Be Obsessed or Be Average
Grant Cardone
Cardone treats persuasion as an everyday skill anyone can learn. He shows how belief in your offer, a fast and open five-step process and a direct request for the decision turn hesitant buyers into customers.

1 min 04 sec
If asking for what you want feels pushy, and the raise, the client or the yes keeps slipping away, Grant Cardone has a blunt diagnosis: you are already selling, just not well. In Sell Or Be Sold, the sales trainer and real estate investor argues that persuasion is a learnable skill that decides outcomes far beyond any showroom, from a politician asking for votes to a coach asking a team to play harder.
His case rests on a simple chain. Selling starts with conviction, about yourself and about what you offer. It is carried out through a short, open process that respects the buyer’s time. And it is finished by people who ask directly for the deal and keep asking after the first no.
Cardone writes with a coach’s intensity, and much of the book is attitude. Underneath it sit habits you can test at your next meeting: how to open, which questions to ask, what to say when you do not know an answer and how to treat a deal you lost.
1 min 49 sec
Bankers, coaches and politicians would never call themselves salespeople, yet Cardone says they live or die by the same ability. His title hides a warning about what happens to everyone who never learns it.
1 min 57 sec
Most sales advice starts with scripts and openers. Cardone starts somewhere less comfortable, with a test most sellers would fail if they answered honestly before walking into the room.
1 min 56 sec
Price looks like the reason deals die. Cardone thinks sellers are reading the objection wrong, and his fix includes a commandment that sounds backwards: agree with the customer, even when they are mistaken.
1 min 58 sec
A good sales process should be one you could print in an advertisement. Cardone’s version is short enough to remember, and its final step contains an option most sellers forget they have.
1 min 59 sec
Being liked feels like progress, and many sellers wait politely for buyers to say they are ready. Cardone calls that waiting a false belief, and his alternative demands more effort than most people consider reasonable.
1 min 59 sec
Calls go unanswered, rivals undercut you and a monthly commission can feel like standing on sand. Cardone takes each fear in turn, and his answer to the last one questions what a safe job really is.
1 min 07 sec
Cardone’s title is a warning as much as a promise. Every day someone is persuading someone else, and whoever has not learned to do it well is usually the one being moved. His answer is a sequence. Believe in what you offer so fully you would buy it yourself. Show value until the price shrinks beside it. Follow a short, open process, and then ask plainly for the decision, again after the first refusal.
Most of this can be tried this week. Before your next meeting, check your own belief in the offer. Keep the greeting brief, ask harder questions about what the buyer actually needs, and put price and terms on the table even if they seem unsure. End with a clear request for a yes. When a call goes unanswered, follow up again without taking it personally, and when a deal goes to a rival, ask the buyer what would have won it.
The skill Cardone describes was never reserved for born talkers. It belongs to whoever is willing to ask, and then to ask once more.
Plenty of capable people avoid selling. They picture unstable pay, long hours and a pushy stranger working on commission. Grant Cardone argues that this picture costs them, because selling is simply persuading someone to decide, and politicians, bankers, coaches and public speakers do it every day. In his view, the ability to persuade shapes success far beyond business. His approach starts inside the seller. His Ten Sales Commandments ask you to be completely sold on your own offer, to agree with the client before steering them, to show value until the price seems minor and to assume the sale. He pairs these with the traits he sees in the best salespeople: commitment, a service mindset, pride in the work and an appetite for rejection. He then lays out a five-step process built to be quick and transparent, from a brief greeting to a clear proposal and a close or a polite exit. He also covers the setbacks that wear sellers down: crowded markets, unreturned calls, questions you cannot answer, lost deals and the fear of living on commission. Readers get a mindset and a simple routine they can try at their next meeting.
Young professionals who avoid asking for the deal, the raise or the commitment because it feels pushy.
New salespeople and founders who want a simple process for turning conversations into closed sales.
Commission earners worn down by unreturned calls, lost deals and price pressure.
Grant Cardone is an American businessman and writer, born in 1958, who founded the real estate investment firm Cardone Capital and Cardone Training Technologies. He is known as a sales trainer and business coach who has spoken around the world on sales and negotiation. A New York Times bestselling author, he also wrote The 10X Rule, which led to his 10X Growth Conference. He starred in TurnAround King, appeared on Undercover Billionaire and runs a foundation that teaches young people to manage money.
Grant Cardone
Listeners find this sales book to be an incredible resource that is simple to grasp and full of useful methods. They value the inspiring material, with one listener noting how it creates a burning desire to excel in their career, and view it as essential for those in the field. The writing earns praise for its strong advice and stories, and listeners feel it is worth the investment, with one calling it the "Bible for anyone in sales."
This book is essentially the modern bible for anyone working in a high-stakes sales environment. It creates a burning desire to excel that I haven't found in other business literature, forcing you to realize that everything in life is a commission. While Grant Cardone’s personality is undeniably loud and his self-promotion is constant, the practical techniques he shares are worth their weight in gold. I particularly appreciated the sections on building a massive pipeline and why you should never compete on price alone. Frankly, if you can’t get past his arrogance, you're going to miss out on some of the best advice regarding follow-up and professional persistence available today. It’s an easy read that focuses heavily on the mindset required to dominate your market.
Show moreFinally got around to reading this and it completely shifted my perspective on my career. Ever wonder why some people just seem to close effortlessly while you’re struggling with objections? Cardone explains that it’s all about your own conviction. The book is easy to understand and the anecdotes, while sometimes over-the-top, illustrate his points perfectly. I started implementing the follow-up strategies immediately and saw a jump in my engagement rates within a week. Not gonna lie, his style is polarizing, but the results speak for themselves. If you want a book that provides a roadmap for total market immersion and professional growth, this is the one you need on your shelf.
