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

[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