What's on your Reading List? Part Two

Friday, October 19, 2007  by Susan Julien-Willson
Category: sales, selling, sales literature, skills, business, inspiration

Here are a few more sales and business books to add to the Reading List. Most of my faves were in Part One since they came to mind first, but here are a few more that might be of interest to you.

You, Inc. The Art of Selling Yourself  by Harry and Christine Beckwith

At first, I was taken aback by the title ... in fact, I disliked it. Sounded self-absorbed and selfish. But as much as I disliked the title, I decided to read the book anyway. Glad I did. The book is not so much about what you can get, but more about giving ... and then seeing what happens. It's important to remember success is not achieved alone, it is achieved with others ... family, friends, mentors, advisors, lenders. It's essential to get out there and seize life -- to live your passion.

The Pocket Sales Mentor by Gerhard Gschwandtner

This is one of those pocket-sized guides brimming with brilliant tips on the sales process, customer relationships, handling objections, and closing the sale. A great reference tool. A colleague at work gave it to me since I love the topic of selling.

The Little Book of Big Ideas by Harold R. McAlindon

Gotta admit when I ordered this book, I thought it would be much more inspirational and motivational. It is suppose to stimulate creativity. It does in a way ... makes me want to write my own tiny book of HUGE ideas. Really, there are some great thoughts and quotes tucked inside this little book.

Next week I'll share my fairly lengthy list of business and sales books on my TO READ LIST.

Haven't heard from many of you. Bet you're busy selling and sponsoring.

When you get a moment, let us know what you're reading!

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Comments

# Ben said on October 19, 2007 5:24 PM:

I'm currently reading Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking by Robert Schuller and Talent is Never Enough by John Maxwell. Sometimes, I like the smaller, easier to read books like Robert Schuller. It doesn't have specific sales techniques but does a lot more for my attitude, which in turn affects my sales.

Maxwell's book is more of a leadership/self development book. I think anything that helps you to grow and change personally will help you in sales. One of my favorite of all time is Zig Ziglar's, See You at the Top. I think its a great handbook for living your life.

Thanks, Ben. I better get reading! All of these sound like good books and ones I haven't read ... yet. sjw

# CJ said on October 19, 2007 6:09 PM:

Referral of a Lifetime by Tim Templeton was a good book which gives you a good idea on how to implement a system/plan of developing, growing, and keep connecting with your customer base. Really a good book to follow. As I think of others I'll send them in. You were right, I was out selling (moved over $500 worth of Ribbon Gift Cards today-Yahooooooooo!!!!). I sure hate to hear that the vacation gift cards are no longer available and won't be available in the 2008 program either. Hope maybe the corporation come up with something else like maybe an experience gift album/card where they pick from vacations, to spa experience, etc.

GREAT NEWS, CJ! Good to hear you're moving the Ribbon Gift Collections. I didn't have much luck this past weekend, so I feel like I am in need of some inspiration to get me motivated again.

The Vacation Gift Collections being discontinued is indeed unfortunate, but sometimes you have to do what's in the best interest of the purchaser and the recipient of Ribbon Gift Collections. You want the travel experience to be wonderful and smooth and pleasurable ... and if it's not, that's not good for the IBO, the purchaser, and the recipient ... and the corporation. We have standards and if we can't meet them consistently, we need to make changes. It's true, we won't have the Vacation Albums as you've known them in the 2008 Program because we are not able to offer the quality experience needed. However, we are looking into spa/fitness experiences as selections within other Gift Collections. Stay tuned. I know the merchandisers and marketers are working diligently to provide you and your customers with outstanding Gift Collections in 2008. Please keep sending in your ideas and comments. The Ribbon team (which I am  on) loves hearing from IBOs. If you have a minute, tell us about the 500 Gift Collections you sold ... your approach, what collections, etc. It's valuable for us to hear what tools help you, what doesn't work for you, what kind of questions your customers ask, and anything else you think will help us provide you with an outstanding Gift & Incentive Program.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I have many good books to read ... hope others benefit from these book recommendations. sjw

