SESSION FIVE: HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
We already know that relationships are crucial to being a successful salesperson. It can be hard, however, to get started on the right foot and to know what to do to build a good relationship.
In this session, you will learn about Dale Carnegie. Carnegie was a salesperson in the early 20th century. He developed a system for public speaking and wrote books on how to build positive relationships. You will learn about some of Carnegie’s basic principles and think about how you can apply them in your life.
About Dale Carnegie
One extremely successful book that has been sold and translated around the world is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. He first wrote the book in 1936, and after many reprints it was re-issued again by his family in 1998. It’s a classic that has stood the test of time because people relate to the principles discussed and easily see their value.
Carnegie was born in 1888 and died in 1955. He worked as a salesman and recognized a need for people to become better public speakers. He developed a system for teaching public speaking which still exists today. He also strongly believed in a theory called responsibility assumption that describes how your actions are responsible for what you get in life.
Let’s go back and revisit some of Carnegie’s basic principles, since he touches directly on how we connect with people. Self-awareness is the first step towards understanding yourself and making a choice as to whether you wish to change certain current patterns of behavior to more productive ones.