Grant Cardone says, Sell or Be Sold: Why You're In Sales Even If You Don't Know It

Sell Or Be Sold is a business book by Grant Cardone. Grant is a New York Times best selling author and entrepreneur. The sub-title of Sell Or Be Sold is: How To Get Your Way In Business and In Life.

Ask yourself, are you in sales? If you're answer was no, then think again! Whether you know it or not and whether you like it or not, you are, to some degree, in sales. And if you're going to make it in this economy, you'll need to Sell To Survive.

At some point you're going to find yourself in a position where you will need to get your way. This can come in many forms. A date, a job, a raise, a loan, an apartment.

Persuasion is more than just getting your way in a traditional selling environment. Your life, as the book will tell you, depends on selling.

Everyone is a sales person and everyone can benefit from learning, even just a little bit about the art and science behind what selling truly is. Worst case scenario, how would you like to know how to deal with and handle people better?

In this article, I'm going to talk about a book you can read that will not only educate you on what selling really is, but on how learning the fundamentals of selling can have a profound and positive impact in every area of your life.

Yes, even though you're not a "sales person." Think about the last time you tried to get your significant other to watch a movie they didn't want to see or eat at a restaurant they didn't want to eat at or get a new car or... you following along here?

Now, If you wear a name tag and/or deal with customers in any way shape or form, you are also in the sales department. This is something that many a business just doesn't quite grasp and it's vital that they do. If you deal with the public, even if your title says "service rep" you are part of the sales department.

As we try to stimulate an economic recovery, consumers are more and more sensitive about how and where and when they are going to release the money they believe to be theirs.

Which is why if you're going to not only just survive but thrive in this economy, you need to understand and apply the information with in this book.

• Bill Gates
• Steve Jobs
• Barak Obama
• Martin Luther King
• Gandhi
• Mother Theresa
• Jesus Christ
• Thomas Edison
• Mark Zuckerberg

First of all, words like "salesman" and "selling" unfortunately, remind us Eugene Levy in National Lampoon's Vacation and get stereotyped into a genre of con-men and grifters.

So yes, "that guy" is out there. If people hadn't bought the snake oil or got caught up in the ether, we wouldn't have to replace words like salesman and selling with words like marketing and advertising.

Sell Or Be Sold brings legitimacy to the art and craft of selling while eliminating it from being a 4 letter word. If you're looking to expand, prosper and grow in business and in life, selling is a skill you quite literally can't afford to live without.

Imagine this though, just for a second... you own a gym and you're struggling to keep the doors open. One of your current clients comes in to workout. Their membership expires in 3 weeks. Little do you know that this particular client just worked out with their cousin at the competitor's gym.

Upon arrival, they are not welcomed by the receptionist, because they are on the phone. From there they notice that the facility is dirty. Then they try to ask a trainer a question but because the member isn't one of the trainer's "clients", they are curtly told to ask the receptionist for help. Reception lady is still on the phone (personal call).

See where this is going? None of this happened at the "other" gym. Now the client is slowly becoming "unsold" on this gym and sold on the other.

What about buying clothing or shoes? Do "Customer Service Reps" sell? Absolutely. Even when they're not on commission in the traditional sense, they're still paid to help you make a purchase. Guy at the movies selling popcorn? Young lady working the drive through at the coffee house? Phone rep at the local cable company? These people are all in the sales department! They are also all in the people business long before their in the "X" business!

Has poor service sent you somewhere else to buy? More importantly, can you remember a time when you might have sent someone somewhere else to buy? Has this ever happened to you or because of you?

Of course it has and of course it will again. If service continues to suffer, people will continue to become "unsold" or never even sold in the first place. They will buy else where and that business will become a consequence in the purest Darwinian sense of it all. CLOSED!

So whether you're looking to improve your business, get a promotion, become a better communicator, or what ever your target area of improvement is, selling very well may be your "secret" to success.

