The Art of the Sale

What’s more important, quality or quantity?

omniumgatherum — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:36:40 -0400

What’s more important, quality or quantity?

RIP Barry Becher, creator of the Ginsu Knife commercial....

omniumgatherum — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:56:37 -0400

RIP Barry Becher, creator of the Ginsu Knife commercial.

Whenever someone asked him what Ginsu meant in English, he’d say:

“I never have to work again.”

Who makes a good realtor?

omniumgatherum — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:55:00 -0400

Gay porn stars, hand models actors and rappers says the NYTimes.

“I hate to say you’re acting, but sometimes real estate is a bit of a show. When you’re a broker, you’re on stage, and you’ve got to make people like you.” - Pamela Liebman, president Corcoran Group.

Are Americans compulsive salespeople?

omniumgatherum — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:36:35 -0400

A fascinating discussing on the BBC radio show Night Waves, featuring Eli Attie, former speechwriter for Al Gore, writer on The West Wing and writer and co-producer of House.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f68dz

Listen from around 13.30 and it lasts about 15 minutes.

Entourage’s old school producer, Bob Ryan. Is that...

omniumgatherum — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:40:32 -0400

Entourage’s old school producer, Bob Ryan. Is that something you might be interested in?

Selling Spanx

omniumgatherum — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:53:46 -0400

Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx, made “shapeware” chic, becoming the youngest self-made woman billionaire in the world. Since 2000, her Footless Pantyhose and Power Panties have sold more than 15 million units combined. What makes her a good saleswoman? (I’m drawing mostly here on Alexandra Jacobs’ excellent profile of her in The New Yorker last year.)

A range of experience. When she founded Spanx, with $5000 in savings, she was working as a door-to-door fax saleswoman and part-time stand-up comic. She’d previously worked as a chipmunk at Walt Disney World.
Started early. As a kid, she worked as a babysitter and sold tickets to roller-skating parties in her playroom, encouraged by her father who wanted her to learn the value of a dollar.
A sense of humor. As a comic, she joked about the agonies of growing up flat-chested in a beach town, Clearwater, FL. At the start of her set, she’d throw a couple of push-up bra pads into the audience to disarm them
Resilience. Driven to become an entrepreneur after twice failing her LSATs
Saw selling as a means to an end. “I was envisioning a totally different life for myself. I knew I could sell, and I knew I could be self-employed, and I knew if I could come up with something for the masses instead of fax machines, I’d succeed.
A desire to make the world better. “Where I get my energy is: ‘How can I make it better?’ I’ll ask my brother, ‘If you could wave your wand and make your boxer shorts better, what would you do?
Urgency. After several close friends died in their early thirties, she developed a sense of urgency. “I don’t want to take any day for granted.” She reads a lot of Wayne Dyer to stay motivated.
A woman in a man’s business. Pre-Blakely hosiery was dominated by men. But as Blakely’s manufacturer, Larry Small, told Jacobs, she stands out amidst the men: “I’ve always wondered how the heck men are supposed to sell hosiery.”
Nerve. “Blakely chose the brand’s name partly for what she calls its ‘virgin-whore’ tension,’ and partly for its ‘k’ sound, which has a good track record in both business and comedy. “I used to hold my breath every time I said it out loud…People were so offended they’d hang up on me.”

How Christian Louboutin sells $1000 shoes

omniumgatherum — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:48:51 -0400

“Louboutin will hire a salesperson on the basis of personality as much as on that of retail experience. ‘I’m kind of like, deformed,’ he said. ‘I buy the smallest thing, like a stamp, and I’m thinking, This person would be good for the shop.’ Louboutin poached a hostess from an Air France lounge; another time, he hired the bellboy who was assigned to look after him at a hotel in Dubai. Female salespeople offer reassurance; the role of the male salesperson is ‘the ideal flirt’…One day at [Louboutin’s] offices, he wanted to demonstrate the way that a pair of his shoes can extend the line of the leg. He summoned one of his employees and had her step on top of a concrete bench. Louboutin then instructed her to hike up her skirt. ‘It’s all a matter of this going up to here,’ he said tracing a line from foot to hip, up the length of her stocking. ‘I haven’t yet met a woman who told me, ‘I wish I had shorter legs.’”

From Sole Mate: Christian Louboutin and the Psychology of Shoes by Lauren Collins in The New Yorker, March 28 2011

Zen of Business by Augie Turak

omniumgatherum — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:58 -0400

Zen of Business by Augie Turak:

Augie Turak appears in The Art of the Sale describing the importance of a Zen attitude in selling. It’s a truly powerful, if deceptively simple, idea.

Is this the kind of discussion Goldman Sachs has been having...

omniumgatherum — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:47:38 -0400

Is this the kind of discussion Goldman Sachs has been having before selling products for the past few years?

