2024 the best sales books review

Price: $0.99
(as of Nov 15, 2024 14:10:08 UTC - Details)

Fanatical Prospecting gives salespeople, sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives a practical, eye-opening guide that clearly explains the why and how behind the most important activity in sales and business development—prospecting.

Step by step, Jeb Blount outlines his innovative approach to prospecting that works for real people, in the real world, with real prospects.

Learn how to keep the pipeline full of qualified opportunities and avoid debilitating sales slumps by leveraging a balanced prospecting methodology across multiple prospecting channels.

This book reveals the secrets, techniques, and tips of top earners. You'll learn: why the 30-Day Rule is critical for keeping the pipeline full; why understanding the Law of Replacement is the key to avoiding sales slumps; how to leverage the Law of Familiarity to reduce prospecting friction and avoid rejection; the 5 C's of Social Selling and how to use them to get prospects to call you; how to use the simple 5 Step Telephone Framework to get more appointments fast; and much more!

Fanatical Prospecting is filled with the high-powered strategies, techniques, and tools you need to fill your pipeline with high quality opportunities.

Reviewer: MS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I’m the guy who didn’t need the book, and I’m delighted with it!
Review: From my point of view, Fanatical Prospecting is a great personal development book. It is probably good for prospecting too.I don’t prospect. I fear rejection like any sane person, and according to Jeb Blount, the author of "Fanatical Prospecting:" "prospecting is hard, grueling, rejection-dense work.”Thus, I built my business ventures to avoid prospecting and rejection. My customers come to me; I don’t look for them. I qualify them before I get on the call with them. And I don’t really need new customers. My attrition rates are low. A few new customers a month is more than enough for me. When COVID robbed me of my health and sanity, I did nothing in my business for three months. My revenue slumped only by about 50%.I didn’t really need to read this book. I read it because it was a lecture in my mastermind. And I don’t regret it at all.No CONSUsually, I start my reviews with some negatives. Well, I cannot do it with Fanatical Prospecting. I’m the guy who didn’t need the book, and I’m delighted with it! I liked everything in Fanatical Prospecting. On the other hand, I can enumerate a massive list of…PROS1. Very well written.I’m an avid reader. I read 50-100 books a year. And Fanatical Prospecting stood out, significantly.It’s a nonfiction book that reads a bit like a thriller. It has just enough stories to illustrate the points. These are real-life stories, short and to the point. The author doesn’t beat the dead horse. The material is meaty and delivered in a common, simple, understandable language.This is just a great read. Which leads me to another PRO…2. Extremely Quotable.I have 157 highlights of this book in my Kindle. It easily positions it among the top 5% of the books I read. Maybe even 1%.Most of those highlights were great soundbites – powerful one-liners, like: "In sales you are owed nothing!” “Prospecting is hard, emotionally draining work, and it is the price you have to pay to earn a high income.” “Elite salespeople, like elite athletes, track everything.” “Effective delegation begins with effective communication.”The above is just a sample out of dozens and dozens of great quotes I highlighted.3. Brother from Another Mother.I also liked the book because it was so in line with my own personal philosophy. I found myself nodding furiously in agreement about every other chapter.The importance of tracking? Checked. "You cannot be delusional and successful at the same time. Delusion gets you nowhere.”The importance of perseverance? Checked. "Just remember. In sales persistence always wins. Always.”The importance of small consistent daily actions? Checked. "Every major failure in my life has been a direct result of a collapse in my self-discipline to do the little things every day. Frankly, that is all failure really is.”Every fear is real? Checked. "This is why you feel physically anxious before you ask. Your mind reels, palms sweat, stomach tightens, and muscles become tense as you subconsciously prepare for ‘no.’ This is the root cause of your feeling of fear.”C’mon! This is the exact description of what I had felt when I worked on overcoming my shyness. To the letter. It’s like Jeb had been in my head and described my bodily sensations.4. Secrets of Trade.Jeb has the amazing ability of getting to the essence of things. Fanatical Prospecting is full of tiny tidbits revealing secrets hidden in plain sight. Just a few of them: "The secret: Speak in public, regularly.”This refers to the secret of being good with sales calls. I wouldn’t have ever thought of it. But hey, Jeb is the expert here. If he states that public speaking makes you a better salesman, who am I to argue? "There is only one technique that really works for getting what you want on a prospecting touch. Ask.”Amen to that. We overcomplicate things, not only in the sales process, but in life. One technique; drop mike. "The easiest, fastest way to get someone’s attention is to use the most beautiful word in the world to them—their name.”How to Win Friends and Influence People 101. Yet, it’s the underutilized secret even for those who read the book. "The ‘single most powerful technique’ to get past gatekeepers is to use please twice.” “Yes, it’s as easy as this. ‘Please, could you connect me with your boss, please?'”5. Ruthlessly Honest.I loved how the book started – from telling why the sales profession is so hard and so profitable at the same time. "Prospecting is hard, emotionally draining work, and it is the price you have to pay to earn a high income.”Jeb Blount doesn’t beat around the bush. He goes straight to the point and he doesn’t try to paint the sky pink. If something is “hard, grueling, rejection-dense” (another of his description of prospecting), he states it in plain words.The author is also not afraid to articulate his position on things that get on his nerves. They get on my nerves too. "Political correctness has run amuck.” “In your life, mediocrity is like a broke uncle. Once he moves into your house, it is nearly impossible to get him to leave.”6. Funny.Not hilarious. Just funny enough to crack a smile from time to time and lighten the mood. And Jeb’s sense of humor is right down my alley. "Privacy? Forget about privacy. You are in sales.” “(…)smartphone. Twenty minutes later, you find yourself watching a video of a chimpanzee riding a giraffe around a circus tent and can’t remember how you got there.” “Get it through your thick skull that nobody cares about you or what you have to say. They want to talk about themselves.”7. Productivity Tips.I consider the productivity tips sprinkled throughout the book to be the most universal message of Fanatical Prospecting. Seriously, stay-at-home moms could have used them with success. "For salespeople, though, most time management problems are self-inflicted.”Most time management problems are self-inflicted for every profession where you are free to choose your own schedule. Every freelancer, health practitioner with a private practice, business owner or even independent specialist in the corpo environment commits the same productivity sins. "The two biggest prospecting derailers for sales professionals are e-mail and mobile devices.” “Those are the two biggest derailers for everyone who works with a mobile device and/or email.” “You cannot be efficient when you are constantly being distracted.”The above applies to virtually everybody. Yet, with the stubbornness worthy of a better cause, everybody tries to multitask. "The most expensive thing you can do in sales is spend your time with the wrong prospect.”That hit too close to home. I already pre-qualify my prospects; yet, still the most worthless time I spent is on the prospecting calls with someone I shouldn’t have been speaking in the first place.8. Personal Development.Especially the last part about mental toughness was very inspiring. If Jeb wasn’t a great salesman, he could’ve become a great motivational speaker.Mental toughness is just icing on the cake. The whole book is full of powerful statements which applies directly to one’s ability to be honest with themselves and do the work. Self-discipline, self-awareness, proper planning, mental attitude – those things are the part of the sales and prospecting processes as much as they are part of life.As I already stated, I didn’t need to read Fanatical Prospecting very much. I’m a business owner, but I’m in the early stage of my business, where my sales skills are not crucial for my success.However, as a solopreneur, I am my business. So, while the prospecting message was mostly an interesting piece of research for me, the personal development teachings ‘in the background’ were the most valuable for me.SummaryI recommend this book for every entrepreneur. If your business depends on your sales skills, you will find it doubly valuable.However, I found "Fanatical Prospecting" a personal development book first and foremost. And a great one in this field too.The last time I checked, every single human being could have used some more personal development. Thus, I wholeheartedly recommend Jeb Blount’s book to everyone.

