Sold!: The Art of Relationship Sales

We are all salesmen. Whether we sell goods and services for a living or sell ourselves to future employers or spouses, the skills we use to build relationships, close deals and get ahead are the same.

That's the premise behind Paul Darley's Sold! The Art of Relationship Sales. Darley lays out a theory that companies run by CEOs with a sales background outperform peer companies with CEOs who come up through other disciplines. To reach this conclusion, he interviewed top sales producers from numerous companies, analyzed his own person experiences growing a 100-plus-year-old family business, and documented processes and concepts that were successful.

Sold! not only offers the results of Darley's findings but explains how to build effective sales relationships through a combination of emotional intelligence and authenticity. He shares the 50 Ps of relationship sales; shows how to establish a solid sales foundation (build relationships, solve a pain, follow a process); and reveals time-tested methods for overcoming objections and getting to “yes.”

Darley also dispels the long-held myth that salesmen are not to be trusted, providing strong evidence that when you hone your relationship skills by employing emotional intelligence and authentic leadership, you will not just become a better salesman but you'll also be better prepared to rise through the corporate ranks.

Dustin Scott Klein is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the publisher and COO of Smart Business, a regional media company that publishes management journals, produces live events, manages digital properties, and operates a book development and publishing house—all designed to deliver insight, advice and strategy for senior executives.

A 1991 graduate of Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dustin is a former investigative news reporter who cut his teeth as a politics reporter, business section editor, and digital media entrepreneur during the 1990s. Over the past 25 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped nearly 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. Dustin has edited or co-written more than two dozen books, including six Amazon bestsellers: The Unexpected, Manufacturing with Heart, 5 Fundamentals to Unleash Millennial Talent, Limping on Water, and the two Amazon #1 bestsellers Undaunted and The Benevolent Dictator.

Mark Baker is the general manager of the Pump Division of W.S. Darley & Co.

Paul C. Darley is Chairman, CEO & President of W.S. Darley & Co., a fourth-generation family business and world leader in the firefighting and defense industries. Under Paul’s leadership, the company’s sales have increased more than 1,000 percent.

During his tenure as CEO, Paul has traveled to 80 countries and delivered more than 500 industry speaking engagements. He is a past president of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association (FAMA), former chairman of the Chicago Windy City Chapter of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), and currently serves on the boards of the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) for the Great Lakes Chapter and Dominican University.

A graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, Paul earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from Marquette University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He also earned a two-year post graduate degree in Emotional Intelligence from the University of Illinois.

Paul lives in Elmhurst, Illinois, with his wife of more than 30 years and their three daughters.