فصل 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE POWER BASE

WORK YOUR POWER BASE

Salespeople tend to put their attention on selling to people that they don’t know and ignoring the people they do know. Entire companies advertise to people they don’t know and to whom they haven’t sold. They even advertise to people who are not even interested in their products. Salespeople wait for people they don’t know and even call people they don’t know, while completely ignoring their known lines of influence. This is one of the most violated basics that salespeople overlook in their careers.

Everyone has a base of power in their life where things are familiar and known. Typically, it starts with one’s family and friends. Most everyone has a place where there are elements of understanding, comprehension, safety, security, and strength. The easiest sale you’ll ever make in your life is the one to those people who already know you, trust you, and want to help you. Everyone has a power base or a fan club. Don’t ignore it; work it, use it, and mine it like gold.

Your power base is made up of the people who will be happy to hear from you and want to know what you’re up to. One of the fastest ways to not get into power in your career is to abandon those who love you, care for you, and have some interest in your life. Therefore, no one has to start from scratch in building a base. Everyone knows someone.

I had a customer who had bought many products from me, and we became personal friends. I called him up one day and I told him, “Get over here right now. I have to show you something.” He asked me what I was up to and I repeated, “Just get over here as soon as you can.” Not long after he showed up at my office, I pulled out the buyer’s order and told him to sign it. He asked, “Sign it? But I don’t even know what I’m buying.” I assured him, “Don’t worry about it. I would never mislead you and I guarantee that you’re going to want this.” He signed the order, I presented him with his product, and he fell in love with it! It was that simple. I sold him something he wasn’t in the market for and didn’t know he needed, and it was one of the easiest sales of my life. You can do things like that with your power base. Think of yourself as the center of the base, and the closer to the center of the base the individual is, the easier the sale.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR POWER BASE

The first thing you need to do is make a list of your power base. Your power base includes, but is not limited to, friends, family members, associates at past jobs, past employers, current and former clients, members of clubs, neighbors, members of organizations you belong to, members of your church, and believe it or not, even people who didn’t like you in high school.

Who are they, where are they, how do you contact them, and what should you say? What you say to them is the easiest part. Just tell them what you’re doing. First make your list and then make contact. Let them know what you’re up to and find out when you can meet with them to catch up. The purpose of the meeting is not to sell them; that will happen naturally. The purpose is to get in contact with them and to work on restoring your power base.

If you’ve come up with a list of ten people, automatically consider that number to be at least one hundred. Each of the people you know will have at least ten people in their own power base who can benefit from what you’re selling or the service that you’re offering. If you don’t believe this is true, then I suggest you go back and reread Chapter Five in this book and resell yourself on what you’re doing.

You can contact these people by phone, in person, by mail, or by e-mail. The best way is to meet face-to-face if possible, so drop in or call and set up a time to have lunch. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen these people for years. Forget the past. Go catch up with them and create your future. Take interest in your contacts and mine your power base. Find out about them—what they’re doing, their work, their family, and everything that’s going on. Restore the relationships. When it comes around to you, let them know what you’re doing and how much you love it. You can broach the subject that you’d love to show them your product, but at this point your intention is simply to restore, rebuild, and mine your power base.

IMPOSE ON THEM OR HELP THEM?

People want to help people that they know. Put away any reservations that you have and contact them. Get rid of that silly idea that you’ll be imposing on the relationship. That’s ridiculous. What are friends and family for if you can’t impose on them so you can help them? Someone is going to sell them—why not you? The reality is, they want to help you as well. If you love your product and fully believe in it, then love your power base enough to let them know what you’ve got. Rely on the earlier rule about taking massive action and use it on your powerbase. Contact enough people in your powerbase, and someone will tell you that they need your product or service. If you have a problem about imposing, you’re really having a problem on being sold and you need to get back your commitment.

From there you can expand your list.

Let’s say I sell clothes and I have ten friends, each of whom has a use for the kind of clothing I’m selling. Each of those people has an average of 2.2 more people in their household. That’s twenty-two people, expanded from ten.

Let those first twenty-two people know what you do, what you sell, where you are, and how they can contact you. Get their addresses and put them on a mailing list. Collect their birthdays, or if you want, just send out random birthday cards. No birthday card is better responded to than one that’s been sent out on the wrong day. Everyone will call you informing you that you have the wrong date for their birthday, at which point you’ll say, “I know that, but I didn’t know what your actual birthday was, and I thought I’d just take a chance at being right!” I guarantee you they’ll call. You have to get creative about contacting people. A little imagination combined with massive action goes a long way. Don’t ever worry about making a mistake. The only mistake you can make is failing to make contact.

