We just have time for a few more bits of wisdom I have discovered during the course of my 30-year career in sales. If I had to distill everything I’ve learned, it would go like this:
• Don’t concentrate on making a lot of money. Concentrate on being the kind of person with whom other people want to do business.
• Renew yourself at regular intervals with time off for family, friends, and hobbies.
• God gave you two ears and one mouth. If you use them in that proportion, you’ll come out all right.
• Embrace change, don’t fear it or resist it. In every change lies the promise of new opportunity.
• People have to know that you care before they care about what you know.
• Don’t settle for anything less than doing things just a little bit better than anybody else.
• Take risks. People tend to regret more of what they didn’t do than mistakes they’ve made.
• Good planning remains the essence of time management.
• A dishonest presentation is bad for your customer and will ruin your reputation.
• Never badmouth the competition. It just cheapens you in the eyes of your customers.
• Lunch hours are for talking to customers you can’t reach during normal business hours.
• Remember the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your clients.
• Learn to delegate. If you don’t have an assistant, you are one.
• Maybe half your client base will change their jobs, their houses, or their financial circumstances within a year’s time, so your marketing efforts have to be updated frequently.
• Put your photograph on all your marketing materials. People can’t buy from you if they don’t know who you are.
• Even after you’re established, spend at least 5 percent of your budget on marketing and self-promotion.
• Your most recent customer can be your hottest prospect for your next sale.
• Most of my customers have bought or sold a home at least once before they met me. That means that some other salesperson didn’t nurture that relationship enough to retain them. Don’t let that salesperson be you.
• Don’t prejudge anybody. A waitress or a car valet may have a wider circle of acquaintances than anyone else you know.
• Always remember to thank people. Thank them in person, thank them in writing, and don’t forget to stay in touch.
• A past customer or a referral should always take precedence over an entirely new customer.
• If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
• “No” means “know”—your customer doesn’t yet know enough to say “yes.”