An excellent quick fix for telesales, 20 Feb 2003
I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination.
This book is great if you are stuck in a rut and are struggling to find a way to motivate yourself. There are several hints and tips on technique that are all worth a try, and more than anything reading this book makes you want to pick up the phone and get cold calling straight away.
Although this book doesnt go into any depth about the art of selling, it is a great pick-me-up for anyone in the sales profession who is looking for a gentle push back into the fray.

An excellent quick fix, 19 Feb 2003
This book gives excellent up-front tips and strategies ideal for anybody who is stuck in a rut and needs a few ideas. I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination. It provides some good hints and tips, all of which are worth a try, and although the book is American, all the advice is fairly generic so it still made sense in the UK market.
This book doesn't explore the sales process or customer transition in any detail, but if you are looking for that little push to get you back on track, then it is definately worth a read.

Great, simple to follow and easy to apply in your life!, 21 Nov 2001
This book became my next best friend! I am just starting work with sales and learning how to be the best sales person I can be. It is not easy task but it may be much easier that I thought having this incredible book as my coach.
I am working with people around the globe, and it is very important to have clear goals, and a working system that you can rely on. Robert Bly remember us to use common sense, and teach us the sales process step-by-step in a way that doesn't matter if you are in America, Europe or Asia, you learn what you need to learn and how to be a better professional, at the same time I am having much more fun in doing my job right, and helping my customers to get a better deal for themselves.

A Must-Read for All Sales Professionals, 21 Sep 2000
I got so much more out of this book than the title suggests! Mr. Robert W. Bly takes the time to help you go over what you really want out of your prospecting and presenting efforts. He points out the flaws in the cold-hearted, selfish motives for sales, and shows how putting the customer's goals first, always helps you achieve your goals later. Then, he gives you step-by-step points for writing your own script and presentation plan. Beyond just cold-calling, this book can help you with every new prospect you meet and that, oh so vital, first few minutes of interaction.

This book is a treasure. Want to make more money? Want to learn how to really sell on the phone? This is the book! I have purchased and read some books on teleselling but this one is the best. Specific strategies that work! This book is absolutely loaded with insights and practical ideas you can use to increase your effectiveness in dealing with anyone in business on the telephone. These ideas should be read, taught, digested, and practiced every single day. Highly recommended.

The Best Book Out There For Anyone Selling Over The Phone!, 11 Jan 1999
For someone just starting out in the sales business or someone that has been doing it for years, this book will be considered your bible. It gives you over 200 pages of pure useful information that you can put to test immediately. If you want to learn cold calling, scripts, techniques or just where to start, then this book is guaranteed to give you all the information you need and then some! Try it and see for yourself. No telephone salesman should be on the phone without first checking out this book. IT'S GREAT!

An excellent quick fix for telesales, 20 Feb 2003
I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination.
This book is great if you are stuck in a rut and are struggling to find a way to motivate yourself. There are several hints and tips on technique that are all worth a try, and more than anything reading this book makes you want to pick up the phone and get cold calling straight away.
Although this book doesnt go into any depth about the art of selling, it is a great pick-me-up for anyone in the sales profession who is looking for a gentle push back into the fray.

An excellent quick fix, 19 Feb 2003
This book gives excellent up-front tips and strategies ideal for anybody who is stuck in a rut and needs a few ideas. I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination. It provides some good hints and tips, all of which are worth a try, and although the book is American, all the advice is fairly generic so it still made sense in the UK market.
This book doesn't explore the sales process or customer transition in any detail, but if you are looking for that little push to get you back on track, then it is definately worth a read.

Great, simple to follow and easy to apply in your life!, 21 Nov 2001
This book became my next best friend! I am just starting work with sales and learning how to be the best sales person I can be. It is not easy task but it may be much easier that I thought having this incredible book as my coach.
I am working with people around the globe, and it is very important to have clear goals, and a working system that you can rely on. Robert Bly remember us to use common sense, and teach us the sales process step-by-step in a way that doesn't matter if you are in America, Europe or Asia, you learn what you need to learn and how to be a better professional, at the same time I am having much more fun in doing my job right, and helping my customers to get a better deal for themselves.

A Must-Read for All Sales Professionals, 21 Sep 2000
I got so much more out of this book than the title suggests! Mr. Robert W. Bly takes the time to help you go over what you really want out of your prospecting and presenting efforts. He points out the flaws in the cold-hearted, selfish motives for sales, and shows how putting the customer's goals first, always helps you achieve your goals later. Then, he gives you step-by-step points for writing your own script and presentation plan. Beyond just cold-calling, this book can help you with every new prospect you meet and that, oh so vital, first few minutes of interaction.

This book is a treasure. Want to make more money? Want to learn how to really sell on the phone? This is the book! I have purchased and read some books on teleselling but this one is the best. Specific strategies that work! This book is absolutely loaded with insights and practical ideas you can use to increase your effectiveness in dealing with anyone in business on the telephone. These ideas should be read, taught, digested, and practiced every single day. Highly recommended.

