Why I Didn’t Write a Sales Book First

When I made the exciting decision to launch  Conversion-omics several folks told me this is a “crowded space” (meaning lots of people do it) and that in order to make it in this business I would first need to write and publish a book about sales training. The funny thing is, with a BA in English, a love of reading, and a passion for good-old-fashioned-hold-them-in-your-hands-line-them-up-by-color-on-the-shelf books, you would think that would sound like a great idea. But the thing is, I have decided to buck the norm and NOT start by writing a book about the 7 Keys to Sales Success or anything else along those lines.

Why? Well, first of all that has already been done (and done . . . and done . . . and done). Did you know Amazon contains 340,737 book titles containing the word “sales” and another 48,427 containing the word “selling?” Yikes! In fact, that number has probably already increased in the time it took me to write this post!

Second, I want to spend ALL of my time helping clients improve THEIR business, increase THEIR selling confidence, and develop THEIR effective communication techniques. The talented people who write best-selling books have to spend a lot of time writing and selling their best-selling books. At this point in time, I would rather put my effort into improving the selling techniques of my clients.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for the super heroes of sales training that have come before me. These folks are my idols. (Upon vigorously shaking hands with sales guru Tom Hopkins for the first time, I told him he was a rock star. He looked at me kind of funny. True story.) Their philosophies, theories and books have helped shaped the selling strategies I use in my business every day.

As a person who craves a never ending diet of sales training as part of my insatiable hunger to learn from those around me, I have attended dozens (dare I say hundreds?) of learning opportunities and read thousands of books, blogs, posts, tweets and articles about it. In each and every case I learn something new. Often times I learn so many new things I can’t get them all written down fast enough so I circle back when needed. In fact, I believe we should surround ourselves with books of all kinds all the time! An overstuffed bookcase or e-reader says good things about your mind.

I just do NOT believe in a one-size-fits-all type of sales process. My sales training strategy is constantly changing and evolving. At any point in time it would be impossible for me to commit to just a few steps in a process that will work every time for every sales person with every customer. My strategy is being refined and improved after every interaction and in response to current market conditions and the very specific needs/goals of my clients. Like a fine wine or my sister’s homemade chicken tortilla soup, it just keeps getting better and better.

SIDENOTE: My book writing career may be on hold for now, but if you ARE in need of a good read about sales training, there are lots of great options out there. Here are a few standouts from the list of the Top 10 Best Selling Sales Books of all Time according to Geoffrey James at inc.com:

• Spin Selling –Neil Rachham
• How to Master the Art of Selling – Tom Hopkins
• Secrets of Closing the Sale – Zig Ziglar
• Perfect Selling – Linda Richardson
• Selling to Big Companies – Jill Konrath (shout out to MN!)
• The Psychology of Selling – Brian Tracy