Sales Books

So many Realtors get into the real estate business and fail to survive. In today's fast paced, technology filled society, you need to be prepared for your new career. You need to understand the Internet and online marketing, but also understand how to develop leads, capture those leads and follow up with those leads. This book is 5 stars, a great read.

New realtors should be required to read Dan Gooder Richard Real Estate Rainmaker: Guide to Online Marketing, Gary Keller SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times (PAPERBACK) (Millionaire Real Estate), The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money...It's About Being the Best You Can Be! and Loren Keim Real Estate Prospecting: The Ultimate Resource Guide, How to Sell Your Home in Any Market: 6 Reasons Why Your Home Isn't Selling... and What You Can Do to Fix Them before they're allowed to meet a client!

This book was full of great information and knowledge. An excellent guide for a real estate professional wanting to build an effective website. Informative also if you are hiring someone to build your website and need to be educated enough to recognize if the web designer is worth the money you are paying.
The author's website was informative too, but I felt it could have been more impressive in appearance. Afterall, the author is wrote a book about how to design a great website.
Overall, I recommend this book to any real estate professional who wants guidance in improving their online image, internet lead generation, and a more effective email campaign.

Full of tips easy to use and fuul with tools to sell your web site right away.

Good ideas and well organized but be careful if you are not strongly web knowledgeable as some info is out of date, having been written about 3 years ago. Web is changing faster than books being published can keep current.

This book is very simple for IT guys, But It will be interesting for those IT Experts who are new in Real Estate Online Business.

It covers from A-Z, with details and researches, full of examples and ideas.

There are too much examples and ideas that you will not be able to use all.

I recommend this book to IT Experts who are working in Real Estate Industry, New Real Estate Agents and Brokers, Real Estate Agents who are going to update thier websites (If they had one before ! ), and YOU.

Kimberly McCall's book, Sell it, Baby! is wonderfully refreshing--a pocket-sized guide to marketing your business from A to Z.

Sell it, Baby! includes chapters on marketing, branding, and sales, all written for small-business owners and marketing professionals. I especially like how it's fun to read. McCall also interviews other marketing experts and professionals.

Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," author of Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.

"Sell It, Baby!" has something for every small business owner or marketing professional. Pick and choose from a menu of sales and marketing offerings, everything from "Born Again: How Brands Get a Second Shot at Consumer Love" to "Top Five Traits You Gotta Have to Sell" (my favorite and not just because I'm quoted!)

"Sell It, Baby!" can be read in tasty bites. Pick it up, read an article for information, inspiration or simply because it's well written, then go back to whatever you were doing before. More than likely, however, you'll find yourself quickly returning for another bite!

Wendy Weiss
"The Queen of Cold Calling"

Sell it, Baby! is a quick and enjoyable read filled with real world, practical advice on marketing, branding and sales. It is particularly strong in its sales management advice, clearly drawing from Kimberly's sales management experience. This book addresses the real issues that sales and marketing professionals face day-in and day-out versus the academic theories or models on which many sales and marketing books seem to focus. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is in sales management or aspires to be. I also recommend it for marketers. You will enjoy the read and will learn something that you can apply to your own career success.

Brad VanAuken, author, Brand Aid: An Easy Reference Guide to Solving Your Toughest Branding Problems and Strengthening Your Market

This book is a must for anyone interested in selling, marketing, and/or branding. It provides a structured step-by-step process for applying total brand management to your own product, no matter what it is. The language is clear, the examples get right to the point--and best of all, the book gets right to the point. I personally can't stand books where you have to weed through pages of fluff to get to the part you want to read.

What I also liked is that Kimberly doesn't talk down to the reader. Some people flaunt their expertise, and sound arrogant as they try to give their readers advice. It's grating, and those are the books I usually put down after a few pages, no matter how knowledgeable the author is. But Kimberly has a lively writing style, and appears to enjoy sharing her expertise--without that arrogance or tone of superiority that is often prevalent in these types of books.

It's an unfortunate irony that the field of marketing and communications is littered with so many "how-to" books that are unfocused and unclear. "Sell It, Baby!" provides an antidote - it's a concise collection of marketing tips and tricks that's divided by subject and easy to read. McCall calls herself a business cynic - "think Andy Rooney with lots of hair and a great handbag collection," she says - and how can you resist a writer like that? Her breezy book is packed with valuable nuggets for the novice and expert alike.

