"Most everything I've done, I've copied from someone else."
Stop and think what that means. Do you believe he got all his ideas from inside his Walmart stores? I doubt it.
I've been told that real success - I mean mind-boggling, earth-shaking, foot-stomping success comes from three primary sources:
- The books you read.
- The tapes/CD's you listen to.
- The people you meet.
There's a big difference between lightning and the lightning bug. There's also a huge difference in overestimating what you know and underestimating what you don't know. The world is filled with salespeople who don't know what they don't know.
In sales ignorance is never bliss - it's fatal. Here's a point I'd like to pound into the ground. Every personal and professional problem you may be dealing with has solutions in print in someone's already published book. That's right, aside from the cures for Cancer and Diabetes - most of the answers are in books and on tapes.
I really believe you become what you read. So what do you become if you don't read? You become a Lala-empty-brain-no-new ideas-salesperson - who struggles on a daily basis with things like:
- Making appointments.
- Getting past the gatekeeper.
- Finding out what the prospect really needs.
- Presenting personalized solutions.
- Handling the price objection.
- Preparing value-added proposals.
- Getting prospects to commit.
- Getting organized.
- Dealing with stress.
How many of these things, in your business, are preventing you from becoming the Top Gun in your organization?
Lance Armstrong won his 5th Tour de Lance. He has one goal and it's to finish first. Sound familiar - when Tiger Woods tees up the little white ball - he's always focused on winning the tournament. You may not realize this, but Tiger has been listening to motivational and inspirational tapes since he was six years old. Imagine that! Before I discovered that little fact, I always wondered where his confidence came from.
You have what it takes - you just have to do what it takes to be the best you can be.
Sam Walton didn't do it alone - the world was his laboratory. He copied other people's ideas. If he did you can too. I'll bet you can double your sales (You gotta think positive) if you:
- Read more books.
- Listen to more Tapes/CD's.
- Network with very successful people.
The more you learn - the more you'll earn.
