Secrets of Success

This page is a list of ideas to which various hard-working people have attributed their success. Many of the items were culled from _The Secrets of the World's Top Sales Performers_ by Christine Harvey, but others have come from various interviews, books and articles whose sources I was negligent in noting. If a certain item doesn't make sense to you, feel free to interpret it in a way that serves you or send me a message and we can discuss it. Dale Kirby

Secrets:
1. A tightly scheduled 12-hour day.
2. Have contacting goals.
3. Systematic communication.
4. Know your subject.
5. Learn from questions you are asked: Don't get caught twice.
6. Always have an active prospect list that you contact regularly.
7. Respond fast.
8. Keep your name in front of the customer.
9. Develop innovative strategies for yourself and your customers.
10. Impressive preparation.
11. Finding a niche.
12. Weekly targets.
13. Show people their strengths.
14. Use 80/20 rule.
15. Each day write down 2 things on the job you did that you enjoyed
 or found satisfying.
16. React to problems promptly.
17. Honesty.
18. It's all or nothing for the customer.
19. Thorough planning.
20. Verify key points after meetings in writing.
21. Start meetings with a review.
22. Bring, show or discuss one positive they are not expecting.
23. Tried and true case studies.
24. Develop a system that allows you to find info in 15 seconds.
25. Respect deadlines on promises made.
26. Use flexibility to break into new markets.
27. Perfect your communication.
28. Mentally walk with them.
29. Put features and benefits into layers of pyramid and focus on best layer.
30. Mind-emptying excercises.
31. Structured follow-up
32. See how success works and copy, copy, copy.
33. Don't get tired of service.
34. Flair
35. Anticipate questions and know the answers.
36. Believe in your product.
37. Know exactly where you're going to start the next day.
38. Have high daily targets and when you achieve them--quit.
39. Set up definte rules to get over each hurdle and on to the next.
40. Know competitors products.
41. Create pride of ownership.
42. Have a structured selling answer to "What do you do? & a handout.
43. State your price as a benefit.
44. Answer, "What do you do?"
45. Spend 90% of your time either prospecting or on appointments.
46. Develop solid closing questions.
47. Know your product--shoot the answer.
48. List the benefits of your product.
49. Look as if you've operated the product all your life.
50 Full-scale mock-up. Prototype.
51. Be there when you're needed.
52. Never, ever forget one single thing you've promised to do, 
no matter how trivial it seems.
53. Respect the client for what he is and for what he has accomplished in life.
54. Verbalize respect.
55. Reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, assurance, empathy.
56. Know your case and their case.
57. Put enormous thought and energy into reconfiguring your world 
so that when emergencies happen you have exactly what you need 
to do the job.
58. Know their history when you arrive.
59. Always know and communicate the next step.
60. 3 Steps: Previous, Current, Next.
61. Way of the gull: Work like hell and go after every scrap.
62. Leverage time and effort.
63. Analyze, measure, identify my selling, marketing, advertising and operations.
64. In a minute, describe what it is about your business that gives 
greater advantage, greater benefit, and greater result to your client.
65. How can I test one way against another?
66. What is my clear, accurate distinct vision of my business?
67. How many better, other additional ways could I be doing?
68. How can I get the highest and best use of my time and opportunity.
69. Who could recommend me?
70. What do my clients pre-do and post-do that I can leverage.
71. Do one good thing consistently well.
72. If something works, experiment with a copy.
73. Never create the same routine twice.
74. Trial and error but debrief.
75. Rise before dawn.
76. Be willing to be consumed by a task as long as it takes.
77. Practice the basics endlessly.
78. Your core investment must be in understanding your customers.
79. Stress high quality relationships
80. Be a perpetual prospecting machine.
81. Lose the no's.
82. Have a strategic plan and a relentless apllication of the plan.
83. Document everything. Always know what happened.

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(Updated Jan 7, 96)