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“The Ultimate Sales Machine” by Chet Holmes

Books about sales are a dime a dozen, and I’ve reviewed several dollars worth. Most of them try to pump you up, then give you several thousand great-sounding-but-vague-and-close-to-useless tips on how to get more prospects and close the sale. This book is different.

According to The Ultimate Sales Machine, successful selling is NOT about doing 4,000 things well – it’s about flawlessly doing 12 specific things 4,000 times with “pigheaded discipline and determination.”

In this book, Chet Holmes focuses squarely on the fundamentals: (1) make the best use of your limited time; (2) institute high standards and individual employee training; (3) hold regular company meetings to inform and train your employees as a group; (4) develop your core story and educate your customer; (5) attract and hire superstars; (6) target your very best prospects; (7) perfect your marketing tactics; (8) perfect your presentation; (9) perfect your company’s sales process; (10) perfect your personal selling skills; (11) bond with your client via follow-through and follow-up; and (12) set aggressive goals and systematically measure your performance over time.

The Ultimate Sales Machine is one of my favorite sales books of all time for a simple reason: it’s based on the author’s personal experience of improving the sales of hundreds of companies over many, many years. You won’t find fluffy theory in this book – just 12 clear priorities that will help you improve your profit margins and make more sales.

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