In their introduction, Pockell and Avila noted that, "millions of words of advice have been written to help people sell better. Among these millions of words, a few stand out for their clarity, their specificity, and their general application not only to opening an account and closing a sale, but to living a useful and successful life."

"The sales tips in this book," noted the authors, "represent the combined wisdom of some of the greatest sales professionals of all time, together with a sampling of philosophers, poets, and assorted geniuses of all types."

The book features such notable figures as Dale Carnegie, Og Mandino, Stephen Covey, Confucius, Robert Schuller, Joe Girard, Akio Morita, Napoleon Hill, Tom Watson, FW Woolworth, Mark Twain, Zig Ziglar, Jeffrey Gitomer, Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy, and Denis Waitley.

"I'm not quite sure how I managed to get included," said Michel. "It's certainly an honor to be recognized in the book."

The 100 Greatest Sales Tips of All Time is available in most bookstores.

Pockell and Avila quoted Michel from his "Mousetrap" series of marketing articles. These have been combined into an eBook, Build a Better Mousetrap: 34 Ways to Boost Print Marketing Performance. For a limited time, the Service Roundtable is making electronic copies of Build a Better Mousetrap available free of charge. Contact Liz Patrick toll free at 877-262-3341 or by e-mail at liz@serviceroundtable.com.

The Service Roundtable is a private contractor group serving the HVAC and plumbing industries. For more information, visit www.serviceroundtable.com.

Publication date: 08/07/2006