Joseph Samuel Gerard, better known as Joe Girard, is an American salesman. Having sold 13,001 cars at a Chevrolet dealership between 1963 and 1978, Girard has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's greatest salesman.
Let me start by disclosing that I have a distinct aversion towards Self-help books. Most of the books that i have read of this category seem like a shameless attempt to exploit those still looking for clear directions to live their life. So after much deliberation I decided to maintain my distance from all the Coelho's mushrooming in this world.
The book in question can be put by some in self-help section but I like to see this book as something entirely different. Honestly, I picked this because of the catchy title and some good reviews. Before reading this I had no intentions of selling anything to anybody and the only thing I was looking for was the story of a man who is said to to be the "World's Greatest Salesman".
The man had a story to tell and the fact that he tried to be the least preachy made me all ears.
The book tells us about a man who started from virtually nothing and with shear grit and common sense achieved a phenomenal stature in the world of selling. There are subliminal messages in the book which will affect you and tell you how can a human transform himself to become the epitome of the work he do.
I read it about 6 months back and today when someone asked me for a recommendation of a Personality Development book, this book came to my mind before any other.
This guy is a pretty dang good salesman! He sold me on the title of the book. But, the content was dissapointing in my opinion. If you are in car sales, I would say to get it. If not, put this one WAY DOWN on your list.
"Every time you turn off just one prospect, you turn off 250 more (page 61)."
AUTHOR'S WRITING STYLE: 5 stars!
Yay: This is my first time reading a non-fiction book about sales. There are 21 chapters overall, and it surprises me not a single chapter is a snooze.
It is a stupendous, light and smooth read that is written in first person perspective in present tenses.
This is almost like the autobiography of Joe Girard, who is a car and truck salesman. His resiliency, his strategic plans and his ability to delegate are his greatest strengths.
Nay: I notice wrong grammars, but I forget what pages these are.
SUBSTANCE & CONTENT: 5 stars!
Yay: Joe writes this book with ease while sharing his experiences and expertise in sales. He narrates his life without getting heavy with big words and jargons.
He keeps his story simple and insightful than showing-off. In truth, there is no sales in showing-off.
This book seems a little handbook recommended to all salesmen, businessmen and college students. This book inspires and it puts more emphasis on the following:
1) Good reputation.
Reputation is everything in sales. A lot of people will put a negative label on your back, but it is up to you how to re-frame the perceptions against you.
Joe Girard does not consider himself a smart student. He has not finished high school either.
Joe's reputation rests on how well he puts himself inside the shoe of the consumer. His empathy helps him sell 267 units in 1963.
What also amazes me is, Joe is not focusing on competitive analysis. He studies and improves his products and services than spy on competitors.
To him, his products and services complete his brand identity. These are his children figuratively speaking so why waste time spying when he has his children to take good care of.
No spying on competitors means an improved level of self-awareness. In a world full of backstabbers and cons, no spying on competitors also means there is less social politics.
2) Finding the right affiliates.
It is impossible to do the selling all by yourself.
Instead of waiting for the people to join his campaign, Joe Girard keeps himself busy by finding the right people and pay them a cut once they bring leads and prospects.
3) The use of email marketing.
Email marketing belongs to the bottom part of the marketing funnel that closes a deal. Sending mails is quick and inexpensive.
This strategy allows Joe Girard to segment his leads from prospects and customers.
4) B2B brings more sales.
Joe Girard is strategic. He focuses on selling on groups than individuals.
Nay: I wish there are pie charts to support the narration.
Joe Girard is the king of sales. Since reading some of his books a few years ago, our own sales have taken off. He sells on the principles of building trust in your customers/clients, offering them good service, and putting them to work for you.
What surprised me about this book is that he advocates being a little dishonest to make the sale. I guess it worked well for him, but it won't work for us - we just won't do that.
I read the Arabic version from the book. I really like the book. Although I don't like the title but from the preface I realize that the writer has great experience in selling.
I like the personal touch in the book it really makes a difference.
I recommend this book to anyone work in car selling business. You will learn a lot of tricks.
I don't like the redundant parts in the books and I recommend if he can squeeze a little bit.
Of course, this book should not be approached as a textbook for future salesmen, and the sales department will not find it very useful. Rather, the book is more like Carnegie, but only in the area of sales. Just as Carnegie's books are read by everyone, including future psychologists, so is this book read by the widest range of readers. If you judge by the number of people who have read the book all over the world, or at least in the English-speaking world, you can see that the book has been read even by people who have nothing to do with sales. My point is that the book should not be considered as a textbook for sales staff in either the B2C or B2B market. If you need a textbook, there are books like "Sell 6" by Thomas N. Ingram or Professional Selling: A Trust-Based Approach by the same author, for example. Plus, books about SPIN sales.
Nevertheless, I can't say that the book is pointless for those readers who see themselves in sales because the essence of the book is that the author talks about his method (of sales). Of course, it is specific (car dealer), and a very, very long time has passed since then. Plus, the author describes the experience of selling cars in the US market, which also does not add to the usefulness of those who live outside of America. In short, don't have too high expectations for the book.
