How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling By Frank Bettger

I hate the title but like the book. Some people cringe from any form of the word sales, selling, etc. Anyone could benefit from this book. It was originally published in 1947 but so much of the key elements are relatable today. I would recommend this book to anyone that is open minded and wants to improve themselves. It truly shows how human nature is the same over time, people are people.

It is important for all people to continue learning and bettering themselves, no matter what their current situation. As a small business owner/entrepreneur, it is important to me to be motivated, educated and look for ways to always be self improving. I consider listening to this book to have been a good use of my time.

My favorite takeaways from this book are:

- Think in terms of other's interests, ask questions, and be a good listener. How many times have you been with a person and all they do is talk about themselves? When I was younger I was guilty of this, but I realized that you can be much more well rounded if you listen to others and learn about their interests.

- Set aside time to plan how you will spend your time. In this current day, I think people would be shocked at how much time they spend (er, waste) on social media, tv, and other things. If you spend the time planning your time you will be more efficient and tackle what is important first.

- The importance of continued learning in all capacities. One important one is, as Zig Ziglar called it Automobile University. I try to listen to audio books when in my car that are motivational, educational, business oriented, etc.

Many more gems in this book, this was a summary of the ones I found useful. Some of the info is outdated, but it really is amazing how much of this applies to today 70+ years later. Hardcover One of the best books I've read in terms of attitude towards selling, particularly for people that don't consider themselves as sellers. Highly recommended. Hardcover I'm quite involved in the world of non-fiction readers on Instagram and when I first started diving in I began saving posts referencing books I was interested in. I would slowly add these books to my Amazon Wish Lists and overtime—as they went on sale—I would pick them up.

This was the first book I saved in that collection and I only recently purchased, and finally read, this book. I have to say, I'm so disappointed in myself for waiting so long to pick this one up.

A very easy and enjoyable read, inspirational, educational, and all of the things you could possibly want in a book. This non-fiction business book is written so well, you could swear it was novel. Yet, you'll walk away with such a plethora of new ideas and plans of action, you may not even know where to begin.

However, right up until the end he even helps with this factor as well.

If you are a salesman, entrepreneur, or a small business owner, you need to read this book! Hardcover From the time we first learn to cry to get fed or changed, we are selling. This is the best book I've found to teach how to sell properly. Hardcover Whether you're a business owner, entrepreneur or salesperson, I highly recommend putting this on the top of your reading list. I've read this book several times in the past few years. After reading it again this week, I'm convinced that this classic will endure for many more decades and beyond. Although selling is on the front cover, this book goes much deeper into the human psyche. It's full of tips that can benefit your relationships and your perspective on buying and selling. Bettger is a masterful storyteller backing up each of his techniques with stories of how he learned from fellow salesmen as well as from his prospects and customers. It's no surprise that Bettger knew and learned from another great master of his craft--Dale Carnegie. I'm an avid reader of nonfiction self-help and business books. I continue to downsize my collection of hard copy books, but I still love the feel of flipping through paper copies of books filled with priceless wisdom. This one has earned its place. It's on my shelf with a limited number of reference books I know I must keep on hand. Although Bettger will never read this review with his physical eyes, I'm thankful that he left words behind for us to read. I have two final words I'd like to sent out to you Bettger . . . thank you! Hardcover

index 269-276. How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling

Free download ✓ E-book, or Kindle E-pub ë Frank Bettger

Maybe you aren’t intending on a career in selling. Perhaps your business has little to do with selling. The bottom line is that everyone sells something to someone, no matter what.

If you are a child, you sell getting to stay up late to your parents. As a child you may sell going to a particular movie or event or even watching a television program. We all sell. If you are a preacher or priest or other type of clergy, you sell salvation to your congregation. If you are a teacher, you sell education to your students. If you are a student, you have to sell your intelligence level to your teacher. We all sell something.
This book gives you some simple techniques to use when selling. One of the tips goes into detail about enthusiasm and why it is important. Another area speaks about when to be quiet. Don’t we all need that lesson sometimes?

This book won’t sell anything for you. It gives you some good, basic, common sense methods to use in your everyday life, whether you think you are selling or not.

In my opinion this is the most valuable book on my bookshelf. I originally purchased a copy of this book from a Friends of the Library sale at the Anderson County Library for 10¢. Somewhere along the way I misplaced my original copy of this book and I purchased another one through E-Bay. Now you can purchase copies through Amazon.
Hardcover This is a book my father read. It was first published in 1949. Lots of stories, energetic writing, an easy read.

PART ONE
I. These Ideas Lifted Me Out of the Ranks of Failure
1. Force yourself to ACT enthusiastic and you'll become enthusiastic
2. SEE THE PEOPLE to at least 4-5 people everyday
3. Practice public speaking - club or organization
4. TAKE MORE TIME TO THINK and do things in the order of their importance

II. Formula for Success in Selling
5. Find out what the buyer wants, then help him find the best way to get it
6. Show the buyer what he wants
7. Cultivate the art of asking questions
8. Find the key issue,the most vulnerable point, then stick to it.
9. Use the word, Why? over and over
10. Find out the REAL objection:...Why? and ...and in addition to that...?
11. Be a good listener

III. Six Ways to Win and Hold the Confidence of Others
12. Deserve confidence by showing and expecting it
13. Know your business and keep on knowing it
14. Praise your competitors!
15. Understate, over deliver
16. Bring your witnesses: telephone, letters
17. Look the part of a professional

IV. How to Make People Want to Do Business With You
18. Convince them you are their real friend
19. Encourage young men, show them how to be successful
20. Discover what a man's ambition is and help him raise his sights
21. Tell those that have inspired you
22. Ask, How did you get in business? and listen
23. To be welcomed everywhere, give and honest-to-goodness smile from deep down.
24. Remember names and faces: 1)Get a clear impression of his name and face 2) Repeat his name at short intervals 3) Associate his name with an action picture if possible
25. Be brief, don't talk too much
26. When you are scared, admit it!

