How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling

Frank Bettger, as in "Bet-cher life" wrote the original in 1947. Frank sold life insurance. What a stormer. It was recommended on a Stuart Lotherington QUIS sales course. I bought the book a couple of days later. Frank's advice has been worth many times the cover price to me. So many rock-solid tips, backed up by well told stories: Keep records, and make time to plan; Shoot for the bulls-eye, find the most important reason for your customer to buy; Make appointments, take a recommendation, praise your competitors; Look great. A polished gem of a sales book, for anyone interested in helping others to come to great decisions. I loved it.

A classic that every salesperson and probably every single person, to be honest, should read. Yes it's got anecdotes. No it's not too fluffy. Vastly more valuable than modern business book fluff.

I read the first half of the book in two days, but maybe that's too fast to recall all the useful pointers in this book and apply them in my sales job. I did apply some of them on my first Monday back at work, and they work! Definitely worth the read, plus it was written by an obviously very modest and charming man. As it was written half a century ago the historical details you get here and there make the book even more pleasant. This does not distract from the main objective of the book, on the contrary, it validates the points the authoring makes even more as it makes the modern reader realise that humans don't change and neither does our human psychology.

Provides lots of useful hints

This is the perfect book if fear is holding you back. It gives you what sales people need more than anything - the ability to overcome your fears. With the right attitude we are far more likely to succeed and this book genuinely helps change the reader's attitude. It's also told in an engaging biographical format rather than a text book which means its easier to read and actually enjoyable. The price is also so reasonable you can't really go wrong!

I first read this book some 20 years ago and found it such a useful tool in my new career as a salesperson. The messages are clear and simple. For a book written 60+ years ago, it's as relevent today as it was then. I recently picked up my old copy and I've beed studying it and getting so much more from it. It's excellent. If you were my own brother, I'd say to you what I'm going to say to you now: Get this book, read it through, then go back and read it again, study it and take each piece of advice it gives, and you will certainly improve your performance and your life.!!!

A very interesting book about sales. A lot of the substance written in this book can be applicable to today's world of sales.

I read this getting on for 20 years ago. I hadn't been in sales that long and the simple advice and anecdotes/stories were very useful. It's amazing that the basics of the book are still so relevant so many years later. A great read for experienced and inexperienced sales people.

A nearly 100 years old book that still holds up to this day, most of the sales techniques you see today, but where they literally came from. A must read for anyone who ever faced a customer.

libro assolutamente fantastico. lo consiglio vivamente a tutti coloro che devono vendere.

Amazing book. Offer a lot of advice and learned alot. Will read it again soon to refresh myself as it was very powerful

Buen libro para un principiante como yo. Sincero, práctico y positivo. Me ha gustado y lo recomendaré a los miembros de mi equipo.

When I first saw this book, I thought to myself, "why would I buy a book that is so small compared to the others, and includes the word failure in its title"? Thankfully I purchased it anyway because it was one of the best books I've ever read. One that didn't even lull me to sleep since that's what happens when a book gets long winded. I was reading Tom Hopkins' book "How to be a successful salesman" and finished reading this book first! It's truly an amazing book because so much of the principles in it were written over 60 years ago, and it still can be applied today. I'm sure that many of those self help "gurus" such as Anthony Robbins or Robert Kyosaki (I think that's how you spell his last name) have read this book and basically plagiarized it's most important principles while calling it "there own ideas". It truly is one of the better books out there and believe me, there are plenty to choose from. Unfortunately, many of them are real losers but not this one. Mr. Bettger (pronounced bet-cher) uses some his own life experiences which is what makes this book such an easy read because he explains it with so much inspiration and enthusiasm. I guess it's because he uses some of the principles he learned from reading books by the REAL INSPIRATIONAL, if not the original gurus of self help, Napoleon Hill & Dale Carnegie. I tell you, when I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down. It makes you want to do something right away just as soon as you finish reading it. For example, I've been meaning to loose a little weight (ok maybe alot) for some time, but I never got around to doing it. As they always say, something would always come up. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Well after reading this book, I would've ran to the gym and signed up except that it was about 12 in the morning. So I signed up the next day. I am proud to say that I have lost about 10-12 pounds so far and I'm feeling like a melting snowman. You see my friends, reading this book isn't just for people who are looking for a career in sales. It's a book that inspires anyone who is looking to do something with his life that should have been done ages ago! You just needed that little push and this book can help give you that push. So for anyone who feels his life is in a rut or needs to get a little inspired, or if you're a litte broke and don't have the $10.40 for this book because you just spent $25.00 on the last Anthony Robbins book,(man there's so many of his books) borrow it from someone! I urge you to get this book. As I said before it's an easy read and you can even read it to your children because since it was written 60 years ago, it contains no foul language. And you can "bet your life" on that!