A Private Passion: 19Th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthop Collection, Harvard University

Book Description

Grenville L. Winthrop (1864-1943) was a lawyer and banker by profession, but his true passion was collecting art. He had the resources, the intuition, and talented advisers to help him create a collection that is distinct not only in its depth and breadth, but also in its quality. The Winthrop Collection of French, British, and American art includes the best group of Delacroix and Ingres drawings outside of France, the most significant group of pre-Raphaelite paintings outside of Britain, and a world-renowned collection of Sargent watercolors.

Some seventy paintings and twice as many drawings and watercolors by more than fifty French, British, and American artists will be featured in this selection from the legendary Winthrop Collection, bequeathed in 1943 to the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. Masterpieces by David, Ingres, Gericault, Chassériau, and Moreau will be seen alongside great works by Blake, Rossetti, and Burne-Jones, as well as Homer, Sargent, and Whistler. They are discussed in the catalogue by more than sixty authors, all of whom are among the leading authorities in their various fields

Book Description

For 13 centuries, throughout China male recruits studied diligently for a long series of grueling examinations in hopes of achieving the civil rank that would enable them to serve the emperor of China. For the fortunate few who passed these exams there were nine possible ranks, each identified by a square badge of finely woven kesi, embroidery, or brocade. Now available in paperback, LADDER TO THE CLOUDS offers a thorough analysis of symbols, styles, and techniques used in mandarin square ranks, along with the most complete information for their identification to date.

Customer Reviews:

Great Introduction to Mandarin Squares and Chinese Culture.......2001-06-24

I love this book! The two different parts of this book really works. In Part One, written by Beverley Jackson is an interesting look at Chinese culture and the journey to the mandarin squares. The fictional story of two boys and their different journeys brings the mandarin squares to life. The studying and sacrifices involved in order to wear the mandarin square are staggering. It heightens the appreciation of the squares themselves in Part Two.

In Part Two, David Hugus does an excellent job in dissecting and then explaining the elements making up the squares. Beyond the intellectual and technical issues, Hugus also discusses mandarin squares in the marketplace.

The two authors obviously have a great love and interest in the mandarin squares and the Chinese culture. I recommend this book highly.

Exceptionally beautiful.......2000-05-25

This is an exceptionally beautiful and interesting book. Even though I had no prior interest in chinese textiles I was quickly drawn in by the stunning photographs and the helpful essays. The book makes a great gift for anyone interested in Asian art or textiles in general!

Ladder to the Clouds.......2000-04-21

This book is a must for anyone interested in Asian art and, in particular, the Chinese rank system and the textiles associated with it. I expect this book to become THE reference book on the subject. I highly recommend it to all those dealing in antique Chinese objects and museums specializing in Asian art. It is obvious to me that both authors have not only throughly researched their topics but also are impassioned by them.

The History of the Mandarin Squares.......2000-03-29

This is the best and most complete book available on Mandarin Squares. A must read for the collector of these badges.

The text is extremely informative and the most comprehensive on the subject. It has well over 100 beautiful pictures of many examples of the nine civil and nine military rank badges.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Chinese Textiles especially in the intricate embroidered Mandarin Squares and learn about their history.

Ladder to the Clouds.......2000-03-27

This is a must read if you are interested in collecting Chinese Rank Badges.

A great reference book to identify the symbols, styles & the various techniques that was used. The color photos are just beautiful showing over 150 different types of Rank Badges.

Book Description

Tenth-grade loner Yugi had always had his head in one game or another — until he solved the Millennium Puzzle and awakened a 3,000-year-old spirit. The reawakened King of Games possesses Yugi, and raises the stakes to amazing heights in the bizarre Game of One Digit and the Game of Air Hockey with Explosives All Over a Hot Stove.

Customer Reviews:

I Play . . . Cash Cow!.......2007-02-17

This is it, the original manga that started a worldwide franchise. Before the anime, before the card game, before the video games, there was this.

Actually, this first volume is actually Volume 8 of Kazuki Takahashi's manga-meaning that readers will learn as much about Yugi's beginnings as they do from watching the first few episodes of the anime. The source material for the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the manga follows Yugi and his friends from their first encounter with Maximillion J. Pegasus to their arrival on Duelist Kingdom (Yugi's first duel with Kaiba is left out). Those familiar with the anime will also be pleased to know that characters like Insector Haga (Weevil) and Mai Kujaku/Valentine will make appearances. Also featured is a rundown on the Duel Monsters cards used in the current storyline. While those who have watched the anime may not find much to talk about here, it's worth a look for those who want to know what all the buzz is about. But if you're a diehard fan who's got to have Yugi on the go, this is good place to start.

