Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler was an American inventor and business woman. Her most famous invention is something that is in almost every home across America, the Barbie.

Ruth’s husband and his business partner formed a small company manufacturing picture frames, calling it “Mattel”. This was the basis for the popular toy company today after they began using the scraps from the manufacturing process to create dollhouse furniture. They found this more profitable than the frames, and concentrated on toy manufacturing.

When on vacation in Germany, Ruth noticed a gag gift that she later reworked into the original Barbie design after noticing the limitations that young girls had playing with paper dolls. While the Barbie doll was not an immediate success, Mattel invested heavily in TV commercials and ad campaigns, launching both the product and the company into fame and fortune.

Today, Mattel has over 28,000 employees with a net worth of $5.9 Billion commanding a dominant 17% share of the Toy market.

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This is the eighth part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison is an American internet entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist. In 2014, he was listed by Forbes as the third-wealthiest man in America and the fifth wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $56.2 billion.

Ellison is known for being relentless in pursuing what he yearns for and is not one to beat around the bush when selling the products of his company, the Oracle Corporation.

Ellison became famed for phoning sales managers even on weekends to ask about how their deals were coming through. His relentless and pursuant attitude makes him a sales force to be reckoned with.

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This is the seventh part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

How to Prepare for a Sales Call – The Right Way!

I’ve said this in a previous blog, but success is all about how much effort you put into your preparation. When it comes to sales success, it’s all about how much homework you do before getting on the phone with a prospective customer.

But when you have a whole world of information at your fingertips, it’s easy to get lost and miss what is actually important when researching your prospective clients.

So what exactly should you know, and what isn’t important? What should you prep on your end to be ready for the call?

Did you research the account? Sometimes you have an already existing client who you’re looking to up-sell, or maybe you want another order from them. It’s important to make sure that you know the complete history on the account and what they’ve needed in the past. Do you know the hiring manager? Do you have a relationship with someone over at that organization? Make sure you know everything there is to know about the account.

Have you learned something about the person with whom you’ll be speaking? Sometimes it helps to know a person tidbit of information about the person you’ll be speaking with beforehand. Nothing too creepy, but maybe they have an affinity for Golden Retrievers just like you. Maybe you share an alma mater. It’s small things that give you a friendly way to break the ice with you prospective customer.

Do you have a goal for this call? Whether you’re marketing candidates, trying to grab a new job order, or selling a car. Every sales conversation needs to have an end goal. If you don’t have an overall goal for the conversation, then do you really have anything to sell? Not having a point to the call will just waste your prospective client’s time.

Clean up your social media and update your website. Everyone these days is sitting in front of a computer while they’re on the phone in their office. If you call someone and tell him or her your name, you better believe that they will do a routine social media search while they’re on the phone with you.

I have asked my social media manager many a time to do some quick research on someone while they’re pitching to me and yes, it does affect how I react to them or their product.

Remember it’s not about you. If you ever hear yourself making the conversation about yourself, or how you really need this deal to come together, know that you’ve already blown the pitch. A sales call is never about what you need, or what you have, but rather what you can do for the prospective client.

Sales calls can be tricky but they don’t need to be with some simple preparation. It’s remembering that everyone you talk to is a human being with emotions, and likely a professional that is trying to fit you into their already busy day.

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Need more sales help? Curta Precision Recruitment offers a three-hour sales training course called Selling in the Knowledge Age that focuses on the Recruitment and Consulting industry. For more information click through to our website or email Cecily@curta.ca

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Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Jordan Belfort

Perhaps the most famous on our list, Jordan Belfort could be one of the most controversial salespeople in history. The name might be familiar to you if you’ve seen the big screen adaptation of his life story, The Wolf of Wall Street.

Belfort, who is now an American author and motivational speaker, is a former stockbroker who plead guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection to stock market manipulation as part of a penny stock scam.

Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont with friends and they used it as a boiler room that marketed penny stocks and defrauded investors with the “pump and dump” type of stock sales. At one point he employed over 1,000 stock brokers and was involvec in stock issues totaling more than $1 billion.

Stratton Oakmont was permanently shut down in 1995, and now Belfort is a motivational speaker stressing business ethics and speaking out on his actions early in his career.

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This is the sixth part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Erica Feidner

Erica Feidner has been regarded as the Piano Matchmaker, having successfully matched over 1,200 clients with pianos. Erica is a trusted adviser to musicians everywhere and prides herself in matching artists to their instruments.

Erica was the top sales representative for Steinway & Sons worldwide for eight consecutive years, selling over $41 million dollars in pianos. She was able to overcome the roadblocks in creating a sales message that appeals for both first-time purchasers who are hesitant to make the purchase, and experienced players looking for a constant companion.

Feidner has the ability change her sales approach to suit the stage at which her prospective purchase is approaching the sale. She meshes her skill as a piano teacher, which her business acumen and piano knowledge.

In 2014, she joined the world’s top piano retailer, the Faust Harrison Pianos. Erica Feidner believes that each piano has a unique soul, that is why it is significant to know what a client longs for.

