.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} When I say Justin Timberlake, what one word comes to mind? Singer? Rich? Celebrity? Sexy? All of those words are correct. Add a few more: Performer. Musician. Dancer. Entertainer.

I went to a Justin Timberlake concert. Paid a premium and sat in the front. Actually, stood in the front. But I didn’t care. It was a spectacular event that none of the 20,000-plus attendees will soon forget.

What’s that got to do with sales? Justin Timberlake did not have to sell one thing. People bought. Every ticket. Every drink. Every T-shirt was bought by fans who stood in line for a half-hour waiting to overpay. And they were happy they did.

Justin Timberlake is the essence of the law of attraction. His customers are his fans. His theme, “Bringing Sexy Back” should prove once and for all that sexy sells.

But let me put this in perspective. I’m 61. What the hell am I doing at a Justin Timberlake concert, singing and dancing for three hours? I’m having a blast, that’s what I’m doing. And I’m learning the difference between the rock concerts I attended growing up in the early ’60s and the rock concerts of the 21st century.

You may not like the music, you may not appreciate the music, but the quality of their performance and the performers’ dedication to their craft are undeniable.

What’s your level of dedication? How excellent is your performance? Who is willing to pay to watch you perform – and buy the T-shirt?

Let me give you the qualities that Justin Timberlake exuded during his performance, so you can see how they match up to your sales qualifications.

In his 2.5 hours of performance, he never missed one note.

In his 2.5 hours of performance, he never missed one word.

In his 2.5 hours of performance, he never missed one dance step.

There were 20 other dancers and musicians in his troupe who also performed to perfection. They all gave their BEST performance. Justin sang, played, danced, spoke to the audience and performed as well as any entertainer I have ever seen. He owned the audience of 20,000 people from the first note. How well do you perform?

Justin Timberlake is in sexy shape. And the audience responded in kind with the appropriate singing along to every word of every song, and shrieking every time he came close to them.

I wonder if being in shape, and giving his all, and preparing for months, had anything to do with his ability to sell out the house, win the approval of fans, win Grammy after Grammy, and make millions of dollars.

I wonder how in shape you are. And I wonder how that affects your ability to perform and earn at the level of “best.” How many “Sales Grammys” could you win?

From a business perspective, there are a lot of lessons you can learn from this event and this performer.

His image, his reputation, his music, his attraction, his marketing, his level of performance, his self-confidence, his team and his ability to communicate are beyond excellent.

After 2.5 hours of Justin Timberlake’s performance, no one wanted the concert to end. If he would have said, “OK, everyone give me 100 more dollars when you leave,” EVERYONE would have gladly donated.

And they will talk about it, write about it, blog about it and YouTube about it for years to come.

What do people say after your sales performance? Your service performance? How much applause do you get from your customers?

Maybe you should attend a Justin Timberlake concert and discover his sex, er, sales magic.

If you would like a few of Justin Timberlake’s lyrics to get you in the sexy selling frame of mind, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter JUSTIN in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.

© 2007 Jeffrey H. Gitomer