800-CEO-READ Blog

New Version of Gitomer's Sales Bible

When the Sales Bible first came out from William Morrow in the 1994, it got a slow start. I was selling it with some success in the bookstore and Jeffrey Gitomer called to see what I was doing. I told him it was nothing in particular, just that I had found it very helpful and was suggesting it to many of our customers.

When Jeffrey created the proposal for the paperback edition and took it to Wiley, he asked me for a quote. When the book came out, I was shocked they had taken my words:

"Every once in a while ONE book defines a category."
--Jack Covert, 800-CEO-READ

and pasted them across the top of the book.

A new, new edition of The Sales Bible is being released today and you won't find my quote on the front cover anymore. The book has been redesigned to match the other titles in his "The Little Book..." series. The folded over info piece on the book still contains my quote, it's just on the back now.

One other note: if you order the book today from Amazon, Jeffrey has put together a whole pile of free giveaways from other authors.

Negotiation Thread at Signal vs Noise

There is a great thread at Signal vs Noise where they are asking readers for good negotiating stories.

The books mentioned thus far include:

• You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen
• NO: The Only Negotiating Strategy You Need for Work and Home by Jim Camp
• Humanitarian Negotiation: A handbook for securing access, assistance and protection for Civilians in Armed Conflcts by The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (free download)

Jack Nicholson's famous negotiation in Five Easy Pieces is also mentioned.

New Excerpt up - from The Sales Manager's Success Manual

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There's a new chapter up on the Excerpts blog--Chapter 19 of The Sales Manager's Success Manual by Wayne M. Thomas (AMACOM). This book covers fundamental sales management topics including compensation, forecasting, and motivation, along with more advanced topics such as dealing with internal politics, understanding generational issues, managing up, and developing intuition. It also shows how managers must be more productive than ever while relying more on partners and technology with reduced resources in the field. Chapter 19 focuses on the sales-oriented CEO.

There is another important axis on which to view your CEO. One of our experts termed this as "evolved" or "unevolved." A CEO, like any unevolved manager, is limited by a narrow scope of interest. One could argue that the primary focus for Carly Fiorina during her days as HP's head was, well, Carly Fiorina. In her later book, she blamed her woes on the machinations of others. Apparently, she remains unevolved.

Mark Hurd next assumed the reins and was swept into the HP Board scandal early in his tenure. He could have blamed others, but instead ceaselessly uttered mea culpa. Obviously, he demonstrated an emotional maturity that he was a team player who could be counted upon to shoulder his own share of the burden. He did not look for a scapegoat. This demonstrated that Hurd was an evolved player whom his managers could trust. Hurd and Fiorina are archetypes of the CEO behaviors just discussed.

Here's a direct link to the excerpt: http://800ceoread.com/excerpts/archives/007521.html#more

The "Dominant Selling Idea" - Why Johnny Can't Brand

Last Friday we put a new excerpt up on the Excerpts Blog: the introduction to Why Johnny Can't Brand: Rediscovering the Lost Art of the Big Idea. You can read the entire introduction over there, but I wanted to share another interesting section I found while paging through the book:

The Five Rules of One

1. The "One Item of 'Carry-On-'" Rule
When seeking to differentiate your brand, no matter how much information you offer, when you've finished pitching:

People only remember one thing.

So when you feel that irresistible, amateur force moving to list every product feature in every brand message--get over it. It's not that we don't have the brain capacity, it's that we also have a brain reflex that synthesizes details, images, and feelings on any subject into single thought packages for easy storage and retrieval from our mental "overhead bin." You can give people long lists of features and benefits. But when they walk away, their minds morph it down to that one piece of mental "carry-on." A key corollary is that this salient idea, once carried aboard, preempts all others and will stubbornly remain in place, virtually forever, until a more compelling idea physically dislodges it.

A reporter once asked a woman what a senate candidate had said in a campaign speech. The candidate spoke passionately for nearly an hour covering every point on his platform. "What did he say?" the man asked. She replied, "He was against taxes."

Here's another classic. The O.J. Simpson prosecution spent nine months and millions of dollars laying out a case that was so scientifically detailed, so obsessively logical that no rational group of people could possibly fail to convict on the weight of the evidence. Except the jury. For them, it all became a blur, erased by "the one thing to remember" defense lawyer Johnny Cochran shrewdly suggested on day 1: You can retain ten thousand bits of evidence, or save the trouble and just retain this: O.J. was framed by racist cops. Cochran even provided a famous tag line to make it even more convenient: "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit." The jury "carried on" the one item it chose to remember, and left ten thousand valuable bits of information at the curb with the skycap, minus a tip.

In the introduction to Why Johnny Can't Brand, authors Bill Schley and Carl Nichols, Jr. explain that because only one thing about your product or service will stick with consumers, it has to be a Big thing. They call it the "Dominant Selling Idea" (DSI), and the second half of the book is dedicated to what they deem DSI University. You'll go through a step-by-step, 40-day process of figuring out the "one" most important selling idea, and then putting that idea to work for your company.

And, as the author told me, "this stuff applies to anyone who wants to communicate--not just businesses."

What Podcasts People Are Listening To

Here is a little peak into what people are listening to on our Podcasts blog. This is a ranked list for the first four months of 2007.

1. The Elegant Solution Interview with Matt May
2. Marketing and Sales for Big Complex Selling Interview - Part 1 with Brian Carroll
3. Marketing and Sales for Big Complex Selling Interview - Part 3 with Brian Carroll and Jill Konrath
4. Everyday Greatness Interview with Stephen Covey
5. The Difference Maker Interview with John Maxwell
6. Confessions of An Economic Hitman Audio Excerpt
7. Made To Stick Interview with Dan Heath
8. Growing Great Employees Interview - Part 2 with Erika Anderson
9. Purpose Interview with Nikos Mourkogiannis
10. Growing Great Employees Interview - Part 1 with Erika Anderson

Sales Tips for The Day

Wallstrip presents CRM today in a Glengarry Glen Ross package.

Today's Vocabulary Quiz

I am sure you already received your November/December issue of Selling Power. Seth is on the cover (ten times).

We tend to talk about Seth alot and thought we should take a moment to get the new folks caught up. There is a short vocabulary list of Seth-isms from the article. Take a shot at what you think the words mean and then highlight the area next to the word to see the definition.

