Our Best America - The Blog of Michael Jackson Sr.
Goals - Your Life Depends On Them
If you are not making the progress you want to make and are capable of achieving…
When you have developed a burning desire to achieve something, you have set a firm date of achieving it, have committed this to writing, it is amazing how everything tends to line up to cause this desire to become reality. Notice I said burning desire and not just a “it would be nice to be successful attitude.” The People, Customers, Investors, Product and Plan all tend to be attracted to our life when we apply goal setting procedures and then act with passion on these. I have experienced this hundreds of times, and to this day continue to commit my desires and dreams to a specific goal setting process.
A few years ago I hired John Goddard to speak for me at a convention. At age 15 John sat down in his bedroom and committed to paper everything he wanted to achieve when he grew up. His first list was 127 goals. You can read all of the 127 goals and see which are checked off as achieved in his book called “John Goddard – World’s Greatest Goal Achiever The Survivor”. You can get one at www.gomacstore.com.
He wrote down everything that came into his head. His list had hundreds of desires like exploring all the great rivers in the world, becoming an Eagle Scout, holding his breath under water for two and a half minutes, climbing all the great mountains, meeting certain people, flying beyond the speed of sound and even stepping on the surface of the moon. John has been interviewed on all the talk shows including on TV over 200 times, met with Presidents, and traveled the world and more. To date he has achieved over 90% of the goals he wrote at age 15. (He still has not set foot on the moon, but hasn't ruled it out!)
I climbed to the top of a mountain with John when he was 80 years plus. John is an amazing man. I am convinced that setting his life goals at age 15 and then committing to a plan to achieve these goals transformed John’s life. He has now visited 107 countries and is far from done with his goal setting and achieving.
Most people plan their vacation more than they plan their life. Setting and achieving goals is much more than making money or getting things. I set goals for most everything including my health, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, weight, relationships, learning and growing mentally, net worth, solving problems – basically everything gets a date, written down, discussed with my closest friends and family and acted on relentlessly. I have used this process to build hundreds in millions of sales dollars and much more. I have a goal to take a photo of the close to extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Nata says it’s not going to happen – we will see about that!
It is because your Goals are not clearly defined!
These words were penned nearly a decade ago by J. Paul Meyer who is considered by many to be one of the early founders of personal development thinking. If I could master one skill in my life, it would be the Art of Setting and Achieving Goals. You and I can change our lives by changing our goals. Proverbs 23:7 says “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” What ever fills a persons mind tends to become real in his experiences.When you have developed a burning desire to achieve something, you have set a firm date of achieving it, have committed this to writing, it is amazing how everything tends to line up to cause this desire to become reality. Notice I said burning desire and not just a “it would be nice to be successful attitude.” The People, Customers, Investors, Product and Plan all tend to be attracted to our life when we apply goal setting procedures and then act with passion on these. I have experienced this hundreds of times, and to this day continue to commit my desires and dreams to a specific goal setting process.
A few years ago I hired John Goddard to speak for me at a convention. At age 15 John sat down in his bedroom and committed to paper everything he wanted to achieve when he grew up. His first list was 127 goals. You can read all of the 127 goals and see which are checked off as achieved in his book called “John Goddard – World’s Greatest Goal Achiever The Survivor”. You can get one at www.gomacstore.com.
He wrote down everything that came into his head. His list had hundreds of desires like exploring all the great rivers in the world, becoming an Eagle Scout, holding his breath under water for two and a half minutes, climbing all the great mountains, meeting certain people, flying beyond the speed of sound and even stepping on the surface of the moon. John has been interviewed on all the talk shows including on TV over 200 times, met with Presidents, and traveled the world and more. To date he has achieved over 90% of the goals he wrote at age 15. (He still has not set foot on the moon, but hasn't ruled it out!)
I climbed to the top of a mountain with John when he was 80 years plus. John is an amazing man. I am convinced that setting his life goals at age 15 and then committing to a plan to achieve these goals transformed John’s life. He has now visited 107 countries and is far from done with his goal setting and achieving.
Most people plan their vacation more than they plan their life. Setting and achieving goals is much more than making money or getting things. I set goals for most everything including my health, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, weight, relationships, learning and growing mentally, net worth, solving problems – basically everything gets a date, written down, discussed with my closest friends and family and acted on relentlessly. I have used this process to build hundreds in millions of sales dollars and much more. I have a goal to take a photo of the close to extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Nata says it’s not going to happen – we will see about that!
Retail Or Recruit
If I asked 10 Vollara Distributors what their job description is, 9 or 10 would tell me something about selling Vollara products.
Please don’t misunderstand, I love sharing Vollara technologies. I shared a Living Water yesterday and got the sale. Yet, when Distributors ask me for “the secret” to building a large and permanent residual income, I don’t tell them they need to sell lots of products.
There Are Four types of Vollara Distributors
Casual Retailers – I love the Distributors in my organization that casually sell a Fresh Air or LaundryPure now and then. It has been my experience that 60% of all active Distributors are casual distributors. They may attend a meeting or conference call now and then, tell others about Vollara and our products, and/or make a sale here and there. These are vitally important members of our Vollara team.
Serious Retailers – About 10% of all Distributors fall into this group. They “love” Vollara technology and generate serious business either full-time or part-time selling Fresh Air, LaundryPure, Living Water, SteadyPower and SafeHearth. These distributors earn an extra thousand or two a month all the way up to a six-figure income, or even more. Vollara has technologies that are unique, effective, needed and profitable. Serious retailers enjoy selling - and love the products. They tend to be ecology oriented, technology buffs, handyman types, electricians, plumbers and/or HVAC people. No other Company attracts so many of these “professionally-experienced” types of Distributors.
Casual Networkers – These folks love the idea of building a successful networking organization and income. They attend meetings and calls and regularly share the Vollara business opportunity. They earn a bonus check semi-regularly, earn retail profits occasionally, and help their up-line leaders with events. Every so often these folks recruit a major leader. This often moves a casual networker to our next group. I have found that about 20% of my leaders are casual networkers.
Major Organization Builders – Finally we come to the final 10% of our group - Major Organization Builders. These folks can be full or part-time, but they clearly have a major commitment to building an organization. These folks hold business events, conduct recruiting and training calls and webinars, often personlly produce a newsletter for their groups, visit and use the tools of their Vollara website daily, and spend a large portion of their Vollara hours sharing the business and training their leaders.
