But first, my bias. I am involved in an inside sales position where what I call a "sale" is a just cold called prospect saying "OK, I will sit down and meet with your field sales representative". So what my clients "buy" is not a actual product or service, but rather they 'buy into' the AOK to start business discussions. So call this 'soft', 'consultative', 'strategic' selling...whatever, 40+ hours a week I am on the phone talking to people whom I have never met about businesss issues that may or may not be relevant to them.

Keeping this in mind, if I were to try many of Joe's recommendations in my daily discussions with business clients they meet with as much welcomed receptivity as a loud fart in church. Joe's sales vision and ideas simply would NOT work in my sales world. If you are a sales person making a living on your ability to entice a business person whom you have never met to discuss big money solutions/products/services/etc., this book will NOT do you any favors.

But, if you sell a service/product that can be purchased in a one time shot over the phone then definitely give the book a try. I have read a number of telesales books in the past and this book definitely gives more solid tricks of the trade, tactics you can use immediately, than most books I have read. Just make sure that what you are selling can be sold in a single call (or at least within a week and without an actual presentation).

Happy hunting!

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Excellent Book  Aug 08, 2004 By Jim Sample
This is a no B.S. book on what it takes to sell by phone.

Whether you're setting appointments or closing the deal by phone it really doesn't matter. This is a hard hitting book.

I like the authors no nonsense approach to selling. They're either a high probability prospect or not.

The book teaches you how to get in and out of calls quickly and find the buyers today. The best on phone sales I've ever read.

14 of 15 found the following review helpful:


Lots of tips, lots of typos, lots of contradictions  Aug 12, 2005 By D. Miller
Overall, I would say it is a good book for non-sales people to buy. Joe points out many things to think about and makes many good suggestions.

Two things bother me about the book:

- It has numerous typos and grammatical errors. Sometimes I've had to re-read sections to understand what he meant to say.

- There are several contradictions. One example is on page 25. He says: "If they don't return your call, wait two days before calling back." But then 2 sentences later says that you should leave a voice mail stating: "If I don't hear back from you by the end of the day, I'll try back before I leave the office."

Personally, I don't want to buy from a sales person that doesn't do what they say they are going to do, so this is a really poor suggestion and really poor customer service (especially if the person you are calling really does want to talk to you)!

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:


Tested salesmanship methods  Apr 07, 2004
A few things struck me about this book.

1. It teaches you when to say "No" to suspects. I learned from it to be more discerning with whom I am talking. This book tells you how to determine, in minimum of time, if you are talking to someone who can buy from you (even if the other party won't admit that he's not interested or that he doesn't have the authority to buy). Like they say on Wall Street: "fill or kill".

2. It gives you tips to help you establish your authority early in the call. How to deal with various brushoffs (more or less graciously).... When it's better to be direct, or even blunt... It's not just one style of selling, but rather a mix of hard- and soft-sell techniques that can be adapted to the situation.

3. It gives you specific expressions to use. Short sentences that sound natural and go past the initial indifference and suspicion of people... I'm studying it to learn how to keep the flow of conversation so that it doesn't seem contrived, and how to go from one idea to another in a natural way so that I don't sound like a telemarketer.

4. There's indeed no filler. Just lots of ideas about prospecting, presentation and closing. Some may not apply to your work, but you can extract the priciples. I've read this book two times and I open it almost every day. You must read it - now!

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:


This is " Star Search " at its finest .  Feb 17, 2004 By Charles
We get telemarketing sales calls all the time and the first thing they always ask is " How are you doing " . Right away my resistance is at its highest level . How in the world do they have any chance of selling me when my mind is closed ? They always 'product dump ' and never ask any questions to see if there's any possibility of generating interest . Many are arrogant at best . I read Joe Catal's book with some skepticism and oh it's just another sales book but oh man! What a pleasant surprise . I found myself reading and reading and the next thing I know it's 4 in the morning . I wish telemarketers in the country would learn the common sense approach and reasoning this person teaches .If they used and applied the approaches Joe teaches , there probably wouldn't be any no call laws . I will implement his ideas and techniques right away and know it will work . I'm so glad I found this book . I hope whoever is reading this review that you don't get the book because if you do , I have more competition to contend with . Please don't get this book . But get it before your competition does . Just read the first three chapters and the table of contents . Oh oh ! I'm overselling . Just get the book will you ? You'll see what I mean .

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