© 2000 by Mitchell Axelrod, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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Table of Contents

Preface 1
Introduction 3
Maximize Your #1 Source of Productivity 5
Instantly Increase Your Revenue, Sales, And Profit By 21%-33% 7
Set New Standards for Your Industry 10
Take Advantage of Today's #1 Paradigm Shift for Business: Find the "Hungry Fish" 16
Don't Let Someone Else "Steal" Your Customers 24
Close the Gap Between Phase Two and Phase Three Buyers 27
Gain a Commitment Rather Than Close a Sale 31
Offer Buyers What They Really Want 33
Understand the Four Outcomes of Every Sales Transaction 36
Maximize Your Spheres of Influence 39
Build Relationships Rather Than Force Sales 41
Get Mega-Referrals with These Five Questions That Skyrocket Your Sales 44
Your Clients Want to Help You - Let Them! 52

Special Supplement...
Scientific Selection: How to Hire, Train and Retain the Best and the Brightest 55

Introduction

Right now you're sitting on a gold mine of opportunity, and you may not even know it. If you are a manager, owner, or chief executive, you already know what an arduous task it is to run a business-recruiting quality salespeople, shouldering the costs of staff training and development, managing to stay ahead of inflation and the competition. If you are an agent, representative, salesperson, distributor or entrepreneur, you are already well aware of the intense competition and turbulent prospects ahead for your industry. Yet at the same time, each and every one of us is in a privileged position of leadership, aided by a powerful resource that will make the difference between mediocrity and success. That overlooked and undertapped resource is people, and in this special report, I'll show you how to maximize the value of every interaction you have with another human being, whether it's a customer, prospect, or employee.

This report can be worth $10,000 or more this year to anyone who applies these principles, and, quite likely, hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of revenues to any company farsighted enough to take its message to heart. Certainly the information I'm about to share with you made a huge difference for me. To give you an example of my progress, in 1982, my fourth year in business, I earned $16,000. In 1983 I earned $33,000. In 1984, when I gained momentum from the principles I had learned and was applying, I broke the $100,000 mark, increasing my compensation 600% in two years.

I firmly believe that anyone can achieve similar or better margins of improvement. You see, I believe that business is more science than art. Over the past seventeen years I have made it my mission to discover and lay out scientific principles that will enable you to replicate success over and over again. With that dedication, the tools I have used and the methods I have developed and taught to tens of thousands of people have resulted in $50 million in new business over the past decade.

Understand that your business success depends on more than just the high-tech tools proliferating so rapidly nowadays. There's no question that the technological strides we've made are a true marvel; we've probably made centuries worth of progress in the last fifteen years. But have our people skills and business skills taken the same leap forward as our technological skills?

Do you rely on the same old closing scripts that have been used for decades? Does your organization experience the client attrition and personnel turnover rates that characterize most firms? Do you still find yourself struggling to overcome the negative perception that most people have about salespeople? I submit to you that if you could improve your sales and people skills by even a small percent, you could make tremendous progress in a very short period of time. Our most important priority is to develop our "people technologies" and transform client acquisition into a predictable, measurable, replicable process-almost like using a cookie cutter-with enough latitude so that each individual can add his or her own flair, personality, and artistic creativity.

Maximize Your #1 Source of Productivity

Management expert Peter Drucker observed that today's marketplace has been automated to such an extent that if any company could achieve even a 1% improvement in productivity through increased computerization, it would wind up on the cover of Fortune magazine. We have computerized and streamlined the functions of everyone from the administrative assistant to the controller, all for the purpose of getting more productivity from them. Yet the one single employee who has the largest measurable impact on your top and bottom line, who every single year has the ability to make or break your profitability, not to mention your survival, is the person or people responsible to bring in the customers: the salesperson.

Industry statistics indicate that an average salesperson makes 600 face-to-face sales calls a year. It has been estimated that the cost of training and development for a new agent or representative-including base salary or training allowance, commissions, support services, marketing, and training-is $140,000 a year (and this doesn't even include a manager's personal time). If you divide six hundred calls by $140,000, you'd see that every time a representative leaves the office, he is consuming $233 per sales call. With that in mind, every business must get a better handle on what representatives are doing when they make a sales call. You simply cannot afford to continue to conduct business unless you have a clear understanding of how to contribute to the top line of your company.

It has never really been determined how much potential we have as human beings. According to the Stanford Research Institute, we use only 2%-5% of our brain capacity. Is it also possible that we're tapping into only 2%-5% of our business potential lying dormant in our hidden assets?

Instantly Increase Your Revenue, Sales, and Profit by 21%-33%

Let's assume that every single person is capable of improving just 10% in one or more areas of the business. (If you are a leader, manager, or chief executive and have people who aren't capable of making such a small improvement, then they shouldn't be with you!) If a representative makes marginal changes in each of these three areas, you will see a dramatic and immediate impact on sales revenue and overall profitability.