Two Major Skills Needed – During the last 32 years I have been full-time in this industry. Part of the time was in Corporate. During the years I have worked as a networker, I have spent 90% of my working hours on two activities.
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Presenting the business opportunity - During my formative early days I interviewed 10 to 15 prospects per week. In those days we did not have electronic tools so all of those presentations were conducted with a presentation book and a proof book in person. About half were done one -on-one, and half in groups. I created processes to keep a steady flow of new prospects in front of me weekly. You can learn these processes in my book called “Guaranteed Prospects”. Over 250,000 of these books have been purchased and read by networkers – both in and outside of Vollara.
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Promoting Events – Events make the Vollara world go around. Events tie us together and build an unbreakable bond between you, your group and the Company. When I talk to my people there is “always” a NBT (next big thing). I never leave an event without promoting the NBT or the next event. I teach people not just to have events but “how” to fill events to the max. When Nata and I lived in Minnesota, we built a four level home and held several meetings a week in our home. BBB or Business Breakfast Briefings, SPOM ( Success, Product, Opportunity Meetings) gatherings, Salad luncheons and much more. We learned early on how to make sure our events were always well attended. Most of our events had a problem - not enough chairs and not enough space! We learned to never produce an event with empty chairs as this created negative momentum.
Notice that neither of these skills is about being a professional salesman. I find that executing these two activities will regularly create lots of sales, as well as add casual distributors and retailers, and a good number of organization builders. I do not engage in activities if they do not create leverage. My purpose is always “build leverage through building an organization”. You can too!
I did not possess any special skills or talents. I dropped out of speech class because I was terrified to share a poem the next day. I hung up on my first appointment calls because the lump in my throat would not allow me to speak. Then, I persisted , overcame my fears, and learned the skills of this industry.
In my next blog I will educate on the “how’s” of presenting the business and promoting events.
Wishing you great Vollara, and life, success!
Baby Steps
My wife Nata says I don’t have a sense of humor. It takes allot of explaining for me to get most jokes. I don’t really enjoy comedy shows, so it is strange that one of my favorite movies is 'What about Bob?'. Bill Murray is hysterical in this show. If you saw it you know what I mean when I say “baby steps."
In the world of building a sales organization, we attract world class team members by incorporating baby steps of recruiting. I liken this to building a romance. When I met Nata 40 years ago, she was 15 and a stunningly beautiful Italian teenager. I knew the day I saw her at our White Castle Christmas party that “she was the one for me." I knew the White Castle she worked at so I took the bus to see her at work everyday. I sat at the counter until she got done with work and then took the bus home with her. When I got my first car at 16, I was at her door every morning to take her to school and in the parking lot at 3 when she got out. I was never far from her sight – and she didn't even like me!
Sometimes I watch people that are working to build a sales organization and I think to myself, what if I tried to recruit Nata like that in our dating days. I would have walked up to her before she even knew me and said, “Hey, do you want to get married?”
People don’t join your business unless they like and trust you. It takes time to get to know people. For them to first like our company, and then trust our judgement Baby steps in recruiting keeps people moving forward until the point they are comfortable with us, our product and our business. This can take a few days, a week or months. Our goal is not to slam dunk someone into a Fast Start Pack but to build a relationship that will last.
I met Carl Braun from San Diego via a Greg Montoya radio campaign. Carl heard an ad and called into the 800 number. I was fortunate that my 'spoke' came up. Someone might say I was “lucky”. But, as they say in the Boy Scouts, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I took my time on the phone with Carl. I learned who he was and what he did. That was baby step one. Baby step two was some materials I sent to him. He looked everything over and then we took baby step three. Another phone meeting. Baby step four was some additional materials and trying out a unit. Now we were getting really comfortable with each other. Carl took baby step 5 and jumped on a plane to come from San Diego to Tennessee. He spent two days with Nata and I.
Today Carl is a Silver Qualified Distributor that will be Silver GMI this cycle. He is opening a Vollara training center in his new town of Austin, Texas. The center will have a product demonstration room, interview rooms and a meeting room as well as Carl’s personal office.
I have spent 32 years attracting high quality leaders. Baby steps have been my main key to success. I never ever miss on a recruit. Granted, some of them have been being recruited for many years now and we are on baby step 135!
Take that first step with someone today.
In the world of building a sales organization, we attract world class team members by incorporating baby steps of recruiting. I liken this to building a romance. When I met Nata 40 years ago, she was 15 and a stunningly beautiful Italian teenager. I knew the day I saw her at our White Castle Christmas party that “she was the one for me." I knew the White Castle she worked at so I took the bus to see her at work everyday. I sat at the counter until she got done with work and then took the bus home with her. When I got my first car at 16, I was at her door every morning to take her to school and in the parking lot at 3 when she got out. I was never far from her sight – and she didn't even like me!
Sometimes I watch people that are working to build a sales organization and I think to myself, what if I tried to recruit Nata like that in our dating days. I would have walked up to her before she even knew me and said, “Hey, do you want to get married?”
People don’t join your business unless they like and trust you. It takes time to get to know people. For them to first like our company, and then trust our judgement Baby steps in recruiting keeps people moving forward until the point they are comfortable with us, our product and our business. This can take a few days, a week or months. Our goal is not to slam dunk someone into a Fast Start Pack but to build a relationship that will last.
I met Carl Braun from San Diego via a Greg Montoya radio campaign. Carl heard an ad and called into the 800 number. I was fortunate that my 'spoke' came up. Someone might say I was “lucky”. But, as they say in the Boy Scouts, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I took my time on the phone with Carl. I learned who he was and what he did. That was baby step one. Baby step two was some materials I sent to him. He looked everything over and then we took baby step three. Another phone meeting. Baby step four was some additional materials and trying out a unit. Now we were getting really comfortable with each other. Carl took baby step 5 and jumped on a plane to come from San Diego to Tennessee. He spent two days with Nata and I.
Today Carl is a Silver Qualified Distributor that will be Silver GMI this cycle. He is opening a Vollara training center in his new town of Austin, Texas. The center will have a product demonstration room, interview rooms and a meeting room as well as Carl’s personal office.
