Pearls of Wisdom

KEEP YOUR TROUBLES TO YOURSELF and make people believe you are having a wonderful time.

ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE; keep an appointment book so that you don’t have to use the words that sicken me: “I FORGOT.” At the end of each day, list what you did and plan your work for the next day. If you know where you are going you will get there.

WORK WHEN YOU WORK; don’t take long lunch hours or play golf when you should be working. Eat with people who can help your cause, not co-workers.

DRESS THE PART; what kind of people are you dealing with. If you are selling to blue collar workers, don’t wear $500 suits and expensive shoes, jewelry or watches. Wear it on your own time, not when you’re working - clothes can turn people off.

OBSERVE GIRARD’S NO-NOs; No smoking or chewing tobacco, no gum, no colognes, no profanity or dirty jokes, and men do not wear earrings while you are working. Turn off cell phones - they’re irritating. The biggest killer of them all is NOT BEING ON TIME.

LISTEN! People can tell if you’re not listening. The longer you listen, the more obligated people will feel to you. The more you listen, the more likely a customer is going to do business with you. Listening shows that you care. “The mouth should only be used for eating - keep your big mouth shut!”

SMILE! A smile increases your face value. If people would smile more, they would feel better and make their customer feel like doing business with them.

KEEP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE; hang around with positive people, stay away from naysayers or crybabies. If something isn’t going right in your life, keep it to yourself - no one wants to hear your problems.

RETURN ALL PHONE CALLS & EMAILS; not returning calls or emails are a way to lose customers and friends. Return your calls and emails as soon as possible.

TELL THE TRUTH; if you get caught in a lie even once, you will always be considered a liar. Even if you tell the truth for the rest of your life, you won’t be trusted or believed.

DON’T OVERCHARGE; if you do, and the customer compares your deal with somebody else, you will have lost him. Take a little and leave a little; Joe only worked on a small profit, but he was heavy on volume, averaging six retail automobile sales a day. Word of mouth got around that you can’t beat Joe Girard’s price.

STAND IN FRONT OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICES; not behind. The most important thing to do for your customer is SERVICE them, and they will do business with you over and over again.

LEARN FROM EVERY SALE; when people tell you why they do business with you, they are reinforcing their trust in you. You learn about things they like and what they don’t like and if they like you they will do business with you forever.