R.S.V.P. – The Key to Sales Success

A Motivational Approach to Selling, by James F. Evered; AMACOM; New York, New York; 1982; 232 pages; $14.95.

The Broadway producer, Sol Hurok, once said, “When people don’t want to come, nothing in the world will make them.” James Evered puts essentially the same concept on a more positive foundation when stating, “An individual who perceives the result as sufficiently favorable will react accordingly, and the behavior will happen.”

Although Mr. Hurok’s statement about human behavior may be the more memorable, Mr. Evered’s comments may be more to the point. In both cases, they’re talking about the same thing; the ability to sell a product or service rests squarely on a salesperson’s success at motivating the buyer into making a positive purchasing decision.

The major thrust of Mr. Evered’s book lies in not only showing how to motivate a buyer into a sale, but why it’s important to do so. That’s because, ultimately, the buyer persuades himself or herself into making a purchase based on a set of logical and emotional needs that must be filled. It’s the salesperson’s task to identify these needs and demonstrate how the product or service can help fill them. Or, as Evered puts it:

“…The key to motivating another person lies in the ability to determine the results he or she perceives as worthwhile. Don’t make the mistake of assuming what results you find most favorable will be the same for others. Every one of us has his or her own set of results he or she pursues.”

The author builds on this premise, offering salespeople a general track to follow when interviewing prospective buyers. He prefers to use the term “interviewing” because “the salesman who is genuinely interested in learning what is most important to the customer will conduct a sales interview, a two-way communication… and will more often result in a sale.”

Even though the book has two or three weak spots (telephone selling and prospecting; each deserve more than ten pages – or a broader range of references to other books on these subjects), these are more than balanced by several excellent points. The “RSVP” model sales track is certainly the key one. The letters stand for Result-Source-Verification-Persuasion, a memory-triggering device that encapsulates the techniques of motivational selling.

Another excellent concept highlighted in the book is the “price value” scale. Under this concept, the salesperson assumes that the customer strikes a balance between price of the product and its value. As Evered puts it, “If, in the customer’s mind, price outweighs value, there is no way you can close the sale…if, however, value outweighs price in his mind, that’s when you close the sale.”

I highly recommend this book to all salespeople – for newcomers, it should be a must reading. – Henry Holtzman

Best Selling Business Books

Here are the current top ten best selling books for business. The list is compiled based on information received from retail bookstores throughout the United States.

1. The Official MBA Handbook, by John Fisk and Robert Barron (Simon & Schuster…$4.95)
A satirical look at business, B-schools and MBA’s.

2. The Soul of a New Machine, by Tracy Kidder (Atlantic/Little, Brown…$13.95)
The creation and awakening of the micro-computerized age.

3. A Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi translated by Victor Harris (Overlook Press…$5.95)

16th Century swordmaster’s advice used by Japanese business.

4. William E. Donoghue’s Complete Money Market Guide, by William E. Donoghue with Thomas Tilling (Bantam Books…$3.50)

Comprehensive “how to” for money market investors.

5. Strategic Investing, by Douglas Casey (Simon & Schuster…$15.95)
A speculator advises on investments.

6. What Color is Your Parachute?, by Richard N. Bolles (Ten Speed Press…$6.95)
How to change careers and jobs.

7. Theory Z, by William G. Ouchi (Addison Wesley…$12.95)
A very important book about boosting business productivity.

8. Inflation Proofing Your Investments, by Harry Brownie and Terry Coxon (Warner…$3.95)
How to prevent dilution of invested capital.

9. You Can Negotiate Anything, by Herb Cohen (Lyle Stuart…$12.95)
How to gain the competitive edge.

10. How to Become Financially Successful by Owning Your Own Business, by Albert J. Lowry (Simon & Schuster…$14.95)

How-to techniques for budding entrepreneurs.