“The Secret About The Secret To Success”

Wow, I better say something brilliant with a title like that, right?

As you know, I read just about every sales, marketing, and personal development book that’s written. It’s part of the job of “Guru” to be exceptionally well informed. And sometimes I discover gems of reality that change my outlook of the world. We all have had that happen; You learn something that changes your view of reality.

For me, this was one of those times.

Every champion, in every field, gets asked “What is the secret of your success at ___?”

This question implies that there is a ““trick” that makes the expertise easy.

I’ve always been fascinated with magic. Not in a glassy eyed “Magic is real” kind of way...but a “How did they do that?” kind of way.

Penn Gillette (Of Penn & Teller) was asked if people want to know his secrets. He said in essence “Yes, and I will spill all our secrets. I’ll tell someone exactly how we do a trick. You know what? After a minute, they lose interest.”

Here’s why; Part of the secret is usually this “We prepare our equipment for an hour before the show and practice a trick 10,000 times before you ever see it. That’s why it looks effortless”

I saw a show by David Blaine. He performed tricks that blew me away, and I know how most magic tricks are done. Then I bought the “Masked Magician” tape that told how these things were done. This was the moment I was waiting for! Secrets revealed!

Spoiler alert! I’m about to tell you the real reasons that these tricks are amazing and un– figure-outable.

Editing. That’s right. Some tricks (pick a number between one & 10) require an element of chance. The editor imply takes out the times that the trick failed.

There is a first part of a trick that is not shown. Yup. When your “setup” of a trick will tip your hand to a savvy onlooker, you simply edit out the first part of the trick.

Use equipment that is just out of camera shot but not out of the onlooker’s view.

I saw David Blaine levitate about 6 feet into the air in the middle of the street (on film). Now, I know how to levitate a few inches...convincingly. It’s a trick. It depends on the position of the onlooker. But 6 feet?

Here’s how they did it.

They simply had a large crane pick him up.

They edited it where the audience looked like they were seeing it happen, but they weren’t.

The only people there were David Blaine & the crew. Editing.

But that’s not the real secret. The real secret was preparation. Everything that was done before you saw the result.

There are secrets. There is an unknown secret about how someone does the near impossible. Here’s the first secret.

Just because it’s a secret doesn’t mean that it’s easy.

The secret of being a great boxer is throwing 10,000 punches for every one a non-boxer throws. With great repetition and learning comes the appearance of ease.

The second secret is to find someone who is already great at what you want to learn, and copy what they do.

Not very sexy, is it?

Tiger Woods still uses a coach. Why? Because he can still get better. And he knows that there are still people out there that know more than he does….about Golf.

Do you own a retail store that could do better? Is there a person in this country that is doing better? Of course. For a few hundred dollars in plane fare & hotel room, this “Master Retailer” would be more than willing to spend time with you and show you the way. Why? Because almost nobody asks. Well?

Here’s another secret. These excellent performers are students of their craft.

I talk to retailers every day that have never read a book on retailing. Have never watched a documentary on a retail giant, Have never taken a note in their life after high school.

Several yeas ago, a young man went with me to sell a vacuum cleaner in a prospect’s home. When we first got there, the man told us that he felt “roped in” to sit through this. His wife told us that they decided not to buy before we got there ..but if we wanted to “waste our time” we could go through the motions.

Today, I would have left, because I don’’t need the hassle. Bit I was going to prove something to that young man.

As we went to the car to get my vacuum cleaner I said “Watch and listen and I’ll show you how to sell”.

He said “To these people?” Me- “Yup”

Of course they bought, as I knew they would.

After we got in the car, he asked (all wide eyed and innocent) “Claude, How did you do that? What’s the secret?”

I said “Dave, they fought too hard at the beginning. Nobody argues that loud from a position of strength. Lions don’t roar before they attack. These people talked about a new vacuum cleaner before we got there. They actually considered it. Did you see the fire alarms on the wall? They were sold by an in-home salesperson. These people are used to buying.

Dave “But they were almost yelling at you”

Me “Not at me really. They don’’t know me. They were acting badly because they were in pain. Do doctors turn someone away because he complains about the pain..or screams? No.

Plus, the problem was not about a new vacuum cleaner. They just didn’t want to feel taken advantage of. Did you notice that I spent 20 minutes getting to know them before I opened the box? I knew they were going to buy before that box opened. “

Dave “How?”

Me ”Because I answered every objection they raised before I started demonstrating. The demonstration was an afterthought”

Dave “Does this happen every time?”

Me “No. These people were the exception. But I sell way more than I don’t”

Dave “How can I do what you do?””

Me “Simple. Decide that you won’’t quit. Decide that you’ll be the best at this. After every demonstration, keep notes of what worked and what didn’t work. Keep doing what works, and scrap what doesn’t. Buy four books on selling. I’ll tell you which four. Read them at least a half hour a day. I still read (in my field) at least two hours a day. When something works well. Write it down and memorize it. Listen to tapes (this was before CDs) on selling. If the speaker has a better way of saying it, use his.

Keep your notes, and reread them occasionally. You’ll see how far you’ve come. Get in front of more people. With exposure, you’ll become “at ease” with anyone. This comfort level will do a lot of the selling for you.

Ask lots of questions and listen to the answers. Customers will tell you what they want if you’ll let them. Let them talk for as long as they like. The longer they talk, the more they will want to buy from you.

Don’t take anything they say personally, even if it’s good. They don’t mean it personally.

Do everything I just said.

In 6 months, you’ll be making a good living. In a year, you’ll be Great….in 5 years, you’ll be a legend in this company”

Poor Dave. He said “Yeah, OK...Thanks” and went off into the night. About a week later he quit. I laid it all out for him...and he quit.

“Claude, Are you telling us that this happened just like you said?”

Yup. I wrote down what happened that day. I kept notes. I studied, and I brought them back out to look at. Now I’m sharing it with you.

“Just because it’s a secret, doesn’t mean it’s easy.”

But it does mean that anyone can do it.

PS; The 4 books were “Think & Grow Rich”, “How To Win Friends & Influence People”, ““How To Master The Art Of Selling”, By Tom Hopkins and “Anatomy Of A Successful Salesman” by Art Mortell .