Introduction

You've got this book in your hands because you think it can help you get more out of your work -- more money and more personal satisfaction. This probably isn't the first book about selling that you have read. Chances are you have seen and read a lot of other books, books that promise to give you the "secrets," the magic, the inspiration. You probably already know a lot about how to hype yourself by looking in the mirror every morning and repeating certain phrases to yourself. By now you know the mysteries of "PMLA" and "HPD" and some other magical-power expressions and attitude builders. You know a lot about what you should think and what you shouldn't think, positive and negative. And maybe you are a little confused by this time from all the contradictory advice the books have offered.

I don't want to take anything away from the promoters, the experts, and the other well-meaning people who grind out all those books. They have to make a living too.

But let's face it. What you want to know is how to sell real products and services now. And most of those authors never sold very much in their lives, except their books. They may be professional writers or professional sales training experts. Some of them may have spent a few weeks or months selling something until they figured out something at which they were better. And maybe one of them made a good living selling one multimillion-dollar real estate development every two years, which has nothing to do with the kind of selling you do and want to do better.

That's the point. They just aren't our kind of salesman, out there selling every day for a living. They don't do it because they have to. When you read their books, they sound fine. And they probably give you a little help, maybe even enough to earn back what they cost you. But when you think about those books, you realize pretty soon that these writers -- even the best of them -- just aren't our kind of salesman.

But I am. I sold cars and trucks. New ones, at retail, no fleet deals, just new cars and trucks, one at a time, face to face, belly to belly, to the same kind of people you sell to, every day. Maybe you sell cars or suits or houses or appliances or furniture or something else, day in and day out, something that you have to sell a lot of to make out. And when you read these books by the experts, you probably have the same gut reaction I do: There's something missing. What is missing, your intuition tells you, is first-hand, on-the-job involvement with our problems, our people, our world. Those guys just don't feel like they've been out there in the trenches every day the way we have to be if we're going to eat tomorrow.

That's why my book is different. That's why this book is going to work for you in ways that the others never did. Because I was out there every day the way you are. I did what you do. I felt what you feel. I wanted what you want. And I got it. Other people have been called the world's greatest salesman. But they aren't our kind of salesman. Among our kind of salesman, I am the world's greatest. You don't have to take my word for that claim. If you want to check me out, take a look at the world's foremost authority, the Guinness Book of Records. To prove I am not A.T.A.N.A. (all talk and no action) like the others that say they are #1 with their self-proclaimed records, my claim was audited by one of the top auditing firms, Deloitte & Touche (letter available upon request). Look up the world's greatest salesman. You'll find that it's me, Joe Girard. Or check stories about me in Newsweek, Forbes, Penthouse, and Woman's Day, or in hundreds of other magazines and newspapers. You've probably seen me on one or another national television show in recent years. And they always introduce me as "the world's greatest salesman" as attested by the Guinness Book of Records.

How well did I do after I started selling in 1963? In my first year, I sold only 267 cars. Only! Even those days that would be more than just a living. In that first year, I was maybe the top guy in the dealership. In 1966, my fourth year, I sold 614 cars and trucks (retail). This is the year I became NUMBER ONE RETAIL CAR AND TRUCK SALESMAN IN THE WORLD. And every year since, I was the NUMBER ONE RETAIL CAR AND TRUCK SALESMAN, increasing my business better than 10 percent a year and some years as high as 20 percent, even when we had bad recessions, layoffs, and long strikes. In fact, the worse the economy got, the smarter I worked and the better I did. I have stayed on top even when the auto dealers in the Detroit area cut the workweek from six days to five.

In 1976, which was my biggest year, I had gross earnings from commissions in excess of $300,000. Not too many beat me, except maybe those guys who spend three years paying off some cabinet minister in some country to buy their airplanes or missiles. But that's not the kind of selling you and I are talking about.

What we are talking about is a profession that uses skills and tools and experience and practice. It brings us lots of headaches and frustrations, no matter how well we do. But when we do it right, it brings us more financial and emotional pleasure than any other kind of work in the world. I did what I did because I love the money and the excitement and the satisfaction of winning again and again and again.

You may already be doing pretty well. You may have a home, a vacation place, a boat, and a couple of cars. But if you have read this far, you think there is more to be had than that. And you're right. There is more of all the kinds of pride and satisfaction every good salesman should feel. In fact, the better you are, the more you should want. If you think you have enough of everything, then you aren't doing as well as you could, so keep on reading. Because I have a total system for selling that is a lot like farming in a country where things grow all the time. With my system, you do a lot of things that are like planting seeds. You do them all the time, and then you begin to harvest -- all the time. And every time you have harvested a sale, you plant something else. You plant and plant and harvest and harvest -- all the time -- through every season. There is nothing like it. I guarantee it.

But if you think that there is nothing you can do to sell and win, because you're a loser, let me tell you that I was a bigger loser than you have ever been.

For the first 35 years of my life I was the world's biggest loser. I got thrown out of high school. I got thrown out of about 40 different jobs. I lasted only 97 days in the U.S. Army. I couldn't even make it as a crook. I tried twice. The first time I wound up with nothing but a night of terror in juvenile detention. The second time the charges against me were dismissed for lack of evidence. And when I finally got into a business where I was making a small but fairly steady income, the first time I tried to expand I wound up facing bankruptcy, owing more money than I had ever seen, because I believed somebody who had no reason to tell me the truth.

How I got from there to here is what this book is about. This book is not being written by a spectator with a fancy title and a lot of degrees. This is being written by a working salesman who was in the front lines every day selling. Even when I travel around the country giving talks to other salesmen, I am selling, because salesmen have to be sold that the people who show them how to do it know how to do it because they did it. The story of how I got to be the world's greatest salesman gives me an enormous amount of pride. But I get even more from the letters I receive from working salesmen who meet me and hear me talk and then write telling me how I have changed their lives by making them better, happier, more prosperous salesmen.

WINNING BLOODLESS VICTORIES

Remember that for a real salesman there is nothing better than selling. It is like home runs for a hitter, touchdowns for a running back, victories for a general. But when a salesman sells there are no losers. Both the buyer and the seller win if it's a good sale. The confrontation that leads to a sale is like a game or a war, but one where nobody bleeds, nobody loses, everybody wins. What's better than that?

But the process that leads to that victory should start long before you ever see your prospect for the first time. And it goes on long after the customer signs the order, pays, and leaves with his purchase. In fact, if you think the sale ends when, like they say in the car business, you see the customer's taillights, you're going to lose more sales than you ever dreamed of. But if you understand how selling can be a continuing process that never ends, then you're going to make it to the big time.

Once my selling system got into high gear, I never had to look for customers among the people who walk into the front door of the showroom. I didn't take "ups." All my customers in those days were people who asked for me by name. All of them. And for every 10 sales I made, roughly 6 of them were to people I sold at least once before. And we're talking about automobiles. People buy them about every three or four years, and even less often among the middle- and working-class people who were most of my sales. If you're selling clothes or booze or things that people buy a lot more often, getting them back again and again is even more important. But it is harder to do with cars. So if I can show you the ways I kept people coming back to buy cars from me, you know it's going to mean even more sales for you if you're selling these other kinds of products and services where success depends even more on bringing them back again.

I guarantee you that my system will work for you, if you understand it and follow it. I looked at selling situations and customers in different ways than I once did. This means that I have changed my attitude about a lot of aspects of my profession. I know there are a lot of people who talk about the importance of attitudes. They tell you that if you change your attitude toward somet...