Buy

Once my husband read this book, he finally understood what I have been telling him that is wrong with "the car business." Can you imagine, he is making his salesmen read it! I LOVE THIS BOOK!

This book was given to my wife as a birthday present from the principal of the high school where she is an english teacher.I read it and I was very inpressed.It actually helped me a month later when I went to purchase a vehicle for myself.Either change the title ladies,or include the men-we need help too.Anyway,thank you -it is helpful,and a great read.I am a sergent in the police force,and when I first brought this book to the station,my buddies kidded me--later, they thanked me and bought it for their wives.

Great read--nothing like this over the pond------I will see how this book works on the UK gents-------I recomend this book to all women all over the world-----------

This book is one we should all have to make a difference in the UNITED STATES. Everyone feels powerless to change the state of the union... well people, this is the way to go!!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK and will tell all my co-workers and family and friend to read it and take it with them on each and every shopping trip.
Thank you, Roger, for all your hard work in writing this and making people realize how you can "VOTE EVERYDAY WITH YOUR OWN WALLET".. lets hope everyone in the nation buys your book and uses it's formula for success

everyone should have this book!
i carry it in my truck with me everywhere i go.
The only thing that would make this book more useful would be to have a master list in the back in alphabetical order by product name.

Learn how your purchasing dollar can stay in the US. Did you know Skippy Peanut Butter was foreign owned, while JIF is owned by a US company. A great easy to read guide on buying American.

Let's face it. Most sales people we come in contact with drone on about what they think is gonna make you buy. Wahburn and Wallace have revealed profound conclusions of what customers want to hear, based on hundreds of research questionaires conducted with customers of highly successful companies. I've been in sales for 17 years and I gave up on reading sales books because they were not helpful. This one is different. It immediately helped me improve my presentation that I've been giving for the last 11 years. I thought it was as good as it was gonna get. Wrong. I'm making more money and saying what customers want to hear. Even better, more customers are saying what I want to hear. Buy the book. You won't regret it.

I refer to this book on a regular basis to train my sales force. It reinforces what we have been working on for several years AND the results are there. Great job Harry and Kim.

I am a CPA and Harvard MBA and have sold sophisticated tax shelters on a commission basis for years. This is one of the finest books on salesmanship I have ever read.

It is grounded in excellent theory, yet it presents the information in a simple manner that is easy to understand AND easy to implement.

The book focuses on two areas:

1) Know where your customer is in the buying cycle. a)Is he committed to do something yet, or not. b)Is this a repeat of a prior purchase or not? c)Is he evaluating alternatives? d)From whom will he buy the product or service selected? e)Is the price right?

2) Different personality types buy in different manners. The book describes three types. a)Commander (take-charge, action-oriented leaders) b)Thinker (logical, analyze details, and like knowing the answers), and c) Visualizer (practical, intuitive, see things as they are).

A buyer is interested in certain information at each STAGE in the buying cycle. Additionally, each personality prefers to receive their information in a different manner. By recognizing the buying stage and the personality of the buyer you are trying to persuade, you can choose the most compelling arguments to make every time. This will avoid 90% of the turn-downs other salespeople get when trying to close a sale.

I have read other books classifying personalities into 9 or 16 types. Other authors define 8 or 11 stages of a sale. By using 5 stages in their DREAM sales cycle, and 3 personality types, I think Washburn and Wallace have done salespeople a GREAT service. These categories are well defined, easy to identify, and easily utilized to increase sales with their strategies.

Readers looking for more advanced strategies in these areas can try Kerry Johnson's "Sales Magic" and "Selling the Way Your Customer Buys" by Marvin Sadovsky and Jon Caswell. However, I feel Washburn & Wallace's "Why People Don't Buy Things" has the ideal mix of quality content which works, is easily digested, and implementable. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

This book is a must for anyone who loves food. Nine comprehensive chapters covering not only fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes, but also meat and poultry, fish and shellfish and dairy and eggs.

The chapter on Nutrition Basics is essential for anyone who wants to come to terms with food and how it relates to good health. Appendicies include a Cooking Glossary (which describes in detail baking, boiling, braising, poaching, pressure cooking, roasting, simmering, steeping, stewing, and on and on ...), Fats and Oils, and Herbs and Spices.

Subsections of each item include topics such as availability, shopping tips, storage, preparations and serving suggestions. Nutritional information boxes are included indicating calories, fat content, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, cholesterol and sodium. Also listed are key vitamins and nutrients.

