Little Red Book of Selling: The 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness: How to Make Sales Forever
Author: Jeffrey Gitomer
Sales master Jeffrey Gitomer has created a real-world, practical, and fun book that salespeople will love and profit from—and sales managers will buy by the case. Salespeople want answers. That's why the Little Red Book of Selling is short, sweet, and to the point. It's packed with answers that people are searching for in order to help them make sales for the moment—and for the rest of their lives.
In the Little Red Book of Selling salespeople will learn why sales happen and a philosophy of success—long term, relationship driven, and referral oriented—nothing to do with manipulation or other old-world sales tactics. It has everything to do with understanding buying motives and taking ethical, relationship-building actions.
People don't like to be sold but they love to buy has become more than Gitomer's registered trademark—it's a mantra. A mantra every salesperson needs to understand at the core of his selling success. Throughout this book the reader will begin to adopt a philosophy that drives them to a higher, value-driven purpose.
There are 12.5 powerful principles of sales mastery. These principles are at the heart of sales success. They are the difference between red (putting your heart into your career) and black (having a job, coming to work, and making a commission). Other chapters include; What's the Difference between Failure and Success in Salespeople, The Little Salesman that Could, The Two Most Important Words in Selling, and Just Plain "How to Make a Sale."
The cover is classic red cloth. The four-color graphics make it compelling and easy to read, and the content is easy to understand and implement. For your convenience there is ared satin (ok, polyester) bookmark so you can remember your place. It is small enough to carry with you—big enough to contain the answers you need—powerful enough to fill your wallet.
Soundview Executive Book Summaries
Strategies and Answers From a Lifetime of Selling
Jeffrey Gitomer, the sales guru and author of the bestselling The Sales Bible, has produced another gem of a book that addresses sales with a lively combination of humor and professionalism to help salespeople get their feet in many more doors. For those who are running into dead ends, stale leads, price objections, and unreturned phone calls, Gitomer has created The Little Red Book of Selling to show them how to get past the usual obstacles and sell their products and services with new zest and vigor.
Filled with more than a dozen principles of sales greatness, as well as numerous lists and attack plans for dealing with difficult customers, The Little Red Book of Selling offers the answers to just about every sales question a salesperson could ask, and provides the firsthand experiences and positive enthusiasm to drive them home with vitality and optimism.
Why Red?
Gitomer explains that The Little Red Book of Selling has so much red ink in it and on it for a number of reasons. These include:
- Red is the color of passion. Passion is the fulcrum point of selling. No passion, no sales.
- Red is the color of love. If you don't love what you sell, go sell something else.
- Red is the brightest color. You must be bright in order to convert selling to buying.
- Red is the most visible color. You must be visible to your customers with a value message, not just a sales pitch.
- Red is fire. If you're not on fire, you'll lose to someone who is.
Bold Directives
Overflowing with Gitomer's rapid pace and quick wit, The Little Red Book of Selling contains more than 18 ways to become a sales success, 20 ways to beat a sales slump, 8.5 resources to tap in a pinch, 14 ways to create a personal brand, and a plethora of other handy tabulations that can help any salesperson quickly get to the root of his or her problems. Thumb tabs on the sides of the book's pages and a ribbon page marker make the book a convenient reference guide to handling sales dilemmas, giving value, using creativity and humor, and reducing a customer's risk. Clever cartoons and page design make The Little Red Book of Selling's contents come alive with bold directives and professional advice.
The emotional edge to Gitomer's work is appropriate for his subject matter due to the important role emotion plays in the sales process. According to Gitomer, "The sale is emotionally driven and emotionally decided. Then it is justified logically." Using colorful language to go along with his punchy lessons, Gitomer minces no words when telling salespeople what they should do to improve their sales numbers.
Show Up Prepared
After each chapter's numbered lists of resources and rules, Gitomer's daring format provides a personal action plan that breaks down his tips into secrets; success strategies; and bold, large-lettered statements or questions that convey the roots of his principles. For example, after discussing the power of networking, the following giant words fill the page:
Networking works well when you employ the two-word secret: Show up.
Networking works best when you employ the three-word secret: Show up prepared.
Gitomer's direct style drives his points home in easy-to-understand quips and quotes that are formatted for maximum retention. Many pages throughout The Little Red Book of Selling offer a cartoon figure that provides a missed point (he calls them "Red Whines") and a solid counterpoint (a "Red Selling Response") that simply state basic principles that can be used along the sales cycle. For example, when discussing decision makers, the Red Whine reads, "The guy said he had to talk it over with ..." and the Red Selling Response is "Decision makers don't need to talk it over with anyone."
Gitomer's sharp sense of humor and professional approach turn The Little Red Book of Selling into a unique and strategy-filled playbook that offers thousands of time-tested sales resources and techniques.
Why We Like This Book
Gitomer's wild style and straight talk make The Little Red Book of Selling a fast read and an inspirational motivator for salespeople who need a powerful spark to ignite their passion for selling. By offering a positive perspective and many years of experience in an easy-to-reference volume, Gitomer puts the fun in the fundamentals of selling. Copyright © 2005 Soundview Executive Book Summaries
Table of Contents:
| Understanding Red Sales ... | |
| People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy | 1 |
| Why they buy. An answer every salesperson needs | 6 |
| Selling in the Red zone | 12 |
| How to use the principles of this book to succeed | 16 |
| Why is this book RED? | 18 |
| What's the difference between failure and success? | 20 |
| What's your biggest fear? Speaking, rejection, or failing? | 26 |
| The 12.5 Red Principles of Sales Greatness | |
| 1. | Kick your own ass | 32 |
| 2. | Prepare to win, or lose to someone who is | 46 |
| 3. | Personal branding IS sales: It's not who you know, it's who knows you | 54 |
| 4. | It's all about value, it's all about relationship, it's not all about price | 64 |
| 5. | It's NOT work, it's NETwork | 82 |
| 6. | If you can't get in front of the real decision maker, you suck | 96 |
| 7. | Engage me and you can make me convince myself | 110 |
| 8. | If you can make them laugh, you can make them buy! | 124 |
| 9. | Use CREATIVITY to differentiate and dominate | 136 |
| 10. | Reduce their risk and you'll convert selling to buying | 152 |
| 11. | When you say it about yourself it's bragging. When someone else says it about you its proof | 164 |
| 12. | Antennas up! | 176 |
| 12.5 | Resign your position as general manager of the universe | 184 |
| The Little Salesman That Could | 192 |
| The Two Most Important Words in Selling | 199 |
| 12.5 Principles of Life-long Learning | 205 |
| Implement the Rule of the More, the More | 207 |
| What Does It Take to Be Number One? And Stay There? | 208 |
| This Book Has No Ending | 212 |
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When John Shook worked at Toyota he noticed that the senior experts on the Toyota Production System often drew simple maps when on the shop floor. These maps showed the current physical flow of a product family and the information flow for that product family as they wound through a complex facility making many products.