I have spent 32 years attracting high quality leaders. Baby steps have been my main key to success. I never ever miss on a recruit. Granted, some of them have been being recruited for many years now and we are on baby step 135!
Take that first step with someone today.
Entitlements or Entrepreneurs
Entitlements
It seems like class warfare is being thrust upon America, with all the debate about entitlements and tax increases. I want to be very clear, I believe in the need for food stamps, emergency funds for someone in crisis, and social security benefits for a disabled person that paid into the program. But, we have gone from welfare as an emergency support to a way of life for millions.
I am reminded of the story of the new neighbor that moved into town. A long time resident thought it would be nice to bring her a pie. She baked the pie and knocked on the door to the surprised resident. “I wanted to welcome you and brought you this pie”. The pie was so well received the long time resident thought she would do it again the next day. This went on for four or five days. But, on the sixth day when the pie was delivered the baker neighbor was greeted with “you know, I like these pies but apple is getting a bit old. How about making a cherry pie”. The next day our pie eater said “Seems like a bit too much sugar yesterday”. The next day our baker friend had to run some errands and brought the pie several hours later than normal. Our entitled recipient greeted our baker with “What is happening here, this pie is hours late.” You are getting the idea. It was not long the receiver of these pies was disgusted with late, too sweet apple pie.
In 1978 I lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. I had just moved back from out of town. Nata and I had two children and one a month away from being born. We lived in my brother Doug’s basement. I was trying to get back on with the bus company. We had no food, no money, and everything we owned we had moved into the basement from the back of a Chevy Blazer. I was very thankful I had access to food stamps and some emergency money to help us over a “couple of weeks”.
Entrepreneurs
Shortly after this I got my job as a bus driver back and Nata got a job working nights at a fast food place. I watched the kids at night and she kept house all day. We lived on a treadmill, running and running but never getting anywhere. Good fortune came our way one winter night when a knock came on my door. My bother Jim came to show me how I could start my own Home Based Business. I resisted but finally gave in and started marketing some health products and an opportunity 12 hours a week. I spent 95% of my time presenting the business. I conducted 10-15 30-minute presentations a week. In 90 days I was earning $500.00 a month. In eight months I earned my first $5000.00 income for the month. I drove hundreds of miles a week doing presentations and demonstrations, but I was now free. My lifestyle began to change. A new bonus car and trips to Hawaii were earned. Soon we moved into a nicer place and in a few years built our dream home. I was now earning more money in a month than I had earned in a year.
Vollara is America’s Company
The Dallas Cowboy’s might be America’s football team but Dallas based Vollara is America’s Company. We are now changing the way the world does laundry. LaundryPure “is” the future of laundry care. Soap, suds, bleach, softener are going to become a thing of the past. Vollara is on a mission to save a billion gallons of water from the pollution caused by washing clothes in detergent.
LaundryPure pays for itself by saving an average of more than $1.25 per load. LaundryPure save users on hot water bills. You will never here the swish of the hot water heater lighting when you wash with LaundryPure. The discharge water is free of chemicals and suds, and is so clean you could water your vegetable garden with it!
Carpe Diem
Don’t miss the opportunity this time. I wish I still had that 57 Chevrolet. I could have bought land for Thousands in 1970 that sells for Hundreds of Thousands or even Millions now. It would have been nice to work at Microsoft in the 60’s. Lot’s of Multi-Millionaires came out of that bunch! In the year 2000 you could buy Apple stock at $25/share, instead of today's $366/share!
I will not miss out on the LaundryPure suds free revolution! Join me and the rest of Vollara as we revolutionize laundry care. You will not only be greening America, you will be greening your bank account.
Join me every Saturday at 10 am or Mondays at 9pm (all Eastern times) for the LaundryPure Webinar event. Go to www.presenter.net. At the top of the page click on “Attend Presentation”. The room name is “Vollara” and the password is “bigbest” (because we are building the biggest and best Company” in all of Home Based Business.) Bring guests! I am looking for 10 moms with dirty laundry to field test LaundryPure, risk-free. See you online!
It seems like class warfare is being thrust upon America, with all the debate about entitlements and tax increases. I want to be very clear, I believe in the need for food stamps, emergency funds for someone in crisis, and social security benefits for a disabled person that paid into the program. But, we have gone from welfare as an emergency support to a way of life for millions.
I am reminded of the story of the new neighbor that moved into town. A long time resident thought it would be nice to bring her a pie. She baked the pie and knocked on the door to the surprised resident. “I wanted to welcome you and brought you this pie”. The pie was so well received the long time resident thought she would do it again the next day. This went on for four or five days. But, on the sixth day when the pie was delivered the baker neighbor was greeted with “you know, I like these pies but apple is getting a bit old. How about making a cherry pie”. The next day our pie eater said “Seems like a bit too much sugar yesterday”. The next day our baker friend had to run some errands and brought the pie several hours later than normal. Our entitled recipient greeted our baker with “What is happening here, this pie is hours late.” You are getting the idea. It was not long the receiver of these pies was disgusted with late, too sweet apple pie.
In 1978 I lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. I had just moved back from out of town. Nata and I had two children and one a month away from being born. We lived in my brother Doug’s basement. I was trying to get back on with the bus company. We had no food, no money, and everything we owned we had moved into the basement from the back of a Chevy Blazer. I was very thankful I had access to food stamps and some emergency money to help us over a “couple of weeks”.
Entrepreneurs
Shortly after this I got my job as a bus driver back and Nata got a job working nights at a fast food place. I watched the kids at night and she kept house all day. We lived on a treadmill, running and running but never getting anywhere. Good fortune came our way one winter night when a knock came on my door. My bother Jim came to show me how I could start my own Home Based Business. I resisted but finally gave in and started marketing some health products and an opportunity 12 hours a week. I spent 95% of my time presenting the business. I conducted 10-15 30-minute presentations a week. In 90 days I was earning $500.00 a month. In eight months I earned my first $5000.00 income for the month. I drove hundreds of miles a week doing presentations and demonstrations, but I was now free. My lifestyle began to change. A new bonus car and trips to Hawaii were earned. Soon we moved into a nicer place and in a few years built our dream home. I was now earning more money in a month than I had earned in a year.
