The secret of Walter’s success: Work half a day

By : Jeffrey Gitomer

   I was flying back from Florida, surveying who were my prospects for conversation (next to me and across the aisle), when I saw a guy behind me who looked like a million bucks. Great suit, great tie, great shoes and great hair (the only part of him I didn’t like).

   “What do you sell?” I asked (I didn’t need to know if – only what).

   “Security,” he said without hesitation. I waited for the rest. “I help business owners and individuals solve problems. I help people keep their success, and perpetuate it.” (English translation: I sell life insurance.)

   “Walter Putnam’s my name, and you are?”

   “Jeffrey Gitomer.”

   “Are you the guy that writes the sales column in the Business Journal?”

   “Yes, I am,” I said, trying to be humble.

   Now normally I would have left it at that – not wanting to take a chance on getting sold life insurance for the next hour and a half, but this guy was different. There was something genuine about him. He looked professional, but had a warmth you could feel from the first few words.

   “What’s your secret of success?” I challenged.

   “I have two rules,” he said with a grin that was bigger than his drawl. “First, you get to work half days the rest of your life. Second, any 12 hours will do.” My kind of guy.

   It seems that Walter works with a particular type of client. Big. Real big. I was intrigued to find out what a “big hitter” thought about sales, and how he made sales.

   We talked non-stop for the next 90 minutes, trading sales stories and philosophies. As we spoke, he seemed to have little phrases (aphorisms) that made his thought clear – but in a meaningful way. Philosophies like his two rules of success. As he spoke, I wrote.

   Here are a collection of Walter Putnam gems. Diamonds and pearls of wisdom you can borrow from his successful sales philosophy:

   • People do not care how much I know until they know how much I care.

   • Be proactive – I live and work in a “Now” business.

   • Practice daily on becoming a better listener.

   • No one will put a higher value on me than I do.

   • Always promise a lot and deliver even more.

   • Demonstrate excellence in a world of mediocrity.

   • There is no right way to do a wrong thing. Always take the high road.

   • Every day I wake up running. I know I am unemployed until I get face to face with someone.

   • I always ask permission to be politely persistent until the job gets done; based upon their time frame and objectives. Wherever we go from here is strictly up to you.

   • I always begin and end every meeting with, “thank you for your time.”

   • Six most powerful words that a salesperson has when they end a conversation or phone call is: “When may I call you back?”

   • Wherever you are, be there. Focus on the customer as if they are the only person on the planet.

   • Save out of income and invest out of savings.

   • Always pay yourself first (i.e. save) and spend second.

   • Make it a great life. You are going to put the time in anyway.

   • Dream big dreams and quit worrying about waking up.

   • If you really want to stretch, dream big dreams, and then, add a zero.

   • Consistency on a daily basis! “Anything” will work if you will.

   • Return all calls as fast as you can, and answer correspondence within 24 hours.

   • Take time off. Treat time off with a great deal of respect. My clients need, deserve, and want a well-rested, creative, proactive, energetic, enthusiastic individual to work with and talk with who understands them. I schedule free time “first” as much as a year or two in advance, then work the rest of the time.

   • There are no unreasonable goals, just unrealistic deadlines.

   • I have discovered over time I get paid to ask questions, and then to help each prospect think through their answers from a broad-brush standpoint to very specific planning objectives. Simplicity and clarity.

   • I have a 40-point questionnaire of information I want to know about the client. When you know more than other advisers, you quietly move up the list to their key adviser.

   • There are two kinds of facts – feeling facts and fact facts. Concentrate on the feeling facts and the fact/facts will flow.

   • Well done is better than well said.

   • Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will fall among the stars.

   • Time has a way of taking away your options.

   As we talked about the sales presentation itself, he uttered a gem of gems – “To prepare for a meeting I ask myself as many questions as I ask my client.” A classic sales self-discipline that separates the good from the great.

   Over the last few months, I have come to know Walter. He is the essence of professional and personable. And he has character that attracts confidence. If baseball slugger Barry Bonds is a role model for today’s youth – Walter Putnam is a role model for today’s salespeople.

   Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of “The Sales Bible,” and “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.” President of North Carolina-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be emailed at salesman@gitomer.com (mailto:)