Tech bumps salespeople from stores - NYTimes

omniumgatherum — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:59:01 -0400

Tech bumps salespeople from stores - NYTimes

Ten Commandments for Conmen

omniumgatherum — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:40:00 -0500

The early 20th century conman, “Count” Victor Lustig came up with these ten commandments - not so different from those given to salesmen. He was known as the “man who sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice.”

Be a patient listener (it is this, not fast talking, that gets a con-man his coups).
Never look bored.
Wait for the other person to reveal any political opinions, then agree with them.
Let the other person reveal religious views, then have the same ones.
Hint at sex talk, but don’t follow it up unless the other fellow shows a strong interest.
Never discuss illness, unless some special concern is shown.
Never pry into a person’s personal circumstances (they’ll tell you all eventually).
Never boast. Just let your importance be quietly obvious.
Never be untidy.
Never get drunk.

J&J appoints a salesman as CEO - b-school professor furious

omniumgatherum — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:22:00 -0500

Alex Gorsky, the new CEO of J&J, started his career as a salesman. This piece discusses what this means, including one offensive stereotype from, inevitably, a business school professor.

The salesman’s job “demands stamina, charisma and a near devotion to making the sale — has become a crucible for future drug company executives in recent years…Mr. Gorsky… fits the mold of someone who once “carried the bag” — industry slang for working as a sales representative. He is known as a polished speaker and an intense yet likable manager who is a quick study when it comes to learning new topics…“It’s the school of hard knocks,” said Nona Footz, who leads the health care practice at RSR Partners, an executive search firm. “You’re out there. You’re knocking on doors. You have very tough sales targets. You get a lot of exposure. You learn the business and then you’re promoted.” Good things, no? “But the ethos of the sales representative may not be what Johnson & Johnson needs right now, said Erik Gordon, who teaches business at the University of Michigan. “That culture was very much the Weldon culture writ large — we will make our numbers for the analysts, period,” he said. “And if that means we have to cut costs on things that affect quality, then by God, we’re going to make those numbers.”

The three Ps of selling: Preparation, Persistence and Psychological Pimping

omniumgatherum — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:19:43 -0500

The three Ps of selling: Preparation, Persistence and Psychological Pimping:

A wonderful essay by Henry Alford in the New York TImes on selling the least sellable books from his shelves on the sidewalk in front of his apartment. The books include: Hitler Laughing: Comedy in the Third Reich; Impotence in the Male; and Gay and Gray: The Older Homosexual Man.

Amway's top China rep - makes $8 million a year

omniumgatherum — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:30:02 -0500

Amway's top China rep - makes $8 million a year

Joe Ades, New York peeler salesman.

omniumgatherum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:53:33 -0500

Joe Ades, New York peeler salesman.

Review of The Art of the Sale

omniumgatherum — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:38:00 -0500

From Publishers’ Weekly January 16th issue:

Like Malcolm Gladwell, Delves Broughton is drawn to success stories where natural talent takes second place to hard work, but he’s also willing to explore the manipulative, deceptive aspects of the task, as well as the endless rejection salespeople must face. His enthusiasm and admiration for skilled practitioners of the art is contagious.

Thank you Publishers’ Weekly

Please do pre-order it on Amazon, or Barnes & Noble or Indiebound

“You have nothing to lose, but you have a whole life to...

omniumgatherum — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:24:00 -0500

“You have nothing to lose, but you have a whole life to win.”

Earl Nightingale’s Strangest Secret - it’s really not that strange, but still worth listening to, if only for his rich Burt Lancaster voice. What becomes of our dreams as we get older? “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” “The opposite of cowardice in our society is conformity.” Be of service and money will follow. If you contribute to prosperity, you will prosper yourself. Finally offers six steps to personal success:

1) Set yourself a definite goal.

2) Quit running yourself down.

3) Stop thinking of reasons for why you’re not going to be successful and start thinking of reasons why you will be successful.

4) Trace your attitudes back through childhood and figure out why you think you can’t succeed.

5) Change the image you have yourself by writing down what you would like to be.

6) Act the part of the successful person you have decided to become.

Rich Devos, the founder of Amway on The Art of Selling....

omniumgatherum — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Rich Devos, the founder of Amway on The Art of Selling. “Anybody can sell because they’re doing it all the time…You’re selling every day, everywhere. The only difference is now you’re going to get paid for it.”

Tony Robbins on why we do what we do and how we can do it...

omniumgatherum — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Tony Robbins on why we do what we do and how we can do it better. The most viewed Ted Talk. Not sales specific, but valuable on motivation and the reasons we must find to press through the challenges of any work, especially the most daunting.

American Beauty, 1999. Annette Bening and the power of...

omniumgatherum — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:00:00 -0400

American Beauty, 1999. Annette Bening and the power of auto-suggestion