PERSISTENCE and “ANTENNAS UP” … TWO of the major GSD Principles …

It’ll Never Happen – Where did my first book come from?

As with most sales, it started when I got turned down.

An article was published about me and my sales skills in The Charlotte Observer in the spring of 1992 that made my phone ring off the hook. I went running back to the paper to offer my writing services.

“I want to write a weekly article on sales,” I trumpeted. Not only did they turn me down, they said, “It’ll never happen.” I said, “No, it’ll never happen here.”

That same morning – one hour later – I struck a deal with the Charlotte Business Journal to publish a weekly column on selling skills. I called it “Sales Moves.”

Next time someone tells you “never,” remember that means “not for at least one hour.” My name is Jeffrey Gitomer – I’m a salesman, I’m a speaker, and I’m a writer, I’m a dad, I’m a granddad, I’m a husband, and I’m a friend. I don’t have a Ph.D. I’m a college dropout. I don’t live in an ivory tower. I live in lofts at the old Lance Cracker Factory in Charlotte, North Carolina. I learned to sell in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and New York City. Now I help people all over the world understand the difference between “how to sell” and “why people buy.”

In 1969 I got involved in multi-level marketing when it was called pyramiding. In 1974 I sold 3-million dollars worth of garments in NYC on pre-targeted cold calls. In 1983 I sold a deal to print every garment for the 1984 Olympics. I have cold called every office in downtown Charlotte, and I’ve cold called Fortune 500 company presidents and made the sale. I’ve made $1 sales and I’ve made $1,000,000 sales. I’m a salesman who has been on the street for almost 50 years. Sometimes face up, sometimes face down.

I love to sell.

“Sales Moves” (my weekly article) first appeared in The Charlotte Business Journal on March 23, 1992. The column was an instant success. It soon found its way to Dallas, Atlanta, Denver, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and 75 other cities. Mark Ethridge, publisher of the Charlotte Business Journal, Pulitzer Prize-Winning journalist, and my good friend and supporter, said that publishing Sales Moves was his most impactful marketing decision of 1992. That was more than 1,200 columns ago! People began to call and write, and still do every day, from all over the world. Papers wanting to publish the column. Readers thanking me for helping them make sales. I found out that salespeople were hanging my weekly article on the wall in their offices. They were copying the column and passing it around. They were mailing it to friends and co-workers in other cities. They were using the column to lead sales meetings.

And they still do.

Getting Shit Done on Accident TY BOYD and the birth of the FaxBack

ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS: On November 8, 1992, I wrote an article based on a seminar that I attended a week earlier presented by my close friend and mentor, Ty Boyd. At the end of the column I wrote: if you’d like Ty Boyd’s 51 Ways of Getting Closer to Your Customer, fax your letterhead to (number) and with the words TY BOYD, and I’ll fax you back his 51 ways.

I received more than 300 faxes the first day. It broke one of the fax machines at the Business Journal, and they almost missed the printing deadline (there were no PDF’s in 1992). In total, more than 1,000 faxes were received that week, and faxback was born.

I added the faxback to every column from that point on, and beyond sales leads, it proved a very important aspect of my writing. Thousands of my readers read my article to the last sentence, and then took action. Over the next 10 years, until PDF became prevalent, I received more than 100,000 faxbacks.

TY BOYD EPILOG: The Ty Boyd article made it all the way around the world. I received faxes for years. And to this day more than 24 years later, I still receive at least one fax per year with the words “Ty Boyd” on it.

The Power of the Written Word, Consistency and Productivity

My daughter, Stacey, bought a car in Charlotte. Everyone in the dealership reads my article. When she got to the closing room (alone), they said, “We’re giving you the best deal of the year because we don’t want your dad to write anything bad about us.”

My vision was correct, the first day I wrote my weekly article, I knew I would write a book. It was a natural progression. Ty Boyd suggested the same thing. Encouragement means a lot to a salesman. I’m grateful for his.

Keep in mind: I owned all the companies I was selling for. I began my leadership training as the leader (and chief salesman) for my own companies. When I began speaking and consulting, I spoke to entrepreneurs and leaders of all types. For more than 25 years, I have delivered more than 250 public seminars on sales management and sales leadership. I understand EXACTLY what it takes to find, hire, train, and help salespeople succeed. I love to lead.

And I know how to get shit done.

Writing today, 27 years and 1,200 columns later, my weekly column has appeared in printed business papers and online editions every week from Perth to Peoria, from Poland to Pretoria, and from Philadelphia to Paris.