Interruption Marketing -> Broadcasting messages people don't want to see or hear; message that "interrupt."

Permission Marketing -> Narrowly delivered message that are anticipated, personal, and relevant.

Remarkable -> Anything the consumer believes is worth remarking on.

Megaphone -> When customers choose to promote you by talking to their friends and colleagues.

Edgecraft -> The process of digging deep and being bold to come up with edgy, remarkable ideas

Marketing -> Telling authentic stories that customers want to hear and believe in.

[Hat Tip: Chris Anderson for the answer hiding idea]

The Ehrenfeld Principle

A few weeks back we hosted an author pow-wow (pictures here). [I can't tell even begin to tell you how much is gained by personally knowing the people behind emails and phone calls.]

One of our pow-wow-ees was John Moore. A takeaway from him is what he dubs "The Ehrenfeld Principle." [You may recognize the name from one of our regular contributors.] What's this principle?

That’s my name for something I learned from business writer Tom Ehrenfeld at the recent 800 CEO READ Author Pow-Wow. During one of the sessions, Tom outlined his "WHAT? | SO WHAT? | PROVE IT!" system to identify effective business writing.

The WHAT? is the content. The SO WHAT? is why the content matters. And the PROVE IT! provides the credibility.

It's a great way to simplify the selling of anything -- for authors, marketers, entrepreneurs, etc., etc. John used the principle to explain the new book The 12 Elements from Gallup Press.

Fire The PITA Customer

We can all easily describe our Ideal Customer. The person who is curious, has money to spend, is open to new ideas, etc. Each of us has our own profile. I have actually turned my profile into criteria: I must have the expertise, the client must value my expertise, and the engagement must be fun. If a client doesn’t meet all three of these criteria, I see red flags waving furiously.

Think about what happens when you have the opposite of your Ideal Customer. Have you ever had a PITA customer? You know, Pain In The Ass. What happens? They drain you, waste your time, the time of your staff, and you don’t make any money. They are never good referrals, because PITAs hang out with other PITAs. So, fire them before you start.

Not always easy to do, because we see the dollar signs and think if we don’t take this customer, we don’t know where the next one will come from. I maintain that you are in big trouble if you take the PITA. It is a glaring Opportunity Cost—and Opportunity Lost to attract your very best customers. Say NO! It is one of the best decisions you can make.

It's All About Time

I’ve never heard anyone say they had so much time in a day that they didn’t know how to use it. We do have choices about how to spend our time. Here’s the data I’ve collected on cold calls: Make 100 dials, talk to 20 people live, set 8-10 appointments, and if you’re lucky, close one deal. Now consider referrals. To the person, no one has told me that the conversion rate of prospect to customer is less than 50 percent. It’s typically 70 to 90 percent. The time it takes to close the deal collapses, because we are pre-sold, the competition disappears, and the number of calls we make decreases. These are the kind of customers we want all the time. It’s all about time—how we spend it and what we get.

Putting in that extra effort. Look at what Sam Parker has to say about a little bit of extra effort on his blog, Just Parker. Sam is one of the founders of Just Sell. If you haven’t signed up for their daily quotes, be sure to do that right away. They’re magical!

Please Say Thank You

Saying thank you seems so obvious, yet many people never make the effort. If someone has referred you, they have put their reputation on the line in saying that you are a good resource. They have picked you out of the pack for one of their personal contacts and have done him or her, and you, a big favor. At a minimum, call and say thank you. Personal notes are the best. That’s always the mail we open first. One time I referred a colleague to one of my clients. About six months later, I was speaking with my client, and she thanked me for the referral and told me she was working with my colleague. I had never heard from the person I referred. Do you think I will ever refer her again? Not going to happen. Say thank you as many times and in as many ways as you want.

Why Clients Buy

Clients will buy from us because they know, like, and trust us. Period. I used to work for a company that did a competitive de-brief whether we won or lost a client. Obviously, we had the solutions or we would not have been at the table. But, the bottom line reason they chose us was because they LIKED us. Multi-million dollar decisions are being made because clients like us.

Recently I met a salesperson who was selling insurance. I thought she was terrific, but I was already covered. I went out of my way to help her and to refer her. The flip side is also true. If you don’t like a salesperson—even if she has the perfect product—you will never refer her. Take the time to make the personal connection and build the relationship.

Why Have a Sales Strategy, Anyway?

How many business plans have a well-crafted sales strategy? Very few. Most of the time it is buried in a marketing plan. If we don’t have sales, we don’t have revenue or profits, and we don’t have a company. Selling is the most important job in an entire company. Yet, I’ve been told that the average tenure of a VP of Sales is 18 months. That’s not enough time to accomplish anything. Sometimes companies hire only experienced salespeople, in the expectation that they will figure out the territory and the organization. Huge mistake. Every organization has a different approach, different products, and different clients. We must give salespeople the tools to succeed. They must know the sales strategy and the culture of the company. They need more than a boot camp about products and benefits. Knowing how to get things done in a company is one of the most powerful tools a salesperson can have.

If you’re at a headquarters office, you have the opportunity to be in direct contact with the people who influence decisions, and you begin to know who to count on and who to avoid. It’s much tougher when you’re in the field. You need to ask specific questions about who is responsible for what, and take the time to build relationships on the phone. However, there is nothing more important than a personal visit to headquarters. If you are new to a company, make sure that you have in your hiring agreement that you will travel to headquarters within 60 days of your hire.

We're Being Fooled

I get very angry when I read books that claim to be about not cold calling or about referrals (and I’m not going to refer you to them), when they actually are talking about cold calling and networking.

Networking is about connecting with people. Period. We can network one-on-one or in groups. It’s obviously important to network to build relationships which then could turn into referrals, but networking is not the same as referral selling. If you want to learn how to network, check out Susan RoAne’s books. She is the country’s expert on networking and a phenomenal speaker!

Check out opportunities to network in your city. Metropolitan Chambers of Commerce have excellent events. Check out www.bni.com. Here are some women’s groups that are excellent: www.nawbo.org, and www.nafe.com.

