There are literary hundreds of books offering sales advice these days. Some books are good, some are bad and some are mediocre.

But to paraphrase Will Rogers, “I never read a sales book that I didn’t like.”

That’s true. No matter how bad a sales book is, I always receive some good nuggets of information.

But there is one book that offers you a ton of nuggets. So many in fact, that I’m surprised that the book is actually free. I’m referring to “The Big Book of Sales,” by Alan Gordon.

Mr. Gordon, a sales coach, has written a 151-page book offering “nuts and bolts” advice on how to sell. Written in plain English, he covers such topics like how to find the right decision-maker, needs development questions, how to get appointments, cold calling, and closing techniques.

Why is his book so important? From Mr. Gordon’s website, he makes the following points –

“Half of all salespeople struggle to make a living.”
“Three out of four salespeople are not following  a framework or sales process.”
“7 out of 10 small businesses express concern about finding and retaining good quality salespeople.”

I would also add that many companies offer little or no sales training or coaching. In fact, many new salespeople are constantly complaining on LinkedIn sales discussion group boards about the lack of sales training or coaching from their employers. Sure, new salespeople can learn about the products and services they are selling, but they receive little training on how to sell. As a result, new salespeople become frustrated. They quit. Employers are faced with high turnover and the cycle continues until someone finally suggests that training and coaching could stop the bleeding, as well as boost the bottom line.

Along with his book, Mr. Gordon has more than 50 videos on YouTube. His presentations are clear, concise and extremely instructive. Unlike some sales training videos, Mr. Gordon gets to the point quickly. While he plugs his book at the beginning of each video, he quickly jumps into the topic of the day. He doesn’t waste time telling you about his life’s story, or how he got into sales. He wants to help you become a better salesperson, and he demonstrates that in each video presentation that he offers. Mr. Gordon is a true sales professional.

Now, why is his book free? Simple. He wants you to download the book and share it with others. You see, Mr. Gordon realizes that he’s not going to earn a lot of money selling his book. Instead, his goal is for you to hire him as a coach.

While I’ve never used him as a coach, if Mr. Gordon’s book and videos are any indication of how he can help you, I would strongly recommend that you use his services.

Below is Mr. Gordon’s first video from YouTube –

(Special Note: I have not received any payment to endorse “The Big Book of Sales”. In fact, I was so impressed by Mr. Gordon’s YouTube videos, that I actually paid $10.00 for his publication. I felt so guilty about downloading his book for free, I decided to pay him).