HOPKINS - Selling in tough times: secrets to selling when no one is buying

Copyright 2010 by Tom Hopkins International, Inc.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Second eBook Edition: February 2011

ISBN: 978-0-446-55850-1

The worlds best sales trainer and salesperson shows how to sell yourself richnow while others are idling.

Mark Victor Hansen, cocreator of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Chicken Soup for the Soul

A must-read for anyone in any business. The master of selling has outdone himself!

Shelley Kaehr, PhD, author of The Life You Deserve and Sales 101

Does a wonderful job of bringing the focus back to those sales principles that tend to be forgotten during times of prosperity.

Jim Weichert, president of Weichert Realtors

Tom is the grand master of converting trying times into buying times. Hell get you back on top and help you stay on top!

Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning

Packed with ideas and sales techniques. Regardless of the economic picture, Tom is the master of selling NOW!

Joel Weldon, Speakers Hall of Fame executive speech coach and sales trainer

Buy this book today! Any reader can translate his words into successful action.

Peter H. Thomas, founder of Century 21 Real Estate Canada

Extremely timely and right on target!

James Abrams, CEO of Clockwork Home Services

Selling in tough times just got a whole lot easier! Dont just read this bookUSE it.

Anthony Parinello, author of Selling to VITO, the Very Important Top Officer

How to Master the Art of Selling

The Official Guide to Success

How to Master the Art of Listing Real Estate

How to Master the Art of Selling Real Estate

Low Profile Selling

Your Guide to Greatness in Selling

Selling for Dummies

Sales Closing for Dummies

Sales Prospecting for Dummies

Mastering the Art of Listing and Selling Real Estate

The Certifiable Salesperson (with Laura Laaman)

Sell It Today, Sell It NowThe Art of the One-Call Close (with Pat Leiby)

Laugh Your Way to Health & Wealth

For over thirty years, Tom Hopkins International has been blessed to prosper while serving the needs of salespeople the world over. Because of the commitment and dedication of an incredible team of people, I have been able to write fifteen books, conduct over 4,500 live seminars, and produce countless hours of video and audio instruction on how to sell. I will be forever beholden to and thankful for these wonderful people:

Spencer Price, Chief Financial Officer

Laura Oien, President

Judy Slack, Director of Research & Development (and ghost writer)

Kristine Weaver, Office Manager

Linda Hunt, Customer Service

Frank Valenzuela, Warehouse Operations Manager

Sharon Kolacny, Receptionist Extraordinaire

Deborah Scroggins, Seminar Manager (and my personal assistant)

Rosie Wolfrum, Accounts Receivable

Michael Hansen, Onsite Program Manager

I would like to specifically acknowledge The Millionaire Maker, Dan S. Kennedy, and fellow sales trainer Laura Laaman for their contributions to the book.

And special acknowledgment goes to my editor, Leila Porteous of Grand Central Publishing.

S ome of todays richest and most influential business people got their starts in sales, and now they regularly find themselves on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list and as leaders of major corporations. And they didnt necessarily earn Champion status or build their fortunes during prime economic times. Rather, many of them found ways to take market share by serving a specific need or by working hard to improve upon what the competition was offering.

To name a few:

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire leader of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation;

S. Daniel Abraham of Thompson Medical Company (the folks who manufacture and market Slim-Fast products);

Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox;

Richard M. Schulze of Best Buy; and

Philip H. Knight of Nike.

They came to understand that business isnt about products. Its about serving the needs of people. In fact, when you hear the term market from now on, I want you to interpret that to mean people. When youre selling, youre in the people business. You sell your products and services to people. Therefore, communicating with them and understanding their needs and motivations is what selling is really all about.

While industries, economies, and companies run in cycles, they are all people-dependent. People are dependent upon the companies to offer products and to provide jobs. When any hiccup in business occurs, its typically going to require change that impacts its peopleboth the employees and the clients.

Change is one of the most frightening words in the English language for many people. For those who have learned to embrace change, its impact is not as disruptive. For those who want things to stay the same, it can be downright paralyzing. When people become paralyzed with fear, they stop making decisionsespecially those involving their security (translated money).

All businesses run in cycles. There are up cycles, downturns, and everything in between. And you can succeed in any of them. It doesnt really matter all that much what happens in the marketplace when you are a true professional in sales. Your key to success lies within yourself and what you believe about where you currently find yourself on the business cycle. How well you are prepared to respond proactively to each cycle youll encounter in your long-term career is what this book is all about.

You see, in economic or industry downturns the salespersons job is more vital than ever. Some consumers wont shop for anything other than necessities in challenging times. Its the salespersons job to help them recognize their need for and ability to afford other items.

Theres a lack of impulse buyers who are usually the gravy for businesses. And the meat-and-potato big clients may be slimming down their orders or spreading them further apart. Again, it falls to the sales team to continue to serve the needs of these big clients and to help them through the tough times so when things turn back around, they remain loyal to you, your brand, and your company.

Its up to the salespeople of the world, those who put their egos on the line every day, to get out there and make things happen. This is the same advice I gave in the paralyzing days here in the United States after the shock of the attacks on September 11, 2001. It was not meant to diminish the tragedy of what happened on that fateful day, but to do what we do best pick ourselves up and keep moving forward. Its only by doing normal things that a sense of normalcy returns.