Introduction

The future is guaranteed to no one and this small book isn’t meant to be a magic formula or an easy road to success story.  There are no guarantees, there is no magic formula, and successes have never been an easy road.

I’m not targeting any one particular segment of salespeople, either.  Selling is selling and it’s an art form when it’s done right.  In addition, when it’s done right, it can be one of the most rewarding professions in the world.

Perhaps the people who will benefit the most from this book are the good people coming into the exciting field of professional sales for the first time.  They’re the ones who need to know what it really takes to reach ‘heaven’.

Whether you’re just starting out or currently working, the basic principles you’ll read here are the ones most people are never told, or worse yet, how to use effectively.  They are also the ones that are easiest to forget.

Tools like this one are good only if they are used, and if you use this one, you will have a greater degree of success at whatever it is you are selling.  Remember…the bottom line is totally up to you.  You and only you are responsible for making it happen!

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There are certain things we all must do every minute, every hour, every day, every year of our lives, if we’re going to be successful.  Simply put, there are no shortcuts.  To gain success, there are dues to be paid, and always…always, those dues will be paid in advance, in full, and at full-bore retail.  No discounts given at the Retail Counter of Success!  You make up your mind, right now, to do whatever is necessary to achieve your success, or give it up, because success doesn’t just happen!

This isn’t going to be a book about all the great things I’ve done in my life.  Up to a certain point, my life story could have been a book called, Ron’s Ponies Not To Play!

Truthfully, after all my ups and downs, the huge successes and miserable failures, I once contemplated suicide as the only answer.  It’s a good thing I came to my senses, because in my state of mind at the time, I’d have screwed that up, too!

Successes started happening only when I began applying basic principles again…principles I’d learned years ago…very basic principles.  The ones we all forget that work so well.  It wasn’t easy, and to this day, it isn’t easy.  But, success came by doing certain things every single day, in a success-oriented direction.

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I’ve done a myriad of things in my life.  I’ve been in automobile sales, parts and service; recreational vehicle sales, parts and service; financing and insurance (F&I) in the automobile, RV and manufactured home businesses.  I’ve been a business owner, general manager, fixed operations manager, parts and service director and consultant.  I had a career in the music industry as a singer, songwriter, entertainer, producer and recording artist.  I was a successful regional TV personality doing TV ads, public service spots for organizations like the American Diabetes Association, and for a couple of states in the northwestern part of United States.  I even wrote and starred in a primetime Christmas TV special for a Boise, Idaho television station.  I’m a published author.

The point is, through all my successes, the only times I succeeded was when I remembered the things written on the few pages following in this book.  When I failed, and believe me, I’ve failed miserably at times, it was because I forgot, or worse yet, ignored doing simple basic things that are the ingredients of success.

Everything we do in life involves selling of some kind whether it is tangible, intangible, or simply, ourselves.  Few people ever reach the pinnacle of success they’d envisioned for themselves because they didn’t know and practice a few simple basics.  Ignorance and shortcuts did these people in.  Combined with laziness and apathy you have a recipe for failure.

You now have in your hands the power to know, and you don’t need a dictionary, thesaurus, or an interpreter to figure it out.  All you need do is practice and use a few simple basics and success will be yours.  The degree of success will depend on how well you apply yourself and these simple principles.

This ‘pocket primer’ for professionals is powerful medicine.  Use it and the worst that will happen is you’ll become better at whatever you choose to do in your life.  Just remember...everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!

Chapter 1

Winning and Excellence

We live in a society where shoddy represents average.  We set all our goals at sub-perfect levels and then wonder why we never seem to get ahead.  We become complacent, apathetic, and discouraged.  Or worse, some of us become satisfied!  But most of us believe; I can’t do it!

Rarely, does anyone set a standard of excellence.  Even rarer is the person who has a passion for what they do.   They posses that certain something, that burning inside, that sets someone apart from the norm.  But if you take a look, a good hard look; the individual who is making it beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, is doing all it takes to get the job done.  There is nothing anyone could do to stop that person from getting what he or she wants because…they are going to get ‘heaven’ no matter what they have to invest of themselves to get there.

We all want to be winners.  We dream about it and long for it.  We admire and respect those who are.  We may not come out and say it, but deep down inside, we all want to be there.  We look at the Joe Montana’s, the Lee Iacocca’s, the Babe Ruth’s, the John Nordstrom’s, and the Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s of the world in total awe and say, "God, how lucky they are!"  They’re lucky all right, and you know what else?  The harder they worked, the luckier they got!  In the face of all adversity, they kept going forward.

I’m not saying we’re all going to be there, and maybe you don’t have those kinds of goals.  But whatever your goals are…to be a better spouse, to have a new car, to buy a house, to get a promotion at work, to have a stronger spiritual life, whatever.  The only way you’re going to get there is to take that great leap the faith into the unknown and do it now!

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You have chosen a career in professional sales.  There’s a lot of stigma attached to the world of the buyers and sellers, but without people like us, and those who came before us, we’d still be living in the Stone Ages.  The creative genius that brought us from the very first wheel to charting the new frontiers of space would never have happened had it not been for the P.T. Barnum’s of the world.  They made it happen!  They aroused our curiosity…they made us want…they showed us there was value to what they had and how it would benefit us, and bingo!  We haven’t been able to get enough since the dawn of time.

There are two great things about selling. One; winning, and two, you get paid extremely well for it.

Winning creates a climate in which good things happen.  In winning, you feel better about yourself, your family, your co-workers, everything.  It also brings about increased income.

There’s an infinitely small fraction of a difference between winning and losing.  If you find that hard to believe, try to remember the sporting events won and lost on a slightly missed field goal.  Or, a putt that hung on the lip of a cup.  Or, a home run that seemed to be out of the park until an outfielder ran it down, leaped up, and reached over the wall to catch the ball.  Fractions!  Fractions make the difference.

Lee Iacocca, in his autobiography, stated he had the opportunity to interview the brightest minds in the world graduating from colleges like Wharton, Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, and the likes.  But, with all the high-powered corporate staff, screening processes, interviews and so on, the two most important ingredients for success were impossible to determine, unfortunately, at the time of interview.  One; did that person have a burning desire in their gut to win?  And two; did that person have any street sense?  By street sense, he meant, the ability to make a decision and act without thinking it to death.  Was the person a risk taker?  Was the person action oriented or re-action oriented?

Education is very important.  But, the individual who has a burning desire in his gut to win and possesses street sense is impossible to stop.

There are a number of things you must do to become the success you dream about.  You must create a winning edge for yourself and it takes a minimum of the list below to do it.

                   1.  Set of goal

                   2.  Make a plan

                   3.  Prepare yourself

                   4.  Have pride

                   5.  Prospect

These things are important and essential to success.  Not doing them is why people fail.  Like I said in the beginning of this book…everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!

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To summarize, you’ve got to set a high standard for yourself and you’ve got to develop a passion for what you do.  You’ve got to be willing to work harder but more importantly, smarter than the next person.  You must have faith in yourself and be willing to take the big leap of faith into the giant unknown and do it now!

It’s a winning attitude and it’s healthy.

Press On

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.