The Sell or Be Sold Book Review - Grant Cardone

Today I will write a quick review on the book Sell or be Sold by Grant Cardone. This is definitely one of the best books about selling.

Do you remember when you were a kid you could manipulate your parents or your grandma for sweets? Even if you pretended that you are crying, somehow you got your way? That's not nice by the way... We are not talking about manipulation here, but we are talking about getting YOUR way. Because you believe it is the right thing to do and you fully deserve it!

Grant Cardone summarized it beautifully in this short book about how to get YOUR way. You will find out what you are doing right and wrong by reading this book. You either "sell them" or "they sell you"... which one will it be? 

Read on, this book will help you get YOUR way... 

The great salespeople will agree on one thing:

"You have to sell yourself on a product first and then sell it to someone else."

1. Chapter 1: Selling is a Way of Life

When I was a kid I knew I could get away with my parents... By pulling the rug my way... Somehow, magically, I could get the candy I wanted or I would convince my dad to buy me a bicycle... Hey, I didn't know what I was doing but it did work.. haha... 

Grant Cardone summarized it beautifully what you are doing right and wrong when we're are trying to get your way... or selling that is...

Selling is a way of life is an eye-opener. Of course, you know of its existence...

When you are in school, you sell your teacher to give you an "A"... And many times other students got an unfair "A". And sometimes the teachers let you slide and gave you a "B" when you should have really deserved a "C".. Somehow somewhere you sold them on not giving you a bad grade.

When you got your first job, you sold your boss on your resume and somehow somewhere there was something that sold the boss on "YOU". And you got the job.

The point I'm trying to make is that you sell all the time.

In fact, you are always selling:

• your parents 
• your teacher 
• your boss
• your boyfriend/girlfriend 
• your kids
• your product 

Don't forget that it's either your way or their way... Someone has to win and lose every time... It's not a maybe. It's either you do or you don't...

1. Salespeople Make The World Go Round

Selling is the most important profession.

If the product doesn't sell there's no need to have a factory to make a product. 

Unfortunately, the "selling" classes are not taught in school.

The "sales" is one of the most important subjects. And since we're selling every single day or even every single hour of our lives, you should learn it and not shy away from it.

1. Professional or Amateur 

Become professional at "selling".

Your future depends on "selling"... Your life, your family, your kids, your parents depend on your "selling" skills.

Your house depends on how good you are at selling, your vacations depends on "selling"... Even if you go for a date, you sell your self to someone to be with them... Almost everything depends on selling...

If you are bad at selling you will settle for a mediocre life. There are a few exceptions but for the most of us, it is vital.

The richest people on this planet are the best salespeople hands down.

1. The Greats.

Become the best. Become obsessed. Become fanatical about your life and selling yourself on become great.

If you want to be successful in any area of your life, get obsessed and get committed.

If you want to have a great:

• family or relationship
• career or job
• happiness in your life
• etc

You need to become committed.

How can you have a great family, if you are not 100% committed to their family?

How can you have a great and happy marriage if you are not fully committed?

How can you have a great career if you are not 100% committed to your job?

How can you be happy if you wobble between jobs, professions, relationships, and lovers?

Stop looking for greener pastures somewhere else. The saying "green grass is greener on the other side" is the worst spell of our society... We tend to look for greener grass in our neighbor's yard... But we don't take care of our own. Why not water your own lawn? And make it greener than the neighbor's? Why not have the greener pasture of your own?...

See it all works backwards. If we fully commit and we take care of ourselves, our family, and our relationships we will never have to look at the neighbor's lawn...

Because we will find peace in us, the happiness and joy... And you don't have to worry about your neighbor because by then the neighbor will start looking at your grass and will want to have a piece of that...

See where I am going with that?

Go all in. Stop questioning. Discontinue other options.

If you committed to your girlfriend or boyfriend. Stop looking around. Give everything to that person. Are there better, smarter, prettier people out there? Probably. But if you stop looking somewhere else and commit to the person you're with, you will take responsibility on your shoulders. And you will carry on, but your quality of life will increase. You will be loved more, you will be happier. There's nothing more attractive than stability and responsibility. Ask any kid... if they need their Mommy every single day... and if children don't have their Mom daily, how discouraged they get? 

 In business, it's the same.

You go all in. You put all the stakes into your opportunity and you make it big. The chance of success is so much higher when you put your 100% in...

1. Chapter 5: The Most Important Sale - Sell yourself first

When you sell you have to want the other person to really have it! 

When you are selling a car, you want the other person to have that car.

When you are selling a vacuum cleaner you really want the other person to have that vacuum cleaner because you truly want them to have a great experience when they are cleaning.

Your goal is to sell yourself first. And then the sale will be easy.

Because when you truly believe it's the best thing your prospect should have, the sale will happen naturally on its own...

The reason we are bad at selling some products is because we are not completely sold on them ourselves. 

Let me tell you a story.

