My "4-Step Program to Success"...

My so-called "Guidance Counselors" in high school gave me the "TOTALLY WRONG" Guidance as to what I should pursue....as per my existing Personality!

I was told I was an "INTRO-vert"! A "Totally SHY GUY"!

Even though I was the quarterback on the football team and President of the Senior Men's Club......THEY suggested I pursue a career in "Engineering" where I could use my "Math Skills" to advantage.

Their suggestions.....when I won a Football Scholarship to Northwestern Univ caused me to go into "Engineering".....and, I chose "Electrical Enginneering".

So.....I pursued a career in that field and after college, I applied for a job with General Electric in Chgo and.....got it.

However....2 wks into the job I went to an office luncheon where a secretary called me aside and told me "I had replaced a guy who was just about to retire and collect all his "Retirement Rights" BUT.....they fired him and replaced him with me....at half price.

So....that evening I went home to my young wife and told her; "Let's see, if I work for GE for the next 30yrs and just before I'm about to retire they "kick me out!.....I don't think I want to live under those conditions"!

So....my wife asks; "So....what do you want to do?"

I responded with: "I'm going to CREATE MY OWN "JOB" WHERE I CONTROL MY INCOME and WRITE MY OWN CHECKS!"

She asked; "HOW you going to do that?" I told her I would find a business I could start! So.....I spent the next 6 mos HUNTING for some kind of biz I could start....and...I saw an Ad in the Biz Op classifieds of the Wall Street Journal that told about a "New Type of Home Alarm System".

This SPARKED my interest so....the next weekend I flew down to the Co in Florida.....looked at their program and signed up for a Dealership. Went home and Started a one man biz called "Security Associates""......FROM OUR APARTMENT!

And....THE REASON FOR POSTING THIS TODAY IS.....shortly after deciding to start my own biz......I saw an ad to sign up for a Dale Carnegie 6 wk course in Salesmanship. How To SELL!

Yikes....my whole life, up to then had been in "Intro-Version".....I REALLY WAS.....SHY! BUT.....because I wanted to provide a "Good Life" for my wife and me and any kids we'd have.....I knew I had to "BITE THE BULLET" .... throw away my "Slide-Rule" ..."Lab Rat" mentality and GO FOR THE GUSTO by.....learning everything I could about.....SALES! HOW TO SELL STUFF and, no where better than a Dale Carnegie course.

So....I signed up and....at the end of the sessions was honored with the "Class Trophy" for being the "Guy with the Best Potential!"

Anyways....getting back to my reason for THIS post today is.....I was talking with a newcomer "sales student" for one of my projects who wanted me to explain the "Secret to my Sales Success".....and that caused me to go back and remember the Dale Carnegie Course that....CHANGED MY LIFE!

So....here it is; In that course I learned the ONE....KEY....item to always include and make sure I consider in ANY sales situation is.....get ready, here it comes.....EMOTION! "EMOTION" has been the KEY to my ability to Sell and build successful Sales Teams!

Most sales courses talk about "How To get Your Prospects ATTENTION..... then.....Build their INTEREST.....get them involved.....then, CLOSE! ask for the order! The old....AIC program....Attention, Interest, Close!

BUT.....THIS Course brought in an element I've use in most every Sales Presentation. DESIRE and EMOTION!

OK.....HOW can we bring "Desire and Emotion" into ANY.....Sales Situation where we are desirous of Selling something to someone?

I "PAINT A WORD PICTURE....of my prospect using MY Thingee...and Benefiting from it......whatever it is AND.....talk about how HE WILL FEEL when HIS customers/clients/patients .....react and buy.....the thingee I'm selling.

I'll never forget the FIRST customer for my newly formed Burglar Alarm biz; Somehow....I got an appointment with a Dentist....in his home at 7pm one evening in a nearby suburb. I went to his home....brought my system into his family room.....set it up on the floor (it was a big box thing) and..... demonstrated WHAT my system could do THEN.....I brought EMOTION into the scene by telling him the "FEELING OF PEACE and LACK OF CONCERN for the safety of his family he would enjoy when my System was installed!

