# Jeffrey Gitomer

Jeffrey Gitomer (born February 11, 1946, in West Palm Beach, Florida) is an American salesperson, author, and speaker who writes and lectures on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development.

## Education

Gitomer attended Temple University, but left after his first year to attend the Goethe Institute in Berlin, Germany, where he studied languages. The Charlotte Observer describes him as "...a college drop-out who has built a sales training empire."

## Author/Writer

Gitomer has written fifteen books, including New York Times best sellers, The Sales Bible and The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. His most successful title, The Little Red Book of Selling, has sold more than five million copies worldwide and has been translated into 14 languages. It appeared on the Wall Street Journal best seller list at least 71 times. It was also chosen by business publishing experts Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten to be listed in their book of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. However, in Time Magazine Andrea Sachs described his books in terms of P.T. Barnum, quoting Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth, as saying: "People are looking for very simple answers to relatively complex questions...." Sachs goes on to say: "Full of cartoons and bite-size nuggets of advice, the books are aimed at people who watch TV rather than read."
On September 16, 2006, three of Gitomer's titles appeared simultaneously on The Wall Street Journal best seller lists, the only business author to achieve this in the Journal's history. Gitomer has also co-authored three other titles with writers Ron Zemke, Greg Dinkin, and Nikita Koloff.
He also publishes Sales Caffeine, a weekly, multi-media e-zine (online magazine), which is distributed internationally to 250,000 subscribers.

## Speaker

Gitomer is a frequent speaker at public and corporate seminars and is ranked in the top 1% of non-celebrity speakers by the National Speakers Association. On August 4, 2008, at the National Speakers Association Convention in New York, he was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame.

## US Airways Controversy and Resolution

Gitomer gained notoriety in November 2003 for being the first passenger ever to be banned from US Airways. The airline cited chronic, unreasonable complaints, numerous confrontations with employees, and verbal abuse that allegedly brought employees to tears. In an interview, Gitomer defended himself as a demanding, but not abusive, customer and explained that he had only made an employee cry once, several years prior. In October 2004, Gitomer was permanently banned as a customer and passenger.

## Honors and awards

* 2009 Audie Award for The Little Red Book of Selling. Awards recognizing distinction in audiobooks. Best Business/Educational title of the year.
* 2008 ASTD Award for Excellence in Workplace Learning and Performance, Solution Sales Elite, Hewlett Packard & TrainOne, partners.
* 2008 IPPY Axiom Book Award Gold Medal Winner in Sales for Customer Loyalty Concepts.
* 2008 National Speakers Association's CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame. One of 146 living members.
* 2005 IPPY Top 10 Outstanding Book Award "Business Breakthrough Book of the Year" for The Little Red Book of Selling.
* 1997 Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) Award by the National Speakers Association.