Lessons I Learned,

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    ... As I Earned My Way To Great Success In Sales

A Little Bit About Me …

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    I am your typical, middle American, with a wife, two kids, two cars, two car garage home owning suburbanite, who has had an awful lot of fun in what has spanned a 19 year career in sales.

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   I grew up in the inner city of Philadelphia to a single parent of a large family of nine siblings, with all of the challenges that that type of a background entails.

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   Having a desire to succeed I determined that I would become a medical doctor. After assessing the commitment required to become a medical doctor I resigned to the idea of going into the military immediately following high school for twenty years to accrue enough money to start a business. I was denied entrance into the military because I am legally blind in my right eye.

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   Being undecided about what to do next, like most people in my predicament I determined this time to fall back on what I already knew to do in attempts of making a living. 

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   After not being able to line up a job in the area for which I was skilled I decided to go back to school (trade school) to keep myself busy. At which of entering school I was also able to secure a job as a maintenance engineer (a janitor), and hence I started making money for a living.

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   As a result of a school job placement service which helped me land my next job which increased my income I started moving up just a little in life.

Several years later as a result of my wife’s contacts and reputation I was able to secure a job in retail sales, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Having in my mind that it would only be a “pit stop” for me.

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   Eventually I was offered what appeared to be a scary opportunity to get into commission sales and what is one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. I started out as a stumbling, bumbling salesperson and eventually learned how to be a real sales professional.

What were my sales efforts like? 

  After learning some basic lessons the old fashioned way I went from a bare calendar in a new business venture with no client base to a calendar that produced as many as 15 appointments a week, 60 appointments a month, 720 appointments a year, a prestigious clientele that would make anybody drool and a very comfortable income and lifestyle. 

How successful did I become?

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         … My first paycheck was $ 32.00 for the month to feed my wife, my two sons and myself.

         … My second paycheck was $ 00.00 for the month to feed my wife, my two sons and myself.

         … My third paycheck was $ 50.00 for the month to feed my wife, and my two sons and myself.

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   In a three year period, with just a couple of sales people we doubled the sales volume of a privately held corporation that had been in business for over 50 years. 

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   As a result of this small start up division our company could now boast a clientele of just about every big name, three letter company in northern New Jersey. We now boasted a clientele to include many, varied industries. The legal, industrial, medical, manufacturing, educational and service industries alike. Our clients included companies such as Nabisco, Dun & Bradstreet, Master Card, Allied Signal (now Honeywell), Sony Corporation, Brother International, etc, etc., etc. 

This is my story …

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     I tell you my story because I want you to notice that I had no prior sales training, I had no desire to be in sales outside of the opportunity to earn an extra $ 5,000 a year increase in income in 1991 and on top of that my wife encouraged me do it because we needed extra money, and if I can gain great success in sales so can you!  

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    I consider myself to be a true sales professional, I greatly admire the sales profession and is protective of its image.

Why am I sharing this information for free?

• To share with you what I have learned.

• I’ve had a lot of fun and I’ve made a lot of money, why not share what I know?

• The American pie is big enough for everybody to eat and live well.

• I’m not sharing this information to sell you a bill of goods I’m sharing this information to help you get to where you want to be, if sales success is where you want to be.

# 1) Understand The Marketplace.

The Facts Man, Just The Facts

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• This year there are people who are going to make a ton of money doing exactly what you do for a living. This year somebody is going to be a superstar sales person in your industry, and make a great income because  of it.

# 1) Understand The Marketplace.

• There are three types of people/persons/groups/industries/entities/businesses when it comes to sales …

… There are those who are going to do business with you right now … Why?

… There are those who are going to do business with you later … Why?

… There are those who will never do business with you, ever … Why?

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*** This is not salesmanship, this is reality.

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   *** I discuss the "why factor" in public presentations and personal ono-on-one mentoring sessions.

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   If you accept the veracity of the "now, later, never reality of sales" you will still have what you need to proceed to great success in sales.

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*** It should go without saying that you need to have comprehension of your company, your product(s), your competition, and your business environment.

# 2) Understand The Basic Strategy Behind Sales

​A) It's a numbers game.

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     Don't let that scare you, keep your perspective straight!

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… 1/3 of society, your community, your industry is absolutely positively ready to do business with you right now. You’re responsible for introducing yourself, your company and your product or service to them, in some way, shape or form.

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… Every sales contact will absolutely positively fall into one of these three categories, now, later or never.

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… You’ll never find out who any of them are or where they fall or fit into the scheme of things until you personally introduce yourself, your product or service and your company to them, in some way, shape or form.

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B) (Always) Start Working From The Inside Out.

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… It’s a great way to get started. Start with your family members who may be able utilize your service, or refer you to someone who can utilize your product/service. These are the people that are most likely to buy from you first. 

Next, move on to your friends (any and all of them), then move on to your neighbors. Lastly, your world (territory) is your oyster. Go Get ‘em Tiger.

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C) Whenever Possible Let Your Adverting and Your Telephone Do The Work For You.

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    … The name of the game is to be as efficient as you can.