There was one insurance guy that sucked at selling car insurance. It was just bad... He was so desperate that he called Grant Cardone and asked him, "What am I doing wrong?" When Grant talked to him he found the issue right away.

Grant asked him, "Do you use the insurance you sell to your customers yourself?" 

After a long wait, the insurance salesman said, "No, it's too expensive"...

Grant said, "Well, if you are not sold on the insurance yourself, then why do you expect others to buy it from you?"

After taking the advice from Grant, this very salesman increased his sales x4 times... Yes, 400%... True story.

The moral of the story. Buy and use the products you sell. By believing in the product, you can sell without any hesitation because you love the product already. And you just have to tell others why it is so awesome and why you are sold on it.

1. The Price Myth

Price is not buyer's biggest concern... 

It's not true that the cheaper price wins... You have to find the concerns of your customer. And yes you have to find the person that could afford it of course. But 99% of the time, we buy things that have nothing to do with the price.

For example, how many people bought an iPhone which costs $700-$1000?

That's half of the paycheck for some people. Was there a cheaper phone on the market? Of course... In fact, there are thousands of models available on sale today... Most of them are much cheaper and most people aren't aware of these phones... 

In fact, many folks can't afford the phone... They are late on their credit card bill, but they MUST get the new iPhone.. or so they think...

Have you heard of somebody saying, "Yeah, but my customers can't afford it..." LOL... that's definitely the case with iPhone...

Did you know that most objections people have are NOT about the price... In fact, the price issue is on the bottom of the buyer's list...

#1 objection people have is the confidence that the product is right for them. They need to know that the value you provide is higher than the price of the product. In other words, it has advantage 10x than what they pay for...

You have to get your buyer to want your product more than his/her money.

If they are in love with your product or service they will find money to get your product even if they don't have enough money...

Close with inventory. 

If they don't want to buy from you and say that it costs too much money,

you have to move them to a more expensive product.

Why? Because they are telling you that your solution doesn't have enough value for them... or they are not sure that your product can solve their problem. Move them to a better solution even though it's more expensive.

What Grant Cardone does in that case, he just moves them to MORE expensive items that offer way more value... And although it costs more they get so much value that they are willing to pay for it, because in their mind it is worth it.

The buyer would rather pay more and do the right decision instead of pay less and get a partial solution.

The buyer would rather pay more for quality than less for quality...

By the way, to increase quality you can offer bonuses. They also can help you offer more and get the price up.

It's not the feat of paying a higher price, it's the fear to make a mistake.

Never be fooled by people that tell you that "the price is high". You won't be able to pay your bills and salaries, and your business with collapse. And then, you definitely can't help your customer. They will not receive any support from you because you will be out of business...

Unfortunately, mediocre salespeople recommend to power your price and they would make more money... but it works the opposite... Once you drop your prices people stop believing in you and that you're worthy...

They think your product is so bad and that's the reason why it costs so little.

People want to feel good about their decisions and they are willing to pay the price.

Don't believe me?

• Explain why people are willing to stand in line to pay $4 for their coffee, if they could make an entire coffee pot at home for almost nothing.

• Explain why do people spend $2 for bottled water, and just in the US alone, people spend around 18 billion dollars per year on bottled water if they could have gotten their tap water for free?
• Explain why people spend thousands for season tickets to a ball game, if they could have watched the game on TV
• Explain why people would pay for a luxury car if they could just take a subway and get to work in half the time

And so on...

How many times have you been over budget? All of us have done it. And it's almost never about price.

1. Your Buyer's Money

There's no shortage of money.

Wake up every morning and say to yourself, "there's no shortage of money."

Do you know that there's enough money circulating on this planet for every human being to have a net worth of 1 billion dollars? Yep. You heard it 1 billion dollars for every person on this planet. Are you getting your share?

If you're not it's because you are thinking in terms of hard work and limits and scarcity and not abundance.

If governments run out of money they will go and print more. And they do... There's so much money changing hands every day in the world, that it's even impossible to calculate. Imagine how many credit cards are being processed every second of the day...

There's abundance of money and it will never run out. If you could tap into a small tiny portion of that it still would be a significant amount... So change your thinking you can get as much as you need.

THE SECOND MONEY.

When you sell somebody your product, they tend to make the second purchase so easy that it's almost ridiculous.

There's something the way we are wired. Once we make the first purchase, we can part with our other money as well.  

We can go to a movie theater and pay more for popcorn and food than for the actual movie ticket itself.

A guy goes to a car dealership, cries about the car he can't afford, and then buys it. Then goes 3 blocks away from the car dealership and buys the most expensive car stereo system, paints the car, and installs shiny rims on the car. His payments for the stereo system, the paint job, and the rims are higher than the actual car loan itself! And he will pay 19% annual because he put it on his credit card...

Yey for the second money!

When you buy homes, cars, and furniture you always go over budget. Have you ever not gone over budget? Almost every time.

If this wouldn't be true... Then we wouldn't have expensive cars, Gucci and Versace bags, designer clothes, and we wouldn't overpay x50 times of the price tag...

