The Go-Giver Book Review - Buy it Now on Amazon
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea – Buy It Now on Amazon
After sitting down for a couple of hours and reading this book, I would highly recommend it for new salesman, those that have been in sales for a while or even seasoned veterans, people that are looking to uncover the secrets to the referral mindset and those looking to gain a good overview of what networking and referrals are all about.
I’ll give you the information from the inside flap, and then some observations from my point of view.
The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman.
Over the next week, Pindar introduces Joe to a series of “go-givers”: a restaurateur, a CEO, a financial adviser, a real estate broker, and the “Connector,” who brought them all together. Pindar’s friends share with Joe the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success and teach him how to open himself up to the power of giving.
Joe learns that changing his focus from getting to giving – putting other’s interests first and continually adding value to their lives ultimately leads to unexpected returns.
Imparted with wit and grace, The Go-Giver is a heartwarming and inspiring tale that brings new relevance to the old proverb “Give and you shall receive.”
To give you an example of the narrative of what I would dare say will become a classic in the personal development field…
Pindar smiled. “Please don’t misunderstand me. There”s nothing wrong with making money. Lots of it, in fact. It’s just not a goal that will make you successful.” Reading the bewilderment on Joe’s face, he nodded and put his hand up to signal that he would explain.
“You see,” Pindar continued, “the majority of people operate with a mind-set that says to the fireplace, ”First give me some heat, then I’ll throw on some logs.” And of course it doesn’t work that way.” Joe frowned, trying to parse the logic of Pindar’s example.
“You see? You can’t go in two directions at once. Trying to be successful with making money as your goal is like trying to travel a superhighway at seventy miles an hour with your eyes glued to the rear view mirror.”
——-
I liked the book. I started off wondering in the back of my mind as the story started where this parable would take me. I quickly discovered that it was heading in the direction I thought it would go. As you will discover in your sales career, things don’t always go the way you want them to… you will not land every account… and sometimes you’ll get the chance to land the ”Big Kahuna” as Joe called it… but fall short. But, if you take an active part, as Joe was requested to do, and follow a daily plan of following the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success I think you’ll come out on the other side of this book with a better understanding of how the referral process works and the untold riches that await you.
Peppered throughout the book is bits of wisdom, and insights into the referral mindset. If you are familiar with Bob Burg’s book, Endless Referrals, you’ll likely be familiar with Bob’s saying – “people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”
As so many books and articles you will undoubtedly read over your career about referral based selling and developing a referral network you’ll often come away saying to yourself something like… “Yea, that’s all fine and good, but I’m in a business where it’s almost impossible to get referrals.” And I would agree. There are professions and industries that don’t always lend themselves real well to receiving referrals. However, developing a giving mindset will lead you to greater riches; whether it be in your professional or personal endeavors and understanding the philosophy behind the giving without expecting anything in return will no doubt bring you untold riches.
The only part of the book… like most referral strategies that are taught or discussed, that absolutely got me shouting at the top of my lungs “Couldn’t you have found a better way to get this principle across…” was when the story focused on Debra Davenport the real estate broker. In that section, you”ll read about how Debra was a struggling broker, in fact, after a year in real estate sales, had yet to close on a home. She was giving a speech and telling the audience about how she learned a thousand closes, and none of them worked, and well I won’t give away what she said was the turning point in her career, but I will say this. The biggest rub I have with teachers of referral based selling is they try and tell you to ditch the closing techniques. Bah, I say. I know better. You”re bombarded everyday with sale closing techniques. And the reason is simply this. They work. Yea I know, if Bob were to read this post, he’d try to explain to me that if you’re coming from a giving perspective, and you’re likable, and trusted, someone doing business with you is a foregone conclusion. We’ll I’ll only say this to stay away from that discussion. It’s better to have an understanding of all those closing techniques, and if you need to use them fine…because you’ll find it”s not always the easiest to earn a living solely on referrals. If the prospect rolls over because you come to them with a stellar referral and testimonial beforehand… then the easier your job will be… just don’t ditch all the other things you’ve been taught about sales.
