Anyone got a recommendation? I have sales experience but I wanna improve.
You could read a host of good books and pull only limited information from them. Make sure you're learning from a respected person.
And honest person. There are a lot of people who are "respected" at one time or another then they get found out and end up being nothing but a schmuck. My dad's has worked with many of those people in his life.
There are several good books on the "SPIN" selling technique. This is an honest approach to understanding a customer's needs and trying to fit what you are offering to those needs. I'm sure an Amazon search will bring up a few books on it. As people, we all like to buy, but don't like to be sold to.
Buy some stuff from Zig Ziglar and Joe Girard. You don't need books that talk about the product you are trying to sell..........but rather the psychology of sales........and these two guys are great. BTW I have been a salesman for 20 years and partially credit both these guys for my success.
I few years ago my company sent me to a sales course called "The Counselor Salesperson" that is put on by Wilson Learning. Great course that I would highly recommend. It's pricey ($2,000 give or take), but worth it. Perhaps your company would be willing to pay or partially pay for it as mine did. It was a three or four day classroom course which pitted you with/against other salespeople from a variety of industries and varying levels of experience. Very useful course in which I still use the information today. wilsonlearning.com J
Tom Hopkins (How to Master the Art of Selling) uses some very basic but deep selling suggestions. He has a couple of books out. I recommend them. I have probably read dozens of books on selling because it is how I made my living for most of my life. Like you, I knew that you never know it all but can pick up good things from a variety of people. Just keep what will work for you and put the rest of file for future reference. Joe Girard (How to Sell Anything to Anyone) is kinda not my style. He sold a lot of cars but his style does not fit me. Zig's books are good but more make you feel good books and leave little in the way of sales lessons. But I really like Zig and read everything he writes. He teaches a Sunday School class at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. Go there and hear him and not have to pay a conference fee. Napoleon Hills, Think and Grow Rich, a classic gem. As a man thinketh, so he is............If you have not read it, do it, Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World, and many of his other books are very good also. I have quite a few that I will pull out and list them for you.........
I started by getting Zig Ziglar Secrets of Closing the Sale cause his name always came up when I asked about sales books. Im gonna order a few more soon. Think and Grow Rich is a popular one too, but I dont think that one is sepcifically about sales. The nice thing is I can find a ton of these books really cheap online. I even found some torrents for these books on audio.
I hate books on sales. The common thread they all have is that they are written by somebody that shows how a certain style worked for them and that if you want to be successful, you need to do things their way. I have a book outlined (With an awesome title) that I would like to complete. It has about 150 topics that I thought of over about a five year period. Each topic would have a page or two, no more. It will serve as a great reference so the reader can form their own style of sales around topics I point out, perfect for a new sales person or a seasoned pro that would like to add some polish on their skillsets. ANDY: I'd give you 15 minutes on the phone for free to cover a few topics. If you like what I have, we could continue via fee-based that will pay you back in spades.