Get these twenty-two people to help you meet the people they know so you can start working that list. Work the power base from the inside out and watch how big it gets.

When you’re making your power base list, you’re going to be shocked at all the people you’ve forgotten. Don’t worry about it; just go on and make contact! They’ll be glad to hear from you and want to help you.

I once contacted a guy from high school that I used to get into fights with when we were teenagers. I called him up and told him that even though twenty years had passed, I still thought about him often and had laughed at how we’d been enemies. Not long after that, he came into my office and bought my product from me. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that it’s easier to sell a past enemy than it is to sell someone you’ve never met. Don’t deny your power base. Work it!

If you don’t help your power base, a guy like me will. All of us have had the experience of running into an old friend who owns a product that we represent but who bought it from a competitor. The competition had worked the prospect, and you lost a sale because you simply failed to contact your power base.

The worst part about making a sale is that you just lost your best prospect and now need to replace him! The new customer now becomes part of your power base. Ask any salesperson anywhere, “Would you rather sell someone that you’ve never met or someone that you’ve sold to before?” If you were to poll a million salespeople with that question, all would agree that they’d rather sell to someone to whom they’ve already sold. Why? Because they have the experience of winning with that customer, and that makes it easier to sell the person again. The relationship is there, trust is there, and an experience is there. This is your power base now getting bigger. Add this to the enlarging circle that is emanating from you, and stay in contact with these people.

CAPITALIZE ON THE EASY SALE

Existing customers are the easiest sale to make, and I always prefer them over a brand-new prospect. I know what turns them on; I have a relationship; I have their trust; and they know me, the company, and the products I represent! Even when an existing customer has a complaint or a problem, that’s just a great opportunity to turn the complaint or problem into another sale.

I have a policy in my office that all complaints are to be immediately brought to me. Why would I want to deal with complaints? Because I know that complaints are one of the most overlooked opportunities for additional sales. Problems are opportunities! Solve the problem and you gain an even better customer.

Another reason that former customers are easier to sell is because it’s easier for them to make a decision with someone they’ve done business with before. People are creatures of habit. When I do a sales seminar, 99 percent of the people who attend choose to sit next to someone they know. Why? People find comfort in familiarity.

CREATING POWER!

Most salespeople don’t capitalize on familiarity enough. I like doing business with people that I know. I like it that you already know what I like, what I want, and how to talk to me. I like it that you already know what my expectations are and how I want to be serviced. I like it that we have an experience that we survived together. But I wonder if the salesperson feels the same way; after all, he rarely calls me after he sells me.

Do you not think I’ll buy another suit, another computer, another cell phone, television, house, appliance, car, another piece of property, or make another investment? Do you think I’m done because I already played with you once? Do you think I ran out of money or that this was the last time any human being would close me on a similar product? Do you think that you captured the entire amount of my credit limit? Always remember, you won’t be the person who sells the customer for the last time. The question is, will you sell him the next time? I can assure you that if you don’t stay in touch with your power base, including your previous customers, you’ll never attain power in your business. Never neglect your former customers!

If you want to guarantee certainty in your sales production and ensure yourself a long and happy career in selling, stay in touch with the people in your power base. Love them, call them, wine and dine them, send them presents, and continue to show interest in them.

I bought my first real estate investment from a friend. He’d been told by his mentor after months of working with me that I would never buy anything from him and that he was wasting his time with me. I bought forty-eight units, and the following month I bought another thirty-eight. So much for the mentor with the great advice. But the story doesn’t stop there. This guy became my partner and quit the firm he was working for to manage the property that I had bought from him. He thought I was done after these first two purchases and quit aggressively looking to buy more. I would call him to say I was looking for more deals, and he would be pessimistic about the prices and my probable ability to purchase more. Another long-term friend of mine, Dale, happened to be in my office after I’d hung up with my new partner in frustration. Dale asked if I would give him the same deal as I gave my other partner if he found me some deals. I told him yes, and shortly thereafter I started working with him on opportunities. Over the next two years, I bought another 400 units, and then another 1,500 after that.

My first partner is a great guy and did very well for himself, but he violated his power base. My old friend Dale made millions off the deal by staying close to his power base and working it. By the way, Dale had no experience in real estate and the first guy did. He was flat broke at the time we hooked up—fifty-two years old with less than sixty dollars to his name. Today he’s a multimillionaire. That’s a true story. Dale saw the opportunity to work his own power base and he grabbed it. The moral of the story is to stay in touch with the people in your power base.

Keep as much attention on the people you just sold as you do on the people that you want to sell next. And build power from your power base!