Principle #3: The magic of numbers and statistics in sales

I can guar-antee the com-mis-sions a sales-person can earn.

I have done it before. And I was right on the money.

Until you have become a professional salesperson, you may not realize that selling is an art and a science. The science part lets you predict exactly how much you can earn weekly, monthly, and annually.

This secret I will reveal to you today has been proven hundreds of times over and over with thousands of salespeople I have trained.

I discovered this secret in 1981 when I started counting calls, presentations, and sales of my 7 salespeople, and I confirmed this over and over for myself after I moved to Denver, Colorado in 1984 and made my living selling for various companies.

There was a 12 month period starting in 1987 that I was selling the same product over the telephone for this entire period.

I set a goal to make 60 presentions every day over the telephone. At that time I was averaging one sale for every 10 sales. This meant I would average 6 sales every day, or 36 sales for the week, (a 6 day work week).

Every week I made my 36 sales, so every week I knew exactly what income I would make. It was better than a salary, because if I wanted more income I could make it by doing 1 of 2 things.

A. Make more presentations or B. Improve my ratio of sales to presentations.

We worked a split shift, from 9:00 AM to noon and from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. This left me 5 hours in the middle of each day to do with as I pleased.

The rest of the crew would just waste this time in my opinion. I instead chose to spend this time improving my craft of sales, reading books written by sales, self motivation, and self improvement experts.

Often the rest of the sales crew would tease me that I read too much, but I just laughed with them and kept on reading.

After about 2 months of practice, reading, keeping notes, and creating many new closes, my ratio had improved to 1 sale for every 8 presentations.

I continued to improve and by the time I finished selling these products after one year, my ratio had reached 1 sale for every 3.2 presentations.

I had my sales approach to an exact science having learned the exact tone inflection to use on which prospects, which close to use and when. I was in total control of my own income.

DID YOU THINK SALES WAS UNCERTAIN?

You probably thought that being in sales was an uncertain profession. But it is not if you use my secrets I will reveal to you below.

The fact was that each week my ratio was so certain it did not vary past 1 sale per 3.2 or 3.4. It was always that close.

SO NOW I HAVE TO TEACH IT At this point I was put into sales management much against my wishes. Teaching my system of numbers was no easy task, because people considered my stories of guaranteed sales to be a fantasy.

I went out to Newark, Ohio to rebuild a small office. The office had never really taken off as there had been a lot of problems there. The previous sales manager had deemed that Newark was uncapable of making any sales.

Because of his attitude, and belief, not only had the salespeople believed him so did the management that I was working for. Originally, I was to shut down the office but I asked for a chance to redeem it.

I knew this was a last ditch effort, and all the salespeople had been infected with negative ideas. I knew I had to correct that or Newark wouldn't produce any sales.

But in my heart I knew that the people in Newark were the same as people in Columbus as the people in Dayton as the people in Cincinnati and everywhere else we had opened up offices. I knew that Newark would produce sales.

Everywhere we had gone our system had been successful, and I knew all we had to do was repeat it in Newark with a positive attitude.

Immediately I let everyone go. I told them that they were correct, this city would not produce sales, and they might as well go find work elsewhere. I knew that in their frame of mind it was an uphill battle and I was better off starting with a new crew.

One young lady begged me to stay, she told me she really enjoyed her work there, and she wanted to keep her job. I explained to her that I had higher quotas than her previous manager had. She had been expected before to write five hundred dollars per week, I expected one thousand five hundred dollars per week, three times her previous quota.

She told me she was willing to do that, but with tears in her eyes she told me she didn't know how to do it. I looked at her, and I could see through her eyes into her soul, that she was open to suggestions and willing to learn. I believed that she could do it if she was shown how.

I explained to her, "If you'll just follow my system I promise you'll hit your quota". So I showed her how to do it. I explained to her that sales was more than just coming to work. You have to actually work while you're at work. You have to believe while your dialing that the people want what you have. You have to be kind, you have to be sincere, you have to transmute the feeling you have about the products and services to the prospect on the phone. Without this, nothing will ever happened.

