Jeffrey Gitomer - 3 Sept

At a time when the RULES are changing, the LAWS remain constant.

You CAN change the rules.

You CANNOT break the laws.

JEFFREY GITOMER

You Dont Have to Play by the Rules to Win at Sales, but You Do Have to Follow and Implement the Laws.

Every salesperson is looking for ways to make more sales . Sometimes youre pressured to do so because of a quota or sales plan and sometimes youre on a roll and just want to add to your success.

Fortunately for you there is no one way to make more sales happen.

REALITY: You get into selling situations where you lose the sale. Youre certain that you should have won the sale but something, one thing, went wrong.

You might blame price, purchasing, bidding, the competition, or some other circumstance, but the fact is you lost it because you broke one of the laws of selling.

Was it value versus price?
Was it your presentation skills?
Was it lack of proof?
Was it that you couldnt build trust?

Whatever it was, the result was a lost sale.

TURN BACK TIME: In the mid 1970s, I fought against fierce competitors in the heart of New York City. And I won. Ethically.

I came to realize later in life that much of my early success was based on my ability to communicate. The competition didnt have my passion or my belief and they didnt have the ability to transfer that passion and belief to the customer.

Please dont think I made every sale I tried for. Not even close. But I can say every time I failed, I learned, and I wrote about it.

Within a few years, I began teaching others my sales ideas and strategies. I realized I was able to transfer my passion for sales in a way that others loved. They tried my suggestions and succeeded. Soon more people wanted to learn more and more of my thinking.

My evolving realization and vision became clear once I fully understood that love was at the root of my passions:

• Once I realized I loved sales, I wanted to be the best at it.
• Once I realized I loved writing about sales, I wanted to be the best at it.
• Once I realized I loved speaking about sales, I wanted to be the best at it.

Can you say the same about your love of what you do?

It takes time.

I have documented my sales knowledge and success into 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling that are not just self-evident truths they are also the foundation by which you can grow your sales success.

Once you read, understand, and begin to apply the laws of selling, youll further understand why they cannot be broken. And once you begin to master the laws, you will be building a concrete foundation for sales and career success.

One that you have worked hard for. One that you deserve.

If you learn the laws if you work hard to master the laws then making sales will become easier and faster.

JEFFREY GITOMER

Unbreakable Law

ATTRACT
WILLING BUYERS

CHALLENGE

Does your phone ring with people who want to buy? Or (like a fool) do you still cold call? Just asking. What is the perception of your value in your marketplace? Thats where I want you to dominate. Enough value, put out consistently over time, means your phone will ring with customers who want to buy. This is the killer law.

The 95/95 Proposition.
Which 95 Are You?

When a prospective customer calls you on the phone, and for some reason or another wants to buy either they heard something good about you, or they read something about you, or they read something you wrote, or someone referred them to you the odds are close to 95% in your favor that you can make a sale and build a relationship.

Not bad odds.

REASON: The prospective customer called you, seeking information in the hope of making a purchase.

BACK TO REALITY: You come into your office and you sit at your desk. Todays the day youre going to (have to) make 100 phone calls (cold calls) to prospective customers.

The odds are 95% of them will end up somewhere between no and hang up. Bad odds. And, of the other 5% that displayed some form of interest, one may eventually end up buying.

The problem is you will have to go through every sales gyration and your entire sales cycle to make that happen. Product offering, appointment, proposals, biddings, follow-up ad nauseam, finding the right decision maker, and other walls of selling that you have erected based on your (or your companys) inability to be a marketplace value provider.

RECAP: You will make the sale 95% of the time when you RECEIVE an unsolicited call from a prospective customer. You will lose the sale 95% of the time when you MAKE an unsolicited call to a prospective customer.

YESTERDAY: For the past ten years ( yesterday ), its likely that your business has been winning sales by capturing low-hanging fruit and you, as a salesperson, have thought to yourself, Im pretty good. I made presidents club.

TODAY: All of a sudden you get to today , and youre looking around for fruit. Its nowhere to be found.

And now youre in scramble mode for several reasons:

If you even have marketing messages or sales messages, they PUSH rather than PULL. They repel rather than attract.

TOMORROW: Which brings me to tomorrow. Or as they say at Disneyland, Tomorrowland. You believe in your heart when the present economic situation changes, in Tomorrowland it will be way, way better, and everything will be just fine and, of course, you will live happily ever after, making presidents club again.

You might want to take that strategy next door to Fantasyland and shake hands with Mickey, Minnie, and especially Goofy.

Theres an old expression that says, If you want things to get better, you have to get better. If you havent prepared for this time, or tomorrow, then NOW is the time to dig in. Stronger, faster, harder, and with more determination than ever.

When sales are tough, your competitors will be coming at your existing customers with offers that appeal to their pocketbook.

You have to provide valuable service, you have to be a value partner, and you have to be a value provider. If not, youll either lose the account, or worse, be asked to match the price. (In the land of profit, matching a price is the same as losing.)

Now is the time to invest in yourself. And now is the time to invest in your customers in order to get the 95% pendulum to swing in your direction. Now is the time for value.