There is no way to make cold calling more effective.. Here is my definition of a cold call: Calling someone who does not know you and is not expecting your call. That’s it. A call is either Cold or Hot. There really is no such thing as a warm call. A Hot call is when we have an introduction, and that is the only kind of call I make. When you have an introduction, you are pre-sold, your competition fades or disappears, and you already have credibility. Your sales cycle is shortened and now you have the time to ask for and receive even more referrals!

Check out Tom Snyder’s article Prospecting: What Winners Do—and Losers Don’t and read the first paragraph.

Where’s the Money?

I’m always amazed at how much money we’re leaving on the table. We’re not asking our clients, our friends, our peers to refer us to people they know. We spend so much time on knee-jerk prospecting tactics—and they’re just that—tactics. Where’s the strategy? Most salespeople make tons of calls and “hope� someone will call back. Or, they follow-up diligently on marketing and trade show leads. (Most of which are worthless.) What if we only talked to people we wanted to talk to AND who wanted to talk to us? What a concept! There are really only two parts to the sales process: Part One is getting in front of the right people, and Part Two is everything that happens after that. If we don’t get in front of the right people, nothing else really matters, does it?

The way to get in front of the right people is to be crystal clear about the person you want to meet. Most of us begin by saying “Anyone who…� No, it is not anyone, and that is way too broad for people to think of someone to refer to you. What I am suggesting is counter-intuitive. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for a person to think of someone to refer to you. Think of yourself as an artist. The more color and lines you put into your picture, the easier it will be for someone to understand.

Recently, a young man who sold insurance, called me for advice. I asked him who his clients were. He said: “Anyone who has assets to protect.� I told him that was the universe, and it was way too broad. After several minutes of discussion, he told me he was looking for young couples starting a family and buying their first home, and dry cleaners. (His company underwrote drycleaners.) It was now much easier for me to think of someone to refer.

In my business, I ask to meet vice presidents of sales or people who run sales teams in North America. These are my clients. There is really no reason for me to talk to anyone else. Guess the people I meet?

It’s All About Referrals

Thanks to Jack and Todd for inviting me to host the blog today. I wrote No More Cold Calling: The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust from Warner Business Books, to transform the way every salesperson, sales executive, and sales organization works.

The book is about more than why cold calling doesn’t work, but it makes a catchy title. The book is really about getting more business by becoming a referral-selling organization.

When I reflected on my sales career, I realized that my best business had come from referrals. When I started working with clients ten years ago—when I founded my company—it was glaringly apparent that they had fabulous relationships with not only their clients, but their peers, vendors, and associates. But, all of these relationships were underleveraged. Many of us become friends with our clients, but are we asking them to help us? No. Let’s start changing that. Here’s how to begin:

• How many clients do you have? With how many do you have excellent relationships? If you haven’t asked them for a referral, now is the time
• Make a list of 100 other people. List those you know best at the top..
• Set a goal for how many people you will contact each week. You should have a minimum of five. (That’s only one per day.)
• Tell people that you are building your business through referrals. Tell them specifically about the results you deliver and the type of client you want. Don’t forget to ask how you can help them.

You can read a sample chapter from my book on the Hachette website.

Specific Books For Specific Problems

I have a theory that people buy business books for one of two reasons:

1. They are trying to solve a problem.
2. They are looking for ideas.

We have a tendency to talk about idea books here. Those are what we are attracted to. Tom's essay this morning on the FT/Goldman Sachs Awards is case in point.

Problem solving books are just as important. If you have just been given a new project or a new job, there are all sorts of questions jumping around in your head. Often, you will just listen to those around you for advice. Books can give you a great third-party resource.

Amacom is good at these sorts of books. Sell Your Business Your Way by Rick Rickertsen is a perfect example. Here is a book that deals with a very specific subject - the things that business owners need to think about when they are deciding to sell their firm. Rickertsen talks about valuation, motivation, and what life after the business might be like. A couple other Amacom titles that match this profile are Effective Succession Planning by William Rothwell and The Complete Guide to Sales Force Incentive Compensation by Andris A. Zoltners, et al.

Thanks! Goodbye.

When I last talked to Johnny, he was at a cross road. The question is simple; will Johnny get what he needs to succeed, or will he take the path of least resistance? I guess you will have to look inside yourselves to really know that answer.

Thanks for sharing this time with Johnny and me, we really appreciate it and hope you learned something. Be sure to check out the web site and don’t hesitate to email me at mnick[at]roi4sales.com.

Johnny's tools

Finally the smartest thing Johnny said to me was he “wanted to develop a set of sales tools that would capture information, assess value and present solutions --and then package them to use in a successful, repeatable sales process.� I guess there is hope for him. He really needs to enlist marketing to help him. I reminded Johnny how important it is to use sales tools for what they were designed to do. Sales tools will help drive a sales process – write that down Johnny!

Speaking of sales tools –I am a huge fan of www.justsell.com - I love these guys, they provide us with what my friend Jill Konrath calls “triggering events.� In case you don’t know what that means, it is basically an event that occurs in a company that can spawn interest in your products and services. For example, an IPO, or infusion of VC are pretty good triggering events. So check them out, it is a great web site. Speaking of great web sites, you may want to check out the resource guide on www.whyjohnnycantsell.com. The resource guide breaks down sales tools by books, CRM tools, ROI tools, Proposal tools, Research tools and a whole bunch more.

Ask questions....lots and lots of them

I asked Johnny about the “sales environment�. He said, “like anywhere, a lot of tension between sales and marketing, and sales and development. Everyone thinks you’re always selling them something�. He reminded me of a phrase Mahan Khalsa once wrote, “…Sales is the second oldest profession, often confused with the first.�

I think I am offended by this. If the world didn’t have sales professionals the economy would probably come to a halt. Think about it, if every American didn’t buy any goods or services for a week, the economy would fall apart. In fact the world economy would likely crash too. It is critical to your success as a sales professional to shift the paradigm from the negative connotation of sales person, to one of trusted advisor or consultative sales professional. How? It is not that difficult really.

Learn to do your homework up front –use tools like their Annual report or 10K, or sign up for Harris InfoSearch, Jigsaw, Bitpipe.com or First Research to get a better understanding of your prospect. Then ask questions…lots and lots of questions. My father always told me…�God gave you one mouth and two ears, use them in that proportion!�

Why Johnny Can't Sell

Well Johnny shared some of his ideas for increasing sales with me and I have to tell you. I now know why Johnny can’t sell. His first thought was, “lower the price� everyone buys the cheapest. Johnny I only want to tell you this once, “no matter what price you sell your products and services for, someone will always sell it for less.� In general people do not buy on price alone.