-Marc Nathanson, Executive Producer, NY1 News

My friends keep telling me I should write a book about my grief, but I think that what Elizabeth Harper Neeld has written is better than anything I could produce. This book is so readable and covers every aspect of grief. My husband died four months ago, and I have found this book exceedingly helpful. Elixabeth put the most important step first "To experience and express grief fully." There are hundreds of ways to run away from grief, but it is necessary "to feel it to heal it." I was given the best advice by a friend who said to "lean into the pain." The second choice "To endure with patience," has helped me be more patient and compassionate with myself. Thank you, Elizabeth for this beautiful book. I will buy it for everyone I know who loses someone dear.

My husband died suddenly in 2005 and I've done a lot of grief work using all tools available-counseling, guided imagery dvd's, bereavement groups, journaling and LOTS of reading. This is by far the best resource and guide for anyone experiencing such a loss. I've recommended it several times and have given it to friends who have lost spouses. Don't hesitate to buy it.

I gave this as a gift to my cousin's husband after she died. He'd read a number of books on the topic and said this book included helpful information that he'd never read before. He gave it to his step daughters to read next since he felt they could benefit from it as well.

Harper Neeld's book is an incredibly detailed compilation of the author's personal experiences in the sudden loss of her young husband, interviews with other widows/widowers, and discussions of phases of the grieving process. I would rate this book highly, along with one of my favorite grief authors, thanatologist Alan Wolfelt (e.g. Understanding Your Grief books). Harper Neeld seamlessly combines her painful, personal story with factual, helpful guidelines to create one of the best written boooks I have read on widowhood. I used the introspective questions with my grief therapist, who liked the book so much that she borrowed it and used it for a class she taught.

After my husband died suddenly, I was beside myself. My aunt insisted on placing this book in my hands. It has been a lifeline to me. I have purchased well over 20 copies of it for friends and continue to haunt my local bookstore when they don't have it on the shelf for immediate purchase. Having read almost every grief book out there, don't waste your money, just buy this one and learn to live again.

I read the book years ago and loved it. I recently had my husband read it when he started selling our new business, and he loved it so much he bought the audio version to drive around with. We now have given it to someone else who is going to start selling our now-thriving business.

I am a Purchasing guy, and am always dealing with sales guys. Have been for 25 years. 5 years ago I crossed over to Consulting. In my new line of work, I am finding it necessary to sell, not just buy. This book explains how to do that successfully and is a must read for ANY professional, regardless of whether you are a buyer or seller of goods or services, as we are all truly in the business of selling our ideas to somebody, every day.

Buy it, read it, benefit from it. It is a great great book.

I found this to be a great book about selling tactics. Written in an easily accessible style with few wasted words. This book gets to the point quickly and provides a roadmap to easily and quickly create a sales handbook that is customized for your business. I created and continue to refine my own sales handbook thanks to this book, and I find it very useful preparation for sales meetings. I handed my sales handbook to someone who didn't really understand what I did, and after reading it she knew exactly how and why. One of the best books on selling tactics that I've read.

I purchased this program and others to review before deciding wich to use in a training program for my salesforce. I personaly enjoyed it, but do not feel it would be as widely excepted as other programs I reviewed. It requires more decipline to stick with it than other programs and I believe this is so because of the delivery or reading of the material. I am glad I listened to it but it did not make the cut for my training material.

Thank you Jerry for a no-non-sense aproach to the "art & science" of selling. I picked up the 4 cassette tape set on "Soft Selling in a Hard World" on Ebay and put the tape set away for 6 months. Unpackaged it the other day and have been kicking myself ever since. Powerful, easy to understand principles and systems, that make selling "fun for me again".

I've always loved people and the interaction I have with them. And I'm a pretty accomplished sales trainer as well. When I listened to Jerry's tapes, he put me "back in sales training school" for which I'm grateful.

Selling isn't rocket-science but it is a science. Do this...get this. The value of preparation comes through in Jerry's presentation. The 90-second close and Mission Statement sections have changed my approach to selling TV advertising, and selling is "really fun again".