V. Steps In the Sale
27. The Sale Before the Sale - get the appointment
28. The Secret of Making Appointments - sell the brief, it could be of great benefit to you to a have another viable option for now or sometime later, on file
29. How I Learned to Outsmart Secretaries - This is a personal matter
30. An Idea That Helped Me Get Into the Major Leagues - learn every aspect of the sales process for my profession 1)rehash the sales presentation right AFTER you make the last one 2)Write it out word for word. Drill, Drill, Drill
31. Seven Rules I Use in Closing the Sale - Get the customer involved in the demonstration (give them an Inspection Report)
32. Write up the Service Agreement to use at the close and show the prospect

VI. Don't Be Afraid to Fail
33. Benjamin Franklin's Secret of Success and What It Did For Me - decide on and follow a plan of personal development
34. Let's You and I Have a Heart-to-Heart Talk - concentrate on one sales thing and DO IT! Hardcover It is a shame that I've grown up with disdain for salesmen. This book along with others like Think and Grow Rich, The Magic of Thinking Big, and How to Win Friends and Influence People have taught me to love the world of sales.

I avoided such books for years because I thought they were books about techniques to get people to do what you want. I was so wrong.

What I learned from these books is that true sales is about connecting with people and serving them. They taught me that integrity, honesty, hard work, and a willingness to overcome one's fears and weaknesses are more important that making a sale. In fact, they are essential to becoming who God intended we be!

I feel inadequate as I attempt to scratch down a bit of a review here. I recognize that as is true with all good classics, I could put a lot of mileage into rereading How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling and gain immensely from each read-through.

Bettger faced failures as a professional baseball player and later as an insurance salesman, but he eventually became a huge success, commanding the respect of Dale Carnegie. What changed? Bettger decided to dig into the WHY. Why had he performed poorly in spite of hard work? He began to identify the reasons and attacked them with enthusiasm. His stories show a readiness to learn from others and implement the principles they taught him. He followed the example of Benjamin Franklin and created a system to work on several virtues that would help him succeed as a man and a salesman.

The heart of these virtues is genuine concern for others. Bettger teaches the reader how to work towards overcoming fear, how to remember names and important details about other people, how to be a good listener, how to be genuine at all times, and how selling (when done right) is simply gaining the trust of others so they are willing to let you find them the best solutions for their individual situation.

I'll end with the counsel he gives in the last chapter. He says that when we finish reading a book we have three choices.

1. Ignore it - we might as well not have read it in this case.
2. Try to implement every good idea - we'll fail with this approach, because it is overwhelming and unrealistic.
3. Follow Benjamin Franklin's example and focus on one lesson at a time - this will lead to lasting success.

My first point of focus is remembering the names of those I meet. To learn more about how to master names, read chapter 22! It will be well worth your time. Hardcover Given the crappy appearance of the cover of the Amway edition, I thought this book would be filled with advice that has been deservedly long-forgotten. I was wrong.

An associate of Dale Carnegie, of How to Win Friends and Influence People fame, Bettger's book is of that standard, but for salespeople. He gives you some ideas to change how you think about selling, provides a formula for sales success, shows how to gain a prospect's confidence, offers five things you can do so the prospect sells themselves on you, and closes with the steps of the sales process.

Bearing in mind that Ari Galper has recently game-changed my ideas around selling (his ideas are in No BS Sales Success in the New Economy by Dan S Kennedy), I've changed Bettger's ideas to conform to Galper's, but even so, it's still filled with dozens of ideas I want to test out. More than anything else though, this book has reignited my passion for selling, inspiring me to once again get out there and make a success of it.

This book is pure gold wrapped up in a used fish and chips wrapper. Hardcover Any salesman that hasn't read How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie should read this book. It has caused me to finally start the program that Benjamin Franklin did of applying one subject each week for 1/4 of the year (equals 13 subjects and Franklin's 13 subjects are Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity and Humility.) Bettger kept 6 of these and added 7 of his own: Enthusiasm, Order: self-organization, Think in terms of other's interests, questions, key issues, silence:listen, sincerity: deserve confidence, knowledge of my business, appreciation and praise, smile:happiness, remember names and faces, service and prospecting, and closing the sale: action.

This caused me to decide to put together my own 13 subjects. These are a combination of Franklin's, Bettger's, and many others that have helped me develop my affirmation statements, so here is Bradshaw's 13 Subjects/Affirmations:

1-I am upbeat, optimistic and positive.
2-I passionately pursue productive projects.
3-I choose silence: speaking only to add value and listening with my whole heart letting the other person do a great deal of the talking.
4-I smile especially when my name is called and when I see any living creature.
5-I seek knowledge.
6-I am enthusiastic: I am bright and cheerful and full of energy.
7-I remember names and faces.
8-I work smart.
9-I am sincere.
10-I am grateful.
11-I ask.
12-I contribute.
13-I'm interested.

I got out the calendar and found that it's week 13 in the cycle, so I have been interested the last couple of days, and tomorrow, October 6th, 2013 is the beginning of week 1, so I will be focusing and really working to be upbeat, optimistic and positive. The core of this book is in the heart of that as his first chapter and through mentions that enthusiasm is the magic that will make anyone successful.

Any book that changes me this much is a 5 star book. Hardcover