How I raised myself from failure to success in selling
by Bettger, Frank., Frank Bettger · first published 1949
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical, personal account of turning a failing sales career around, valued as a clear introduction to selling; recommended for founders, engineers and anyone who dislikes sales but needs to learn it.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…using both to become a much better listener. I started an interruption/swearing jar with my fiancé to break myself of those habits faster. It's tough but super rewarding. -learn sales. Frank bettger (how I raised myself from failure to success in selling). Dale Carnegie (how to win friends and influence people). -improve yourself. Sleep 8-9 hours. If you use an alarm clock you're doing life wrong :D, diet (quality and quantity. Whole > processed * 1000.…
on “Ask HN: What is a way of making residual income with $5K a month?” ↗…spending. So find out what kind of grants your clients opt for. Whats the average value of that grant. Is it a specific purpose grant? And fix your pricing accordingly. 2. Book recommendations: i. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling - by Frank Bettger (The best book on selling I've read) ii. Bag the Elephant - by Steve Kaplan (Book for selling to big clients) Jeffrey Gitomer books on selling are also good. 3. Selling Ideas Record…
on “Ask HN: How do I sell my expensive niche software w/ no sales background?” ↗1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini 2. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger 3. The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steven Gary Blank
on “Good sales books for hackers?” ↗Here's a start: me Mark Suster's blog's section on sales is pretty awesome! http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/on-selling/ ankeshk Not an article. But a book recommendation. How I raised myself from failure to success in selling. By Frank Bettger. http://www.amazon.com/Raised-Myself-Failure-Success-Selling/... superchihuahua - Hello! I´ve had the same problem and I´ve tried to collect some of these tips on how to sell and market…
on “Ask HN: Best sales articles and tips for people w/o sales experience” ↗1. The best book I've read on sales is: "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling"(1952) by Frank Bettger 2. Everything at Heavybit is excellent, their sales videos are very nice: http://www.heavybit.com/library/developer-sales And an must see video for me was: http://www.heavybit.com/library/video/2015-05-12-jason-lemki...
on “Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?” ↗Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman How I raised myself from failure to success in selling, Frank Bettger Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Daniela Meadows Most important thing is to get up and start doing stuff, understand how you personally f$$k things up and reap benifits of compound interest…
on “Ask HN: What three books impacted your career the most?” ↗How I raised myself from failure to success in selling - Frank Bettger. It's a classic. I think sales can be broken down into: 1. Foundation of being perceived as an authority 2. Lead generation 3. Persuasion and conversion 4. Re-sale Breaking it down…
on “Ask HN: How to learn sales?” ↗If it's a problem with talking to people and communication then one way to start would be to read some sales/communications books. --How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie --How I raised myself from failure to success in selling by Frank Bettger The more you talk to people the easier it gets. There's no magic pill. There are plenty of strategies and advice but the main thing is just to practice, and get out there and talk…
on “HN Request: Marketing and Sales for Hackers” ↗Not an article. But a book recommendation. How I raised myself from failure to success in selling. By Frank Bettger. http://www.amazon.com/Raised-Myself-Failure-Success-Selling/...
on “Ask HN: Best sales articles and tips for people w/o sales experience” ↗1. How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling, Bettger A good intro to sales, and a very good book on self-development. 2. When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management, Lowenstein A story about LTCM, one of the early and…
on “Ask HN: Recommend books that give you insight into other professions” ↗Sorry I know this is a relatively late comment, but I recently did a summary on Sam Altman's recommended reading list and I had a great time reading 'How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success In Selling (by Frank Bettger).' I actually provided a full book summary near this end of the post: https://photonlines.substack.com/p/sam-altmans-startup-advic...
on “I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?” ↗My wife had a startup which didn't get traction, because she didn't like selling. Then she learned selling, grew her startup and sold it successfully to a competitor. The book "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling" got her started.
on “Ask HN: How to learn to sell?” ↗…for recommendations, and have so far picked our the following books that have been suggested (i've already read The Secrets of Selling by Geoff King) * Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling * How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling - by Frank Bettger * Bag the Elephant - by Steve Kaplan Are there any other books that you would recommend for a small startup in our situation? Any help you can offer would be appreciated.
on “Ask HN: Recommended books for a sales newbie?” ↗for sales- frank bettger- How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling I mention it as a comment of this- as frank regularly quotes this book
on “Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?” ↗