Thank you Jerry. With the salespeople I manage, we'll be calling you for your in-depth Executive Training Program with our sales folks.

What a great resource. For a small biz like myself, it gives simple, concrete "growth" advice and direction. It should be in new print...not relegated to the used marketplace. With so much fodder out there, this stands way above the pack!

I've been marketing and selling on the internet since 1995. There is one specific idea in this book that IF you actually use it, you will almost certainly triple your business. (No kidding) I definitely wish I would have had this book 5 years ago. However, I have it now and the fundamentals are superb. Parker takes you through the strategies that bring people to your web site and develop a web site that gets people to come back again and again.

I absolutely love this book and strongly suggest you pick it up. ...Isn't it worth it to gain some powerful, usable and workable strategies that will make you 1000 times the investment?! It's a no-brainer!

Kevin Hogan...

I keep referring to Parker's book over and over again. Even someone who has been marketing via the Net for several years will find this text a cogent, insightful and organized source of help. I can't imagine my Web-based efforts without its guidance.

Most books published this long ago look incredibly dated by now. This one isn't. Everything in it still rings true, and it's a shame more websites don't heed this man's advice.

I bought the book because I saw a lot of great reviews about it on amazon.com. But after reading the book, it's really disappointing because the book is just very shallow about web marketing... It's also very repetitive and all it says is very general, it doesn't really cover much on strategic web marketing. A lot of the articles on the many web marketing sites or newsletters out there are much more helpful than that book. It doesn't tell much except for mentioning repeatedly how good content, customers registration and email newsletters are important for relationship marketing... It doesn't provide any resource at all for the readers to create good content, to build a customer email database or to launch an effective promotion or marketing campaign, i don't recommend this book at all.

I am always looking for what I think is the best sales book to recommend. This is the book for B2B sales this year. A very high sales performer, Bill Stinnett has really hit the mark with this book. If you coupled the strategies and methods of Stinnett with the strategies and tactics used by Bill Freese, (Question Based Selling) you could build the ultimate sales machine in your company. I am just blown away at the thoroughness, quality of process and thought that has gone into this book. When I asked Bill for a review copy he arranged to call me to find out where I was coming from and what I did with the reviews. This gentleman dots the i's and crosses the t's.

Buy it, read it, and keep it on your read often, do not lend bookshelf. Of course if you are content with the status quo, this book will only make you realize how much more there is out there. I am really pumped by Stinnett!

If you want to improve your sales and connect better with your customers, buy this book! Each chapter is full of "aha!" insights that will enhance your understanding of your customer's needs.

Stinnett is an apostle of the "diagnostic approach" to selling, in which the seller undertakes a process of discovery to identify what results the customer is trying to achieve. The focus is always on the customer--his motive, the urgency of reaching the objective, the consequences of doing nothing and remaining where he is, the expected payback from attaining the objective, the resources the customer has available to devote to the effort, and the risks he will face in moving in a new direction. These "Action Drivers," Stinnett explains, govern and control just about every buying decision. If a sale falls through, chances are that one of these "Action Drivers" was missing.

In the first half of the "Think Like Your Customer," Stinnett analyzes how buyers evaluate their options and assess risk. Weeks after reading the book, I still open it up and turn to the chart on page 49, where Stinnett lists the eight major types of value your customer may be attempting to derive from a relationship with you and your company. They are:

Economic Value (increasing revenue, reducing costs, better utilization of assets)
Emotional Value (need for recognition and security)
Simplicity Value (making the easy choice and reducing headaches)
Relational Value (repaying loyalty and commitment; avoiding potential conflict)
Political and Image Value (looking good to others)
Guidance or Advice Value (access to expert advice)
Quality Value (reducing product defects; better service)
Time Value (shorten time to market; free up time for other things)

Stinnett points out for each of these denominations of value, there is a corresponding denomination of risk. Since value and risk are two sides of the same coin, a seller can increase the perceived value of his offering--and overcome prospects' perennial objections about price, by focusing carefully on the customer's concerns and reducing risk in the areas of value that are important to that particular customer.

