There must be quite literally millions of books on sales. One that is completely readable and provides immense insight in an amusing and quirky way is "Selling the Wheel" by Jeff Cox

ISBN: 0671033107

It gets a 5 star customer rating on Amazon.

I loved it and highly recommend it. In fact, I think I learned more from this book than from much weightier tomes like Neil Rackhams "Spin Selling"

Keith,

Is there anything specific or something that stood out in teh book that you particularly liked or was it the style?

The book is told as a story. The first couple who invent the wheel - but how do they sell it? No one even knows they need a wheel yet.

So the book takes you through sales in different parts of the product lifecyle.

At the beginning you have to be creative and show people why they need the wheel. The bonus is that you can charge incredibly high prices.

As the product moves towards maturity more and more uses are found for the wheel. Customers tend to want/need high grade technical support. Selling the support and expertise becomes more important than the product.

At maturity the wheel becomes a commodity. Sales primarily on price. Enormous efficiency needed in production, distribution and support.

The book also looks at the decline phase of a market but I can't remember what it says. My copy is out with a friend. He loved it too.

For a book on sales it packs an awful lot in about management, operations, teams and personality types. Yet it always stays readable. Sure the story is pretty weak - but that's not the point.

Does that answer the question?

Yep. Thank you.

You don't say if you've already read the business basics... which IMO are

Emyth Revisited
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
One Page Business Plan

After that...
Now Discover Your Strengths

And then...
Any of the Guerilla Marketing Books are great for ideas.
6 Steps To Free Publicity
Business By Referrals
Multiple Streams of Income
SalesDog
are a few I recommend.

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Best of success and lots of joy,
Maria Marsala
__________________________________________________ ____________
Business Builder, Trainer, Author, and former Wall Street Trader

Powering-UP service businesses and the women who own them! Visit http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com and subscribe SIMPLE Business Steps Ezine.

"Getting Business to Come to You"
by Paul & Sarah Edwards, Laura Clampitt Douglas

Nearly 700 pages, got it second-hand from Amazon for $4 - though, it cost more to send it to me in Australia

Lots of ideas, they use lots of real-life examples and it has helped me out big-time!

.

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Martin
SmallOfficeBlog.com | ozExpo.net

The Purple Cow is an excellent tool for out of the box marketing ideas

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