“Eat What You Kill: Becoming a Sales Carnivore”

Sam Taggart’s new book challenges readers to hunt down success with the mindset of a hunter.

By Sam Taggart
c.2025, Penguin Portfolio
$32, 283 pages

You could really sink your teeth into a new sale today.

It would taste good, too. You just need to hunt down the right potential client, give your pitch and scratch out the deal. Just like that — if you could. But times are tough, and clients are skittish. No worries, you got this. Read the new book “Eat What You Kill” by Sam Taggart and get ready to pounce.

When it comes to salespeople, says Taggart, there are three kinds: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. It’s essential, he says, to know what kind you are.

Herbivores are browsers who deal with whatever is fed to them, including new potential clients. Carnivores “have the mindset of a born hunter, and they eat what they kill.” Omnivores can “switch back and forth… but they derive their greatest value from their carnivore skills and mindset.”

Which one would you like to be? And how do you become that sales animal — someone who’s hungry for the hunt and who lives for the next conquest?

Taggart says to start by creating the right “mindset.” Doing so will “give you a lot more clarity,” and it will help adjust “your attitudes about competition, rejection and much more.” Get a “conqueror mentality,” but also know the downside of it.

Do not ever “accept average as [your] goal.”

Know how to overcome the occasional “salesnertia” and any burnout you may experience. Do the math, so you know how much you must hustle to succeed (it’s a lot!), and know where your time goes in a normal day. Learn how to incorporate the “four building blocks of selling” in your relationships with customers. 

We’re told not to judge people by their appearances — but remember that your customers do and will. Adjust your methods by knowing how to categorize your clients. Have a prospecting strategy, and be willing to alter it as needed. Know “The Seven Doors to Reach Customers.”

And remember: These methods aren’t just for business.

Says Taggart, “Sales skills can be applied to a huge range of everyday situations.”

So let’s say you’ve read dozens and dozens of How to Sell handbooks. You’ve eschewed all novels, memoirs and fun reads to hone your craft. Now forget about those other books — and stalk “Eat What You Kill.”

In his very first pages, Taggart asks readers to understand what kind of sales animal they are, and that immediately sets the tone. You’ll go wild to be a “carnivore,” because Taggart makes it sound sleek and powerful. He makes you crave the elite achievement that is that category — and then he tells you how to do it.

Does it sound like work? Not so much. But savvy readers will know it is, and they won’t care after a few pages. Taggart’s advice is drill-sergeant-with-a-velvet-glove-like, factual rather than prodding, plainly said and easy to grasp.

TL;DR: “Eat What You Kill” is good inspiration for a newbie and a kick-in-the-pants for anyone who needs it. Grab it and take a bite.

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