It's the world of consumers... and second money is the easiest to get...

Mediocre salesmen don't recommend it. But don't fret. 

You need to think how to get the second sale because it will get you A LOT of money if you ask for it..

1. You Are in the People Business

Most companies think backwards. They think they are in the product business. But in reality, they are in the people business.

Here's an example.

You go through the airport and there's a guy that shines shoes. He thinks he's in the shoeshine business but in reality, he's in the people business. The reason business guys don't stop at his booth is not because of the price, but because they don't have time and they are afraid to be late to the plane. You see, if he would call the booth "60 Second Shines", those busy businessmen would pop up and pay almost "any" price because you will give them a peace of mind that it could be done quickly and satisfy their urge to get the shoes shined...  Why? Because you are in the people business and you have to figure out what they want...

Same thing with any type of business. Most people think that the reason their product doesn't sell is because their product is bad or it's priced bad, or it's about the features... While features are somehow important it's not about the features at all... It's about the need in the marketplace.

You are not in the business of products.

You are in the business of people.

Products don't think, products don't react, products don't feel. People do.

When you're trying to sell, don't pitch. Just communicate. Find out what your client is in need for. What they are looking for... Mediocre salespeople they go through their pitch without listening. They interrupt and they just do their job. An excellent salesperson will communicate, will talk, will laugh with you, will be your friend and the selling part is easy. You'll talk like buddies and the sale could happen naturally.

Be interested, communicate, find out what important, what they are interested in, identify what they want. Ask them, "what do you value?", "what is important?","why is it important?","how do they want to be spoken to?","what would cause them to take action?"

Ask questions, not with intent to manipulate but with intent to be genuinely interested in the person.

Imagine this scenario.

Joe walks into the computer shop and the shop assistant spews at him A LOT of technical data.  Joe spends 30 minutes... and end up buying nothing.

Mary walks into a different computer shop and looks to buy a computer. The shop assistant comes in and asks her if she travels, and what would she use it for... And then shop assistant genuinely says... "you're telling me that you travel a lot and you'd like to browse the internet and answer emails. I got a perfect model for you and you don't need to buy a very expensive top of the line computer"... Mary ended up buying 2 more computers because somebody could finally listen to her...

See the difference? It's not about manipulation, it's about being genuine.

Whatever business you're in quit your business. if you are in the insurance business, real estate business, clothing business, the investing business, hotel business. Quit that business right now... And get into the people business. 

1. The Magic of Agreement

Always, always, always agree with your customer. It is one of the most important rules in selling. It's vital... It's critical to your survival.

It's not about being "right". Look, if you disagree with them, the sale is gone... It won't happen.. Don't fight people, it will damage your sales almost every time.

Your family and friends don't always agree with you, but you can agree with them on something... You can always agree on something with your client... Doesn't matter how different you are, find the common ground... Or, at least, don't disagree... It's hard I know, but it's totally worth it.

Sometimes if you don't agree with something, and you might have to agree with them it can make all the difference in the world... For example, if the person says: "you know what? I need to think about it"... If you agree with them and say, "yes, sure sometimes we have to take our time and think about it", paradoxically he or she will be drawn to you. Why? Because you agreed with their point of view you already did better 95% of all the salespeople. Let it sink in and then, later you can handle their objections and close the sale. 

First say, "you are right" and then tell them what you think.

You see human beings want to be right all the time every time. They want to show the world that it should be done "this" way but most of the time the other person says nope it has to be done "that" way... and you get a clash. But if you agree, then the other person may let you your way too... but without agreement, it's not possible, because your communication is broken.

Practice. Try to agree with everyone for one day. I bet you that you won't be able to do it... :)

This is how you use it in sales.

Let's say that your client tells you "It costs too much money". You say, "Sir, I agree it's a lot of money. Everyone who's buying this product agrees that it's a huge investment when they are buying it, that's why you should get it installed so it can start making money right back right now..." 

Agree, and then go... Agree, and then go. are you getting it?

Memorize this magic agreement statement below:

"You're right. I'm with you. I agree. Let me see what I can do for you. I understand, I'll make it happen. Done. "

"You're right. I'm with you. I agree. Let me see what I can do for you. I understand, I'll make it happen. Done. "

"You're right. I'm with you. I agree. Let me see what I can do for you. I understand, I'll make it happen. Done. "

If you actually memorize this and use it first when you talk to people. They will look at you differently... Try these magic words sometime.

An Agreement is not a manipulation. It's an attempt to get along with the person. An agreement could be an acknowledgment of what they think and you don't have to bring it your own view to the table because they are not as important at that very moment.

1. Establishing Trust

Show, don't tell.

Trust is the seller's problem, not buyer's. It's your job. You have to figure out how your buyer thinks, not the other way around. 

When you talk bad about your customers, who's fault is it? It's not the buyers' fault, it's yours. You probably don't know the reason they are leaving you and not buying from you.  If you catch yourself complaining about them... Stop complaining... It's your fault. Understand your client better, you need to dog deep and find out all the little details and nuances... And eventually, you'll find out why you were not closing in the first place.

