YOUR PSYCHE UNLEASHED

Cowan outlines principles of salesmanship distilled from a lifetime in the business.

Drawing on his more than six decades of selling and sales management experience, the author shares his vision of the best principles and practices of sales (concentrating on one-on-one interactions rather than group sales, telephone sales, or the internet) and proposes ways that salespeople can adapt their psyches to improve their sales. As Cowan notes at the outset of his nonfiction debut, the general public tends to view sales and salespeople in a less than favorable light, evidenced by the fact that very few institutions offer university-level training in salesmanship. “We all recognize that to travel the same road we have traveled for a long time is quite comfortable,” he writes, invoking Robert Frost’s famous poem. “To choose a road less traveled takes courage and faith to meet new and exciting challenges.” Central to much of the author’s advice about selling is an emphasis on good interviewing, which often boils down to the art of listening. “Too often,” he observes, “the salesperson who loves to talk can’t wait for the prospect to stop talking so he can talk more.” Cowan includes not only diverting cartoons and sketches of some of the people he references but also affectionate stories about individuals who’ve shaped his own journey in sales. This is in line with the warmly personal tone he adopts throughout the book; there’s an enormous amount of wisdom conveyed, but it’s all delivered in such an invitingly personal way that the reader will feel encouraged rather than lectured to. (The author’s stress on listening as the true basis of trust is refreshing in a professional world that loves to hear itself talk.) Cowan’s focus on individual psychology is equally thought provoking as he posits that, in order to be truly good at what they do, salespeople should understand themselves before they try to understand their potential customers.

A richly personal view of improving the interactions at the heart of sales.