Foreword
You're wrong...if you think this book is about how to peddle products and services and pressure people to buy what they don't want or need, or if you think this is a book full of psychobabble about human behavior in buying or selling.
Instead, Christine Clifford has methodically addressed the subject of sales and selling in an illuminating, articulate, sincere, and provocative manner. I can tell you from personal experience that it is impossible to say “no” to her. And in her writing, she draws on her well-developed sales skills and important lessons she has learned about selling in a passionate way that will allow you to apply and benefit from her advice immediately.
Christine is a survivor...of breast cancer, of divorce, of domestic violence, of financial difficulty, of having to make it in a world that isn't always kind to those who are successful, especially a woman. She has worked her way through each challenge by applying the skills that she learned and developed in sales. She understands the difference between high-pressure selling to get someone to buy versus solving that person's problem or meeting his or her need with a well-conceived solution.
Having served as chairman and a member of the boards of directors for many companies and as a president and CEO of large successful enterprises, I have observed the good, the bad, and the ugly salespeople and processes. Unfortunately, the good salespeople and processes are the exception, not the rule.
As a junior executive ...
