The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies

Don't be fooled by the title -- Chet Holmes has come up with some exciting ways to deal with business, not only in the sales arena but throughout the management structure. Take, for instance, his first issue -- time management. Chet's approach helps managers move from that "got a minute" form of management to a structured approach which not only frees up time, but makes it much more likely that the best ideas will actually get executed. It was worth reading just for this first section. If you're just looking for a quick read -- this is probably not it. Chet has packed it full of ideas and it will take some focus to really take advantage of everything that's here.

The beauty of this book is that all 12 of the concepts Mr. Holmes recommends are easy to understand and implement. The "secret sauce" of his book, pigheaded determination and discipline, is what will make his concepts (actually all concepts) work. Simple, results oriented, no business school jargon, all focused on a no "bs" approach. We are implementing the concepts in two of our companies and our establishing big goals for 2008. The challenging part will be to apply the "secret sauce" mentioned above. It's really what differentiates high performing companies from the also-rans.

This book was extremely useful because it broke sales and business growth down into a few specific principles, with examples of how to carry out the ideas in the book. Aside from the individual techniques, I got two main principles out of it: first, be focused on specific goals and don't be distracted by every passing idea. Intense focus is key. Second, success is in the action phase, in disciplining yourself and your team to take action. Doesn't matter how many brilliant ideas you have, if you aren't getting them done. I have no background in sales, in fact I suck at it. I'm a therapist in private practice in Chicago. I am already starting to see results by using the techniques in this book to get my message to hundreds of people I wouldn't have thought to reach, using ways of reaching them that I hadn't thought of. I'm really looking forward to the results that are already happening.

Chet Holmes knows his material very well and has the ability to not only say it concisely, but he can also present it in clear and memorable ways. He packs a whole lot of information into 245 pages and I am certain you can find more than enough useful information here to justify the price of the book. The title refers to the book's emphasis on fashioning your entire organization to support your sales and marketing efforts rather than just having a sales department. This makes a great deal of sense to me. Holmes starts with making sure that you, the reader and leader of your organization, are managing your own time most efficiently. The principles he lays down here also have resonance with the principles he will present later. Holmes also demonstrates the values and benefits of deep and ongoing training of all your employees. Some companies consider it a luxury and cut back on it the moment any trouble occurs. This is a mistake, according to the author. Training gets everyone on the same page, helps them be more efficient, and, when handled properly, motivates them to higher performance. Meetings consume way too much time. We all know that. Holmes shows you how to use them to greater effect in less time. He also talks about how you need to become a brilliant strategist and a great tactician. This is more easily said than done, but with what he provides you here, improvements are possible. Holmes then talks about hiring superstars rather than just staffing your departments, how to get the best buyers (not just customers), the seven musts of marketing - how to turbocharge your efforts, using compelling visuals to close more sales, and the nitty-gritty day-to-day work of going after those best buyers he talked about earlier. He then talks about deep selling, client bonding, and how to put it all together. Each chapter not only has its topic, it usually has a list of steps or a checklist, and a concluding section to summarize the points made and guides for implementation. It is a good read, a great reminder for those who are already experienced in this area, and will be a revelation for those who are coming to running their own companies or sales efforts for the first time.