# rdknyvr said on October 20, 2007 3:11 AM:

Hi Susan, a relatively new book from Seth Godin, "THE DIP: A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick)". A total of about 70 pages -- short, small pages -- but a few key ideas worth considering... along with one really big idea. :)

Also a new book: IF NOBODY LOVES YOU, CREATE THE DEMAND by Dr. Joel Freeman. Just published, available at B&N or Amazon. Has really had a major impact on my way of thinking about the future and building a business. Interestingly, includes a brief recommendation by Rich DeVos, along with Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Dr. Ben Carson, Steve Forbes (of Forbes magazine), Les Brown, Pat Williams (Orlando Magic).

Thanks, rdknyvr. Great recommendations. Gotta admit, I get into that negative self-talk, and I feel like nobody loves me. Bet I'm not the only one who does that! sjw

# Peter M Burr MD said on October 21, 2007 8:55 AM:

A cool new book that I'm just really getting into is "if nobody loves you CREATE THE DEMAND" by Dr. Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D., which is about entrepreneurial thinking and acheivement.  There are a lot of extremely laudatory comments from very good folks and I'm very impressed so far. His websites include www.freemaninstitute.com and www.workhardworksmart.com

Hi Dr. Burr! Rdknyver recommended this book as well. I better get reading! Hope all is well. Thanks for sharing your recommendation and the links to sites. sjw

# Jacques Werth said on October 22, 2007 9:27 AM:

Susan,  I want to send you a complimentary copy of our best selling book, "High Probability Selling." Just send me your snail-mail address.

I promise that the first time you read it, it will disturb you.  The second time may delight and amaze you.

Thanks, Jacques. I will email you my snail mail address. Thank you very much. I look forward to being disturbed, delighted and amazed. : ) sjw

# Nick Kobelja said on October 22, 2007 10:28 AM:

CJ,

I recently bought the Ribbons merch kit to try to gear up the the silly season.  I also would love to hear from you on how you marketed it.

.

Been crazy busy at the Plan A.  It's good to grab a minute to participate again :)

Good to have you participating again, Nick. I encourage everyone to participate when you have a minute ... this isn't to take the place of selling and sponsoring, it's to support it ... and to support each other. So, even if it's a short comment, please do comment, even if it's to tell us about your successes or your stumbling blocks, or the latest good book you've read. sjw

# rdknyvr said on October 22, 2007 11:24 AM:

DrBurr, how did you come across Dr. Freeman's book 'If Nobody Loves You, Create the Demand'? It's a fascinating book, and I've read it through several times now.

# CJ said on October 22, 2007 3:06 PM:

Susan, thanks for the update on the ribbon vacation program. I think a Spa/Fitness experience would be an exciting addition to the program. I remember in the past that the corporation had to severe ties with the original supplier of vacation pkgs because of some questionable business practices that eventually landed that particular company going out of business. As always the corporation is looking out for the IBO and our clients.

As I said before, I have another good book that I read a while back. It's called "The Long Tail" by Wired Magazine writer Chris Anderson. It basically talks about how certain business and economic trends such as Amazon, Netflix, etc. with distribution power can sell a greater volume of hard to find items at small volumes than of popular items at large volumes. Although it got very data deep at times, it was interesting in how it related to the Quixtar business. One could take for example gift cards in the retail marketplace. They've been made popular by the big brand companies, where as ours, being built off of that awareness allows us as IBOS and Quixtar to sell them. Same in the sense with XS, SA8, Nutrilite, and our other killer categories we own.

