I’m always amazed when I ask someone who their customers are and they say “everyone.” You can’t log on with that one. “Everyone” equals “no one.”

I make and sell envelopes. Everyone uses envelopes. So is everyone my potential customer? No way. The margins in the envelope business are paper thin, so my profitability depends on volume, huge volume. That eliminates 99.9 percent of the world’s envelope users.

Geography does it for another 99.9 percent. Delivery costs are a huge factor in bidding an envelope job. Almost any envelope company within 25 miles of a customer can offer a similar product at a better price than another outfit a couple of hundred miles away.

That’s why there are few national envelope companies. We all carve out our little territories and protect them like put bulls. Who are my customers? They are relatively few, but they are very, very precious to me. Everyone has his or her own special needs, requirements, and quirks. Knowing what those are and how to respond to them is not just a concern. It’s a career.

It’s the same for every salesperson. Your success does not depend on your product, no matter how universal or indispensable you think it is. It depends on how well you know your customers. It means meeting their needs before they even know they have them.

The same advice applies even when you’re not calling on customers, but are buried somewhere in the bowels of the corporate bureaucracy.

Years ago many computer companies grew by filling the niches IBM wasn’t serving. IBM couldn’t be bothered with niche markets. They were too big; the niches were too small. Their strategy was to wait until those markets developed sufficiently to become profitable. Then they would roll in and co-opt the customers with their own products.

It turned out that the little companies serving the little niches were on to something. Increasingly, end users wanted their own work stations, not the big mainframes IBM made. By the time IBM woke up, it was too late. The customers they had hoped they could co-opt had already found the products that met their needs.

A sadder and wiser IBM is now back in the game, but not before they got a new president, this time a marketing guy from R.J. Reynolds, and a new attitude about serving their customers.

The cautionary tale has not been lost on me. I’m aware that waiting around for a customer to meet my requirements is a lot riskier than me meeting their requirements, even when they are a little too small or a little too distant to be predictable. No, not everyone is my customer. We don’t need every customer, just the right customers.

Mackay’s Moral: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” –Dirty Harry

If you have enjoyed my writing so far, I encourage you to visit MackayMBA.com to download the first chapter from my upcoming book the Mackay MBA of Selling in the real World for FREE!  I am confident that it’s my best work yet.

The Wisdom Of Dirty Harry By Harvey Mackay is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Plus, you’ll learn how to:

• Enjoy the foreplay (sales people call it the “Preparation Phase”)
• Get lucky more often by focusing your activities (in your search for new customers)
• Handle the situation like a pro if you get the cold shoulder (No Means No – or does it?)
• Master the art of “You Show me Yours and I’ll Show You Mine” (Presentation and Negotiation)
• Seal it with a kiss (The Art of Closing)
• Deal with the morning-after (Post-Selling Activities)
• Ask for help if you aren’t sure about what you’re doing (Yes, you can!)
• Hook up  (Build Rapport and Credibility – Develop the Relationship)
• Have happy endings

This e-book will provide you with more than 200 reasons why selling is even better than sex, and what you can do about it in order to improve your career and your life. This is not just another sales book – this is a revelation!

Order your e-book copy of the book now for only 12.95!

Note: This is an e-book (electronic book), not a soft-cover book. To get your soft-cover version of the book, click here.

E-book Selling Is Better Than Sex – Available Now! is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

I decided to do the same – as you probably know I have 2 books available on Kindle and I will donate the proceeds from to Tsunami charities as well.

My first book “Trigger Events” is on sale at Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.

My second book “Selling Is Better Than Sex” is on sale at Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.

It’s $8.99 in the US and £6.46 and every cent I get from it (roughly $6 a copy – the rest goes in tax and Amazon’s fees) will go to Tsunami charities.

If you already have my books and you found it helpful, please write a quick review on Amazon here or  here, or perhaps Tweet this blog post or share it on Facebook to encourage others to buy it and help out.

This is just a drop in the ocean, but many drops will make the change.

