Sales Gladiator

Mission Statement

I have been a salesman pretty much all my life. All of us have been. Sometimes I was even called a salesman; at other times I was merely selling myself, my services, or other aspects of a primary business. I have sold down-the-street in tough markets at times of depressed sales. Later, as a an area manager calling on dealers and branches to help them recruit and train, I taught others what I had learned. I have sold in many different geographies. I have never been the most flashy, nor even the most organized. I have seldom been the safest bet.

I have never matched the theoretical ideal sales profile. But I have often been the stand-out among my group of sales peers. My approach was necessarily different. I was not born gregarious, nor particularly social. I not good-looking. I did have a gift for words once it was found. I learned that words are often all we have. They can be powerful. I have also been blessed with a quiet tenacity. I feel that this quality more than anything else, is the quality that makes for extraordinary salesmen. 

For a time, after retiring from the mainstream business world, I consulted with businesses of many types, to help them implement programs of the types that I had used. I found a great deal of my knowledge is adaptable to virtually any type of sales. The information that I have to offer can also be used for those involved in marketing and presenting, to positive ends. Indeed, many of the techniques that helped me succeed in sales, are really acts of marketing. Sometimes it takes a lot of marketing to lead up to those few moments we cal sales.

Although much of my experience is with tangible such as computerized office equipment, many other products have been intangibles, such as software, concepts, ideas, and methods. Early-on in my career, I held a life insurance and securities license. I excelled in that job too. But since I have always tended to be a kind of gadget-guy, I found the rapidly changing technology offered in office imaging--from calculators and computers, to cameras and printing equipment, to color copiers and connected printer--were more to my liking. Even though I will often pose precise examples using copier and other tangibles within this blog, you will find that most are adaptable to any type of sales. I favorprinciples over lists or unyielding formats. Principles are universally true.

Although lacking prestige, copier sales success has become the benchmark for today's selling methods. If you can make it selling copiers savvy recruiters feel that you can sell anything. Many sales managers consider successful copier sales as a suitable background, if not a prerequisite, for employment. One such industry is the medical and pharmaceutical industry. In a sense, copier sales is really not very hard to do, once you get past the initial obstafcles. And you can make a fortune if you do it well. Ask Ross Perrot.

People have paid mightily for just this sort of information, which I now post here for free. I simply felt that recounting some of these things could help other salesmen get a jump on their careers. I wish I had had such a tool to help me when I was beginning. This is the mission of my Sales Gladiator weblog. As I produce several other blogs, I will necessarily get to this one as I can. I will also try to answer any serious questions, which are submitted via the comments feature. I will also moderate and post any comments that I feel will help you. You may wish to subscribe to this blogs feed.

Best Regards, PapaD

A Poor Economy Offers many Unique Opportunites for Creative Minds

 

" . . . it only takes a bit of concerted action on any one of those ideas that you believe in to make your fortune. I just have one lifetime. I've already made 'my fortunes."

Some ideas seem so unbelievably obvious that we have to dumb ourselves down to even think it COULD BE A SUCCESS! I know that I have been caught in this trap. When I first saw the idea of the now well-known if not famous example of the infomercials one late night TV that I started seeing a few years ago for SNUGGIES! When I first saw it, I laughed critically and remarked to my wife that it was a stupid idea and a dub commercial. We made a habit of personally jesting about the commercials and doing mocking the commercials with our own spontaneous satirical remakes of the commercials every time we saw one.

"In that same vein is found the sizzle that you need to sell your product. You need to think about every possible problem that your products and services can solve."

Well, as you probably know, the joke was on us. I suppose those folks were laughing all the way to the bank. It has been one of the biggest marketing success yet of this century. "But it is just a stupid blanket, I have said ." But therein lies my point. I think this is what a famous old car salesman named Frank Betcher meant when he famously said, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." What does that mean? I mean, really think abou5t that and try to verbalize in a simple paragraph what the saying means. It it is not easy. It isa lot deeper than you suspect. Within the meat behind this saying is a powerful sales lesson that you need to know. It has a lot to do with presentation.