The Best Book Out There For Anyone Selling Over The Phone!, 11 Jan 1999
For someone just starting out in the sales business or someone that has been doing it for years, this book will be considered your bible. It gives you over 200 pages of pure useful information that you can put to test immediately. If you want to learn cold calling, scripts, techniques or just where to start, then this book is guaranteed to give you all the information you need and then some! Try it and see for yourself. No telephone salesman should be on the phone without first checking out this book. IT'S GREAT!

Common sense advice that works, 11 Jun 2008
Looking at the other reviews here, several of them are overly harsh, cynical even.

I hate cold calling and as I have to do a fair amount of it, I thought I would seek advice. Schiffman's book is full of good advice, interesting anecdotes, and provides you with easy-to-implement guidelines on how to improve your calls-to-appointments ratio.

The first person I got through to after reading the book and preparing a script agreed to a meeting straight away. Unlike the other reviewer who was very scathing about the golf analogy, I happen to think it a perfect for the cold call environment - it is basically saying if you carry on as you are (hitting the ball/cold calling) you will get some appointments/hit some fairways. However if you are trained properly, and are prepared to stick at it, no matter how uncomfortable you feel at the beginning, your performance will increase dramatically.

I actually bought this and "Telemarketing, Cold Calling and Appointment Making: How to Win Business Through the Telephone (Easy Step By Step Guides): How to Win Business Through the Telephone" - if you ask me, Schiffman's book is far, far superior.

For anyone that does a lot of cold-calling, is open-minded enough to admit they can improve, and is prepared to follow the advice through the painful change process, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly.



Typical American twaddle, 21 May 2008
I ordered several of this type of book in the hope of assisting my call centre staff with different techniques and I found this one to be the worst. Some of these self help sales books are so poor that I am thinking of writing one myself as I know I could do much better.

Starts off in the first chapter with the writer talking about his golf swing and how he perfected it. How uninteresting, how typical of an old fat American businessman. I can just see the writer now in his checked trousers and huge belly swinging his clubs and pontificating about himself and how great he is at telesales.

Some of the statements are quite barmy ie to quote 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales, I repeat 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales' Who decided this? in my experience if you do nothing you get nothing? Prospective reader - This is what you will have to contend with in this quite poor book.

All the sales described in the book appear to be to make an appointment and then make a sale face to face at a later date, but in many cases appointments are not made as the sales is closed via the phone. I would say this book is dated in focusing solely on appointments to make a sale. I would hazard a guess that the writer is not able to offer real advice on telesales at all.

Then we have the famous Harvard professor thrown in for good measure, asking "Why do businesses fail?" Lack of Sales!!! How many books repeat that obvious mantra? This book is not worth the money - there are better books out there. This one is rubbish.

Should be read before the cold calling is started!, 22 Mar 2005
The book is excellent written, always interesting and good hands-on tips of how to improve the cold calling techniques. I especially like the cocky ending where he promises the money back if the cold calling is not improved by reading the book!

If you've never made a call before..., 03 Sep 2004
...it might be useful. I don't want to steal the author's fire but the book simple advises you to say "Hi, this is John Smith and from XXX and I'm calling to book an appointment about...". And that's about it. If your industry doesn't suit that sort of 80 calls a day with a 2% hit rate style (ie any industry other than toner refill) then it's of limited use. Too simplistic.

This is one of those books that you hear good things about but is a dissapointment.

The best telephone selling book I have ever read, 07 Jan 2003
A new salesperson in my job will typically have a calls:appointments ratio of 40:1, I did when I started. Satisfactory performance is 20-25:1, which I got to within a year. I currently have a ratio of 11.75:1 and have had for the last two years as a result of using Schiffman's technique. I saw an immediate improvement from the moment I read and understood what he recommends, and have been able to refine it ever since.

It's not a script, it's a client centred approach using common sense business langauge. It's not American-only, it works in a UK market (see figures above) and it beats several other approaches I have tried (before and after using this one).

On the strength of this book, I bought Schiffman's '25 Sales Habits...', which is also a short read with some good tips.

Buy 'Cold Calling Techniques...', use it, see your figures improve.

An excellent quick fix for telesales, 20 Feb 2003
I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination.
This book is great if you are stuck in a rut and are struggling to find a way to motivate yourself. There are several hints and tips on technique that are all worth a try, and more than anything reading this book makes you want to pick up the phone and get cold calling straight away.
Although this book doesnt go into any depth about the art of selling, it is a great pick-me-up for anyone in the sales profession who is looking for a gentle push back into the fray.

