The Selling Method and Methods. Something I've struggled to learn and utilize all my life. So before give away a copy of an older book ( written in 1993) that I've found various nuggets of advice over the past few months, I thought I'd summarize the main thoughts. The book is "Soft Selling In A Hard World", Plain Talk On The Art of Persuasion by Jerry Vass.

Vass calls the book a perfect book for the bathroom-it's all about mechanics and methods and very light on theory. You can read on any page and profit, he says. In his preface he starts to set our minds right for the methods to be learned ahead. "The selling trade takes practice. Everything worthwhile does. Sex and selling are the only endeavors that the human being is expected to perform the first time without practice. By now you know the fallacy of the first illusion. The second illusion is even more embarassing."

Key points: Great salespeople need to suspend their ego to sell and just use proper mechanics; Few people sell well-15% of them make 85% of the available money; There are only three ways to make exceptional money-to work in a place nobody wants to be, to perform work nobody else wants to do, or to perform work that nobody else can do (selling); To get to the top in any profession or endeavor you must master the art of selling and persuasion; Selling is all about persuading the other person or group to do what you want in a way that doesn't appear to be normal selling; Selling is problem solving, not hustling; and Most salesperople need to stop talking, listen, solve probems and let the buyer make a decision.

The author who trained salespeople for Fortune 500 companies provide one drill that all salespeople need to do regularly I'm convinced. Sit down and write a 60 second television commercial (about 120 words) you will present on a national tv talk show selling yourself and the traits that would make someone buy from you, follow you, work with you etc. A variation of the short elevator speech. His critique of most presentations help us focus on what we need to do in our presentations: avoid the use of the word "I" and did you ask the Buyer to make a commitment or to take any actions that would move them closer to a commitment. In the end he says once you understand why someone might be persuaded by you, you should submerge the "I" and focus on the Buyer and the solutions you offer.

Methods: More Key points:
-Make representational statements about your product, service or idea and avoid puffery
-Sell Features by selling their Benefits and other Benefits
-Make a proof statement by stating the benefit, prove the benefit tangibly and apply the benefit to the buyer.
-Differentiate your product or idea from others

He then teaches the Seven Selling Moves:
Mission Statement, Probes, Listening, Opening Benefit, Isolate, Supporting Statements and Close; in the body of the book. He also identifes the need to be prepared to Cross-Sell or Back end sell once you have

I especially like the emphasis on Preparation and the Playbook section at the book where the reader is encourged to practice all parts of his/her presentation based on the selling moves abve. Writing down your 90 second close (25 or 30 words), for example, will stand all those who use the art of persuasion in good stead.

The Soft Selling strategy in summary according to Vass: Don't talk-listen; Don't tell-ask; Don't sell-solve; Don't pitch-probe; Don't leave-close. Vass highlights the following books in his bibliography: Gary Goodman, Reach Out and Sell Someone, Richard Lanham, Revising Business Prose; Jay Conrad Levinson, Guerilla Marketing Attack; and Tom Peters, Thriving on Chaos. The link above to the Vass book will also identify book others have recommened as useful and similar.

Do you have any other book on the art of sales and persuasion to recommend. Please use the comments section or send us an email at "salesbooks@rempelgroup.com"

See also the Vass website