The material I use is mine. I’m drawing on my 45 years of selling experience, 16 of which have been in consulting, 20 of which included more than 2,000 speaking engagements all over the world. I’ve listened to thousands of hours of records, tapes, CDs, and audio files. I’ve read everything I could find. I have recorded more than 1,000 hours of training, books and writings, and at the same time, watched hundreds of vintage videos. I’ve attended every seminar that time would permit.

My mission is to learn as I teach. I seek to learn something new every day.

I continue to write to provide information that salespeople, sales leaders, small business owners, and service providers can use to make more sales out there in the trenches. My online presence and outreach has exacerbated my distribution. I know what salespeople are up against in today’s Internet, app, smartphone, and social world. I know how hard they work. I know how frustrating it can be. I can help them and their leaders get shit done as I have for 25-plus years.

I began the construction of the first edition of The Sales Bible in August 1993. After countless late hours in the office, a week at Beech Mountain, NC, and a week at Hilton Head Island, SC, with my Macintosh, my ace critic, editor, and friend, Rod Smith, and my cat, Lito, I was done. I thought it would be a snap. Seven-hundred man-hours later – snap. Six editions and 24 years later The Sales Bible still has plenty of what’s new, and keeps the tradition intact. It is a true evergreen. The second most evergreen book in the “sales” category. I love to write.

First most evergreen sales book? The Little Red Book of Selling.

Beat Call-Reluctance and Achievement-Reluctance the same way you got it.

There’s a huge issue in sales known as call reluctance – the concept of why salespeople don’t make the calls they (you) know they (you) should.

I guess I’m from the old school that says “get out there and do it,” but let’s examine this critical issue from a real world perspective and put it to bed…forever.

Reluctance is a form of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of failing. False fear appearing real. Sales call, cold call, or phone call reluctance is a form of this phenomenon. Reluctant to call is a sister of fear to fail – a weak sister.

Here are the early reluctance warning signals. You justify your reasons for not calling new prospects because:

• You’re too busy!
• You have existing clients who need your help.
• New product information is waiting to be mastered.
• The educational classes your company offers are too good to resist.
• It’s too near the holiday or it’s just after the holiday.
• ANY excuse: It’s too early. It’s too late. It’s too hot. It’s too cold.

Do these sound familiar? Want to understand why you do them? Want to ELIMINATE your reluctance? Everyone has some form of fear or reluctance. People like Barbara Streisand and Lawrence Olivier had a fear of performing – and they did OK. You got CALL RELUCTANCE little by little – a step at a time – a call at a time. You beat it the same way. Call by call.

Here are a few sales and personal remedies to overcome this wallet-crippling condition:

Get real with yourself. Make a (check) list of what takes place when making a sales call. What can happen? The prospect will hang up, be rude, have voice mail, tell you to call back another time, give you an opportunity to say what you called to say, or be excited that you called. Keep in mind, none of these responses are life threatening, and three of the six are positive. Pretty good odds.

Check your attitude and belief system. The prospect can “hear” in your voice, or “see” by your gestures, how you feel about your company, your product, and yourself. Before beginning your call, take a moment to review the value you have brought to your clients and why you like what you do. Does your voice reflect the enthusiasm and belief you have?

Know who they are and what they do. Use the Internet to gain valuable information about the prospect and their business BEFORE you make the call. Being prepared with information about the customer builds self-confidence, and beats CALL RELUCTANCE.

Too much time is spent in preparation. You must prepare – but not so much that the calls never get made. Limit yourself to web info, brochures, competition, and a few of their customers.

Find out why the “no” occurs. There are fewer than 10 reasons “no” occurs – one or two of them are causing your reluctance. Overcome the “no” reasons and your reluctance will melt away.

Check your computer. Use contact management software. These enable you to keep your calling focused. The pertinent data about your prospect is loaded into the client file and updated with each attempt or contact. A key for success is to SET THE ALARMS. This gently forces you to deal with an important call or activity. Use the note screens to record your ideas and “angles” to make the sale.

Get better at listening. CALL RELUCTANT people feel they have to talk to win. False. Often the answer is being given by the prospect – and you’ll go past it trying to “sell.” Try asking instead of telling, understanding instead of responding, listening instead of talking.

