How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling – Book Review

I recently finished one of my favorite books for the second time – How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger.

I’m not kidding when I say every single person alive needs to read this book!  It’s the best book on selling I have ever read, but it’s not just for salespeople.  You can take every single one of Bettger’s points and apply it everyday life as well!

The second best part about this book is it’s super easy to read.  Bettger uses stories to illustrate his points so fluently that there were times when it was impossible to put down!  The absolute best part of this book is it’s full of proven methods – not just thought out theories.  Bettger pulls his lessons out of his own experiences; he’s not just making something up and saying it’ll probably work.  That’s very important.  When finding someone to get advice from, it’s best to find someone who has done the thing you want to do!

Here are just a few of the amazing things I learned from Frank Bettger’s incredible little book:

1 – If You Want to Feel Enthusiastic, Act Enthusiastic!

In the book, Bettger tells the story of when he realized his face was continually in a frowning position, so he decided to change it.  Every morning, he would practice smiling a real, warm, genuine smile at himself in the mirror before heading to work.  It wasn’t easy, and he had to make sure he came across as REAL – not plastic-like or fake.  He smiled even when he didn’t feel like it.  Why?  Because smiling makes people feel more comfortable with you and it shows you really care.  The smiling habit was only the beginning of acting more enthusiastic, however.  Many people think that your emotions control your outward behavior, but the process can actually be reversed.  It’s a lot harder, but if you start to physically act more enthused, you’ll start to feel more enthused!

2 – Figure Out What the Other Person Wants – Then Help Them Get it.

Figuring out what someone wants is a great way to sell anyone on anything.  Why in the world would they want to buy something from you if they can’t see what’s in it for them?  The key is to discover something that matters to your prospect, and then help him see how you can help him get it with your product.  It changes the psychological feel of the situation.  Instead of appearing as a salesperson to a prospect, you are her friend helping her get what matters to her (and you should actually care about her needs too!).  See the difference?

3 – Discover the REAL Objective.

Oftentimes, the real reason someone isn’t buying isn’t the first excuse they give you.  Bettger discovered the real reason for prospects not buying by using the following technique (this is paraphrased from many examples in the book):

Prospect: I don’t want the product.

Salesperson: Why?

Prospect: It’s just too expensive.  I can get more for less elsewhere.

Salesperson: Besides the price, is there anything else wrong with it?

Prospect: Yes, it’s much too big for my house.

Salesperson: Okay, so besides that is there anything else wrong with it?

Prospect: No.

Salesperson: Are you sure?

Prospect: Well, I guess I’m just not sure my wife would like the product…

See?  The salesperson got down to the REAL issue.  The prospect didn’t mean to lie, he probably thought the first two reasons were perfectly legitimate reasons to not want the product.  However, his real reason for not buying was that he wasn’t sure if his wife would like it.  Once the real objection is discovered, it isn’t that hard to reassure the prospect and eliminate his real reason for not buying!

Summary

In short, this is a very helpful book!  I will more than likely be reading it again and again in the years to come.  It is by far the best book on sales I have EVER read, and I would highly recommend reading it!  The book is short, so you have no excuse.  Honestly, there are SO many more things I learned from this book that I didn’t include in this post because I want you to read it for yourself 😉

You can buy it off of Amazon here!

Happy reading!

 

Until next time,

Hope Frances