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This is the fifth part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Joe Girard

Having sold 13,001 cars at a Chevrolet dealership in a 15-year period, Joe Girard has been widely regarded as the world’s greatest salesman and has even been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

It was in 1963, that a 35-year old Girard walked into a Detroit dealership and beg a doubtful manager for a job as a used car salesperson. He sold a car on his first day and by the second month the other salespeople wanted him fired because he was too good. He moved on to another Chevrolet dealership where he worked until retirement. It was there that he set consecutive sales records over a 12-year period.

In 2001, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. He attributes his success to sending out 13,000 greeting cards per month to stay in touch with clients.

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This is the fourth part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

Beware the #SophomoreSlump

It’s a force of nature that many feel coming for weeks, the eventual slump. It may come after weeks of high productivity, or maybe right when you need to get everything done before your annual vacation. Sometimes, making a positive change in your work ethic seems difficult and it can be near impossible to adjust your vibe.

So how do you get that energy and motivation back so that you can get to closing deals again?

Have one clear goal in mind. When you are already struggling to find that motivation, it can be hard not to get too overzealous with your goals. Sit down and focus on what is important for you to start right away and make it your only goal. Once the ball is rolling again, start to tackle more.

Find inspiration. Find inspiration in whatever you can. Is it a financial dream? A trip you’ve always wanted to take? Whatever motivates you to start closing deals again is a great thing to focus on.

Get excited about moving again. Everyone has heard the saying, “Fake it until you make it.” Sometimes some false enthusiasm is enough to create the real thing. Get excited about every morning, and carry that energy through your day.

If you have a specific goal, tell everyone you know. No one wants to be embarrassed in front of his or her friends. If you have an attainable goal lined up, now is the time to tell the world. If you don’t do it, you’ll be embarrassed.

Think about your goal everyday. If your goal never leaves your mind, it doesn’t give you the opportunity to be ok with not attaining it.

Realize that sometimes motivation comes in cycles. Everyone’s brain schedule works in mysterious ways. While you may not work well on Monday mornings, you could be the lone dynamo working over the weekend. Motivation ebbs and flows, but it’s managing the slumps that makes you an efficient employee.

Stick with it. It seems simple to say, but don’t give up on your goals when you feel yourself start to slip. Understand why you’re slipping and readjust your plan.

Slumps happen to the best of us; it’s just working through the low spells and managing how you push through. If you’re in a slump now, take the mental time to figure out why and put together a plan that will keep you from going back down that road again.

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For any Recruiters who are currently moving through that ever-present slow patch, feel free to join our Recruiter Breakroom. Talk to other Recruitment Professionals about they’re working through their downtime and what keeps them motivated!

Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie was an American writer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, public speaking and interpersonal skills. Born into a lower class family farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People which is a massive bestseller that remains popular and relevant today.

One of the core ideas in Carnegie’s books is that it’s possible to change other people’s behaviour by changing how one’s behaviour toward them.

After finding little success as an actor, Carnegie returned to New York City broke and living at the YMCA. It was there he got the idea to teach public speaking, and persuaded the manager of that particular YMCA manager to allow him to instruct a class for an 80% return of the proceeds.

Carnegie had tapped into the American desire to have more self-confidence, and by 1914 he was making $500 a week, which equates to almost $12,000 with today’s inflation. One of his most famous and successful sales moves was to change the spelling of his name from “Carnegey” to “Carnegie”, which at the time was an influential name because of Andrew Carnegie.

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This is the third part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Mary Kay Ash

It’s hard to believe that the founder of Beauty Empire, Mary Kay started her sales career selling books door-to-door after World War II.

While working at Stanley Home Products, Mary Kay Ash became frustrated after a man she mentored was given a promotion over her. She retired in 1963 and sought out to write a book that would aid women in business. That book became the business plan for her ideal company, and in turn laid the foundation for Mary Kay Cosmetics.

She considered her “Golden Rule” the founding principle of Mary Kay Cosmetics and the marketing plan was designed to allow women to advance by helping others succeed. She advocated “praising people to success” and encouraged the women in her company to keep their lives in good balance.

At the time of her death in 2001, the company had 800,000 representatives in 37 countries with total annual sales over $200 million. As of 2014, there are more than 3 million consultants worldwide and Mary Kay herself is largely considered one of the leading female entrepreneurs in American History.

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This is the second part of our 14-part series on the Top Salespeople of All Time. Are you afraid you’re going to miss an update? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly update from Curta Precision Recruitment.

Top #Salespeople of All-Time – David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy is often referred to as the father of advertising and was one of the most sought after Ad-Men of his time.

His success in advertising and sales came from his ability to gather information about his consumers, treating them like human beings instead of morons. He is famously quoted as saying, “The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife.” He disliked loud, patronizing ad campaigns and believed consumers should be treated as though they are intelligent.

He listed himself as a research director, knowing that the information he could glean from consumers was priceless. He prided himself on being a creative who could not only be an original thinker, but also sell what he created.

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David Ogilvy is the first in our 14-part Top Salespeople blog series. Stay tuned as we will be posting daily. If you miss out at all this week, we encourage you to follow us on Twitter and Facebook! Links are in the menu above.