Top #Salespeople of All-Time: Steve Jobs

Perhaps one of the most famous and influential people on our list, the man who changed the technology sector forever; Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was probably best known as the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.; CEO and largest shareholder of Pixar Animation Studios; a member of The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar; and founder, chairman and CEO of NeXT Inc.

He is widely recognized as the pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970’s along with business partner, Steve Wozniak.

Jobs spawned the “Think different” advertising campaign in 1997, developing a line of products that would later have larger cultural ramifications than anyone could have imagined. This campaign introduced the iMac, iTunes, Apple Stores, the iPod, the iPhone, the App Store, the iPad, and the reintroduction of Mac OS X.

At the time of his death in 2011, Jobs was widely regarded as one of the leading influencers of our generation and had a net worth of $6.7 Billion.

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This is the final 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: Nadine Rowlands

Nadine Rowlands is a direct selling expert working with Avon cosmetics. Her enthusiasm pushed her to be one of the firm’s most celebrated salespeople.

After leaving a secretarial job that was not helping her reach her financial goals, Nadine joined Avon with the ambition to pay off her debt, which amounted to about $47,000. Her own hardwork, as well as the help of her husband had her bringing in almost $193,000 a year.

After living in debt, the 44-year old managed to build an Avon sales team that has her making almost as much annual as the British Prime Minister, affording her family the lifestyle they have always dreamed about.

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This is the thirteenth 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: Jill Konrath

Jill Konrath is an American sales strategist, speaker, and author who is best known for her writing.

After leaving her career as a high school teacher, she got a job in sales at Xerox. This moved her into computer sales, before starting her own sales consulting firm Leapfrog Strategies in 1987. She has also been a leading online resource for women who pursue careers in sales and marketing.

Konrath was named to the Sales Lead Management’s Association’s lists of the 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management from 2009-2012. She is considered a thought leader in the Sales and Marketing industry. Her stellar track record with clients like IBM, Microsoft, and Staples, paired with her unwavering passion for building business has made her an internationally recognized expert.

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This is the twelfth 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: Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar is best known for his rousing speeches and motivational messages. Ziglar was successful in sales because he not only sold his own form of inspiration, but also aspirations of success to his customers.

Ziglar revolutionized modern sales with rousing messages and used his aptitude to motivate the masses to encourage sales in prospective customers. He encouraged others to embrace a lifetime of learning in order to find the triumphant success that they were looking for.

Ziglar started his career working as a salesman in a succession of companies. By 1968, he became the Vice President and Training Director for the Automotive Perfomance company in Dallas, Texas.

At the age of 86, the World War II veteran, motivational speaker and world renown author was worth upwards of $15 million.

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This is the tenth 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: Ron Popeil

We’ve all heard or used the catchphrase, “But wait there’s more!” never knowing the man who started it all. Ron Popeil is an American inventor and marketing personality, probably best known for his appearances in infomercials and his direct response marketing company Ronco.

Coming from a family lineage of inventors, Popeil started his career selling his father’s kitchen gadgets before branching out on his own in 1964, when he became a direct competitor to his father Samuel in the same retail stores.

He is best known for his gadgets such as the Chop-O-Matic, the Electric Pasta Maker, Beef Jerkey Machine, and the Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ. Upon his retirement in 2005, he sold Ronco for $55 million, while still staying on as an inventor and spokesman.

Popeil’s success in marketing and infomercials has led to many pop culture appearances on shows like Sex and the City, X-Files, and even King of the Hill. He has been referred to as one of the Top 25 People Who Have Changed the Way We Think About Food.

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This is the ninth 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: 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.