Selling to the rich
It's not just that the rich are getting richer - it's that there are more of them, according to financial services guru Matt Oechsli. A market of millions of "near affluent" households with over $100,000 to invest is emerging, and they present both an opportunity and a challenge for financial advisors. The opportunity is obvious; the challenge lies in knowing how to tap into it, since these ripe clients-to-be bring a unique perspective to buying services.
The bad news, according to Oechsli's research, is that the affluent are picky, prickly, demanding and generally dissatisfied with their advisors. The good news is The Art of Selling to the Affluent, the book he has written that explains the psychology of these delectable prospects, and promises to teach you everything you need to know about getting and keeping them as clients.
Price: $24.95.
John Wiley & Sons
www.wiley.com
(800) 762-2974
Gaming the system
Looking for a game plan to boost your technology sales? Sales trainer Ron Walsh has a plan taken directly from a game, one that's particularly popular at the moment: poker. Walsh's High Stakes Selling: Taking the Gamble Out of High Tech Sales finds parallels between the high-stakes sales environment and the inexplicably popular Texas Hold 'Em, and teaches readers how to play the game better.
Among other things, he explains how to discover and take advantage of the "house rules," how to use your knowledge of the other people at the table, and even how to figure out when the other players are cheating (though you should not, of course, cheat yourself).
Price: $24.95.
RMB Press
www.highstakesselling.com
A dangerous title
You could be forgiven for thinking that a book titled Creative Cash Flow Reporting was about the accounting shenanigans at Enron or WorldCom or Adelphia or any of a dozen other bankrupt corporations. It isn't, though. Instead, it's a guide to uncovering the kind of tricks that C-level executives use to pretty up their financial performance, so that you can know what they're up to before the lawsuits and federal investigations begin.
Since managers do have a degree of leeway in how they report cash flow, Georgia Tech accounting professors Charles W. Mulford and Eugene E. Comiskey maintain that it's important not to simply rely on what they report in their financials. Rather, financial statement users must identify tricks like boosting cash flow with non-operating items, or burying non-recurring items in the operating section. With this clear guide, well-illustrated with real-world examples, readers can learn how to uncover the useful information that lies behind managers' spin.
Price: $39.95.
John Wiley & Sons
www.wiley.com
(800) 762-2974
More dangerous titles
With the Internal Revenue Service making big noises about cracking down on tax avoidance, titling your book How to Invest in Real Estate and Pay Little or No Taxes might seem a little brazen - but author Hubert Bromma isn't talking about dodgy tax schemes. Instead, the tax expert discusses careful planning to take full and legal advantage of the opportunities in the tax code. His discussions of the latest in exemptions, exchange rules, trusts, special exemptions and more can help you turn a good way to diversify a client's investments into a spectacular winner.
Price: $18.95.
McGraw-Hill
www.books.mcgraw-hill.com
'Why Men Earn More'
To suggest that the reason women earn less than men is anything other than pure sexual discrimination is to court controversy (to say nothing of obloquy). But Warren Farrell wades right in with Why Men Earn More, suggesting that much of the pay gap is the result of specific choices made by women, such as being unwilling to put in more hours or change locations, or to take riskier or more dangerous jobs. As a three-time member of the board of directors of the National Organization of Women, Farrell is presumably safe from accusations of misogyny; in fact, he devotes a great deal of space to teaching women ways to increase their pay, nicely rounding out an insightful, myth-shattering book.
Not so long ago, Harvard president Larry Summers got in trouble for examining a similar instance of gender inequality -but then, he didn't have a whole book to make his argument, and lots of scientific data on hand to back him up.
Price: $23.00.
Amacom
www.amacombooks.org
(800) 714-6395
