No secret to success
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As my sales career has evolved and I have emerged as a leader (maybe THE leader) in the sales industry, I’m often asked if I have any secrets for success.
The answer is pretty simple. There are no secrets. There’s nothing I do that I consider out of the ordinary. It’s what I do on a consistent basis that makes me extraordinary.
I READ. I wake up every morning, and I read. I read two pages from some kind of personal success book that’s more than 50 years old. If you want to know the best ones that I read, it’s anything by Napoleon Hill, most often his earliest writings from “The Law of Success” or “Magic Ladder to Success” – just a couple of pages. It’s anything by Dale Carnegie. His public speaking book. His “How to Win Friends & Influence People.” His “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.”
Now, I’ve only been doing that for 39 years, so I don’t know yet if it works. I’m going to do it for another 39 years, and that’s it – I’m going to quit.
That consistency leads me to new ideas. Every time I read something old, I come up with a new idea, which leads me to my second non-secret:
I CAPTURE AND COLLECT THOUGHTS AND IDEAS. When I think of things, or things occur to me, or I read something that inspires me, the first thing I do is go to my computer. I write this column every week on selling skills, and I collect ideas so I can always be ahead. I’ve written more than 950 columns to date, but I’ve got 500 more ideas waiting to be evolved. That leads me to my next step of success:
I WRITE. When I write everything down, it clarifies my own ideas, it generates new ideas, and it creates content for my speeches and books.
I SPEAK. The next thing you have to learn how to do is present – give a speech in public. The best way to learn how to present is to join Toastmasters. When you learn to present to a group, selling one-on-one becomes a piece of cake.
I POSITION TO WIN WITH “VALUE FIRST.” I position myself to be seen and read as a person of value. My marketing mission is as follows: I put myself in front of people who can say yes to me, and I deliver value first.
I STRIVE TO MASTER. There are models you can use to make sales, and there are all kinds of processes and strategies you can use. But you have to be the master of these things. In order to be that master, you have to study. You have to practice them daily. You have to have deep focus and take that internal daily dose, so that you can, day by day, become great.
I LOVE IT. I wake up in the morning, and I can’t wait to do whatever it is that I have scheduled. Sometimes it’s speaking, sometimes it’s writing, sometimes it’s interviewing, sometimes it’s taking meetings, and sometimes it’s making sales to big corporate CEOs. I love making sales, and I try to do two or three sales calls every week, so I can stay at the top of my game.
IT’S NOT ONE ELEMENT. If you only read, or you only write, or you only speak, that’s not quite enough. And you have to love what you do, and you have to believe in what you sell, and you have to have the right attitude and enthusiasm to carry you forward. These are the principal pieces that will lead you to success. You see, once you believe in it, once you love it, it’s not work anymore – it’s the most fun thing you can do.
I WORK HARD. People ask me, “How’d you get great at sales?” And I tell them, “Well, I just worked my rear end off for 20 years, and then, all of a sudden, I was great.”
The same thing can happen to you, but you have to love it. I’m challenging you to go back and reread this formula; there’s no magic to it, but add passion, and the results will be incredibly magical.
Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2010 Jeffrey H. Gitomer