The next thing Johnny was going to do is to, go into the market and hire sales superstars. This too is probably a bad idea. In the book Conversations on customer service and sales, Ken Edmundson writes, “we have a 52% chance of hiring the right person�. It is only increased by 8% if we employ superior interviewing skills.

He goes on to say that there are certain traits great sales people possess. They include:

• Passion
• Determination
• Self-discipline
• Attitude
• High self esteem
• Belief system
• Communication skills.

I shared this with Johnny. Finally he shocked me with this one…�You know Michael, Emotional connections are for sissies�. Johnny, Johnny, Johnny – my prodigal child. Most buying decisions are based on emotion. We typically buy on emotion and justify with logic. Think about that time-share you bought in Mexico last year. I can assure you that if a buyer doesn’t like you, your company or products, they ain’t buyin from ya!!!!

Sales technologies and tools

Tom Siebel once wrote:

“Sales is the untamed frontier of the business world; unpredictable, passionate, theatrical, full of eccentric characters, and dangerous to the newcomer. Like the frontier, the destiny of sales is to be explored, settled, and tamed by people using the RIGHT TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY. But many also will perish on this frontier, because they are unprepared, unnecessarily exposed to the elements, and annihilated by quick-footed and aggressive foes. The real question is: how many bones will lie bleaching in the desert or buried on Boot Hill before the new era finally arrives? And will you be one of those victims?�

This quote is so true! Sales people will always fail if they do not have the right technologies and right tools to do their job. Why is it that companies spend millions on recruiting and very little on sales tools and customized sales training? Think about this one…What do you spend to keep your web site up to date? Now what do you spend to keep your literature up to date or on other sales tools? Aren’t they all vital to your organizations success? My advice to everyone is carefully select, customize and integrate your sales methodology, sales process, and sales tools so your sales professionals are totally prepared to compete.

And Johnny asks...

Johnny called me today and asked me this question: “Why is it that we spend millions of dollars on technology to keep sales people from selling to us, and yet management constantly complains when we are having trouble contacting stake holders?� SPAM filters, Email, gatekeepers, number blockers, etc. are all technologies that keep sales people from reaching their target market. As sales people, how do we beat technology with technology?

Johnny and I discussed some of the techniques we have observed over the years and put together a short list of opportunities. Ideas like…well Blogging for instance. This is a wonderful way to get your unedited message across to potential buyers. The usual suspects are always available to you too, like email campaigns, Fax campaigns, a newsletter, and of course the current most popular item, the Web Cast. We discussed a new technique called the book review. Visit one or more of the online book retailers and write a book review on books in your space. Discuss how it affected you and your business. Then enter your real name and company name. While you are in there, look at those people that wrote reviews and call them. Lookup there contact information at www.jigsaw.com. Jigsaw is an awesome tool for sales people –check it out!!

Hereeee's Johnny...

Thank you for having me as a guest blogger at 800CEOREAD. I am honored to be able to share some of my thoughts with your readers. My new book Why Johnny Can’t Sell is filled with plenty of terrific insights into sales, sales process and sales tools, all wrapped around a wonderful story about Johnny and his many challenges as a salesman and sales manager. I am going to share with you some of Johnny’s stories and what he did to overcome the many challenges of selling.

First, however let me introduce Johnny to you. Johnny started a new job today, selling for a 20-year old software company. Johnny’s job description is simple: “Sell now, and hire a staff when things are going�. Obviously a little vague, but you get the point.

Johnny has been selling for over 20 years. He started his career working for IBM, quit about five years later to try his hand at a dot com with IPO aspirations. He had a great deal of success selling and managing, but the IPO just didn’t happen, so Johnny moved on to another small company.

This new organization was VC backed, and Johnny really thought he had a home. He was pretty successful on large complex deals, but the VC’s were not impressed with the company’s growth rate and decided to “go a different direction�. Johnny finally landed at a job where he got to “run things�, but after two years, they too weren’t growing fast enough for upper management. So, Johnny is now starting this new job.

More Info on Little Black Book

I sent a note to Ray Bard at Bard Press asking him for some more info on Little Black Book of Connections. I think this description helps:

People in all kinds of jobs, in big and small companies — career builders, sales people, and aspiring executives — will love this
edgy, practical, and fun book

In the spirit, style, and format of the bestselling Little Red Book of Selling, the country’s #1 sales trainer, Jeffrey Gitomer, offers a fresh take on networking and connecting your way to success.

The Little Black Book of Connections is based on the power of
“give value first�. It’s about how you can climb the ladder without stepping on people’s backs. It’s about how to earn the respect of a powerful mentor without begging. It’s about how to build stronger relationships with customers, bosses, co-workers, vendors, friends, and family. It’s about being in the same room with powerful people. It’s about how to connect — and how to not connect. It’s about how to say the right things to the right people in the right circumstances to make the right impression.

The book is small. The cover is classic black cloth. The four-color text graphics makes it attractive and easy to read — the compelling content is easy to understand and implement.

Jeffrey Gitomer, the leading, world-class authority on selling, is the most-read syndicated “sales� columnist— in 95 business newspapers worldwide with 4 million weekly readers. His books, including The Little Red Book of Selling (Bard Press), The Little Red Book of Sales Answers (Prentice Hall), The Sales Bible (Wiley), and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless (Bard Press) have sold more than 1 million copies. Annually, he presents more than 100 seminars to Fortune 500 companies and public audiences. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

New Gitomer - The Little Black Book of Connections

Jeffrey Gitomer has released his newest book The Little Black Book of Connections. It made the WSJ bestseller list today at #15. As I was looking around for information about the book online, I found things to be pretty sparse. The standard book description reads:

A fresh take on networking your way to success. The book is small, the cover classic black cloth - full of edgy, witty,and practical resources.

There is nothing on Gitomer's site right now.

I did find one blog had reviewed it, after the buying the book while on vacation.

With so little available on the book, I thought I could at least give you the table of contents.

