God is a salesman because He is an influencer, an educator, and a force that enables us to bridge the gap between what we see and a greater truth. Think about what Jesus did with his life: he sowed ideas. He didn’t look like he was selling because he wasn’t. While the multitudes around him were accepting life as it was, Jesus was advocating a better way, a kinder way, a more meaningful way.
--- Mark Stevens, CEO of MSCO

The word salesmanship has come to signify a quality that is crude, manipulative, crass, and bogus --- conjuring images of Willy Loman or a Xerox salesman meeting a quota. But this is a distorted way of viewing a critically important skill that everyone would benefit from mastering. Those who pride themselves on being salespeople, and others who shudder at the thought, have more in common than they think. In virtually every aspect of life, everyone is a salesperson. Success in life and the ability to sell are inexorably bound. Whether you are moving Chevys off a showroom floor, inspiring others to achieve a corporate goal, or raising future honor students, you have to educate. You have to influence. You have to sell.

In his new book, GOD IS A SALESMAN: Learn from the Master, bestselling author Mark Stevens shows how the most successful salesman --- God --- reaches millions of people globally and maintains a loyal client base. With topics ranging from trust and loyalty to effective communication, Stevens inspires readers to apply the lessons of religion to create more positive and mutually beneficial relationships with everyone in their sphere of influence. Laced with anecdotes based on the experiences of the author and the many others he has known, loved, mentored, coached, and partnered with, GOD IS A SALESMAN combines the commercial and spiritual to show how you can achieve extraordinary success and new dimensions in life.

“The best salespeople are invisible. They never look like they are selling anything, and technically they aren’t. They are instilling faith and confidence. They are quietly demonstrating why you should believe in them and, in turn, buy from them. Was Jesus a salesman? Today, 2006 years after his crucifixion, there are two billion Christians roaming the planet, and the faithful are growing,” Stevens notes. “If Jesus and the religion he fostered didn’t sell faith majestically and invisibly, two billion human souls would be adrift from what, for many, is the most important anchor in their lives.”

Mark Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a results-driven management and marketing firm that represents a stellar roster of clients including Nike, Starwood, GE, Guardian Life, Intrawest, Estee Lauder, The MONY Group, Environmental Systems Products, and many others. He is the author of 24 business-related books including the bestsellers YOUR MARKETING SUCKS and YOUR MANAGEMENT SUCKS. GOD IS A SALESMAN has already been enthusiastically embraced by business leaders ready to revolutionize their sales strategies. But the book is more than a business manual. It is also a contemplation of the attributes of God, communicated with the trademark candor, imagination, and purposeful side-stepping of convention that has consistently set his books apart from the rest of the field.

Six billion people the world over believe in God without proof of his existence. They don’t require evidence; they have faith --- the most powerful phenomenon in the world. “If we understand how and why we have faith in God, we can use this power to create and lead more successful lives,” Stevens says. “Yes, as a salesperson, if that is your professional endeavor, but also in every other role you may play: doctor, lawyer, mother, father, senior executive or junior manger.” As readers learn from the Master, they will discover valuable tenets like:

• God treats us all as family
• People buy trust before they buy products
• God makes guarantees
• God never deals in commissions
• It’s not the product that sells; it’s the provider

As Stevens outlines God’s role of Master Salesman, he is really encouraging readers to become the kind of people who can effect change in their world and are a blessing to everyone they meet --- regardless of whether or not money will ever change hands. If we will truly learn from the Master, the power of our faith can be cultivated for success in all aspects of life --- whether we’re selling a product, a spouse on dropping that extra 10 pounds, kids on becoming honor students, or a best friend on trying something new.

GOD IS A SALESMAN: Learn from the Master © Copyright 2011 by Mark Stevens. Reprinted with permission by Center Street. All rights reserved.

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