I also explained to her that you can keep track of your results by percentages. If for instance, you start out making one sale for every 10 prospects you talk to, that can be a number you can count on no matter what.

I showed her that to make her quota of 1500 dollars per week, that she would have to do a certain amount of presentations each week in order to get a certain amount sales.

It seemed amazing to her, but after her first week when she actually hit her goal, it started to become possible to her. The second, third, and fourth, week it became almost gospel. She believed that her certain amount presentations would create a certain amount of income.

And then I showed her how to increase her income by increasing her ratio of sales from yes's to nos, and to increase her belief level, and her consistency.

During this time we developed a very good crew. Everyone was hitting their quotas, everything was going fine. We had a core crew of five people plus myself.

Then we came back to an area that had been called by the previous manager. Now, at this time three of my five salespersons were from the old crew. Over time two others had come back to me and since I had a positive crew going I allowed them to come back one at a time.

We were able to convert them to the thinking that Newark was a great place to work and makes sales, and that people wanted our products.

It was afternoon and I pulled out of the drawer the same sheets of numbers that had been used by the previous manager. They still held bookmarks of the unfinished area and notes about who had said no, who was not home, etc..

When the old crew saw me pull out the numbers, a chill shot across their face. They asked, we're not going to dial those are we? I said yes we are. These are wonderful numbers we are going to do great with them.

They told me, we have dialed those before, and they did not work. Those are the meanest people we ever called, they slam the phone on us, they will not talk to us. If we make a sale they are never home when we try to deliver.

I explained to them, you are now a powerful crew. You are some of the finest people in this company. We have been setting records over every other office in the company.

At this time the company was covering three states, so it was quite an accomplishment for this crew. I looked at them and I told them you have the ability to call the same people on this list that told you know before, but this time they will say yes.

The reason you'll do this this time, is that now you believe, now you have a different attitude, now you have new sales skills, now you know you have something to offer that is good and that these people want it.

They said "we will try." But I knew I had a problem.

So we started dialing. I did everything I could keep the room cheery, I made a pot of gourmet coffee, the aroma would fill the room. I brought in some doughnuts, I tried to make a few jokes. However at five o'clock we did not even have one sale.

Now I had promised my boss, that I would never walk out of my office without at least seven hundred dollars in sales for the day. We had zero.

I was not worried, I knew my crew had the ability to pull off a minimum day in only one hour if they decided to. We normally turned in twelve hundred dollars or more per day in sales.

7 o'clock rolled around and we only had two hours of dialing time left. I stopped my crew. They were very despondent. The fear and negative thoughts that had been part of their life from the old manager had taken control of them again. It was almost as if the negative thoughts magically left the paper into their hands and went up to their brains.

I explained to them that their success came from themselves and their frame of mine. It had nothing to do with management. All I had simply done was point out what was inside themselves, and what their own abilities were.

If they could look inside themselves now, they would see that they still had the ability, and they could still make this a very successful day.

We tried on again. They started to whine, they started to talk negatively., I knew I was losing my crew. By 8:30 I had had enough. We only had 30 minutes left and we had no sales.

I stopped my crew. I told them, "I have made a promise never to turn in less than 700 dollars for one days sales to my boss". We have 30 minutes left to keep this promise. I have listened to your complaints and negative comments and whining all day.

I know that you are the best crew I have ever had, and probably one of the best I will ever have. But you have let me down.

Now that is fine, because I have let people down also. But mostly I am concerned that you have let yourselves down. You have let this poison of negative thought infect you, and I have to show you that it is only yourself stopping you. It is not the people we are dialing.

With that, and in an angry voice, I demanded that they hand me the very worst sheet of numbers in the room. They quickly decided which was the worst, and I grabbed that one. I told them that I was going to have to do 700 dollars in sale myself.

These sales had to also be delivered by our drivers before 9:30pm, and the checks picked up. So I told my drivers to wake up because they were going to get very busy.

I pointed to my number one and number 2 sales writers, "you and you, I will not have time to write down these sales, so you will need to fill out the order forms as you hear me repeat the customer's name".

