The Sales Bible - Jeffrey Gitomer

Thinking of helping salespeople to improve their efficiency and achieve goals, the author Jeffrey Gitomer gathered the best sales insights in his book “The Sales Bible”, which helps or helps the reader on the journey of improving sales skills and persuasion.

A successful salesperson has good communication, networking skills, knowledge of his product and, above all, the right mindset to execute his sales. Thus, customers feel satisfied and happy to buy from this professional.

Are you interested in the content of this summary? So read on and learn the best sales strategies and commandments for sales!

The book “The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource”

The book “The Sales Bible” is a bestseller that comprises a set of knowledge (especially in topics) about sales. Launched in 1994, by author Jeffrey Gitomer, it was re-released in 2011 as a definitive edition with the 10,5 commandments of sales success and renamed “The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource”.

The book has agile and fun reading, but has well-defined objectives and easy-to-understand purposes. The author presents his practical sales principles in a very engaging way, motivating the reader!

This book is a classic of sales strategies, and is considered as one of the ten books that every seller should have and read, as the author highlights the reasons many people have failed in their sales. Therefore, it has several revisions and editions, being relaunched and improved constantly.

Who is Jeffrey Gitomer?

Jeffrey Gitomer is a speaker and professional consultant focused on sales. He is an expert on the subject, and has written several other bestsellers, such as: “The Red Book of Sales” and “The Little Gold Book of YES!”.

The author is responsible for the online sales training of several established companies in the market, among them: BMW, IBM and Coke.

In addition, it has already contributed its content in numerous magazines and sales sites around the world!

Why should I read “The Sales Bible”?

“The Sales Bible” is recommended for everyone who works in sales and wants to increase their performance and earn more. In addition, it can be appreciated by those who want to get more of a friendship and to grow as a person!

What can I learn from “The Sales Bible”?

• Be positive when talking to a client;
• Set your goals well and work on them;
• Give importance to a network of contacts;
• Know and be recognized by the right people (potential clients);
• Every sale is a matter of attitude, so be confident and have good will!

This summary of “The Sales Bible” will present you with a collection of fundamental principles and practices developed and adopted by Jeffrey Gitomer regarding excellence in sales.

Let’s begin the reading!

Download the “The Sales Bible” Book Summary in PDF for free

Do you have no time to read now? Then download the free PDF and read wherever and whenever you want:

Why does the old way of selling not work anymore ... in this way?

According to author Jeffrey Gitomer, the world of fashion is often changing, new styles of clothing and different clothing styles emerge from the past. But we still need clothes to wear, don’t we?

Gitomer points out that this is no different when it comes to sales.

One of the first teachings presented by him is the question of change! To increase the number of sales, we need to master the classic techniques (old fashion), but, moreover, we must adapt its use to the current fashion standards.

The author describes the “7.5” new ground rules for doing this:

1. You need to say (sell) what the customer wants, needs, and knows. Forget the idea of talking or trying to sell only what you have;
2. Find out more about your client, their interests and wishes. Use this information to make a sale;
3. People generally do not trust very many salespeople, so make friends. They tend to buy more from friends and acquaintances;
4. Establish a strong network of relationships. Get your customers to indicate your brand to the competitor;
5. Look for a greater proximity with your client. Common interests are a good way to do this;
6. Gain the confidence of your customers, otherwise they will be able to buy from your competitor;
7. Have fun and have a good sense of humor! Laughter is synonymous of approval. When customers laugh, probably, they buy;

7.5. “Never get caught selling!” (Recall rule three).

Gitomer describes that these rules must be worked out, developed, and appropriate to your daily experiences, only in this way will you achieve sales success.

He also points out that the bestsellers are those who, in addition to offering excellent customer service, have great charisma, trust and even great knowledge of the products!

How to be successful in sales?

Jeffrey describes how many people are not afraid of failure, but they also do not know how to achieve success. He says the key to that is proactivity!

Therefore, the author presents in “The Sales Bible” a list of 40 attributes of sellers and proactive people! Here are the most relevant!

Believe in yourself

Here is the most important and fundamental tool for any sale and life itself. To control your mind, self-confidence is the key. If you do not believe in yourself, no one will believe.

Sell to Serve and not to Win

Just like in “The Servant”, Gitomer portrays a successful salesperson who understands customer needs and offers services that help them and not those with the highest sales commission.

So the author says not to be greedy. This feeling may be evident to the client and does not create future client fidelity. Think in the long term and possible fidelity of your customer to your service.

Be ready!

Success and excellence come only with planning and opportunities, coupled with a good deal of motivation and creativity. According to Jeffrey Gitomer, you need to be armed with all the tools, tactics and (creative) phrases to interact with people.

“The Sales Bibles” suggests that you avoid using predefined jargon to communicate. He cites a few examples:

• “... I'm serious!”;
• “How can I help you?”;
• “How are you?”;
• “Are you prepared to order today?”;
• “So, let's take it?”.