Yikes! Talk about a TURN-ABOUT in attitude! The dentist was sort of "dis-interested" during my demo of how the System worked BUT.....when I brought out the "SAFETY & SECURITY" of HIS family.....his attitude changed to HIGH INTEREST!...and...not only did I get an order from him, I also got orders from 3 Neighbors who saw me installing my system on Saturday.....which caused me to submit my resignation to GE the following Monday....and I went ON to great things "WORKING FOR MY SELF
... CONTROLLING MY OWN DESTINY!

So.....what does THIS mean to YOU? Make sure you bring EMOTION into every one of your Sales Pitches or any situation where YOU...want.... someone else to BUY..... what YOU are selling!

Thanks for reading,

Don Alm......getting ready to tell a Roofer why he should buy my "Video Ranking" Video and pay me....OODLES A MONTH!.....because HE won't have to worry or be concerned about WHERE....his next job is coming from SO... can think about going to Maui this Spring to See his new GrandDaughter!

You Kiddin' ME! EMOTION SELLS!

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Don Alm

Anyways....getting back to my reason for THIS post today is.....I was talking with a newcomer "sales student" for one of my projects who wanted me to explain the "Secret to my Sales Success".....and that caused me to go back and remember the Dale Carnegie Course that....CHANGED MY LIFE!

So....here it is; In that course I learned the ONE....KEY....item to always include and make sure I consider in ANY sales situation is.....get ready, here it comes.....EMOTION! "EMOTION" has been the KEY to my ability to Sell and build successful Sales Teams!

Most sales courses talk about "How To get Your Prospects ATTENTION..... then.....Build their INTEREST.....get them involved.....then, CLOSE! ask for the order! The old....AIC program....Attention, Interest, Close!

BUT.....THIS Course brought in an element I've use in most every Sales Presentation. DESIRE and EMOTION!

OK.....HOW can we bring "Desire and Emotion" into ANY.....Sales Situation where we are desirous of Selling something to someone?

I "PAINT A WORD PICTURE....of my prospect using MY Thingee...and Benefiting from it......whatever it is AND.....talk about how HE WILL FEEL when HIS customers/clients/patients .....react and buy.....the thingee I'm selling.

I'll never forget the FIRST customer for my newly formed Burglar Alarm biz; Somehow....I got an appointment with a Dentist....in his home at 7pm one evening in a nearby suburb. I went to his home....brought my system into his family room.....set it up on the floor (it was a big box thing) and..... demonstrated WHAT my system could do THEN.....I brought EMOTION into the scene by telling him the "FEELING OF PEACE and LACK OF CONCERN for the safety of his family he would enjoy when my System was installed!

Yikes! Talk about a TURN-ABOUT in attitude! The dentist was sort of "dis-interested" during my demo of how the System worked BUT.....when I brought out the "SAFETY & SECURITY" of HIS family.....his attitude changed to HIGH INTEREST!...and...not only did I get an order from him, I also got orders from 3 Neighbors who saw me installing my system on Saturday.....which caused me to submit my resignation to GE the following Monday....and I went ON to great things "WORKING FOR MY SELF
... CONTROLLING MY OWN DESTINY!

So.....what does THIS mean to YOU? Make sure you bring EMOTION into every one of your Sales Pitches or any situation where YOU...want.... someone else to BUY..... what YOU are selling!

Don... Thank you for making this post!

I just want to say - I've learned a LOT from you over the years, from your posts. You have a wealth of experience and knowhow, and you've been very generous in sharing it...

As I've said before, many people would do well by reading your posts with a notepad next to them to take notes!

Or save them and highlight passages... They're that useful!

With your post today, I also learned something...