Our average sale was $35.00, so I was going to have to make 20 sales in about 20 minutes. I knew I had no time to take a no. Everyone had to say yes to me. I knew, that if I believed, no one could say no to me, if I was sincere, if I believed I was doing the right thing, If I believed I was doing something good for someone, and I did.

I picked up the phone and I started dialing, I sold the first person I talked to, I sold the second person I talked to, I sold the third person I talked to. No one could say no to me. My concentration was higher than it had ever been.

I had to prove to my crew, that this poison in their mind was at their control. That they could get rid of it if they choose to do so.

By the time 9 o clock rolled around, dialing the very worst numbers that crew had to offer me, I hit my 700 dollar quota. My drivers had the products delivered and the checks picked up by 9:30.

The crew was amazed. They could not believe what they had just seen. I then handed back the sheet of numbers and told my crew that I would never accept "bad numbers" as an excuse in that office again.

From that day on, we made even more amazing accomplishments. My crew of 5 people outsold other offices with crews of 12-15 people. I was very proud of them. Later, when I was only allowed to have 3 telephones to work with, in a territory that was considered a disaster, and unwanted by the Columbus office, we had our highest sales ever.

Although my 5 people had to share 3 phones, and we were calling an area called a disaster, my crew knew that did not matter. They believed they could do it, and we still outsold many of the offices with 12-15 phones and 20-25 salespersons.

50% of everyone we talked to said yes. The company average was 5%. My best average as a saleperson before I started managing was 33%. But now my crew was doing better than I had done.

These numbers were so fantastic that no one else would believe us. But my crew believed because they were doing it.

USING THESE SECRETS TO BUILD YOUR ISP BUSINESS

You can use this secret to do two types of sales to find clients for your ISP business.

1. You can call small businesses on the telephone. 2. You can visit small businesses in person door to door.

SO LETS REVEAL THE SECRET

So let us reveal the ingredients needed to make this secret work.

1. You need a product that can be sold. You have that, our web hosting products with the control panel is a proven hit.

2. You must have a consistent schedule. The numbers will NOT work for you if you do not keep a consistent schedule.

When I was tracking my response I would have days with no sales, a few sales and sometimes a lot of sales. The numbers did not work for me a day at a time. By by the end of each and every week I would have my average total for the entire week.

Here is a typical week with an average of 1 sale per 10 presentations: Monday 60 presentations 2 sales Tuesday 60 presentations 4 sales Wednesday 60 presentations 0 sales Thursday 60 presentations 8 sales Friday 60 presentations 14 sales Saturday 60 presentations 8 sales

Total for week 360 presentations 36 sales.

Now I never knew which days I would make the sales. But I knew for a fact by the end of the week if I kept all the ingredients of the secrets, I would have my average.

If I skipped one day or a shift, my average was thrown off. Also if I was ill my average did not work. It was important to have all things consistant.

If you make a schedule to sell, it should be something every day for 5 or 6 days per week even if only 1 hour.

Again, if you do not stay CONSISTENT the secret will NOT work.

3. You must keep track of your presentations and sales. Write out a calender on a piece of paper and use hash marks, nothing fancy is needed.

There is no need to track your calls or call backs. Those are totally unpredictable. Track your presentations and sales only.

A presentation is defined as an attempt to explain your services to a person that has the authority to buy, and gives you a yes or a no.

If they tell you call back that is not a presentation. If they are not the owner or person that can buy from you that is not a presentation.

4. You must stay in good health. If you are ill you can still make sales but the guaranteed income will not work.

Get plenty of rest, some exercise, a good diet, and some recreation to keep yourself in good selling form.

5. Improve yourself by reading books and listening to tapes and seminars about improving your craft.

I suggest you start with Napoleon Hill's, Think and Grow Rich. It is one of the all time best sales books, and also on keeping your entire life balanced.

6. Set a goal. Make sure you know how many sales you want to make each week, each month, and over the next year. Write these down so they are in front of you.

GUIDELINE As a guideline with most new salespeople you can count on 1 sale for 10 presentations. Even if you are at 1 to 15, that does not mean you will not improve. You will improve as time goes on and you follow the secret ingredients.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, all the secret have been revealed on the MAGIC of numbers and statistics in sales.