Anatolia -- Books, Etc

At Anatolia, there are several books we return to time and again. We have listed some of them here, and encourage you to take a look at them.

In reading these, you will discover that the selling philosophies and methods offered are more alike than different. Terminology varies, but essential concepts are the same. No sales method has the “secret formula.”

Nonetheless, each of these books offers a useful perspective and some worthwhile approaches. And each is likely to enhance your skills as a sales professional.

		Click on a book to purchase it from Amazon.com
	*Competing on Value* and Consultative Selling by Mack Hanan – Two titles focused on the idea that the impact of what you sell is what counts. The first provides excellent language and examples. The second offers practical tools for building a simple business case.
	Conceptual Selling and Strategic Selling by Robert Miller & Stephen Heiman – These have remained popular for years and make a good set. The first addresses face-to-face skills while the second is process-oriented, with a good discussion of different buying roles.
	How to Mind Map by Tony Buzan – A short and practical introduction to a powerful technique for listening, taking notes, and creative thinking.
	Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play by Mahan Khalsa – A good companion to the Sales Map Workshop, this book provides useful tools, practical questioning skills, and fosters the right attitude for complex sales.
	Power Base Selling by Jim Holden – A simple introduction to the role of politics in buying, and also to the subject of competitive strategy.
	Rethinking the Sales Force by John De Vincentis and Neil Rackham – Lots of examples, describing how to tailor sales approaches – and your sales force – based on customer definitions of value.
	SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham – At its heart, this book provides a powerful questioning technique to help salespeople consult with customers rather than sell "at" them.

Other Resources

For customer and competitor research, and prospecting, the Internet offers a world of possibilities. To cut through it all, a fee-based service is often worth the money. (Hoovers.com, for example, is one of the most popular, but there are others.)

For free, company web-sites are the obvious starting place. And, your Internet portal (Yahoo, Google, etc.) probably makes it easy to have company or industry headlines show up automatically on your home page. It’s worth a scan once or twice a day!

Last, business magazines are useful for issues, trends and the like. Many have great, free web sites that permit searches of back issues. Usual suspects include: