Whether you like it or not, the fact is that any business person is also a salesperson. You don’t really have a choice. Even if you don’t directly sell a product, like cars or furniture or door-to-door encyclopaedias, you absolutely make your living by selling something (even if it’s yourself at a job interview). And, given that is the case, you may as well get as good at selling and marketing as you can - for the simple reason that it’s the surest way to get rich.

Business Basic No 1: Every business is based on the idea of selling some part of a product or service to somebody else.

A singer sells their voice, a model sells her/his looks, an executive sells their expertise and leadership skills. Even a builder’s labourer is selling something - his labour and strength. Once you’ve accepted the fact that you do have to sell something, the next most important thing is:

Business Basic No. 2: The success of your business, your relationships and your life is largely determined by the quality (or lack) of your communication with others, plus by what you expect to get.

Whether it is with your wife, your employees, your customers or at a job interview, the results you’ll achieve are dependent on two things:

1. What you say or do
2. How you say or do it!

If you only expect to get an ‘average rate’ per hour job and that’s all you ask for, guess what result you’ll get? That’s right, an ‘average rate’ per hour job. If, on the other hand, you have the “guts” to ask for a ‘million dollar’ order, well there is a chance you’ll get that too.

Remember the first time you had to ask someone for a date? The dry mouth, the heart beating like a drum, the sweaty palms as you dialled that telephone number - only to hang up before it rang. Or you’re first job interview, or that first customer. Like it or not, in many cases you can get everything you want…

• Just by asking for it!

A great example of asking for what you want is a single mother who wanted to send her daughter to another country as an exchange student. There was just one problem. She needed £4,000 which she didn’t have. Claudette (the mum) then decided to “ask”. She made up a flyer with her daughter’s picture on it, her reason why she wanted to be on the exchange program and a request for a donation of money. At the bottom was a coupon asking for

                5

  10

  20

  50

100

         £

Claudette then sent the flyers to family, friends, acquaintances, the local newspapers, service clubs and local churches. She had two months to come up with the cash. As well as sending out the flyers, Claudette and her daughter wrote out their goal...

“We are happily getting £4,000 by July 2 for the trip”

To cut a long story short 23 gifts came in from people and 2 from organisations totalling exactly £4,000! This is a true story. As far as your future is concerned, the most important decision you’ll ever make is deciding what it is you are going to sell.

This brings me to...

Business Basic No. 3: Sell something you love and people want to buy.

Mostly, money is just a “by-product” of enthusiasm. If you get into something just because there is money in it, there’s a good chance you won’t make the really BIG payoff and you’ll be miserable. Why do you think so many dentists and doctors get stressed out, burned out, abuse alcohol and suffer depression? Exactly! Because most made the decision to become doctors at 17 or 18 because, and possibly entirely because, that was where the money was.

If you hate your work, feel indifferent to your product or service and are unmotivated, lethargic and bored with what you do, then you are not living. Life is not always a bed of roses, and business life is twice as hard. You are going to have to put up with staff that don’t turn up, don’t care and don’t want to work. Then Government officials and bureaucrats whose sole purpose in life is to make your life as difficult as they can. You’ll be ostracised by your friends, scoffed by your family and even by your spouse. And you are going to win, but only if you love what you do.

So, sell the best product, follow your dream and go the extra mile (or 10 or 1,000) to make whatever you decide to do a success.

Business Basic No. 4:

Marketing leverage is the only way to the BIG money. You can make a good living selling, but the really big payoff only comes when you can multiply yourself. No matter how good you are, there is a limit to how much you can do in a day. If you limit yourself to one-on-one selling, you’ll never hit the BIG time.

To make the really serious money you’ve got to leverage what you do. You can do this in several ways:

1.  Hire others and train them to do as you do.

2.  Document what you do and sell the system, or license others to use your methods.

3.  Sell bigger value items.

4.  Leverage yourself through the media.

I take my selling message and put it on pieces of paper, which I then send, fax or deliver to thousands of people. It doesn’t matter which method you use to get leverage ... as long as you do it.