I like simple. I understand simple. I can do simple.
For example, numbers should be added: 2 + 2 =4. Letters should make words, not be added: "x+y" doesn't equal "z" to me.Since high school, I have never needed to know the volume of air in a light bulb or when two speeding trains heading toward each other on a single track - one traveling north at 60 mph and the other going south at 55 miles an hour - are going to crash. The important thing is to get off the train before they do. Things should be simple.
Perhaps that is why out of all the books I've read on selling, my favorite was written 50 years ago. Life was simpler then.
I believe Frank Bettger's "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling" needs to be read by anyone even considering trying to make living by selling.
I used to read it every year, but I have neglected it for the past 10 years. I picked it up this past weekend, and I was shock-ed to find how many of my basic busi-ness ideas have come from that book. Here is my take on some of Bett-ger's simple concepts:
1. Enthusiasm is the single biggest factor of success in selling. Without it, you are a dud. With it, you can be a winner.
2. You don't make sales sitting at a desk wishing. You have to get "belly to belly" or see the people if you are going to sell anything.
3. If you are going to improve your closing ratio, you must keep records of all your sales, such as how many people buy on the first presentation, how many on the second, and so forth.
4. You are making money when you are seeing or talking to potential customers, whether they say "yes" or "no." One of my engineer friends used to laugh when I would say after lunch, "I've got to go and make some more $12 phone calls."
I had figured I would make about $1,200 as a result of making 100 phone calls. So every call, whether I was told yes or no, was worth $12. That's what re-cords do for salespeople: It motivates them to go through the 99 rejections to get to the one "yes."
5. Saturday morning, according to Frank Bettger, is "self-organization day." He taught me that Saturday is the time to plan my next week. We all know "Plan Your Work, Work your Plan," but how many of us do it consistently?
6. The most important secret of salesmanship is to find out what the other fellow wants, then show him the best way to get it. That isn't trickery or manipulation, it's customer service at the highest level.
When I was providing to the customer medical oxygen in the smallest, lightest container on the market, I wasn't selling oxygen. That's what my 36 competitors did. I provided mobility so oxygen users could go on trips and visit grandchildren again. I offered a wished-for lifestyle and new hope for the oxygen-dependent.
7. I attend conventions with one expectation: if I can come away with only one new idea or concept, it will be well worth the time invested. I had forgotten Frank Bettger taught me that.
8. Be sincere enough in what you are offering that you can say, "If you were my own brother, I would recommend this." I often used that phrase when I was recruiting and trying to help a person see the value of taking a position with my company. I remember one time I said this to a young fellow who was trying to decide to take my position or stay at his current job.
He laughed and said that was funny because it was the second time that day someone had said "if you were my own brother." He told me his current boss had said that same thing when he told him he was leaving to accept a position with my company.
9. Do less telling and more asking when trying to make a sale. Use the word "why" to uncover objections. Also, ask "and in addition to that?" Both these questions are designed to get feedback from the customers. Selling by asking questions is a lot more powerful than you doing all the talking.
10. Uncover the key issue in a person's decision-making process and keep coming back to that. Too many salespeople get to a price discussion too fast. The features and benefits usually far outweigh the price if you can just discover the key issue and keep returning to it.
Read it. It's just that simple.