Reviewer: Jeremey Donovan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Motivational and Actionable!
Review: Until someone mentioned “Fanatical Prospecting,” I had never heard of the book or its author Jeb Blount. Noticing the book was #1 on Amazon’s telemarketing best seller list, I ordered a copy and began reading with an open mind.The book, especially at the beginning and the very end, is about 50% standard sales motivation content covering well-trodden material like the amygdala/lizard brain, Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on body language, etc. However, the other 50% delivers very practical processes and templates that make the book one of the better sales books available. All told, I felt the book was a must read.Here is my summary of key-take-ways:1. Knowing that activity takes 90+ days to pay off, successful salespeople relentlessly fill their pipeline through a mixture of telephone, in-person, e-mail, social selling, text messaging, referrals, networking, inbound leads, trade shows, and cold calling.2. Here is the brutal truth: Salespeople who ignore the phone fail.”3. “Top performers organize their day into distinct time blocks dedicated to specific activities, concentrating their focus and eliminating distractions within those blocks… We schedule our prospecting blocks [on our calendars] into three “Power Hours” that are spread across the day—morning, midday, and afternoon.”4. “While setting an appointment is your primary objective with prospects you have already prequalified as potential buyers, gathering information is your primary objective with prospects you have not qualified.”5. “Our data and data that we've gathered and analyzed from a diverse set of sources indicate that it takes, on average: 1 to 3 touches to reengage an inactive customer 1 to 5 touches to engage a prospect who is in the buying window and is familiar with you and your brand 3 to 10 touches to engage a prospect who has a high degree of familiarity with you or your brand, but is not in the buying window 5 to 12 touches to engage a warm inbound lead 5 to 20 touches to engage a prospect who has some familiarity with you and your brand—buying window dependent 20 to 50 touches to engage a cold prospect who does not know you or your brand.”6. “The bottom line is people don't want to be pitched or “sold” on social media. They prefer to connect, interact, and learn. For this reason, the social channel is better suited to building familiarity, lead nurturing, research, nuanced inbound prospecting, and trigger-event awareness.”7. “Prospects meet with you for their reasons, not yours. You must articulate the value of spending time with you in the context of what is most important to them. Your message must demonstrate a sincere interest in listening to them, learning about them, and solving their unique problems.”8. “Just saying, “I'd like 15 minutes of your time because I want to learn more about you and your company” works surprisingly well with many prospects.”9. “When salespeople ask me when they should leave a voice mail, I always answer, “When it matters.”… Keep voice mail messages to 30 seconds.”10. “Timing Teleprospecting Calls Is a Losing Strategy… So, forget about timing your calls and commit instead to a daily, first-thing-in-the-morning call block.”11. “The feeling of rejection happens the moment you get a reflex response, brush-off, or objection (RBO)… Overcoming doesn't work. There is a universal law of human behavior: You cannot argue another person into believing that they are wrong. The more you push another person, the more they dig their heels in and resist you… There is a better way. Rather than attempting to overcome—defeating or prevailing over your prospect—you should disrupt their expectations and thought patterns when they push back with a no. The key is a disruptive statement or question that turns them around so that they lean toward you rather than move away from away from you… When they say they're busy, instead of arguing them into how you will only take a little bit of their time, say, “I figured you would be.” Agreeing with them disrupts their thought pattern… When they say, “Just send me some information,” say, “Tell me specifically what you are looking for.” This calls their bluff and forces engagement… When they say, “I'm not interested,” say, “That makes sense. Most people aren't.” Their brain isn't ready for you to agree with them… One phrase you want to avoid is “I understand.” When you use the phrase “I understand,” you sound just like every other schmuck who uses this phrase as insincere filler so they can get back to pitching. It demonstrates zero empathy and tells your prospect that you are not listening and don't care.”12. The salespeople-help-salespeople hack is an awesome secret weapon.”13. “Truly effective salespeople understand that it is all about asking the prospect the right questions and demonstrating that you can help them solve a particular problem or issue.”14. Don't send bulk e-mail. Prospecting e-mail is one to one. It is one e-mail from your address sent to one individual, one e-mail at a time… Avoid attaching images… Avoid hyperlinks… never use “Hi” or “Hello” or “Dear” or any other salutation in front of your prospect's name. No one in business does that except salespeople. “Hi __” is a complete turnoff for prospects.”

