In this book, the author, Arlene Dickinson, who is known by many to be a co-star on CBC’s TV show, Dragon’s Den, describes her approach to persuasion.

Through various stories and examples from her own life and from others, Arlene describes how persuasion involves being authentic and honest, and that in order to be persuasive, a person really needs to believe that there is something of benefit to the other person. In convincing others that we have something of value to them, we will be more effective if we emphasize the benefits that our product or service provides, as opposed to its features.

As a Realtor®, I need to persuade people to hire me. This book emphasizes to me that one of the most important aspects of my services is listening to my clients to learn what their priorities are, and then customizing the way that I do things in order to accommodate the client. For example, does the client need to put their young child to bed by 7:00 p.m. every day? Then I’ll manage the home showings to occur no later than that time. Is there a pet in the house? Let’s talk about how to keep the stress level down for the pet while the home is being sold. Are you a busy person but want to buy a home? Let’s talk about how we can make the buying process efficient – perhaps I can help to narrow down the potential homes by gathering more information in advance of looking at them, and we can use an electronic signature program to make signing offer documents quick and easy. For me, persuading someone to work with me is about figuring out the best way that I can customize my services to suit their needs and wants.

Since persuasion is a skill that can be used by anyone in life, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in self-development for business or personal reasons.