Fascinating information is also included .. for example, the fruit/vegetable argument about tomatoes is not only settled definitively (botanically a fruit, specifically a berry) but we are also informed that as the result of a tariff dispute, it was officially designated a vegetable in 1893 by the Supreme Court of the United States ... Proving that the court's having their collective head up their robes is nothing new.

If you are serious about learning how to improve your relationship with food (and who isn't?) you've simply got to have this book. I've had mine since 1995 (I got it in conjunction with a subscription to the University of California at Berkeley's Wellness Letter), and I still consult it regularly.

I think that this book, along with Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" would be an excellent foundation for anyone who is serious about health and nutrition.

Everything you need to know, and easy to use. A must for every kitchen. Anyone interested in health and fitness will love this book.

Absolutely excellent! Every food I've ever looked up has been in this book. It includes thorough nutrition information on all foods. Every food listing includes the following sections: varieties, availability, shopping tips, storage, preparation, and serving suggestions. Also nicely illustrated, well organized. Fabulous resource. Can't wait for the 99 edition.

I found the book to be interesting and challenging enough to order a copy for each member of my management team. My take on this book is that it provides a great deal of insight into managing the evolution process. As with most management texts, the most interesting and exciting parts of that insight show up in the latter third of the book. I suppose you could skip the first 175 pages and still get the flavor of what RHR and Best Buy did, but I encourage you to read it all. The last 100 pages will be your reward for getting through the first 175.

Things I noted in particular:

1) Early in the book, the authors set up the concept of the Head, Heart and Hands. The Head talks about getting the concept. The Heart talks about motivation, the desire to apply what was learned. The Hands is about putting the concepts into action and producing results.

2)There is a lot of discussion about the role of the Senior Managers in this process, I suggest you test yourself against the model that develops and see if you meet the authors' expectations.

3)If you don't read any other part of the book, I ask you to read pages 216 and study the table on page 234.

4) On page 216 you will see "When people set out to measure the effects of change on business results such as productivity, sales, profit, and employee turnover, they are measuring the outcomes of a process. Measuring results does not provide much information on how the change is proceeding or what issues might be impeding or furthering the change process." We all certainly focus on a couple of the measures cited - to what extent do we sacrifice the longer view in doing so?

The authors got me with the following: "Knowing the score at the end of a game gives you limited information about how the individuals played, where they need to improve, or what's getting in the way of their achieving a better score."

Sound familiar?

Three interesting observations...
1) I'm surprised Best Buy management would allow these details to become public
2) I liked the way the consultants admitted they learned something, too
3) There are many paragraphs where one could change the name of the company from "Best Buy" to your company's name, and the text would apply to YOU.

Therer are lots of books on transformational change out there. Few if any compare to Big Change at Best Buy for its candor, its practicality or its thoroughness. The authors take the reader on a no holds barred 5 year journey. The guts of the company are laid bare for better or for worse as senior executives share their struggles, their doubts, their hard won successes on the road to true breakthroughs in perfomance.

This is fundamentally a book about how to improve your financial results by changing your formulas for success. The authors prescribe a "head, heart and hands" change methodology which not only makes sense intuitively, but seems to work when applied with care by a team of consultants and insiders working closely side by side.

This is no oversimplified cookbook. The ins and outs of change are detailed in a very practical straightforward manner, leaving few stones unturned. Metaphors and analogies are used liberally to help readers get a 3D color picture and to enable them to generalize the issues faced at Best Buy to their own organizations.

Tips on how to fail at each stage of the process are very instructive in what not to do....as are the many colorful quotes from menmbers of the internal change implementation team.

This book feels real...lots of conflicts, values needing to be clarified, lessons learned about change. No sugar coating, but a happy ending nonetheless.

True change seems like it never comes without a struggle. Big Change at Best Buy chronicles both the struggles and the victories won, leaving little for the reader to imagine or reconstruct. It's all there, all the tools and the instructions for how to use 'em to fundamentally transform people, systems and culture for superior financial results.

And, no, that's NOT a typo.

While every Writer's Digest Books "Market" title is a valuable source of information about who to contact and what to send, the reputation is slightly tainted with this year's edition of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. The very same guide that admonishes the hopeful author and illustrator to dot every "i" and cross every "t" is riddled with the kinds of typographical and grammatical errors that send one's dreams to the dreaded slush pile.

Examples:

"Paula Danzier collaborated with friend Ann M. Martin for 'P.S. Longer Letter Later' and it's (sic) sequel 'Snail Mail No More.'"

"Her book is a first-person account of three days in the life of Memphis Riley, a thirteen-year-old girl who has lived with her grandmother Naomi four (sic) five years. . ."

