I like books and buy many with all good intentions of reading them. However, I seem to buy more than I can read as the new books are piling up!

In a previous version of our site I had a section for book reviews where I share my views. We have changed the format of the site and so this section no longer exists. However, I’m going to post the book reviews and add others over the coming months. There are many very good books out there that can add insight into the sale process - there are also many not so good books - in my view. You should be able to spot from my scribblings whether I believe a book is good or not so good!

The first review is a book by Kerry L Johnson

Selling with NLP
Nicholas Brealey Publishing, ISBN/ASIN 1857880471

Selling is all about combining the right mind set with the right amount of process and the right set of skills. You just can’t execute skills properly without the proper mind set and skills that aren’t backed up by process can be easily misdirected. But without the skills themselves there can be no successful selling.

Kerry Johnson’s book “Selling with NLP” examines some of the fundamental selling skills and explains why people buy from people. He introduces the reader to the basic communication concepts of Neuro Lingusistic Programming (NLP) and explains how they apply to selling. NLP is a huge subject and many books address both its theory and practice but few seek to examine NLP in the context of a specific application.

I believe strongly that all sales people should undergo NLP training but if you want a quick overview on how it will help you sell then this is an excellent place to start. The book covers how people take information in and how they give it out. It describes how rapport is built and how, by using the other person’s representation systems, rapport can be built more quickly and more deeply. There are wonderful aphorisms sprinkled throughout the book, such as ‘A smart salesperson listens to emotions, not facts.’ These serve both to aid the book’s readability and to reinforce the points Johnson makes. The book also covers listening and verbal skills and how to use these to elicit outcomes. Objection handling is also examined, but from the behavioural side rather than just the process side. On top of all that, you also get an introduction to psychological sliding, which is an NLP technique that can be used in objection handling.

Psychological sliding is an interesting but advanced skill and one that can only be achieved with a lot of practice and experience. This brings me on to the last chapter in Johnson’s book; Putting It Together – The 21 Day Plan. It is exceedingly ambitious of Johnson to introduce a wide range of subjects and then expect the reader to put it into practice themselves. The 224 pages of this book deals with a large proportion of what is covered on a 16 day NLP Practitioners course. If you need a 16 day course to get to grips with the subject, you may struggle to do it with a 21 day plan.

That said, however, Johnson gives the reader an excellent insight into what can be achieved with a mastery of NLP skills. This book was first published in the UK in 1994 and it has stood up well for over a decade. I read it from cover to cover on publication and I’ve referred to it on numerous occasions in the intervening decade. On every revisit I pick up tips and ideas, even in areas where I consider myself to be expert. Now that is the sign of a good book. This is one to buy, read thoroughly, and keep for reference.

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