Marketers have to get out of the office and get involved in the street level nitty gritty of face-to-face selling. The best marketers have a deep appreciation for the challenges and understand the nuances of effective selling. They know that sales and marketing are two sides of the same coin and must work seamlessly to communicate value to the customer.
One of the business books every marketer should read is Jeffrey Gitomer’s “Little Red Book of Selling”. It’s been around for a number of years, but the insights are as relevant today as ever. The author serves up insights and pragmatic advice on achieving greater sales success. His observations on selling technique are equally relevant to advertising and all other marketing communications.
Gitomer talks about the imperative of truly understanding the customers’ motivations. “People don’t buy for your reasons, they buy for their reasons.” And he emphasizes the need for creativity and memorability: “If your prospect isn’t interested, it’s because you aren’t interesting.”
But it is his entertaining, no nonsense writing style – “Selling is puking; customers want to buy” and the encouragement to “Kick your own ass” that makes it a delightful conversation with an intelligent, energetic, somewhat hyperactive friend –the kind of animated discussion you’d have while you enjoy a few beers. As he claims in his introduction “I have edited out one thing: all the bullshit.”
The Little Red Book of Selling – don’t just read it, study it; most of all enjoy it.