How to Be Great at the Stuff You Hate: The Straight-Talking Guide to Networking, Persuading and Selling

How to Be Great at the Stuff You Hate: The Straight-Talking Guide to Networking, Persuading and Selling

Released March 2012
Publisher(s): Capstone
ISBN: 9780857082435

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

You have to do it. . . you might as well enjoy it

No one likes a pushy, smarmy salesman – no one wants to be that guy. . .but most of us need to sell to some extent. How else can we get any business? We all have to do it now, whether we're lawyers, accountants or start-ups. But don't despair – there's no need to go on some cringey sales training day. How to be Great at the Stuff You Hate shows you how to develop all the skills you need to sell yourself, your business and your ideas. So ditch the dread, forget the fear and start enjoying yourself! Selling isn't something you 'do' to people, it's not some dark art practised by pushy and manipulative people – it's a process, it's a relationship. . .it's fun! All you need to do is cut the crap, be yourself and win some business.

How to be Great at the Stuff You Hate shows you how to:

  • Pull together a target list – who do you want to approach and do business with?

  • Connect with those people – writing letters/emails

  • Master meeting and networking – conquering small talk!

  • Follow up once you've chatted to someone

  • Ask for what you want

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Epigraph
  3. Title page
  4. Copyright page
  5. DEDICATION
  6. FOREWORD
    1. HOW TO BE GREAT AT THE STUFF YOU HATE
  7. INTRODUCTION
    1. About This Book
    2. About Me
    3. Who Should Read This Book?
    4. Why You Should Read This Book
    5. What’s Different about This Book?
  8. CHAPTER 1 THE STUFF YOU HATE . . . SELLING
    1. What Is Selling?
    2. Why People Buy
    3. The Characteristics, Attributes and Qualities of Good Sales People
  9. CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCING THE TARGET, CONNECT, MEET, ASK MODEL
    1. Target
    2. Connect
    3. Meet
    4. Ask
    5. Following Up
  10. CHAPTER 3 TARGET (WHO, WHICH, WHAT): WHO YOU WANT TO SELL TO, IN WHICH ORGANIZATIONS, IN WHAT SECTORS
    1. Getting Started: A Definite But Flexible Focus
    2. Your Target List
    3. HOT: Your Existing Customers
    4. WARM: Customers of the Organization in Which You Work
    5. TEPID: Referrals
    6. COLD – People With Whom You Have No Connection
    7. Following Up
  11. CHAPTER 4 CONNECT: MAKING AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TO SECURE THAT MEETING
    1. The Cold Call
    2. Connecting by Email
    3. Connecting by Letter
    4. Speaking in Public
    5. Following Up
  12. CHAPTER 5 NETWORKING: BUSINESS TALK FOR ‘GETTING ON WITH PEOPLE’
    1. What Is Networking?
    2. Networking with Strangers
    3. The Networking ‘Event’
    4. The Seven Stages of Body Language
    5. Following Up
  13. CHAPTER 6 SMALL TALK: THE SEEMINGLY MUNDANE ACTIVITY THAT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE
    1. Topics
    2. Talking about Yourself
    3. Being Memorable
    4. Write It Down
    5. Business Talk
    6. Listening
    7. How to Move On
    8. Following Up
  14. CHAPTER 7 FOLLOWING UP: MAKING THE MOST OF THE CONTACTS YOU MAKE – EFFICIENTLY, EFFECTIVELY AND ELEGANTLY
    1. Following Up after a Networking Event
    2. Following Up on Follow Up
  15. CHAPTER 8 MEET: MAKING THE MOST OF THE ENCOUNTER AND ENSURING YOU KEEP IN CONTROL
    1. The Meeting
    2. Asking Questions
    3. Buying Signs
    4. Features and Benefits
    5. Wants and Needs
  16. CHAPTER 9 ASK: YOU’VE WOOED AND COURTED WITH – IT’S TIME TO GO FOR THE KISS
    1. First Things First: You Must ASK
    2. The Use of Silence
    3. Keep On Asking
    4. Dealing with Objections
    5. Possible Outcomes
  17. EPILOGUE
    1. Have a Style
    2. Keep Doing It
    3. Pick ‘n’ Mix
  18. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  19. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  20. Index

Product information

  • Title: How to Be Great at the Stuff You Hate: The Straight-Talking Guide to Networking, Persuading and Selling
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: March 2012
  • Publisher(s): Capstone
  • ISBN: 9780857082435