In response to the ribbon sales we just had, let me clarify that I didn't sell 500 of them (I wish!!! But, that day is coming and it will be on a regular basis-mark my words!). We sold a little over 500 dollars worth of ribbon gift cards-specifically the Arrival Gift Cards. Basically what happened is that I have a buddy of mine who knows a lady who owns a company. I met with the owner (key I believe in B2B sales unless you know/or meet with the person who makes the decisions outside of the owner-lower manager, etc.). Anyway, I started off asking her questions about what she currently does as far as gift giving, how much does she normally spend, etc. It came to the fact that most of the items she gives away were items that had the company's name on it (which we have the ability to provide via the Printshop Partner Store). But the main thing that she made mention to me was that she was looking for gifts for baby showers and wedding showers for her employees-and that keyed me in. I then began to show her and explain to her the ribbon program. I also showed her a few of the sample gift albums that came in the Ribbon Sales Kit. I also had a copy of the price list with my information on it and the Ribbon Catalog of gift cards/albums. The owner got excited about it and we proceeded from there. Total meeting time regarding the gifts was about 20 minutes. This $500 sale was the second order the company has made with us in the past few months. The employees are excited when they get them and they are happy that they are receiving a quality product of their choice delivered right to their doorstep. Another main point that I think is critical is bringing along an actual/used gift album-the complete deal of the album, envelope, and gift card w/carrier. I usually always have a full Variety Ribbon pkg (live) so that they can see how the gift card/carrier looks, the album, and the all of that stuffed into the black envelope. Makes a major impact on the person because they see how classy the pkg and plus it gives them an idea of what the gift card looks like/will look like, etc. We've been successful in selling these to real estate agents, being used as giveaways, etc. Hope this helps and big thanks to Susan for this blog site! If anyone else has any sales examples of moving ribbon gift cards, especially from the B2B side, please share with us all!

CJ, Congrats! Great info.  In case you aren't aware, I am PASSIONATE about the Ribbon Program. I have been working on the creative side of it since I arrived at Quixtar/Amway eleven years ago! I think it's a fab-tastic program for personal and commercial use. We've learned a lot from IBOs and have been tailoring it constantly to better fit your needs ... we have a ways to go, but whew, IBOs have really helped make Ribbon what it is today. We can't do everything suggested but we sure did a lot of what was revealed a year ago in a survey we did with IBOs. That's why you have such a classy presentation with the envelope, gift cards, more brand names, sales tools online, an electronic showcase of albums at ordermygift.com, etc. We even gave it its own name that sounds festive and fun ... Ribbon! I like this program because it was designed for retailing originally thirty years ago and it still is retailable, as you demonstrated last week! Thanks for your input. Nick was just asking about Ribbon sales pointers and you sure shared a few good ones. Thanks, CJ. You rock with Ribbon! Anyone else rockin' with Ribbon out there? sjw

# Canadian IBO 2 said on October 22, 2007 4:44 PM:

CJ,

Great info on the Ribbon program!  Congratulations on your sale.  

Susan, is there a way to relay to Q-Canada about the impact of the envelope, card, and album as CJ described (CJ said: "Makes a major impact on the person because they see how classy the pkg and plus it gives them an idea of what the gift card looks like/will look like, etc.")?  

 I will forward your comment to the appropriate team in Canada. I know they're planning for next year's program so your comment is timely. sjw

# Peter M Burr MD said on October 23, 2007 1:33 PM:

RDK,

If I remember correctly, it was a recommended book on my Amazon alert. It sure is impressive! BTW, the book that was recommended by Jacques above (High Probability Selling) has a free read of the first four chapters online. (Click on Jacques' name above to go to their website)  Honestly, after reading those first four chapters, if you don't buy the book you have a much higher threshold than MOI!!! ;-) I sure did, just now!

Dr. Burr and all ... did you see Alison Hague's post on Ada-tudes? She's asking for your ideas for training. All of you have so many great ideas, please do share them on Ada-tudes or here. I want to know, too. I am working with a team on the Ribbon Training for Quixtar University so I am particularly curious as to what you have to say about QU training modules.  The Director of Training is "listening", so be sure to share your suggestions with her at Ada-tudes. Thanks! sjw

# Nick Kobelja said on October 23, 2007 3:09 PM:

Susan,

Alison will just have to post on Salesspeak, then :)

.