Thank you,

Alen Majer

Donating all proceeds from my book sales to Japan is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The book explains when and why enchantment is necessary and then the pillars of enchantment: likability, trustworthiness, and a great cause.

The next topics are launching, overcoming resistance, making enchantment endure, and using technology. There are even special chapters dedicated to enchanting your employees and your boss.

Finally, because there are times you may want to resist enchantment, there’s even a chapter about how to do this too.

If you want to change the world — or even part of the world, this book is for you. The in-store date for Enchantment is March 8th.

To interact with the Enchantment community, go to the Enchantment Facebook page.

Enchantment – new book by Guy Kawasaki is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

(Earlier this week my latest book Selling IS Better Than Sex became available on Kindle too - get your copy today!)

Did you know that 40% of sales forces will miss their quotas this year; four out of ten salespersons will lose their jobs this year; and over 25% of sales people do not sell enough to cover their cost?

If you are a novice sales rep, seasoned sales veteran or non-sales-savvy entrepreneur, looking for customers… YOU NEED TO READ “TRIGGER EVENTS”

Consider that salespeople require answers to these fundamental questions:

* How am I going to find my next customer?
* How can I differentiate prospects from suspects?
* Can I avoid the uncertainty and inefficiency of cold calling?
* How can I determine my customer’s needs and wants without assuming?
* How can I know if my customer is ready to buy?
* How can I get to presentation and closing faster?

You are not alone here. The issue of getting new customers is a problem in every industry. The problem is that many salespeople are trying to find answers to these questions through methods that were effective in the past but are not suited for today’s buyers – who are skeptical of businesses, resist being sold to and know how to use technology to gain advantages over salespeople.

The book “Trigger Events – How to Find Your Next Customer” is a perfect example of how a major shift can result from using something that’s right there in front of us – in this case, events that create buyer needs.  Get your Kindle copy today!

This book introduces a revolutionary sales paradigm that is fully grounded in today’s realities. It not only answers these fundamental questions (by the way, you can eliminate cold calling altogether) it provides a salesperson with a set of tools that creates the ability to appear in front of a customer with precise knowledge of the customers needs at exactly the time (or even before) the needs are realized by the customer.

All needs are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

——————————————

If you prefer printed version, get the soft-cover book Trigger Events today and start selling to new customers tomorrow! Price is only $17.95 and shipping costs are included in the price (North America only)!

Trigger Events also available on Kindle! is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

My latest book Selling IS Better Than Sex is now available on Kindle - get your copy today for only $8.99!

The secret of being successful in selling is the ability to transmit your energy and your enthusiasm about your product or service. If you fail to do that, you will not sell. In Selling is Better than Sex, I will take you through the essentials of successful selling with a humorous twist; illustrating that business can be fun and should be fun. It will help you realize that selling is more than just a 9 to 5 job. Love what you do and do what you love. It’s about passion…it’s about creating a pathway for your own success and doing it with enthusiasm and zeal.

You’ll learn how to:

* Enjoy the foreplay (sales people call it the “Preparation Phase”)
* Get lucky more often by focusing your activities (in your search for new customers)
* Handle the situation like a pro if you get the cold shoulder (No Means No – or does it?)
* Master the art of “You Show me Yours and I’ll Show You Mine” (Presentation and Negotiation)
* Seal it with a kiss (The Art of Closing)
* Deal with the morning-after (Post-Selling Activities)
* Ask for help if you aren’t sure about what you’re doing (Yes, you can!)
* Hook up  (Build Rapport and Credibility – Develop the Relationship)
* Have happy endings

This book will provide you with more than 200 reasons why selling is even better than sex, and what you can do about it in order to improve your career and your life. This is not just another sales book – this is a revelation! Get your Kindle version today – only $8.99!

—————–

If you rather like to have a physical copy of the book,  order your copy today for only $19.95 and shipping cost is included in the price!

Selling IS Better Than Sex Available on Kindle! is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDwFPqy7FbM

Sex desire is the most powerful of all human desires. If you can learn to transfer all the energy that you have for the pleasure of sex and transmit that into your sales efforts, the rewards will be unlike you have ever witnessed before!

