The Lane Report -- Sales October 2001


	SALES -- October 2001 by Jeffrey Gitomer Trail to Sales The fourth in a series on what it takes to be a master salesman Napoleon Hill – author of the legendary Think and Grow Rich, has a rare book titled, How to Sell Your Way Through Life (1939). This is the last of a four-part series that will present the last six of 28 qualities Hill said the master salesman must develop. Your challenge is not just to read them and say “Yep, I know that.” Salespeople already know everything. The problem is they don’t do it. To get the maximum value from this list, don’t just read it. Rate yourself from 1-10 on your present level of competence or excellence for each quality. I dare you. The last six qualities presented here are the toughest to acquire and maintain. How do you rate? Rendering more service than is expected. The super-salesman follows the habit of rendering service greater in quantity and finer in quality than he is expected to render, thereby profiting by the law of Increasing Returns, as well as by the law of Contrast. Profiting by failures and mistakes. The super-salesman experiences no such contingent as “lost effort.” He profits by all of his mistakes and, through observation, by the mistakes of others. He knows that in every failure and mistake may be found (if analyzed) the seed of an equivalent success. The super-salesman understands and applies the “Master Mind” principle, which greatly multiplies his power to achieve. (The Master Mind principle means “the coordination of two or more individual minds, working in perfect harmony for a definite purpose.”) The individuals in the super-salesman’s Master Mind group should be people who inspire and spark creativity in him or her. The super-salesman works always with a definite sales quota, or goal, in mind. He never goes at his work merely with the aim of selling all he can. He not only works with a definite goal in mind, but he has a definite time in which to attain the object of that goal. There is a psychological effect of a definite chief aim known as a process called auto-suggestion. The super-salesman uses the Golden Rule as the foundation of all of his business transactions, putting himself in the “other man’s shoes” and seeing the situation from his viewpoint. This quality will be a greater necessity in the future than it has been in the past, because of the changes in business ethics that have taken place as the result of the Business Depression. Of all the qualities that a salesman must possess, none is more necessary, none more valuable than the last one — Enthusiasm. The super-salesman has an abundance of enthusiasm he can use at will. Moreover, he knows the vibrations of thought he releases through his enthusiasm will be picked up by the prospective buyer and acted upon as if it were his own creation. Enthusiasm is a difficult thing to explain, but its presence is easily recognized. Everybody likes an enthusiastic person. He is high of spirit and radiates an atmosphere of good fellowship, high faith and lofty purpose. Perhaps enthusiasm is born as much of his own deep faith in himself, the mission of work he carries on, and the good he does in his work, as anything. Therefore, to every salesman this advice is given as though from Sinai: With all thy getting, get enthusiasm. Hill closes the chapter saying, “Mastery in connection with these major factors in selling entitles those who sell to rate as super-salesmen! Study the list carefully and make sure you are not weak in connection with any of these qualities, if you aspire to mastery in selling.”Body copy goes here Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com. Back to Sales Index Back to October Issue

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Rendering more service than is expected. The super-salesman follows the habit of rendering service greater in quantity and finer in quality than he is expected to render, thereby profiting by the law of Increasing Returns, as well as by the law of Contrast.

Profiting by failures and mistakes. The super-salesman experiences no such contingent as “lost effort.” He profits by all of his mistakes and, through observation, by the mistakes of others. He knows that in every failure and mistake may be found (if analyzed) the seed of an equivalent success.

Of all the qualities that a salesman must possess, none is more necessary, none more valuable than the last one —