Be responsible. Be credible. 

Credibility = Sales.

You can dress up as a credible person. Put on a name tag.

You can print out the supporting material and show it to the customer while you're presenting the information to them. For example, you're showing them a house that is 44,000 square-feet, pull out the paper and show them the square footage... It will start adding to your credibility even though it's just a printed sheet of paper...

People believe what they see. But they don't believe what they hear. 

People prefer written word, not  the spoken word.

When you write a written letter, agreement, or a contract people always trust it more than spoken word.

If you have a printed article and a spoken story, which one would you believe more? Probably the written article.

Try this sometime tell a friend a story from an article and they might not believe it. But then give them a printed article and they'll probably believe it. (And by the way, a story or an article might not even be true. Like the fake news sites online...be careful with the news even for your own sake, they could give you false reports.)

So if you sell something back it up with documentation.

If you print out the material and give it to your prospect you will save them time to shop and do the research. Because the paperwork you have done will look like a research paper...

You should use in your documentation:

• Product information 
• Performance reports
• Facts
• Historical data
• Comparison information
• Pricing data
• Proposals

The rule is: don't tell, show! 

It's ok to sell with emotion, but when you close a deal you have to wrap it up with logic, data and facts. Inform the buyer, because then it's easier to close a sale... If you are only selling on emotion you will not seem as a trustworthy sales person.. they might never work with you again...

You should print out and the competitor information and believe it o not it will increase your sales. Most people won't agree, but when your customers go back home and do their research on the computer they will find out the truth anyway. So why not be real and true from the beginning? Why not help them to do the research and do it with them? If you product is good and your product should be that good, then you should never be worried about showing your competitors' prices...

1. Give, Give, Give

Give all. Give everything you have. Even if you don't have a promise of receiving back. Give out yourself and the sales will come.

Give them options, supporting data, work for free before the money...

Let me tell you a story.

There was a couple walking on the streets of Louisiana. A man approached them and ask the husband for permission to serenade his wife... Reluctantly the husband agreed and then the man dropped down on his knees before her right there on the sidewalk and started singing a beautiful song. He had such a stunning voice that it seemed as all the windows shattered in the buidlings all around them... The man sang for two minutes with his unbelievable voice. And when he finished they were speechless... The husband pulled out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to him... With tears of gratitude the man thanked them and then ran to his beat up car joining with his family. And that night that man could feed his family. All this man had to do is to GIVE FIRST (sing first) and offer his voice without even asking for money. And he received and received BIG... And you know what the craziest thing is? The couple never even promised the man that they would pay him... the man trusted, he given it all, he believed it would happen with all of his soul... And then it did...  

Don't ask, just give... Predict what they will need and give it to them...

Exceed their expectations.

Pay attention to one person at a time, and give them all of your attention. 

Commit to the client you have and give them 100%. You will be rewarded. Don't allow any interruptions. When they will see that you are not picking up calls and not answering emails and you are with them all the way, they will trust you and buy from you, because you given them attention and you made them important.

Serve people and help others. Take care of them. Be at their service.

Price is not a solution. Service is. Why because they will pay for service and for convenience.

For example, Holiday Inn and Ritz... It's a good example of low price&no service and high price&great service... Holiday Inn usually has rooms available.  Ritz is alway booked. Price difference? $400...

Problems = opportunities for future sales. Find their problems.

No advertising can replace poor service.

So give, give, give of yourself fully...and provide unparalleled service... and people will quit shopping on price...

1. Hard Sell

Don't let your customer confuse selling pressure and enthusiasm... if you ask someone for a sale and you truly believe that it is right for them it's not pressure but it's your enthusiasm and passion to sell them the right thing. In fact, don't pressure. There's a difference... Pressuring is almost like scaring them... Enthusism and passion is more like assisting them and helping them with what they need...

When you hard sell it has to come from your heart that they really need it, because it will save them or help them...

See the difference?

Grant practiced everyday for 5 years how to close on audio or the video camera and how to handle objections and he became lethal in sales...

Be persistent in hard selling. Professionals are practicing closing every day and that's how they are able to find ways to close in the almost impossible situations.

If you want to be a proffessional, practice in front of the camera and learn how to hard sell... 

Don't talk too much when closing and show them written or printed material... (as we talked about in the last chapter)

1. Massive Action

Get obsessed. Take on more responsibility. Move. Start doing. Take Action.

The amount of success you have in your life is limited only by the amount of action you take. 

This is so important, let me type it one more time:

The amount of success you have is limited by the amount of action you take.

Stay away from people that tell you to stop working so hard, or that you have to relax more and take it easy... You can take it easy later, but for now do your task and do your job fully, until you get AMAZING results...

You'll get used to it and it'll be a way of life. 

Do you think that to become a president of the U.S., or even the president of a successful company, you have to "take it easy" and "relax"? Of course not. 