An excellent quick fix, 19 Feb 2003
This book gives excellent up-front tips and strategies ideal for anybody who is stuck in a rut and needs a few ideas. I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination. It provides some good hints and tips, all of which are worth a try, and although the book is American, all the advice is fairly generic so it still made sense in the UK market.
This book doesn't explore the sales process or customer transition in any detail, but if you are looking for that little push to get you back on track, then it is definately worth a read.

Great, simple to follow and easy to apply in your life!, 21 Nov 2001
This book became my next best friend! I am just starting work with sales and learning how to be the best sales person I can be. It is not easy task but it may be much easier that I thought having this incredible book as my coach.
I am working with people around the globe, and it is very important to have clear goals, and a working system that you can rely on. Robert Bly remember us to use common sense, and teach us the sales process step-by-step in a way that doesn't matter if you are in America, Europe or Asia, you learn what you need to learn and how to be a better professional, at the same time I am having much more fun in doing my job right, and helping my customers to get a better deal for themselves.

A Must-Read for All Sales Professionals, 21 Sep 2000
I got so much more out of this book than the title suggests! Mr. Robert W. Bly takes the time to help you go over what you really want out of your prospecting and presenting efforts. He points out the flaws in the cold-hearted, selfish motives for sales, and shows how putting the customer's goals first, always helps you achieve your goals later. Then, he gives you step-by-step points for writing your own script and presentation plan. Beyond just cold-calling, this book can help you with every new prospect you meet and that, oh so vital, first few minutes of interaction.

This book is a treasure. Want to make more money? Want to learn how to really sell on the phone? This is the book! I have purchased and read some books on teleselling but this one is the best. Specific strategies that work! This book is absolutely loaded with insights and practical ideas you can use to increase your effectiveness in dealing with anyone in business on the telephone. These ideas should be read, taught, digested, and practiced every single day. Highly recommended.

The Best Book Out There For Anyone Selling Over The Phone!, 11 Jan 1999
For someone just starting out in the sales business or someone that has been doing it for years, this book will be considered your bible. It gives you over 200 pages of pure useful information that you can put to test immediately. If you want to learn cold calling, scripts, techniques or just where to start, then this book is guaranteed to give you all the information you need and then some! Try it and see for yourself. No telephone salesman should be on the phone without first checking out this book. IT'S GREAT!

Common sense advice that works, 11 Jun 2008
Looking at the other reviews here, several of them are overly harsh, cynical even.

I hate cold calling and as I have to do a fair amount of it, I thought I would seek advice. Schiffman's book is full of good advice, interesting anecdotes, and provides you with easy-to-implement guidelines on how to improve your calls-to-appointments ratio.

The first person I got through to after reading the book and preparing a script agreed to a meeting straight away. Unlike the other reviewer who was very scathing about the golf analogy, I happen to think it a perfect for the cold call environment - it is basically saying if you carry on as you are (hitting the ball/cold calling) you will get some appointments/hit some fairways. However if you are trained properly, and are prepared to stick at it, no matter how uncomfortable you feel at the beginning, your performance will increase dramatically.

I actually bought this and "Telemarketing, Cold Calling and Appointment Making: How to Win Business Through the Telephone (Easy Step By Step Guides): How to Win Business Through the Telephone" - if you ask me, Schiffman's book is far, far superior.

For anyone that does a lot of cold-calling, is open-minded enough to admit they can improve, and is prepared to follow the advice through the painful change process, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly.



Typical American twaddle, 21 May 2008
I ordered several of this type of book in the hope of assisting my call centre staff with different techniques and I found this one to be the worst. Some of these self help sales books are so poor that I am thinking of writing one myself as I know I could do much better.

Starts off in the first chapter with the writer talking about his golf swing and how he perfected it. How uninteresting, how typical of an old fat American businessman. I can just see the writer now in his checked trousers and huge belly swinging his clubs and pontificating about himself and how great he is at telesales.

Some of the statements are quite barmy ie to quote 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales, I repeat 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales' Who decided this? in my experience if you do nothing you get nothing? Prospective reader - This is what you will have to contend with in this quite poor book.

All the sales described in the book appear to be to make an appointment and then make a sale face to face at a later date, but in many cases appointments are not made as the sales is closed via the phone. I would say this book is dated in focusing solely on appointments to make a sale. I would hazard a guess that the writer is not able to offer real advice on telesales at all.

Then we have the famous Harvard professor thrown in for good measure, asking "Why do businesses fail?" Lack of Sales!!! How many books repeat that obvious mantra? This book is not worth the money - there are better books out there. This one is rubbish.

Should be read before the cold calling is started!, 22 Mar 2005
The book is excellent written, always interesting and good hands-on tips of how to improve the cold calling techniques. I especially like the cocky ending where he promises the money back if the cold calling is not improved by reading the book!

