The Twelve Sources of Sensational Selling Success

Excerpted from
How to Master the Art of Selling
By Tom Hopkins

They're interwoven. All twelve overlap. You can't improve in one of these characteristics without helping yourself improve in all the others; you can't ignore one of them without damaging your potential over the whole range.

ONE. You know the Champions when they walk in the door. Whether they're dressed conservatively, clad in clothes that are ahead of the latest fad, or they're wearing anything in between those extremes, they project the unmistakable stamp of strong personality with their attire and grooming. Just by looking at them, you know that you're in the presence of a powerful force. They reflect a sense of unique individuality and a solid consciousness of worth that's far more impressive than mere good looks. Whatever nature gave them and time has let them keep they've molded into a commanding, memorable appearance.

TWO. The Champions we've trained take tremendous pride in the profession of selling and in themselves as human beings. They base that pride on the serious way they've met their responsibilities and capitalized on their potential. And they do that without feeling any need to look down on anyone who is less effective than they are. No one is a Champion without achieving an honest pride.

THREE. Champions radiate confidence. If you're new in sales, you might ask, "How can I be confident when I don't know what I'm doing?"

I agree that you should be wary of feeling confident in any situation where you don't have a clear idea of exactly what you're doing. Overconfidence will float you down the river and over the falls nearly every time. If that's your problem, a few hard drops will quickly put you in step with your knowledge. And there'll be no harm done; you'll simply get some opportunities to develop your sense of humor.

Coming down with a permanent sense of underconfidence is a great danger. Every day, as you gain skill, you must practice being more and more confident. Remember that your clients and prospects look to you for only the very narrow area of expertise that thorough knowledge of your product or service represents. The people you come in contact with are moved by your belief, by the conviction and confidence you display in your offering. When you finish this training, you'll have every tool necessary to help people make the yes decision, you'll have faith in your worth, and you'll radiate confidence.

FOUR. Gertrude Nunn epitomizes one of the qualities I teach: she warmly and lovingly leads people. Am I saying that she's so warm and nice that she can't close people? Of course not. The top people close warmly.

You may find that confusing, especially if you have any tendency to regard the profession of selling as essentially being the business of unjustly separating money from unwilling people.

Let's talk about that idea because it's out there, and it has some reality to millions of people. It arises from the actions of the minority of salespeople who believe that selling is purely and simply aggression. Eventually all such vultures will be driven out of sales by the new breed of enlightened salespeople who qualify their prospects, care about their customers, and make sure their clients get benefits from their purchases that outweigh the prices paid. The change is already in the works. Trained salespeople, who neither want nor need to stoop to unfair practices, are gradually taking the place of the get-'em-for-all-you-can crowd. Admittedly, it's a slow process, and we'll wait a long time to see it completed. But it's happening. I'd like to enlist you in fighting the good fight for sales integrity.

We've all heard people say, "I used to sell, but I wasn't pushy enough." The ex-salespeople who say that don't realize they never learned how to prospect, contact, and qualify professionally. In fact, many of them never even learned the sales meaning of the word qualify. So, in desperation, they tried to close prospects they knew in their hearts shouldn't be closed on their particular product or service. That made these ex-salespeople feel like crooks. Because they are basically honest people, they had to escape the guilt; instead of getting into sales training, they got out of sales work.

Champions don't have that problem because they never close people they know shouldn't be closed. A Champion doesn't push people with warmth. His techniques are so strong that he leads people smoothly to the close that'll benefit them-with genuine concern and warmth.

FIVE. Most Champions look to only one person for their self assurance, and that one person is themselves. They realize that we live in a world where many people really don't care, and there's not as much involvement as there should be. People are apathetic even about their own welfare beyond immediate satisfactions. Champions know that they can't change the prevailing culture all by themselves. So they float through life without being overwhelmed by problems they can't solve. They concern themselves with helping their customers and their loved ones through the profession of selling. Many of them are active in other causes, but they're always careful to put their efforts into activities where they can be effective. In everything they do, they believe in themselves and act with assurance.

SIX. Champions want to get rich. That's right, rich. The Champion wants the high income that'll provide the capital for investments to make him or her independent. There's nothing wrong with getting rich as long as the people you serve along the way benefit. The true Champion shapes his values and organizes his lifestyle to achieve his object of getting rich.

SEVEN. A quality I can't measure, but I know it's always present in Champions, is the burning desire to achieve. For years, sales managers have thought, "If we could only measure how much desire each person has, we'd have the whole problem of selecting salespeople solved. We'd know who'll keep on working in spite of problems and disappointments, and who'll sit down and give up.