1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini
Robert Cialdini’s The Psychology of Persuasion is a best-selling book that, as the name suggests, is about influence — and the many ways to make people say yes. Drawing in 35 years of research, Caildini articulates six universal principles that help persuasion. He looks at each of these principles in detail, how to use them every day, and to defend themselves in business and everyday situations. The principles Cialdini suggests are reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity. Reciprocation is to do with repaying back what’s provided. Commitment and consistency is to do with acting with commitment and consistency to justify decisions. Social proof is to do with, in times of uncertainty, drawing from others on what to do. Liking is to do with agreeing with others in order to have others agree with us. Authority is to do with the likelihood to achieve yes when coming from a position of authority. Scarcity is to do with the need to want what is harder to get. By explaining these principles, each backed by scientific research, Robert Cialdini’s The Psychology of Persuasion is a great guide on the art and activation of how to influence others in positive ways. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-influence-the-psychology-of-persuasion-by-robert-cialdini
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2. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
After spending time policing the streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss found his way into the FBI as a hostage negotiator. Eventually, he became the FBI’s lead international head of kidnapping negotiations. Chris Voss' Never Split the Difference gets underneath the world of negotiations, pointing to a range of skills and techniques that help negotiate negotiations. Voss shares some nine principles, from strategies to tactics, to inspire you to be a better persuader, applicable to work and life in general. Whether that’s buying a car, a home, negotiating with your partner, dealing with rent increases and so on. It serves as a guide to train your intellect and intuition, giving you the competitive edge in every imaginable or unimaginable situation. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-never-split-the-difference-by-chris-voss Get your copy here: amzn.to/3vJjz8y
3. To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink
Daniel Pink has written a couple of bestsellers, Drive and A Whole New Mind. He’s a gifted writer who applies the power of social science in dealing with everyday scenarios. To Sell Is Human is Pink’s take on the art and science of selling. It’s a formidable guide in a world that more or less deals with selling. Apparently, as per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans work in sales. And some 15 million find their earnings by persuading others to make a purchase. Well, it makes sense because everything in life is a sell. Whether you’re pitching a new presentation to your client, convincing your partner, cajoling your children to study or seeking funding from investors or parents, whether you like it or not, you’re practicing the exercise of selling. To Sell Is Human gives readers a refreshing take on the art and science of selling, drawing from a wealth of social science wisdom and unusual insights from the world of human behaviour. Pink reveals a number of interesting perspectives that go against the conventional norms such as, extroverts not being the best sales people, letting people sometimes beat you to change their minds and so on. Pink presents a variety of strategic techniques and principles such as the six successors to the elevator pitch, three rules of learning about someone, five frames to simplify a message, all culminating in a rich book full of insights that bring out and sharpen the sales person in you. This book will inspire you to be a better persuader in all sorts of scenarios, from work to life, rewiring you to see the world with fresh lens. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-to-sell-is-human-by-daniel-h-pink
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4. Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff
Oren Klaff, a successful investment banker and pitching consultant, has raised over 400 million in 13 years. He owes all of it his pitching prowess. Drawing from years of pitching experience, from psychology to neuroeconomics and more, Klaff presents the seminal book on pitching: Pitch Anything. It’s a book on how to go about pitching for just about anything. Klaff insists that pitching is not an art, but science. And that there are things you can do methodically or formulaically to achieve pitching success. This book describes his formula on how to go about pitching, applicable to just about any type of scenario — whether that is to pitch for new business, negotiate a salary, make a case to close a deal. This book is meant to rethink the way you pitch and give you the control and techniques to make that pitch in any situation with great success. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-pitch-anything-by-oren-klaff Get your copy here: amzn.to/3vAmBvY
5. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
SPIN Selling is a book by the founder of Huthwaite Corporation, Neil Rackman. It deals with the fundamentals of selling, and especially on how to manage the big sell. It’s the product of some 12 years of research compiled by Huthwaite Corporation in analyzing effective sales performances. The book explores Rackmans’ idea of the 'SPIN' concept, comprising the four-point framework: Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff. These four points represent the type of questions sales people ought to ask. Situation deals with the context and background of the customer’s situation. Problem deals with the specific barriers and challenges that lie in the way of the customer’s needs and motivations. Implication deals with the consequences and impact those problems cause to the customer when left unaddressed. Need-payoff deals with the benefits of addressing the problem through the solution proposed. These questions make the broader pattern that supplements the success of salespeople, covering areas from creating dialogue to gaining insights and resolving their issues with the proposed solutions.
Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-spin-selling-by-neil-rackham
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6. The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
Who would’ve thought that one of the best ways to negotiate sales is to not pay attention or respond to the customer’s needs, but rather to challenge them? That’s exactly what Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson proposed in the The Challenger Sale. They make a refreshing claim in suggesting that sales success isn’t down to building relationships or creating empathy — the stuff that’s conventional wisdom — but by challenging the customers. Dixon and Adamson come to this conclusion by studying sales reps and reading into thousands of cases, which makes their proposition a compelling one. The tools and techniques proposed in this book arm sales people with what seems to be a rather unconventional, but conventional in effectiveness, approach to achieving sales success.Â
Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-the-challenger-sale-by-matthew-dixon-and-brent-adamson
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7. Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount
Jeb Blout’s Fanatical Prospecting is an exciting book that challenges the notion that we’re living in a world where sales people are made to believe that sales strategies and tactics are the most important part of activity in sales. Blout proposes the idea that prospecting — the art of thinking about and filling one’s pipeline ought to be the most important activity in sales, rather than the sales tactics themselves, because it defines the gap between performing and underperforming. Whether you’re a seasoned sales person, leader, entrepreneur, business executive or marketing professional, Jeb Blout’s Fanatical Prospecting helps you identify the power of prospecting, which determines the consistency of one’s worth. Blout explores the approach of prospecting in detail, one that works with real people, in the real world, with real prospects. The book informs readers to understand how to keep a pipeline, a methodological framework that can work across multiple prospecting channels, all while avoiding sales slums. It explores a number of concepts, like the '30-Day Rule', 'Law of Replacement', 'Law of Familiarity', '5Cs of Social Selling', '5 Step Phone Framework', '4 Step Email Prospecting Framework', '7 Step Text Message Prospecting Framework' and so on. This is probably the most comprehensive book on prospecting, helping readers improve their sales productivity and sales income, establishing the tools needed to navigate resistance, pains, conversations and closing. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-fanatical-prospecting-by-jeb-blount Get your copy here: amzn.to/3xkHeNd
8. The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
You might think that techniques and strategies might be the most important part of selling, but Brian Tracy challenges this conventional belief by suggesting that the psychology of selling beats every other aspect of selling. No wonder, Brian Tracy’s book is called The Psychology of Selling — an area that’s often overlooked. Tracy’s seminal book that’s been around since 1985, continuing to guide readers to explore the psychology behind sales that can help them control thoughts, feelings and actions that make them more effective. This book builds on a number of concepts like the inner game, eliminating rejection, building confidence and how to leverage the psychology of why people buy. Tracy points to a number of real case studies, and also hints at how millionaires have achieved their success by applying the foundation that drives sales, which is the psychology of selling. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-the-psychology-of-selling-by-brian-tracy Get your copy here: amzn.to/3VCq2g7
9. The Art of Closing the Sale by Brian Tracy
Alec Baldwin's Glengarry Glen Ross monologue of ‘Always be closing’ is so seminal to the world of sales it’s become essential general knowledge. Now, if you’re a salesperson of any kind, the most important part is the end: the closing. With that in mind, Brian Tracy’s The Art of Closing the Sale is the seminal book on inspiring salespeople to master the art of closing. Tracy’s book is born from a simple truth: the struggles of facing rejection time and time again, missing out on closing the sale. With years of experience and repeated rejections comes wisdom. That’s what Brian Tracy’s The Art of Closing the Sale is about: closing, closing, closing. Having meticulously studied years and years of sales performances and narratives, Tracy articulates the essence of closing as the key element that determines the success of a salesperson. His understanding on how to close the sale has helped Tracy break every possible sales record, increasing his income some twenty-fold. His range of closing techniques have helped over a million people maximize their sales results. This is essential reading for anyone interested in improving their sales efforts, exploring the aspects that go past the usual ones like eloquence, passion, friendliness and likeability. A must-read from those hoping to win sales pitched with record-breaking consistency. Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-the-art-of-closing-the-sale-by-brian-tracy Get your copy here: amzn.to/4agSNU3Â
10. The Sales Acceleration Formula by Mark Roberge
Imagine a book about sales from an MIT engineer that applies data to create a predictable, scalable approach to growing sales with a winning sales team. That’s what Mark Roberge’s The Sales Acceleration Formula is. While every ambitious entrepreneur hopes to build the next million-dollar business, there is no formula to secure those ambitions. By using Mark Roberge’s ‘The Sales Acceleration Formula’, which is built on a unique methodology, sales-oriented entrepreneurs can learn how to challenge conventional methods to achieve those goals with a fresh lens. The formula proposed in the book provides action plans to train sales people of all sorts and shapes and levels including training, managing and generating demand. Mark Roberge was a SVP of HubSpot, and is famed for his effort in driving acquisition and retention of his company’s first 10,000 customers across 60 countries. Mark Roberge’s The Sales Acceleration Formula outlines the key learnings that helped Roberge achieve those goals and ways to replicate the success for entrepreneurs of all kinds. He introduces a number of formulas.
Book review here: businessbooksnow.com/post/book-review-the-sales-acceleration-formula-by-mark-roberge
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