If you've never made a call before..., 03 Sep 2004
...it might be useful. I don't want to steal the author's fire but the book simple advises you to say "Hi, this is John Smith and from XXX and I'm calling to book an appointment about...". And that's about it. If your industry doesn't suit that sort of 80 calls a day with a 2% hit rate style (ie any industry other than toner refill) then it's of limited use. Too simplistic.

This is one of those books that you hear good things about but is a dissapointment.

The best telephone selling book I have ever read, 07 Jan 2003
A new salesperson in my job will typically have a calls:appointments ratio of 40:1, I did when I started. Satisfactory performance is 20-25:1, which I got to within a year. I currently have a ratio of 11.75:1 and have had for the last two years as a result of using Schiffman's technique. I saw an immediate improvement from the moment I read and understood what he recommends, and have been able to refine it ever since.

It's not a script, it's a client centred approach using common sense business langauge. It's not American-only, it works in a UK market (see figures above) and it beats several other approaches I have tried (before and after using this one).

On the strength of this book, I bought Schiffman's '25 Sales Habits...', which is also a short read with some good tips.

Buy 'Cold Calling Techniques...', use it, see your figures improve.

Smarter Pricing - a major contribution from a recognised authority, 15 May 2007
Tony Cram has done it again.This is his third book and is undoubtedly the one to buy on pricing. He has used his extensive knowledge of the subject and his characteristic depth of insight to argue persuasively for a new approach to the whole area.As always his research has been meticulous and he has selected up-to-date material to illustrate his points. The book is full of ideas and packed with clear analysis. It is written in Tony Cram's hallmark style - superbly accessible and delicious to read. This is a major contribution from a recognised authority in the field. It should be read and savoured, but above all, it should be acted upon.

Smarter Pricing is aimed at practising managers but will also be very useful to MBA students. For a second book look at McKinsey's "Price Advantage"(2004) - some of the older texts could do with updating.

Good introduction, 18 Jan 2007
The book really skims over much of the details - a far more structured approach to pricing can be found in "The Price Advantage" from McKinsey and the ultimate book is "Power Pricing" by Dolan (Harvard) and Simon (Simon, Kucher & Partners).

OK but there are better pricing books, 19 Oct 2006
Smarter pricing by Tony Cram is fine (and well-written) as far as it goes but is very thin - fine if you want to get an introduction to pricing but not adequate if you're looking to implement a pricing project for your company. Power Pricing by Dolan and Simon is good for the later objective - really goes into detail about the merits of different research technigues, estimating user price response, identifying differentiated pricing offers etc. Written very clearly in laymans terms.

Real world pricing guide, 15 Mar 2006
Excellent book, easily readable with a comprehensive scope and loads of great examples from every industry and part of the world. I like the Customer - Competitor - Company structure. The five minute guide in Chapter 13 is the most thumbed section of my copy!

This is a first class book!, 19 Jan 2006
It is so refreshing have someone stand up against the tide of ever cheaper and cheaper. I have read previous books by Tony and again, really easy to read and packed with nuggest of gold.
The further reading secions are an exellent resource to delve deeper into the topic. I particularly like chapter 9 on setting the pricing structures and segmenting the market.

Buy It!!

An excellent quick fix for telesales, 20 Feb 2003
I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination.
This book is great if you are stuck in a rut and are struggling to find a way to motivate yourself. There are several hints and tips on technique that are all worth a try, and more than anything reading this book makes you want to pick up the phone and get cold calling straight away.
Although this book doesnt go into any depth about the art of selling, it is a great pick-me-up for anyone in the sales profession who is looking for a gentle push back into the fray.

An excellent quick fix, 19 Feb 2003
This book gives excellent up-front tips and strategies ideal for anybody who is stuck in a rut and needs a few ideas. I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination. It provides some good hints and tips, all of which are worth a try, and although the book is American, all the advice is fairly generic so it still made sense in the UK market.
This book doesn't explore the sales process or customer transition in any detail, but if you are looking for that little push to get you back on track, then it is definately worth a read.

Great, simple to follow and easy to apply in your life!, 21 Nov 2001
This book became my next best friend! I am just starting work with sales and learning how to be the best sales person I can be. It is not easy task but it may be much easier that I thought having this incredible book as my coach.
I am working with people around the globe, and it is very important to have clear goals, and a working system that you can rely on. Robert Bly remember us to use common sense, and teach us the sales process step-by-step in a way that doesn't matter if you are in America, Europe or Asia, you learn what you need to learn and how to be a better professional, at the same time I am having much more fun in doing my job right, and helping my customers to get a better deal for themselves.

A Must-Read for All Sales Professionals, 21 Sep 2000
I got so much more out of this book than the title suggests! Mr. Robert W. Bly takes the time to help you go over what you really want out of your prospecting and presenting efforts. He points out the flaws in the cold-hearted, selfish motives for sales, and shows how putting the customer's goals first, always helps you achieve your goals later. Then, he gives you step-by-step points for writing your own script and presentation plan. Beyond just cold-calling, this book can help you with every new prospect you meet and that, oh so vital, first few minutes of interaction.

