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Sell Like a Spy: The Art of Persuasion from the World of Espionage

From Diversion Books

An expert in sales and corporate espionage taps into the history of intelligence-gathering and his own working relationships with former agents of the CIA, FBI, and counterterrorism in this handbook of field-tested spycraft strategies and tactics to build relationships, persuade, and sell anything.  

Journalist, entrepreneur, and corporate intelligence agent Jeremy Hurewitz knows that spies are the world’s best salespeople. He’s built his career around former CIA case officers, FBI agents, and other intelligence officers—people like Steve Romano, former Chief Negotiator at the FBI; Mark Sullivan, former Director of the Secret Service; and former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service John Sipher. Drawing on in-depth interviews about their skillsets, stunning anecdotes from the history of espionage, and science-backed principles of emotional intelligence, Hurewitz has created a handbook of spycraft lessons and tactics that will strengthen readers’ ability to foster better relationships, to persuade, and to sell anything—in business and everyday life.  

Though a spy’s targets may be odious—terrorists, criminals, corrupt diplomats, and more—the spy’s focus is on cultivating relationships and understanding people’s motivations to better persuade them to give something up: information, hostages, money, or simply their feelings. Elicitation, Radical Empathy, Disguise, and RPM (Rationalize, Project Blame, and Minimize Fault) are just a few of the spycraft methods in Sell Like a Spy that readers can use as sales professionals or people who simply want to connect more deeply with friends and family.   

Packed with interviews and anecdotes from intelligence officers of all stripes, and with a foreword by Robert Grenier, former Director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, Sell Like a Spy puts James Bond in its dust, offering a secret playbook of persuasion tactics from the real world of international espionage.   

listen to what a top former FBI agent and body language expert has to say about Sell Like a Spy

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What People Are Saying

  • “Reading Sell Like a Spy is time well-spent for anyone, whether you’re a salesperson or just someone who wants to get along with people in your everyday life. Jeremy Hurewitz brings his real-world experience and provides readily useable techniques that are easy to assimilate. From the streets of Pakistan to the boardrooms of New York City, Sell Like a Spy will help you listen, connect, and influence.” 

    Stephen J. Romano, former FBI Chief Hostage Negotiator 

  • “Jeremy Hurewitz’s Sell Like a Spy brings together lessons from world’s most elite information gatherers and people influencers, distilling the spymaster skills untrained readers can apply to succeed in business. Hurewitz draws on decades of experience as an investigative journalist turned jet-setting corporate security expert, as well as interviews with intelligence agents, law enforcement officials, hostage negotiators, Special Forces, and more to ground his writing in real-life case studies. An essential read for anyone interested in becoming a better salesperson—or a half-decent spook!” 

    Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group, and New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats—and Our Response—Will Change the World

  • “Jeremy Hurewitz knows what the best sales and intelligence professionals understand: espionage and business are about relationships, and the secret sauce of success is the ability to seek connection and develop purposeful and authentic relationships. In Sell Like a Spy, Hurewitz illustrates with stories and examples that persuasion is not the ability to find the right words, but the ability to build real relationships of trust and empathy, and even share vulnerability. Sell Like a Spy is a fun primer on the skills, traits, and professional discipline to succeed in business.” 

    John Sipher, Founder of Spycraft Entertainment and previously a member of the CIA’s clandestine service for 28 years

  • “The lessons of espionage directly relate to sales: it all comes down to the art of human persuasion. That’s why this book is so useful and fascinating, because modern sales teams can adopt practices that have been employed by governments for years. . . . And not in a nefarious way, but in a way that actually builds trust. Sell Like a Spy is a great read and a lot of fun!” 

    Sam Jacobs, CEO & Founder of Pavilion, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Kind Folks Finish First: The Considerate Path to Success in Business and Life

  • “In Sell Like a Spy Jeremy Hurewitz does an excellent job of identifying best practices in information gathering, understanding people, and assessing situations from people with decades of experience honing these skills in the intelligence and law enforcement world. He shares with the reader how to use these skill sets to succeed in all sorts of aspects of their lives. A useful and fascinating read for just about anyone.”

