Book SummaryThe Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Greatest Salesman in the World

Part self-help techniques, part sales manual, and part Christian allegory, Og Mandino’s 1968 parable The Greatest Salesman in the World preaches 10 principles that can make anyone a great salesperson and give them the opportunity to create vast wealth. The book’s title is slightly misleading—you’ll find no strategies for how to negotiate a cold call or close a deal. Instead, the story “sells” the premise that becoming a great salesperson means developing a better, stronger version of yourself through good habits, discipline, perseverance, and self-control. Whether you’re in the sales business or not, these self-development efforts may improve your life.

Mandino (1923–1996) was an American inspirational and self-help writer. His books drew on his success as an insurance salesman and have sold more than 50 million copies around the world. His other works include US in a Nutshell, The Christ Commission, A Better Way to Live, The Spellbinder’s Gift, and Secrets for Success and Happiness.

Half of The Greatest Salesman in the World recounts the story of Hafid, a lowly camel boy who yearns for wealth and believes he can acquire it by mastering the art of selling. Hafid builds a vast financial empire based on the teachings inscribed on 10 leather scrolls bequeathed to him by his mentor, a wealthy merchant known for his masterful selling. The book’s other half reveals the scrolls’ lessons, one chapter per scroll. Each lesson serves double-duty as a more general life lesson, which gives the book a broad appeal extending beyond the realm of sales and marketing.

The Greatest Salesman in the World is set in the Middle East around the time of Jesus Christ’s birth. Some readers may find the book’s Biblical references off-putting, but you don’t need to subscribe to any particular religious beliefs to benefit from its character-building lessons. Its core message is that improving your sales numbers—or your life—requires making positive changes to your attitudes, habits, and actions.

Hafid Prepares for His Death

Hafid, a wealthy old man nearing the end of his life, asks his bookkeeper to account for the total amassed wealth in his treasury and warehouses, then convert it into gold and donate it to the poor. Hafid wants to keep only enough so he can comfortably live out his remaining days.

The bookkeeper knows that Hafid has always given money to the needy, but this request seems extraordinary. Still, he does as he’s instructed and liquidates Hafid’s empire. Afterward, the two men go to a secret room in Hafid’s palace, where Hafid shows the bookkeeper a cedar chest filled with 10 leather scrolls, each containing a secret lesson that, when studied, could teach anyone how to become the greatest salesperson in the world and earn untold wealth. Hafid has used these scrolls’ lessons to make himself rich.

As a young man, Hafid was given the scrolls by his mentor, but they came with strict stipulations. Hafid had to swear to give away half of his profits to the poor, and he was not allowed to share the scrolls’ secrets. He was instructed to study the scrolls and use them to his benefit, then keep them hidden away until a special person came along—someone who desperately needed their teachings. Hafid would recognize this person by a mysterious sign and know it was time to pass on the scrolls.

Hafid needs to fulfill the promise he made to his mentor before he dies, but his successor—the scrolls’ new owner—has not yet come.

Flashback—How Hafid Obtained the Scrolls

Hafid recalls how he came to possess the scrolls. As an orphaned young boy, he works as a camel attendant for a great trade merchant, Pathros. Hafid tells Pathros he wants to move up from his “lowly position” to become a seller of goods, someone who can make money to support the family he will someday have.

Pathros tries to discourage Hafid, telling him that material wealth is not as important as it seems, that what matters most is loving others, being loved, and finding peace and happiness. Hafid agrees, but confesses that he has fallen in love with a girl, the daughter of a wealthy man, and being a lowly camel boy, he has no chance of wooing her.

Hearing this argument, Pathros relents and agrees to give Hafid the chance to learn how to sell. But Pathros says Hafid’s path will not be easy; a salesperson’s life is difficult and lonely and the job is filled with challenges and obstacles. Hafid will need to prove himself worthy.

Pathros tells Hafid to report to the caravan’s baggage wagons to pick up a red goat-hair robe from the vast inventory of goods. Then Hafid must travel by donkey to Bethlehem to sell the robe for a minimum of one silver denarius, and he must do it within four days. Pathros’s parting advice to Hafid is a refrain that echoes throughout the book: If your will to succeed is strong enough, you will not fail.