It's better to take massive action without knowing half of the things I need to complete the task, then knowing a lot but not taking action at all..

Take massive action. Doing too much will almost never fail you, doing too little will fail you every time...

If you are new on the market place,  it's better to contact massive quantity of prospects and even if you are unpolished and you get smaller percentage of sales, you still will make sales. The quality will come later.

Some sales people they just learn and learn and learn and they never become great, because they are waiting to become polished before they enter the market place. They don't take massive action. They are waiting for the perfect time, the perfect skill etc.. By then, it might not even matter. They might not even have a market place for selling their products... Because it's too late...

Critics will try to stop you and tell you to take it easy. But don't listen... The people that try to stop you never achieved results and they gave up on their own dreams... So all they can do is to make a comment to justify the reasons why they didn't succeed for themselves. It's not about you, it's about themselves...

Don't quit, take massive 10x action even if bigger problems come. Don't be scared if you have to pay more in taxes, bigger car and house payments, fees, etc...  It's a good problem, not a bad one.

Be unreasonable, mad in sales... Overbook... Do 10x you can handle...

If you book too many appointments than you can handle, it's better than having 1 appointment that could get cancelled.

It's better for a farmer to plant more food than he can eat because if there's famine he can feed his family.

1. The Power Base

Create a power base. All of us know somebody. You have 22 people that you already know in your life. And the are your power base.

Stay in touch with your old friends, don't sell but just keep in touch. They will wonder and ask you what you do for living by themselves.

If you really believe in your product you won't have a problem to sell it to your power base, because you will not pressure anyone to sell it and they naturally will want to help you out.

Keep in touch with them at least once a year, even if you just send them just 1 birthday card.

Ask those 22 people if they know others that might need your product.

Help your power base... 

Don't forget if you don't sell your product to your power base someone else will.

Why is power base better than a new customer? They already trust you.

Review the complaints from your power base. It will help you to find new opportunities. 

Problems = Opportunities.

Another advantage of power base is that after the first sale they will likely do business with you 2nd time and the 3rd time... However, you must follow up and make them as your friend...

Most sales people quit talking to their customers after they close the sale. Big mistake. The customer will not drop out from the planet Earth. They will continue buying houses, cars, clothes, watches, books, etc...

So if you follow up you can get another sale and another sale from the same person you already know. And to close them 2nd time will be a breeze... As you already know that the hardest sale is the first sale...

Stay in touch. Follow up... Don't neglect your previous customers.

Call them. Dine them. Wine them. Send the presents. Continue to show interest. And they will buy from you again and again.

1. Time

Most folks say they, "I don't have time. I'm busy." But the most successful person in the world has 24 hours as you, as I, as anyone...

The average person watches 3 hours of television per day which translates into 65,700 minutes of TV in 1 year. By the way as a side note, if you are on Youtube, Facebook, News, or another social media and it's not work related, treat it as watching TV... The new generation replaced TV for a smart phone.

65,700 minutes lost per year. Oh my gosh!

Do you think you could make a 3-minute sales call? If you close just 1 phone call out of 100 phone calls... Wow... just 300 minutes later, you could be richer and we wouldn't touch the tip of the iceberg of your 65,700 minutes lost...   65,700 - 300=65,400  

If your clients do not communicate over the phone, then you can email, Facebook message them, Skype them, Video call them, take them for a coffee, invite them for dinner, etc.  Just communicate with them somehow. Figure it out.

Imagine you are playing the soccer championship... You have 5 minutes left until the game is over.. When it's over, it's over... You either win or you go home lost... Do you run around like a headless chicken? Or, are you going to try to place the goal and make it happen?

Time is running out for you and for me, for all of us. It's a ticking bomb... Are you going to run like a headless chicken or are you going to place the goal? Or, at least try to place the goal? 

You control time. Don't let the time control you.

Be the master of the clock, not a slave to it.

Rich people buy time. Poor people waste time.

Eat lunch with buyers and prospects, not just with friends.

1. Attitude

Great attitude is worth more than a great product.

People prefer paying more for an agreable, positive and enjoyable experience than they will ever pay for a good product.

Who doesn't want to feel good. Who doesn't want to be right? Who doesn't want to be smiled at and agreed with?

Buyer is moved by positive, competent and confident people more than he/she is moved by a great product.

Stay away from negative people, they are toxic and they are really bad. They leave garbage in your head. If you invite your friend to your house would you allow them to leave their garbage in your leaving room? No. So why would you allow anyone leave garbage in your head?

Treat positive people as millionaires.

Positive people are luckier because more people help them, they get tipped more... People admire a smiling person that's always in a good mood... Because after seeing a smiling girl or a guy will make you happier even if you had a bad day...

Great attitude is worth it all... On the other hand bad attitude people always cry... the customers  are bad, I didn't get any tips, I hate my job, etc.

There's nothing more valuable to anyone than a positive person.