This book is a treasure. Want to make more money? Want to learn how to really sell on the phone? This is the book! I have purchased and read some books on teleselling but this one is the best. Specific strategies that work! This book is absolutely loaded with insights and practical ideas you can use to increase your effectiveness in dealing with anyone in business on the telephone. These ideas should be read, taught, digested, and practiced every single day. Highly recommended.

The Best Book Out There For Anyone Selling Over The Phone!, 11 Jan 1999
For someone just starting out in the sales business or someone that has been doing it for years, this book will be considered your bible. It gives you over 200 pages of pure useful information that you can put to test immediately. If you want to learn cold calling, scripts, techniques or just where to start, then this book is guaranteed to give you all the information you need and then some! Try it and see for yourself. No telephone salesman should be on the phone without first checking out this book. IT'S GREAT!

Common sense advice that works, 11 Jun 2008
Looking at the other reviews here, several of them are overly harsh, cynical even.

I hate cold calling and as I have to do a fair amount of it, I thought I would seek advice. Schiffman's book is full of good advice, interesting anecdotes, and provides you with easy-to-implement guidelines on how to improve your calls-to-appointments ratio.

The first person I got through to after reading the book and preparing a script agreed to a meeting straight away. Unlike the other reviewer who was very scathing about the golf analogy, I happen to think it a perfect for the cold call environment - it is basically saying if you carry on as you are (hitting the ball/cold calling) you will get some appointments/hit some fairways. However if you are trained properly, and are prepared to stick at it, no matter how uncomfortable you feel at the beginning, your performance will increase dramatically.

I actually bought this and "Telemarketing, Cold Calling and Appointment Making: How to Win Business Through the Telephone (Easy Step By Step Guides): How to Win Business Through the Telephone" - if you ask me, Schiffman's book is far, far superior.

For anyone that does a lot of cold-calling, is open-minded enough to admit they can improve, and is prepared to follow the advice through the painful change process, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly.



Typical American twaddle, 21 May 2008
I ordered several of this type of book in the hope of assisting my call centre staff with different techniques and I found this one to be the worst. Some of these self help sales books are so poor that I am thinking of writing one myself as I know I could do much better.

Starts off in the first chapter with the writer talking about his golf swing and how he perfected it. How uninteresting, how typical of an old fat American businessman. I can just see the writer now in his checked trousers and huge belly swinging his clubs and pontificating about himself and how great he is at telesales.

Some of the statements are quite barmy ie to quote 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales, I repeat 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales' Who decided this? in my experience if you do nothing you get nothing? Prospective reader - This is what you will have to contend with in this quite poor book.

All the sales described in the book appear to be to make an appointment and then make a sale face to face at a later date, but in many cases appointments are not made as the sales is closed via the phone. I would say this book is dated in focusing solely on appointments to make a sale. I would hazard a guess that the writer is not able to offer real advice on telesales at all.

Then we have the famous Harvard professor thrown in for good measure, asking "Why do businesses fail?" Lack of Sales!!! How many books repeat that obvious mantra? This book is not worth the money - there are better books out there. This one is rubbish.

Should be read before the cold calling is started!, 22 Mar 2005
The book is excellent written, always interesting and good hands-on tips of how to improve the cold calling techniques. I especially like the cocky ending where he promises the money back if the cold calling is not improved by reading the book!

If you've never made a call before..., 03 Sep 2004
...it might be useful. I don't want to steal the author's fire but the book simple advises you to say "Hi, this is John Smith and from XXX and I'm calling to book an appointment about...". And that's about it. If your industry doesn't suit that sort of 80 calls a day with a 2% hit rate style (ie any industry other than toner refill) then it's of limited use. Too simplistic.

This is one of those books that you hear good things about but is a dissapointment.

The best telephone selling book I have ever read, 07 Jan 2003
A new salesperson in my job will typically have a calls:appointments ratio of 40:1, I did when I started. Satisfactory performance is 20-25:1, which I got to within a year. I currently have a ratio of 11.75:1 and have had for the last two years as a result of using Schiffman's technique. I saw an immediate improvement from the moment I read and understood what he recommends, and have been able to refine it ever since.

It's not a script, it's a client centred approach using common sense business langauge. It's not American-only, it works in a UK market (see figures above) and it beats several other approaches I have tried (before and after using this one).

On the strength of this book, I bought Schiffman's '25 Sales Habits...', which is also a short read with some good tips.

Buy 'Cold Calling Techniques...', use it, see your figures improve.

Smarter Pricing - a major contribution from a recognised authority, 15 May 2007
Tony Cram has done it again.This is his third book and is undoubtedly the one to buy on pricing. He has used his extensive knowledge of the subject and his characteristic depth of insight to argue persuasively for a new approach to the whole area.As always his research has been meticulous and he has selected up-to-date material to illustrate his points. The book is full of ideas and packed with clear analysis. It is written in Tony Cram's hallmark style - superbly accessible and delicious to read. This is a major contribution from a recognised authority in the field. It should be read and savoured, but above all, it should be acted upon.

