This story was sent to the salespeople at Curtis Wilson Cost Gallery on Maui
http://www.costgallery.com

Many years ago, I had a tennis-lesson-from-hell at the Maui Country Club. Steve, the club pro, came up to the edge of the net and asked me to hit the one stroke I was absolutely certain I could return successfully within his reach every single time. He would hit it back to me and we would count how many hits we could accumulate before missing a ball. He fed me a ball and we started rallying and reached 10 or 15 before I missed one. Steve re-approached the net and said to me again “hit the one ball you know you can hit each and every time.” The next rally got to 30 or so before I missed another. Steve once again approached the net but this time he raised his voice. “Hit the one ball YOU KNOW you can get back safely!” His tone was a little unnerving and I started to wonder what gave him the right to speak to me like that. After all, I was his client, not his subordinate. Our next rally got to about 35 hits before I hit another a little out of his reach. All of a sudden, Steve threw down his racket and marched up to the net and yelled at me. “CURTIS, HIT THE ONE YOU KNOW YOU CAN HIT BACK SAFELY EVERY SINGLE TIME!

I stood there completely aghast as he walked back to pick up his racket. He turned and calmly fed me another ball. I was beside myself. I could not believe the nerve of this guy. I decided that I would report his abuse to the club’s board of directors. When the ball reached me I hit it so focused on not missing another one that I hit a safe little dink, just to make sure it went back to him. I did this again and again, focusing and concentrating on my footwork, bending my knees, stepping through the ball making absolutely sure I got it back to him. We reached well over a hundred hits. At that point Steve grabbed the ball out of the air. “Exactly! That is exactly what I’m after. That focused little dink you’re hitting is the one I’m looking for. You need to be aware that you possess it.

That’s the shot you need to rely on. It’s the absolute minimum and essential shot that will get you out of trouble.

I walked away intent upon reporting him to the club officials. He had clearly crossed the line. On the other hand I DID learn what he meant for me to learn. There is a place to go to, mentally, which has a different focus. I didn’t know that I possessed a shot which I can hit every time if I focused and concentrated on removing all the unnecessary variables. I would not have found it if Steve hadn’t taken it to such extremes. In my quiver of tennis strokes, this is the one on which my game is now based.

My motive in telling this story has to do with the Boss Card goals in the Morning Report. When you set your Boss Card goals, you need to use the same strategy.

Boss Cards are an instrument to HELP you, not demoralize you. If they are demoralizing you, they are not set right. Set your goal at something you KNOW you can daily attain. It’s okay for it to be low, but it MUST BE REACHED EVERY SINGLE MONTH. Remember, it’s an average. You might make up a few bad days with one good day. But it is vital that you commit to a number and maintain it.

It’s also equally important to use the diagnostics Ron Martin provides to improve your performance to higher levels, such as the Sales City Express charts.

Everything yields to focused concentration and attainable goals. It’s a proven system you can rely on. The charts are illuminating if you use them, but they must be used to do any good.

Ask others for tips and advice. Make Proactive No Pressure Selling the focus of your time at work. Read a chapter in the book before starting each shift. Rehearse the steps with every customer.

Set reasonable and reachable goals and commit to them.

Curtis

The first time that I saw Retail Selling Made Easy with a tattered cover, I was horrified and replaced it. I have since come to see it is a “good thing”.
These books are not “museum pieces”, so when I see one like this I now treasure it.

Japanese travelers come to Hawaii, and other U.S. Resort areas in huge numbers, spend 5 times what other travelers spend, and do it in less than half the time. Resort retail salespeople owe it to themselves and their stores to learn how to sell to the Japanese.

The first step is an understanding of some basic facts that attribute greatly to the huge amounts spent by our Japanese visitors.

The next step will be how to align yourself to successfully sell to the Japanese. Some companies exist on Japanese sales, some others can’t seem to crack the market even though they may sell very similar products at fair prices. None of this is coincidental.

1. The Japanese government encourages worldwide travel to its citizens, Hawaii and other U.S. Resorts are seeing increasing numbers of Japanese visitors.

2. Today’s visitors are more affluent than in the past. They are proud of their success and ability to travel the world. They express this pride in what they wear, where they go, and what they buy.

3. Honeymoon season is March through June, even though most were married in Japan before December.
(more…)

“All speaking is public speaking whether it’s to one person or a thousand.”
-Roger Love

This quote reminds me that I am not placing enough effort towards selling copies of Public Speaking Made Easy. Pam Chambers sells them by the case loads. I should be doing the same. This is a great book and is written for EVERYONE. If you do not have your copy yet, you can order it in the “Books” section of this site.

And you think you have a tough job!
When I looked up from my computer and saw this, I thought, “Wow, what an easy job I have.”

Ron kept sitting in this chair at the Honolulu Design Center saying, “I love this chair”. Today the INspiration delivery team brought it to Uraku Tower where Ron will now be sitting in it at home.

Mahalo Peter!

“If you have a question about sales, selling or customer service, post it here as a comment.”

Most people would like to live a longer, healthier life, but too many times the motivation to do something about it comes too late.

Please post any good ideas or references you have on this subject.

I have had so many requests lately for audio books that I went into the recording studio and read Retail Selling Made Easy into the microphone. I was amazed at how much I had forgotten.

Watch for the release of this and my other books in audio format very soon.

The newest thing at Success Dynamics is this all new website and Blog. I would love to get your feedback. If you have a thought or opinion, just make a comment and tell me what it is.

I will strive to keep this Blog (something new to me) fresh and informative. Please fell free to post your comments on any of the sections in the Blog, and if there is something new happening with you that you would like to share, do that right here as well.
Ron