KISS Your Way to More Sales

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw this picture of our friend and Top Dog Sales expert Colleen Francis with Gene Simmons, the legendary tongue-wagging leader of KISS. Colleen was photographed with Simmons while attending a marketing conference. And, believe it or not, she learned a lot from rock's bad boy. Here's what Colleen has to say about Simmons and what he can teach sales professionals:

"What a huge success he is Much more so than I ever knew. KISS holds all the records for record sales for any rock band ever - including Elvis and the Beatles. Their empire is worth over $1 billion and there are over 3,000 branded KISS products on the market today. KISS is a rock BRAND not a rock Band. So what could a sales expert learn form rock's perennial bad boy? Plenty . . . "

Set no limits on what you can achieve. Success is a mind set. Either you think you can have it all, or you don't. Never let someone else tell you what you can and can't achieve. Ruthlessly control those thoughts yourself.

Work hard. Gene Simmons is almost 59, worth hundreds of millions of dollars and everyday he goes to work. Recently he started a new business, Simmons Abramson Marketing which has the exclusive branding contract for Indy. In fact they developed the new "I am Indy" campaign - Gene even wrote the theme song himself. His success is not an accident. Gene Simmons is nothing but disciplined in his approach to his work. (To get more disciplined, check out Colleen's 3-step approach.)

Connect with people. From the stage in front of 1,200 people Gene Simmons connected with people one-on-one speaking their language. German, Yiddish, Hungarian, Japanese, Mandarin. He connects with people on their level. No private jets, no bodyguards (granted he is big enough to take care of himself!) His secret to success is getting close to people and talking to them about them.

There you have it; three timely reminders of what it takes to be successful in sales - from a rather unlikely source.

Colleen Francis, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions. Sales and Marketing Management has ranked her one of the "5 most effective sales trainers in the market today." Subscribe to her online newsletter Engaging Ideas and you'll also receive 10 weeks of free sales tips.