Home Sales and Negotiation How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling
Read in 19 min.
Listen in 24 min.
Learn the key ideas of the book by Frank Bettger

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling

The secret to becoming an extraordinary salesperson

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success is an evergreen sales manual. The advice and techniques offered in this book come from the direct experience of the author, Frank Bettger, who published it for the first time in 1954. Over the years, his book has helped millions of people achieve success in the sales world. As the book states, the abilities of a salesperson are skills that are acquired with time, experience, drive and tenacity. Written in straightforward language and with profound enthusiasm, this book is a great step by step guide on how to master the various aspects of selling, such as how to behave and dress professionally and how to speak in public. The most extraordinary thing about the book, however, is that Bettger’s advice can be adapted to many different situations, and his suggestions are relevant to everyone.

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling
Read in 19 min.
Listen in 24 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/11

The extraordinary story of Frank Bettger

Born in 1888, Frank’s father died when he was still a child, and he was left with his mother and four siblings. He lost his three brothers to typhoid, scarlet fever and then diphtheria, so he grew up with one brother and a constant ‘pout’. Life had been cruel to him and Frank could find little to smile about.

He finished his studies after elementary school and became a professional baseball player. He played in the Tri-State league for Johnstown Pennsylvania. One day, when he was 19, he was fired from the team because the coach said he was lazy. Bettger was very surprised by this, and for financial reasons, he looked for another team straight away.

He moved to the Atlantic League in Chester, accepting a salary of $25 a month compared to the $175 he was getting at Johnstown. Since nobody knew about his history with the other team, he decided to build up his own fame as an enthusiastic player. Frank immersed himself in this new role and stood out immediately for his enthusiasm and grit. During his first game, he scored the winning points for his team. There was even an article in the local paper that compared him to a “real barrel of dynamite”.

So, just for fun, Bettger sent a cutting of that article to his old coach at Johnstown, who had fired him for being lazy!

The experience of playing for the new team helped him discover the beneficial effects of enthusiasm: his performance anxiety was gone and he understood that enthusiasm can be contagious, if you share it with the team.

In just 10 days, Bettger went from being paid $25 to $85 dollars a month.

But eventually he had to leave behind his promising baseball career due to injury.

He had to start again from scratch, and to cover his expenses, he had to find a new job, sharpish.

This is how Frank Bettger got into sales, taking on his first job as a salesman for the Fidelity insurance company. With no boost or any kind of training, Bettger’s results were poor. He needed a method, but mostly what he needed was a large dose of self-belief. Since he was curious and wanted to succeed at all costs, he signed up for a Public Speaking course held by Dale Carnegie, the famous writer and management training expert, who at that time, had just started to hold conferences all over the US..

This meeting was important for Bettger, for two reasons: the first was because Carnegie asked Bettger to be a part of one of his conferences, forcing him to speak in public, putting him continuously in front of an audience who listened to him and asked questions. The second reason why it was important, had to do with Bettger’s approach to life. When Carnegie heard Bettger speak for the first time, he was the one to ask him the right question at the right time. Carnegie said: “are you interested in what you are saying? If you are not convinced by it, nobody is going to be interested in listening to you.”

Carnegie’s question switched a light on for Bettger, and from that moment on, Bettger always tried to be enthusiastic, because doing things with enthusiasm attracts people and business needs to be done with enthusiasm.

  

The key ideas of "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling"

01.
The extraordinary story of Frank Bettger
02.
Enthusiasm is an essential quality that every human being should have
03.
Success begins with clever use of the telephone to book appointments
04.
The importance of a detailed client list from which to extrapolate interesting data
05.
The art of asking questions and listening to close the deal
06.
To deserve and maintain a client’s trust it is important to show that we are honest
07.
Feedback helps to improve self-esteem and testimonials help to convince other clients
08.
Dazzle the client: with your suit, your smile and your memory
09.
The essential 13 subjects: Benjamin Franklin and Frank Bettger’s method
10.
Quotes:
11.
Take-home message
 
 
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