5 books
that SHOULD BE ON YOUR
WISHLIST FOR CHRISTMAS

Here is an important fact: stories persuade better.

Do you know someone who is an excellent storyteller? There is a high chance that you still remember a story that you have recently heard, and you are very likely to tell this story to others.

When we listen to a story, willingly or not, we are engaging with the story, and our brain releases dopamine, the hormone of pleasure (the same one that we get from eating chocolate). In Sales, we have to produce dopamine to connect to people, to inspire them to follow our ideas.

The book "7 stories every salesperson must tell" by Mike Adams helps us come up with powerful stories to sell. He distinguishes 7 types of stories that everyone needs to have in their arsenal. Here are the three most important ones with which you will be able to close any sale in the future:

Imagine, you are negotiating a hostage situation. The terrorists demand a bag of cash and a plane to escape. What will you do? What will you say?

Ok, I must admit, this situation is most likely not going to happen any time soon. But still: negotiation skills are useful at any time, be it if you negotiate with your client about a price reduction or with your friend about where to go for dinner. It can never hurt to be good at it!

"Never split the difference"is full of tricks and secrets to negotiate. Its author, Chris Voss, is a former international hostage negotiator for the FBI. Voss supervised hostage negotiations in Gaza Strip, Colombia and many other hot spots. For him, negotiations is not just about problem solving skills, but also about tactical empathy - or “emotional intelligence on steroids", as he describes it. He uses cases of real successes and failures to explain each strategy he introduces. As a reader, it is exciting to learn about Voss's experience and at the same time easily improve your negotiation skills.

How do we make our decisions? What influences them more, emotions or facts? And can we actually control them?

“Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman will answer these questions, and many more. The book provides surprising examples to show how even the most rational people make irrational choices.

Think about this example:

Linda is 31 years old, young and intelligent woman with a degree in psychology. She is concerned with issues of discrimination and attends many demonstrations to fight climate change.

What is a more probable description of Linda:
1. Linda works in a bank.
2. Linda works in a bank and she is also active in the feminist movement.

Which option did you choose? The majority of people go for the second option. At the same time, it doesn't make any sense since the second option only reduces the probability by imposing more constraints. Why do we go for a less probable choice?

The book illustrates that our decisions depend on many psychological factors. And even when we are aware of our personal biases, we are still prone to follow them.

Reading the book will definitely help you to understand your prospect better. And not just that: it is full of persuasion techniques for your next sales!

Don't we all want to be liked? Whether it's by our family, partner or our boss, I think everyone has at least a small circle of people they want to be liked by.

"How to win friends & influence people" by Dale Carnegie helps to understand exactly that: what brings people to like others?

The book is an old bestseller, helping people to become successful since over 70 years. Even Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors of the 20th century, made use of Dale's principles and highly praises them. So why not give it a try?

Carnegie presents several principles that will teach you techniques how to handle others, different ways to make people like you and ideas how to win them to your way of thinking.

Not only for your personal life, but also for sales it can be helpful to make use of his principles. It will help you to learn how to become your prospects friend and how to persuade others. Learning more about that can be useful in any situation.

Who wants to be richer? Or smarter? Or better than others? Sometimes one's wishlist could be endless. Willingly or not, most of us are followers of the 'Cult of Success'.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows us how fragile our dreams and plans can be. So what to do? How to escape this inner lockdown of misery?

I couldn't think of a more relevant read for these surreal times than the legendary book by Mark Manson "The subtle art of not giving a f*ck".

In a very funny and sarcastic way, the book provides the key to a happy and balanced life and this key works exceptionally well during pandemic times.

Controversial title aside, the book isn't about not caring, but about deciding WHAT not to care about. It helps you stop getting stressed and instead, start focusing on the important stuff such as your family, your friends, your well-being.