Seriously, though, I am mentally preparing what input I want to provide to her.  She'll hear from me!

.

If I read all these book, I won't be able to put anything into practice!  I better take a breather on reading all these books.

Nick, I know what you mean. Many writers get so caught up in reading books about writing, they never write their novel or poetry or articles. I've been there. Sure don't want to repeat that error with selling, but I see it as research for the job, the blog, and all of you. Plus, if it helps me (and you) sell, that's a good thing, right?  sjw

# Peter M Burr MD said on October 23, 2007 4:12 PM:

Regards the Ribbon, Susan, the training that's linked in Steps to Success (Step 8?) is excellent already, insofar as it addresses B2B sales. Don't know if you are planning to migrate that to QU or start over. Also don't know if you are planning to include training for marketing the vacation albums now or later, since I assume we'll have them again as soon as an acceptable vendor is found.

Thanks, Dr. Burr. We are planning on complementing the QU training with B2B training that's available in Steps to Success for Ribbon. The QU training will focus on selling Ribbon to family and friends.

Right now, we do not plan to include Vacation Albums in the 2008 Program as we are developing it now. As for the long-term plan, I am not privy to that marketing info/strategy.

Do you sell Ribbon Gift Collections to family? friends? businesses? What do you think is essential to say about Ribbon when you present it to someone? Thanks in advance for your further input! sjw

# DLSChicago said on October 23, 2007 5:31 PM:

"Launching A Leadership Revolution" is one of the best books on leadership I have ever read.  

# CJ said on October 23, 2007 7:03 PM:

Susan,

In response to your response to Dr. Burr "What do you think is essential to say about Ribbon when you present it to someone?". I think one of the most important points is that there are no prices in the album or on the card. In other words, the receipient has no clue how much you have spent on getting them the card/album. The way I stress this to others (especially businesses) is that normally for Christmas or any other gift giving occasion you don't leave the price tag on the gift you are giving-that would be very tacky. But, that is exactly what happens when you give someone a gift card from any of our competitors which is basically everyone (LOL!). The message you are conveying to that person "Here, this is how much I think you are worth" and from a Business 2 Consumer (B2C) or B2B perspective you are saying "This is what is available or left over for you in my marketing/thank-you budget". Outside of the classy packaging, by not showing any prices, it really focuses on the true process of giving someone a gift.

Another idea the Ribbon group can ponder/chew on for the next phase (or possibly implement now):I think the ribbon gift card could be taken to an even higher level by offering even more choices/items online for redemption than what is shown in the album. In other words, the gift album could be just a snapshot of about 30-40 items they can choose, but online the corporation could possibly add another 30-40 items (or more than that) outside of what is shown in the album. The items online could change on a regular basis (kind of like how the Hot Buys section of Quixtar worked), but whatever is listed in the gift album would be a constant for the duration of the program until that next May. I liken this concept to our Choices catalog, B2B catalog, and the Store for More line of Catalogs-they can list only so much information/product/etc. But when you go online to Quixtar, we tend to have other items as well as the partner stores, etc. Again, the items listed in the gift album doesn't have to be the end of the line as to what they can redeem using their matching gift card online. These are just my suggestions, thoughts, ramblings, etc LOL! That would be true example of the Ribbon program underpromising and overdelivering! Thanks again Susan for the platform!

 

I am pleased and proud to provide this platform ... and guess what? We ARE going to do additional products online for Ribbon Gift Collections in 2008. Not as many as you suggested, but nevertheless, we are thinking along the same lines. This way, we'll be able to keep things updated, have less back orders or nla's and well, it should be a very good thing for IBOs, gift card purchasers, and most of all, gift card recipients. We want the experience to be the ultimate gift-giving event. After all, we refer to the joy of Ribbon and being in the business of making people happy often in Ribbon materials. We do our best to fulfill that brand promise from selling gift collections to redeeming gifts online. Thank you for your suggestions. Keep 'em coming! sjw

# Nick Kobelja said on October 24, 2007 10:14 AM:

CJ, Thanks for the tip on the lack of price idea. I'm going to leverage that one :) What other points do you ask/talk about?