Here's an example based on a comment from an author on Facebook who has a book to sell. He's offering it on Kindle for only 99 cents.

"99 cents and nobody is buying this book. It's a Kindle book, folks...and my best writing. 99 cents...that's like two sixpence, a sterling and farthing."

Could it be, it's too cheep? Perhaps he's not charging enough?

Sell Or Be Sold will teach you that price is a myth.

WHAT? Yes, there's more to buying something than just price.

A product or service needs to meet the buyers needs, solve a problem, or improve their current situation. If a prospect isn't 100% convinced that said product or service will deliver, they won't buy no matter how cheep it is.

Here's something for you right from the book,"Getting the sale isn't about money; it's ultimately about the buyer having confidence that the product is the right one."

If price was the main issue, why is Starbucks still in business? Keep in mind, there can only be one lowest price. People will and do pay more for a good attitude and the right solution to their problem.

Sell Or Be Sold will change the way you look at how people make decisions and how they see money. More importantly, it may very well change how you see money and consequently enable you to bring more of it into your life.

Now that you've recognized that you're in sales, it's time to make sure you get the most possible from this book, Sell Or Be Sold.

• First, set aside a specific amount of time to read daily.
• Second, get yourself a legal pad and a highlighter.
• Third, get focused and ask yourself, "Self, what am I looking to accomplish by reading this?"
• Finally, assign a target date to complete the book. Sell Or Be Sold has 22 chapters. One chapter a day and that's 22 days. You could do it in one week if you want, you can take a whole month if you need to. Just make sure to set a target date.

Now, crack it open and dig in. Each chapter ends with questions for you to look at and answer so you will know you got something from it. Don't just read this book. USE this book. Highlight key points that ring home and take notes.

So, here's an other thing to do. Try reading the questions first. Then read the chapter. Now answer the questions as best you can. If you really want a challenge, read and answer the questions before you read the chapter, then read the chapter. Now answer the questions again and compare your answers. Then ask yourself, what did I just learn?

Read it as if you're going to teach a class on it tomorrow. That's the next challenge or tip. If you had to teach an hour long class on this chapter tomorrow morning, how would you read it? How would you focus on it?

Now that you've read it, it's time to apply it. So grab your notes and take a look at your questions, answers, notes and highlights.

What's your target? What do you sell? You're a sales person, remember? So look at your position carefully and ask yourself, "Self, what am I selling here?" Is it shoes? Is it yourself? Is it a service? Book? CD? An Idea?

So, with book in hand and your notes, review each chapter and ask yourself, how can I plug this chapter into my unique product, service or situation.

Selling is not just a transaction, it's a paradigm and an attitude. In any organization, sales and revenue is the main thing that what will keep the doors open. Revenue is vital to any organization. Business, family, church... ANY organization.

Here's just of few of the mindsets you'll learn from Sell Or Be Sold:

• How sales people drive the economy more than anything else.
• The only reason you won't like selling and probably why your resistant to it now.
• How to get sold yourself and use conviction and certainty as leverage.
• Why "it's all about price" is strictly a myth and not a reason for inaction.
• Believe it or not, money does grow on trees and there's plenty of it.
• Whether you know it or not, you are in the people business long before you are in the "X" business.
• The Number One rule of Selling is "Always, Always, Always Agree." How and why will this soften any buyer?
• SERVICE is always senior to selling.
• Closing is a like a recipe and while talent helps, it's not necessary.
• How much action do you need to take to GUARANTEE yourself success.
• How will you maximize your power base? By the way, what the hell is a Power Base anyway?
• Literally create more time for yourself.
• You and your great attitude is worth more than any product.

This is the just start of your journey.

Personally, I've read this book multiple times and still reference it. It is a foundation for not just becoming a better sales person but a better person in life in general.

I have learned how to deal with people better, deliver wow levels of service, upped my personal ante in business and personal and most importantly I've learned that I am in control. The things that happen in my life happen because of me, not to me.

Bottom line: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK, LIVE THIS BOOK!