This book is rated T for Teen: Violence, Adult Situations

Sweet!.......2005-07-14

Ummm...Hello? Why are you people talking about volumes 2, 3, and 5 of the regular YGO manga series? This is Yu-Gi-Oh: Duelist, the original story line of the Duelist Kingdom tournament. It is rated teen...that's been established by my fellow YGO fans. Seriously, if you're a parent, don't get this book for your 7-year-old kid who thinks he knows everything about YGO...these are the mangas that you read backwards, so good luck explaining that to your child, and then there are some (...) situations in the other YGO books (there aren't really any in this one, that I remember). Actually, Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine for all you dubbies) is very, VERY clad...her (...) are practically falling out of her "shirt." But anyway, I wasn't too enthusiastic about reading this because I own three versions of Duelist Kingdom including this, so I know what happens already. It's kind of hard for me to read through all the duels because I have practically memorized every duel in the DK saga. I am usually very tempted to skip the duels the first time I read this, but I didn't skip them, but now I only read through entire duels every once in a while...but I do really like this book!

Yu-gi-oh volume 5.......2005-06-23

i would give this book a A+ cuz its so cool to no the character's origins. as some of the other pple mentioned Seto Kiaba doesnt look to good though that doesnt matter to me since i like yami more. anyway the plot of this story sorta sounds like the episode where kiaba tore up Yugi's granfather's bwd(blue eyes white dragon). The only difference with that is that yugi doesn't duel kiaba right off the bat. i'm not gonna tell more cuz that's 4 u to find out.

another thing is that if ur under 12 u shouldn't read this. someone i no read this when he/she was 10 and wouldn't stop asking questions about it. It has a little bit of perverteness cuz of tristan/honda's nephew jojhi. dont get me mad if ur 7 years old and say u like yu gi oh cuz u dont even no the 1/2 of it.

anzu(tea 2 u unkwoning freaks) is not that bad in this manga. but she does draw the smiley face as the friendship sign and makes the litle speech. actually its the only speech she makes on friendship in the entire series. it's still a great book and i would recomend this book to all my friends if they read yu gi oh.

Another good Yugioh book....... undubbed is better................2005-03-26

I really like this book. Well, I'm a big fan of Yugioh, so duh! This is the book in which we first see the Duel Monsters cards and meet the young CEO (though at the time we don't know he is one) Seto Kaiba and the mysterious Shadi.

Beware though, Seto, who usually looks all hot and sexy, doesn't look too spectacular. I'm not sure why, but some of the images of him look rather awkward, so if you are used to watching the anime, this is the manga, note the change. It's not like it matters to anyone but me anyway. (I'm an absessive Seto fangirl).

Also, if you are some silly little kid who's under ten and "thinks" he/she likes Yugioh, back away before I get angry. Don't even READ this if you're under 12.

I'm fourteen, and when I see f'ggin FIVE YEAR OLDS saying they like Yugioh I get real pissed...... So, if you are some baby, this book is too sophisticated for you. It is rated TEEN, whatever it says up there, and includes a lot of (minor) swears and violence and drugs and alcohol and more mature stuff.

Joey and Yugi and Honda (Tristen, to all you unknowing twerps) are known to pull perverted pranks. Once, they watched a movie that mentioned "censoured" girls and Joey trying to see through the censoring....O.O...... but that wasn't in this book, so don't worry about Yugi wanting to watch digitized porn.

Yugioh as a whole is awsome. It's my favorite anime for many reasons. It includes hot guys (SETO KAIBA!!! & Malik, Bakura, Yami), Millenium magic, dueling action (I love action/violence, I don't know why) and everyone else that makes it so unique and awsome.