In the second half of the book, Stinnett dissects the anatomy of the customer's buying process. Instead of focusing our attention on how we sell, Stinnett says we should concentrate on how the customer buys and--more importantly--what affirmative steps we can take to help the buyer move through each stage of the buying process that the buyer needs to traverse in order to buy from us.

Nothing in "Think Like Your Customer" is startlingly new; rather, Stinnett teaches how we can turn our thinking inside out and look at a transaction from the perspective of the buyer.

This book is well organized and highly readable; the reasoning is persuasive, and the advice is immensely practical. Immediately after reading "Think Like Your Customer," I began to conduct conversations with my clients using the tools and skills Stinnett provides. The difference in the quality of the communication was nothing short of amazing. Buy this book and profit from its wisdom!

When I read books on persuasion, I'm looking for effective tools. One of the reasons I like this book is that it has valuable information I don't remember seeing elsewhere.

The chapter on what customers really want is worth far more than the price of the book. It identifies the factors that must exist for a customer to buy from us. And it teaches how to weave key questions about these factors into our informal conversation with the customer.

Another example: The book teaches how to learn what specific results a customer really wants and how to tie that to our product or service. The specific "result" a customer wants may differ greatly from the generic benefits we assume our product or service's features provide.

I've found that using Stinnett's tools to focus even more on how the customer thinks increases sales and the number of satisfied customers.

Bill Stinnett concludes the Introduction to this book with a remarkable statement: "Now let me be clear: I don't take credit for any of these truths [culled from a variety of other sources]. I didn't make them up. They have been there all along, waiting to be observed. My life's work has been to recognize them and organize them in an effort to advance my own career and yours." Stinnett refers to popular sales methodologies which include Strategic Selling®, Solution Selling®, and SPIN Selling®. Whatever the given methodology, its ultimate outcome is an increase in revenue which, Stinnett duly acknowledges, can be accomplished in three ways: maximizing sales velocity, increasing average "deal size" or the "wallet" share, and increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Throughout Stinnett's narrative, his emphasis is on presenting and then explaining "a winning strategy" (actually an aggregate of several strategies) to increase his reader's understanding of how and why customers buy. The chapter titles for Part 1, "Why Customers Buy," correctly indicate how practical his approach is: What Customers Think About, What Customers Really Want, How Customers Perceive Value and Risk, The Cause and Effect of Business Value, and The Value of Customer Relationships. It should be noted that, along the way, Stinnett also offers excellent advice with regard to all manner of "how not to's" and "why nots" when formulating and then implementing what should be a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective game plan to increase revenue.

To me, some of the most valuable material in the book is presented in Chapter 8 as Stinnett explains how to reverse-engineer the buying process. That is, in Stephen Covey's words, "begin with the end in mind." This is a process by which to identify what must happen before a given customer is ready to buy. Previously in Chapter 2, Stinnett introduced what he calls his "Customer Results Model" which involves a process that begins with fully understanding the prospective buyer's current situation. I agree with Stinnett that there is no inherent value (as perceived by customers) in the solution offered by a given product or service unless it will achieve the prospective buyer's desired outcomes or results. As the former CEO of Home Depot once observed, people don't buy a quarter-inch drill; they buy quarter-inch holes. In this context, the quarter-inch drill fills a gap between a current, often an urgent need and filling it.

One of this book's several reader-friendly devices is the isolation of key points presented in bold face. This facilitates and accelerates frequent review of those points later. For example:

"It's a lot easier to sell somebody something if it's positioned as a way to help them achieve a goal or an objective that they already want to achieve." (Page 15)

" Far more critical than what is valuable and important to your customer is why it is valuable and important to them." (Page 65)

"A deep, meaningful, high-trust relationship with a client who has no business disparity [i.e. compelling need], no motive to take action, or no means to take action even if they did have a motive, equals no sale. It's just a relationship." (Page 105)

"It's not what we do in our sales process, but what the customer does in their buying process, that really matters." (Page 135)

"We should spend 80 percent of our time and effort on the 20 percent of our opportunities that carry a strong urgency, motive, and consequence, because these are the deals that can close." (Page 179)

None of Stinnett's key points is a head-snappy revelation, nor does he make that claim. However, all of them - preferably reviewed in the sequence in which they are presented - offer valuable reminders of where the proper focus and emphasis should be during a high-probability customer's purchase process.

