Sell Yourself First: The Most Critical Element in Every Sales Effort

Freese (Secrets of Question Based Selling) shows salespeople how to gain an advantage over their competitors by polishing their presentation in this meandering, lackluster guide. Freese focuses on developing a repeatable formula for selling yourself that centers on soft sales skills including establishing credibility, forging and using relationships, differentiating solutions, and justifying costs. He also includes a useful chapter on selling yourself at a job interview. Most of the advice is common sense and merely gives old practices with unfortunate corporate-speak labels—questions that elicit predictable answers from customers that open the way for a more detailed conversation are rebranded "mini-invitations." Experienced salespeople will recognize these tactics if not the jargon that Freese employs; neophytes might find useful if not groundbreaking wisdom that will allow them to tweak their delivery and may improve their sales potential. (Dec.)