Buy, or at least READ this book, (if you like Yugioh) because it is NOT some cheesy kid's book like the dubbed TV show has become. Now I'm going to get angry at 4kids and the dubbers..... *throws computer at dubbers, they scream and run, I follow them laughing like Yami Marik swinging the Millenium Rod DAGGER!!! (which, to all you unknowing dub-following YGO babies, DOES exist.... but any true Yugioh fan knows that, right?)*

Great!.......2005-02-06

From the title of the item, I would have to say that this is the new Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist. The Duelist series is supposed to be based on what American viewers saw, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, those things, without the annoyance of fillers like Noa's Arc and DOOM. This manga shows the first introduction of Pegasus, how Yugi-tachi got to the island, and the introduction of Mai and Insector Haga (Weevil Underwood for the American fans.) This is a lot more violent, though, as such, you should obey the "Teen" rating on the series.
Other than that, great book, great series, and help in the cause of getting pictures of the thing onto the Amazon.com site, so people will stop giving reviews for manga 2 and 5!

Average customer rating:

Should be required reading for everyone who dines out

Eat, Drink and Be Wary

Enlightening but not as entertaining as I had hoped...

Rockin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually 4.9 Stars

FINE DINING MADNESS : The rules & realities of fine dining
John Galloway
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0595337775

Book Description

"Savagely Funny!"—The Louisville Journal-Courier

The waiter spit in your food. And no way that last cup of coffee was decaf. Your steak took a dramatic roll on the kitchen floor, but according to the staff, the three-second rule applies. When it comes to dining out, our worst fears are realities and much, much more. But thankfully, there is hilarious rescue. In Fine Dining Madness restaurant journeyman John Galloway takes the diner to school and shows how to avoid such service malice and get the very most from their dining experience.

Fine Dining Madness gives all restaurant patrons the steadfast rules. With priceless humor and shocking revelations, John Galloway recounts his restaurant war stories and people therein. From mega-stars, call girls, mob bosses, and crazed chefs, to all forms of addiction, wine insights, imperative tipping protocol and other vital insider information, you learn how to get the maximum value from your restaurant dollar. He even spills the news on a thousand reasons why not to own a restaurant. All the while, John Galloway plots his own departure from the brutal grasp of restaurant toil. His dream is to fly, but first he must survive his time as a fine dining penguin.

“John Galloway's FINE DINING MADNESS…is a hilarious introduction to dining well while setting out for restaurant patrons steadfast rules that will insure they get a great meal and what to do if they don't. Anyone who dines out regularly will enjoy how this book recounts all kinds of stories about how restaurants really function and how to separate the best from the worst. For anyone thinking about owning a restaurant, this book will surely talk you out of that notion. In short, this is a fun book."—Alan Cauruba, BOOKVIEWS

"FINE DINING MADNESS, the wickedly funny new tell-all book of behind-the-scenes, in front of the house restaurant life, describes the three-second rule. If your steak takes a dramatic fall to the kitchen floor and is retrieved in three seconds, it can continue to your table. John Galloway, a food service vet in five states, has written war stories of himself and other abused staffers by themselves or patrons and how they react. Subtitled The Rules & Realities of Fine Dining, this book offers priceless insights on what to do and especially what not to do, from the initial scouting of restaurants to the phone call for reservations and all the rest of the way to a successful, or disastrous dinner. Admittedly written from the insiders' point of view, it blazes a take-no-prisoners path through the industry, and is hilarious."—Bob Lape, WCBS Newsradio 880

Download Description

The waiter spit in your food. And no way that last cup of coffee was decaf. Your steak took a dramatic roll on the kitchen floor, but according to the staff, the three-second rule applies. When it come to dining out, our worst fears are realities and much, much more. But thankfully, there is hilarious rescue. In Fine Dining Madness restaurant journeyman John Galloway takes the diner to school and shows how to avoid such service malice and get the very most from their dining experience.

Customer Reviews:

Should be required reading for everyone who dines out.......2006-09-13

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (8/06)

"Fine Dining Madness: The rules & realities of fine dining," should be required reading for everyone that dines out. John Galloway writes about his personal experiences in the restaurant business from the restaurant employee angle. From his experiences, I learned a lot about what not to do if I don't want bad things happening to my food. Since I am a pretty considerate diner, I always felt that I was relatively safe from waiter or chef retributions; however, I learned that dining with rude guests can result in both of us getting food that has been tampered with. There are acquaintances that I will never dine out with again. As a matter of fact, after reading this book, I would like to invite some of them over to dinner and do what some of the waiters have probably done to my food just because I was with them.