Smarter Pricing is aimed at practising managers but will also be very useful to MBA students. For a second book look at McKinsey's "Price Advantage"(2004) - some of the older texts could do with updating.

Good introduction, 18 Jan 2007
The book really skims over much of the details - a far more structured approach to pricing can be found in "The Price Advantage" from McKinsey and the ultimate book is "Power Pricing" by Dolan (Harvard) and Simon (Simon, Kucher & Partners).

OK but there are better pricing books, 19 Oct 2006
Smarter pricing by Tony Cram is fine (and well-written) as far as it goes but is very thin - fine if you want to get an introduction to pricing but not adequate if you're looking to implement a pricing project for your company. Power Pricing by Dolan and Simon is good for the later objective - really goes into detail about the merits of different research technigues, estimating user price response, identifying differentiated pricing offers etc. Written very clearly in laymans terms.

Real world pricing guide, 15 Mar 2006
Excellent book, easily readable with a comprehensive scope and loads of great examples from every industry and part of the world. I like the Customer - Competitor - Company structure. The five minute guide in Chapter 13 is the most thumbed section of my copy!

This is a first class book!, 19 Jan 2006
It is so refreshing have someone stand up against the tide of ever cheaper and cheaper. I have read previous books by Tony and again, really easy to read and packed with nuggest of gold.
The further reading secions are an exellent resource to delve deeper into the topic. I particularly like chapter 9 on setting the pricing structures and segmenting the market.

Buy It!!

Solely written for American QVC channel - useless for UK market, 10 Oct 2008
Although everyone likes to read a success story this book is totally geared to the QVC channel in the States so all the resources, contacts and links are of no use to the UK market. In fact in the whole book there is just one mention of the UK market and that is to say that the author had far less success over here selling only 25% of the volume he sold in the States.

An excellent quick fix for telesales, 20 Feb 2003
I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination.
This book is great if you are stuck in a rut and are struggling to find a way to motivate yourself. There are several hints and tips on technique that are all worth a try, and more than anything reading this book makes you want to pick up the phone and get cold calling straight away.
Although this book doesnt go into any depth about the art of selling, it is a great pick-me-up for anyone in the sales profession who is looking for a gentle push back into the fray.

An excellent quick fix, 19 Feb 2003
This book gives excellent up-front tips and strategies ideal for anybody who is stuck in a rut and needs a few ideas. I read this book in 2 days and it had an immediate impact on my attitude and determination. It provides some good hints and tips, all of which are worth a try, and although the book is American, all the advice is fairly generic so it still made sense in the UK market.
This book doesn't explore the sales process or customer transition in any detail, but if you are looking for that little push to get you back on track, then it is definately worth a read.

Great, simple to follow and easy to apply in your life!, 21 Nov 2001
This book became my next best friend! I am just starting work with sales and learning how to be the best sales person I can be. It is not easy task but it may be much easier that I thought having this incredible book as my coach.
I am working with people around the globe, and it is very important to have clear goals, and a working system that you can rely on. Robert Bly remember us to use common sense, and teach us the sales process step-by-step in a way that doesn't matter if you are in America, Europe or Asia, you learn what you need to learn and how to be a better professional, at the same time I am having much more fun in doing my job right, and helping my customers to get a better deal for themselves.

A Must-Read for All Sales Professionals, 21 Sep 2000
I got so much more out of this book than the title suggests! Mr. Robert W. Bly takes the time to help you go over what you really want out of your prospecting and presenting efforts. He points out the flaws in the cold-hearted, selfish motives for sales, and shows how putting the customer's goals first, always helps you achieve your goals later. Then, he gives you step-by-step points for writing your own script and presentation plan. Beyond just cold-calling, this book can help you with every new prospect you meet and that, oh so vital, first few minutes of interaction.

This book is a treasure. Want to make more money? Want to learn how to really sell on the phone? This is the book! I have purchased and read some books on teleselling but this one is the best. Specific strategies that work! This book is absolutely loaded with insights and practical ideas you can use to increase your effectiveness in dealing with anyone in business on the telephone. These ideas should be read, taught, digested, and practiced every single day. Highly recommended.

The Best Book Out There For Anyone Selling Over The Phone!, 11 Jan 1999
For someone just starting out in the sales business or someone that has been doing it for years, this book will be considered your bible. It gives you over 200 pages of pure useful information that you can put to test immediately. If you want to learn cold calling, scripts, techniques or just where to start, then this book is guaranteed to give you all the information you need and then some! Try it and see for yourself. No telephone salesman should be on the phone without first checking out this book. IT'S GREAT!

