R. Mukund’s Don’t Sell Make Them Buy is the ultimate sales guide and is a compilation of excellent insights and experiences. The author is an industry expert with over twenty years of experience in sales and customer service training. The highly informative content is broken into 13 chapters that cover different aspects of the sales process.
Starting from differentiating between marketing and sales to the skills needed to complete a sale, to building trust and connecting with a customer, to negotiations, and after-sale customer service, the author has covered it all. The language is lucid and comprehensive; it can easily be understood by any reader irrespective of their background.
In a Post-COVID world, customers have changed, the nature of sales has transformed, and salespeople have to upgrade their skills to meet new requirements and create trust. The author has given examples of conversations, body language, voice tones, postures, and actions; some of which could be beneficial to the sale, while others could be detrimental and should be avoided. He mentions that sales starts as a science and with practice and perfection, becomes an art.
The author provides effective tools and techniques to profile people and ways to handle them better. I found the chapter on the art of negotiation fascinating. By equipping themselves with relevant information and counter-tactics, salespeople can create a stronger impact. What I loved about the author’s narration is that he incorporates real-life scenarios and illustrates conversations of how it went, versus how it ought to have gone. The emphasis is on keywords and phrases that can make a difference.
The author punctuates the book with examples from his career, anecdotes from famous brands, or just fascinating facts. One example that stood out for me was that of the world’s most expensive watch which sold for 5 million. It had an interesting back story, and the salesperson was selling the story more than the product.
This book is a must-read for anyone who is pursuing a career in sales- it is a ready reckoner of all sorts. I am not in sales, but I still found this book extremely useful. Why? Because at the end of the day, we are all selling something- be it a product, a service, or just our brand. I am confident that the insights in the book will help everyone handle negotiations and difficult conversations better.
The author captures it perfectly by quoting RL Stevenson: “Everyone lives by selling something.”
Pick this one for its honesty, clarity, and the immense impact it creates on the reader that motivates them to go out and sell!
