I have worked with startups since 2000, when I joined ShareBuilder, ultimately sold to Capital One in a $9.5 billion deal – one of my five successful startup exits to date. I am currently an officer of seven startups. Startups drive global job creation and problem-solving innovation. But 90% fail, often for preventable reasons. I am helping entrepreneurs beat those odds. I wrote Startup Law and Fundraising to help entrepreneurs build on a solid foundation, avoid common legal and regulatory mistakes, and fund their vision. My books are used globally in law and MBA schools, and I speak constantly on entrepreneurship-related topics, including recently to groups in Istanbul, Ramallah, and Tehran.
Pitch Anything is an established work in the pitching and negotiation book categories. It is not perfect, but it is one of the best books for introducing entrepreneurs to the importance of pitching, selling, and negotiating persuasively. Entrepreneurs must pitch to attract co-founders and early team members, to obtain early stage funding, to close customers and other commercial partners, to close later stage funding rounds, and, ultimately, to go public or exit in a sale. While Pitch Anything is a good book, the brashness of some of its advice, particularly around what Klaff calls “frames,” do not fit all persons or situations. Some contexts require full-on Machiavellian tactics; others warrant more of a “Winning Friends and Influencing People” approach. Nonetheless, it is useful to understand which situation you are in and the available plays to run.
Armed with those caveats, I suggest readers of Pitch Anything read Chapter…
Gold Medal Winner--Tops Sales World's Best Sales and Marketing Book
"Fast, fun and immensely practical." -JOE SULLIVAN, Founder, Flextronics
"Move over Neil Strauss and game theory. Pitch Anything reveals the next big thing in social dynamics: game for business." -JOSH WHITFORD, Founder, Echelon Media
"What do supermodels and venture capitalists have in common?They hear hundreds of pitches a year. Pitch Anything makes sure you get the nod (or wink) you deserve." -RALPH CRAM, Investor
"Pitch Anything offers a new method that will differentiate you from the rest of the pack." -JASON JONES, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle
After I successfully systemised myself out of my digital agency and brought in a CEO to run it, I became a systems devotee… I founded systemHUB and launched a movement called SYSTEMology to help business owners worldwide achieve freedom from daily operations and scale their business—like I did. My mission now involves supporting certified SYSTEMologists who assist business owners with SYSTEMology implementation, conducting workshops, delivering keynote addresses, hosting the Business Processes Simplified podcast, and nurturing the growing community of SYSTEMologists.
I highly recommend The Ultimate Sales Machine for business owners or entrepreneurs looking to simplify their business processes and get their sales game on point.
This book offers practical and universally applicable advice on organisational alignment, time management, and standardisation to increase efficiency and improve sales. What stuck with me was the importance of focusing on the fundamentals that drive thriving sales rather than trying to do too many things at once.
Chet Holmes' material is out-of-the-park great, offering sound and simple business advice to grow your business stronger than ever. Reading this book changed the way I approach sales and marketing, and I reckon anyone who’s keen on business greatness should give it a read.
The bestselling business playbook for turbocharging any organization, updated for modern audiences with new and never-before-seen material
Every single day 3,076 businesses shut their doors. But what if you could create the finest, most profitable and best-run version of your business without wasting precious dollars on a thousand different strategies? When The Ultimate Sales Machine first published in 2007, legendary sales expert Chet Holmes gave us the key to do just that. All you need is to focus on twelve key areas of improvement—and practice them over and over with pigheaded discipline.
As a business development coach and mentor with a strong background in sales and marketing roles in the SME and small business world, I have always been passionate about learning as much as I can about what works well in sales and marketing. Practicing what I preach has always been important, and I love books that align with my belief that sales and marketing need not be complex or onerous to get results. From my experience Small Business Owners do not have the band width to wade through complex marketing speak, they appreciate it when it is straight forward and simple.
I love this book because it is so accessible and real. It is a substantial book that is more like a good marketing course. I would say it is one of my best go-to reference books. There is so much money, time, and effort wasted on marketing that doesn’t work, and I am a big believer in putting the time and effort into creating the best strategic plan. This book has given me a resource to refer to, to check my knowledge.
I love a marketing book that shows that the author understands the small business owner and this author does. I found the case studies brought the marketing methods and ideas alive for me. The way this book is written it feels like the author really cares about helping small business owners with their marketing. I love that.