Betcher wrote a great book on sales almost three-quarters of a century ago. I'll try to find a reference and include it in this post. Frank Becker's book is about car sales, but his concepts are universal marketing and sales concepts which can and should be applied today. I haven't consciously thought about that book in half a century, but I just realized that many of the concepts found therein are still with me. I read this book along time ago. I'm not sure that I understood it completely when I read it. I was a struggling young salesman (even when I was a photographer I still had to sell my services) who had little more than a need and a desire to make money.

There were not many good books about sales then. At first I thought Betcher's book was pretty lame. It seemed outdated and not vary applicable o either my market or my products. I was wrong.

"I sometimes try to help my wife "sell and market" her product and services to the point of her annoyance at times. She sometimes says, "Just stop! I can't even implement all the things I have put in motion this far."

Today, I am sometimes called idea-factory. That's not necessarily a good thing either. I have an almost uncontrollable flow of ideas about how to do this or that--and it is often focused upon sales and marketing tasks. My health keeps me penned up, without the action outlets that I once had. I help my wife "sell and market" her product and services to the point of her annoyance at times. She sometimes says, "Just stop! I can't even implement all the things I have put in motion this far." My bad. so I let them slip on through my head. Occasionally I capture a few notes on paper. I have a lifetime of notebooks that fill a small closet.

I will present more of these ideas for those who are interested. Maybe someday ages hence, someone will find boxes of notebooks at a garage sale and use them to make their fortune. No probably not. When I die, my kids will probably toss all these old yellowed notebooks and the ideas will then be gone--until someone else has them, writes them down, and takes time to implement them. You see, great ideas are a dime a dozen. But it only takes a bit of concerted action on any one of those ideas that you believe in to make your fortune. I just have one lifetime. I've already made "my fortunes".

Let me provide an idea that somewhat exemplifies the thought processes that you probably already are using. Maybe this will merely validate YOU and help you to have the courage to act on the.

These came on the fly and I happened to write them down. I would probably get into house-building during this down-turned economy--if I had one more lifetime. But here's how the ideas usually flow.

Okay, we had a bunch of storms during the recent Spring of 2011. They hit close to home Many peoples lives were disrupted. Many lives were lost. There have not been that many violent storms in our area for about a dozen years. They've been somewhere thoug, and the potential has always existed. It is just that we got lucky and were not hit head-on by the kinds of tornadoes that often go aloft or go around us or dissipate before arriving here. You know towns and cities in these parts only represent a small percentage of the total land-mass in most states.

I have sometimes noticed while driving cross-country on the Interstate highways a big swath of trees twisted and torn where an unmonitored tornado touched down. It went relatively unnoticed because it did not hurt anyone--or very few people. But tornadoes and extreme straight-line winds are constantly going on SOMEWHERE. The threat may be statistically very low for you being killed by a tornado any given season. Over time or during the compressed time of a really bad weather seasons, the odds star5t stacking against you. Ask the people in Joplin or Tuscaloosa about those statistics.

Given the other things a good storm-shelter can be used for. Things which are becoming more and more obviously useful, such as a constant-temperature emergency food-storage area or a safe-room for use in a home-invasion or even social unrest. You can read about such social unrest of out-of-control mobs due to food shortages, heat-waves, civil disobedience and what-not ANY DAY OF THE WEEK RIGHT HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. What if Iran gets the bomb. Lord knows, and they are just one. I'm not trying to fear-monger--I am jut sayin . . .

Now think about an idea that an enterprising builder might have.

I have long thought that a market for "small" houses now exists. I also feel that a good civil engineer would have the creds to design and endorse a structurally sound add-on or stand-a-lone storm shelter right now and even build and install them and make a fortune right now. New house builders have almost routinely been building them under carports for quite a few years. It is always considered and "extra expense" or a luxury.

". . . Anyone can play the "ain't if awful game". But what we want ot do is to carry this negative trend a step farther and play the "now lets fix it game." As a salesman and/or marketer, that's what you are. A fixer. I cannot think of any product or services that does into fix someones real or perceived needs. If yours does not, good luck with that. But I am sure it does."

