, at any rate. Hardly revolutionary advice anymore, but that's only because we listened to Harvey in the first place.

Some of the chapters contain gold that will always be valuable, however. One of my favorites involves the phrase "Dusseldorf passes." I won't spoil it for the unread, but I will say the lesson from that chapter is one everyone should take with them through life. It will save you a lot of money and regret.

And the Mackay hiring process. So thorough it seems to border on the obsurd, but the more I work at various companies the more I wish all businesses were as picky about acquiring workers. Harvey shows you that even "lowly" positions such as the receptionist or secretary are among your company's most critical, for 99% of your customers will get their first impression of your company--and in some cases the *only* impression of your company--through this crucial individual. Yet many companies get some 18-year-old part-timer to answer the phones and file valuable company documents--*and they're proud of this cost-cutting maneuver!* They consider this smart management. Harvey explains why this is actually a very dumb move.

He also shows you how to get "impossible" tickets to the big game and how to get a reservation at virtually any hotel, even ones that are "completely booked." And no, these are not devious ways. They're just common sense, actually.

Whether you're an ambitious manager at a Fortune 500 company or an owner of a small businesses on the corner, this book has nuggets. So grab it. And then read the other books Harvey Mackay has written. While they didn't have the freshness or the impact of this first one (is that possible?) they are still well worth your time.

Excellent popular manual for quick rules of thumb to operate in business today. As a speaker I know the value of providing information that is immediately digestible with take-away value. Primary to this work is the Mackay 66, a list of questions/statistics that you should gather about all your prospects and customers in order to really Wow `em.

Are you are serious about getting ahead? You have to read this book. Don't listen to the "thubs up" guy if he would have listened to Harvey he would not be in the position he is now "2 years latter". Harvey gives the reader real life examples of how to get ahead in your life. If your looking to get ahead in your job read "Sharkproof" by MacKay. Harvey's writing style is great, you can't put the book down.... I have read all of Harvey's books and have went out and bought more to give to people I have met who want to get more out of their life and their job.... in fact I applied one of Harvey's story's to my own personal life and got a job starting out at 40K per year. I highly, highly recommend ALL of Harvey's books.

Wily ol' Harvey MacKay is a prototypical midwestern multimillionare. This means that even at his most Machiavellian, he comes across as a charming, down-to-earth folksy everyman - just the sort of person James Stewart used to play. This is Mr. MacKay's first book and it's well-worth reading for anybody who'd like to know more about why some people succeed in business while most fail. Some may dismiss many of Mr. MacKay's advice as merely 'common sense' but given that so many of us fall short of financial and personal success I doubt that the knowledge in here is all that common.

On the positive side, we have a successful business leader who stresses the importance of ethics, personal integrity, and steady hard work. I've rarely encountered a management or business-oriented author who stressed strength of character as much as Mr. MacKay does. He also tells personal anecdotes with a refreshing lack of swagger. This book may have first been written in the 1980s but Harvey MacKay does not reflect the Era of Greed at all. It's little wonder he's in demand as an inspirational public speaker, and that he still publishes a weekly advice/inspiration column.

Of course, in any book this old, there are bound to be dated sections and those are the only real negatives. Mr. MacKay's hiring practices (in which employees are visited and interviewed in their own homes so that he can learn more about their family values, yet in which no one calls to verify personal references) would raise a lot of eyebrows today. There's also an over-reliance on sports analogies. Other reviewers have noted this but I would like to add that Mr. MacKay's love of sports anecdotes reflects his age, because sports heroes and coaches of the past were not the money-driven free agents of today.

In sum, this would be a good graduation gift, or a welcome present for anyone beginning a job within the corporate world. Unlike many advice books, I left this one not only with good advice but also with a sense of who the author really was. And, I have to say, I enjoy Harvey MacKay a lot.

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This book, for me, was a guide in how to conduct myself in this difficult environment in an ethical manner, yet still succeed. I'll never forget reading the maxim, "Don't get mad, DON'T get even". After observing the behavior of those around me, many from the nation's top B schools, I was stunned to read this. They don't teach these types of ethics in MBA school. Anyway, I was dumbfounded when I read this simple rule, but Mackay deftly explains how this will not only help you rationalize your situation, but actually excel in this environment.

This is just one example. The book lays out Mackay's extremely wise philosophy. It is important to read this book and learn how to work with the sharks, reduce your anxiety, create win-win situations, and not be eaten.

This book reiterates all the things you've always known about business but don't always implement -- writing thank you notes, trying to personalize business relationships, relating to your customers. I read this book when I was 20 and this is one of the books that showed me the power of personal networking.

Mackay's book is a must read for anyone in the sales profession--especially if you're selling a commodity product. He outlines many straightforward methods to differentiate yourself from your competition. Pretty much common sense and blocking and tackling, but sometimes the obvious is the most overlooked.

You're dead wrong if you think this isn't a book that a grandmother could benefit from. Harvey Mackay writes a book not only about business, but about life. It teaches you to appreciate people, getting them to understand you and show you understand them.

I'm now the President of the Montana Grandmothers Book Club. Granted, I'm no Bill Clinton, but I got the position by using Mr. Mackay's key improvement point to know your customers (in my case, the other members of the book club).

For instance, I know Susanby is very conservative and Georgette is very liberal. So I would with them to find suitable books to read.

And I SHOW MY APPRECIATION by telling people how much I like them and by sending thank you notes. If I know one of my members plays golf, I'll even send them a link to a golf web site (yes, grandmothers can play golf and yes, we also can use the Internet ... though I can't type as fast as I used to).

Now before you get too worried about nepotism, I am not related to Harvey Mackay (my married name, "Mackey", comes from the same derivative so Harvey might possibly be related to my husband Michael from 10 generations ago) - so my judgment is sound.

Mackay writes a great book that is easy to read and quick to benefit from.