My new book will show you how to get a thrill out of selling; how to love what you do; and give you more than 200 reasons why selling is even better than sex, and what you can do about it in order to improve your career and your life.

It’s about passion…it’s about creating a pathway for your own success and doing it with enthusiasm!

You’ll learn how to:

• Enjoy the foreplay (sales people call it the “Preparation Phase”)
• Get lucky more often by focusing your activities (in your search for new customers)
• Handle the situation like a pro if you get the cold shoulder (No Means No – or does it?)
• Master the art of “You Show me Yours and I’ll Show You Mine” (Presentation and Negotiation)
• Seal it with a kiss (The Art of Closing)
• Deal with the morning-after (Post-Selling Activities)
• Ask for help if you aren’t sure about what you’re doing (Yes, you can!)
• Hook up  (Build Rapport and Credibility – Develop the Relationship)
• Have happy endings

This book will provide you with more than 200 reasons why selling is even better than sex, and what you can do about it in order to improve your career and your life. This is not just another sales book – this is a revelation!

Order your signed copy today!

$19.95 – shipping included!  (only for customers in North America)

Reviews:

“A refreshing, original take on how to achieve greater success in the business world.”

“A must-read for businessmen and women worldwide. A pleasantly enjoyable literary treat.”

“Alen Majer’s latest book is loaded with sales lessons, tips, tactics and golden nuggets of advice.”

Video: Selling Is Better Than Sex is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

In my previous post I gave you 10 reasons why why I believe selling is even better than sex.

Here are 10 more reasons:

1. With sales it matters not how young or how old you are – you can always find a fresh prospect – and they’re generally not interested in your age. They’re really only concerned about your expertise.
2. With selling you always know how good you are. The proof is in the purchase of the product that you’re selling.
3. A customer doesn’t get jealous when you get a new one. Actually, you look weird if you don’t have any customer at all. Being single is not good.
4. If you’re having trouble with selling and you’re not feeling as confident as you should be, it is perfectly acceptable to pay a professional to show you how you can improve on your technique.
5. Managing large numbers of sales or co-coordinating a group of salespeople makes you neither a pimp nor a prostitute.
6. You can keep your socks on during selling (or prospecting).
7. Finding customers on the internet isn’t illegal.
8. You can do sales by the book and you can choose the book (or DVD).
9. Selling publicly won’t get you arrested.
10. You can sell even in a moving vehicle and not be apprehended for breaking the law.

——————

If you want to learn how to transfer the sex energy into sales enthusiasm to improve your career and life, get my book “Selling Is Better Than Sex” today. Get the book from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or Chapters-Indigo in Canada. If you want to have a signed copy, get it directly from me – www.SellingIsBetter.com

10 more reasons why selling is better than sex is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Working month to month, just treading water in the hopes of staying afloat, does not make you a super-sales-hero. You need to plan ahead – take the long-term view and line up those deals to ensure you maintain your status. This is what makes you great – and able to achieve your fullest potential. Again, this is hard work and dedication – but it is fuelled by your passion for selling and your dream to achieve all that you can.

You must realize that customers are available for everyone, at any time and at any age. Not so when it comes to sex, right? No – even with a reputation as a serial womanizer, you can go for weeks or even months at a time without having a beautiful woman to accompany you to social gatherings. That’s the quickest way to dissolve your reputation! But the beauty of sales is that there will always be someone who needs something that you’ve got – you just need to find them and approach the sale in an appropriate way, depending on their needs.

And, with selling, buying leads is also a legitimate way to generate sales – it’s not against the law, either. So when you find that you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of customers and your pipeline is running dry, you can absolutely purchase a list of leads. However, when your sex life is becoming somewhat dull, or non-existent, paying for a “lead” is not exactly the way you want to go (nor is it legal – in most countries, anyway).