So, the author very briefly introduces readers to his own persona, giving a rough idea of who he is, how and where he grew up, and how he came to this profession. I don't like reading biographies, no matter whose they are, but fortunately, in this book, the author doesn't overload the reader with too much detail of his biography. Here is that rare case where exactly enough is said to make the reader understand who Joe Girard is in terms of a psychological portrait. There is nothing in front of us here about turning from an introvert to an extrovert, or from someone who has never sold anything to a sales king. Not at all. We see that the author has been in the business since childhood, in which, he will be working all his life. All in all, in essence, we see in the book a completely ordinary man. Perhaps that is why the book is so popular, because if such a perfectly ordinary Joe could become "The World's Greatest Salesman," then any reader, in principle, can become one too. Of course, the book will not give such a guarantee, nor does it aim to do so. The author describes how he came to be the world's greatest salesman and, to a lesser extent, how he achieved it.
It is noteworthy that the author's main idea completely overlaps with the main idea of all marketing - the customer is the basis of everything. I liked the fact that the author so often, unknowingly, quotes the main message of marketing. There is no desire to deceive the client by giving him an unfit product or to take advantage of the client's trust in any other way. As in marketing, the author writes about mutually beneficial cooperation with the only difference being that the salesperson must play a more active and perhaps even creative role rather than just standing around waiting for the customer to call him to ask for the product. It is the active search for customers as well as the after-sales service that is, if not the main, one of the author's main methods. Yes, you can say that the idea of 250 customers is not relevant, but also, in marketing, people constantly say that one angry, really angry customer can do significant damage to the brand and the company as a whole. So cheating customers is not welcome in sales or marketing. And the author makes a great point about that. I don't think the author has become "the greatest salesman in the world" by using unethical methods - quite the opposite. As the author writes, it's all about being active. If a salesman spends his time talking to other salesmen or doing nothing, he can hardly be expected to be very effective, not even for the company, but for himself. We must admit, however, that salespeople are born rather than made. Although, such books can help to improve the results of introverted salespeople.
As for the author's methodology, as I said, it is present in the book, but it is rather general. Yes, the book gives the basic ideas of what a salesman should do, how he should behave, etc., but it is more a philosophy of selling than specific methods. So in that sense, the book is useless. The person who wants to find in this book tools for selling will be disappointed. Otherwise, the book repeats the basic ideas of marketing and sales, albeit at a more general level. Is the book worth reading for the average person? Probably not, because the book is almost completely useless as an assistant for selling goods on eBay because the book talks about the profession of a salesman, not a salesman in the sense that each of us is a salesman (of ideas, opinions, goods on eBay, etc.).
This is probably the only book you need to ever get on sales. The rating of 3.77 really doesn't do justice to this wonderful book that essentially was Joe's life story retold. Unlike many books on sales out there, which basically aimed only to sell you ONE BIG IDEA and make lots of money, this book is a rare gem in that it is coming straight from the heart of a man who turned his early life around as a tramp and a total failure into the greatest salesman in the world. How could one even doubt the sincerity of a writer who shared even his darkest insecurities and his unglamourous childhood. Unlike many how-to-get-rich books, Joe did not try to sell you any get-rich-overnight tricks. Instead, he bascially recounted how he turned selling into an art, through sheer hard work and daily reflection and innovation. One cannot help but respect the iron will of this man whose initial impetus to join selling was simply to bring home a bag of groceries, as well as his passion and respect for his own profession. Throughout the book, Joe unreservedly shared every detail of his trade, from how he bring in the customers to how he closes his sales. Many reviews lament that the examples given were on car sales (and hence untransferrable) and were even outdated (since Joe largely functioned in the pre-internet era), one can actually easily apply the underlying principles in whatever area or era we are in. It just requires some deeper thinking. As I was reading this book, I happened to be reading another book at the same time -The Go-Giver. And lo and behold, I realised how well Joe fitted in with the archetype of a Go-Giver! He is generous in giving (and that is how he bring in the propects); he builds his enormous base of loyal customers from nothing; he exerts huge influence on his partners, co-workers, and customers through showing interest in their lives and befriending them; he is authentic; and he does all these for money (which he brings home to feed his family). I have 100% respect for his man, and I'm grateful that he left his legacy in the form of this book.
Yes, it looks like a book about sales, but it's really a story of an immigrant who made it from shoe shining to the world's greatest salesman as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. And of course, it also happens to be the best book on sales I've read back when I had my startup, and I just reread it again, for all the practical lessons to apply to book selling (they apply to selling anything, really). And at the end I cried a little, over how the story closed. That doesn't happen often with non-fiction books, does it? I related, perhaps too much. Highly recommend.
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The author shows his path to success in selling Chevrolet cars. He became the best salesman in the world and was entered into the Guinness Book of Records. As a child, he was constantly humiliated by his father, which is why his self-esteem was very low. It was only at the age of 35 that he began his adventure as a car salesman and started doing what he really loved. The very beginning of this adventure was very interesting. Over time, he developed his own sales system and customer approach, which was the basis of his success. He became a sales maniac and an expert at the same time. The vast majority of the rules he followed and the methods of conducting negotiations and building relationships with clients are up to date, some of them require minor updating due to technological progress. The Joe Girard鈥檚 Law of 250 is still valid. A great book giving many valuable tips for every seller, but not only that, because every person makes transactions every day.
Similar to manny other avenues of Business, intentionality is very essential when it comes to selling. I really enjoyed this book. I loved that at the end of each chapter a quote/principal was written which summarized the entire chapter and gives you a foundational understanding in which you can always remember and refer to. This book not only teaches you about selling but also how a salesman carries himself/herself, the convictions they stay true to, the values and habits they have and most importantly the immediate execution in which they consistently hold themselves accountable to. One thing I鈥檒l always remember is the law of 250.