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    … Introduce yourself, your product/service and your company and let the chips fall where they may.

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   I marvel at companies who spend untold millions on advertising targeting people who will never do business with them no matter what they do or what they offer. While at the same time they target people who are not ready to do business with them right now. They’ll be ready later but they are not ready right now. 

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*** It is equivalent to the proper use of a microphone when speaking publicly. The idea is to be effective!

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The idea is to make effective use of your time, your talent, your tools!

# 3) Understand The Proper Posture In Regard To Sales.

    You will never do well in sales if and when you operate under duress and stress. What sales people need to do is to learn to take the pressure out of the game. I’ve learned it by default or via the power of self preservation. When you’re in commission sales (the you sell you eat, you don’t sell you don’t eat program) and you have four mouths to feed and your paycheck for the month is somewhere between $ 00.00 - $ 50.00 for the month you have got to figure some things out, and fast, and I did. 

     Hence I have a couple of suggestions that worked miracles for me. I became efficient and proficient, and made a lot of money and here’s how I learned to take the pressure out of the game …

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Always stay in the inquisitive mode.

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• People are most of the time happy to help out. You can get to where you want and need to be by asking for the help that you need. 

… This is what I do or This is what I want to do

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 … This is what I need or need to do 

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      … Who do I need to talk to or send information to?

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    A former CEO of Sony Electronics Corporation made this statement, 

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             “A person’s success in life is directly proportioned to their ability to ask for help.”

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Another gentleman was heard to say, 

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       “When you are talking you are telling, when you are asking you are selling.”

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    When we are asking and listening as sales people we are learning what we need to know to sell/to serve this potential client. If we will just be disciplined enough to ask pertinent questions and simply close our mouths the potential client will tell you what you need to know. They will undoubtedly tell you directly or indirectly where they fall on the sales continuum, 

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           “I ‘ve got some business for you right now!” 

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             “I’ll be able to do some business with you later!” 

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                 “I’ll never do any business with you, ever!”

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Do not judge your efforts or formulate a response based on the response of a potential client.

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• In other words do not get upset because somebody says no, not right now or never.

• Remember that potential clients are just identifying their status (now, later, or never).

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   Obviously we can handle a potential client saying … 

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      “I was looking for a new vender/that service/that product, I just didn’t know who to call!” 

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      “Boy, this was on my list of things to do, you just saved me some time!”

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      “Hey, I’ve got a project that you can do right now!”

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      “I’ve got a project that’s just right for you, or very simply if they say yes to your offer.”

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           There is absolutely no reason to get upset with someone who has told you absolutely not or not right now. The no you received indicates to you that you need to move on to someone else or to try again later after this person dies, retires, moves to another company, country or state. The not right now person is telling you that "I’m going to be later money, a later bonus, a later commission for you."

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           By the way, after I learned better I never got upset with later money. If I needed the money now there was a good chance that I would also need the money later. 

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       The people who told me to contact them later or that they would be able to do some business with me later was only filling my calendar up for later on. In other words they were my later on phone calls, my later on appointments and  my later source of income.

# 4) Figure Out And Formulate A Presentation That Works Well For You

   The goal should be, throughout your presentation, to be polite, courteous, respectful, professional (make them not want to say no to you and if they say no to you put them in a position where they are eager to help you find someone who could utilize your service or product), informative (you had better lend them some confidence about the company you work for or the product that you are selling) and inquisitive (find out a little bit about who they are, find out what type of opportunity exist – direct sale or referral - and ask them when you can help them out).

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Special Notation:

    Get and stay organized. Utilize every source and resource that you possibly can. Be fifteen minutes early for your appointments if possible.  Be as respectful of your potential clients time as you possible can be. Let them know who you are, what you do and let them know that you would like to help them, serve them, service them, provide your product or service to them and be prepared to leave afterwards. If the client keeps you after you’re finished your presentation then oblige them if you can. Dress neat and clean and don’t overdo it on the cologne/perfume, or jewelry.

# 5) Understand The Proper Perspective In Regard To Sales.

   I remember being in my late teens on my first real job. The first level of the building where I worked was surrounded by tall windows on three sides. We would open the windows in the spring, summer and fall to take advantage of the natural breezes on the outside of the building. I remember watching the salespeople pull up in their Mercedes Benz. I remember thinking to myself, “I sure would like to be like them, but I do not want to do sales!” 

   Of course I was plagued like most with the perception of the “corrupt car salesman.” Sales is a great profession which offers you the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors (as compared to the office environment), to travel, to meet a lot of different people and to make a good income regardless of a person’s educational, social or economic background.

One Final Note:

  My suggestion would be to read these materials over at least once a month and or weekly if you really want to have great sales success. 

     I believe with all of my heart that if a person will adopt these five, simple principles of sales success that any person can be a million dollar to a multi-million dollar plus sales professional in half the time that it takes the average sales professional to produce these results, and most salespeople never do.

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  Sales is a great journey …

    … It can take you a lot of places and do a lot of things for you.

            … Have fun and enjoy the journey!

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                            The Psychology of Sales Mindset, Inc.©