Foreword
Finally. There are so many people who want to help others by offering their well-intentioned advice, but they fail. In fairness, they don’t just fail. They fail in a colossal manner, taking those who listen to their well-intentioned advice with them. Perhaps the most bitter irony of all is that the more they teach, and the more they write, the worse off we are. First, I’ll tell you why. Then, I’ll tell you why Brandon Gadoci really can help you.
It all starts with our first day on the job as salespeople. We show up wide-eyed and ready to learn. We are walking sponges ready to soak up whatever comes our way, and frequently we don’t have to wait long.
Once we prop up our pictures on our desk, we head down the hallway for our first training class. We’re salespeople, so that first class is going to be a class not only to help us sell, but to survive… or so we are lead to believe.
I’ll never forget my first days as an insurance salesman. I sat for four days with three other new hires; each of us thinking that we were about to dominate the industry with our newfound selling skills. Each day began and ended, ironically enough, in the dark. The day started precisely at 6:30 a.m., and ended at 8:00 p.m. It was winter in Washington, D.C., and these were dark and cold days.
On Day One, we learned all about insurance. We learned about whole life and term insurance. We learned about various dividend options, convertible programs, and rider options. It was a long day. By the time it was over, we all felt a lot smarter than when we started.
On Day Two, we shuffled through the darkness into our training room, and into another day of knowledge. It was Disability Day. We were taught all about, “The Living Death.” It was a depressing day, but I could feel myself growing as a salesman.
Day Three was Health Insurance Day. What fun that was! We learned about first dollar accident benefits, dental riders, coinsurance options, along with deductible scales. With my newfound knowledge I vowed that health insurance would be my specialty, as I once again fumbled my way through my living metaphor - the darkness to my car.
We all showed up on Day Four with a spring in our step. We had one more half-day program standing between us and actual selling. It was an interesting morning. We learned two scripts to help us sell. The first was called, “The Live, Die, Quit” story. It came with its own mantra that we repeated over and over again. “This plan will take care of you if you live, die, or quit somewhere along the way.” Nice.
The second was called, “The Hundred Man Story.” It was a wonderful story. It tracked the statistical financial results of your typical one hundred people as they work their way to retirement. I still remember the emotional punch line as we looked at the masses who did not organize their lives, and the pathetic few who were financially stable. This illustrated how poorly people plan: “You see, these people didn’t plan to fail, they failed to plan!” A masterpiece.
Then, our training was over. We shook hands with our trainer, wished each other well, and headed for the door. Our trainer gave us a pat on the back, and reminded us of a simple little formula: “Remember boys, two a week, ten a month!” That seemed easy enough, particularly since we just were taught to sell. Or were we?
I grabbed my briefcase eager to nail my first sale, and headed out of the office to try my newfound sales skills. The moment I left the office, I almost walked into a wall because I hadn’t seen the sun for almost five days. Little did I know, that wouldn’t be the first clumsy step I would take.
It was then that it dawned on me. Where exactly was I heading? Who exactly was I calling? When, exactly, would I be having my first sales conversation? I felt a lot smarter from all my sales training, but was I really trained to sell?
Here’s a shocking revelation: my first few weeks on the job were not my best. That was because the management team, which meant well, had made a classic mistake with us all. They had not sales trained us, they had product trained us. There is a major difference between the two.
Product training, which goes on all over the country, teaches us about the ideas we are paid to represent. It is often confused with sales training, but that confusion must stop. Product training may teach us about our product, but sales training teaches us to get people interested in our product. Without these skills, well meaning geniuses often starve.
Now, I’m not one who discounts product training. It is a necessary part of our selling lives. I will say, however — and you may want to sit down for this one — it’s an overrated part of our selling lives. Before you lose your temper and put this book down without getting to the real reason why we’re here, let me quote a credible source that supports this opinion. Perhaps you’ve heard of a rather intelligent individual named Albert Einstein? You might be interested to know that Einstein said:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
That’s where Mr. Gadoci comes in. You see, Brandon gets it. If you are looking for another source to tell you where the market is heading, or which mutual fund or stock is hot today, you’re reading the wrong book. If you want to learn how to take that newfound knowledge of yours, and map out a step-by-step strategy that will allow you to share this information with your client, then you’ve picked up a piece of gold.
In the past twenty-six years, I have traveled over two million miles in the air, reminding salespeople of the critical need to ease off these product pitches we mistake for selling. We must replace them with repeatable, predictable techniques. What a pleasure it is to read a book that will teach you how to get in front of the right people, at the right time, with “real world” techniques.
Selling is a journey that is a whole lot easier to take with mentors who have been there, achieved success, and documented the lessons they have learned. You have in your hands a book that will do just that. Finally.
Robert L. Jolles
President, Jolles Associates, Inc.
Best Selling Author of Customer Centered Selling,
Mental Agility® - The Path to Persuasion,
How to Run Seminars & Workshops,
The Way of the Road Warrior
Preface
A few years back, I wrote down my thoughts about success, and it has proved to be an activity that I would recommend to everyone. Change in our circumstance is inevitable, and I have been amazed at where life has taken me in my 31 years. What hasn’t changed are these words. They look different depending on the seat in life I am gazing on them from, but they ring as true today as they did when I wrote them:
It is not always the smartest, hardest working, and most deserving people who rise to the top. At times we have all looked around the office and wondered, “What does that person have that I don’t have?” “Why are they so lucky?” “I am better suited to do that. Why haven’t I been given the opportunity?” What are the qualities that are necessary for success? Is it an attitude, an education, a thought process, a gift, luck, or fate? While we can control some of the variables that go into developing a level of professional success, there are some that we cannot control. Can we really alter our actions, efforts, and lives to develop an equation for success? Can this be done despite the fact that much of our progress depends on things that we cannot control? What is it some people seem to have that others don’t, which contributes to their success?
Webster defines success as: a favorable or desired outcome; also: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence. I will also agree that success in life means different things to different people. For the purpose of this essay, I will focus on what it means to be successful in the workplace.
I am a financial advisor. My responsibilities include advising clients and potential clients as to the importance of wealth accumulation, preservation, distribution, and transfer. While that sounds very good to a client, or potential client, my real job is to bring in money, and charge people a fee for managing it. At this stage in my career, I am a salesman first, and an advisor second. In short, the amount of money I can make is potentially