10% New Sales

10% Average Compensation Per Sale

10% Repeat Sales

= 33% Increase

Results of Increasing Each Area of Your Business by Just 10%:

Box 1 Only... 10% Total Sales Increase
Box 1 + Box 2... 21% Total Sales Increase
Box 1 + Box 2... + Box 3 33% Total Sales Increase

In the figure above, Box 1 represents new sales. Box 2 represents average compensation per sale, based on either commission or fees. Box 3 represents number of repeat sales. One of your challenges is to quantify your results so you can measure progress. Just like an airline pilot, to reach your destination you must have a way to track your route, to determine whether you are on or off course. So here is a measurement system you can use in three areas of your business that could turn your profits and income around this year.

Right now, take a few moments to identify how you performed in each of these three areas over the past 12 months:
1. How many new sales last year did you or your company make?
2. What is the average compensation per sale?
3. How many repeat sales, on average, do you get from the same customer?

For example, let's say that person A makes 100 sales a year, that the profit is $1,000 per sale, and that there are no repeat sales (100 x $1,000 x 1 = $100,000). What would happen if new sales increased just 10%? One hundred ten percent sales that year. Is it conceivable that average could be increased by 10% with just a little bit more training, a little better understanding, skills that are a little bit better?

If that were the case, then the formula would be 110 sales x $1,100 = $121,000, an increase of 21%. Is there anyone who does not have the ability to make a simple 10% improvement, whether it's by 10 more sales, or increasing the average compensation by just 10%? Remember, just to keep up with inflation and increasing operating expenses, you need to improve your profitability by at least 6%, 8%, or 10%-staying even means you'll surely fall behind.

Now, let's say that one out of 10 new customers this year buys one more product, so that instead of one sale per client, representative A closes on average 1.1 sales (110 x $1,100 x 1.1 = $133,000)-a 33% increase. Take a look at the chart.

A New Sales x Aver. Comp. x Repeat = Income (+/-)
Scenario 1... 100 x $1,000 x 1.0 = $100,000
Scenario 2... 110 x $1,100 x 1.0 = $121,000 (+ 21%)
Scenario 3... 110 x $1,100 x 1.1 = $133,000 (+ 33%)

It doesn't matter if the base number you are talking about is 10, 100, or 1,000. Everyone has the capacity to improve at least 10% in each of these three areas-and if you can focus your business on just these three key areas, there's no telling what kind of improvement you can bring about.

By the way, if you or each of your people were to improve performance consistently by 21%, how long would it take to double sales revenues? It would take three and a half years. If you consistently improved by 33%, then sale revenues and income would double in only twenty-six months. I leave it to you to figure out how big an impact this can have on your company in the coming months, and on your personal income over the next few years.

Set New Standards for Your Industry

Economic projections tell us that there is an irreversible trend toward self-employment. It's more like a runaway freight train. Today, everyone must act, think, and behave like what I call a Virtual Entrepreneur.™ There has never been a bigger, more rapid and sustaining influx of people into the ranks of the self-employed, including, agents, brokers, distributors, speakers, trainers, consultants, writers, network marketers, and professionals. All of these people have something in common: They all sell something. In order to eat each day, they must bring in customers, clients, accounts. That means they sell. So do you. Regardless of your work today, you sell. And if you don't sell yourself, your ideas, your products and services, you won't eat, either.

Currently in America, more than 50 million people are in business for themselves either at home, in the office, or on the road. Our economy is vibrant to the degree we have active and growing commerce. The core of that commerce is perpetual buying and selling of goods and services. We have become a nation of intelligent, savvy, discriminating, and knowledgeable buyers, on the one hand.

On the other, we have become woefully poor at the other skill, selling. And when our ability to sell, elegantly, professionally, and cooperatively, meets our ability to buy, our economy will explode. So will you, your business, relationships, and income. So let me ask you a very important question: Do you like being sold to? If your answer is no, then let me ask you another simple question: What business are you in? You are in the sales business.

I believe that you sell the way you buy. And if you don't like being sold to, might that in some way be affecting your ability to sell to someone else? One of the changes we must make is to realize what kind of business we really are in. I believe that we're really in the problem-solving business, the business of helping people get from point A to point B. When people used to ask me, "What business are you in, Mitch?" my answer-instead of "financial services" or "insurance"-was, "I'm in the transportation business. My goal is to help people get from point A to point B financially. By the way, I'm curious: What are your financial goals and objectives?" This enabled me to focus on the other people and what was important to them, rather than backpedaling or defending my career choice.

The extent of your sales effectiveness will depend on the degree to which you or your salespeople see yourselves as being problem-solving specialists, those who assist customers in getting from point A to point B. It becomes critical, therefore, to assess the reasons behind what, why, and how you do the job. I would like to introduce a simple but extremely powerful model I have developed that can help you maximize your effectiveness-the Pyramid of Performance™.

