The 5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of Selling Your Message

It is a great book for those like me with not so much experience in sales.

I found this to be an excellent read and full of rich insights about how to customize the way we communicate. I read it on a single plane ride and it's already paid off for me on selling my ideas internally.

As a rule, I rarely pick up this genre of book. But given the fact that at the time "The 5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of Selling Your Message" was released I was earning my living in sales I thought that this might be a book worthy of my time and attention. And while "The 5 Paths to Persuasion" tends to focus on people consummating million dollar deals I still found the information contained within to be quite relevant despite the fact that my average sale is in the hundreds of dollars rather than in the millions. In "The 5 Paths To Persuasion" Robert Miller and Gary Williams classify decision-makers into 5 distinct categories. Chances are pretty good that most of us have had dealings with each type of individual at some point in our working lives. You will learn the charactoristics of Charismatics, Thinkers, Skeptics, Followers and Controllers. The information contained in this book will assist you in identifying which one of these groups a current or potential customer might belong to. Furthermore, if you are hitting the proverbial "stone wall" with a particular customer you just might be able to devise a new stategy to deal with that individual based on the lessons taught in this book. The concepts presented here may also come in handy the next time you are angling for that promotion or a raise you feel you deserve. Knowing which category your boss fits into can be invaluable in those types of situations. I found "The 5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of Selling Your Message" to be a particularly well written book that commanded my attention from cover to cover. Recommended!

Miller and Williams (with assistance from Hayashi) provide a highly entertaining as well as informative explanation of why it is imperative to understand five different decision-making styles: Charismatic, Thinker, Skeptic, Follower, and Controller. It is important to understand, however, that someone such as Herb Kelleher who has a charismatic personality (and is included among the examples of Charismatics) ensures that associates rigorously examine whatever is proposed to him so that his impulsive tendencies do not result in bad decisions. This is a key point. Your initial approach to a Charismatic should take into full account an interest span which resembles that of a flash bulb: "Give the headlines first, stay grounded no matter what, address risks up front, and follow through, follow through, follow through." With a Charismatic, conclusions must come first and delivered as headlines and bullet points. "After they've grasped the big picture, they want to immediately talk about implementation." NOW. The way to make your point with a Charismatic is through freewheeling, open discussion. Aha! Got it! But wait. As Miller and Williams then explain, once the Charismatic seems convinced, be prepared for others (probably Thinkers and Skeptics) to protect their boss from making a poor decision. In fact, the boss requires them to do so. She or he knows the vulnerabilities of a Charismatic, as do they. A decision-making process must not be confused with the personality type of the decision-maker. "Charismatics expect you to wait patiently for them to make a final decision while they have others pore over the details of your proposal." It would be a mistake, therefore, to assume that the Charismatic's initial enthusiasm (albeit genuine) means that a final decision is imminent and favorable.Miller and Williams identify twelve attributes which are important in how people make decisions: Risk, Responsibility, Competitiveness, Rebellion, Impulsiveness, Persistence, Fear and Uncertainty, Self-Absorption, Playfulness, Education, Intelligence and Facts, and Bargains. Obviously, each of the five types of decision-maker considers (to varying degrees) all of the twelve and then attaches relative importance to them. (See page 11 for a "Summary of the Five Styles of Decision Makers.") Throughout their book, Miller and Williams explain how to prepare for a meeting with each of the five, then how to conduct yourself during that meeting, and finally how to follow-up. To repeat, decision-making is a process which frequently involves several different people who may well have differing styles. This is precisely what Michael A. Boylan has in mind (in The Power to Get In: A Step-by-Step System to Get in Anyone's Door So You Have the Chance to... Make the Sale... Get the Job... Present Your Ideas) when discussing "the circle of leverage" factor. It would be a mistake to assume that this book is primarily (if not exclusively) about closing a sale. In fact, its greatest valu

"The 5 Paths To Persuasion: The Art Of Selling Your Message" by: Robert B. Miller and Gary A. Willliams with Alden M. Hayashi, Publisher: Warner Business Books, ISBN: 0-446-53239-8, (...)Shades of Dick Tracy, Captain Midnight, Buck Rogers and all the Super-Heros of yesteryear! The 'Secret Decoder Ring' we used to decode the message from our heros is back and updated to help you succeed in business. What these authors have done is to put the 'decoder ring' of knowledge of how to sell anything to anyone into our tool box by characterizing decision-makers into one of five major categories, people who are either charismatics, thinkers, skeptics, followers, or controllers. They then spend the rest of the book clearly identifying characteristics of each of these 'individual s', identifying what they seek and what they avoid, then outlining exactly how you and I should go about persuading that class of person that you have the best idea, product, service, etc since the invention of sliced bread. At the end of each section there is a chart designed to help us prepare for our encounter with pre-meeting, in-the-meeting, and post-meeting plans. There's even an 'Approach Profile' for each type of person that list the topics to avoid and those that can help us close deals. In Part 3 the authors give us their 'Secret Decoder' information that helps us correctly classify the 'other guy'. There's even a section that helps you minimize classification errors. Oh, and by the way, if you are a decision maker for your company you might want to read this book to help you understand your own decision making processes to better serve your firm. After all, half the battle is won when you know what kind of weapons your competitor will be using. Great book. I give it 4 1/2 stars. (Only the Bible and the Constitution receive 6 stars.)