bOrN iN The uSA! - Music & Sound Retailer

sales guruSanta Claus will come.He always doesBy Gene FrescoIf you are wondering what theholiday season will be, here isthe answer...Great.I have told you that when theeconomy is bad, the music businessis good.People can’t afford the bigbuys, so they make a lot of smallbuys.They can’t afford a new houseand they can’t afford a new car.They can’t afford a luxury vacation.They can afford a guitar, adrum set, an electronic piano, asaxophone and any other musicalinstrument.I know a dealer who is completelynegative and his businessreflects this negativity. Last year,he bought $25,000 worth of myproducts. The other dealer inthe same town bought $76,000worth of my products.Stay away from negativepeople. Get negative thoughtsout of your head. Don’t hirenegative people. Don’t socializewith negative people.Give your children and familypositive reinforcement in everythingthey do.Teach them to be happy,constructive, and the desire tosucceed.You are a living magnetand you attract whatever is inalignment with your dominantthoughts.There is only one way to gothrough life, and that is positively.Earl Nightingale wrote: “Youare what you think about.”Whatever you believe becomesyour reality. Whateveryour belief system is what youbecome. If you believe with feelingthat you will be a success,you will be.Unfortunately, it is the samewith failure.The most important word inselling is “Attitude.”Attitude is 90 percent of selling.The other 10 percent consists ofpeople knowledge, sales knowledge,and product knowledge.A great attitude gets greatresults. A good attitude gets goodresults. A bad attitude gets badresults.You know there are three kindsof people. Those who wonderwhat will happen, those who say“What happened?” and those whomake it happen.You need to be the one whomakes it happen.There is another word in sellingthat is very important.That word is control.You must feel good about yourselfto the extent that you feel incontrol of your life. When youare working toward a goal aboutwhich you feel good and that youhave made a conscious decisionto target, your actions supportyour feelings of being in controlof your destiny.Control is necessary in youreveryday performance.You must control your inventory,your advertising, yourpersonnel, your finances, andeverything that will guaranteeyour success.In a selling presentation, youmust have control of the situation.You are the professional andyou can’t afford to allow yourselfto lose control. You must qualifyyour customer and ask the questionsthat will give you the abilityto sell that customer the exactproduct to solve his problem.I would say most sales are lostwhen the salesman loses control.Most objections are opinions,not facts.In selling, there are objectionsand there are excuses.Objections can be overcome,but excuses cannot be.Learn the difference and youwill be a successful salesman.Get ready for the holidays now.Order the products you plan onselling now. Music product manufacturersand distributors need90-day lead times and, if you waituntil October or November to orderyour Christmas products, youprobably won’t see them in time.In the real world, departmentstores and big-box chains likeBest Buy and Costco order theirholiday products in July.That’s why NAMM thoughtmusic dealers would want to attendthe Summer NAMM show.They probably forgot we are inthe music business.One of my favorite songs is“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” byBobby McFerrin.I was once traveling with thepresident of a company I workedfor in Texas. I mentioned thissong to him and he had neverheard it. He was a very uptightguy.When we got to a music store,there was a musician who knewthe song and he sang it for us.I saw a smile come on the faceof this uptight guy I was travelingwith and I had him singingthe song as we drove to the nextdealer.When we got to the next store,we wrote the biggest order hehad ever seen and we had thebiggest selling week in my territoryever.I’m going to tell you that, witha positive attitude and a smile onyour face, all your expectationswill come to pass and you willhave a happy, successful, andconstructive life.If you have any questions aboutselling, write my editor, BrianBerk, and he will forward them tome. He can be reached at bberk@testa.com. Your comments arealways welcome, as well.I enjoy helping salesmen/saleswomento become successful andwill be happy to be of service.I wish you good selling.We’re looking for your questions!Gene Fresco is ready to answer anysales question you may have. Whatchallenges are you having when tryingto sell at your store? Ask Gene.Send your questions to Brian Berkat bberk@testa.com. We promise allquestions will be forwarded on toGene Fresco. And hey, there’san excellent chance your questionwill be answered in a futureSales Guru.Music & Sound Retailer 29