Climb the Pyramid of Performance™

The Pyramid of Performance consists of three critical levels or elements: mind-set, motivation, and method. Mind-set corresponds to your paradigm, motivation corresponds to your passion, and method corresponds to your performance. Let's examine each of these a little more closely.

Mind-set represents your point of view or frame of reference and is the source of your beliefs, expectations, perceptions, and attitudes. It's all about knowing what you want. When your mind-set is aligned with what you do for a living, you are confident in who you are and what you can do. You are focused and directed; you function with a sense of clarity and purpose. You are secure enough in your own capabilities that you can open yourself up to input of all kinds, from all people and every situation, rather than rely on fixed ideas or a cynical view of the world. You also believe that you deserve to have good things, and are convinced that these good things are coming your way. Above all else, you take full responsibility for your choices and decisions, and make honest appraisals of who you are and what you want.

A salesperson's mind-set is obvious from the confidence with which he or she approaches the job. Think about the difference between two salespeople with different mind-sets. One walks in, not really sure about himself, tentative about what he represents-how confident are you going to be with a salesperson who's not very confident about his products or himself? On the other hand, if another salesperson walks in, feeling good about herself and her products, what does that tell you about her mind-set?

The next level of the Pyramid of Performance is motivation, which is all about the power of intention-the measure of your commitment to achieving something important in your life. Is your level of desire, commitment, and dedication strong enough to give you the energy, enthusiasm, courage, and perseverance you need to reach your goals? Do you have a passion for accomplishing these things, or are you trying to pursue them with a lukewarm heart? All motivation comes from within. No one external to you can motivate you to do anything you do not want. Likewise, you cannot motivate anyone else-not your clients, friends, family, not even your spouse or kids. The most inspiring motivational speaker in the world could not motivate you to abandon the Titanic if what you really wanted to do was some ice fishing. Similarly, you cannot motivate a client to do anything he or she does not really want to do.

The final element in the Pyramid of Performance is method, which refers to the set of skills, tools, and techniques you bring to your work. Most people acknowledge that the quickest way to enhance their professional competence is to improve their methods. But so often, people who are current on all the "latest, greatest" techniques may enjoy spurts of success, only to lose steam along the way and fall back to previous levels.

Close the Performance Gap

If you are not getting the results you want, then most likely one or more of the elements of the Pyramid of Performance are out of alignment, causing you to perform below capacity. The first two elements in particular-mind-set and motivation-are especially vital to have in alignment.

To illustrate this, think back to the last day you felt like you were spinning your wheels. (Doesn't everyone have days like that?) Let's say you have some extraordinary methods under your belt. But if you wake up one morning and your mind-set isn't right-you just aren't into it-does it matter what your methods are that day? No. Or if you wake up some morning and your mind-set is in the right place, but your motivation isn't-you're questioning why you do what you do to begin with-does it matter what your methods are? Of course not. On the other hand, have you ever met someone whose methods may not be the best, but whose mind-set and motivation were so harmonized that this person was very successful? Of course you have. That salesperson's head and heart are so crystal clear with the "what" and the "why" that it induces people to buy from him on enthusiasm alone. Confidence and commitment are the cornerstones of performance.

Obviously you want to have more than enthusiasm going for you. Just make sure that, above all else, you have your mind-set and motivation in alignment. As long as you know what to do and why to do it, then every single time you employ a new or improved method or technique, no matter how simple or seemingly insignificant, your progress will grow geometrically. Then, every time you enhance competence by employing new tools or methods, you will climb higher and higher up the Pyramid of Performance.

Here is one final point for you to understand as you use the Pyramid to tap into your gold mine of opportunity: There is a performance gap that exists right now between the current way you or your people practice your methods, and the best available sales tools that exist in the marketplace.

Similarly, there is a technology gap that exists between your company's results and those of the top organizations in your industry. These gaps represent the upside growth potential every person or company has in overall performance, productivity, and earnings. These suggest that as you learn, incorporate, and use new and better methods, you accelerate your performance rapidly. Without aligned mind-set and motivation, of course, your methods are bound to produce only sporadic improvement. But once they are aligned, they provide the strongest possible foundation for your methods, and competence is and will continue to be the defining fact or for increasing your success in the future.

As you add to your arsenal of methods, you accelerate your progress and become geometrically more effective. If you want to experience high-velocity improvement in your sales and income, continue enhancing your methods. Don't get complacent, lazy, or smug-you simply can't afford to compete in this new world of business with outdated tools. As Virtual Entrepreneurs™ we must embrace better, client-friendly strategies and tactics of selling and communication. Our future depends on it.

Take Advantage of Today's #1 Paradigm Shift for Business...
Find the "Hungry Fish"

What I'm about to describe is the single most important principle to understand and apply if you are to be a true leader in your industry and make a QUANTUM LEAP in your sales, revenues, bottom line profits and personal income...

ARE YOU READY TO TURN YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO GOLD?

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