Common sense advice that works, 11 Jun 2008
Looking at the other reviews here, several of them are overly harsh, cynical even.

I hate cold calling and as I have to do a fair amount of it, I thought I would seek advice. Schiffman's book is full of good advice, interesting anecdotes, and provides you with easy-to-implement guidelines on how to improve your calls-to-appointments ratio.

The first person I got through to after reading the book and preparing a script agreed to a meeting straight away. Unlike the other reviewer who was very scathing about the golf analogy, I happen to think it a perfect for the cold call environment - it is basically saying if you carry on as you are (hitting the ball/cold calling) you will get some appointments/hit some fairways. However if you are trained properly, and are prepared to stick at it, no matter how uncomfortable you feel at the beginning, your performance will increase dramatically.

I actually bought this and "Telemarketing, Cold Calling and Appointment Making: How to Win Business Through the Telephone (Easy Step By Step Guides): How to Win Business Through the Telephone" - if you ask me, Schiffman's book is far, far superior.

For anyone that does a lot of cold-calling, is open-minded enough to admit they can improve, and is prepared to follow the advice through the painful change process, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly.



Typical American twaddle, 21 May 2008
I ordered several of this type of book in the hope of assisting my call centre staff with different techniques and I found this one to be the worst. Some of these self help sales books are so poor that I am thinking of writing one myself as I know I could do much better.

Starts off in the first chapter with the writer talking about his golf swing and how he perfected it. How uninteresting, how typical of an old fat American businessman. I can just see the writer now in his checked trousers and huge belly swinging his clubs and pontificating about himself and how great he is at telesales.

Some of the statements are quite barmy ie to quote 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales, I repeat 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales' Who decided this? in my experience if you do nothing you get nothing? Prospective reader - This is what you will have to contend with in this quite poor book.

All the sales described in the book appear to be to make an appointment and then make a sale face to face at a later date, but in many cases appointments are not made as the sales is closed via the phone. I would say this book is dated in focusing solely on appointments to make a sale. I would hazard a guess that the writer is not able to offer real advice on telesales at all.

Then we have the famous Harvard professor thrown in for good measure, asking "Why do businesses fail?" Lack of Sales!!! How many books repeat that obvious mantra? This book is not worth the money - there are better books out there. This one is rubbish.

Should be read before the cold calling is started!, 22 Mar 2005
The book is excellent written, always interesting and good hands-on tips of how to improve the cold calling techniques. I especially like the cocky ending where he promises the money back if the cold calling is not improved by reading the book!

If you've never made a call before..., 03 Sep 2004
...it might be useful. I don't want to steal the author's fire but the book simple advises you to say "Hi, this is John Smith and from XXX and I'm calling to book an appointment about...". And that's about it. If your industry doesn't suit that sort of 80 calls a day with a 2% hit rate style (ie any industry other than toner refill) then it's of limited use. Too simplistic.

This is one of those books that you hear good things about but is a dissapointment.

The best telephone selling book I have ever read, 07 Jan 2003
A new salesperson in my job will typically have a calls:appointments ratio of 40:1, I did when I started. Satisfactory performance is 20-25:1, which I got to within a year. I currently have a ratio of 11.75:1 and have had for the last two years as a result of using Schiffman's technique. I saw an immediate improvement from the moment I read and understood what he recommends, and have been able to refine it ever since.

It's not a script, it's a client centred approach using common sense business langauge. It's not American-only, it works in a UK market (see figures above) and it beats several other approaches I have tried (before and after using this one).

On the strength of this book, I bought Schiffman's '25 Sales Habits...', which is also a short read with some good tips.

Buy 'Cold Calling Techniques...', use it, see your figures improve.

Smarter Pricing - a major contribution from a recognised authority, 15 May 2007
Tony Cram has done it again.This is his third book and is undoubtedly the one to buy on pricing. He has used his extensive knowledge of the subject and his characteristic depth of insight to argue persuasively for a new approach to the whole area.As always his research has been meticulous and he has selected up-to-date material to illustrate his points. The book is full of ideas and packed with clear analysis. It is written in Tony Cram's hallmark style - superbly accessible and delicious to read. This is a major contribution from a recognised authority in the field. It should be read and savoured, but above all, it should be acted upon.

Smarter Pricing is aimed at practising managers but will also be very useful to MBA students. For a second book look at McKinsey's "Price Advantage"(2004) - some of the older texts could do with updating.

Good introduction, 18 Jan 2007
The book really skims over much of the details - a far more structured approach to pricing can be found in "The Price Advantage" from McKinsey and the ultimate book is "Power Pricing" by Dolan (Harvard) and Simon (Simon, Kucher & Partners).

