The best book for connecting with your customer, creating rapport and building trust This may not be the only book you’ll ever need to read if you want to be successful in sales, but it is certainly the one you can’t do without. If you,re worried about how the internet will devalue the role of the sales person - read this, switch off your email and go see your customers. This is not a book about how to progress a sale through multiple buying influences and how best to stick red flags onto a chart. This is a book that helps you connect with customers in a human way. The bigger the account, the more important the sale, the more formal the procurement process, the more important it is for you to read this book. The book draws on many examples from the author’s experience and like him, I have worked in B2B sales in many countries and, crucially, I’ve been on the other side of the table buying large programmes of work. I’ve always known there was a special something about the connection that was made between humans, call it rapport, call it empathy whatever it was that special something was there. As a buyer I always wanted to give the business to the guy I thought could deliver, but also the guy that would stand up and be counted-on to get it fixed when things got rough (which in a big implementation it always does). That connection came from a position of trust. Until now I had no way to codify that special something that creates that bond. This book has explained what I have been learning about and observing for 30 years, but never thought could be codified. The author shows how stories can be used as structure to convey information. He not only gives anecdotal and intuitive evidence but also refers to the latest research into neuroscience and anthropology to explain why the methods work as they do. But this is not an academic work it translates all those theories into a practical set of steps to define the type of stories you need (no prizes for guessing that the magic number is seven). It also explains how to construct a good story, how to practice and refine it and how to deliver other people’s stories (like the founding story of the company). This is ground breaking, and the best book to help you grow and become a great sales person. Its the best book I have read in this category for over 25 years.

Gareth 5, Stars Amazon UK