Hardball Selling

Straightforward secrets and strategies for salespeople who want to join the winning top 5 percent of the sales force •Get your foot in the door •Control the sale without manipulation •Create a sense of urgency •Let the buyer participate •Learn the crucial subtleties of an aggressive approach •Target the biggest sales •Sell abroad And much more For many companies, 20 percent of their sales force generates 80 percent of their sales volume. In this hands-on guide, Robert L. Shook, a master salesman, teaches the high-pressure strategies that mean the difference between a super seller and a salesperson. The methods spelled out in this book describe what it takes to be in the elite 5 percent. In Hardball Selling, Shook inspires all salespeople to dare to be different and master hard selling without browbeating or offending customers. Shook spent 17 years in the trenches perfecting his successful strategies. Using the four basic principles of hardball selling, he guides you through all the steps, from getting past the "gatekeeper" to the single-minded tactics necessary to close a sale. "Shook's Hardball Selling is provocative and controversial—and filled with wonderful selling tips. I highly recommend it to every salesperson."—Martin D. Shafiroff, the world's No. 1 stockbroker

Though leaders in the business community may deny it, they know that high pressure makes sales. Hardball teaches the high-pressure strategies that mean the difference between being a superseller or a salesperson, giving that crucial edge to succeed in a competitive sales environment.

The second edition of Sales Force Management prepares students for professional success in the field. Focused on the areas of customer loyalty, customer relationship management, and sales technology, this practical resource integrates selling and sales management while highlighting the importance of teamwork in any sales and marketing organization. The text presents core concepts using a comprehensive pedagogical framework—featuring real-world case studies, illustrative examples, and innovative exercises designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of sales management challenges and to develop stronger sales management skills. Supported with a variety of essential ancillary resources for instructors and students, Sales Force Management, 2nd Edition includes digital multimedia PowerPoints for each chapter equipped with voice-over recordings ideal for both distance and in-person learning. Additional assets include the instructor's manual, computerized and printable test banks, and a student companion site filled with glossaries, flash cards, crossword puzzles for reviewing key terms, and more. Integrating theoretical, analytical, and pragmatic approaches to sales management, the text offers balanced coverage of a diverse range of sales concepts, issues, and activities. This fully-updated edition addresses the responsibilities central to managing sales people across multiple channels and through a variety of methods. Organized into four parts, the text provides an overview of personal selling and sales management, discusses planning, organizing, and developing the sales force, examines managing and directing sales force activities, and explains effective methods for controlling and evaluating sales force performance.

If Adam is the archetype of man, and Eve of woman, then the serpent who sold the apple to Eve in the Garden of Eden was the first salesman: all culture and commerce flow from that act. In this groundbreaking book on the nature and meaning of the sale, Earl Shorris takes us on a journey that starts in Eden and comes at last to a consideration of where we are and what we have become in late twentieth-century America, where selling has finally become the dominant human activity. Shorris focuses on the perfection of this particular art here in America, where the vast frontier with its isolated settlements cast the salesman in a heroic role: he was literally the bearer of culture, the source of a panoply of needed and wanted items, everything from parasols to plowshares. He was Prometheus. All of this changed dramatically in the years following World War II, when it dawned on manufacturers and sellers that the American economy was producing more goods than people wanted or needed. Demand would have to be created in order to sustain the expansion of markets, and then, as the economy became oversold, the role of the salesman changed: his task was now to kill the competition. The argument of this brilliant work draws on classical philosophy, contemporary politics, psychology, and economics; it is grounded in the author's long experience as an advertising executive and consultant to major corporations. His firsthand observations and interviews with salesmen of every description form the anecdotal bedrock of the narrative, which is further enlivened by a series of fictions in which salesmen practice aspects of their trade. Out of these stories and insights emerges a chilling new paradigm of humanlife in our times: that of homo vendens. Shorris shows us how America became a nation of salesmen, and what this means to our economy, our politics, our culture, and our character - especially our freedom to live as dignified persons.