Table of Contents

Asset 1 - Who Do I know?
Asset 2 - What Do I Want?
Asset 3 - What Do I Do?
Asset 4 - How Do I Connect?
Asset 5 - Who Knows You?
Asset 6 - The Secret Power of Connections
Asset 6.5 - The Value of Connections

If you want to sum up the book, I think you can get it in Jeffery Gitomer's Universal Truth of Connecting:

If you make yourself valuable, and memorable, others will want to make you part of their network.

If you liked his other books, you'll be a fan of this one and you may want to save some money in your fall book budget. In November, The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude will be hitting bookstores.

Posts from Around the Blogosphere

Only Once endorses Gitomer's Little Red Books.

Slacker Manager reviews Pat Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

Dan Pink gives everyone some summer reading (post from 7/04/06).

Fiction and Facts about Killer Instinct

Mixing business and fiction invariably involves a trade-off. Most fables by business authors make up in insights what they lack in literary style. And most works of popular fiction sacrifice business verisimilitude for the sake of “art.� Finally, business readers, you can read popular fiction propelled by a sense of what really makes business people tick.

In his new book Killer Instinct, author Joe Finder has created a masterful parable of ambition. When protagonist Jason Steadman finds his career in sales stalled, he unwittingly enlists the help of a former Secret Forces ally to push him up the corporate ladder. Finder researches his topics extensively, which gives this page-turner real insights into the nature of ambition, the character of sales, and the lines that individuals are forced to cross.

Recently Finder replied to our questions.

In Killer Instinct, the protagonist Jason Steadman improves his sales touch by reading voraciously from a range of business books. Which ones do you enjoy and recommend? Conversely which books, or elements of this genre, do you run screaming from?

There are lots of terrific books in the business field. Just to name a few: Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma, Rakesh Khurana’s Searching for a Corporate Savior, Michael E. Porter’s Competitive Strategy, not to mention a whole shelf full of books by the great Peter Drucker. But there are also books that are essentially fact-free zones of inspirational hooey. Maybe they're helpful morale builders for some readers, but they're also hard to take seriously.

The ones I run screaming from all have titles like “The Navy Seals Guide to ——-� or “The Army Way of ——� They may be interesting glimpses into military culture, but they’re never going to help you close a deal or motivate a team of people who aren’t enlisted military servicemen.

And what about the best sales books?

The really great salesmen that I interviewed all recommended the same books (or tapes, or CDs): Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People, Tom Hopkins’s How to Master the Art of Selling, Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale, Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World, and Brian Tracy’s Advanced Selling Strategies. These are all worthwhile books, I found. Call me a sop, but Dale Carnegie is essential, I think. And even though in Killer Instinct I make fun of Tom Hopkins, though not by name, I think his books are brilliant in their way, and quite useful. Ziglar is a bit dated, though.

Several scenes in Killer Instinct provide vivid detail on how Steadman makes the big sales. Did you base his character on one particular person? In your research, what did you observe about the habits and character of the best sales people?

I based Jason on a composite of friends and people I met while doing the research. As the book opens, he’s too lackadaisical to make a really top salesman. He’s a little burned out, and he’s not the competitive type, so he may not be the best fit for this kind of work. I did find that a lot of salespeople tend to burn out after several years in the field — “carrying a bag,� as they sometimes put it. It’s brutally hard work, especially on one’s psyche. So they reach a point in their careers that turns out to be a fork in the road with several tines. They may choose to go into sales management, or to bail out entirely, or, worst of all, they get sidelined, accept mediocrity, and hang on to their jobs just by the grace of the kindness of their bosses.

The best salespeople, I found, have what has been called an optimistic explanatory style, as do the best athletes. That is, when they suffer a defeat, as all salespeople do (sometimes several times a day) they don’t universalize. They don’t blame themselves. Those with a pessimistic explanatory style tend to spiral into defeatism and burn out quickly.

You’ve never worked a day for a large corporation. And yet your books are built with a fine grasp of business details. Can you talk about how you have conducted research for your books?

Never having worked in a corporation turns out to be quite an advantage: I go into these places as an outsider, observing the bizarre native rituals. That means I see and hear things that everyone who lives and works in a corporation have stopped seeing and hearing. I really do immerse myself in the research, talking to everyone from the CEO on down, asking all sorts of questions — tough ones, silly ones, you name it. But I’m not confrontational. That doesn’t do me any good. I don’t go in there like Mike Wallace doing a “60 Minutes� investigation. I’m there to find out how things really work, how people really feel. I want people to open up to me, and most of the time they do. I’m constantly surprised by what I hear from people I interview — how distrustful corporate executives are of the press, how isolated top executives often feel from their employees (I mean, they’re aware of it and worried about it), and how central personal personality is to success in business. It’s not surprising to hear that people buy from people they like, but it is striking how much people listen to, and follow instructions from, people they like — far more than from people they don’t. Intimidation, I’ve found, is overrated as a management tool.

One common theme in the books has to do with how successful individuals can be when bad things happen to their adversaries. As a reader of far too many business books, my only critique of your novels is that most of the real action defies the daily challenges of getting things done. Strategy takes a back seat to sabotage. Does this reflect a cynicism on your part about what it takes to succeed in business? Should executives brush up on espionage?

Well, what’s more fun to read about — strategy or sabotage? Seriously, these are thrillers, of course, which means I turn the dial up to “11� (to quote that essential movie Spinal Tap). But having admitted that, I will say that just about everything that happens in my books could happen in a corporation. There’s also a sizeable element of wish fulfillment in all my stories. Just like in Killer Instinct: who wouldn’t want to have a Kurt working behind the scenes, getting rid of adversaries and making things happen?

So in answer to your question: no, this doesn’t reflect my cynicism about the business world. Most people aren’t Kurt — most are Jason. If there’s a moral to the story of Killer Instinct, it’s that the evil, underhanded stuff doesn’t work in the end. And that’s an optimistic message.

Killer Instinct is, however, a comment on ambition, almost a parable. It’s about the meaning of success and the varying definitions of ambition.

I don’t think an executive needs an understanding of espionage in order to execute strategy. But a good understanding of how espionage works would be useful to someone trying to understand competitive intelligence and how reliable or accurate it is. And if you’re the underhanded sort, a good knowledge of cloak-and-dagger techniques can come in handy.

