Good old-fashioned reporting is the reason for the book's success.
"There are more lies told about selling than any other aspect of business life," Broughton writes in the introduction. "So I went in search of some truths."
Along the way, Broughton interviews dozens of top-flight sales executives—including Tony Sullivan (The Smart Mop), Ted Leonsis (AOL), Jeffrey Gitomer (Little Red Book of Selling), Larry Gagosian (Gagosian Gallery), Augie Turak (MTV), Marc Benioff (Salesforce.com) and Howard Anderson (Yankee Group)—in hopes of learning what makes a great salesperson tick.
He uncovers a ton of truths and, in the end, learns that, "The traits required to sell (resilience, conviction, persistence, and likability) are not just needed in business, but in life."
Rather than a quilt of Ziglar-esque adages or some impossible-to-grasp system, The Art of the Sale offers a phenomenology of selling.
If you have to drive revenue, the picture Broughton paints will inspire.