". . .and also deals with sibling rivalry from the point of view of an 'only dog' dealing with the edition (sic) of a new baby."

Throughout the book, the reader is constantly exhorted to put together a professional, error-free presentation but that advice can be a little disheartening when one's own Bible doesn't practice what it preaches.

If you want to find out where to submit your novel or story, there's no doubt that Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is about the best place to look. Unfortunately, despite the 2000 edition's claim of containing 250+ book publishers, the number I found suitable for a fantasy novel was pathetically small. A publisher for children that doesn't have a fantasy list has always seemed to me like a butcher shop without sausages, a hot bread shop without French loaves, a sweet shop without toffees ...
However, this is a publishing fault rather than a criticism of the book. My only criticism of the book itself is that you have to shelve out somewhere in the region of US$22 every year. Using last year's edition could land you up addressing your package to the wrong editor.

What's to say about Children's Writer's and Illustrator's market? If you write or illustrate children's books you have to have this book. A library edition won't do because this book has to have yellow highlighting and colored tabs applied! and then too, it needs to be constantly updated as new information arrives about which editor is working where and which publisher is still in business. No, every writer and illustrator needs their very own copy!

This book has caused me to re-think the process of selling. It's revolutionary! Probably one of the top five books on business I've ever read.

The principles of the book are so simple, when followed, they become second nature.

Mr. Willingham writes in a style that's not boring or technical-sounding.

Read this book. It's well worth the price.

After more than three decades of searching out the top books on leadership and sales, I must say that this new volume is the best that I have discovered, especially in these times when genuine care and consideration for the customer is a prime ingredient in forming and growing a meaningful relationship. Trust is the foundation for Integrity Selling in the 21st Century ... and Ron Willingham has encapsulated the essence of doing it right and doing it well. This book belongs on every business leader's desktop and the principles belong securely planted in their hearts.

If you are in sales and you want a system that truly focuses on the needs and wants of the prospect, this book is for you. It'll help you feel good about what you do and, more importantly, it'll help your customers feel good about what you do.

You'll position yourself as someone who genuinely wants to do what's best for the customer, and that will make you easy to do business with and easy to refer to others.

I've worked with this system since Ron's first book came out. Sales people of all experience levels have the same response - this works and people buy because they know I am interested in them. This book is better than the first one, and in my opinion will increase your production through providing value to the customer.

Dragonsinger is the second book in the Harper Hall Trilogy and is the sequel to Dragonsong. It starts right after the previous book ends, with Menolly arriving in Harper Hall a-dragonback. There she begins her musical education with the masters of music. Menolly always thought that harpers would be different and that she would fit in among them, but she finds that people are the same wherever you go. All of the other girls are jealous of her musical talents and do not want her living in their cottage. The boys insist that she has no place with them and her nine fire lizards make her stand out even more. Still, she is Masterharper Robinton's special apprentice and he seems to believe in her and to love her new songs. As Menolly struggles to find her place among the harpers of Pern she will discover much about herself, as well as the remarkable secrets about fire lizards and eventually find an honored place among the Harpers of Pern.

Even though I have enjoyed all of McCaffrey's books, the Harper Hall trilogy has always been my favorite. I first read this book when I was in junior high school and simply loved it. I have read my copy time and time again. McCaffrey has a nice, smooth writing style with great descriptions so readers will have no trouble visualizing the life on Pern. She also does a nice job of throwing in little recaps so that those who have not read Dragonflight and Dragonquest can still understand what is going on. I simply loved the world of the Harpers and think that any reader of fantasy will enjoy this enchanting series.

Interesting to find out "Dragonsinger" is the fourth book in Anne McCaffrey's Pern series because I have always thought of it as the middle volume in the Harper Hall of Pern trilogy. In "Dragonsong" we met Menolly, my favorite character in the entire Pern universe. A musical prodigy who has been forbidden by her stern father to sing or play music, Menolly runs away and ends up impressing a clutch of nine fire lizards. But Masterharper Robinton has been searching high and low for her and having found her, brings Menolly to the Harper Hall. In "Dragonsinger" Menolly begins to learn her craft as an apprentice. The Harper Hall is not sure what to make of the island girl and her singing fire lizards, but Menolly is equally astounded by her new world. Menolly is one of the most enchanting heroines in fiction, mainly because the girl has not a clue in the world that she is so talented. After just about every test she is convinced she has failed, convinced that her only friend in the world is Piemur, another one of the young apprentices, and amazed that Robinton takes any interest in her at all. But it is Menolly's encounters with the other Masters, especially Jerint the instrument maker and Domick the composer, that stand out in this tale. Oh, and there is also Journeyman Sebell, who has also taken a special interest in her. "Dragonsinger" is a fitting conclusion to the story begun in "Dragonsong," and since the "next" volume in the trilogy, "Dragondrums," really focuses more on Piemur, this is really the climax to the story of Menolly. McCaffrey's conclusion is extremely satisfying and my only serious complaint about the Pern series after "Dragonsinger" is that Menolly has been reduced to a minor supporting character. One of the nice things about these books is that they are fairly self-contained, you do not have to read all the Pern books in order for them to make sense. I would think young girls who love music would especially enjoy reading these novels.