Know why you are calling. Are you calling to set an appointment? Great – just do that. Don’t try to get the contract signed over the phone. Here are some ways to generate interest: citing an example of how you have helped others, enthusiastically sharing how your product or service can improve their bottom line or increase productivity, or asking a thought provoking question about them. Give the prospect a reason to say yes!

Avoid sounding scripted. In other words, put things in your own words and relax when you present them. Join Toastmasters for a reality check.

“Just Do It™” is a dangerous phrase. Where’s the preparation? My version is, “Prepare yourself and just do what you love!”

I was going to follow up, BUT...

“I was going to call that prospect, but a big bad boogieman climbed out of my computer and bit me – I swear – look at the byte marks.”

“I was going to call that guy for a decision but I ran out of time – I’ll call him tomorrow first thing – unless I have that meeting with my mortgage guy. Yeah, by the afternoon for sure.”

“I left the guy three voicemails and he hasn’t returned my calls.
I don’t want to seem like a pest. I just have to wait till he calls me back. I’ve done all I can.”

Excuses. Make me puke.

A woman sent me an email with a quote passed on to her by her father. “You can make excuses or you can make money – but you can’t make both.”

Call Reluctance is a mental disease of salespeople that leads to excuses – both to oneself and to others (mostly bosses).

There’s an old adage in sales that goes: The hardest door to open is the car door. The so-called reluctance issue is subject to debate as to whether it even is a problem – or just a mask for a deeper issue. Things like fear of rejection, lack of preparation, or lack of belief in your product. Those are real problems. I think psychological reluctance is a bunch of crap.

I just gave you the “why” – now I’d like to give you the “why to,” the “how,” and the “how to” – answers. Here are some ideas to overcome this wallet-crippling condition:

Do you know what the customer wants? If you have full knowledge of what your customer wants, you can call with confidence – or better yet, call with an idea or full knowledge of how you can help.

Do you have a relationship with the customer? If you have a relationship, you can call and talk about ANYTHING. They will most appreciate things that will help them profit and win.

Reluctant to make cold calls? If it’s a cold call, you have to have a reason beyond selling them something. Start with a value based script. Get comfortable. Then expand with your innovative thoughts.

Write down WHY. Why you’re not, and why you should. Reinforce your positive belief by taking action.

Write down the rewards for success. What happens if you get a “yes”?

Pre-prepare for no and thanks. Tell the prospect you were HOPING for a no – because that’s where your best customers come from.

Decide what answers you want. Are you wanting to: Make an appointment? Get an answer on a proposal? Get permission to send a quote? Find out who the decision maker is? Know your objective before you pick up the phone.

Convert their information to a few ideas you think they can use. When you walk in their door, or call them on the phone with questions AND answers, you convert the fear energy drain to an air of self-confidence – and have all your energy saved for the positive elements of the sale.

Make time and set the time. Block time on your calendar to make calls. From 8am-10am every day. Set minimum standards for success (make one appointment each day, make four follow-up calls, make one sale), and don’t quit until you achieve them. HINT: You may have to work overtime.

Make it a game. W. Clement Stone, the great motivator, publisher of Success Magazine and founder of Combined Insurance, required his salespeople to put 20 pebbles in their right pocket at the beginning of the day. With each sales call, they moved one pebble to their left pocket. He would not allow them to quit selling that day until all the pebbles had been moved to the left pocket. Try this with $20 bills. Pay yourself for every SUCCESSFUL call.

Think yes instead of fearing no. Get a small yes by believing you will and asking. Permission to send something before the visit, the promise of a callback, the decision maker’s name, anything that is “yes.” Think you will, ask, and you will get what you’re thinking. The “Little Engine That Could” did.

Keep “no” in perspective. Think of “no” in new ways. Position “no” in your mind as “no big deal” or “not yet.” Think of no as the gateway to yes. Keep in mind that the average salesperson takes seven attempts to make one live contact, so don’t give up! Take “no” seriously, but not personally.

Reward yourself every day. Keep your goals visible, and reward yourself when they are achieved. Nothing like a well-earned coffee latte!

Reverse the process in your mind. Try to make the prospect qualify for you, instead of the other way around. If you feel CALL RELUCTANCE creeping in, start the turnaround process right away. Believe in yourself, motivate yourself to take action, and visualize the success that will come. Review past success to give present self-confidence, and ensure future success.

Help! I’m slumping, and I can’t get a sale!

In case you hadn’t noticed, the economy is no longer hurting. And the universal cry of salespeople not making enough sales is still: IT’S THE ECONOMY!!

