The Back to Basics Book of Selling
A Guide to a Successful Sales Career
25th Anniversary Edition
By John R. Ingrisano
www.TheFreestyleentrepreneur.com
Paperback, $19.94

Reviewed by
Bill Willard

Selling is a numbers game, a thought perhaps best expressed in the famous 10-3-1 sales ratio. That is, for every 10 live bodies you talk to, 3 will be interested; 1 will buy. But selling is a lot more than numbers: it’s also about the principles, practices, tools and techniques of a learnable skill without which whole segments of our economy would come to a screeching halt in a very big hurry.

John Ingrisano understands that as well as anyone I know, and in The Back to Basics Book of Selling– A Guide to a Successful Sales Career, he spells it out in his patented “wow-em-with-plain-English” prose.  But, Ingrisano not only knows how to write, he knows what to write!

Selling As Process

For instance, John knows that to avoid hit-or-miss marketing and desperation selling (the cause of so many crash-and-burn sales careers), salespeople should operate as small-business owners—self-managed and with an organized sales process, which John details with eye-opening examples and highly transferable techniques. That is, they need to set realistic goals, develop clear, detailed plans, work those plans for all they’re worth (revising them, as needed), keeping accurate records, and monitoring their results. John further explains why sales activity must be planned, purposeful, consistent and, above all, self-driven. It should not have to be hot-wired every few months by a supervisor’s pep talk, or jump-started just in time for the annual sales contest.

In fact, and that is key: The Back to Basics Book of Selling is not just for “10-Percenters”—the 10 percent or so of salespeople who are so driven, they’d survive and succeed no matter how much—or how little—training, coaching or support they got. John contends, as do I, that as long as people are self-motivated and willing to learn and work hard, they can be taught how to build successful sales careers, and spend a lifetime reaping the financial, professional, and personal rewards for their efforts. John’s highly readable book can help new and experienced sales people do exactly that…and, they won’t have to slit a single throat or even change their hat size to become winners!

The Back to Basics Book of Selling can be read and implemented alone, used as the basis for discussions and guided learning exercises with trainers, supervisors or sales managers, or serve as a guide for peer-group discussions. No matter how it’s used, though, the objective is to profitably improve sales performance and make the journey to success faster, smoother and easier. And fun!

Bill Willard is a freelance writer in Clearwater FL. He has been a high-impact writer and editor for over 30 years. In addition to his byline pieces, Bill’s beat includes ghostwriting and editing for businesses of all types and sizes, professional practitioners and individuals, and is a www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com Contributing Author.

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