There are dozens of excellent books on the art and science of sales, and this is one of the best.

Well-done!

This is one of the best books on selling I'd read in years. In the software world, hard-sell is dead. Try consultative selling the Bill Stinnet way. I used some of the ideas in the book eg., mapping out the buying process and offering it as as part of an important visual information to the gatekeeper to reach the decision maker - and it works! I have used the concept of getting the buyer to think about destination "C" with us rather than trying to be too focused on the offer in "B". There is also a section on how to qualify a prospect with ideas that are worth committing to memory. A combination of Bill's ideas and my experience has turned many of my well qualified prospects into paying customers today.

If you are a career saleperson then this one is definitely for you.

Whether you have an opinion or not about prostitution , I think it's a good idea to read this book. By reading Dolores' book I can tell she is intelligent and well educated and she tells a very interesting story about her life as a prostitute without trying to convince the reader of what is *right* or *wrong*. She eventually became one of the most recognized prostitutes in America at one point. She fought for women's rights and appeared on television shows. It's interesting to learn of the different types of *clients* she came across in different countries, as well as other hookers, and how she handled certain dangerous situations. I've learned that prostitutes aren't that different from a lot of women, they aren't just dirty, AIDS infected low life people. Many of them really do like their jobs and feel they are helping people. This is a great book, I think every woman should read it.

This book is all about the use of (sexual) power in the struggle for survival: 'Women choose to go into prostitution because they need money'; or, 'because it is the best way to make a living.'
As the author says: 'There should be laws forbidding poverty, but no laws forbidding a woman to accept money from a man for her company.'

The numbers are staggering: alone in the US, there are approximatively 1300000 prostitutes.

A main theme in this book is hypocrisy.
Of the people arrested in the sex trade only 10 % are clients.
Sexual 'entertainment' is written off as a business expense.
Condoms are distributed freely to the military.
In the Philippines doctors blamed prostitutes for introducing AIDS into the country ... not the American servicemen.

This book is a worth-while documentary about an important aspect of human behaviour. It shows that human beings are not primarily rational.

This is a great book. I met Dolores at a Mensa convention we were both speaking at. I am a member of Mensa; Dolores is not. I attended her lecture out of curiosity and then stopped for a chat afterwards. That chat turned into a friendship that lasted for most of the 12 years that I lived in Atlanta. I read this book: Working: My Life as a Prostitute, about 4 months after having met her and it is genuine. Dolores is also genuine. Don't ask her a question unless you want the straight truth as your reply. Dolores is a smart businesswoman who has led quite an interesting life. My many talks with her gave me insight into differing perspectives; many of which I wouldn't have had, had I not known her. I can honestly say that reading her book opened my eyes about many aspects of life as a woman. How men see us; even if we don't want to think that it is true. It is a MUST read for all women past the age of 16.

Dolores French is warm-hearted, wise and has much to say. This book should not be out of print, and it should be in stock... I hate it when a good book take 4 weeks to obtain! I hope it will be reprinted soon.

I fully agree with the author. I know best about prostitution as my mother was prostitute from age 15 to 61, my sister,wife,2 daughters are also in same business.We all are very happy & proud of this business.We have never cheated any customer. We donate for charity too.I hope that our future generation will continue this business with same honesty & dedication.We never refused aged or bad looking clients.

very good book with practical advice that any salesperson can apply on a day to day basis.I really appreciated that this book is so down to earth and crystal clear.

This book was recommended to us by a couple of professors at University of Toledo for its section on territory management. I had initially passed the book by, because the title didn't grab me. The book is very good, even for experienced sales reps. I'd recommend it to any sales rep, novice or experienced.

I was a little hesitant about purchasing this book. I feared it would be one more fluffy time management book. But Mr Kahle has clearly walked the salesmans walk which lends great crediblity. I found his point of view and suggestions to be refreshingly candid and hands-on. One of my favorite passages in the book reads:
"You can choose not to do this. You can be like most of the mediocre salespeople in the world. You can allow yourself to become reactive... or you can choose to work far more effetively by implementing the disciplines of thinking about it before you do it, and thinking about it in the right way. It's a free country. It's your choice."

