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45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book I have ever read on Sales, June 15, 2003
Bar none, this is the best book you will ever read about the art of selling. Moreover, this book will change the way you think about hiring, training, managing and motivating anyone who is responsible for bringing new customers to your organization and keeping those customers engaged.See of you can answer this question from the book correctly:
What do the top sales and marketing professionals have in common?
a. Experience and background
b. Education and training
c. Great presentation skills
d. Aggressive closers
e. None of the above If you guessed "e", you are correct. According Gallup's extensive research spanning 30 years and interviews with 250,000 sales people, over 1 million customers and 25,000 sales managers, this is what the top sales people have in common:
* They were in the type of sales job where they were able to use their top talents every day
* They developed their own unique selling style based on their top talents
* They had a productive relationship with their manager. Since the top 25 % of the sales force accounts for 57% of the sales revenue in most organizations, the more sales people get to use their top talents, the more likely they are to build a sustainable and profitable customer base. So, how do you discover your individual strengths and talents? One of the unique features of this book is that you go to an Internet site and take an assessment that will immediately tell you what your top five strengths are. What I found intriguing is that these strengths are much more practical than the strengths I have seen in any other kind of assessment instruments. You can then use the book to determine how to put these strengths to work for you so they become true talents. (By focusing on these strengths I have increased my own productivity by 100%!!) The other thing I really liked about this book is the easy to read format and the fact that the author includes great real world stories and examples of how top sales people used their talents to excel in their job. The author, Benson Smith, who started his career as a successful salesperson with a Fortune 500 medical device company and eventually became the CEO, writes in clear business language and does not spend a lot of time espousing complicated theories. If anything, the book is too short and leaves you wanting more. The book also talks about the key role that managers play in insuring the success of the sales effort. The chapter on management should be required reading for anyone who is a manager or thinks they want to become one. (You will also find this chapter extremely helpful if your current manager is less than ideal.) I have spent over 20 years in the medical and pharmaceutical industry in sales, management, marketing and training. Over the last 9 years, I have had a successful business focused on performance development consulting and training. This book has inspired me to rethink my approach. I hope it will do the same for others in my profession. Most organizations tie training to "improvement opportunities." Gallup's research has found that training will be far more productive if you focus on strengths and how to build them into true talents.
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