The 25 Sales Skills: They Don't Teach at Business School

This book represents exactly what I like in sales reading: substance with little or no fluff. It's a relatively small book that you can finish in the time it takes to do a load of laundry, but some of the suggestions will offer long-term benefits for anyone involved with sales.

Some of the more practical skills involve numbers 4 and 17, which provide useful techniques in allowing a prospective buyer to open up about what might prevent the sale from moving forward. Skill 18 offers a variety of questions that will allow you to better determine what the prospective buyer's needs are, while simultaneously drawing them into a comfort zone. And finally, Skill 21 (Ask Yourself the Right Questions) is one of my personal favorites, as it offers not only ideas for self-reflection, but it also provides me with marketing ideas for other businesses.

The book isn't entirely flawless; a few concepts seem to be tried and tested, yet outdated. Skill 12 (Get More Return Phone Calls) is apparently addressed in another Schiffman book, and I noticed harsh criticism for those techniques by another Amazon reviewer. While one technique of namedropping a competitor while asking for a return call may be effective, I can understand why some people might consider it sneaky.

I'm giving the book Five Stars because it provides more than a few unique and useful tips that have allowed me to improve the likelihood of a sale. For less than seven dollars, it's a terrific value, and a must-have for anyone involved in sales or marketing.

This was a terrific book to reinforce the common sense people skills we sometimes overlook in sales. It brings home the message of not "selling" but helping your customers.

I used it as a text of the seminar for the salesman in my company.
It is easy to understand the content concisely.
All content is content as the reconfirmation.