    Mark Sullivan, former Director of the Secret Service

  • “We’d like to think of spycraft as all cloak-and-dagger work in the shadows. But Jeremy Hurewitz, in this remarkable new book, shows that the best spies are really elite salespeople at heart. They can connect with, well, just about anyone. Having had remarkable access to top spies through a career in corporate security, Jeremy reveals the secrets they used to succeed. Not surprisingly, if you can sell while deeply undercover you can sell just about anything—and the lessons in this book will serve anyone working in corporate America today.”

    Paul Sullivan, former New York Times columnist, author of Clutch: Excel Under Pressure, and founder of The Company of Dads

  • “In Sell Like a Spy, Jeremy Hurewitz has given us a unique and intriguing look into the communication- and relationship-building skills used by FBI hostage negotiators to gain a peaceful surrender, by criminal interrogators in gaining cooperation, and by CIA case officers when recruiting spies. Viewed from his background in journalism and business consulting, Hurewitz explains how these highly effective methods can be used more broadly in the business world to achieve success. A well-written, great read that I highly recommend.”

    Gary Noesner, former FBI Chief Hostage Negotiator, and author of Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator

  • “ ‘Your most powerful weapon is your mind!’ an Army Special Forces recruiting poster from the late ’60s proclaimed. That remains true today because no matter what weapons Special Forces soldiers employ, they must have the ability to build and establish trust and rapport with foreign partners around the world, men and women of often vastly different cultures, languages, and histories. As readers of Sell Like a Spy will find, they can learn and absorb the same principles and ways of thinking from the Special Forces that results in operational success in our environment, to apply to the world you live and work in.”

    Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland Jr. (Ret.), former Deputy Commander of the United States Special Operations Command

  • “Jeremy Hurewitz knows what good intelligence officers know: when it comes to closing deals, creativity matters. He shows that throughout his engrossing new book, Sell Like a Spy, which puts the reader in a position to learn real spy tradecraft to connect more deeply and influence people in their lives. His book is page-turner, with real-life examples of how spies have used these techniques for generations. An essential read for anyone interested in broadening their social skills.”

    Juval Aviv, former Mossad officer, Founder of Interfor Inc., and author of Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business

  • “Jeremy Hurewitz spent years working side-by-side with CIA case officers, FBI agents, and other government officials. With Sell Like a Spy, he taps that unique experience to provide crucial insights that can help businesspeople develop relationships, collect information, and overcome challenges.”

    Gregory Zuckerman, Special Writer, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

  • “Sell Like a Spy is flat-out a great read and an innovative playbook—really a master class for serious sales professionals looking to up their game and become elite in their field. Ubiquitous information, macro forces, and competition make selling harder than ever with every pipeline opportunity a mission and every negotiation a complex operation. Jeremy Hurewitz does a brilliant job tapping into the clandestine world of espionage to extract unique best practices, leverage proven techniques by arguably the world’s best sellers—SPIES,—to give any sales professional willing to invest in their craft a serious competitive edge.”

    Pat Donegan, Senior Managing Director, Sales Excellence, The Riverside Company

  • "Part memoir, part practical guide, Jeremy Hurewitz’s “Sell Like a Spy” brings together lessons from the world’s most elite information gatherers and people influencers, distilling the spymaster untrained readers can apply to succeed in business. Hurewitz draws on decades of experience as an investigative journalist turned jet-setting corporate security expert, as well as interviews with intelligence agents, law enforcement officials, hostage negotiators, special forces, and more, to ground his writing in real-life case studies. An essential read for anyone interested in becoming a better salesperson – or a half-decent spook!"

    Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group, author of Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World

About the Author: Jeremy Hurewitz

Jeremy Hurewitz’s career has spanned multiple sectors and incorporated years of international experience resulting in unique insights and perspectives shared in his book Sell Like a Spy.

Jeremy spent the first decade of his career overseas building the media association Project Syndicate while based out of Prague and Shanghai. During that time he also wrote for a variety of publications around the world and continues to do so.

Jeremy has spent nearly 20 years working in the world of corporate espionage collaborating with a variety of government officials to manage risk for clients. By working with these individuals Jeremy has learned the tradecraft secrets of elite case officers and government agents and shares these insights in his book and in his fascinating keynote speeches.

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