“How to Master the Art of Selling”

By Tom Hopkins

Grand Central Publishing (1976)– 292 Pages.

First published almost thirty-five years ago, Tom Hopkins’ seminal work, “How to Master of the Art of Selling,” is a must for not only every real estate professional, or even for every sales professional, but for anyone who has something to gain by learning the art of persuasion. Hopkins’ approach is not meant to be revolutionary or cutting edge, but timeless and classic, so it does not matter if you’re selling real estate, software, vacuum cleaners, or just yourself in a job interview: you need this book on your shelf.

Hopkins’s classic approach involves learning the basics of selling, drilling them into your mind and reinforcing them often: a great sales person needs to practice pitching and handling objections the same way that a great piano player practices scales everyday or how a professional basketball player needs to practice passing and shooting. Though Hopkins writes this for a large audience, one of his first pieces of advice is to concentrate on and hone in on what make you unique. “You are your greatest asset,” he writes on the first page, “Put your time, effort, and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset.”

Throughout his book, Hopkins explains and invites the reader to actively join in on practicing the seven basic tenets of sales: prospecting, making contact, qualifying the client, presenting, handling objections, closing, and getting referrals. He attempts to drill his advice into the reader’s mind by making the book an active experience, rather than a passive collection of advice. Hopkins wants to challenge the reader in the same way that he might challenge participants in his seminars or in the same way that sales, in and of itself, is a challenging profession.
While this book may not be the be-all-end-all of sales books because of its generality, it is a critical foundational tool–as well as a fun and easy read.

“How to Master the Art of Selling” is highly recommended by the 1MonthOP staff and can be purchased in the 1MonthOP.com Amazon bookstore.

This post was originally written by Miranda Nowak