Surprisingly, this book is filled with useful, tangible information that anyone can use— not just those in sales.
Personally, I might not have chosen to read a book like this of my own accord; I had to read it as part of a univ course on selling. At a glance, it came across as very “get rich and famous quick and easy” without any solid information to support that claim to be found in the book. Upon reading however, I will say that I was mistaken.
At 155 pages, 18 chapters and many bulleted lists scattered through the text, Rumbauskas has in fact put together many really insightful and creative tips and techniques for self marketing and professional selling.
I cannot imagine having a dinner party with Rumbauskas; my head would explode from the speed and velocity of high energy and zeal that is seeping out the author’s every line. Like a true sales professional, his writing embodies many of the tenets he puts forth for developing salespeople— but true, healthy development, not the old-school shark-in-the-water kind of F*** you mentality, where selling is all about Manipulation; duping customers into buying something they don’t need and didn’t want, but were too scared of the salesman to say no.
Rather, the author focuses on Persuasion, with a positive mutual benefit being the goal in mind as being the ultimate goal of a top sales pro, and one of the many keys to dedicated customers and longterm success.
He talks a lot about power projection, the development of your public image as a recognized and capable expert in your field, as a confident and loyal business partner and problem solver for your clients, not a needy and ethically ambiguous seller with intimidating closes.
There are many other really great techniques which are proposed and built on throughout the book that I found could be great strategies for people in any line of work, not just sales. I think the reason why is that the skills involved in selling have a touch of the universal in them, and can be implemented across disciplines and on any scale (corporate down to personal) to achieve goals and bring about success.
I’d definitely recommend this book. It will give you the tools you will need to better help your clients toward goals of mutual benefit. To get them to want to buy, as the author argues, is the true point of modern salesmanship, and far more successful than running around “selling” to people who are not interested.