In a slump? Not making enough (or any) sales. Feel like you’re unable to get out of the rut? Is it the economy, or is it YOU?

Maybe you’re not in a big slump, but just can’t seem to hit the quota numbers. Let’s be kind and call it “sales under-achievement.”

Don’t panic.

Don’t press too hard.

Don’t get down on yourself.

Don’t get mad.

And above all – don’t quit.

OK, OK, there’s a slowdown. Don’t be too quick to blame your lack of performance on “it” before you take a hard look at “you.”

Take a closer look at “slump” before you blame “economy.” Here are the prime causes of sales slumps:

Poor belief system. I don’t believe that my company or product is the best. I don’t think that I’m the best.

Poor work habits. Getting to work late, or barely “on time.” Not spending your time with people who can say “yes.”

Misperceptions that lead to sour grapes. I think my prices are too high, or my territory is bad. Or the worst misconception, belief that you’re becoming a commodity.

Outside pressure. Caused by money problems, family problems, or personal problems.

Poor personal habits. Too much drink, too much food, or too much after hours play.

Boss giving crap instead of support. Someone who says, “You better do it,” instead of, “I know you can do it.”

Events that go against you. New salesperson passes you, someone else gets promoted and you know it should have been you.

Customer cancels a big order. Weakening your personal belief or causing severe money problems – or both.

Competition cuts price and steals the order. This is the new reality of business.

Getting depressed. From any of the above.

When you’re in a slump, you begin to press for orders instead of working your best game-plan (which is: “sell to help the other person,” and let your sincerity of purpose shine through). When you have the pressure to sell, the prospect senses it, and backs off.

Then things get worse. You can’t seem to sell at all, and begin to panic. Oh my gosh, I can’t sell a thing, I’ll get fired, miss my house payment, can’t pay my bills – Aaaahhhhhh! False fear. Relax, you’re better than that.

What causes a slump? You do. Therefore, you are the best (only) person to fix it.

Here’s a prescription to help cure sick sales:

• Study fundamentals. Usually what’s wrong is not complicated. In fact, you probably know what’s wrong. Your problem is that you think it’s someone or something else’s fault. Wrong. List two or three areas that need immediate care. Have the guts to take action.
• Revisit your (or make a new) plan for success. Today.
• List five things you could be doing to work smarter AND harder. Make a plan to work as smart as you think (or say) you are. Hard work can change your luck.
• Change your presentation. Try a different approach. Take the customer’s perspective.
• Talk to your five best customers. Ask them to evaluate your situation.
• Get someone you respect to evaluate your presentation. Take them with you on sales calls. Get a coach.
• Visit your mentor. And have a new plan to discuss when you get there.
• Get to work an hour before everyone. Put in more productive time.
• Stay away from pity parties. Don’t make a slump worse by whining or hanging around a bunch of pessimists and underachievers.
• Hang around positive, successful people. The best way to get to success.
• Have some fun. Go to the comedy club, do a little extra of what you like to do best (unless too much fun is the cause of your slump).
• Spend 30 minutes a day (in the morning is best) reading about your positive attitude. Then listen to attitude and sales audio/podcasts in the car ALL DAY.
• Listen to your favorite song just before the presentation. Go in to your next call singing.
• Take a day off. Chill out, take stock, make a plan, re-group, re-energize, and return with renewed determination and better energy.
• Rearrange your office. Shake things up a little, make them look new.
• Record your presentations live. Then listen in the car immediately afterwards. Take notes. Act to correct.
• Video record your presentation. Watch it with others who can give you constructive feedback.
• Take the best salesperson you know out on calls with you for a day. Get a written evaluation after each call.
• Take your boss with you on calls for a week. You’ll get more feedback than you can handle, but it will help.
• Avoid negative talk and negative people like the plague. Find people who will encourage you, not puke on you.
• Become more valuable to your customers. Send a weekly value message by email to everyone (it can be the same message to all). Post a value message or inspirational message daily.

Other random notes on the truth about slumps:

The best way to get out of the rut is keep the slump in perspective. Once you accept the fact that you can change it, you can begin to recover. Be cool –- you’re the greatest, if you think you are. Believe in the most important person in the world – you.

Think about this:

When a baseball player is in a batting slump he will do anything to “change his luck.” Things from superstition (rabbit’s foot, not shaving, wearing the same underwear) to changing batting stance, to video watching, to extra coaching. But the one thing that usually breaks the slump is extra batting practice – to regain the groove.