Cruising the internet in search of customers is perfectly acceptable too. You won’t find yourself in any moral or ethical dilemma when paying for leads. And you won’t get fired for typing “selling techniques” into a search engine at work. But wait and see what happens when you’re caught surfing the net for tips on “how to please…”

With all the technology that we have available to us today, the act of “cold-calling” is just about becoming a thing of the past. You can access so much information about a client before you even get to the first meeting. As a result, you will be better prepared than if you had just picked up the phone and dialed a random number in the hopes of charming yourself into another sale. With as much “pre-knowledge” of the customer as possible, you’re equipped to ask all of the right questions, and you’re able to listen to the client’s needs with a greater understanding.

If you’ve carried out your research thoroughly, half of the work is done. It can no longer be termed a “cold call” when you’re already warming up to the client and the operations of his business. Rather, you have the upper hand as you begin the call, knowing more about your client than he does about you. This means that you’re better prepared to approach him in an effective manner and better prepared to address the type of business that he has and the problems he might be encountering.

And besides, you don’t have to dial a “900” number to sell over the phone. If you want customers from faraway places, it’s not that difficult and not that expensive either. You just pick up the phone, send an e-mail, and use any modern technology that you have on hand. But try finding your dream woman from some faraway exotic place – you’ll pay a fortune in travelling costs and accommodation, and that’s before you’ve even taken her out to dinner.

Yet again we can prove that selling is better than sex – and far less risky too. Finding new customers won’t get you into trouble either. You can have as many customers as you want, and as many as you can handle!

—————–

The secret of being successful in selling is the ability to transmit your energy and your enthusiasm about your product or service. If you fail to do that, you will not sell. If you want to learn how to transfer your energy into sales enthusiasm to improve your career and life, get my book “Selling Is Better Than Sex” today!

This book will provide you with more than 200 reasons why selling is even better than sex, and what you can do about it in order to improve your career and your life. This is not just another sales book – this is a revelation!

www.SellingIsBetter.com

Customers Are Available for Everyone, at Any Time is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

No-one can fake a purchase or lie to you about how great your pitch was. Customers aren’t concerned with stroking your ego just to pacify you so that they can make a quick escape. If you’re great at what you do, they buy your product. It’s as simple as that. And if you’ve really impressed them, they’ll keep coming back for more. And they’ll tell their family and friends about you and refer them to you for your excellent service.

That’s essentially what they talk about – how great you are at performing in the sales arena. They don’t care what kind of physical shape you’re in either. They don’t sit around and chat about your physique or snigger about your six-pack that’s been left abandoned for years. In fact, most of the best sales guys are usually out of shape. You don’t have to concern yourself with sweating it out at the gym.

As a successful sales guru, you’ve got the customers coming in already, in droves. Because you don’t have to be concerned about your fitness in order to be a brilliant salesperson, you don’t have to feel embarrassed by selling with the lights on! In fact, if you turned the lights off, most of your clients might start feeling a little concerned about their own safety and well being. Leave the lights on; forget about the gym; in sales you can be a success regardless of what shape you’re in.

As well, what makes all of this a lot easier is that a new sales job comes with an instruction manual – complete with graphs and pictures and everything that you might need to come to grips with the basics. Imagine how easy some things in life would be if everything came with a manual? Sure, some of us are blessed with a natural charm and an outgoing and vivacious personality (among other things), but there are still things to learn.

There aren’t too many of us that can be really successful without further enhancing our education. It’s not like a few tips from your Dad are all that you need to make a good go of it. No – we start with the manual and we progress from there to more extensive, specialized courses in skill and technique. And then it still takes practice to perfect the technique. At least, with selling, you don’t earn yourself a reputation for being promiscuous when you expose your sales pitch to a wide variety of customers.

Let’s face the facts here – as a salesperson you don’t have to pussy-foot around your clients and question them in subtle, tactful ways to find out if you were any good. If you were good, they bought your product. Your massive sales figures at the end of each day will show the world what a sensation you are, a market leader in your field. You have the magic touch – you know it and you can prove it!

—————–

If you want to learn how to transfer the sex energy into sales enthusiasm to improve your career and life, and learn about other 200 reasons why selling is even better than sex, get my book “Selling Is Better Than Sex” today! www.SellingIsBetter.com

You Always Know How Good You Are is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer