When I was in college (studying Electrical Engineering) I read a report that the TOP incomes were made by people with "SALES" ability.
So...for a summer job in my sophomore yr...instead of working construction...I decided to sell encyclopedias. And I was what was termed an "introvert"...alsoknownas a "lab rat". I enjoyed working in a "lab" environment AWAY FROM PEOPLE.
However...I knew that to have a "better chance at making some BIGGER bucks"...I had better LEARN HOW TO SELL!
So...even though "selling" was totally against my personality...I literally FORCED MYSELF to become a "salesman"...and selling encyclopedias, Door-To-Door was THE toughest item to sell I could think of.
IF I could learn how to sell an $800 set of books to people who didn't really want them...I figured I could sell almost anything.
So...my first month in the field was disastrous...I was just about ready to give it up when I started to HIT. I "found how I could sell those things" and my life was changed forever.
I went on that summer to make 3 times what I would've made working as an hourly laborer...and i stuck with it every summer. Then...out of school, I was hired by General Electric in their Industrial Sales division.
But...during my first 6 months I began to "see things" that I didn't like. Fellow salesmen in their early 50's were being "laid off" and replaced by "cheaper" youngsters just out of college (I was one of those "replacements")
I "smelled the handwriting on the wall". I VOWED then to start my hunt for a business I could start and be my own boss so I would not have to be concerned about "being screwed by management when I was older and ready to retire".
For almost 1 yr I hunted and investigated HUNDREDS of "opportunities". Every one I checked into had some kind of "fly-in-the-ointment". My "criteria" was a business that had some kind of "residual".
Then one day I saw an ad for a new kind of "Burglar Alarm" that CALLED THE POLICE or Fire Dept using the existing phone lines.
I flew down to Florida...bought a Distributorship ($500 for a Demo Kit)...came home and set up my new business in my apartment with a frustrated wife and 2 babies.
I didn't quit my "day job" at GE. I wanted to see whether or not I could SELL the alarm systems first.
So...for 2 months I studied...tried different methods of "marketing"...then devised "marketing plan";
I created a sales letter and brochure explaining how my system worked. The sales letter was a letter "Introducing ME as the "Newly Appointed Security Agent for This Area". It was signed by the "Regional Director" (who was ficticious)
I would send these letters to prominent people in my area...at their home address...wait 2 days and call them after 6pm...asking if they had received the "introductory letter" and if I could come over and give them an estimate on a securty system at NO OBLIGATION.
I started to get appointments BUT...could NOT CLOSE any deals. I must've gone to 20 appointments with NO sales...until one evening about 3 wks later.
I was in a prominent dentists home. Up until this time, because of my underlying "introvertedness"...and the newness of my business...I was NOT agressively "selling". I would give my demonstration on how the system worked...walked around the house...came up with an "estimate" and merely HAND THEM the piece of paper...ask if they "like to have me install the system".
They'd respond with, "Oh! Let us THINK IT OVER! WE will get back to you! Thanks for showing us!"
That was called, "being NICED out the door".
Then on one demo...I remembered something from my encyclopedia days called, "ASSUME THE SALE"! So, this time...instead of handing them the estimate...I went over the details of it...found out what they felt about each aspect of it...THEN...I "ASSUMED THEY WERE BUYING THE SYSTEM"....I immediately brought out an ORDER FORM and started writing in their name and address and phone number...writing in the details of the System...put in the price...handed it to them and said, "Just make out the Deposit to my company and I will call you in the morn to schedule the installation!"
To my UTTER AMAZEMENT...he SIGNED IT...handed it back to me...got up and walked to a desk in the kitchen...got out a checkbook and wrote out a check and handed it to me. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was DUMBFOUNDED.
I also remembered to "ask for referrals". He gave me the names of 3 friends...whom I called...set up appts and sold.
This gave me the confidence to "give my 2 week notice". I built that business up to the 2nd largest "Alarm Company" in the Chicago area.
I then sold my biz and "semi-retired" and have been coming up with various and sundry business programs and products ever since.
So...
1) LEARN How To SELL
2) Find something to sell that you LIKE
3) DO IT!
Best of Success to you....Don Alm Roseburg, OR
Some of my Unique-Businesses
http://www.pjbux.com