Vollara is America’s Company
The Dallas Cowboy’s might be America’s football team but Dallas based Vollara is America’s Company. We are now changing the way the world does laundry. LaundryPure “is” the future of laundry care. Soap, suds, bleach, softener are going to become a thing of the past. Vollara is on a mission to save a billion gallons of water from the pollution caused by washing clothes in detergent.
LaundryPure pays for itself by saving an average of more than $1.25 per load. LaundryPure save users on hot water bills. You will never here the swish of the hot water heater lighting when you wash with LaundryPure. The discharge water is free of chemicals and suds, and is so clean you could water your vegetable garden with it!
Carpe Diem
Don’t miss the opportunity this time. I wish I still had that 57 Chevrolet. I could have bought land for Thousands in 1970 that sells for Hundreds of Thousands or even Millions now. It would have been nice to work at Microsoft in the 60’s. Lot’s of Multi-Millionaires came out of that bunch! In the year 2000 you could buy Apple stock at $25/share, instead of today's $366/share!
I will not miss out on the LaundryPure suds free revolution! Join me and the rest of Vollara as we revolutionize laundry care. You will not only be greening America, you will be greening your bank account.
Join me every Saturday at 10 am or Mondays at 9pm (all Eastern times) for the LaundryPure Webinar event. Go to www.presenter.net. At the top of the page click on “Attend Presentation”. The room name is “Vollara” and the password is “bigbest” (because we are building the biggest and best Company” in all of Home Based Business.) Bring guests! I am looking for 10 moms with dirty laundry to field test LaundryPure, risk-free. See you online!
Selling Fundamentals - The Presentation & The Close
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals - before we dig deeper.
We've gone over The Prospect & The Seller, The Product, and The Preparation. I summarized The Approach, The Timing, and The Target into one post for quick reading. Now we have The Presentation and The Close.
#8. The Presentation.
The presentation is the part of the selling process where you communicate your message to the prospect. Give him the entire message. Different benefits appeal to different people which is to say that the motivation to buy varies. Focus on benefits, not features. Use endorsements and testimonials. If your company has sold 5 million units, say so. Few things are so persuasive as market approval. If your product has WOW - head-turning, attention getting, nothing like you’ve ever seen before appeal - show it off.
Address objections during the presentation. If you sell space heaters and the press constantly questions the safety of space heaters, during your initial presentation, point out features that make your product safe. “That’s why this is the safest, best-selling brand in the industry.” Of course, you can make such claims only if they are true.
The presentation is what retail selling is all about. Enjoy it.
#9. The Close
The part of the presentation where you ask the prospect to buy is called "the close." It can happen at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of your presentation. The close can, and should happen more than once (people rarely buy at the first close).
Amateurs hate the close. They fear it with such dread that more than half of all sales calls end without the prospect ever asking the prospect to buy. Why? No other part of the entire sales process allows the seller to be turned down. Rejected. Denied. Told, “No.”
Master sellers always ask and keep asking. They know that every other part of the selling process takes time and costs money. This part, the close, is the only part that has any chance whatsoever of generating income, buying groceries, putting gas in the car, educating the children, buying heating oil.
If there is no close, you’re out of business. The customer will never experience the benefits your product could provide. The needs that your product or service could have remedied will go unmet and the income that could enable you to care for your family will never be realized.
Learn to love to close. Put yourself on the spot. When you first go into your prospect give him and outline, a preview of coming attractions.
“Joe, I have some understanding of the value of your time, so I’ll be brief. I am here today to accomplish three things. First, there is a problem with the tap water in this area that could affect you and your family’s health and I want you to know about it. Second, I’m going to show you how you can deal with these problems effectively and affordably. And finally, when I’ve given you enough information to make an intelligent decision, I’m going to ask you put this innovative solution to work in your home risk-free. If you’re ready, let’s get started.”
By telling Joe right up front that you’re going to ask him to make a decision later, you will. You’re committed. He will appreciate knowing the agenda in advance. You will benefit by making public your commitment to ask for the sale.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals - before we dig deeper.
We've gone over The Prospect & The Seller, The Product, and The Preparation. I summarized The Approach, The Timing, and The Target into one post for quick reading. Now we have The Presentation and The Close.
#8. The Presentation.
The presentation is the part of the selling process where you communicate your message to the prospect. Give him the entire message. Different benefits appeal to different people which is to say that the motivation to buy varies. Focus on benefits, not features. Use endorsements and testimonials. If your company has sold 5 million units, say so. Few things are so persuasive as market approval. If your product has WOW - head-turning, attention getting, nothing like you’ve ever seen before appeal - show it off.
Address objections during the presentation. If you sell space heaters and the press constantly questions the safety of space heaters, during your initial presentation, point out features that make your product safe. “That’s why this is the safest, best-selling brand in the industry.” Of course, you can make such claims only if they are true.
The presentation is what retail selling is all about. Enjoy it.
#9. The Close
The part of the presentation where you ask the prospect to buy is called "the close." It can happen at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of your presentation. The close can, and should happen more than once (people rarely buy at the first close).
Amateurs hate the close. They fear it with such dread that more than half of all sales calls end without the prospect ever asking the prospect to buy. Why? No other part of the entire sales process allows the seller to be turned down. Rejected. Denied. Told, “No.”
Master sellers always ask and keep asking. They know that every other part of the selling process takes time and costs money. This part, the close, is the only part that has any chance whatsoever of generating income, buying groceries, putting gas in the car, educating the children, buying heating oil.
If there is no close, you’re out of business. The customer will never experience the benefits your product could provide. The needs that your product or service could have remedied will go unmet and the income that could enable you to care for your family will never be realized.
Learn to love to close. Put yourself on the spot. When you first go into your prospect give him and outline, a preview of coming attractions.
“Joe, I have some understanding of the value of your time, so I’ll be brief. I am here today to accomplish three things. First, there is a problem with the tap water in this area that could affect you and your family’s health and I want you to know about it. Second, I’m going to show you how you can deal with these problems effectively and affordably. And finally, when I’ve given you enough information to make an intelligent decision, I’m going to ask you put this innovative solution to work in your home risk-free. If you’re ready, let’s get started.”
By telling Joe right up front that you’re going to ask him to make a decision later, you will. You’re committed. He will appreciate knowing the agenda in advance. You will benefit by making public your commitment to ask for the sale.