# CJ said on October 24, 2007 1:45 PM:

Nick,

Main questions I try to ask up front are 1) What are you currently giving as gifts/employee appreciation/awards/giveaways etc? and 2)How much do you spend per employee/agent, etc on these type of gifts? From there I use/modify the process given by the B2B training on Quixtar based upon the business or individual I'm dealing with and just kind of flow from there showing and explaining the program. Because of how well put together the Ribbon program is, it is probably one of those products that you can almost say "sells itself". The main thing to remember in the midst of asking questions and showing the sample pieces,etc. is to at the same time "listen" to the potential client. In other instances, I've tried to sell them on what I think they should do, instead of getting a good understanding of what they wanted to do/problem needing resolving and show them how our product fills that need. I met once with a car dealership owner and talked to him about the program and I was bent on him giving the vacation pkgs with each car sold. Because I was so busy trying to make my idea fly with him, it wasnt until after the meeting and telling my upline about it that I realized the owner said "I can see myself giving these pkgs to my employees for meeting sales goals". He saw how he wanted to implement it, but I was too busy with my own agenda. In the end, he never bought and that could have been a a foot in the door to later sell gift albums or something else to him with the sale of each car. In the end, by asking the right questions, the customer will tell you exactly how your product can help them. Anybody out there have some good questions-based book? My all time favorite is still Spin Selling but I'm sure there are some others.

 

CJ, Thanks for sharing more about how you sell Ribbon Gift Collections. I think all of us benefit from hearing each other's ideas. You make a good point about the car dealership and how you were so driven to meet your goal, you forgot about your customer's need. Bet we've all done that before.

I have a book in my TO READ stack at home that is titled, Question-Based Selling. I can't recall the author. I will let you know if it's a worthwhile read once I read it! sjw

# Nick Kobelja said on October 24, 2007 2:15 PM:

CJ,

I believe that "The Sales Bible" mentioned a "Sales Funnel" book as a shining example.  Also, I think that "The Sales Bible" itself is a good starting point.  Now that I've opined, I also would love to hear about books others have read concerning questioning.

# CJ said on October 30, 2007 11:35 AM:

Susan,

I had another idea about the Ribbon Program which I'm sure has been tossed around by the corporation alot since the inception of the original program many moons ago. What is the possiblity of having multiple-gift Ribbon Gift Cards? As an example it could be a Unique Ribbon Gift Card that had up to  3-4 items that a person could choose instead of just one item? Of course, all ideas sound good in theory, but not so good when it comes to implementation. Is it possible or a logistical nightmare? Thanks Susan.

CJ, do you mean multiple items from the same collection of items from different collections? Like, a gift card that could apply to the Guy Gear or the Delicious or the Personal Accents Collections since they are all $50--but the recipient can only pick one item? Thanks, sjw

# CJ said on October 30, 2007 3:26 PM:

Yes and No. I like your idea of creating a super ribbon gift card that would allow you to choose "one" item from the pool of other same-priced gift cards/albums. But here's what I'm thinking by taking example from any other competitor:if I bought a Circuit City Gift Card for say $50, then that person could possibly buy more than just one item that would cost $50. They could buy several items that would equal up to $50. So I guess the question is would it be possible to create a Ribbon Card where a person could choose more than just one item out of the catalog/website for redemption? Tie this concept to an example of one of our products: a multiple-item hybrid version of the Unique Ribbon Card where instead of everything in the album being worth $50, everything in the album would be worth $25 and a person could choose 2 items out of one album. Again, just an idea for the Ribbon Crew to kick around in their spare time.