Be honest and selective

It may seem a bit rude, but it’s no use wanting to sell a product to someone who doesn’t want it. Gitomer says not to lose time with this kind of situation.

Likewise, be honest with customers. If you want to help them, the feeling will be mutual, as this helps the process of creating trust and even fidelity to their service.

Appearance

As stated in the previous overview, be careful not to look like a salesperson, but remember to look like a good sales professional.

Know that a good personal presentation creates high expectations in customers, not only from you, but from the brand you represent. This happens unconsciously, due to the mental triggers activated in your consumer.

Do not use False Testimonies

Always tell the truth to your client. You know the saying “lies have short legs”? If you lie, you’ll have to think about what you said, that is, as Gitomer says, you’ll have to remember what you said not to commit a contradiction in your story.

If you make a “slip”, you lose your sale and probably all the person contact network. So, don’t lie to your customers!

On the other hand, True Testimonies strengthen your sales capacity. According to Gitomer’s experiences he shows in “The Sales Bible”, there is nothing better to boast about than satisfied customers.

Overcome Rejection

As Jeffrey Gitomer says in “The Sales Bible”:

“The sale only begins when the customer says no.”

The client can say “no” in several ways: “I need to think about this first”; “My wife will not like it if I make this decision myself”. Examples of the famous excuses to avoid purchasing.

He puts in “The Sales Bible”, that there are numerous reasons for a customer to say no. But what can be said is that often he will not be 100% sincere about it, and it will be up to you to find out the real reason for the rejection.

Jeffrey addresses some real reasons for not:

• The person may not have enough money;
• The person may have money, but prefer or search something with cheaper price;
• He/She does not want to buy your product because he/she is already loyal to another supplier;
• They do not accept your arguments and prefer to search for themselves;
• The client does not see trust in you.

Generally, when the client demonstrates objection, you were not able to ask the right questions or did not listen carefully! The key to overcoming objections is preparation. You need to engage with the customer and create a safe environment for them.

Ask to sell (but know how)

It’s useless to be prepared if you don’t know how to ask for a sale. Never ask questions that can be answered with yes or no, as it is very likely that the person will say “no”.

Gitomer explains that asking questions indirectly related to the act of buying or not buying, are more efficient because they better involve the customers and make the answer difficult.

Shut up and listen!

Learn to listen to your customers. As Gitomer says, this is related to the first rule of the sales world. Thus, the book gives a great tip: “SHUT UP!”. Let the customer decide, do not force his response as this will make him uncomfortable.

Try a Different Approach

If you still can not close a sale, Gitomer, like Chris Anderson in his book “Free”, suggests that you offer a free trial sample. Let the customer try out your product in its entirety.

This technique can, for the most part, transform the sure “no” or even the “maybe” doubtful into that wonderful yes!

Humor

“The Sales Bible” shows us that humor is an excellent “skill” of sales. However, the author describes that its use must be careful, it should not be over the dose. To do this, he gives some guidelines for its use:

1. Use this ability to “break the ice”. If you do your best make to the client feel comfortable and relaxed, in a good mood and still laughing, he is already half way;
2. The so-called “black humor” is not a good choice. Joke related to ethnic groups and stories told pejoratively about other people should not be used;
3. Before telling a joke, make sure the customer is prepared to listen to it, or if he has an interest in this sort of thing, as this can be crucial to your sales;
4. Comedic timing is essential so that you can extract a possibility of selling from the used joke;
5. Use more creative jokes, forget those generic calls that everyone knows.

The Complete Formula of Success

But how to achieve success? According to author Jeffrey Gitomer, success is a mathematical equation that balances the following characteristics: attitude, action and humor. So we have:

Success = Attitude + Action + Humor

Other books for salespeople

In the book “The 25 Sales Habits of the Most Successful Sellers”, Stephan Schiffman points out that successful salespeople inspire confidence, have good perspective, are responsible, and have a clear sense of direction and confidence.

For author Mitch Antony in his book “Selling with Emotional Intelligence”, skilled tradesmen are able to find solutions in situations where others only see obstacles. The secret is to look beyond your own desires and needs and see the goals of your partners.

In “The Psychology of Selling”, Brian Tracy warns that the impression you make is important. Successful salespeople project a relaxed and confident professional image.

How can I apply the ideas from “The Sales Bible”?

Author Jeffrey Gitomer, puts it very clearly in “The Sales Bible”, success in the sales world is about developing the right mindset, coupled with relationships based on trust and honesty with consumers.

This will allow you to find exactly what customers want or what they need and thus be able to maintain a long-term relationship and long term cash flow.

Rate the book summary of “The Sales Bible”

So, did you like this summary of “The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource”? Leave us your feedback, this is very important to improve our content even more!

If you need the book to get acquainted with the issues and still stay within the 10.5 commandments of Jeffrey Gitomer, be sure to purchase the book by clicking the image below.