I am very glad I bought the book and will use it as a reference for motivating my team on a regular basis.

I bought the book to gain knowledge to help my sales team be more effective. I was very pleased with the book overall and learned some good tips to help educate my reps. I would recommend this book to any Sale Manager or Salesperson who wants to be more productive with the limited hours we have in each day.

Dave Kahle adapts many now common time management processes for the specific use of salespeople in the field. His underlying assumption is that it is much more difficult for outside salespeople to apply the usual techniques, since their lives are so filled with uncertainty. Plus salespeople tend to be action-oriented, so they don't commonly want to spend time planning or setting up systems. But, Kahle argues, such organization is critical to success in sales. While Kahle claims that most time management principles and tactics "totally miss the unique challenges of the field salesperson," the material he covers in the book sounds very familiar. It echoes many other books about goal setting, problem solving, decision making and effective selling. We find that while this may be a helpful review of fairly common material in the guise of time management, the information is hardly unique - although its focus on salespeople's needs may give it additional value for them.

This book captures everything true customer service should be about. This book will give you a ton of ideas how to make each and every client have a memorable experience that will result in a lot of referrals for you. You only need 2 books in my opinion to have a successful business: 1) How to Win Friends and Influence People and 2) The Celebrity Experience. Each will give you the tools and INSPIRATION to roll out the red carpet for your clients. What goes around comes around!

In today's market, personal touch, great customer service is a must. Today's consumers are able to find what they want with a click of a mouse. If you want to retain customers and your employees, you've got to let them know they're appreciated.

Lot's of great examples, enjoyable book to read. And it gave me ideas and inspiration how I can do better in this department.

Every small business owner, human resources department,and everyone in the services industry should read "The Celebrity Experience", and refer to it often! Donna Cutting cuts through the red tape, and reveals lots of delicious ideas for giving your customers a red carpet experience, thus increasing your bottom line. In a world that is highly competetive, if you apply these principles, you find yourself on the A-List in your customer's eyes.

Nothing in the Celebrity Experience was rocket science. But everything in this book are things YOU can do if you work in the service industry to provide great customer service for those you serve. The stories are relevant and easy to relate to. The insights Donna provides are priceless! With each section offering ACTION tips you can immediately implement, you can use this book as a guidebook for providing great customer service for your organization.

You don't have to be in the service industry for this book to be relevant to you. Many of the stories shared are things you can relate to if you've ever gotten great customer service. My favorite is the "consider it done" phone at the Gaylord Opryland that Donna discusses in great depth. Donna recounts stories of picking up the phone to "consider it done" and the person on the other end going to great lengths to ensure everything is taken care of to your satisfaction.

Fun stories...actionable tips...and common sense! BUY THIS BOOK!

I really enjoyed reading this book because it is packed with real life examples of businesses that utilize red carpet customer service. And I have personally seen positive results and more income in my business by using the tips in this book.

Donna combines easy to implement action steps with solid company wide strategies to make your customer feel special.

She also reminds us how we can be sure we are doing our part as an A list customer too.

For any business owner, this book should definitely be on your bookshelf. And given to each team member in your company.

Such a delightful book!

Teresa Morrow
Owner of Key Business Parnters

Truly a classic collection, this exemplifies an excellent selection of stories from one of the true masters of the hardboiled detective fiction genre. Wonderful reads that I am reading for a fourth and fifth time since I first discovered them in the late 1960s.

This was the perfect vol for the survey of hard-boiled detective fiction I've been doing. A nicely formatted hardcover (nothing's sexier than a hardcover book) with good info on Hammett's life and times.

Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man (Library of America) What a great anthology of the works of the father of the modern detective novel. All of Hammett's novels in one book. It does not get any better than this.

An intriguing plot with just the right blend of wry humor, sex and secrets.

I do like these stories, though they are so rough! It is very helpful to be able to have them all together in this one good volume, I think. But it is dangerous to read them late at night, because you either get too excited to sleep, or you dream of bad men with their car headlamps switched off in the dark!