In Dragonsong we were first introduced to Menolly. But in Dragonsong we know her as the misunderstood girl at her father's sea hold. In Dragonsinger we come to know her as the happy girl at the Harper Hall, where all the best music is. Menolly is by far the best apprentice harper in Harper Hall, which may be her biggest trouble. When everyone but another apprentice named Piemur hates her for her ease at playing even the most difficult of songs jealousy begins to be a part of her daily life.

In my opinion this is the very best of all the Pern books.

I know that there are lots of books on selling - but this one is one of the best I have ever read. It not only gives a clear picture of how the buyer thinks, but shows the seller how to assist the buyer in their quest to make a GREAT decision.

The author's insight and understanding of the sales process shows why he is one of the top financial advisors in America. It is a wonder more people who want to be world class have not read this book.

I would think any sales trainer would use this book as their guidepost to selling. Terrific book - a terrific read.

A spectacular discussion on selling psychology. It is easy to see why this author has been so successful in sales. The book goes into great detail about the buyer's motives and how the seller needs to recognize those buying signs.

There are hundreds (thousands?) of books now in print which offer information and counsel concerning the sales process. In essence, that process involves cultivation and then solicitation but first an important decision must be made: Whom to cultivate? (In retail sales, obviously, anyone who walks in the door is a prospect.) When conducting workshops for salespersons, I strongly recommend that participants formulate criteria which describe what they consider to be their ideal customer. This profile should direct them to prospects which most closely match up with the criteria. Next I point out that the ideal customers they now have can -- and should -- comprise an extended sales force, serving as referral sources to generate leads. My point is that, except in retail sales, those who sell should select their prospects...not the other war around.

Baker's background is in financial services which presumably require extensive education to understand the specific products and services to be offered prior to the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of prospective buyers of those products and services. The title of his book suggests that understanding motivation (i.e. "hot buttons') is an essential part of the salesperson's preparation and indeed it is. He takes a direct and personal approach to his reader as if he has been retained to provide to the reader a combination of mentoring and coaching services. He carefully organizes his material within 12 chapters, skillfully "Tying It All Together" in the final chapter.

This book be most valuable to those who are new to sales or now considering a career in sales; also to sales managers, especially those who supervise others who are relatively inexperienced. To the former, Baker offers sound basics with a rationale for each; to the latter, Baker offers reminders of basics. (Working as I frequently do with sales managers, I am astonished by the fact that so many of them do not have a sufficient understanding of those basics.) I also recommend this book to another group which Baker may not have had in mind when writing it: Those in executive (non sales) positions who are frequently required to persuade others to support an idea or course of action. By now I am convinced that almost everyone involved in business is constantly selling, themselves if nothing else...and most do it ineffectively. Almost all of the strategies and tactics which Baker recommends can be as beneficial to those not in sales as to those who are.

Individual salespersons as well as organizations need a business plan which is cohesive and comprehensive; also one which prudently allocates resources, especially time and energy, where they will generate the greatest ROI. Given the complexity of the general subject of salesmanship, the art and science of ethical persuasion, it makes sense to consult several different sources (including Baker's book) and then cherry-pick whatever is most appropriate to your own specific circumstances (needs, interests, weaknesses, goals, etc.). Here are some other excellent sources: Dick Canada's The 24 Sales Traps and How to Avoid Them, Linda Richardson's Stop Telling, Start Selling, Paco Underhill's Why We buy, and Gerald Zaltman's How Customers Think.

... I started out with thte harperhall trilogy and i found that AMAZING! Her style is just so good, she keeps the chapters flowing nicely into each other. And romance laced with the excitement! I spent the whole day reading Dragonsong! Well, I got hooked!

I had final exams and couldn't read as much but I finished the rest of the HarperHall trilogy right after. I started the dragonriders of pern series and Dragonflight was just plain good!