Selling Fundamentals - The Approach, The Timing, & The Target
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
We've discussed The Prospect & The Seller, The Product, and The Preparation. Here are the next 3 in one post for easy reading - The Approach, The Timing, and The Target.
#5. The Approach.
Once you learn how to break the ice, meet people, make new friends, and approach prospects, your future in selling is guaranteed. Approaching people isn’t all of it, but it’s such a big part of it, when you have conquered the approach, you’re already making money.
There is no shortage of people. We don’t have a people problem, we have an approach problem. Until you can approach people, you have no hope of selling anybody anything. The selling process begins with the approach.
The key to the approach is putting the focus where it belongs.
If you focus on yourself - your insecurities, fears, needs, and ego - you will be reluctant to make the approach and unsuccessful when you do. However, when you focus on the person in the crowd, his needs and desires; when you care about her and are truly motivated to help her, your fears will disappear and you will peak perform. The key to effective approach is focus. Put the focus where it belongs - on the other person - not on you.
#6. The Timing.
Perhaps you’ve heard it said that nothing is more powerful than an idea who’s time has come. That principle applies to selling, too. The right idea at the right time is irresistible to the prospect. The key to successful selling is to make the right offer to the right person at the right time. However, the best time for the prospect generally has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that your house payment is coming due.
It seems that every time I go and buy a new car, a few weeks later, I receive a very expensive, beautifully designed direct mail brochure trying to sell me a car. That’s bad timing. A friend of mine told me about a stock broker who came to a funeral to speak with the widow about investment options for the life insurance check she’d be getting. That’s bad timing.
Master sellers develop a sixth sense about when to approach a prospect. Some times it’s just common sense. Some times it’s research. Every time it matters.
#7. The Target.
For all of their differences, people share many things in common. There are ways to identify groups of buyers who share similar needs, beliefs, desires, and interests. This knowledge can enable you to sell to a segment, a group or a busy hive in the market all at one time, increasing your productivity and your income.
Target marketing works.
I have a painting in my library by Mitchell Tolle called The Kentucky Wildcat. Mitchell created the painting for the University of Kentucky when they won a national championship in the 90’s. He and his staff used target marketing to sell thousands of prints of his painting to UK fans.
“Once you identify a market segment, in this case UK fans, you can gather information that allows you to make one offer to all of them,” the artist told me.
This is selling 101. Even though this market segment was made up of people who were very different, they had one thing in common; they were fans of the same team. They had different careers, went to different churches, lived in different communities, and were diverse in dozens of ways. But, on Tuesday evening at 7:30 when the ball was tipped, 3 & 1/2 million of them gathered in front of their televisions to watch the same team. As different as they were, they shared a common passion for one thing and that made them a huge market segment.
To identify the target, ask and answer a series of questions. Who wants this product? Where are they located? How can I reach them with my offer? How much are they willing to pay for the product? When is the best time to present the offer? When the questions are answered, go to work.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
We've discussed The Prospect & The Seller, The Product, and The Preparation. Here are the next 3 in one post for easy reading - The Approach, The Timing, and The Target.
#5. The Approach.
Once you learn how to break the ice, meet people, make new friends, and approach prospects, your future in selling is guaranteed. Approaching people isn’t all of it, but it’s such a big part of it, when you have conquered the approach, you’re already making money.
There is no shortage of people. We don’t have a people problem, we have an approach problem. Until you can approach people, you have no hope of selling anybody anything. The selling process begins with the approach.
The key to the approach is putting the focus where it belongs.
If you focus on yourself - your insecurities, fears, needs, and ego - you will be reluctant to make the approach and unsuccessful when you do. However, when you focus on the person in the crowd, his needs and desires; when you care about her and are truly motivated to help her, your fears will disappear and you will peak perform. The key to effective approach is focus. Put the focus where it belongs - on the other person - not on you.
#6. The Timing.
Perhaps you’ve heard it said that nothing is more powerful than an idea who’s time has come. That principle applies to selling, too. The right idea at the right time is irresistible to the prospect. The key to successful selling is to make the right offer to the right person at the right time. However, the best time for the prospect generally has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that your house payment is coming due.
It seems that every time I go and buy a new car, a few weeks later, I receive a very expensive, beautifully designed direct mail brochure trying to sell me a car. That’s bad timing. A friend of mine told me about a stock broker who came to a funeral to speak with the widow about investment options for the life insurance check she’d be getting. That’s bad timing.
Master sellers develop a sixth sense about when to approach a prospect. Some times it’s just common sense. Some times it’s research. Every time it matters.
#7. The Target.
For all of their differences, people share many things in common. There are ways to identify groups of buyers who share similar needs, beliefs, desires, and interests. This knowledge can enable you to sell to a segment, a group or a busy hive in the market all at one time, increasing your productivity and your income.
Target marketing works.
I have a painting in my library by Mitchell Tolle called The Kentucky Wildcat. Mitchell created the painting for the University of Kentucky when they won a national championship in the 90’s. He and his staff used target marketing to sell thousands of prints of his painting to UK fans.
“Once you identify a market segment, in this case UK fans, you can gather information that allows you to make one offer to all of them,” the artist told me.
This is selling 101. Even though this market segment was made up of people who were very different, they had one thing in common; they were fans of the same team. They had different careers, went to different churches, lived in different communities, and were diverse in dozens of ways. But, on Tuesday evening at 7:30 when the ball was tipped, 3 & 1/2 million of them gathered in front of their televisions to watch the same team. As different as they were, they shared a common passion for one thing and that made them a huge market segment.
To identify the target, ask and answer a series of questions. Who wants this product? Where are they located? How can I reach them with my offer? How much are they willing to pay for the product? When is the best time to present the offer? When the questions are answered, go to work.
Selling Fundamentals - The Preparation
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
We've discussed The Prospect & The Seller, The Product. Up next is Preparation.
#4. The Preparation.
I like to race.
Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a race car driver. I lived that dream, and for six months each year I raced almost every weekend on an oval track against 23 other drivers who are there for one purpose. They want to beat me.
I showed up with my shiny car with its 800 horsepower engine and I raced. I race for one reason. I want to beat them. But, I learned the hard way that winning is not about wishing. Winning is not a shiny car and a big engine. Winning is about preparation and practice. It is impossible for me to accurately estimate how many hours of preparation is spent for each minute on the track.
