Hey, it’s summer time and the heat is on. It’s the season of barbecues, beer, and baseball. Go Jays! But it’s also about making sales while the sun shines. If you do the right things in summer you’ll harvest your efforts in the fall.
Things don’t “slow down” in the summer. They simply change their complexion. The champions do the important work because the people who create the urgent work are on vacation.
The work that I’m doing with you in this message is as important as it gets. But it’s not urgent. If you never read these words, not a single deadline would be missed.
But maybe your biggest opportunities would pass you by. This message can literally transform your career because it’s about the most vital skill you can build: how to sell without being a salesman.
No matter what your vocation, you sell for a living. You’re persuading others to follow your recommendations, or hire your company or use your service or invite you into their project.
The most successful professionals motivate others to choose them. They don’t “close the sale”. They open the relationship. They are the Sales Grandmasters.
Look, I hope you’re building something big. I hope you’re engaged in something exciting. I hope you’re doing something that is going to change the game in your industry. I hope you’re taking on something that scares you.
I hope you’re stretching yourself and your team to go where they’ve never gone before, because that’s where the magic is. There’s no money in playing small. It’s fun to swing for the fences.
In his great book, Zero To One, Peter Thiel describes a Sales Grandmaster as someone who hides their art in plain sight. They convince others to gladly pay them for the privilege of working with them.
They are people like Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, who persuaded the state of Nevada to invest $1.3 billion in a “Giga factory” that will make batteries for its cars.
Here is the vision that persuaded the state of Nevada to make its massive investment: “Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable transportation.
To achieve that goal, we must produce electric vehicles in sufficient volume to force change in the automobile industry.
With a planned production rate of 500,000 cars per year in the latter half of this decade, Tesla alone will require today’s entire worldwide production of lithium ion batteries.
The Gigafactory is expected to generate $100 billion for Nevada’s economy over the next two decades, creating 6,500 jobs and adding 4 percent to the state’s gross domestic product.”
Wow! That’s how to motivate someone to choose you, your company and your product on a massive scale. I’ve gone big here to make a really big point: Sales Grandmasters inspire their stakeholders by enabling them to experience a fantastic future in advance. They make the dream real. They create a 5D experience that engages all the senses.
In my case, all I have to offer is words and images. Tesla makes things, I make things up. Tesla is physical. I am virtual. I’m a 21st Century PT Barnum on a mission to excite you into powerful action. I’m not here to sell you anything because I literally have nothing to sell, except the possibility of your success. I only win if you get what you want.
So here are the five secrets of Sales Grandmasters to help you get what you want :
- Declare an ambitious vision that excites others into wanting it. Make a courageous commitment that stretches the realm of possibility. Then follow through. Sales Grandmasters make good on their declarations. That’s why people keep investing in them. Elon Musk is accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation. I am accelerating people’s transformation into champions. What is your ambitious vision that I want to be a part of?
- Build your reputation as someone who makes others successful. Become a magnet for talent because talent knows you’re going to take them to a whole new level. Make it both pleasurable and profitable for others to join your team. Make the space around you a great place to work. Prove your commitment through your rewards. Re-recruit people to your cause every day. Demonstrate your delight and gratitude for their contributions. Be generous with your time and your resources. If you pay your partners first,you’ll get paid very well.
- Play the odds in your favour. Winners will always lose more than losers because they’re taking more actions. They’re approaching more people. They’re doing more experiments. They’re developing more skills. They’re exploring more possibilities. They’re getting more rejections. And they’re also creating more breakthroughs. They know that life is a numbers game. If you do great work with great people with great frequency, the odds will always turn in your favour. Luck is a by-product of faith and stamina.
- Be Outspoken – use technology to go viral. If you talk about it, they will come. Tell your story with enthusiasm and verve. Use every channel at your disposal to build buzz and word of mouth. You don’t need to connect with every person, just the right people. Come up with new themes and angles to dramatize your benefits. Be Always New. Bring fresh focus to your message literally every day. Put it out there if you want it to take off. Modesty
- Live your mission. Sales Grandmasters are always working and playing at the same time. They don’t live to work, but they love to work. Even when they’re relaxing, they’re exercising their skills and sharpening their saws. They’re literally re-creating themselves through their leisure activities. They don’t have down-time, just a great-time.
That’s it. I hope I’ve inspired you to be a Sales Grandmaster. Remember, in a world of noise and distraction, we’re attracted to authentic originals. There is no-one else in the world who can do what you do the way you do it. It’s time to tell the world why that matters. This is Mike Lipkin and I really approve this message.
Brilliant!
I don’t know how you do it, but your message always seems to come at the right time, when I need that little extra to push the limits and get change going. Status Quo is not an option, a creed I have promoted and lived for 10 years, embracing change and then working towards the next change, cause you know it is coming. I have been a sales person for a virtual product, life insurance, and the only way you can see it, feel it, is if the worst thing imaginable happens…and lucky me gets to bring that possibility to your attention…I can’t believe I am so popular! I love being a salesperson, cause it is the most significant way to lead a life, by helping others at their most desperate times, times of emergency, grief or major change. I thank you for coming to the aid of the losing art of sales, may it continue to be positive.