People will always act according to your attitude. They are not acting according their attitude, they are acting according to yours. If you're getting negative responses it's because you're negative.

If you're negative most likely they will be negative to you.

If you're positive(genuinely) they most likely will respond positive to you.

Positivity is contagious.

Entire economies could be frozen or even wrecked by bad attitudes. If the news says we are going into recession we will be in one. If you listen to it long enough you will believe it and it will become real for you. You'll stop investing, you'll become scarce with money, food, investments... ouch... It's an epidemic. What do you think it does to your mind? You're being manipulated every day... 

It's been proven in medicine that the placebo pill can improve a medical condition of a person. And if the patient believes it will help somehow it does...

When you promote abundance, you'll get more of it... It's as simple as that.

To stay positive here's what to avoid:

• TV
• Radio
• News (tv and online)
• Depressive movies and videos
• Internet sources/sites with bad attitude 
• "Can't do" people
• Negative friends and family. Yes, even friends and family can drag you down to exhaustion and depression which you will have hard time to get rid of...
• Drugs and alcohol because of the negative effects that give you... They make you slow, lethal, sick, they are against the law, they will make your body destroyed... itching eyes, swelling that, swelling this, shrinking that... Control your attitude by being aware and alert, not by being numb and drugged...
• Avoid hospitals and doctors if it's possible. If you break your arm, ok, but otherwise don't spend time with them... Sometimes you can get worse when you see a doctor... They are sick factories...
• Treat negative talk like garbage. Don't allow people to talk negatively around you or about others
• Make a sticker or a sign and put it on your door: No gossips and no criticism... You don't need it... it's toxic... it's garbage...

A great recommended book to read about how to become more positive and how to get rid of negativity called Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard 

1. The Biggest Sale of My Life

Grant meets his future wife Elena that was completely disinterested in him so he had to figure out a way to get this girl anyway he could...

But since he really wanted to meet her he started coming up with ideas how to do it... She cared less... He called, but she didn't respond...

Grant sat down and wrote down all of the positives he could offer... And then he came up with why he would be a a great material to be in the relationship with her.

Then he started calling anyone that might know her and put it out there that he's interested in getting to know her and everyone who could help him to get to her... That's the power base (read previous chapters). And then he decided to call her every month until he was finally able to break through to her...

It took almost 13 months. He left nice little positive messages. But she never returned any of those 13 phone calls.

Grant was unreasonable and kept on going...

He was selling him(product) and he was certain that the sale will happen eventually...

Through the power base he discovered that his friend had a girlfriend that knew Elena and Grant started getting to know his friend's girlfriend... He said to her look I want some updates, and  I need to know what it's gonna take to meet Elena... Put a good word for me to Elena...

Grant was working his power base and a referral that it connected to the prospect...

He asked his friend's girlfriend, "why Elena wasn't responding? Can you help me out here?"

The girlfriend told Elena that she should definitely go out with this guy Grant that she knows.

Elena resisted and still didn't want to go out.

Then Grant asked his girlfriend, "Please tell me, what is the objection? What is the problem? What can I do?" 

"I need to handle the objection", Grant said.

His girlfriend replied, "She doesn't like short guys, and she doesn't like the business type of guys and that he isn't my type"...

It really sounded like a complaint and not an objection. But he knew he had to figure out something. Giving up wasn't an option.

He decided to call and he thought to myself, "I have to agree. I have to be in agreement with her and then try to close the sale"

Then he called her and said: "Hey it's Grant,  I've been bugging your friend to get to you, and I'm not a stalker, I'm just interested in you. I have no intention of giving up until you give me a chance. And by the way, just an update, I'm growing".

Still Elena didn't reply.

In the next few days he ran into his buddy who was trying to date Elena but he said... She's not interested in relationships. She's into guns and being an actress.

Grant, called the best gun trainer in L.A. Gun Club and booked an appointment with him for the weekend. By the way, that's what's called being genuinely interested in your prospect. Also there was a commitment. Being interested and committed will really help going toward the sale...

Then he called Elena and said, "Hey Elena, I booked the shooting lesson with the best trainer in L.A. I have all the weapons we need, all the ammo for all morning."

51 seconds later... she returned the phone call for the first time.

They had the first date that Saturday and 1 year later they were married.

His wife was the hardest sale he's ever had.

Grant did more of "give, give, give" and he made a sale... And it was an honest sale where no one was pressured, tricked, or lied to... It was quite contrary, the prospected was liked and loved...

If you get the whole book it also has the BONUS chapters which I really recommend. you can get this book by clicking below...

In the next few chapters I will review just a small little bit. There's so much gold that you really need to get this book.

The next chapters 18-26 will be only mini chapter reviews... 

1. The Perfect Sales Process

Some of the coolest things I learned in this chapter:

When you sell ask what they buyer really wants. And then present your product specifically to what the buyer wants are...

If you are a realtor and you're trying to show a house, maybe the most important thing to a buyer is not looking at the bathrooms... Maybe it's the views of the property . Grant, for example, loves the views. Show me the views. I want to see the views. Show me the ocean...