Teachers, musicians, dancers, pilots, artists, doctors, athletes, singers, ice-skaters, public speakers, trapeze performers and professionals in every field of endeavor spend hundreds, often thousands of hours in study, training, and preparation.
When we see them perform, we are amazed at how effortlessly they do what they do. Preparation makes the difficult look easy and the impossible possible.
At an airshow, powerful jets streak across the sky with their wings close enough to touch. We say, “How do they do that?”
The answer is, preparation.
You may have stumbled into a good product and live next door to the ideal Mr. Prospect. Still, lack of preparation will make you look like a bumbling, ill-prepared least-likely-to-succeed person. Nobody wants to do business with a "loser." Why? Losers don’t last. Eventually, they’ll quit. That means the customer will have no service, no link to the company that made the product, and no one to stand behind the promises you made.
Preparation is one of the elements of selling well and it includes many things.
The seller must look the part, dress the part, and conduct himself in a manner that will create relatedness with the prospect. Not everyone agrees that appearance really matters all that much. I think it does. If you can see that it would be poor judgement to wear pajamas on a sales call, then you believe that appearance matters. Appearance, first impressions, clothes, car, handshake, eye-contact, and many other details that the buyer tends to notice are all important reasons why people do or don’t buy from you.
If you can’t afford a car that supports the dream you’re selling, you may have to do what I did. When I first got started, I was driving an old junk Ford with the rear window broken out. When I went on a sales call, my car was not an asset. To keep prospects from seeing the car, I often parked way down the street and walked to my appointment. It was a sacrifice but I knew the importance of first impressions, so I walked. Soon, my company gave me a new car for outstanding performance.
Preparation includes a thorough understanding of and belief in the product. A part of the selling process is an actual transference of feelings. When you feel great about the product, you convey that feeling to the prospect. A seller needs to “own” the product. They should use what they sell and know from personal experience the benefits their product provides.
How can you transfer a feeling you don’t have about a product you don’t use? Nobody wants to buy a Ford from the man who drives a Chevrolet. This is vital. If you’re trying to sell something you won’t buy yourself, you’re a short-timer.
Preparation is the hallmark of the professional.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
We've discussed The Prospect & The Seller, The Product. Up next is Preparation.
#4. The Preparation.
I like to race.
Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a race car driver. I lived that dream, and for six months each year I raced almost every weekend on an oval track against 23 other drivers who are there for one purpose. They want to beat me.
I showed up with my shiny car with its 800 horsepower engine and I raced. I race for one reason. I want to beat them. But, I learned the hard way that winning is not about wishing. Winning is not a shiny car and a big engine. Winning is about preparation and practice. It is impossible for me to accurately estimate how many hours of preparation is spent for each minute on the track.
Teachers, musicians, dancers, pilots, artists, doctors, athletes, singers, ice-skaters, public speakers, trapeze performers and professionals in every field of endeavor spend hundreds, often thousands of hours in study, training, and preparation.
When we see them perform, we are amazed at how effortlessly they do what they do. Preparation makes the difficult look easy and the impossible possible.
At an airshow, powerful jets streak across the sky with their wings close enough to touch. We say, “How do they do that?”
The answer is, preparation.
You may have stumbled into a good product and live next door to the ideal Mr. Prospect. Still, lack of preparation will make you look like a bumbling, ill-prepared least-likely-to-succeed person. Nobody wants to do business with a "loser." Why? Losers don’t last. Eventually, they’ll quit. That means the customer will have no service, no link to the company that made the product, and no one to stand behind the promises you made.
Preparation is one of the elements of selling well and it includes many things.
The seller must look the part, dress the part, and conduct himself in a manner that will create relatedness with the prospect. Not everyone agrees that appearance really matters all that much. I think it does. If you can see that it would be poor judgement to wear pajamas on a sales call, then you believe that appearance matters. Appearance, first impressions, clothes, car, handshake, eye-contact, and many other details that the buyer tends to notice are all important reasons why people do or don’t buy from you.
If you can’t afford a car that supports the dream you’re selling, you may have to do what I did. When I first got started, I was driving an old junk Ford with the rear window broken out. When I went on a sales call, my car was not an asset. To keep prospects from seeing the car, I often parked way down the street and walked to my appointment. It was a sacrifice but I knew the importance of first impressions, so I walked. Soon, my company gave me a new car for outstanding performance.
Preparation includes a thorough understanding of and belief in the product. A part of the selling process is an actual transference of feelings. When you feel great about the product, you convey that feeling to the prospect. A seller needs to “own” the product. They should use what they sell and know from personal experience the benefits their product provides.
How can you transfer a feeling you don’t have about a product you don’t use? Nobody wants to buy a Ford from the man who drives a Chevrolet. This is vital. If you’re trying to sell something you won’t buy yourself, you’re a short-timer.
Preparation is the hallmark of the professional.
Selling Fundamentals - The Product
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
First we discussed The Prospect & The Seller, and now The Product.
The Product.
If you want to sell, there is plenty of stuff out there to sell. I have sold vitamins, diet products, cosmetics, water softeners, air and water purifiers, real estate, cleaning products, automobiles and more. I even found the words to sell myself to my bride of thirty one years. I can tell you from experience that some things are easy to sell and some things are not. Finding success in selling on a very large scale means you’ll need a product that people want or need, or both.
Even when you make that your criteria, there are still many products that fill needs and desires of consumers. So, let’s narrow the focus a little more.
Trends vs. fads.
Look for products that address trends, not fads. The car is a trend. So is refrigeration, the television, computers, and fast-food. Another much smaller trend (pun intended) is the throw-away diaper with self-sticking tabs instead of the cloth kind that must be washed, folded, and pinned with an old-fashioned safety-pin. We look for trends.
The baby-boomers are fueling trends in skin care and health care, nutrition and fitness, bookstores and high-end restaurants, cruise ships and luxury cars. Look around you and you’ll soon come to notice that while the headlines in the newspaper reports on present trends, deeper in the paper you can read about the emerging trends. A large mass of the population must see the importance of a product or issue in order for a trend to begin. But, when it happens, enormous economic opportunity follows.
