Go-Givers Sell More
By: Bob Burg, John David Mann
Published: February 18, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
ISBN: 9781591843085
Publisher: Penguin/Portfolio
"Selling is giving: giving time, attention, counsel, education, empathy, and value", write co-authors Bob Burg and John David Mann in their revolutionary and sales mindset altering book Go-Givers Sell More. The authors build on their message of giving first articulated in their now classic business fable The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, and apply it successfully to improving the sales experience for both the sales representative and for the buyer.
Bob Burg (photo left) and John David Mann point out that most people believe they would never be successful in sales. They also make the startling revelation that many current members of the sales profession harbor that secret belief themselves. The authors recognize the problem as sales people having the entire idea of sales backwards. For the authors, this backwards approach considers sales as getting people to do something almost against their will, through convincing sales pitches and manipulation. Because this concept is based on taking advantage of others, it fails. The authors provide the paradigm changing idea that sales is about giving advantage to others. Sales at its best and its most effective, according to the authors, is all about giving.
Bob Burg and John David Mann (photo left) understand that the almost universal approach to sales training is about such things as prospecting dialogue, qualifying questions, overcoming objections, and closing the sale. That standard theory of what leads to sales success is very wrong, according to the authors. In truth, those same sales people experience great difficulty in every step of the sales process, leaving the entire concept very suspect in the end. The authors begin at the other end of the sales discussion by adding value from the very beginning, by giving. Instead of the close, the authors prefer the open, and they also believe in listening and learning from the other person. Instead of the traditional idea of controlling the sales conversation, the authors recommend shifting the focus away from control and getting, and concentrate on giving and helping others succeed.
For me, the power of the book is how John David Mann and Bob Burg apply the Go-Giver concept to the world of sales so seamlessly and successfully. Their idea of giving value from the very beginning builds positive, trusting relationships that not only increase sales, but build long term customers who also share in the giving process. The old adversarial, zero sum game mentality that has been part of sales thinking for much too long gets a thorough rebuilding in this fine book. Along with creating value, the giving process touches people's lives in a positive and beneficial way that leads to their greater happiness. Creating these deeper trusting relationships builds networks that help everyone to focus on helping the needs of others. By being real and authentic, the giving sales person generates trust and helps other people feel more comfortable. At the same time, the authors recognize that the sales person must remain open to being on the receiving end of the giving relationship, with grace and a sense of shared giving.
I highly recommend the insightful and must read book Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg and John David Mann, to anyone seeking a deeper and richer understanding as to why traditional sales mindsets and techniques fail so often. In their place, the authors turn the previous sales thought upside down, and inside out, replacing the previous mode of thinking with the spirit of giving. Through a greater understanding of how the giving paradox works, the sales representative will not only make more sales, but feel happier and will have stronger relationships with the customers receiving the help.
Read the essential sales changing book Go-Givers Sell More by John David Mann and Bob Burg, and change not only the way that you approach the sales profession, but also enhance the relationships in your own life. This book is ostensibly about sales, but is really about how one lives one's own life, through changing their way of thinking and acting, to becoming a Go-Giver.
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