Sales professionals and students of communication, persuasion and sales have a great new resource with ABC’s of Selling!
A message to experienced sales people…
Do you ever ask yourself, “Am I firing on all pistons?” or “Am I playing the sales game with attention to all of the critical essentials of effective gameplay?” I think many sales people who are ambitious and excellence-driven wonder this, yet they procrastinate about resolving their concerns. Avoidance is also human nature, so many deny there’s any need for concern at all. If you don’t routinely ask yourself these questions, then you should.
Study of adult learning reveals that it is human nature to be drawn to learn new concepts that present themselves with a context or experience of novelty. We tend to give prioritized attention to new and seemingly uniquely valuable ideas. Yet as time passes, novelty and prioritization of previously fresh ideas lessens. We take for granted the value of concepts, and they lose their luster in our field of attention. It is a false assumption (most everyone makes) that, if we learned a concept before then we “know” it forever… And since we know it forever, well then, we will always benefit from that knowing and we most certainly apply that concept at every opportune occasion. Right? Yeah, right.
What’s more, even important concepts, such as effective communication techniques or productive business strategies, from which we would benefit to re-consider and perhaps implement with a new vigor, are dismissed reflexively if the mind thinks, “oh, that sounds like something I’ve heard before.” The mind reacts with, “I already know that, I’m smart enough and good enough as it is, and so everything is fine as it is.”
A moment of earnest and honest introspection reveals to us:
- We carry around the false assumption that we we know everything we’ve ever seen before.
- And we keep falling back into living on auto-pilot mode, “good enough and fine.”
If you don’t choose to ambitiously act out extraordinarily on your own behalf, then your mind will live your life for you as “good enough” and “fine.” I don’t know about you, but “good enough” and “fine” have never been enough for me! So, I seek-out fresh, bold, concise, and compelling new presentations of fundamentals for effectiveness, productivity, and success as often as I can. While experiencing a same-old idea that is newly-framed, and so freshly-compelling, we give renewed meaning and newly-inspired attention to the most recent presentation of a concept that we have perhaps previously learned and since let slip away from our active mindfulness.
About how learning works and a message to students of sales, new sales people, and people who merely want to learn to be more effective communicators and be more persuasive…
When you are seeking out resources for engaging your mind to increase your knowledge and improve your effectiveness, some resources are better than others. The field of educational psychology tells us that we learn more information more quickly and more deeply when the information is presented using generally-conversational language, carefully-chunked concepts, patterns, memory devices, and triggers. So, whenever I am learning new ideas and concepts, I don’t just look for the book with the brightest colors and the glossiest cover… I seek out resources that employ information presentation techniques and formatting that I know will best support my understanding of the information and ease the challenge of retaining new information.
THE GOOD NEWS for new sales people and experienced sales professionals…
Dale Brakhage’s book, ABC’s of Selling with Etiquette, is an ideal refresher course for essential sales concepts. To begin with, the ABC-format of this book is easy-to-read and very understandable. Readers will appreciate the bite-sized chapters and enjoy the insights and anecdotes featured throughout the book. Moreover, ABC’s of Selling incorporates techniques to enhance learning. Readers of this book become engaged in a “conversation” with the authors. The style of the text is less formal and more accessible to attract and hold the attention of younger readers and those who communicate more frequently via the Internet. Selling is persuasive communication, a complex process. ABC’s of Selling breaks the complex process of selling into simple behaviors that readers can easily learn and demonstrate. Those behaviors, called essential concepts, appear in a matrix, the alphabet, which all readers can easily recall and recite correctly at any time. Associating the simple behaviors of selling with the alphabet provides readers with an effective memory device, called a trigger which allows them to recall the behaviors easily.

Also a valuable feature of the of the book, acclaimed celebrity chef, author, philanthropist, speaker and advertising industry business woman, Edie Hand, co-authored ABC’s of Selling with Etiquette by contributing the book's "etiquette essentials." Hand has authored, co-authored, and helped to develop over twenty books ranging from inspirational cookbooks to novellas from a strong woman’s perspective. Not only does ABC’s of Selling with Etiquette recommend essential “selling” strategies and methods for expressing yourself and your ideas, but the book also emphasizes a dimension of sales that is often neglected, the human-to-human conscientious courtesy of “business etiquette.” Merging selling tactics and the practice of better human relations through business etiquette will help you learn to listen with intent and empathy, express and demonstrate respect for others with appropriate protocols and manners, better manage and present your ideas, work efficiently to achieve goals and objectives, communicate effectively, and ultimately create mutually-valuable and appreciated transactions of exchange between people.
I was recently enlisted to edit Brakhage’s ABC’s of Selling with Etiquette, and I felt so strongly about the value of the book that when I was invited to do so, I enthusiastically contributed the foreword to the book. Most people find it difficult to sell their ideas. Even more people struggle when trying to sell products or services. People everywhere want to succeed in business and need to know how to be persuasive and behave appropriately. Everyone should learn how to sell! ABC’s of Selling with Etiquette can help you communicate more effectively, persuade others to accept your ideas and agree with you, and get more of what you want out of life. ABC’s of Selling with Etiquette reinvigorates our focus on the fundamentals of communication, persuasiveness, and sales principles and tactics.
Buy "ABC's of Selling with Etiquette" now!
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Achievement Coach Greg Kilgore
360° Achievement Coaching
Providing a 360° Perspective for
Creating Awareness, Accountability,
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