While the stories are entertaining, I also learned a great deal about dining etiquette, not just how to treat restaurant employees, but also useful information about subjects such as ordering wine. Galloway does the reader a huge favor by providing a lot of useful information in a format that is totally enjoyable to read. Galloway also talks about diners
who earned top respect and treatment from the staff, a lot of it is based on their behavior and not all of it involves how much they tip. There are some heartwarming stories about dining guests who earned a great deal of respect from the staff. To Galloway, decorated war heroes ranked highly, and this was justifiably so. He includes some historical facts that help highlight the importance of what these people were involved with.

Galloway also talks about the colorful personalities that he dealt with on a daily basis, either being his co-workers or being the guests, several of which were celebrities, including President Bush. Galloway's recollections tend to be hilarious. He uses his dry wit to make comments that instantly will make you laugh out loud.

I highly recommend this book as a gift to people who are rude restaurant diners. Hopefully, they will recognize themselves and make some needed changes. I also recommend it to people who enjoy a good, humorous, non-fiction book. The subject matter is not typical, so it will be a fun change for them. You will just have to read it for yourself to see what I am talking about. Enjoy!

Eat, Drink and Be Wary.......2006-09-01

Loved this book!

It's a hilarious look at the restaurant business from a waiter's perspective. The author recounts his restaurant war stories with anecdotes about patrons and waitstaff alike. From celebrities, call girls, mob bosses and crazed chefs, to all forms of addiction, wine insights, imperative tipping protocol and other useful information, Galloway shows readers how to get the maximum value from their restaurant dollar. This book is a must read for anyone who dines out, aspires to a better life, or ever wanted to know what was happening behind those swinging doors (hint: three-second floorsteak).

Enlightening but not as entertaining as I had hoped..........2006-08-31

I purchased this book based on the recommendations I read here. I have to say I was disappointed with this book. Considering how everyone here raved about it, I thought it was going to be this fantastic book. It just did not live up to the reviews. There were some funny parts and the first couple of chapters with the "rules" were enlightening, but it wasn't worthy of 5 or even 4 stars, in my opinion.

Rockin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-08-30

Good gravy I loved this book! I was sad when it ended, and will hunt the stores for Mr. Galloways's next write.

As the other reviews suggest, this book is about everyone. You and me. Oh sure, there are different names and faces, but they're just like you and me. John is meant for higher ground, but he's stuck in the restaurant world of fine dining. He's restless, and feels dishonored in the world of fine dining, but has the spine to take the road less traveled.

If Galloway fails in anything else he tries, at least he tries, and that's a lesson for all. And if he writes another book, everyone is a winner. But the most important lesson in Madness is to live with a kind heart, as he does.

Read this book and You'll learn much about fine dining, even more about life.

Actually 4.9 Stars .......2006-08-29

This book is special. It is the insider's view on the range of characters found in restaurants... from both sides of the kitchen doors. It is very funny in most spots: while reading it on a plane, my eyes watered from the urge to laugh, other times from the urge to cry. It is intended to be biographical, humorous, tender, tragic, respectful, irreverent and witty. It is all of the above in different places. It is NOT a boring work.

If English is not your native language, you are apt to miss most of the humor. Unless you spend a lot of time out of the house, it can require thought to decipher the meaning. If you're street-smart, it is comical language.

Only the naive might think this work is not PC, this author repects those who've earned repsect and definitely disrespects those who've earned disrespect.

To read the book will make you a more savvy diner, a better customer, a more realistic restarant patron and a decent tipper.

If you eat at restarants, infrequently or otherwise, consider yourself uneducated until you read this book.

Book Description

Haidee Wasson provides a rich cultural history of cinema's transformation from a passing amusement to an enduring art form by mapping the creation of the Film Library of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, established in 1935. The first North American film archive and museum, the film library pioneered an expansive moving image network, comprising popular, abstract, animated, American, Canadian, and European films. More than a repository, MoMA circulated these films nationally and internationally, connecting the modern art museum to universities, libraries, women's clubs, unions, archives, and department stores. Under the aegis of the museum, cinema also changed. Like books, paintings, and photographs, films became discrete objects, integral to thinking about art, history, and the politics of modern life.