Fads, on the other hand, are here today - gone tomorrow. Fads are things like the hoola-hoop, Beanie Babies or even polyester leisure suits. I know these things have made millions of dollars for individuals through the years, but hoping to find your pet rock or betting your retirement on the success of the next Mutant Ninja Turtle craze is not my idea of a business plan. I believe there is a better way.
When you’re deciding what to sell, look for trends. If you're looking for a business on the cutting edge of health technology trends, contact me.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
First we discussed The Prospect & The Seller, and now The Product.
The Product.
If you want to sell, there is plenty of stuff out there to sell. I have sold vitamins, diet products, cosmetics, water softeners, air and water purifiers, real estate, cleaning products, automobiles and more. I even found the words to sell myself to my bride of thirty one years. I can tell you from experience that some things are easy to sell and some things are not. Finding success in selling on a very large scale means you’ll need a product that people want or need, or both.
Even when you make that your criteria, there are still many products that fill needs and desires of consumers. So, let’s narrow the focus a little more.
Trends vs. fads.
Look for products that address trends, not fads. The car is a trend. So is refrigeration, the television, computers, and fast-food. Another much smaller trend (pun intended) is the throw-away diaper with self-sticking tabs instead of the cloth kind that must be washed, folded, and pinned with an old-fashioned safety-pin. We look for trends.
The baby-boomers are fueling trends in skin care and health care, nutrition and fitness, bookstores and high-end restaurants, cruise ships and luxury cars. Look around you and you’ll soon come to notice that while the headlines in the newspaper reports on present trends, deeper in the paper you can read about the emerging trends. A large mass of the population must see the importance of a product or issue in order for a trend to begin. But, when it happens, enormous economic opportunity follows.
Fads, on the other hand, are here today - gone tomorrow. Fads are things like the hoola-hoop, Beanie Babies or even polyester leisure suits. I know these things have made millions of dollars for individuals through the years, but hoping to find your pet rock or betting your retirement on the success of the next Mutant Ninja Turtle craze is not my idea of a business plan. I believe there is a better way.
When you’re deciding what to sell, look for trends. If you're looking for a business on the cutting edge of health technology trends, contact me.
Selling Fundamentals - The Seller
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
First we discussed The Prospect, now we cover the seller.
#2. The Seller.
As important as the prospect is, they are only a part of the retail selling equation. There has to be a seller.
Sellers bring the creations of designers and manufacturers to the hands of customers. Furniture, medicine, heating oil, cars, building supplies, and food are just a few of the thousands of things we use everyday to feed, clothe, shelter, and provide for ourselves and our families. The skills required to design and make products are very different from the skills needed to sell and distribute them to customers.
The story of gifted artists who died poor are familiar. No one would argue whether the world needs its inventors, artists, and composers. But, if the world will enjoy the benefits of the invention, experience the beauty of the painting or know the joy of the song, there must also be a seller.
Many people have a low opinion of sellers. Even some who are drawn into the world of selling by financial necessity see it as a less than honorable profession. Two things are primarily responsible for this ill-placed opinion.
First, the actions of a few have been applied to the many. We see it in the ministry. A preacher falls and all are guilty by association. Yet, at the most important times in our lives, when a child is getting married or a loved one is being buried, we call for a minister. We laugh at jokes about lawyers, yet each of us knows one or more honorable attorneys, close friends, that we trust in every way.
Second, there is a simple lack of understanding of what sellers do. We mostly see them as peddlers, selling get-rich deals on television. That’s because history doesn’t mention the name of the seller responsible for getting the polio vaccine from the laboratory to the world.
Selling the first cars, personal computers, VCRs, televisions, microwaves, and the myriad of technological break-throughs of the last century was a job for master sellers. They studied the inventions, understood how they could change lives, and found the language to express in simple terms the benefits they could provide ordinary people. They made their presentations with skill and passion. Just as surely as inventors and political leaders, scientists and physicians, sellers changed the world.
How many break-through ideas never made it? How many brilliant, life-saving inventions never found a seller and never saved a life?
As you are beginning or expanding your selling career, it is important for you to see the value of your life as a seller and the contribution you can make to this and future generations by becoming a master seller.
We're covering the basics - the Selling Fundamentals.
First we discussed The Prospect, now we cover the seller.
#2. The Seller.
As important as the prospect is, they are only a part of the retail selling equation. There has to be a seller.
Sellers bring the creations of designers and manufacturers to the hands of customers. Furniture, medicine, heating oil, cars, building supplies, and food are just a few of the thousands of things we use everyday to feed, clothe, shelter, and provide for ourselves and our families. The skills required to design and make products are very different from the skills needed to sell and distribute them to customers.
The story of gifted artists who died poor are familiar. No one would argue whether the world needs its inventors, artists, and composers. But, if the world will enjoy the benefits of the invention, experience the beauty of the painting or know the joy of the song, there must also be a seller.
Many people have a low opinion of sellers. Even some who are drawn into the world of selling by financial necessity see it as a less than honorable profession. Two things are primarily responsible for this ill-placed opinion.
First, the actions of a few have been applied to the many. We see it in the ministry. A preacher falls and all are guilty by association. Yet, at the most important times in our lives, when a child is getting married or a loved one is being buried, we call for a minister. We laugh at jokes about lawyers, yet each of us knows one or more honorable attorneys, close friends, that we trust in every way.
Second, there is a simple lack of understanding of what sellers do. We mostly see them as peddlers, selling get-rich deals on television. That’s because history doesn’t mention the name of the seller responsible for getting the polio vaccine from the laboratory to the world.
Selling the first cars, personal computers, VCRs, televisions, microwaves, and the myriad of technological break-throughs of the last century was a job for master sellers. They studied the inventions, understood how they could change lives, and found the language to express in simple terms the benefits they could provide ordinary people. They made their presentations with skill and passion. Just as surely as inventors and political leaders, scientists and physicians, sellers changed the world.
How many break-through ideas never made it? How many brilliant, life-saving inventions never found a seller and never saved a life?
As you are beginning or expanding your selling career, it is important for you to see the value of your life as a seller and the contribution you can make to this and future generations by becoming a master seller.
Selling Fundamentals - The Prospect
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
Selling Fundamentals
The fundamentals of selling never change. They have remained the same for centuries, despite the age of evolving technology, glitzy advertising and mega- malls. Techniques, methods, people’s wants and needs, they are always changing. But the elements of selling are still there. Behind the sizzle and song, the basic essentials of good selling are there. If you fail to know and use the basics in the game of selling, you will fail miserably and you might not even know why.