Okay, CJ. I will share it. The logistics might be tricky on this ... but we welcome ideas and will check into it. Thanks. Keep the ideas coming! sjw

# CJ said on November 2, 2007 1:27 PM:

Susan,

While I was looking through our Partner Store Shop.com I noticed two things. One, Tiger Direct is back through Shop.com (weeee!!!) and we have another store with shop.com called "A Gift to Remember". They also provide gift catalogs similar to Ribbon with price ranges from $24.95 to $5400.00. If you go directly to their website, you can see the various catalogs as well as see the different selections per catalog which are alot. Just an FYI of other options-of course there is no profit to it except for that we add on to it in that instance.

Thanks, CJ. I apologize for the delay in response. I was at an IBO event this weekend and had an OUTSTANDING experience. I learned so much. Anyway, back to your comment. I didn't know this Partner Store offered gift collections. I will check it out later so I can respond thoughtfully. sjw

# Smitty said on November 4, 2007 3:41 AM:

Keeping with the Ribbon talk...have you guys thought about doing kids albums?  Something like a Toddler album, 5-8 yrs,& 8-12 years?  We love giving them as gifts too!  We could then possibly market tom

to different areas.  In my head, it opens up a whole new world to get the Ribbon Gift Albums into!! Then all the birthday parties and holidays IBO's would buy them for.  Sounds like a instant success to me. Just an idea...would love to hear what you think.

Thanks.

 

Good news! We're introducing a Gift Collection in 2008 that will target the 5 to 12 year old market--we had heard we're missing this very important segment. I will pass on your other ideas to the entire Ribbon team. They're defnitely worth considering. Thank you, sjw

# Bridgett said on November 5, 2007 12:01 PM:

Great to hear about the 5-12 year range! May I make a suggestion and ask that you offer something not as pricey as the Baby Albums? It would be nice for my kids to give other kids a gift album for birthday parties. GREAT way to promote my business! :-)

But if they were priced as high as the Baby ones, I (and many of the moms I know) wouldn't use them.

The Baby Gift Albums are priced okay b/c you can justify spending a little more b/c it's a special occasion--a baby and new and exciting, AND you can always chip in with others (if you're not that close with the mom).

But with the kids' album is not the same kind of dynamic.

For me as an aunt, I wouldn’t spend $50 on gifts for each of my nieces and nephews—for birthdays or Christmas. Right now, it seems like our family does mostly gift cards for all the kids, since none of the cousins live in the same state as each other.

And the gift cards tend to be $15 or $20. The cards are usually from either a toy store or a book store.

When you have a ton of birthday parties that your kids are invited to, moms (even with healthy household incomes) tend to not spend more than $15 on a gift. This is probably too low for a gift album, but I’m just letting you know the reality of a HUGE market that COULD be tapped in to.

Even if the offerings aren’t spectacular (high priced), do you know how moms would LOVE the convenience of a gift album? Oh my, oh my, oh my!

Or you could go with the $25-$50 gift album and miss out on a ton of business. :-)

 

Oh my gosh! WHAT A SENSATIONAL IDEA! I must send this over to Marketing immediately. Busy Moms need a Birthday party Gift Collection, Simply Nutrilite and Artistry essentials. WOW! You must be a busy mom, Bridgett. Thanks for sharing your great idea.  Keep 'em coming. Can't say we can do 'em all right away, but I can tell you I share your ideas with Marketing, Training, and Sales Departments. Customer Support, too! I know they appreciate the input. Thanks, sjw

# CJ said on November 5, 2007 6:47 PM:

I'm with Bridgett and Smitty on this one-great and wonderful ideas-sheer brilliance! I just had about two birthday parties my son was invited to and was really hurt since of course we don't have one to give at that age range. The only recourse I found that we have through Quixtar is the partner store E-toys. It's nice and you can get one for about $15, but once you factor in shipping and time it takes to get to you, there's not much of a toy that they can choose to get. Not only that, it doesn't give the IBO a chance to really brand their business in front of the other parents or the receiving parents at the party and open up the lines of communication for either other sales or a possible IBO. I like the $15-$20 range because usually as I've seen from my wife and kids, you tend not to want to spend that much for a kid's birthday, especially if they are just classmates or something along those lines. Great idea once again!

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