In a lovely article for The New York Times Book Review, you note that popular writers of literary fiction today avoid the topic of ambition or industry. What appealed to you about business as a setting for your recent books? And what books do you consider favorites in this field?

In Paranoia, the eccentric engineer Noah Mordden was continually taunting the protagonist, Adam, with allusions to the heroes of The Red and the Black, Pere Goriot, Phineas Finn, and other icons of hazardous ambition. Adam has no idea what he's talking about, but it's a sort of motif. There are terrific novels that are at least partly set in companies (like Joseph Heller's Something Happened or Richard Powers's Gain), but surprisingly few, given how big a role the office plays in most people's lives. Dombey & Son is a great novel named after a company: but Dickens tells you almost nothing about what the company actually does, and very little of the novel is set in those offices.

Writing a novel dealing with texture of corporate life appealed to me greatly—largely because this realm was all but neglected. (The exceptions are oddly narrow: the professional lives of high finance types, trial lawyers, and doctors. But these are professionals, not managers--a different class.)

Here’s the thing: Work is central to people's lives, but you rarely find that experience rendered in fiction. It’s amazing. Stephen King, in his great book On Writing, pointed this out: “People love to read about work.� Ordinarily I’d say it’s too bad there are so few books about work out there. But it seems to be working out OK for me.

Quote of the Day: Sales

Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.

-Zig Ziglar

From The 100 Greatest Sales Tips of All Time Edited by Leslie Pockell with Adrienne Avila

How should sales and marketing work together?

Last week Jill Konrath (author of Selling to Big Companies) did a teleseminar on the lessons from her book.

She covers how sales people should get a foothold into big companies. Plus, how marketing can work to provide the necessary tools for salespeople.

Check out Jill's tips by listening to the conference here. (Thanks to Brian from InTouch for hosting it!)

Two Free Seminars

Just wanted to point you toward two free seminars that are coming up.

The first is will Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies. Jack reviewed the book in last month. It will be held on Wednesday, February 22nd at 1:00PM Central Time. You read more about it on co-host Brian Carroll's B2B Lead Generation Blog and can register here.

The second is a Live Meeting seminar hosted by Laurence Haughton, author of It's Not What You Say, It Is What You Do. Jack has also reviewed this back (see Jan 2005 JCS). The session is titled The Art of Follow-Through and will take place February 28th at 11:00AM Central Time. You can register for Laurence's talk here.

Next Sales Training, Use Green Eggs and Ham

In the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, editor Tunku Varadarajan called Green Eggs and Ham "indisputably the finest American children's book". He says what makes it so special is how is seems to capture the American Way.

The second way to interpret the book is as a celebration, albeit a mischievous one, of two particularly American traits: salesmanship and openmindedness. Sam-I-am is the consummate entrepreneur, although clearly, he does not believe in the soft-sell. He is convinced of his product's attractiveness, and the evangelism of his pitch is evident. He wants the Protagonist to "see the light." However annoying one might be tempted to find Sam-I-am, he retains our sympathy for as long as his interlocutor refuses to try his product. How could he know that he doesn't like green eggs and ham? Has he tried them? Why won't he try them? What if we all refused to do things simply because we haven't done them before?

Blogging on Business Books

There has been a lot of talk on the business book scene that I thought I should direct you to.

Robert Scoble thinks most business books suck. Obviously, I am a little partial to the subject, but I think walking into a bookstore and deciding what you are going to read based on what is on the shelves is a bit like walking into a grocery store and deciding what to eat based on what is on their shelves. Neither is going to give you a very good diet. Sure there are good things, but you need to know what you are looking for. (Robert has a book coming out at the end of the month - Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk With Customers.)

Guy Kawasaki is blogging. This is the man who wrote Rules for Revolutionaries and Art of the Start. He is writing some great stuff on VCs and entrepreneurship.

Tom Peters thinks the best book of 2005 is Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Now, the book is published in 2002, but he thinks it is still the only book on how to systematically get things done. Tom has been doing alot of reading and writing over the last six weeks. Here are some of the other books he has suggested:

• Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sales by Jeff Thull
• To Be of Use: The Seven Seeds of Meaningful Work by Dave Smith (of Smith and Hawken fame)
• Creative Company: How St. Luke's Became "the Ad Agency to End All Ad Agencies" by Andy Law
• Blue Ocean Strategy: How To Create Uncontested Market Space And Make The Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
• Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram

Great Sales Advice or Sales #2a--What to say when are sitting across from the decision maker

In a new Kaplan title called Selling to Big Companies comes advice for when you are talking with decision makers.

“Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make�

• Don’t waste their time


• Don’t try to be their friend


• Don’t expect them to tell you about their business


• Don’t give them a product dump


• Don’t use any self-serving verbiage


• Don’t expect them to intuit the value of your offering

I just finished the book and wrote a Jack Covert Selects review. I loved the book.

Selling #2 - How To Sell To An Idiot

I know I originally said I would have all of these sales books reviewed in a week. I am changing my thinking to reviewing one sales book every week. Last week was Selling Is Dead by Marc Miller.

This week we are going to look at a more tactical title. John Hoover and Bill Sparkman have written a book called How To Sell To An Idiot: 12 Steps to Selling Anything to Anyone.

This is a "man on the street" kind of book. If you are knocking on doors and making the calls, this one is for you. I think you will find similar stuff to what you have heard before. Take a look at the Table of Contents:

• Step One: Be Prepared Or Be The Idiot
• Step Two: Connect With the Clueless
• Step Three: Confuse To Clarify
• Step Four: Play The Match Game
• Step Five: Showtime
• Step Six: Ask For The Business
• Step Seven: Circle Around and Make Another Pass
• Step Eight: Annoy Them A Little and Ask For the Business Again
• Step Nine: Appreciate
• Step Ten: Get A Referral
• Step Eleven: Follow-up
• Step Twelve: Practice

One of the things I have notice that is a little different is each chapter helps you deal with a variety of personality types. They spend most of the time on the difficult ones and give you tips for dealing with them at each step in the sales process. For example, how do you get referrals from Machiavellians? The answer is show them how it is going to move them up the pyramid a little faster.

So, check out How To Sell To An Idiot if you are looking for a book on sales basics. For those already doing it, you might find a tip or two.

Sales Books #1 - Selling Is Dead

I first saw this book on Seth Godin's blog. His quote was enough:

"There are very few books that actually think about what it means to sell something."

