The Giants of Sales: What Dale Carnegie, John Patterson, Elmer Wheeler, and Joe Girard Can Teach You About Real Sales Success

Book description

The sales techniques that work best...have always worked best. An incisive look at four legendary sales pros, and how their strategies still apply today.

Sales theories come and sales theories go, but nothing beats learning from the original masters. The Giants of Sales introduces readers to the techniques developed by four legendary sales giants, and offers concrete examples of how they still work in the 21st century.

The book reveals how:

In his quest to sell a brand new product known as the cash register, John Henry Patterson came up with a repeatable sales process tailor-made for his own sales force . Dale Carnegie taught people how to win friends and influence customers with powerful methods that still work . Joe Girard, listed by Guinness as the world's greatest salesman, didn't just sell cars, he sold relationships...and developed a successful referral business . Elmer Wheeler discovered fundamental truths about persuasion by testing thousands of sales pitches on millions of people, and achieved great success in the middle of the Great Depression

Part history and part how-to, The Giants of Sales gives readers practical, real-world techniques based on the time-tested wisdom of true sales masters.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Preface
  3. One. Selling in the Twenty-First Century
    1. 1. Stating the Obvious
      1. Some Things are Forever
      2. Déjà VU all Over Again
      3. “I Don’t Get no Respect”
      4. Taking a Chance on Yourself
    2. 2. Four Ways to Sell
      1. 1. Process-Oriented Sales Methods
      2. 2. Relationship-Driven Sales Methods
      3. 3. Linguistic Approaches
      4. 4. Tactical Methods
        1. On the Shoulders of Giants
      5. The Invention of Modern Selling
  4. Two. John Henry Patterson: The Process of Selling
    1. 3. Desperate in Dayton
      1. The Brother-in-Law Who Saved High Tech
    2. 4. A Primer on Process
      1. But Why Did it Work?
      2. Resistance from the Sales Force
      3. The Importance of Mastery
        1. The Approach
    3. 5. Patterson’s Legacy
      1. Professional Selling Skills
      2. Solution Selling
      3. Strategic Selling
      4. Spin Selling
      5. The Common Core
        1. Focus on the Customer’s Problems
        2. Customize Your Message
        3. Keep It Simple and Nontechnical
        4. Stay Focused on the Goal—Making the Sale
    4. 6. The Pros and Cons of Sales as a Process
      1. The Cons
        1. They Can Be Too Rigid, Too Dogmatic
        2. They’re Not Universally Applicable
        3. They Can Get Too Complicated and Overly Analytical
        4. They’re Reductive
        5. They’re Rigid
        6. They Lead to a Checklist Mentality
        7. They Treat Customers as Clones
      2. The Pros
        1. They Provide Consistency
        2. They Provide Repeatability
        3. There is Less Wasted Effort
        4. They Allow More Accurate Forecasting
        5. They Are Easier to Learn
        6. They Are Easier to Manage
    5. 7. Making it Work for You
      1. Qualifying Leads
        1. Ask Your Qualifying Questions
      2. Your Approach
      3. Closing
  5. Three. Dale Carnegie: The Apostle of Influence
    1. 8. The Young Man from Missouri
      1. The Bright Lights of Broadway
    2. 9. The Carnegie Principles
      1. Act As If . . .
      2. Make the Other Person Feel Important
      3. Instill an “Eager Want”
      4. Dramatize!
    3. 10. The 25-Year Overnight Success
      1. Why Does it Work?
      2. Playing the Role
    4. 11. Carnegie’s Heirs
      1. The Gospel of Optimism and Self-Improvement
      2. Relationship Sales Strategies
    5. 12. Making it Work for You
  6. Four. Elmer Wheeler: The Magic of Words
    1. 13. Making Your Sales Sizzle
      1. Elmer Who?
    2. 14. Thinking and Buying
      1. Brains and Words
      2. Domination Tendencies
    3. 15. Wheeler’s Deal
      1. Don’t Sell the Steak—Sell the Sizzle!
      2. Don’t Write—Telegraph!
      3. Say it with Flowers
      4. Don’t Ask if—Ask which!
      5. Watch Your Bark
    4. 16. The Language-Based Approach Today
      1. Neurolinguistic Programming
      2. Structures of Persuasion
    5. 17. Making it Work for You
      1. Oral Communications
      2. Written Communications
  7. Five. Joe Girard: Priming the Pump
    1. 18. Down and Out in Detroit City
    2. 19. Finding the Law of 250 at a Funeral
      1. Joe Girard’s Law of 250
      2. Do the Math
      3. Freeze Out Cold Calling
    3. 20. From Network to Nurture
      1. The Recognition Heuristic
      2. The Power of Obligation
      3. Guerrillas in Our Midst
      4. Using Your Own Toolbox
    4. 21. The Pros and Cons of Priming the Pump
      1. The Cons
        1. It Can Seem Manipulative
        2. The Messages Can Sound Canned
        3. Sending Messages Can Become an End in Itself
        4. You Can Lose Focus
      2. The Pros
        1. There’s No More Cold Calling
        2. It Establishes Your Expertise and Value
        3. The Cost Is Low
        4. It Eliminates the Roller-Coaster Effect
    5. 22. Making it Work for You
      1. Lead Generation
  8. Six. Conclusion
    1. 23. Looking Back to Look Ahead
  9. Notes
    1. Chapter 1
    2. Chapter 3
    3. Chapter 4
    4. Chapter 5
    5. Chapter 6
    6. Chapter 8
    7. Chapter 9
    8. Chapter 10
    9. Chapter 11
    10. Chapter 13
    11. Chapter 14
    12. Chapter 15
    13. Chapter 16
    14. Chapter 18
    15. Chapter 19
    16. Chapter 20

Product information

  • Title: The Giants of Sales: What Dale Carnegie, John Patterson, Elmer Wheeler, and Joe Girard Can Teach You About Real Sales Success
  • Author(s): Tom Sant
  • Release date: March 2006
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: None