Show moreEver feel like you’re just going through the motions? This book will fix that. It is a high-octane look at why sales is the most important profession in the world. Cardone’s writing style is punchy and direct, which makes the techniques easy to remember and even easier to apply. I particularly enjoyed the section on how to handle the 'it's too expensive' objection by showing an even more expensive option—it’s a counter-intuitive move that actually works. This isn't just a book about closing; it's about your entire approach to life and work. If you are serious about becoming a top producer, you need to be sold on this message. It’s a career-changing read.
Show moreGotta say, this book delivered exactly what I needed. I was looking for something to help me get over my fear of asking for the money, and Cardone’s 'sell or be sold' philosophy was the perfect remedy. He breaks down the psychology of the buyer and the seller in a way that is incredibly simple to grasp. Every page feels like it’s designed to build your confidence and remind you that you are a professional. Some parts are definitely repetitive, and he repeats his own name a lot, but the underlying message about the power of follow-up is vital. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to stop making excuses and start making sales. Truly a great investment.
Show moreAfter hearing a lot of mixed things about Cardone, I decided to give this a fair shot. The truth is, the book is packed with actionable insights if you can filter out the bluster and the occasional references to Dianetics. His approach to 'being sold' on your own product is a total game-changer for anyone struggling with confidence. I found the advice about not wasting time on unproductive rapport-building to be quite refreshing, even if it feels a bit aggressive at first. Some of the claims about frugal people being bad at sales felt like a stretch, but his focus on over-delivering and maintaining a professional appearance is spot on. It’s a solid 4-star manual for those who need a kick in the pants.
Show moreAs someone who has been in the industry for a decade, I found that Cardone hits the nail on the head regarding the necessity of a proactive attitude. The book helps structure how to stay positive even when you're facing a string of rejections. I love the 'no lunch' rule—unless they are buying, you are wasting your time. Some might find that cold, but in a production-based environment, it's just the reality of the job. He does spend a lot of time mentioning his own products, which is annoying, but the core strategies on overcoming call reluctance and mastering the follow-up are genuinely useful. It’s a great tool for staying motivated when the grind gets tough.
Show morePicked this up on audiobook and the narration is actually very entertaining. Grant sounds like he’s right there in the room with you, and his passion for the subject is infectious. In my experience, most business books are written by theorists, but you can tell this comes from someone who has actually been on the front lines. He covers everything from looking the part to the ethics of selling, arguing that if you believe in your product, it's actually unethical not to sell it. I do think he bashes other authors a bit too much, and the Hubbard mentions are a red flag, but the technical advice on handling price objections is excellent. It’s worth the buy for the energy alone.
Show moreThe chapter on the sales process is easily the best part of the entire book. While I found the author's dismissal of things like meditation and saving money to be shortsighted, his grasp on the mechanics of a deal is undeniable. He teaches you how to stay out of obscurity and ensure that everyone you know—from old school friends to new acquaintances—knows what you do. It’s about being bold and unapologetic. The book is full of bluster, sure, but it's also full of truth about the importance of drill and repeat practice. I’ll likely revisit specific chapters when I feel my pipeline starting to dry up. Practical, aggressive, and highly effective for the right person.
Show moreNot what I expected, but I can see why it’s popular in certain circles. To be fair, half of the book feels like common sense wrapped in toxic positivity, and the constant self-hype gets exhausting after the first fifty pages. He uses extreme examples to make blanket claims that won't work for every personality type or industry. However, Chapter 18 is a goldmine for anyone looking to structure their sales process more effectively. I wasn't a fan of him encouraging people to go into debt or his dismissal of meditation, but the core message of persistence is valid. It's a weird mix of insightful doer advice and charlatan-style rhetoric. Read it for the mechanics, skip the philosophy.
Show moreLook, I wanted to like this, but the arrogance is just too off-putting for me. He makes these massive claims based entirely on anecdotal experiences and treats his personal opinions as if they are universal laws of success. The most concerning part was the suggestion that you should convince customers to go into debt for products they might not need. It felt a bit like reading a manifesto for a dishonest charlatan rather than a professional business guide. There are a few decent tips about pipeline management hidden in the noise, but you have to wade through so much ego and 'rah-rah' energy to find them. It’s definitely not for everyone, especially if you value thrift and humility.
Show moreCardone argues that selling is a learnable life skill, not a job reserved for salespeople. Anyone who needs others to decide something, from a banker to a coach, is selling. If you cannot persuade, you end up persuaded by someone else. He builds his method on conviction about your offer, showing value before price, a quick and transparent process, and directly asking for the decision with persistence.
Cardone’s commandments are: radiate positivity, treat excellence as a duty, picture the sale before it happens, believe completely in what you sell, understand the value you personally bring, always agree with the client, go beyond the expected in demonstrations, respect the buyer’s time and your own, assume the sale, and persist through objections and stalls until the deal is signed.
First, greet the customer briefly and skip the small talk. Second, ask questions to uncover their real wants and needs. Third, choose and demonstrate the product that fits what they said mattered. Fourth, make a clear proposal with price and terms, even if they seem unsure. Fifth, close the deal or exit the conversation politely. Cardone wants the process quick, open and free of manipulation.
He treats price as a minor obstacle. The real issue, in his view, is whether the customer is confident your offer solves their problem. So instead of cutting the price, strengthen the demonstration until the buyer sees the offer as worth far more than it costs. He also argues that a service mindset lets you charge more and avoid price wars with competitors.
It suits new salespeople, founders and anyone who finds asking for a decision uncomfortable. Commission earners will find advice on unreturned calls, lost deals and financial worry, including Cardone’s view that a corporate job is less safe than it looks after the 2008 recession. Readers who prefer an energetic, coaching tone over a technical manual will get the most from it.
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