Reviewer: Andres gamas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Al inicio del libro sentía escuchar a uno de mis directores de ventas recitando cada palabra. Sin embargo , nadie en mis 10 años de ventas se había atrevido a decirme. Puedes darle el significado que quieras pero es claro que Jeb plasmó su amor por la profesión y la comparte de una manera fácil de entender.

Reviewer: Michelle Evans
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I love that this book outlined practical tips for a different prospecting channels, but also addressed the mindset of a winning sales professional.

Reviewer: Rishav Jejani
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great book jeb, gonna read twice as it prepares all you need to be good sales person recommend to all sales goat

Reviewer: PeeJay
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Jeb has a very engaging and honest style of writing which makes the book really enjoyable.But that's not what this is about. He describes many examples of failures and feelings that I could relate to.I think what I'm continuing to learn about success is that a lot of it's about learning to override how you feel when you fail or don't get the successful outcome you'd hoped for. It's about acknowledging it and carrying on anyway. Not giving up. Not taking a break. Keeping going.When you read how someone as successful as Jeb has experienced the gammet of emotions all of us have and goes on to succeed, you can recognise that you can too. I think this book tells me that no matter how good your actual sales techniques are, the most important thing is to keep going. You might want to give up after 99 rejections but that last call could be a sale.Life is entirely a numbers game.

Reviewer: Mateus
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I loved it. Each word is great and truly necessary to every sales rep that want to grow in their jobs