Fundamentals, baby.

They, like you, have the professional ability, but temporarily lost it. They, like you, went back to the raw fundamentals to regain lost talent. Simple, Not Easy.

Economy up or down? What’s the REAL situation?

Breaking news! Have you heard? The economy is up! Or is it down?

REALITY:

THE economy is up or down, pales by comparison to YOUR economy!

Regardless of the state of your industry, the state of your market, and even the state of your sales, as a salesperson I want to look at the big picture. When you see the big picture, you can create more even when the marketplace says less, or at least fewer.

Before you try to make another sale, before you call on the next customer, I want you to look at the real world so you can come up with real ideas and real answers. Ideas and answers for your customers, for your sales, and for yourself.

Let me be more specific. I want you to look at and define your real world, and their real world.

The following is an actual selling strategy you can use forever:

• It’s different from any you have ever seen or used.
• It’s better than any you have ever seen or used.
• It’s less manipulative than any you have ever seen or used.
• It’s easier to implement than any you have ever seen or used.
• And It’s more powerful than any you have ever seen or used.

There is ZERO memorization of a process. No old-world present-probe-overcome objections-close crap. No “find the pain” no “challenge the buyer” This is a strategy you can use right now – and use forever – in any economy.

It’s divided into four parts. Situation. Opportunity. Objective. Outcome.

SITUATION. Before you visit any customer, you have to know what the total situation is in order to understand them, relate to them, help them, serve them, and sell them. In these times, sell them may be last on the list.

Let me define TOTAL SITUATION. Don’t make the fatal mistake of just defining your situation. Situation has four parts. Your situation. Your company’s situation. Your customer’s situation. And the market situation.

What you are defining is: what exists now; the present situation. And by the way, once you have defined a situation, it will begin to give you clarity of the situation, and clarity of mind. It will tell you where you are and where everything else is AT THIS MOMENT.

And you need to write the present situation down. Writing it down will clarify the situation for you, and serve as a springboard for actions that you must take for your customer, so you can win in these times – and all times.

Problem is, you may be panicked, maybe even pushed, for MORE SALES NOW. This means you have to make a choice: Panic, or prepare. My strategy is “prepare.” It’s a little slower, but A LOT SURER.

After you have written the entire situation, now you begin looking for opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY. What are the opportunities for the customer, for your company, and for you? Is there an opportunity for you to capture a higher percentage of the customer’s business? Is there an opportunity for the customer to make more sales so they can pay their invoices in a more timely manner? Is there a market opportunity that the customer is missing because they are more focused on their woes and their competition, rather than their strengths?

Whatever they are, once you’ve identified all the opportunities, and you’re clear on their situation, then and only then can you begin to write what you intend to do or accomplish – your objectives.

OBJECTIVES. Your objective may be as simple as getting them to pay their outstanding balances in a more timely manner. Your objective may be to double your business with this customer. Your objective might be to help your customer through troubled times. Your objective may be to broaden your relationship with this customer so they will refer you to other customers. Your objective might be to make a sale right now. You may have several objectives.

Whatever the objectives are, they must be clearly stated and defined in writing.

AND PLEASE do not confuse objectives with goals. Rather I’m asking you to write down what you intend to do to help the customer, do more business with the customer, gain more referrals from the customer, and make the relationship with the customer a financially rewarding one.

Once you clarify and understand the situation, identify opportunities, and write your objectives, make certain they are congruent with your intentions.

Jeffrey Gitomer

When the market is volatile or uncertain, all facts defined will help you think more clearly, act more directly, and become more successful.

OUTCOME. What will happen AFTER the customer takes ownership, and how well do you understand how that impacts the actual purchase. Especially the price.

Now, I’m going to challenge you on a mastery point. Once you have this game plan written down: situation, opportunities, objectives, intentions, and desired outcome, I challenge you to share these thoughts with your customer so that they can become aware of how serious, how professional, and how certain you are about building the relationship, helping them, being a value provider, becoming a trusted advisor, and building your business.

Doing this will not only give your customer peace of mind, you also give yourself peace of mind.

These elements will not only set you apart from your competitors, who at this moment are merely trying to sell and collect, but they will also build your relationship in the more difficult times, so that when times become better (and they always do), you will have earned the business and the loyalty that you deserve.

Free GitBit… I have one more powerful strategy to beat the crunch. If you want it, go to www.gitomer.com, and enter OPPORTUNITY in the GitBit box.