As I've mentioned before, I did do some sales - though it was over the phone. We'd call up random people (straight from the phone book!) to sell them discounted comedy tickets...

Thanks to what I've learned on this forum, plus from various books, I would sometimes win the "sales competition" for selling these tickets. (Which was pure commission, so more sales meant more money in my pocket!)

My main "secret" was also to use emotion - but mainly, by having myself the positive emotion which I wanted my prospect to also feel...

So, I chose a product I liked (comedy tickets), a deal I liked (heavily discounted, it was definitely a great deal)...

(By the way, the deal was so good because these tickets were intended to "fill the audience" at the comedy show, so instead of paying around $24, the random people we called could pay just $8 - a huge discount. They wanted as close to a full house as possible, because people enjoy comedy more when they hear more laughter around them - kind of the same philosophy as to why they use "laugh tracks" in some comedy TV shows...)

Anyhow, I made sure that I felt my natural enthusiasm for the product and the deal when I made my first phone call...

I believe that "feelings transfer"... If you're depressed, and try to sell something, that person will start to "catch" your emotion and feel depressed too. Depressed people generally won't buy...!

But, if you feel genuine enthusiasm, they'll feel the same thing... and also be more enthusiastic about the product!

However, from what you shared today, I see now how I could have sold even better! And I'll use this from now on as well... Which was to emphasize the emotional benefits of the product... (I think I sometimes did this sub-consciously, but knowing what you're doing consciously will make it infinitely more effective...)

Don, what you've shared today I have no doubt will help a lot of people here get out of any "doldrums" they're in and gain greater success... If they give it a shot and apply it to what they're doing...!

Who knows, if they apply it, your advice could help pay for their next holiday (and applying it myself will probably help pay for mine)...

Thanks again, Don... I'm very grateful for what I've learned from you over the years, and also today!

Best wishes,

Dien

Hey thanks Dien......I really enjoy sharing some of the things I've picked up over the years and.....your mention of making phone calls reminded me of something back ...years ago.....when I arrived in Glenwood Springs CO after a divorce from my first wife.

It was September and winter was a few weeks away. I was sitting in a locals pub talking to a guy who was feeing sad because his construction job was over until spring....months away. He wasn't looking forward to spending the winter "scraping for odd jobs.

Then.... as has often happened to me.....I got one of my "Hot Flashes". The town was 6,000 ft above sea level (Ski Country USA) and there was usually a heavy snowfall with below zero temps every day.

I asked my friend if he knew whether MOST of the homes had Storm Windows. He said he didn't know so.....I asked the "tar-bender" for a phone and phone book.

I opened the phone book and told my friend to choose 3 phone numbers that looked like they were houses and not apartments.

I dialed the first number and a woman answered. I asked her if she was the owner. She said "Yes!". I then asked if they had Storm Windows. She said they didn't but they were preparing to leave the area. I made 2 more calls, and when the women who answered said they owned the house and did not have Storm Windows.....I said I owned a local Storm Window business called "Valley Storms" (I do NOT have the foggiest where that name came from)

I then asked if I could come over that eve when their husbands got home so I could stop by.....do some measuring and give them an estimate for Storm Windows. Both agreed to see me at a certain time.

When I hung up from the second call.....I looked at my friend and asked;
"OK.....ya wanna install Storm Windows for the next few months?"

He said, "Sure!" I asked him to give me $50. I'd put in my $50 and opened a new bank account called "Valley Storms"......with the $100.

I then phoned the 2 women back and postponed the appointments.
......looked up "Windows" in the phone book....found a "Storm Window Co" in Denver. Phoned the company and asked if they'd sell windows to ME and at what price. I also asked if they had a small window I could use as a Demo.

The guy said he had a "Sales Kit" he'd give me. I told him I'd come by the next morning.

Thus a new biz was begun and my friend and I had a VERY Prosperous winter that year.

Thanks for letting me share an experience.

Don Alm