Well, at the risk of sounding a bit harsh…I think we can safely say that your recent successes could have just as easily been achieved by a mute monkey in a tiny business suit, holding up a written explanation of whatever it was the monkey was attempting to sell
I had a dream about you. I invented and sold shoes that left no footprints, and you were thinking about committing a murder in a muddy area. I said that committing a murder was a bad idea, and that you should commit several murders, but I was just trying to sell more shoes.
I now know that success can not choose me. It is waiting on a path that I must walk. In truth, it waits there for everyone. Many do not know where the path begins. Some search for a shortcut to the end. But the majority of the world does not even realise there is a path there at all.
Dreaming and becoming are completely separate parts of the process. However, they are both as important as each other. Never discount how powerful your dreams are. If you cannot visualise what it is you wish to become, then the brain doesn’t have the first clue how to get you there.
Simeon had to agree that his future plans, although quite grand, were like pictures painted in fog. Nothing he could put his finger on. No dream ever remained unchanged long enough to take on any weight or substance, just a notion of something better waiting for him somewhere in the future.
I would like to express how I regard salespeople in general. I consider they embody a unified and diverse aggregate of the most able individuals in society and its workplace. In any economy, they are among the most valuable to its continued existence. They alone move the economy of a nation.
Success does not judge one man for being worthy above another. Success doesn’t choose you because of your family name or existing wealth.Success is taken by the man, who has made himself ready for its arrival. And although I am not there yet, I have come to this place to become such a man.
Seeking those elusive individuals is like mining for rare gems. It will take hard work, patience, and a persistent attitude. To find that rich seam of colourful stones, you will have to chip through dirt and rock. You will have to learn how to hold rubble in your hands and see the fortune inside.
It is your duty to save these prospects from that disappointment. Every potential customer, who misses out on what you have to offer, due to your lack of zeal or passion, every prospect who ends up with an excuse of an alternative from your lacklustre competition, should rest heavy on your conscience.
Don't sell yourself short. No one will value you. Set a fair price for you, your book, your services, whatever it is that you have to offer. Most of us set way too low a price. Put it a little higher than you would normally be inclined to do. The worst that can happen is someone will come along and steal it.
When things get tough, remember this mariner’s star. Bring to mind that everything external is designed as a challenge. A test sent to ensure you are actually worthy of acquiring your goal and reward. Recognise them as such and you will always find a way to go through, go round, or ignore them as required.
Like the evangelist, I will shine with the light I have been shown, recognise that I have the ultimate solution for all my prospects, nurture that feeling deep within, and repeat the words to myself every day, until there is no doubt in my mind that keeping such good news hidden would be the very worst type of sin.
Where he comes from, the education he has received, his family history, his wealth, they matter not a jot, but the perception he conveys - that my, boy, is the key. If they believe he belongs - that he is part of the room - then he does, he is. And whichever room he is about to step into, then that is who he must become.
As long as you’re trying to be someone else, or putting on some act or behavior someone else taught you, you have no possibility of truly reaching people. The most valuable thing you have to give people is yourself. No matter what you think you’re selling, what you’re really offering is you.” (p.92)
You may have an overall target to achieve with each prospect, but if you are going to have an ideal outcome for each call, should you not also have a tolerable outcome to fall back on? Something you are willing to put up with if things don't go completely to plan, but something that still moves things forward ever so slightly?