Some other people might like cooking. So you have to adjust to your clients and ask them, "What is important to you".

So the key question is talk to the prospect and find out, "what is important to you?", "what is the motif of them shopping for your product", "why do you want to buy this"?

Always make a proposal.

Grant Cardone university has a software that helps you close prospects... It's very cool. You can browse the Grant Cardone's products. Go to GrantCardone.com and browse the store.

1. Success is in the Selling

Make your success an obligation. Most people demand two things in this world: "oxygen and food".

You need to demand your success, just as oxygen and food. You see when you can't pay for your food you also can die. It's the same if you don't have food... If you don't feed yourself, you do...

"I ain't got time", she said... When did you have time to breathe the oxygen? If you taking your life as seriously as breathing as an obligation it will change everything for you.

Demanding your success is vital and not "evil" as the society wants you to think... It's for your own good...

Are you fulfilling your potential? 1 to 10? Demand it. Take is as your life depends on it.

Next, do you have plans? Do you have family plans? Business plans? You need to have a great plan to get to your destination.

Commit to your success, your family, children, career, client, your life. Take responsibility. Be honest with yourself. 

The reason you are not successful because you are not sold enough to be successful... Get serious and don't stop. Get obsessed.

1. Sales - Training Tips

Spend time on your self improvement. Get books and seminars. Watch videos. When you drive in your car listen to self development books.

It's all about training. If you are in sales, you need to rehearse the sales situations everyday. Ask your friend to prentend to be your client. When your client says, "let me think about it", "nah, I'm not interested", "the price is too high"... Do you drill. Get your replies smoother... Be like a tennis player - practice... or like a Navy Seal - do the next drill and the next, quicker... 

Read books. Rehearse. Do sales trainings.

Do it every day. Not 20 years ago. It should be practiced. 

Trainings should be done in short segments.You can have 2-5 minute trainings... You can have 1 minute, 30 second training. Watch a video training specific to one problem.

1. Create a Social Media Presence (part 1)

Become present on the social media.

Become known, so when people are looking for you, they'll find you.

To be unknown is worse than being broke. It's the #1 problem every  business fail. You have to be thought about.

Use the social media. Don't let social media use you. 

Don't go to Facebook to read, go there to post.

If you have somebody complaining about you, go and handle them. Ask them, "how can I help you?"... And see if you can help them somehow. Ask them, "what I can do to improve?"

Turn a problem into an opportunity...

Some people are not complaining but they are haters or vampires. Walk away from them and IGNORE them.

Expect people to complain about you. It's normal. And it's good news. Because after they "hate" they "admire".

Have a plan. 

• Write down your goals. 

Write things in the past tense.

I have a billion on my account. I own a billion in the real estate.

I got 10,000 sales of my book that year.

• Separately from goals, write to-do for today.
• Get to your office early 

1. Create a Social Media Presence (part 2)

Be everywhere. Be on every channel.  Be on every media. Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, snail mail, ad, lunches, inflatable monkey... Be everywhere, as long you're in front of all people... 

Commit to working your plan every day. Schedule your plan. Do you really want to make it? Then, commit.

Do whatever it takes.

Exceed the expectations.

Be the most ethical person you know. 

Examples of being ethical, not just stealing or lying: call your client back, get the work you promised you're going to do, deliver on your commitments and responsibilities.

Turn off the push notifications on your phone. Filter the information that's going through your phone and then to your head. 99% of garbage is being dumped on you right from your phone and your iPad. 

In other words, control where you're getting the data from... Get it from the eight sources like training videos and successful people's books and blogs.

Commit to quit making excuses.

Commit to making your dreams a reality. Do something about your dreams every day.

Be proud, be positive.

Dress for success. Be the best looking person in the room. Look stunning. It works. 

See the sale. You have to see the sale even before the customer can sees the sale. If you don't see the sale, you won't have any.

Be sold on your offer. If you're sold on it and you are 110% sure it's amazing, then the sale should be easy. The problem is that most people don't even own the product they sell..! How bad is that? No wonder they can't sell because even themselves they do now believe in the product enough to own it.

Be in agreement with your customer even if you don't agree. 

Spending more time with your client will kill the sale. In fact, people like wasting their time talking about nothing significant. People avoid time wasters! Speed up the time. Spend quality time with your customers and you can have more sales than ever. 

Assume the close.

Always persist on the close and ask one more time.

1. Tips to Conquer the Biggest Challenges in Selling (part 1)

Rejection is an illusion created by the person experiencing it. It's like gravity which you can not get rid of because everywhere you go somebody somewhere will say "no" to you more than they will say "yes". It's just human nature. It's totally normal..

In this life, most people walk around like victims. Because they are sold in someone else's reality or someone else's agenda. 

Rejection is an experience by those unwilling to be responsible for the outcome.

