10.5 Sales Commandments

"You don't get great at selling in a day. You get great at selling day by day." - Jeffrey Gitomer


Don't let the title fool you, although it's the 10.5 SALES Commandments, you can apply many of these principles to your own life and career in whatever field you're in.

Part of what we do as a membership team at our bi-monthly meetings is an "education" rotation. Each of us will cover a topic to educate the others on for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. There were a million ideas flying through my head on what I wanted to pass along that could help the team improve. One day last week I was stuck in my car in traffic for well over an hour due to winter weather so I decided to make use of the time and listen to the 10.5 Sales Commandments CD I downloaded to my iPhone. I knew after listening to it that this would be my educational topic.

In the health club industry it's easy to get caught up in the numbers. Just like any other industry and profession the bottom line is a barometer for your success and is critical to your sustained success. The months of December & January are huge for a health club. The weather in Wisconsin is typically frigid cold by now and people that workout outside start to flock inside finally; and of course there are the New Year resolutions. During this time the membership sales goals are at its peak and we're running around like crazy to help current members and usher in new members. It's very easy to get caught up in that sales goal and lose sight of why we're really here - to make a difference in peoples lives...by helping them achieve their health & fitness goals.

I'm sure you experience certain "busy times" in your own profession. Whenever the typical busy time for your profession is - seasonal, certain days of the week each month, certain months each year, etc. it's good to remind yourself of why you're really doing what you're doing.

The commandments focus on building the relationship, which is key in whatever you do. If you're a manager you need to build relationships with the people you manage; in sales you build relationships with the prospective buyers; in any career you also build relationships with the people you work with - these principles can apply to everybody.

#1 and #10.5 are my favorite. If you've read any of my previous blog posts you'll understand why I love #1....and you'll understand why it IS #1 :). 10.5 ties it all together and reminds the reader of how they can get better at all of the above commandments/principles.

If you have questions on any of them please feel free to comment or message me on whatever social media platform you read this on. Happy reading!

Without further a due...

Here are Jeffrey Gitomer's 10.5 Sales Commandments I handed out to the team to talk about (the little bullet points were for my own reference so I knew what I wanted to touch on with each commandment):

The 10.5 Commandments of Sales Success

ü      Sales Bible

ü      Not just commandments – core principles

ü      Build relationship, not just make a sale

1)    THINK – The sale is in your head.

o        Mindset determines success more than anything

o        Think it will suck, it will suck – approach w/o smile starts off bad

o        Confidence

o        Affirmations, positive material – “feed your head”

o        “I Think I Can” – book

o        Article…success: 1) faith – God, myself, positive expectations (positive attitude) 2) hard work

2)    BELIEVE – Develop a 4 part belief system that can’t be penetrated.

o        1) company, 2) product, 3) yourself, 4) customer is best off with you

o        Glue of all is #4

o        Most only believe in the $$ they earn

3)    ENGAGE – Develop rapport & personal engagement.

o        First impression – make smile, find the “link”, laugh with them

o        Ppl want to do biz with friends

o        Keep it positive – avoid weather, news, negative stories

o        Begin convo with THEM, not with us (90% of ppl look up on-line before come in)

o        Principle of leaning forward

4)    DISCOVER – People buy for their reasons, not yours. Find out their reasons first.

o        Begin with THEM

o        Establish their “WHY” – dig deep

o        Ask Qs after they talk

o        Talk outcomes – not features (Fit U/classes = goals)

5)    ASK – wrong questions = wrong answers / right questions = sale

o        Qs are heart of sales – uncover motives

o        Ask for their opinion…ask if they can see themselves here

o        Goal = “great question”…known for questions you ask

6)    OBSERVE – Your ability to observe must be as powerful as your ability to sell and ability to listen.

o        Observe leads to understanding

o        Daily practice & self discipline…be a “thinker”

o        “antennas up” – be aware of opportunities

7)    DARE – Have the chutzpah to risk.

o        Risk to succeed…voicemail, asking for sale, new ideas, resolve when fail

o        “Every day is chutzpah day” – courage and action

8)    OWN – Know whose fault it really is when the sale is not made.

o        No blame, no excuses à negative, creates a pattern, and self destructive

o        YOUR fault…didn’t return my call? – leave a better voicemail

o        Evaluate lost opportunity & determine what you could have done better

9)    EARN – Sell for the relationship, not the commission.

o        Earn a friend and earn a fortune…earn leads to loyal customers and referrals

o        Not MAKE a sale…GET a sale & not WORK HARD for success…EARN success & not ASK for referral…EARN referral

o        EARN = LOYALTY

10)     PROVE – One testimonial is worth one hundred sales pitches.

o        Video testimonials (my signature)…VALUE

10.5) BECOME – You don’t get great at selling in a day. You get great at selling day by day.

o        Development – reading, listening

o        Self discipline

o        Adopt and change to your style

o        Sales is about who you are, what your attitude is, your dedication to personal excellence, and sincerity in helping others