The Little Red Book of Selling

As a rule, I’ve resisted the temptation to cover books about sales in these columns.   I’ve read a great many of those books through the years, and I’ve always tended to think of them as buffets where I pick up useful insights, wisdom or motivation – and ignore suggestions that don’t seem as useful.  But no single book I’ve run into has proved to be so helpful that I’ve felt compelled to share it with you here. At last, however, I’ve found an exception – a wonderful book by emerging sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer called The Little Red Book of Selling (Bard Press, 2004).  I picked up a copy of this compact 220-page volume two years ago at an airport bookstore (and have picked up a couple more since then), and I see why Gitomer is becoming one of the leading voices when it comes to sales.  He may not have reached the same status as Zig Ziglar or Dale Carnegie (both of whom I admire greatly), but his star is