It is a human tendency to focus on doing the things we enjoy or the things we are good at. Such an approach means that one or more elements in the selling process could be overlooked or carried out clumsily. It also means that you will succeed at selling only if you’re lucky. I know people who rely solely on the “get lucky” approach to retail selling. They wander around without a plan hoping to “run into someone” that might want to buy something today. Professional sellers don’t operate like that. Instead, they have made it their business to master and do the basic elements of selling. They know what to do and how to execute each part of the selling process with skill and timing.
So we'll start by introducing you to the elements of the selling process. I wouldn't add to the list or minimize the importance of any single item. These are the most basic elements. Learn them and you have acquired valuable information. Do them and you will sell with success!
#1. The Prospect.
Selling is not about you.
It’s not about your needs, your goals, your skills or your ambitions. Selling is not about your income, your quotas, your ego or your ideas. Selling is not about the product, the manufacturer, their profit margins or annual profits. All of these things are a part of the selling process, but selling is, first and always, about the prospect.
But who is the prospect?
“How can you tell if somebody is a prospect?” a sales trainer asks a large audience. “Hold a mirror under his nose. If the mirror fogs up, he’s a prospect.”
That characterization may get laughs at a seminar, but it won’t get many sales. The prospect is a person, an individual as unique and special as you are. The surest way to fail at selling is to assume that all people are the same and treat them that way. The more you can know about a person’s tastes and interests, beliefs and hobbies, career and education, wants and needs, the more accurately you can predict whether that person is a prospect for the product you’re selling. A prospect is a person who is likely to benefit from owning or using your product. If the person you’re talking to cannot benefit from or is incapable of buying what you’re selling, don’t bother them. Look for a qualified prospect.
Who is a qualified prospect?
A qualified prospect is a person or a group of people (target) that you have determined by research to be likely to benefit and capable of buying what you are selling. It takes a lot of work to identify the qualifiers, ask the right questions and ultimately determine who is and who is not a qualified prospect. It is a business of sorting through people, 280.1 million or so of them in the U.S. alone, and it’s not easy. Neither is prospecting for gold. If searching for qualified prospects is so tough, why do it at all? Why not get right to the presentation? Simple. Making a sales presentation to the right person - a qualified prospect - is not a little bit better, it is 100 times better than exhausting yourself trying to persuade someone to buy who doesn’t need and can’t afford what you’re selling. Making a presentation to a qualified prospect is like digging for gold in the right place.
In my first book, Guaranteed Prospects, I covered in detail the need for prospecting and various techniques you can use for reaching and sorting people. Some, like trade shows and telephone cold-calling, allow you to speak directly with people and gather information in a personal way. Other methods allow you to gather information in a less impersonal way. Drop boxes, surveys, and online and print classified ads allow for such sorting.
However you choose to go about it, you’ll need prospects in a never ending supply. The more qualified the prospect, the better your chances of closing the sale.
Selling Fundamentals
The fundamentals of selling never change. They have remained the same for centuries, despite the age of evolving technology, glitzy advertising and mega- malls. Techniques, methods, people’s wants and needs, they are always changing. But the elements of selling are still there. Behind the sizzle and song, the basic essentials of good selling are there. If you fail to know and use the basics in the game of selling, you will fail miserably and you might not even know why.
It is a human tendency to focus on doing the things we enjoy or the things we are good at. Such an approach means that one or more elements in the selling process could be overlooked or carried out clumsily. It also means that you will succeed at selling only if you’re lucky. I know people who rely solely on the “get lucky” approach to retail selling. They wander around without a plan hoping to “run into someone” that might want to buy something today. Professional sellers don’t operate like that. Instead, they have made it their business to master and do the basic elements of selling. They know what to do and how to execute each part of the selling process with skill and timing.
So we'll start by introducing you to the elements of the selling process. I wouldn't add to the list or minimize the importance of any single item. These are the most basic elements. Learn them and you have acquired valuable information. Do them and you will sell with success!
#1. The Prospect.
Selling is not about you.
It’s not about your needs, your goals, your skills or your ambitions. Selling is not about your income, your quotas, your ego or your ideas. Selling is not about the product, the manufacturer, their profit margins or annual profits. All of these things are a part of the selling process, but selling is, first and always, about the prospect.
But who is the prospect?
“How can you tell if somebody is a prospect?” a sales trainer asks a large audience. “Hold a mirror under his nose. If the mirror fogs up, he’s a prospect.”
That characterization may get laughs at a seminar, but it won’t get many sales. The prospect is a person, an individual as unique and special as you are. The surest way to fail at selling is to assume that all people are the same and treat them that way. The more you can know about a person’s tastes and interests, beliefs and hobbies, career and education, wants and needs, the more accurately you can predict whether that person is a prospect for the product you’re selling. A prospect is a person who is likely to benefit from owning or using your product. If the person you’re talking to cannot benefit from or is incapable of buying what you’re selling, don’t bother them. Look for a qualified prospect.
Who is a qualified prospect?
A qualified prospect is a person or a group of people (target) that you have determined by research to be likely to benefit and capable of buying what you are selling. It takes a lot of work to identify the qualifiers, ask the right questions and ultimately determine who is and who is not a qualified prospect. It is a business of sorting through people, 280.1 million or so of them in the U.S. alone, and it’s not easy. Neither is prospecting for gold. If searching for qualified prospects is so tough, why do it at all? Why not get right to the presentation? Simple. Making a sales presentation to the right person - a qualified prospect - is not a little bit better, it is 100 times better than exhausting yourself trying to persuade someone to buy who doesn’t need and can’t afford what you’re selling. Making a presentation to a qualified prospect is like digging for gold in the right place.
In my first book, Guaranteed Prospects, I covered in detail the need for prospecting and various techniques you can use for reaching and sorting people. Some, like trade shows and telephone cold-calling, allow you to speak directly with people and gather information in a personal way. Other methods allow you to gather information in a less impersonal way. Drop boxes, surveys, and online and print classified ads allow for such sorting.
However you choose to go about it, you’ll need prospects in a never ending supply. The more qualified the prospect, the better your chances of closing the sale.