This book is written for you if you want to get to grips with your marketing but you need a helping hand. It's packed with powerful tips, proven tools and many real-life examples and case studies. If you're looking for commonsense marketing advice that you can implement immediately, you'll find it on every page. You'll learn how to: plan and review your marketing activities, write brilliant copy that generates sales, write sales letters that sells, effectively troubleshoot when your marketing is not delivering, make your website a magnet for visitors and loads more!
I’m a 3-time B2B startup founder (Flagback, HireVoice, and Highlights). For my 2nd startup, HireVoice, we tried to use The Lean Startup methodology and struggled to get traction on the market. When we shut down the company, I knew I wanted to solve my own pain, and learn B2B. I spent the next 2 years speaking (and learning from) some of the most successful B2B founders in the world. This, eventually led to the publication of my book, Lean B2B. Since then, I’ve been at the forefront of B2B entrepreneurship. The Lean B2B methodology has now been used by thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators to help create successful businesses.
Bob Moesta is one of the creators of the Job to be Done framework. Demand-Side Sales 101, however, is a lot more than a sales book. The book shows B2B founders how to understand the perceived value of their product, and how to position that value to drive demand on the market.
As a youth, I was very athletic and always aspired to be the captain of the team. I worked hard and was very driven to earn this right. As a sales professional, I have continued that passion and channeled it into sales. In addition, due to my experience in sports, I am really passionate about coaching others. I feel that with the right direction, the right motivation, and the right information, anyone can be successful in sales. All of the authors for the sales books I have recommended are also giving back to society in their own way.
I have used the teachings from this book for every stage of my sales career. The way Miller-Heinman breaks down an opportunity helping to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of your position is so basic yet groundbreaking. Anyone in the technical sales world must pick up this book.
Learn from one of the bestselling books on sales ever published, which has cemented itself as the must-read for any sales or marketing professional, written by leaders at Miller Heiman - the global lead in sales and development.
Strategic Selling presented the idea of selling as a joint venture, introducing the influential concept of 'win-win' and making it one of the bestselling books on sales ever published. The response to 'win-win' was immediate and fundamentally changed sales and marketing with its rejection of manipulative tactics, in turn positioning Miller Heiman as a global leader with the most prestigious client list…
I’m a 3-time B2B startup founder (Flagback, HireVoice, and Highlights). For my 2nd startup, HireVoice, we tried to use The Lean Startup methodology and struggled to get traction on the market. When we shut down the company, I knew I wanted to solve my own pain, and learn B2B. I spent the next 2 years speaking (and learning from) some of the most successful B2B founders in the world. This, eventually led to the publication of my book, Lean B2B. Since then, I’ve been at the forefront of B2B entrepreneurship. The Lean B2B methodology has now been used by thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators to help create successful businesses.
Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce, more or less wrote the playbook for B2B startups.In Behind the Cloud, he shares a lot of the tactics that helped make Salesforce the market leader that it is today. Benioff’s work helped shape Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and the Cloud for B2B entrepreneurs. On and all, it’s a very entertaining book with a lot of interesting ideas.
How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world's fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change. Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dotcom implosion of 2001, but went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a $46-billion dollar industry, Benioff's story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand…
I’m an archaeologist, which means that I’ve been lucky enough to travel to many places to dig and survey ancient remains. What I’ve realized in handling those dusty old objects is that all over the world, in both past and present, people are defined by their stuff: what they made, used, broke, and threw away. Most compelling are the things that people cherished despite being worn or flawed, just like we have objects in our house that are broken or old but that we keep anyway.
Every time you buy something, aren’t you wondering if you should have bought something else? These authors show how companies make use of our endless waffling about coulda-shoulda-woulda, and focus on all of those categories that you might have overlooked as being part of the status quest, like dog food and appliances, as well as the things that you know the corporate world is doing an upsell on, like sporting equipment and wine. Along the way, you begin to realize that absolutely everything you ever buy, give, or receive is carrying a message about your actual identity -- or the identity that you’re hoping for.
Trading up isn't just for the wealthy anymore. These days no one is shocked when an administrative assistant buys silk pajamas at Victoria's Secret. Or a young professional buys only Kendall-Jackson premium wines. Or a construction worker splurges on a $3,000 set of Callaway golf clubs.
In dozens of categories, these new luxury brands now sell at huge premiums over conventional goods, and in much larger volumes than traditional old luxury goods. Trading Up has become the definitive book about this growing trend.