Hafid’s Quest to Sell the Robe

On Hafid’s fourth day as a robe seller in Bethlehem, he is despondent. He has not sold the robe, and no one will listen to his sales pitch. He starts to doubt himself, thinking he should give up his dreams and return to his job as a camel boy. But when he remembers the girl he loves, he renews his resolve to become a successful merchant. He decides to get up before dawn and work harder to sell the robe.

As Hafid heads to the cave where he intends to sleep for the night, he encounters a young couple with a newborn baby. They’re shivering from the cold, and the parents don’t have enough clothing to keep themselves and the baby warm. Hafid hesitates, then decides he must do the right thing—he takes his precious goat-hair robe and wraps it around the baby. The grateful mother kisses him.

A strangely bright star lights up the night as Hafid heads back to Pathros’s merchant caravan, but Hafid barely notices it because he dreads facing Pathros. Hafid believes he has failed his master by giving away the robe instead of selling...

The Greatest Salesman in the World Summary Chapters 1-7: Background and Hafid’s Life Story

Og Mandino’s 1968 parable The Greatest Salesman in the World preaches 10 principles that can make anyone a great salesperson and give them the opportunity to create vast wealth. The book’s title is slightly misleading—you’ll find no strategies for how to negotiate a cold call or close a deal. Instead, the story “sells” the premise that becoming a great salesperson means developing a better, stronger version of yourself through good habits, discipline, perseverance, and self-control. Whether you’re in the sales business or not, these self-development efforts may improve your life.

Half of Greatest Salesman recounts the story of Hafid, a lowly camel boy who yearns for wealth and believes he can acquire it by mastering the art of selling. Hafid builds a vast financial empire based on the teachings inscribed on 10 leather scrolls bequeathed to him by his mentor, a wealthy merchant known for his masterful selling. The book’s other half reveals the scrolls’ lessons, one chapter per scroll. Each lesson serves double-duty as a broader life lesson, which gives the book a broad appeal extending beyond the realm of sales and marketing.

Greatest Salesman is set in the...

The Greatest Salesman in the World Summary Chapters 8-17: The Scrolls’ Lessons

Each of 10 the scrolls is described in its own short chapter, and the book shifts from narrative to instruction manual.

(Shortform note: Hafid vanishes for 50 or so pages, and although we rejoin him in the final chapter, we don’t get to witness him applying the scrolls’ lessons and developing his skills as a salesperson.)

Scroll #1: Good Habits Are Key to Success

The first scroll extols the virtues of good habits, noting that they are what separates those who succeed from those who fail. All humans are slaves to their habits, so it’s much wiser to develop and maintain good habits than bad ones.

Each day gives us a new chance to destroy bad habits and start good ones, and the easiest way to do this is to replace bad habits with a better alternative. If you indulge in good habits all day, there’s no time or space for bad habits. For example, if you want to sell more widgets, then fill your waking hours making sales calls rather than with frivolous pastimes. Repetition is the key to forming good habits—constant practice makes any task easy.

Scroll #1 also lays out the first good habit you should adopt—the habit of reading each scroll for 30 days,...

The Greatest Salesman in the World Summary Chapter 18: Hafid Meets His Successor

The book zips back to where the story began—Hafid is an old man who has liquidated all his fortunes, and he’s waiting to meet the successor to whom he will give the scrolls. One day a poor man in beggar’s clothes appears at Hafid’s door, saying that he is searching for “the greatest salesman in the world.” He is Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul.

Paul’s Story

Paul tells Hafid that several years ago, he was hired to round up the followers of a man named Jesus, a preacher who had been crucified by the Romans. Jesus’s followers were severely punished, even put to death. Paul routed out the crucified man’s disciples...

Shortform Exercise: Apply the Lessons of Scrolls 1-5

Think about how to apply the scrolls’ lessons to overcome bad habits and treat others in a loving way.

Think about how you spend your time each week. What “bad” habits would you like to replace with better habits?

Shortform Exercise: Apply the Lessons of Scrolls 6-10

Think about how to apply the scrolls’ lessons to set goals and take action.

Everybody has emotional traps. Make a list of three things that can trigger you to lapse into a bad mood.