( 4 reviews )
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 23 2006
Selling is not about pushing products any more. Pitches or sales gimmicks do not persuade the contemporary cynical, savvy consumer. In today's world, successful financial services and product sales professionals must build mutually beneficial relationships with their clients based on trust and respect. Authors James M. Benson and Paul Karasik use their experience and accomplishments in finance and insurance to identify 22 key sales strategies that anyone can use, including sales professionals in other industries. Much of the advice, for good or ill, is not specific to the area of financial services. Each chapter explains a tried-and-true, applicable sales strategy in an easy-to-understand format. You've heard some of these strategies before, but others will provide new fuel to energize your approach to sales. Each strategy makes sense and we recommend this book to everyone who sells financial products, whether you are a weathered sales veteran or a novice who is still finding your way.
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( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 25 2005
I have been a financial planner for a little over three years and I was reading this book to get some new ideas on growing my practice. Many of the ideas in this book I have read elsewhere. They just reinforced them in me, which is always good. I liked the Johari window idea in which you let everyone and remind everyone you meet what you do. I know sometimes I forgot exactly what some of my friends do. In the financial planning industry, I feel it is important to let everyone know all the things you can do and perhaps ask them to let their friends know about your services. Of course, don't push it - just give them a gentle reminder by weaving into the conversation every now and then. This book would have been better if they had included more real life experiences from the people they have mentored. Hearing directly from them in their own words how they used each of these 22 keys would have made them more powerful. In summary, this book is for someone who wants to reinforce the principles of sales success in the financial and insurance industry. For others who want new ideas they want to utilize in their practice, I would suggest looking elsewhere.
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( 9 of 9 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 31 2004
Books that give genuinely new ideas -- or utterly practical tips -- on sales are worth their weight in gold. This one does both. The instructions on how to create your own One-Minute Positioning statement alone are worth 10 times the price of the book -- it is absolutely the best technique around for explaining to people in a brief statement what you do and why they should be interested.
