Fail to Succeed

Sales trainer George Ludwig always gives inspirational tips in his newsletter. This article is no exception!

Identify someone you consider to be successful and ask that person how many failures he or she had before success came. I guarantee you that any successful person had to learn failure before success. That's what learning is all about: doing it wrong in order to get it right. We don't all succeed at everything we try. Most of us go through failure to reach success, just as we go through fear in order to build courage.

Weightlifting is a great example to illustrate this process of going through failure to reach success. Years ago, when I started building up my scrawny 112 pound body through weight training, my first instructor introduced me to the concept of "going for failure." I didn't think that sounded so fun-"Let's go fail!"-but my coach explained that breaking a muscle down by exhausting it totally was the best way to build it stronger. By going to failure, I prepared my muscles for greater success. I failed so that I eventually could succeed.

Life is no different. Failure is a necessary part of growing and building strength to eventually succeed. Consider the case of a lanky Midwestern boy who chopped wood for his father until he was twenty- one, but who had always hungered for more out of life. He started borrowing books and reading every evening. What he read began to inspire and motivate him to become a risk-taker in the pursuit of success. He was willing to fail in order to succeed, and fail is exactly what he did:

* At age 23 he ran as a candidate for state legislature and lost.
* At age 30 he was bankrupt.
* At age 32 the woman he loved and intended to marry broke off the engagement breaking his heart.
* At age 33 he married another woman who bore him four sons, of which three he lost because they died before reaching adulthood.
* At age 35 he ran again as a candidate for state legislature and again he lost.
* At age 47 he was selected a vice-presidential candidate and again he lost.
* At age 49 he was nominated for the United States Senate and again he lost.

The man described above, however, was elected President of the United States of America at age 51. His frequent experiences of failure gave Abraham Lincoln the resolve to handle the great challenges of his Presidency and the repeated initial failure of the Union forces. He never saw failure as a reason to stop attempting success, and he ultimately changed the course of American history.

Failure is never the end of the road. Failure is how you learn and grow. Whether it's building biceps, achieving financial freedom, becoming the best parent possible, or reaching the Oval Office: you must fail to succeed.

George Ludwig is President of GLU Consulting which specializes in helping clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, and Northwestern Mutual improve their sales performance. George is the bestselling author of Power Selling and a widely recognized authority on sales success and peak performance psychology. www.GeorgeLudwig.com

Fourth Quarter Victory

We're nearing the end of the year, and if you're struggling to make sure you meet your goals, then this advice from sales trainer George Ludwig is for you! Today he shares his strategies to manage your time down to the minute, and fit in all those prospective sales still sitting in our pipeline. Read on, and get started!

Be a Time Management Master

Ludwig suggests you evaluate your sales funnel right now to determine which opportunities should be pursued. Come up with a short list by looking at factors like:

1. What's the size or profitability of the sale?
2. What's a realistic evaluation of where the potential sale is in the process and the probability of closing it by year-end?
3. What resources and actions are necessary to close the sale by year-end?
4. Are there any specific adverse customer behaviors as a result of economic conditions that may preclude them from being a hot-targeted prospect?
5. Are there any previous buying patterns the target has demonstrated as it relates to price, value, and purchasing urgency that might affect the opportunity?

After assessing these issues, prepare a brief strategy position for each opportunity on your list.

--Aim for the fruit closest to the ground. Consider a Q4 selling promotion targeted toward your current customers. In hard economic times, customers want to make safe choices with their limited funds, so they look to companies and products they know and trust. This is a good time for the sales department and marketing to team up and offer specific price promotions targeted to hit the sweet spot of current customers who are in the best position to purchase by year's end.

--Grease the skids with quick communiques. One way to save precious time in Q4 is to reach out to your customer and prospect database, especially your identified targets, using a variety of time-saving communication tactics. Email, snail mail, faxes, and telephone all complement direct sales efforts and keep you in mind, which helps close sales quickly.

George Ludwig is President of GLU Consulting which specializes in helping clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, and Northwestern Mutual improve their sales performance. George is the bestselling author of Power Selling and a widely recognized authority on sales success and peak performance psychology. www.GeorgeLudwig.com

The Eight-Point Buyer Checklist

How many times do you leave an introductory meeting, or hang up from a phone call with a prospect, only to realize that you are missing critical information that you need? Instead of slapping your head, like in the old V-8 commercials, use sales trainer George Ludwig's easy acronym -- BEND 4P's - to help you remember what you need to know.

B-BELIEFS: What does the buyer believe about you, your product or service, your competitor, etc.?

E-EVALUATION PROCESS: How will the buyer evaluate your product? What criteria will he or she use?

N-NEEDS: What does the buyer really need?

D-DESIRES: What does the buyer really want?

P-PSYCHIC WOUNDS: Does the buyer have any ill will toward your company, you, or a particular type of product or service?

P-PERSONAL INTERESTS: What are the buyer's hobbies, his or her family life, favorite sports, etc.?

P-PERSONAL MENTORS: Whom does the buyer look to for similar buying decisions? What references will he or she accept?

P-PERSONAL SUCCESSES: What is the buyer proud of? What has he or she purchased before that gave him or her a personal win?

Remember to get the answers to the BEND 4-P QUESTIONS, and you'll be better armed to better serve the buyer and close the sale!

George Ludwig is an author, speaker, and consultant with years of experience as a top-seller. He developed his Power Selling Process and the Double Your Income Power Seminars after 20 years of researching the most successful sales strategies in the world, and is the author of the book Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code. Discover your sales strengths and weaknesses at www.GeorgeLudwig.com.

Create Customer Gratitude

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A day for reflecting on what we're most grateful for. We've talked this week about expressing our thanks to customers. But, what about customer gratitude? What can you do to make your customers thankful for you?

Here's a story from George Ludwig, author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code that illustrates the type of sales behavior that produces grateful customers.

One cold Friday night in January 1991, the phone rang. "Is this Tom O.?" the caller asked.

"Yes , it is," Tom replied. "Who's this?"

"I'm Dr. Gary B. from XYZ Children's Hospital. I'm the new ortho surgeon here, and we have an emergency spinal case tomorrow. My technician and I don't know how to run the Cell Saver, and neither does anybody else available to us. We have a six-year old boy who really needs surgery now - he can't wait till Monday. Can you help me run the device and train us, too? I used another brand back in Boston, and I can't reach that sales rep."

"I'll do it. What time do you need me?" Tom answered.

Dr. B. said, "Be here at 6:30am to scrub in."

The next morning, Tom ran the Cell Saver, which collects blood shed during surgery, separates the oxygen-carrying red cells, and returns them to the patient during the procedure. All went well in this four-hour operation. Dr. B. and his nursing team thanked Tom profusely for coming on a Saturday, with such short notice, and going the extra mile for their patient.

About a year later, Tom received a phone call from the ABC Teaching Hospital in Minneapolis. The company he sold for had been completely locked out from getting any of the Cell Saver business at this hospital, but the purchasing agent on the phone wanted to fax a purchase order for seven Cell Savers, worth more than $100,000 in business. Tom was stunned and elated! He was also confused, because he hadn't even visited the hospital in six months. The purchasing agent told him that their new chief of surgery, Dr. Gary B., refused to use any other type of equipment. Their order needed to be completed ASAP, and Tom ended up with a killer commission check.

Now that's a grateful customer. What can you do to prove your worth to your customers - when they need it most? Give it some thought - and enjoy your turkey!