They require deliberate intention, reflection, discipline — and courage — to identify and implement change (that’s a mouthful!).

I enjoy reviewing how my business is doing. So much so, that I do it multiple times a year. And once I identify an area that can be improved upon (there’s always something, if you’re willing to look hard enough and be honest with yourself), my next step is researching what types of resources are out there on the subject — quite often these resources are books!

After investigating one or two dozen books, I sometimes find a real gem — and that is what this series on Transforming Books for Business and Life is all about. Sharing these gems with you, so you can benefit from them, too!

Today’s highlighted book is Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling.

Now, this is not a new book (it was published in 2004), but it’s new to me. There are many reasons why it quickly became a significant learning tool, that I read cover-to-cover.

1. It’s NOT actually a book about selling

At least not in the traditional sense — it’s a book about relationships and understanding your customer. 

The book is  totally customer-centric, which is a mindset that’s in perfect alignment with Cuppa SEO’s philosophy. In other words, it’s about understanding the reasoning behind “why they buy.” The book was so powerful — so full of proven, practical information that I was able to begin transforming my business before I had even finished the introduction!

It blows all of the negative connotations of how we perceive “sales” out of the water, because it shows us that the “selling” we all grew up with — strong-arming, manipulation, coersion and straight-up lies — is actually just BAD SELLING. Real selling, or GOOD SELLING is all about providing value and fulfilling customer needs — while being honest and ethical.

2. Price vs. Value

The book digs into how to truthfully (and ethically) address price concerns, and how to articulate the VALUE of your product/service in ways your clients can easily identify with. We’ve all faced the price vs. value dilemma, no matter if we’re selling computers, websites or toilet paper.

Very often, clients are concerned with price and they’re not thinking about the VALUE they’re getting for a product. For instance, maybe your brother can build you a website for a hundred bucks. Great, right? You just saved so much money! But where is the value in a website that nobody can find? That doesn’t provide a good user experience or offer solid website conversion?

The real question here is how much money are you LOSING because you didn’t hire a professional web developer that understands how to brew SEO, user experience and conversion into every nook and cranny of your site (hint, hint, that’s what we do)?

These are only a couple of reasons why Jeffrey’s book made our list of transforming books.

You can learn more about the book on Amazon.

The post Transforming Books for Business and Life appeared first on Cuppa SEO.