Customer Reviews:

Alice Tully: An Intimate Portrait.......2000-06-30

Those looking for a complete and insightful portrait of Alice Tully will have to wait for a biography yet to come. While Mr. Fuller's book is intimate, as its title suggests, it is not really a portrait. While there are glimpses of Alice Tully's life, even sketches of her personality, it is perhaps more revealing about Mr. Fuller himself. A more appropriate subtitle would be "a personal memoir."

Reading this book is a bit like looking through a friend's scrapbook or photo album. Events assume an importance as a particular memory is triggered, but there is no sense of their importance to the life as a whole. In this book, if there are revelations, they appear not to be from an intimate friend, but rather a drinking pal: 30 years of casual conversations and gossip almost in slow motion, punctuated with "my dear Albert", this, "my dear Alice" that, always with champagne (her) and gin (him) in hand. It becomes almost insufferable over the course of the book. It is difficult to imagine these conversations actually took place; there is such a stilted, otherworldy quality to them. And while we are told repeatedly of their depth and meaning, the details provided are strictly surface. How many conversations verging on something important end with "Why don't we have some more champagne dear, and change the subject." There are a few salacious details, behind-the-scenes workings in the music world, but not much meaningful information. Where certain topics show no insight or importance in themselves - Miss Tully's visit to a discotheque - time and again Mr. Fuller evinces his sympathy in thoughts not spoken, by relating tales from his own life, few of them very flattering to himself. There is a sense of struggle between his desire to be a friend, and his need to be obsequious to a rich and powerful woman.

Does he truly miss the irony (let alone the bad writing) in the following passages? "Once, at my bar, Alice had said, "Do you know, dear, that it is often very easy for rich women to corrupt men?" "Alice, I am startled to hear you say such a thing." "Oh yes, dear. That can happen." "You must have had an experience or two that has shown you such a thing is possible." "Yes, dear, I have." "Well, Alice, whatever your experience with others may be, for my part I want you to understand that my innermost being resists any further corruption, beyond what I myself have already brought about. You as a source for some such effort or result is unthinkable. That's not possible." "No dear, I have never thought that possible."

This appears in a chapter with the unfortunate title "Dillon In, Mennin Out," in which he relates a conversation he has with Peter Mennin, the late President of Juilliard, whose sudden, untimely death (the "Mennin Out" part) was a great shock to that institution. Mennin says, "If you didn't know so many important people, I would fire you right this minute." One suspects this means if it weren't for Alice Tully...

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on September 1, 2000. The length of the article is 788 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Alice Tully: An Intimate Portrait.(Review) (book review)
Author: Elizabeth L. Keathley
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2000
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 57 Issue: 1 Page: 155

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Alice Tully: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT (Music in American Life)

Average customer rating:

Alice Tully: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT (Music in American Life)
Albert Fuller
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPZWP4

Book Description

Lists nearly 600 shortline and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. Includes line history, locations, radio frequencies, and locomotive data.

Customer Reviews:

Not getting what you expect.......2007-07-15

Published 21 years ago, this reference to a rapidly changing category of data (shortline railroads) is woefully out of date. Worse, as advertised, buyers assume they are getting up to date information. Far from it. Kalmbach Publishing should be embarrassed to even offer it without a date on the cover.

Dated and missing things.......2007-01-05

The short-line world has changed quite a bit in the years since publication. It's time for an update. What the guide does provide is interesting and generally accurate. Edward A. Lewis is perhaps the countries best authority on the subject and has managed several shortlines for many years. I suspect the problems of the book come from Kalbach trying to make it too small - it's glove box format. I'd rather have more information in an 81/2 x 11 format. It has locomotive rosters, capsule histories and other data. What is missing is train operations. Knowing this changes, perhaps the next edition should have an accompanying database of this information, updated by users as it changes. Another missing item are maps. As another reviewer has noted, the photographs could be better.

Black-N-White Pix; 1955??.......2003-01-11

if a train watcher of any kind you need this book but the black and white pix, or lack of many pix as well as lack of any maps at all shows a distinct lack of effort by Kalmbach; very dissappointing

Great on data and pictures - maps are sorely lacking.......2000-05-30

American Shortline Railway Guide is a great help for any train buff. Over 500 short lines are described: history, current status, number of engines (some lines with full listing), cars, as well as address of owner and radio frequencies. I especially liked the many pictures accompanying the text. There is really one drawback only: The book does not contain any maps. You will need a train atlas or a Rand Mc Nally on the side, unfortunately. Other interesting details are lists of abandoned and non-operating lines as well as addresses of ownerships companies. A must-have for US train buffs, especially in conjunction with the Train-Watchers Guide to North American Railroads (also by George W. Drury).

Average customer rating:

Solution Selling Fieldbook Could Help Boost Your Sales

The Solution Selling Fieldbook
Keith M. Eades , James N. Touchstone , and Timothy T. Sullivan
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Sales & Selling | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Techniques | Sales & Selling | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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The New Solution Selling: The Revolutionary Sales Process That is Changing the Way People Sell

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ASIN: 0071456074

Book Description

The breakthrough process used by more than 500,000 sales professionals worldwide!

The Solution Selling Fieldbook helps you integrate the plan's nuts-and-bolts techniques into your own day-to-day practices, and immediately gain access to key decision makers, diagnose buyers' business issues, and increase top-line sales.

Building on the processes, principles, and management systems outlined in The New Solution Selling, this practitioner's workbook features:

A complete step-by-step blueprint for sales success
A trial copy of Solution Selling software
A valuable Solution Selling CD-ROM that includes tools, templates, and sales letters

Includes Exclusive Solution Selling Software on CD-ROM

More than 120 work sheets on negotiating, opportunity assessments, implementation plans, and more
Letters/e-mail templates
Coaching on Solution Selling techniques
Import/export capabilities
Links to more Solution Selling content

Customer Reviews:

Solution Selling Fieldbook Could Help Boost Your Sales.......2007-01-17

The Solution Selling Fieldbook is the perfect compliment to Keith Eades 2004 book, The New Solution Selling. The New Solution Selling is an excellent book destined to become a sales classic. However, in sales, having a great theory doesn't necessarily translate into becoming a great salesperson. The Solution Selling Fieldbook provides tools to effectively implement the sales process and sales strategies discussed in The New Solution Selling. The CD-ROM included in the back of the book makes it easy for the salesperson to personalize all of the worksheets and templates to his or her own territory.

Eades formula for sales success in The New Solution Selling is: Pain x Power x Vision x Value x Control = Sale. The authors of the fieldbook maintain that a successful sales call is a result of effective planning and research. Fortunately, the fieldbook provides all of the tools to effectively plan the sales call.

The fieldbook begins by helping salespeople identify areas of pain in their accounts. As the book points out, "no pain, no change." Discovering the pain is the most important step in the process because it influences everything else that happens in the sales call. The worksheets and examples in the fieldbook help the salesperson identify the "pain" in his or her accounts. An important issue to understand is that pain varies depending upon the key player's job responsibilities. Too often, salespeople focus on one player in the buying center and ignore the others. By providing a systematic format, the fieldbook helps the salesperson make sure that the key players in an account have been identified. While each key player has unique pain areas, the effects of the pain are felt at the company level. The fieldbook helps the salesperson create a pain checklist to illustrate how each key player's pain aggregates at the organizational level.

Of course, planning does no good unless the salesperson is able to talk with the key players in a prospective client's firm. Consequently, the fieldbook moves on to stimulating interest and provides many examples for how to do that in the initial call to a prospect. It also provides letter templates in the event that the initial contact is made by mail. Once contact is established, there is no guarantee that the key player(s) will realize his or her pain. As every good salesperson knows, just because s/he can identify the pain doesn't mean that the prospect willing to do something about it. The fieldbook provides job aids to help the salesperson get the prospect to acknowledge the pain.

Finding and developing the prospect's pain is important so that the salesperson can help create a vision for the solution. Value must be an integral part of this vision. The salesperson needs to lead the sales call with value propositions to stimulate interest. By getting the right kind of information during the sales call, the salesperson can verify and justify the value of the solution. Value justification should be stated in terms of benefits expected (increased profits, increased revenue, or decreased costs). And, as always, The Solution Selling Fieldbook provides templates and exercises to help the salesperson accomplish this difficult task.

In summary, The Solution Selling Fieldbook is an excellent "how to" book for implementing the contents of The New Solution Selling. Salespeople who use this fieldbook diligently should see an increase in overall sales.

Average customer rating:

The Solution Selling Fieldbook
James N. Touchstone, Timothy T. Sullivan Keith M. Eades
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFSBD4

Average customer rating:

The Solution Selling Fieldbook
EADES
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7KS5M

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