I've been selling professionally since 1973, and in the sales training and development business for more than 36 years. I founded Objective Management Group, the world’s leading provider of sales force evaluations and sales candidate assessments, and we have data on 2.2 million salespeople. OMG measures 21 Sales Core Competencies, so that’s around 250 findings on 2.2 million salespeople or close to 500 million data points! I've personally trained and coached tens of thousands of salespeople, sales managers, and sales leaders and I have published nearly 2,000 articles on my multi-award-winning blog, Understanding the Sales Force. I was installed in the Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame in 2013.
Larry Levine has written one of the only sales books on how to be authentic when selling and his book resonates with people who don’t want to sound like a salesperson. But there is so much more to Larry’s book than permission and instructions on being true to yourself. Larry’s personal experiences are a big part of the book and you’ll want to read the stories that Larry shares because they truly resonate!
Sales have changed in the last 30 years. Gone are the days of manipulative and pushy salespeople who rely on charm to get sales. Selling From The Heart is the new economy where relationships matter and old-school techniques just don’t work anymore. Relationships are what will fuel your sales funnel and allow you to reach your sales goals. Social media is a great place to develop those relationships that lead to sales and Larry teaches you how to do in a natural way. Let Larry Levine show you how not to only be yourself, but your best self and succeed!…
I joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2008 and by 2015 I was a Sergeant who had made all the same financial decisions most service members make…tattoos, alcohol, cars, chasing tail, etc., and had a negative net worth to show for it. Then I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and the light came on. I started buying houses, and by 2021 I exited the military as a financially free millionaire and spend my time helping service members and veterans learn how to build wealth. The military is one of the best places to set yourself up for success, and these books will help you get started on that journey!
Profit First is a banking system that accounts for the inevitable human error of “ooh, there is money in my account, I can afford that”.
This book helped me set my businesses up so that I was actually able to keep some of the income that was coming in from them, rather than continually getting to the end of the month and wondering where the revenue I had generated went.
This is a must read for self-employed and small business owners, and a solid read for personal finances too!
Author of cult classics The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur offers a simple, counterintuitive cash management solution that will help small businesses break out of the doom spiral and achieve instant profitability.
Conventional accounting uses the logical (albeit, flawed) formula: Sales - Expenses = Profit. The problem is, businesses are run by humans, and humans aren't always logical. Serial entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz has developed a behavioral approach to accounting to flip the formula: Sales - Profit = Expenses. Just as the most effective weight loss strategy is to limit portions by using smaller plates, Michalowicz shows that by…
I am an expert in customer retention and membership growth with 30 years of experience working with businesses across more than 80 industries. As the President of Be Unleavable, Inc., I specialize in helping subscription companies grow their membership and create loyal, dedicated customer bases. I have authored several books on the subject, including the widely-acclaimed Retention Point, which teaches businesses how to foster a group of excited fans who become their best customers and recommend the business to others. My focus is helping businesses foster long-term relationships with their customers rather than having a series of “one-night stands.”
This is an eye-opening exploration of the principles of persuasion and belief.
The book focuses on the intriguing story of Dr. J.R. Brinkley, who gained notoriety for selling goat testicle implants as a cure for erectile dysfunction. While this may seem outlandish, it serves as a powerful illustration of how people can be made to believe in something when specific techniques are employed.
Many of us are raised with a certain moral compass, which can sometimes hinder our understanding of how belief works.
Making Them Believebreaks down these principles and shows readers how to harness them in a business context. By suspending our disbelief and distaste for Dr. Brinkley's methods, we uncover a remarkable template for convincing customers to believe in and buy our products.
The key takeaway from this book is that, by following the principles outlined, you can effectively promote your reputable product or service, ultimately benefiting…
DR. JOHN BRINKLEY was, at one time, the wealthiest doctor of his time, undeniably the most Barnum-esque promoter in medicine in his time, vilified and prosecuted as a quack, praised as saint by the amazing number of men who flocked to him for his 'fountain of youth'---and by their wives. This book delves deeply into his TWENTY-ONE MARKETING PRINCIPLES, to provide a blueprint for adventurous advertising, marketing, promotion and personal promotion that can install a 'fountain of profits' in just about any business! IF YOU'D LIKE TO---AND WOULD PROFIT FROM---making yourself or your business famous and magnetically attractive, locally or…
