Soft Sell, 4E (Soft Sell: Use the New Art of Selling to Create Opportunities & Close More Sales) [Paperback]

Tim Connor (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Provides a new approach to selling...one that stresses motivation, communication, relationship building and self-image psychology to power-boost you to personal sales success. Discover simple ways to get out of a sales slump. Softcover.

About the Author

Tim Connor has been a full time speaker and author for over 25 years. He is the author of 19 books including the international best seller Soft Sell. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.; 4 edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402201125
• ISBN-13: 978-1402201127
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #394,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far and away the best sales book I've ever bought, March 11, 2006

By	California Dreamin "sr538" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soft Sell, 4E (Soft Sell: Use the New Art of Selling to Create Opportunities & Close More Sales) (Paperback)

In his opening paragraphs Tim says that only 5 percent of his readers will attempt do anything permanent with the material covered, and that these 5 percent already know who they are. He goes on that the book is written for the other 95%, and that his goal is to get under my skin, be a thorn in my side, and make me uncomfortable with myself and my progress. If change is to take place it must come from within me, not from books, family, my work environment or some other outside force.

And it worked for me! I felt somewhat depressed and apathetic about my situation going in, but now have a clearer perspective on my issues and an action plan for moving forwards.

I've got about 20 sales books in my business bookshelf; some (Socratic Selling, SPIN Selling) address listening and questioning skills, others (How to make friends and influence people) address attitude, others (Strategic Selling) address organization, tactics and closing. This is far and away the best!

Soft Sell contains adequate coverage of all the topics in my other books, extracting the perls of wisdom of these other books, explaining them clearly and concisely and telling you where to go for more detail. Reading Soft Sell was like taking inventory of my sales skills to determine what is working best and what might need improvement. It also contains the tools necessary to pursue improvements. And it was also (for me) a positive attitude adjustment.

There is so much compressed and valuable content in the 248 pages of this book that I am sure I will return to it many times.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots here to learn from, September 29, 2003

By	Michael Bird (Yorba Linda, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Soft Sell: The New Art of Selling, Self-Empowerment and Persuasion (Soft Sell: Use the New Art of Selling to Create Opportunities & Close More Sales) (Paperback)

There is probably more here than most people need or can handle all at once. I'd going to guess I'll probably get more out of this book in a second reading some time in the future. However, that being said, I give a strong recommendation to this book to any in a selling career.

There is common selling advice here, but there is also items with a twist from the authors point of view. Every bit helps. There is something here that would make it worth reading for almost any sales professional or manager.

Another great thing in this book is a long list of recommended reading. These types of lists, when complied by someone trustworthy, are often worth there weight in gold. I plan on checking out some of his recommendations myself.

There is a lot here on setting goals and planning out the future. I am not big on "filling out the forms", however I recognize the importance of what it is that he is trying to get across here. Perhaps in my future I'll be more disciplined in this area.

The handling objections portion of the book is worth the price of owning it. Remember that it only takes one tip or bit of advice for a book like this to pay off in a big way. I give it a strong recommendation.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip It, August 13, 2006

By	Longmontlady "Carol Blaha" (Warner Robins GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soft Sell, 4E (Soft Sell: Use the New Art of Selling to Create Opportunities & Close More Sales) (Paperback)

This is a book full of contradictions. The few gems inside are hardly worth the price. Just to give a few-- on one hand he says spend most of your time with your bigger clients. Then talks about how great service he gives "all" his clients. Then says, some large clients don't want a lot of your time. I have been in sales all my life, moving into training and coaching. I never had a B client develop into an A, without time and effort. He goes on about being a "professional visitor", if you aren't in the office with the desire to close something. You call this soft selling? And how a sale should be 3 calls and 3 calls alone, meeting, proposal and close. Or you are doing something wrong. The bigger and more complex the sale the longer the sales cycle may be. Consultative selling takes as long as required to find the right solution. Most sales people quit after the 3rd attempt and if they're following this advice I can see why. Please let me know which salespeople are following this advice so I can go behind them and sweep up those commissions.