OK but there are better pricing books, 19 Oct 2006
Smarter pricing by Tony Cram is fine (and well-written) as far as it goes but is very thin - fine if you want to get an introduction to pricing but not adequate if you're looking to implement a pricing project for your company. Power Pricing by Dolan and Simon is good for the later objective - really goes into detail about the merits of different research technigues, estimating user price response, identifying differentiated pricing offers etc. Written very clearly in laymans terms.

Real world pricing guide, 15 Mar 2006
Excellent book, easily readable with a comprehensive scope and loads of great examples from every industry and part of the world. I like the Customer - Competitor - Company structure. The five minute guide in Chapter 13 is the most thumbed section of my copy!

This is a first class book!, 19 Jan 2006
It is so refreshing have someone stand up against the tide of ever cheaper and cheaper. I have read previous books by Tony and again, really easy to read and packed with nuggest of gold.
The further reading secions are an exellent resource to delve deeper into the topic. I particularly like chapter 9 on setting the pricing structures and segmenting the market.

Buy It!!

Solely written for American QVC channel - useless for UK market, 10 Oct 2008
Although everyone likes to read a success story this book is totally geared to the QVC channel in the States so all the resources, contacts and links are of no use to the UK market. In fact in the whole book there is just one mention of the UK market and that is to say that the author had far less success over here selling only 25% of the volume he sold in the States.

Common sense advice that works, 11 Jun 2008
Looking at the other reviews here, several of them are overly harsh, cynical even.

I hate cold calling and as I have to do a fair amount of it, I thought I would seek advice. Schiffman's book is full of good advice, interesting anecdotes, and provides you with easy-to-implement guidelines on how to improve your calls-to-appointments ratio.

The first person I got through to after reading the book and preparing a script agreed to a meeting straight away. Unlike the other reviewer who was very scathing about the golf analogy, I happen to think it a perfect for the cold call environment - it is basically saying if you carry on as you are (hitting the ball/cold calling) you will get some appointments/hit some fairways. However if you are trained properly, and are prepared to stick at it, no matter how uncomfortable you feel at the beginning, your performance will increase dramatically.

I actually bought this and "Telemarketing, Cold Calling and Appointment Making: How to Win Business Through the Telephone (Easy Step By Step Guides): How to Win Business Through the Telephone" - if you ask me, Schiffman's book is far, far superior.

For anyone that does a lot of cold-calling, is open-minded enough to admit they can improve, and is prepared to follow the advice through the painful change process, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly.



Typical American twaddle, 21 May 2008
I ordered several of this type of book in the hope of assisting my call centre staff with different techniques and I found this one to be the worst. Some of these self help sales books are so poor that I am thinking of writing one myself as I know I could do much better.

Starts off in the first chapter with the writer talking about his golf swing and how he perfected it. How uninteresting, how typical of an old fat American businessman. I can just see the writer now in his checked trousers and huge belly swinging his clubs and pontificating about himself and how great he is at telesales.

Some of the statements are quite barmy ie to quote 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales, I repeat 'If you do absolutely nothing you will get 30% of sales' Who decided this? in my experience if you do nothing you get nothing? Prospective reader - This is what you will have to contend with in this quite poor book.

All the sales described in the book appear to be to make an appointment and then make a sale face to face at a later date, but in many cases appointments are not made as the sales is closed via the phone. I would say this book is dated in focusing solely on appointments to make a sale. I would hazard a guess that the writer is not able to offer real advice on telesales at all.

Then we have the famous Harvard professor thrown in for good measure, asking "Why do businesses fail?" Lack of Sales!!! How many books repeat that obvious mantra? This book is not worth the money - there are better books out there. This one is rubbish.

Should be read before the cold calling is started!, 22 Mar 2005
The book is excellent written, always interesting and good hands-on tips of how to improve the cold calling techniques. I especially like the cocky ending where he promises the money back if the cold calling is not improved by reading the book!

If you've never made a call before..., 03 Sep 2004
...it might be useful. I don't want to steal the author's fire but the book simple advises you to say "Hi, this is John Smith and from XXX and I'm calling to book an appointment about...". And that's about it. If your industry doesn't suit that sort of 80 calls a day with a 2% hit rate style (ie any industry other than toner refill) then it's of limited use. Too simplistic.

This is one of those books that you hear good things about but is a dissapointment.

The best telephone selling book I have ever read, 07 Jan 2003
A new salesperson in my job will typically have a calls:appointments ratio of 40:1, I did when I started. Satisfactory performance is 20-25:1, which I got to within a year. I currently have a ratio of 11.75:1 and have had for the last two years as a result of using Schiffman's technique. I saw an immediate improvement from the moment I read and understood what he recommends, and have been able to refine it ever since.

It's not a script, it's a client centred approach using common sense business langauge. It's not American-only, it works in a UK market (see figures above) and it beats several other approaches I have tried (before and after using this one).

On the strength of this book, I bought Schiffman's '25 Sales Habits...', which is also a short read with some good tips.

Buy 'Cold Calling Techniques...', use it, see your figures improve.