Some smart marketer should present it as a "free bonus", and just build the cost into the overall estimate. If people ask for a price without it, say, "the same, it is free". That may sound stupid, but it could then be used to "spec out", as it is called, the competition. There are ways to present it in such a way that it is not optional and therefore must be met by the same specs and engineering creds so that the competition will never "get it" in time to win a bid.

I have previously expressed my thoughts about doing this same thing with "green" building almost to the extent of "free" energy. Over the long haul it really is free. "Pencil-selling" is the way Xerox sold their very expensive copiers and owned the entire industry for nearly fifty years. No one could figure out what they were doing. They were simply cost -justifying their high prices so that an ideal ROI (return on investment) is achieved. But it was all based on standard that they set up themselves. It's not lying, cheating, or doing anything illegal or unethical--it is merely "all in the presentation".

This is how inventions, ideas, plans, products, and services are born. Anyone can play the "ain't if awful game". But what we want ot do is to carry this negative trend a step farther and play the "now lets fix it game." As a salesman and/or marketer, that's what you are. A fixer. I cannot think of any product or services that does into fix someones real or perceived needs. If yours does not, good luck with that. But I am sure it does.

In that same vein is found the sizzle that you need to sell your product. You need to think about every possible problem that your products and services can solve. Write them down. There are undoubtedly problems that your product can solve that even the inventor and manufacturers haven't thought of. This requires true creative thought. A unique application for an existing product or service that you sell is just icing on the competitive cake that you can use to rule out the competition.

The Customer is NOT Always Right!

Yeah, yeah, that's what they say. The customer is always right. I've said it before. And it's a good rule. Most of the time. Almost all of the time. But there are exceptions. You will know when they are. It will be those times when you will feel like scum of the earth and will not be able to respect yourself, ever, if you roll over and take too much abuse from a customer. Even then, you are not excused to punch their lights out. Not even tell them where to stick it. You will just bite your tounge and politely, or at least evenly disengage yourself from the situation. If the customer isalready emotional, as he most likely is if he's being abusive enough to warrant extreme measures, your further failure to put up with him/her is probably going to escalate her/his abuse. Still you disengage. You try not to make things worse. But you also are not required to stand for being abused. However . . . .

It would be better to take the abuse rather than create a scene, escalate a dangerous situation, or get killed. I'm serious. There may be times when people get crazy on you. If you can deal with it and disengage easily, then do so. Times are tough. LIFE is tough. Emotions are fragile, alchohol and drugs are rampant. Anger is the worst drug of all. You do not want to become the recipient of a drugged-up crazo's unleashed anger just to sooth your ego. So, what am I saying? Do you or don't you? What?

The point is that it is a very tough call. You will know when the line has been crossed. But only after you have considered that you may lose a sale. Or lose money. Or lose your job over your behavior. Or even lose your LIFE. Really. Here's how it is.

I also write a self-defense blog. I teach self defense. I teach knife-lore. I teach remedial shooting for problem shooters who have bad shooting habits or unique eye-coordination. I teach my state's requisite course for applying for a handgun carry permit. I do my best to teach teach how to stay alive and unhurt. The most important rule regarding self-defense is to be nice. Be considerate. Do not antagonize. No mater how bad you think you are. Do unto other as you'd have them do unto you. The insolent young man you dis this morning may execute your tonight. Really! It happens.

So, the rule is, there is no hard and fast rule. But after you have considered all the options and all the possible consequenses, at the end of the day, only you will know what to do. Schooled intuition is worth a lot. A knee-jerk reaction is mindless.

In my entire career, having dealt with thousands of transactions of all kinds with all kinds of people--not a small number that were with what I call horse-traders of every disposition and variety--I have felt that the line was crossed, maybe five times. I still feel that my judgement was correct in every case. However, I will also tell you that I nearly lost my life in one of those cases. Be your own judge. Just remember someone else may choose to be your judge, jury, and executioner.

The customer is not always right. but not very often.