Negative surroundings or negative environment. If you are in the negative environment you will be surrounded by zombies... or "average" people... The average people hate their job, hate their car, hate their life, they don't make enough money, and they pull you into their gravity...  Negativity is a disease...  Negativity is contagious. Break away from those trying to stop you... 

News is negative. Stop feeding yourself negativity... If the news ain't good change the channel.

Make these signs  and put it in your office:

• "Negativity is not allowed here"
• "Only positivity allowed here"
• "Stop negativity"
• "No negativity allowed here"

Show me just 5 of your friends and I will tell you who you are and what you're worth. 

Be disciplined. Your business will punish you if you don't get disciplined. Self manage yourself. Practice discipline. It could be the deal breaker!

White space on the calendar can bring disaster. Make a plan with the tight schedule.

Show up early. Stay prepared. It'll help you start a great day...

Create your economy. Create your market. Like Steve Jobs created a market on its own, like Mark Zuckerberg create a market on its own, create your own economy where you make the rules and where you are in control.

Competition. What are you doing competing? Stop competing - dominate your category. Become the guy to go to. Champions don't compete. They dominate. Dominate your category. Differentiate. 

If somebody says that, "I can get the same product down the street cheaper", then all you have to say, "yes, but the product down the street doesn't come with me."

Follow up over and over. Relentlessly... Call them personally... You have to call the 6-8 time to get their business... It could take 1-2 years before the sale happens...

Demand Control. Be in control. It'll put you closer to your dreams.

1. Tips to Conquer the Biggest Challenges in Selling (part 2)

Sales is a numbers game to some degree. 

Fill the pipeline full or loaded. Overbook too many prospects.When you lose a  client, you got more lined up and your business will not stop.. Don't be depended on one client only. 

If your prospect doesn't return your call, it doesn't mean anything. Nothing... Call them 15 times until you get a sale... They could have been on vacation, or they were busy that day, or maybe this, maybe that, or maybe maybe...whatever. Never make them guilty that they never called you back... 

Fear. The truth about "FEAR" that it doesn’t exist. It's a boogie man... It's not even real... You've never seen it heard it... Whatever FEAR is.. don't let fear use you... be in control and use your fear... When you fear, that's an indicator that you have to go and do it...

When you FEAR something, go and do exactly what you fear... Usually, that's the thing you should be doing...  Usually what you are afraid, which is out of your comfort zone, should be the #1 task on your things to do...

Refuse to be a slave to FEAR. I refuse to have the FEAR to be a master of me.

Instead, I'll use the fear to take action.

How do you use the FEAR to take action? I'll make a phone call because I'm afraid or it.

I'll jump from the airplane because I'm afraid of it. 

I'll have my own TV show because I'm afraid of it.

I'm going to meet that person because I'm afraid of it.

I'll do my ___[next task]______, because I'm afraid of it.

Got it?

1. Tips to Conquer the Biggest Challenges in Selling (part 3)

Most of afraid to look like an idiot. 

"Looking like an idiot" is far far away from actually "being an idiot". Remember that. Stop thinking that... In the large picture of your career, being scared that you will "look like an idiot" are not existent.

Whether you are on the stage. When you are on the video, podcast, TV show or when you are out there, your fear stops you from being GREAT.

Eat with clients all the time. 

Meet new people every day.  Go out and meet people. You won't meet people at your living room or in your garden... Go and start meeting people every all the time and talk.

You're an introvert until you are an extrovert. When you decide to be an extrovert you just go to coffee shops and say hi. You go to the gym and strike a conversation while you're working out... etc... Don't fear, don't wait on the couch at home, go and do things and people will be there waiting for you to start the conversation... Most of the time people don't have a problem to talk for a minute or two...

Inability to take action phenomenon.

If there's a fire... You will get up and start doing something... You will be grabbing things. You will be taking important things and get the hell out of your house... Yet, you wouldn't call an urgent client, or contact somebody who could give you a paycheck...

Don't be a victim. Be pro-active. Don't give control to your competitor. Take your control in your hands. And serve the client the best you can. Dominate. 

Ask for the sale anyway. Ask for the order regardless of the situation. Even if you feel it's not gonna happen, still ask... Many times you'll get an order...

People will violate the budget. Most people will spend more than their budget. For example. Here's a scenario. One day you were shopping for a car and you thought you'd buy a car for a certain price, but then somehow you went and bought a car that was $5,000 higher... That wasn't your budget, was it?  This happens all the time, in personal life and in business.

Always ask questions.  Ask and also listen. If you listen you will know how to customize your answer to make it the right thing. If it's real estate and if the buyer is interested in the views of the house... Show houses that have great views...

Price objection is almost never a problem... "Too high is a myth".

Be persistent. Persistence wins sales.

Study. Successful people read books and study every single day.

1. Summary

This book is probably one of the top 5 books you should have on your desk if you are a sales person. It contains so many goodies that it's hard to resist. I'll be revisiting and rereading this book again and again. And if you don't own it yet, go and get it. It's that awesome!

Thank you so much for reading my reviews if you like it, share it!

Truly yours.