APS Quarterly: Spring 2001

Rule #1:
Get Sold On Yourself
By Tim Glennon

          Feel GOOOOOD about yourself!"
          Positive self esteem and the whole "feel good" recovery movement? New Age "pop" psychobabble? Or a vital component of success?
          According to internationally known author and sales trainer Hal Becker, if we don't believe in ourselves first, we will likely have great difficulty meeting anyone else's needs ... including our customers.
          And he should know.
          Hal became the #1 salesperson at Xerox at the tender age of 22. Since then, he has started his own extremely successful telemarketing firm and gained international recognition as a much-in-demand corporate trainer for the likes of IBM and Disney.
          If that isn't enough, he overcame the ultimate challenge, surviving terminal cancer only months after launching his own telemarketing company Direct Options.
          "You can't succeed if you don't feel good about yourself," Hal says, adding, "And once you realize all the reasons you have to legitimately be proud of who you are and what you bring to the world, you can dish out the other two essential ingredients of success: persistence and focus."
          He believes that if you feel like a loser, you won't be able to maintain the drive needed to win.
          He recalls making the best sales of his life during the blizzard of '78, when all the other local businesses were closed. The only people at work were the bosses ... and Hal made a point of visiting them all, having coffee with them, and selling 23 copy machines in only three days Ñ still a Xerox record.
          "It's only because I thought highly enough about myself and what I had to offer that I was able to keep knocking on those doors," he explains. "My focus was on selling a product I believed in. I didn't let a snowstorm distract me. My persistence enabled me to make a sales record, but it was my belief in myself and in my ability to get the job done that ultimately made the difference."
          Focus and persistence: two critical success factors that are grounded in a positive, healthy sense of self. But without a vital third ingredient, neither amount to much. According to Becker, the successful sales person exists to do one thing better than anybody else: serve the customer.
          Secrets of sales success. According to Becker, the secrets of success are so, simple they're difficult:

     * Get back to basics.
     * Serve your customers better than your competition.
     * Every day demonstrate the benefits he derives, from the
        privilege of dealing with you.
     * Listen better than anyone else.
     * Smile.
     * And realize you have a lot to smile about.

Because YOU are the President and CEO of YOU Incorporated.

Reprinted with permission from Dartnell's Selling, copyright 2001 by Dartnell Corporation, 360 Hiatt Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418. All rights reserved. For more information on Dartnell's Training Newsletters of for a free 30-day trial subscription, please call 1-800-621-5463. ext/ 564 or visit our Web site at www.dartnellcorp.com.

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