Daily Inspiration 4-22-14

"What is powerful 

is when what you say 

is just the tip of the iceberg 

of what you know." 

-- Jim Rohn 

In preparation for a training consulting job and another of speaking to some teenagers who are just beginning to consider careers and jobs, I've had a lot of things that I've learned running through my brain. As a sales manager in one form or another since 1975 and my observation of people in sales positions wherever I've traveled, that gets mixed into all that I know on the subject of influence and sales.

Of all that I have learned and taught for so long, I can bring down to one short sentence my entire philosophy of doing well in sales, management, or any other endeavor. Here it is:

Be the best you can be.

I didn't say THE best. I said the best YOU can be. Not the best anyone could be, but only and exclusively the best that you can be. Whatever that is.

I deal with and have dealt with a lot with auto & truck salespeople. One thing that I noticed that is common with far too many is their lack of sincere interest in wanting to be the best they could be. They just want to get through it without too much effort from them. Many of them didn't survive long with that philosophy.

When it comes to learning a job or career, the very first thing on my list of expectations and instruction is to know what you're selling. And, I mean know it so well that you seem like an expert on the product or service. This is the foundation of doing well. I see 20+ year veterans who can't give a walkaround presentation on a vehicle. That amazes me. But, there was an old phrase I learned long ago that says, "he had 20 years of experience--one year, repeated twenty times."

Jim Rohn said on a set of tapes once that you don't need to talk about but 5 or 6 things to sell a car. And, he's right. The more you talk about in numbers of things, the more the prospect can be confused. However, you have to know which 5 or 6 things to talk about from the 250 things you know. If you don't know the 250 things, you are very limited in your influence.

I recommend to every person doing any job, and especially in sales, to know your product and service as an expert in it. When you know all that about your product and service, what you say will be the tip of the iceberg of what you know, and just as with an iceberg, you can only see about 10% of what it really is in size, people will get that feeling from you, and have confidence in you, sensing the depth of your knowledge.

"Lack Of Homework Shows Up In The Marketplace As Well As In The Classroom." -- Jim Rohn

Spread Some Joy Today--"Sometimes I just think funny thoughts!" -- from the movie, Arthur. It is a great philosophy.