Learn how Roger Newton, the co-discoverer of Lipitor, made an internal sale against all odds that championed the world's all-time best-selling drug. Meet Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, a firm that represents Elvis Presley, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and hundreds of other departed celebrities. Gain valuable advice from storytellers Martin Shafiroff, America’s number-one financial advisor; Bob LaMonte, a super sports agent who specializes in representing NFL head coaches; Dave Liniger,CEO of RE/MAX... It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice, a seasoned professional, or a high-powered CEO—your success depends on how well you sell your product, your service, your idea, yourself. Seasoned salesmen Robert L. Shook and Barry Farber interviewed top salespersons across a variety of industries and have written a collection of fascinating stories, each offering a lesson, valuable insight, or nugget of wisdom that will enhance your selling skills and boost your sales production. As you read these first-person narratives, you will feel as if they are talking directly to you, revealing valuable details behind their greatest sales moves, and imparting priceless lessons on how to sell your way to success. Most important, you can put their valuable insights to immediate use to boost your career.

The Sales Bible softbound – NEW EDITION WITH SOCIAL MEDIA ANSWERS Global sales authority Jeffrey Gitomer's bestselling classic, The Sales Bible, has been updated and appended in this new edition, offering you the ultimate sales methods and strategies that really work — every day, in real-world selling situations. With over 200,000 copies of the previous editions sold, The Sales Bible was listed as one of "The Ten Books Every Salesperson Should Own and Read" by the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage Program. Jeffrey Gitomer's column, "Sales Moves," and blog, "SalesBlog.com" are read by more than four million people every week. His customers include Coca-Cola, BMW, Kimpton Hotels, Hilton, Wells Fargo Bank, IBM, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hewlett Packard, and hundreds of others. The Sales Bible is your personal, trusted, authoritative resource to reach your sales potential and shine like a star. Accept no substitutes. Here are a few highlights: The 10.5 Commandments of Selling Generate leads and close sales in any market environment Find 25 proven ways to set hard-to-get appointments Use top-down selling to fill your sales pipeline with prospects who are ready to buy now Ask the right questions to make more sales in half the time How to use the top social media platforms to create inbound leads and prove value The Sales Bible has helped tens of thousands of salespeople all over the world reach their potential and close the deal — and it can help you. So what are you waiting for?

Being an NFL coach is the ultimate high-pressure job. Every Sunday a coach makes split-second decisions that will not only decide the fate of a game, but also his team's season and, ultimately, his own job. Meet Mike Holmgren, Jon Gruden, John Fox, Andy Reid, and Mike Sherman -- top NFL head coaches whose careers rest on their ability to lead other men to win in the fiercely competitive world of professional football. In this extraordinary collaboration with their agent Bob LaMonte, each of these five coaches shares his leadership principles. LaMonte takes you behind the scenes, where you'll be a fly on the wall as these men reveal how to win beyond the X's and O's. You will see how these successful leaders communicate with different personalities, develop vision, build trust in their people, and win loyalty, as well as overcome adversity and adapt to change. Through their colorful and motivational anecdotes, you'll gain unprecedented insights into the minds of some of the best coaches today and valuable lessons on what it means to be a leader and a champion.

What can possibly account for the strange state of affairs in professional sports today? There are billionaire owners and millionaire players, but both groups are constantly squabbling over money. Many pro teams appear to be virtual "cash machines," generating astronomical annual revenues, but their owners seem willing to uproot them and move to any city willing to promise increased profits. At the same time, mayors continue to cook up "sweetheart deals" that lavish benefits on wealthy teams while imposing crushing financial hardships on cities that are already strapped with debt. To fans today, professional sports teams often look more like professional extortionists. In Hard Ball, James Quirk and Rodney Fort take on a daunting challenge: explaining exactly how things have gotten to this point and proposing a way out. Both authors are professional economists who specialize in the economics of sports. Their previous book, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports, is widely acknowledged as the Bible of sports economics. Here, however, they are writing for sports fans who are trying to make sense out of the perplexing world of pro team sports. It is not money, in itself, that is the cause of today's problems, they assert. In fact, the real problem stems from one simple fact: pro sports are monopolies that are fully sanctioned by the U.S. government. Eliminate the monopolies, say Quirk and Fort, and all problems can be solved. If the monopolies are allowed to persist, so will today's woes. The authors discuss all four major pro team sports: baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Hard Ball is filled with anecdotes, case studies, and factual information that are brought together here for the first time. Quirk and Fort devote chapters to the main protagonists in the pro sports saga--media, unions, players, owners, politicians, and leagues--before they offer their own prescription for correcting the ills that afflict sports today. The result is an engaging and persuasive book that is sure to be widely read, cited, and debated. It is essential reading for every fan.