Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

The book is written with short chapters (most a few pages) so they are easily digestible throughout the day.

This is a great book, whether you're an MBA or just someone trying to get an advantage in everyday life. Harvey Mackay's lessons are to be treasured--he was way ahead of the curve in the mid-1980s. It may be hard to appreciate this today because some of the advice isn't fresh anymore: we all have phones in our cars and we all use answering machines to screen calls and we all take notes on the run on little portable recorders. --Well, many of us do, at any rate. Hardly revolutionary advice anymore, but that's only because we listened to Harvey in the first place.Some of the chapters contain gold that will always be valuable, however. One of my favorites involves the phrase "Dusseldorf passes." I won't spoil it for the unread, but I will say the lesson from that chapter is one everyone should take with them through life. It will save you a lot of money and regret.And the Mackay hiring process. So thorough it seems to border on the obsurd, but the more I work at various companies the more I wish all businesses were as picky about acquiring workers. Harvey shows you that even "lowly" positions such as the receptionist or secretary are among your company's most critical, for 99% of your customers will get their first impression of your company--and in some cases the *only* impression of your company--through this crucial individual. Yet many companies get some 18-year-old part-timer to answer the phones and file valuable company documents--*and they're proud of this cost-cutting maneuver!* They consider this smart management. Harvey explains why this is actually a very dumb move.He also shows you how to get "impossible" tickets to the big game and how to get a reservation at virtually any hotel, even ones that are "completely booked." And no, these are not devious ways. They're just common sense, actually.Whether you're an ambitious manager at a Fortune 500 company or an owner of a small businesses on the corner, this book has nuggets. So grab it. And then read the other books Harvey Mackay has written. While they didn't have the freshness or the impact of this first one (is that possible?) they are still well worth your time.

I am generally very skeptical about inspirational/ "how-to better your life" type of books because most of them teach very practical common sense (and many times seem to be taking their target audience to be naive idiots).Mackay's book is however, different. I heard this book on cassette during the drive from/ to work, and found it to give wonderful advise and examples of negotiations, determination, management and salesmanship. I noted that some of his techniques I have used successfully even before reading this book. His ideas have inspired me to finetune my techniques, as well as learn some other important pointers which I was too complacent to note. With an attractive price, this is without question a BEST BUY.

One of the first business books I read. There are a lot of basic business lessons in this book. My business partner and I have quoted him for years because his lessons apply to entrepreneurs, not just sales people.Most companies don't seem to know the first thing about customer service. This book will remind or teach you that the details are important if you want to keep customers coming back.

Are you are serious about getting ahead? You have to read this book. Don't listen to the "thubs up" guy if he would have listened to Harvey he would not be in the position he is now "2 years latter". Harvey gives the reader real life examples of how to get ahead in your life. If your looking to get ahead in your job read "Sharkproof" by MacKay. Harvey's writing style is great, you can't put the book down.... I have read all of Harvey's books and have went out and bought more to give to people I have met who want to get more out of their life and their job.... in fact I applied one of Harvey's story's to my own personal life and got a job starting out at 40K per year. I highly, highly recommend ALL of Harvey's books.