| How To Sell Anything...to Anybody |
The Guiness Book of World Records has proclaimed
Joe Girard, "The World's Greatest Salesman."
During his days as an automobile salesman, Joe,
for 12 straight years, sold more cars and trucks
than any other salesperson. In fact, as an individual,
he sold more cars than most dealers sell in total,
and all of them retail.
Coming from hard and humble beginnings, Joe had
been thrown out of high school, fired from over 40
jobs, and had even failed at being a petty thief!
But in 1949 things began to turn around. He met
a man who "took him under his wings" teaching Joe
how to be a building contractor. Joe became pretty
successful and in 1961 he contracted to build
a number of private homes.
Unfortunately he had accepted the word of a real
estate speculator that said the area was to have
a sewer system installed. Poor Joe, he went on
the man's word instead of checking things out and
finally found out this just wasn't true. Individual
septic tanks had to be installed, which meant the
homes became greatly de-valued.
As a result, Joe lost his business. It was Christmas
and Joe Girard had no job, no savings, and found
himself in debt to the tune of $60,000.
Then the final blow came.....
On a cold day in January, June Girard tearfully told
her husband there was no food in the house and the
kids were begging for something to eat.
On that day, Joe Girard found himself at the absolute
bottom of the barrel.
It was either see his kids starve or go out and find
something. After pleading and begging the manager of
a car dealership to hire him; the manager finally
gave in and gave Joe a small desk at the back of
the showroom.
When Joe's first customer walked in that day, just
before closing time, Joe thought to himself, "There's
no way this guy is getting out of here without
buying a car from me."
Joe Girard remembered his hungry kids at home, then
looked at his customer and saw......a bag of groceries!
Within a month he became so successful at selling
cars that the manager fired him! He was too aggressive
and the other salesmen were upset.
But Joe had found his calling and it wasn't very
long before he was hired at another dealership
where he worked until the day he retired in 1978.
Recalling that first sale, and telling what made
him the Greatest Salesman In The World, Joe says this:
"Want. My want. That was all I knew. And that want
was enough to drive me to say and do enough of the
right things to sell that customer a car. I am not
saying that that's all there is to it, then or now,
but that is most of it."
"If you want, and know what you want, you will have
most of what you need to be a successful salesman.
I mean that. Nobody can be a successful salesman
without wanting. Wanting something very much. And
the more you want, the more you drive yourself to
do what it takes to sell."
"Once I saw that first customer as a bag of groceries
to bring home to my family, he was sold, whether
he knew it or not."
You and I might not ever become the world's greatest
in what we do, but we can become the best we can
possibly be at it. It all starts, continues, and
ends with 1 simple word:
DESIRE
--------------------------------------------------------
Dave Cole
Prosperity: The Choice Is Yours
Copyright © 2003
Dave's E-zine provides you with valuable info
on how to market your online business and how you can
make money online. Get your FREE subscription today.
http://www.choosetoprosper.com
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