The book is about Lessa who had to hide and pretend to be a drudge when her family was murdered by Fax, a ambitious man who controlled seven holds. She came out of hiding to announce her birthright to Ruatha Hold. But she met F'lar who told her she could be a dragonrider. Thus begins a plot of romance (with F'lar of course!) and saving all of Pern. Yes, I love romance!

I have finished the next two books, Dragonquest and The White Dragon. They too are marvelous books and I plan to get those three for Christmas. They too are great with of romance (F'nor and Brekke, Jaxom and Sharra) and excitement.I have a goal to finish the rest of the Dragonriders trilogy.

I never really had a favorite author but now I can for certain say that Anne McCaffery is my favorite author! But I still don't have a favorite book yet because..... There's too many Dragonrider of Pern books to pick from!

I really hope more people will read this book...

I only got acquainted with Anne McCaffrey this year, I am affraid. My first book by this author wasn't even related in any way with the Chronicles of Pern but it introduced me to an author who has now become one of my favorites. I had heard of these series of books and heard people talking of them. Living in Portugal as I do, you cannot find books as well as you can in the United States or in England, for example, and I had to read this series in English, which I did not mind at all. But it took a lot of searching...

The fact is, it was worth it. In no time I had become an addict to this author's works and when I first read Dragonflight, I was hooked on the marvellous world Pern was and the amazing relationship between man and dragon, a relationship based on love and trust... and necessity. This is an amazing introduction to a world and a society brought to us by the imaginative mind of Anne McCaffrey.

Lessa is of the Ruatha Blood and when her Hold is conquered by the greedy High Reaches Holder Fax, she sweares vengeance. Working as a drudge, plotting the death of Fax, with a watch wher as her only friend, she grows up for ten Turns with the thought of regaining her Hold from Fax's hands. During the Dragonriders of Pern Search, she sees the opportunity to get rid, once and for all, of Fax. But instead of becoming Holder of Ruatha, she is given the choice of becoming Weyrwoman in the only Weyr left. The Dragonmen of Pern are sworn to fight Thread, the threat which plagues the wonderful world of Pern, a threat long forgotten as it has not returned. But the pass of the Red Star promises the return of the Thread, even if only F'lar, rider of Bronze Mnementh, believes the time has come. In the Weyr a last Golden Egg of a Queen lies, awaiting hatching, when Impression will be made (the total empathic connection between man and dragon), awaiting a Weyrwoman to take the place of the old and a new Queen to reborn the Dragonrider's of Pern who will need all their courage and strength to fight for the future of their world. Will Lessa and F'lar succeed when the Dragonriders have fallen into disgrace to the eyes of the Holders? When a threat is no longer perceived as existent, how can one hope to protect themselves? When hope is lost... there is a spark that will brighten and bring hope back... a spark in the hands of the Dragonriders of Pern...

I highly recommend this book, the first of a worldwilde cult of the amazing chronicles of the Dragonriders of Pern.

Elves shooting bows, dwarves built like solid stone, and wizards enchanting little creatures with magical spells. Doesn't all that fantasy stuff get kind of boring after awhile? Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, Sword of Shannarah, and many others are all the same, just with different names in different places doing different things. For the first time, I have finally read a fantasy novel that is different. With unimaginable imagination, author Anne McCaffrey creates a whole world of fantasy very different from the traditional styles. With realistic descriptions, complicated twists in plots, and a great, drawing style of writing, the author takes you on a journey you'd never thought existed. With the idea of dragons and humans as the main figment of fantasy in this novel, Anne McCaffrey combines just enough modern day sci-fi with medieval fantasy to create one great novel. Combining the ideas of dragons with a modern world where planets orbiting each other cause dangers, the author creates a magical world you would've thought had never existed. Not giving too much at a time, the author slowly draws you in and slowly, things become more and more clear as you near the end of the book. Many a time I have had to slap my head and say, "Geez! How come I never thought of that?" The complicated plot makes it hard for readers to guess the story and not get any delight out of reading it and being surprised by the answers they find to the plots. Though the book has a rather weak introduction and takes a while for the reader to get completely drawn into the world of Pern and it's dragons, it doesn't take long before you are unable to put the book down again. The suspense that the author creates at the climax of this book is amazing. I read for 5 straight hours through the climax because it was simply too fantastic to put down. I just HAD to know what happened next. Like an addiction, the book just draws you back and back like a magical spell was cast on you. Anne McCaffrey makes it seem so realistic that it's as if I was there throughout this whole adventure! After reading this book, I can't stop daydreaming day after day what a life on Pern with dragons would be like!