It wasn’t until I finished the last chapter and got to the acknowledgments that I recognized why this book was such a good read. As the acknowledgment reads…
To our friends who read the manuscript at different stages and offered their insights, wisdom, enthusiasm and suggestions: Scott Allen, Shannon Anima, Brian Biro, George Blumel, Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, Angela Loehr Chrsyler, Leigh Coburn, John Milton Fogg, Randy Gage, Tessa Greenspan, John Harricharan, Philip E Harriman, Tom Hopkins, James Justice, Gary Keller, Pamela McBride, Frank McGuire, Dr. Ivan Misner, Paul Zane Pilzer, Thomas Power, Nido Qubein, Michael Rubin, Rhonda Sher, Brian Tracy, Arnie Warren, Dog Wead, Chris Widener and Lisa M. Wilber. And of course Bob Proctor, the stratospheric mentor to multitudes and the original inspiration for “Pindar.”
Now that”s a collection of names.
All in all, as I mentioned, if you are looking to get on the fast track to understand what networking and referral based selling is all about, you can’t go wrong with a read of this book.
Oh… and one more thing. Like all good stories should be … Joe did close the Big Kahuna… but not in the way you’d expect.
I give it a 4.5 thumbs up!
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
3 comments
Bob Burg on March 12, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Hi Rick, This is Bob Burg. First, I want to thank you for your very kind and well-written review of John David Mann”s and my book.
I”d like to comment about the part you wrote above beginning with . . . “The biggest rub I have with teachers of referral based selling is they try and tell you to ditch the closing techniques. Bah, I say. I know better. You”re bombarded … Yea I know, if Bob were to read this post, he”d try to explain to me that if you”re coming from a giving perspective, and you”re likable, and trusted . . . foregone conclusion…just don”t ditch all the other things you”ve been taught about sales.”
————————
Rick, I don”t disagree with you at all. If you read my first book, “Endless Referrals” (not meaning this as a plug; just providing context) you know that the entire book is a “how to system” complete with numerous scripts.
The point we were making in the chapter you referred to wasn”t that there is not a time and place for knowing how to close a sale, but that without the authenticity factor – without genuinely caring about the prospect”s wants, needs and desires, and without actually putting their interests firsts – the close will come across as “me-oriented” instead of “other-focused.” Buyers are more sophisticated today than ever before (which is good). And, they don”t want to feel as though they are being . . . what we call, “techniqued.” That will ruin any type of rapport (and trust) you”ve developed.
However, when one does possess the type of authenticity discussed in the chapter, their ability to utilize the “skills of selling” – which are indeed, as you implied, hugely important – are multiplied geometrically.
I don”t know if I was able to clear that up or not in this note. Again, both John and I do greatly appreciate your taking time to read and review the book. As a student of sales, a profession I consider to be among the most noble of all professions (I believe it”s the engine that runs a prosperous economy), it”s always terrific to know about someone else who has as much respect for the process as you obviously have.
Best regards,
Bob
admin on March 16, 2009 at 2:13 am
I”m honored you would take the time to respond and clear up your intentions on the authenticity chapter. In the context of the chapter and the book, trying to explain what you just did in your response would break up the continuity and would indeed detract from the message. I couldn”t agree with you more about the authenticity factor and it”s relationship to the selling process. In fact, since I wrote the review, I”ve been trying to come up with an alternative story to get the point across, and I haven”t been able to. So you and John did a very good job of getting the point across.
Based on the Go-Giver, I did go out and purchase your Endless Referrals book, but haven”t started it yet.
As a side note, I handed the Go-Giver to my 13 year old son, and made it a required read. Even if he never touches a sales job, or owns his own business, I do believe if more people had the mindset laid out in your book, they will be a much better person because of it.
Bob Burg on March 18, 2009 at 8:54 am
Thank you, Rick. Wow – I really appreciate your response. Just the fact that you made it required reading for your son is something I take as a huge compliment!!
As an FYI, since reading your review I”ve realized I do indeed need to make sure that in my live seminars on The Go-Giver topic that I make it a point to explain what I did above. So, I truly thank you for pointing out to me that it needs to be clarified. Just as I make sure to explain that the opposite of a Go-Giver is not a go-getter, but a “go-taker.” That while Joe, at first was described as a frustrated go-getter, that”s only because he was also a go-taker instead of a go-giver
Again, thank you for everything, and for showing me where I was definitely falling short in my explanation. I know that John David Mann and I both appreciate it.