Why A, Go-Giver Sells More

There are more books, lining more shelves, sitting in more bookstores, located in more cities, than we could ever care to count, let alone read. All promising the, “hidden secrets” to all things sales.

Closing, opening, countering, negotiating, calling, networking, presenting… the list goes on. And all these hidden secrets are put to paper in order to get someone (anyone), to give a sales person money.

Ironically, these sales-people-turned-authors have succeeded at one thing, selling a sales person yet another book.

This is not true with, Go-Givers Sell More, by Bob Burg and John David Mann.

To understand that I’m not “selling” you something, you need only understand the premise of the book: giving is the key, not figuring out how you can take.

I first read, The Go-Giver, by Mr. Burg and Mr. Mann, after a client sent it to me, thinking it emulated my business practices. While it was a very kind gesture, it was one of VERY few books I’ve read that resonated with the human side of me, that in turn, dictated how the professional side of me operated.

These two authors have since taken the ideals shared in, The Go-Givers, and applied them to the the sales arena… and how refreshing these ideals are!

After reading just a few chapters of, Go-Givers Sell More, I “tweeted” Mr. Burg (both authors are very active on Twitter, so add them @bobburg and @johndavidmann)…

@BobBurg
Just opened the book and I’m all smiles. Except you may put me out of business. My clients aren’t going to need my sales training…I love it and it’s so much of what we teach. My clients will love the book!
5:09 PM Jan 27th

Why will my clients love this book?

Much of our time as consultants is spent deconstructing out of date and self focused business / sales models. This is how I make a substantial portion of my income and authors Bob Burg / John David Mann have put together information that is not the “copy and paste” concepts you get with most sales books. In fact, since reading Go-Givers, it’s quickly become a staple read for my clients and I will absolutely recommend the next installment, Go-Givers Sell More, as another tool to be used.

So what makes, Go-Giver Sells More, a must read for consultants, sales professionals and business people alike? I don’t want to give anything away and I definitely don’t want you to feel, that because you read this post, you got the “jist” of the book. So I picked three snippets that I wanted to comment on.

• The over hyped, “You’re going to love it… this is incredible!”

The book takes you through a series of word evaluations to help the reader understand that, not only is there contradiction being created with some of the language being used in our example and not only is this type of hype over selling the product / service, but this kind of “selling” is completely “me” focused.

This is my first pick, because the greatest “crash and burn” I’ve ever seen, was during the training of a new sales rep for a client of mine. He took this approach and went down in flames. He was taught other wise, but just couldn’t help himself. He was out of sales within a month.

• Over talking during the sales process

The book here takes an almost spiritual turn. The book is filed with the opportunity to be introspective, but in dealing with subject of silence, the book looks at the core of who we are as people and the true value of our words. There is a great statement…

You tap into your greatest value and authenticity  when you are not speaking. It’s not that what you are saying isn’t important. That’s just not where your power lies. . . true conviction is best conveyed, not through more words, but through fewer; it dwells behind the words.

For those who are new-comers to the sales arena, over talking, over promising and over hyping are great ways to lose the opportunity to help a person get something they need. The book takes a very unique look at this subject and was my favorite part of the book!

• When it comes time to present the solution to the client, we must be present!

It use to be that sales people would memorize their jargon, data and sales pitch. Then, they would go into the room, close their minds and go on auto pilot. Problem is, now the consumer is so educated, they don’t need our information, their armed to the teeth with their own.

In, Go-Giver Sells More, the concept is about getting past owning information and helping the client to find meaning. Information is only as relevant or powerful as the application the client can realize for their situation or needs. The book goes on to teach that it’s about authenticity. Do we think the information we are giving will help them? Is it what they want to hear, need to hear?

Closing Thought…

Of the dozens of business books I’ve read, looking for some nugget that would help me help my clients, the last two books I’ve read by Bob Burg and John David Mann, have stood heads and shoulders above so many others. They have become instant must reads for my clients and hand to my heart, books my wife loved.

Why?

Why would a stay at home wife love these books? Because these books are about becoming people who are innocently in the pursuit of helping other people. Sales people are tagged with this stigma that they are slimy and untrustworthy. Go-Giver Sells More gives sales professionals permission and acts as a guide to help the reader find the conviction, to first be good people to our clients.

If I had to narrow it down to one reason why I love this book, that would be it.

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