I feel the same way about this book. This is not a tactical book like The Little Red Book of Selling. When you look at sales from a strategic standpoint, you can't avoid seeing the customer - seeing their problems, seeing their measurements, and seeing their viewpoint

Author Marc Miller says that he is following in the footsteps of Neil Rackham's Spin Selling and focuses his book on large sales. He says that three dynamics are at play requiring a change in the way selling is done

• Innovations are becoming commodities at a quickening pace and selling innovation is hard.
• Buyers of commodities don't need help from salespeople.
• Technology will eliminate physical distance and cost of sales will continue to drop.

As the book goes on, Miller spends time on the practical aspects of selling in this new environment. You will see the psychology of the customer, the questions you should ask, and tactics that will moving prospects from the "shopping stage" to "apprehension stage".

I am bigger fan because Miller has a blog and is writing about concepts in the book every day (you will often find him referring to page numbers in the book).

A Look at the Fall

Here are some books we are liking for the fall.

Competition Demystified by Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn (Aug.) - The author revisit and simplify Porter's Five Forces. I was skeptical, but they sold me in the introduction.

First in Thirst by Darren Rovell (Sept.) - This is a interesting brand biography on Gatorade. You will see this book on the BBBT at the end of September.

Bag the Elephant by Steve Kaplan (Sept.) - Bard Press puts out one book a year and each one is without fail is a great title. GUTS!, Marketing Outrageously, and Little Red Book of Selling were all from Bard Press. This year's book is about the idea of small business attracting and retaining big customers.

Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead (Sept.) - The book has great design and a powerful message. It reminds me of Fast Company in its heyday. Brand Autopsy has a nice preview.

Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (Oct.) - The Republic of Tea and Raising The Bar showed us there was a different way to do business. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard continues the tradition.

The Big Moo by Seth Godin and the Group 33 (Oct.) - The book is a perfect follow-up to Purple Cow.

The Number by Lee Eisenberg (Jan.) - This book takes a Gladwell-like look at retirement. The question is "What is your number?"

So, there is a little something for everyone to read this fall.

Enjoy!

Blogger Book Reviews

Here is the latest book reviews I have run across in the bizblogsphere:

• Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World recommends Kristen Zhivago's Rivers of Revenue
• Dave Taylor from Intuitive Life Business Blog has been listening to Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?
• Also listening to audiobooks is Bren at Slacker Manager. He is listening to Leadership and Self-Deception that was put out by Arbinger Institute.
• Andrea at Learned on Women is talking about Type AAA Women and the new book Time Off For Good Behavior by Mary Lou Quinlan.

The Art of Selling

I have a hard time reading books about selling. I am not sure what it is. I think I find some of the tactics that gurus suggest heavy handed. I know that all sales books are not like this, but the general approach makes it hard to open the covers.

I know there are many of you out there who make a living selling. We don't want to ignore you as we highlight and recommend books. Here is what I have seen lately cross my desk in the genre of selling:

• How To Get Your Competition Fired (without Saying Anything Bad about Them) by Randy Schwartz (Wiley, Feb. 2005)
• The Art of Selling to the Affluent: How to Attract, Service, and Retain Wealthy Customers and Clients for Life by Matt Oechsli (Wiley, Dec. 2004)
• Powerful Prosposals: How To Give Your Business The Winning Edge by David Pugh and Terry Bacon (Amacom, Nov. 2004)
• Let Them Eat Cake : Marketing Luxury to the Masses - As well as the Classes by Pamela Danzinger (Dearborn Trade, Jan. 2005)
• Instant Persuasion: How to Change Your Words to Change Your Life by Laurie Puhn (Tarcher Penguin, Jan. 2005)

Do you have any suggestions?

The essence of business

Don Peppers and Martha Rogers wrote one of the best books of the early 90's called The One to One Future. It was THE book that made me look at moving away from "bulk" marketing and create the business we have become.

They have written a new book--to be published in March--called Return on Customer.

They sent me the first two chapters and I want to share the first paragraph of the first chapter. I defy you to find a better description to what “business” is.

“Businesses succeed by getting, keeping, and growing customers. Customers are the only reason you build factories, hire employees, schedule meetings, lay fiber optic lines, dispatch service trucks, stock inventory, file for patents, operate call centers, negotiate contracts, write software, or engage in any other kind of business activity whatsoever…

Without customers, you don’t have a business. You have a hobby.”

Spooky Action

Mike DeWitt at Spooky Action is a pretty big fan of Jay Abraham's book Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got.

Growing Your Business Like Crazy

My friend Barry Moltz is putting together an event called "Growing Your Business Like Crazy".

He is setting it up as three separate mini conferences. The first mini is a personal consulting call with Barry. The second is the on-site conference being held October 21st at the Catalyst Ranch in Chicago. The third is a call to follow-up on specific issues from the conference.

At the conference, you will have the opportunity to hear Barry, Jackie Huba, Melissa Giovagnoli, and George Ludwig.

They have an early registration special running through September 15th.

Pachter on Persuasion

Richard Pachter's review this week was on three books about persuasion:

• Get Them to See It Your Way, Right Away: How to Persuade Anyone of Anything by Ruth Sherman (McGraw-Hill, June 2004)
• Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion by Kurt W. Mortensen (Amacom, June 2004)
• How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to be Persuaded: Get What You Want -- Every Time! by Joel Bauer and Mark Levy (Wiley, June 2004)

P.S. Fast Company's Readers' Choice for July is 5 Paths to Persuasion by Robert B. Miller, Gary A. Williams, and Alden Hayashi (Warner Business, April 2004).

Spread the Wealth

Since Microsoft made their little announcement yesterday and lots of people are going to have some extra money in their pockets, we thought we'd give you a couple of ideas on how to spend it.

Of course, our ideas are going to be books and we thought we would highlight some about the company giving out this mother lode of cash:

• There is a new title from Portfolio called Microsoft Rebooted: How Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer Reinvented Their Company. It is written by Robert Slater (Jack Welch and the GE Way, The Wal-Mart Decade) and will be shipping August 5th.


• They say it is all about people. Here is the book to tell you how Microsoft selects theirs - How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle--How the World's Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers by William Poundstone. I have heard good things about the book. Jeremy at Ensight wrote a few entries about it (here and here).


