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The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly? by Seth Godin
I participated in the Kickstarter campaign for Seth and his team. This is a picture of all the stuff that my donation included. That large book weighs twenty pounds and you can see by the ruler below how large it actually is. I'll probably review the book in the not so distant future but I just wanted to pass the word along on the book and show you these pictures.
Should you buy the book? Yes. I've already made that determination after reading about thirty pages. But here's another reason. I first began to read Seth's books in the late nineties. I've seen improvement in each book. Seth has sharpened his awareness, increased his resources and enhanced his writing skills (I have twenty pounds of proof of this). That's why I'll continue to buy Seth books, provided he's not writing on some uninteresting topic, for years to come.
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I wrote this for the Service Roundtable, the largest private contractor group of its kind in the country. I will talk below about the unbelievable pre-order value of Dan's book. But if you're a contractor and want to talk about unbelievable value, check out the Service Roundtable. The value you receive as a member is relentless and at first, a little overwhelming - because you've never experienced anything like it before.
You know how your salesmen are always trying to get on the good side of your install, service or ops manager? I had worked for and with one gentleman for eighteen years when I came to the conclusion that I must quit the company and industry and force myself to find another vocation. I spent the summer and our savings trying to figure it out. I couldn't. So, mentally defeated, I came back to the A/C business and to work as a service manager for a guy who was trying incredibly hard to succeed. I was naive; I was gullible; I was burnt to a crisp; and I was the perfect victim.
Within the first six weeks of working there I was Sandlerized by the company's two salesmen...so brutally that I couldn't sit for a year. These two cats were so adept in the submarine, they could disassemble it and put everyone of its nuts and bolts back together - blindfolded. Actually, they were two really good guys who worked really, really hard at honing their craft. If I wanted to survive I needed to know the David Sandler sales system. One of the two actually gave me the sixteen CD instructional set. I devoured it. But you know, for some reason it just didn't feel right to me. It did however, allow me to maintain personal dignity for the duration of my stay with this company; translation - I sat with comfort thereafter.
If you've ever encountered a sales process or system that just didn't sit right with you (every pun intended), I might have something of interest. Dan Pink has written a book titled To Sell Is Human. It's release date is in one month.
Quick side rabbit trail: Authors today are responsible for promoting their own books. I know, duh! This is one reason for all the pre-sale opportunities we are seeing. Thing is, this pre-sale stuff continues to become more mind-blowing. It makes us wonder how they can afford to do what they are doing. Dan is no different, which I will soon explain. But think about YOUR business. The authors are targeting their own tribes. You most likely have a tribe. I know there is a more politically correct term (been outta the loop for a bit), we used to call them service contract customers. You'll need to get out of your comfort zone in coming up with ideas. Start with hype surrounding something you will provide. Include your ESA (is that it?) clients (you're gittin there dave) and make them feel special. Give them and their friends an in on what you're doing. And then give them something that blows their minds, making them wonder how YOU can afford it, if they buy in to your deal.
I guarantee that if you take advantage of Dan's offer you will feel good about your decision, sit comfortable thereafter and even recommend it to your friends! You only have a few weeks to move on this. Go here for the freebies.
Btw, can you guys please help me out? What IS the proper term today for service contracts and service contract customers?
Btw #2, I HATE reading material where authors reference bizarre stuff you've never heard of and expect you to understand. Greek mythology always hangs me up on this point. I apologize if I've done this very thing in reference to David Sandler and his submarine. It's just that I've been around it to some degree for a very long time and consider it industry pervasive. I do not endorse it but to learn more go here.
Note: I am part of a ninety-six member team whose mission it is to help promote Dan's book. Although I purchased (pre-order) a copy of the book, I also have been given a reviewer's galley copy.
