Everyone knows what they should be doing in Sales. I’ve never met anyone that thought they should prospect less. Almost everyone knows that they aren’t as efficient as they should be. Everyone knows that they aren’t as disciplined or as structured as they should be. The trick is to find a book, program, mentor, coach, colleague or boss that will motivate you to do the things you know you should. That’s hard to do in a book format, but Jeb does his best to reach out of the pages and slap some prospecting sense into the common sales person.

52 Weeks of Book Reviews. Week #33 – Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling by Jeb Blount @salesgravy

Jeb has a very straight forward no nonsense type of approach that appeals to me. He’s not as crude or in your face about his methods, but he’s still very passionate and doesn’t mince words. You have to prospect and you have to prospect a lot. You can definitely be smarter about it, but being smarter doesn’t mean you do it less, it just means your results are better. I haven’t read Jeb’s other books, but I’ve been aware of salesgravy.com for a few years now and he’s been slowly but surely creeping into my sales consciousness.

I’m amazed at how he took what easily could have been a chapter in a lot of other books and expanded the idea into a complete book. The message is clear and every word in the book is written to convey that message. Despite what you would think, the book doesn’t get repetitive or dry in fact, it’s upbeat and Jeb manages to stay the course and describe many different angles of the message.

What is Fanatical Prospecting? Why should you do it? How do you do it? Jeb provides the answers and does so in a way that appeals to a wide audience. Many people forget the “Why” of why they work so hard. Jeb tries to remind you of your “Why” and then motivates you to take action. He lays out clear paths and lets you know the pitfalls to avoid. Social Media is a tool, it’s not considered prospecting, though. Pick up the phone and say hello to someone. Jeb gives the advice and then lets you know why he gives that advice and then gives reasons that you should listen to it before he gives it again.

I don’t expect you to be motivated to change your habits with my words alone, pick up this book and really dive in. You’ll find something to motivate you into action.