Triggers: 30 Sales Tools you can use to Control the Mind of your Prospect to Motivate, Influence and Persuade.

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Summary: Powerful Triggers
Review: Before I read this book, I didn't have so much expectation on it. However, after I read the first cheapter, I realized that I could learn a lots on it. As a salesperson, it is necessary for us to understand our prosepcts, and use some methods to sell our products. After I read the book, I learn a lot of triggers to understand the prospects and use different ways to sell the products. Of course, some of the triggers in this book have been used by ourselves, but we couldn't find that we have used such triggers. In this book, some of the triggers can be used together so as to make the result better than just by using one.
Psychological trigger is a powerful concept, it can help us to understand more about our prospects and have ability to improve in our selling

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Summary: Marketing Copy Monarch: How He Sold 20 Million Blublockers
Review: Do you ever first get a book at the library to decide if it's worth buying? I'm going to save you a trip to the library. What if someone gave you a selection of strategies that tickle a reader enough to send him or her giggling to the cash register? You would simply follow each strategy's lead to create high-impact literature that sells your book. Do you recognize the name Joe Sugarman? BluBlocker sunglasses was the biggest of dozens of successful products Joe has sold by writing copy that has prospects digging for their credit cards. And in TRIGGERS, Joe is going to teach you exactly what it takes to motivate your browser to become a buyer.

TRIGGERS is a masterful work of 30 psychological 'triggers' to round up these buyers. Joe explains, with some wildly entertaining stories, what strategies he has used for several decades to become the king of marketing copy. In the chapter on pricing he writes, 'The intensity of salivation in your prospect's greed glands will vary in proportion to the drop in price.' If you're familiar with the work of Jay Abraham and Dan Kennedy, this book will excite about how easily you can develop copy. Get TRIGGERS to develop your marketing pieces and supporting literature. This book won't sit on your shelf, you'll be too busy using it.

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Summary: Triggers
Review: I have read Mr. Sugarman's book and found it to be both helpful and insightful. Once I started reading it, I found it hard to put down. My company operates in the high tech arena and after reading "Scotts (no E-mail)" comments I couldn't disagree more. Mr. Sugarman, one of the nation's most respected authors in sales and advertising, offers no trickery but powerful techniques. My company has effectively used Mr. Sugarman's teachings from his other books, and speaking for myself I think this one is the best.

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Summary: Forget the Gun...Hit the Triggers!!
Review: Joe Sugarman wrote this book five years ago. It is as useful as if he wrote it today. There are things about people that never change. Their hot points are the same today as they were five years ago.
Joe knows his material through trial and error. Why not learn from his mistakes instead of making your own? Be years ahead!
Read what Joe says! I'm certainly happy I did!
Great for every salesperson! Even the best can improve!

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Summary: Outstanding! Triggers goes way beyond just selling.
Review: Joe Sugarman, the marketing genius who convinced us to buy over 20 million pair of BluBlocker sunglasses shares his priceless wisdom on how to influence anybody, in business as well as in our personal life. 30 sales tools (Triggers) are easy to use and very practical. My investment of $20 bucks went far. His Trigger #30 helped me generate $30,000 off one well written letter alone. For those who are serious and want to sell more, market better and communicate more effectively, I highly recommend you get Triggers, ASAP.

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Summary: Basic Premise: Emotion and not logic clinches a sale.
Review: Most experienced sales people and books will tell you that the sales process is an emotional one and logic plays only a secondary role. The author of this book (Joseph Sugarman) takes this concept to the next level and introduces 30 psychological triggers. These triggers (or sales tools) if used correctly by the seller will influence the buyer's state of mind and dramatically increase the chances of a sale.

The author takes these 30 important triggers and devotes a chapter to each and every one of them with clear explanations and examples of why and how these triggers work. Here are just a few sample triggers - Greed, Consistency, Product Name, Prospect Nature, Integrity, Storytelling, Objection Raising and Objection Resolution.

There are a few triggers that are very hard to dispute. The best example is the Exclusivity trigger. Almost every one of us falls for this technique if we are in the market for the product and can afford it. Sometimes, even when we are not in the market and can't afford it, we still seem to fall for this one.

There are a few triggers where I found it difficult to agree with the author on some of the premises. For example, in the chapter on the Sense of Urgency trigger, he states in so many words that it is okay to use some very bold tactics to create a sense of urgency if it looks like you are going to lose the prospect. The author even hints that you really don't have much to lose so it's okay to use certain tactics that I thought were inflammatory. The problem with this approach is that some individuals will never go back to the salesman or the company that hired the salesman. I think one has to consider the possibility that this could turn into a public relations and marketing problem.

But if you take some of the triggers and their explanations with a grain of salt, I think this is a great book overall.

After reading this book, I wondered why logic fails so miserably where emotion succeeds so easily in the sales process. I think the answer lies in the fact that the buyer has to be an expert in order to correctly apply logic and compare any two products. In most cases though, the buyer is not an expert and hence abandons logic and succumbs to emotional triggers in making a decision. Apparently, even in cases where the buyer is an expert, the chances of abandoning logic in the face of very strong emotional triggers are very high.

If you are new to sales, there is a lot you can learn from this book (as I did). If you have a decent amount of experience in sales, this could still be an interesting read.

Two things that struck me about the techniques in this book is that it can work beautifully in situations where you are selling products and in situations where there isn't a long term relationship involved. I am really not sure of the effectiveness of the techniques in this book in the services market and plan on experimenting slowly over time. I am also not sure if the techniques work as well in situations where the sales cycles are very long like in high dollar contract (whether it is a product or a service).

On a final note, I must say that the book is focussed on helping you close a sale but little attention is paid to the important aspect of negotiation. Anytime you are dealing with a high dollar item and the services market, negotiation becomes an integral part of the sales process. This is a very complex topic that is dependent on various factors including the cultural backgrounds of the individuals and companies involved. Overall, a worthwhile book to read to get an invaluable insight into the 30 psychological triggers. Good luck and enjoy learning from this book!