Tara Gignac, ND, is a naturopathic doctor who practices in Collingwood, Ontario. We recently received this letter — yes, on paper, in an envelop, mailed with a stamp and everything! (Nice to know people still do that.)

I just finished Go-Givers Sell More — I loved it! What a breath of fresh air.

Working in the alternative health care industry in a culture where “you don’t pay for health care,” selling my MacGuffin can oftentimes feel very “schmarmy.”

Reading the book has reframed sales for me into a context that I can do. The nature of what I do every day is to focus on the patient, listen to them and add value to their life. Every time I would think about sales — developing my “pitch,” contacting prospects, dealing with objections, closing the sale — it would make me cringe. Now I know why: it takes the focus away from the other person, which goes against the very grain of my training as a naturopathic doctor.

Go-Givers Sell More has given me permission to stay in my core genius as a naturopath when thinking about growing my business — focus on the other person, listen and add value. I will definitely be recommending it to my colleagues who are struggling with this part of their business and careers.

If ever an endorsement by an ND is of value to you I’d be happy to oblige.

Keep up the good work!!

From Berry Zimmerman, a Seattle-based business consultant who founded and runs an operation called BizEnrich.com:

Every business expert who joins BizEnrich receives a copy of The Go-Giver to help clarify the values of the organization and inspire them to serve their clients in a way only a true Go-Giver can understand.

Last Friday [Nov. 20, 2009], BizEnrich held our first annual “Thanks-Go-Giving Celebration.”

[Note: That’s Berry on the far R.]

The purpose of the event was to gather as a community to express our gratitude for the generosity of our members and share our blessings with each other. Our members were treated to a complimentary gourmet luncheon by our sponsoring organizations.

Prior to eating lunch, we hand-wrote personal Thanksgiving cards to 70 foster parents in the greater Seattle area. Foster parents make some tremendous sacrifices to care for their foster kids and it was a great joy for us to thank them for their generous spirits. We have “adopted” Olive Crest, a regional charity who does great things with foster kids (and parents) to reduce abuse.

Throughout the three-hour event, everyone was given an opportunity to share something personal with the group. They were given guidelines ahead of the event, and were given a tremendous amount of freedom to share a story, a poem, a physical gift, or whatever they wanted to do. Each person was also given a copy of one of the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success and asked to make it relevant to something in their own life.

The sharing was incredibly touching and personal. We learned things about our business colleagues that only best friends share with each other. We heard poems from authors like Maya Angelou and Mary Oliver. We heard stories of heartache and triumph. We heard heartfelt statements of appreciation for each person in the room. We received gifts of recipes and song lyrics and memorabilia from local charities.

We all left the event with full bellies and hearts.

In the 24 hours since the event, I have received several personal emails of appreciation and gratitude. One member was so moved by the event that he claimed, “Today’s meeting did more to build relationships between the members than all the meetings this year combined.”

Happy Thanks-Go-Giving — Berry

P.S. Everyone I know who reads The Go-Giver is moved by the story and finds some way to engage the spirit of the book in their lives. One of my members carries a copy of The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success in his planner. Another member tried to get her 14-year-old daughter to read the book. (Sorry, but The Go-Giver is not quite “Twilight” to her.)