GITOMER: Twenty years of success
This is the 20th anniversary of my first column. “Sales Moves” 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, Philadelphia and a bunch of other cities. My column has appeared in more than 250 publications.
Mark Ethridge, then-publisher of the Charlotte Business Journal, novelist, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, good friend and supporter, said that publishing “Sales Moves” was his most impactful marketing decision of 1992.
It was the turning point in my career.
As a result of the column’s publication, people began to call from all over the country, and still do every day. Newspapers called wanting to publish the column. Readers called to thank me for helping them make sales. I found out that salespeople were hanging my weekly article on the walls 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 it to lead sales meetings.
All of that occurred before the Internet. Times, and publishing strategies, have changed. Drastically. So have lots of sales strategies. This writing is strategic for you to understand what is NOW and what you have to do to be prepared for NEXT.
Think about the early days of URL registration. What kind of fortune could you have made if you had jumped on it? Did you? Many people waited. Too long. How long did you wait? I was astute enough to get my family name, “Gitomer.com.” You?
I have been writing for 20 years. For that same amount of time, I have asked you to write with me. I know what writing does, because I live the essence of it. In 1992, you had to rely on print media. Now, you’re your own publishing house. There’s no reason for your voice to be muted, and (through search engines and social media) every opportunity to be found.
The list below is not a “to do” list. It’s a “to understand” first and “to make a (flexible) plan of action” second list. To take consistent, deliberate actions to create your own success. These are imperatives for “the now” and the near future. Imperatives are not optional.
Here are the imperatives of success for 2012 – and the next 20 years:
1. THINK. Set aside time to understand and see the big picture and how you fit into it. Alongside your “to do” list, create a longer list of “to become.” That’s where thinking comes from. KEY POINT OF UNDERSTANDING: Document as you think. Don’t let thoughts and ideas escape. Ever.
2. ALLOCATE TIME. Time management is passé. Allocate productive use for each hour of the day. Time management is a waste of time, has no finite measurement and is confusing. “Allocation” is a word that resonates and a concept you can control.
3. ATTRACT. Getting customers to call you is the real key to convert selling to buying. Writing with valuable messages creates attraction. NOTE WELL: Please don’t confuse this with “prospecting” or “cold calling” – those elements of selling are over. You repel with cold call sales messages that interrupt others. You attract with consistent value messages.
4. ENGAGE. The step after attract is engage. Why would I want to read, or get involved, or buy? Those answers will lead you to sales. Maybe you need to ask the last 10 people who bought.
5. CONNECT. I may buy, but it may be transactional. Is there any reason to stay connected with you? My customers want more “now and next” knowledge. My customers want stuff about them and their success. Yours?
Yikes! I’m out of space. To be continued with the rest of the now and soon imperatives. Stay tuned – and thank you for your loyalty.