• There are many books written about the founders. Paul Allen has The Accidental Zillionaire. There's Bad Boy Ballmer about Steve Ballmer. And of course, Mr. Gates himself has authored two books - The Road Ahead (out of print) and Business @ the Speed of Thought. We found all of these titles to be average.


• Microsoft even wrote a book about itself. The book was called Inside Out and it was published in conjunction with the company's 25th anniversary (it is out of print).


• The rest are just a list of titles we ran across as we were researching


• Microsoft Secrets: How the World's Most Powerful Software Company Creates Technology, Shapes Markets, and Manages People by Michael Cusumano (Free Press, 1998)
• Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace (Harpercollins, 1993)
• The 12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft Management: How to Think and Act Like a Microsoft Manager and Take Your Company to the Top by David Thielen (Mc-Graw Hill, 2000) - out of print
• Selling Microsoft: Sales Secrets from Inside the World's Most Successful Company by Doug Dayton (Adams Media, 1997)
• Microsoft in the Mirror: Nineteen Insiders Reflect on the Experience by Karin Carter (Midpoint Trade, 2003)
• World War 3.0 : Microsoft and Its Enemies by Ken Auletta (Random House, 2001) - out of print
• The Microsoft Way: The Real Story of How the Company Outsmarts Its Competition by Randall E. Stross (Perseus, 1997)
Posted by Todd S. at 3:03 PM | Comments (1)

Blackman: Thanks

Thanks again to Jack, Todd and most important, YOU! This is the first time I hosted an "event" without a band and catering bill! Hope you've had as much fun reading my stuff, as I had writing it!

If I can be of any help in the future, just holler. I'd be disappointed if you didn't. You can reach me at jeff at jeffblackman dot com.

Also, be sure to take advantage of the special 32% savings for Stop! Whining! Start Selling! at www.800ceoread.com/blackman. And, to get my free e-zine, The Results Report, simply sign-up at www.jeffblackman.com. Would love to have you in our virtual family.

Here's to your success!

The Great Communicator

The recent media coverage of Ronald Reagan's death, memorial services and ongoing public tributes were fascinating. Especially, the stories that highlighted Reagan's extraordinary communication skills. Even his detractors acknowledged that Reagan was accurately labeled, the "Great Communicator."

At times, Reagan's message and its delivery might have been simplistic, but it wasn't misunderstood. He sought clarity. He avoided confusion.

And that got me wondering...

Have you ever asked a decision-maker:

Do you understand?

How'd they respond?

You bet! Absolutely! No problem. You betcha! Yep, that's easy!

Guess what? They may have had no idea what the heck you said!

Customers, clients and prospects have egos too. And, they like to protect them. The last thing they want to do, is to look stupid. Especially in front of you.

Therefore, to protect their self-esteem and save face, they'll often boldly proclaim their understanding, even if you have inadvertently guided them into the land of confusion! (And confusion and misunderstanding are major obstacles to making a sale and business success.)

So here's a far better question to ask:

Have I explained this well?

This question is a powerhouse. It cleverly shifts the burden from your customer, client or prospect...to you. And that's where it belongs...on your shoulders, not theirs.

Now even if you ask,

Have I explained this well?

and the response is No! that's not a problem. Because you can politely say something like,

Oops, my fault! Let me explain better this time, how it'll help you.

This strategy is a winner! Have I explained it well?

*****

In Jeff's new bestseller, Stop Whining! Start Selling!,
he delivers more success tips, especially in Profit
Pillar IV - A Profit Parade and Profit Pillar V - Communicate
and Conquer.

The Ritz Rules!

Who consistently delivers great service?

That's an easy one. The Ritz Carlton. I've never had a bad experience at a Ritz. And if something unexpectedly goes awry, they fix it. Fast!

Three months ago, I stayed at The Ritz in Orlando. The Ritz does little things right. Like at check-in, they offer you a glass of fresh lemonade. (I've noticed that other hotels are implementing a similar service strategy, by offering at check-in, glasses of i.e., champagne, juice or bottled water.)

And when I asked where the elevator was, Dena at the front desk didn't merely point toward the elevator, she personally escorted me there.

Later, at 6:00 p.m., I called room service. The phone was cheerfully answered by Gloria. She took my order and then said, "Mr. Blackman, please let me recap, to make sure I've got it right." (Confirmation now, often eliminates problems later.) I then asked, "Gloria, would it be possible to have dinner arrive at 7:00 p.m., since I'm leaving now to run in the fitness center?" She replied, "Absolutely! We'll see you at 7. Enjoy your run!"

At exactly 7:00 p.m. I returned. I was there, but dinner wasn't. At 7:11 I called Gloria and said, "I'm lonely!" She immediately apologized and said a rush would be placed on my order. At 7:22 there was a knock at the door. It was Rupert from room service. He said, "Mr. Blackman, Gloria and I once again apologize that your dinner has arrived late. Tonight, your meal is compliments of the Ritz."

Whoa! Cool! (Especially since the bill would have been over $350! Chicken nuggets ain't a bargain at the Ritz! Just kidding!)

I thanked Rupert for his gracious hospitality with a generous tip. I also gave him a tip for Gloria. He was surprised, but grateful.

Then, I called Gloria to express my thanks. I said, "Gloria, that was very thoughtful of you to comp my dinner." To which she said something remarkable. It was only a one-word response, but it was unforgettable. She replied,
"Ownership." (Meaning, even if it wasn't her fault, she still owned the problem. And, the solution. She didn't assign blame. She delivered satisfaction.)

I asked, "Gloria, is that your word or are you trained to say that?" Her response, "Mr. Blackman, it's simply part of our Ritz ethics and commitment to our customers." Yikes! I wanted to know where I could buy her books!

Lessons to learn and things to consider:

• What little things are you doing that'll yield BIG results?
• How can you improve your customer's experience?
• How many moments of magic or touch-points do you have with a customer? What subtleties will elevate their value?
• How do you get others to talk about you and your business with phrases that begin with:


• You're not gonna believe...
• Wait to you hear what happened to me...
• Have I told you about the time...

*****

Jeff shares more powerful service stories, lessons and
tips in Profit Pillar VIII - Serve & Soar! in his new
bestseller, Stop Whining! Start Selling!