The Entrepreneurial Sell

There has never been a better time in history to be an entrepreneur. The barrier to starting your own business has never been lower, people of all ages are starting businesses, and even those in traditional work settings have begun to think and act like entrepreneurs.

In The Entrepreneurial Sell: Tools and Techniques Every Start Up Needs to Succeed, noted entrepreneur, business executive and entrepreneurship professor Cheryl Mayberry McKissack shares the essential inside information every entrepreneur needs in order to found and grow a new venture, with special emphasis on the most critical skill every entrepreneur must master: selling. Whether it’s with your family and friends, potential customers, your team, or investors, understanding the dynamics and specific techniques of selling is the single most important key to the success of your business.

Mayberry McKissack’s book covers far more than sales techniques. She begins with a discussion of entrepreneurial character traits and spirit. She analyzes how to choose a business type, how to define a product, and how to analyze your customers and use digital marketing and research to create a feedback loop to grow your venture. She also offers guidance for business lines that entrepreneurs would be wise to avoid.

The core of the book is a master class in entrepreneurial selling. From the earliest days of pitching your idea to those around you, to developing your elevator pitch, to understanding various investor options and how to sell to each, this book will help every entrepreneur better understand various sales techniques—and when it’s appropriate to use each one.

Throughout the book are case studies of successful entrepreneurs and start-ups. Founders tell us in their own words what the keys to their success were, and what they wish they had known when they were first starting out. Mayberry McKissack shares lessons learned from her own start-up experiences, as well as those in larger, more established companies within which she played an entrepreneurial role.

Anyone can be an entrepreneur today. But not everyone will be successful. Increase the odds your business will thrive, by mastering the lessons of The Entrepreneurial Sell.

From the Foreword, by Professor Steven Rogers of Harvard Business School: "Very few books, if any, address both the diagnostic and practical aspect of entrepreneurship. None links those aspects to the critical role of selling. The book will be one that students and entrepreneurs alike will wonder how they ever did without."

“Success is all about selling- whether it’s formally in your job description or not. This is a book that belongs in the curriculum of undergraduate and graduate programs, not to mention on the reading list of anyone even considering making the leap from employment to entrepreneur.”
—Maura O’Neill Ph.D., former Chief of Innovation, US Agency for International Development, Distinguished Teaching Fellow, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

“Both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs will benefit from Cheryl Mayberry McKissack’s own experience and advice as both a change-maker within companies including IBM, U.S. Robotics and her own entrepreneurial ventures.”
—Sam Scott, Retired Chairman, President and CEO, Corn Products International

“Cheryl Mayberry McKissack lays out a fact-driven, yet relatable, blueprint. She zeroes in on the all-too-often missing asset of sales skills, which could mean the difference between launching a successful product or service or simply embarking upon a hobby.”
—Bonita Stewart, Vice President, Global Partnerships, Google

“Cheryl Mayberry McKissack shares her knowledge while distilling decades of experience as both a high-level corporate executive and a successful serial entrepreneur into this book.”
—Desiree Rogers, Former White House Social Secretary, Chairman, Choose Chicago