Eighty Percent of Success is Showing Up

The above quote, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." is from Woody Allen. It was particularly appropriate this past weekend.

I went to take a dance class. My favorite teacher was back in town for a short time. I was thrilled and ready to dance! This teacher is incredibly talented, an excellent dancer, good choreographer and her class is high energy and fun! I had often wondered why she was not more successful as a teacher or why she never got into a decent dance company.

I rearranged my entire schedule to be there. So did a number of her students. One cut short her holiday weekend with her parents to get on a plane and fly back in time for the class. Another rearranged her work schedule, going in to work at 4:00 a.m. in order to be done in time for the afternoon class.

The class never happened. My favorite teacher called in "sick" at the last minute.

When she taught regularly in New York City this teacher had a habit of canceling classes at the last minute. She'd been gone for six months and was scheduled to teach only four classes over the holidays. So far she's only made it to the first class. She called in sick for the second. Was she sick? Perhaps and who cares?

I'll never again rearrange my day to take her class. I know several other dancers who also will never again rearrange their days for her and even more dancers who will simply never take her class again! Now I understand why this teacher never got very far in the dance world.

I was raised on the old show business adage, "The show must go on." It has served me well. As a young dancer it was drilled into my head that the audience didn't care how I felt. They were there to see me dance. They'd paid a lot of money to see me dance and it was my responsibility to be at my best, no matter how I felt.

While that "nobody cares how you feel" message may not be the best message for a child, in business and in sales it's the truth.

Your prospects and customers want what they want when they want it. It is your job to deliver. If you do not, they will find another source.

The first rule of prospecting and selling: Show up.

Most sales are made between the 7th and 12th contact with a prospect. Most sales people stop at about three to four contacts. All you have to do to sell more is show up a few more times!

Want to build trust and rapport? Show up. Keep showing up. Do what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it. No excuses. Prospects and customers like and trust people who do what they say they're going to do, when they say they're going to do it!

Want to close the sale? Show up and ask for the order. If you do not get the order that time, show up and ask again.

It doesn't matter how smart you are. It doesn't matter how talented you are. It doesn't matter how great your product is. If you don't show up, nothing else counts.

© 2004 Wendy Weiss

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success, is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. She is the author of Cold Calling for Women and the recently released Cold Calling College. Get her free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com.

---

Do You Have Enough Prospects To Make Your Numbers?

Several years ago I worked with a CPA who wanted... Read More

Exporting to Europe: Not the Challenges You Think

If you plan to do sell your product or service... Read More

Understanding The Corporate Buyer

Selling your services to corporations is an attractive proposition. The... Read More

10 Incredible Ways To Sell Your Products Now

1. Make your reader visualize they have already bought your... Read More

An Introduction to Store Fixtures

Everybody is familiar with the old retail chant, "Location, location,... Read More

Stop Talking - Start Selling

Selling is not talking. It's listening. You may have heard... Read More

Three Ways to Get More Referrals

When you are in the business of sales, among the... Read More

12 Handy Tips for Generating Leads through Cold-Calling

Cold calling can be a great way to generate quality... Read More

I Am A Habit

JOHN DI LEMME on "I Am A Habit"H-A-B-I-T...When 95% of... Read More

Secrets to Buying Without Being Sold

Have you ever asked yourself, now how did I let... Read More

The Struggle to Decide: The Paths Customers Take to Solve Problems

Usually my essays discuss the issues that the 'sales' method... Read More

Why Arent They Buying?

You've polished your sales page over and over againuntil it's... Read More

A Look at Mannequin Heads

A mannequin head is a life-size head that includes all... Read More

Consulting Versus Selling

Consulting Vs Selling, How we can make sales by not... Read More

Im A Second-Story Man

Can you say who you are and what you do... Read More

A Brief History of the Sales Profession

The formula for defining a "profession" is similar throughout many... Read More

To Sell Successfully, You Have to Be Willing to Be Different

We are complex. We confidently assert that we are independent... Read More

Cold Calling Pressure Reduction

Who likes cold calling? Most salespeople don't like cold calling,... Read More

How To Make The Most Out of a Business Networking Event

You're not alone. Most people are uncomfortable walking into a... Read More

The Importance of Good Sales Leads

An important part of your business plan should be to... Read More

60 Ways to Increase Your Mail Order Catalog Sales

This article is meant to inform. Please don't construe this... Read More

Write On The Money: The Ten Commandments (Plus Five) Of Profitable Sales Letter Writing

According to the Direct Marketing Association, in 2003 U.S. direct... Read More

Letting Them Use Plastic

Obtaining merchant status will help to increase your sales. Consumers... Read More

Why USPs Dont Work

The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is based on the assumption... Read More

Value Based Pricing, Not Price Cutting

Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that you include... Read More

My Competitor Has a Better Product

The topic of this issue's article is a response to... Read More

10 Amazing Product Selling Formulas

1. Sell your products at a wholesale price to retail... Read More

What Successful Sellers Know - Others Dont ... The Subtle Art of Closing

Ask any salesperson, "At what point in the selling process... Read More

Want More Sales? Write A Barry Bonds Sales Letter

I'm not a baseball fan. Never have been. In fact,... Read More

How to Blow Rapport Really Fast

Do you have 5, 10, or 20 years of sales... Read More

Long Sales Letters vs. Short Sales Letters

Everywhere I turn, I'm being asked to weigh in on... Read More

Creating More Effective Proposals

The need for good proposals - the business kind, not... Read More

Store Owners - Five Ideas to Increase Sales

1. Animate your window display.How often do you change your... Read More