Bill Guertin | 800 Pound Gorilla Blog on SalesGravy.com

It was almost 20 years ago when Jim Rohn opened my eyes. 

I was the Sales Manager of a Joliet, IL radio station, blessed with a talented group of sales reps and a need to train them.  A touring troupe of nationally-known sales “gurus” was passing through Chicago, which was a chance to see many of the best-known speakers and authors of the selling field.  I arranged to have my entire staff and I make the trek to the big city to see them speak. 

I was personally most interested in the nuts-and-bolts speakers, and was turned off by everyone else.  One young sales rep of mine, however, was intrigued by an older fellow from the platform who spoke more in parables than in ‘useable’ information, in my opinion.  He spoke in generalities, not in the ‘real world’, or so I thought.  He wasn’t the charismatic type like everyone else that had been on the stage.  His words just didn’t connect with me, and so as the ‘boss’, I wrongly assumed that he wouldn’t connect with any of my staff.

Not wanting to be caught in Chicago rush-hour traffic, I took the opportunity at the break to muster everyone together to leave a little bit early. 

“But Jim Rohn’s not done yet!” Eric said emphatically.  A young, enthusiastic rep with loads of natural talent, Eric was obviously enjoying Rohn’s segment of the day, but I had my own agenda.

“It’s all right.  He’s not any good anyway,” I said rather callously.  “He’s old, he’s boring, and he talks in the clouds.  We’ve already heard the best speakers today.  Let’s get out of here while we can.”

And so I packed everyone up in the radio station’s minivan and headed back to the suburbs, not thinking twice about what I denied a young sales rep hungry for additional information from someone with whom he had forged a strong connection.

Not long afterward, Eric was hired as an account rep at the local cable company as an ad sales rep, and made a substantial jump in income by making the move.  Several years later, Eric and I saw each other at another similar sales-guru event, and as we talked, he brought up the event several years earlier.

“Do you remember leaving early from that Jim Rohn event?” he asked.

“Sure, I remember it,” I said.  “I thought he was as dry as dust, and I spared everyone the boredom.”

“I was so upset that you didn’t let us stay for the rest of that session, but I couldn’t tell you that because you were my boss, and you were so hell-bent on leaving that nothing I would’ve said would’ve changed your mind.  Jim Rohn changed my life and my attitude toward selling.  He spoke to me like no one else ever had.  He’s one of the reasons I’m doing so well at the company I’m at today.” 

I felt two inches tall. 

What I learned in that instant was that my initial judgment on what resonates with people may or may not be on line with everyone else.  I learned that Jim Rohn was successful at what he did BECAUSE he could reach millions of people with his message and make it stick.  Just because he didn’t connect with me didn’t mean that his message didn’t have value for someone else.  I selfishly believed that my own assessment that day was the only one that mattered.

I now know better.  In fact, I revisited Jim Rohn’s material, and can say that today it’s some of my favorite reading.

Jim Rohn, known by millions as America’s Foremost Business Philosopher, passed away on Saturday (12/5/09) after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis, positive and upbeat right up to the end.  He challenged many people to stand up and live their dreams.  Some of the many Jim Rohn quotes are these:

“Economic disaster begins with a philosophy of doing less and wanting more.”

“Don’t say, ‘If I could, I would.’  Say, ‘If I can, I will.’”

“The goal of effective communication is for the listener to respond, “Me Too!”, and not “So what?”

Modest, unasuming Jim Rohn affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in his 46 years on the platform… including this eventual fan. 

May your spirit rest in peace, you 800-Pound Gorilla of motivation.

– Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of clients includes the ticket sales departments of professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer. He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and his brand-new second book, The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales: How To Dominate Your Market, is now available from John Wiley & Sons. Find more articles and valuable information at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.

I have a business acquaintance that I’ve helped to get a new venture of his off the ground. It’s a start-up of the smallest magnitude, but it has true potential to be a nationwide powerhouse in its targeted niche.

We happen to go to the same church, and I enjoy seeing him and chatting briefly about how the business is going.

“I’ll call you this week,” he says every week. “I want to talk to you. There’s lots to tell you!”

And he never does.

Now, granted, I’m not spending a lot of time waiting next to the phone. Remember, I’m the one that has been helping HIM. But dagnabit, if you SAY you’re going to call someone, you should do it.

Do you know someone like this? Someone that constantly says they’re going to do something, and never does?

It’s hard to trust someone with something like your money when they can’t so much as live up to what they said they would do in the first place.

800-Pound Gorillas – the leaders in the categories in which they serve – do what they say they’re going to do. They anticipate customer needs before they even know they have them. They’re known for their word, because their word is their bond. Their customers trust them, because they know they’ll get the service they’ve been promised.

How would your customers respond to the question, “Does your supplier of (what you do) always do what they say they’re going to do?”

In these times, it’s too important not to do the little things that are necessary for others to continue to want to do business with us.

So… to whom did YOU say “I’ll call you” recently, and never did?

Hmm.   I think you’ve got a phone call to make.

– Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of clients includes the ticket sales departments of professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer. He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and his second book, The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales, is due this fall from John Wiley & Sons. Find more articles and valuable information at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.

When Walter Cronkite was at the pinnacle of his career in the early 1970′s, a poll was conducted that asked thousands of Americans who they believed was the most trusted individual in America.

Cronkite, anchor for the CBS Evening News, was the winner hands-down.

When Walter Cronkite spoke, people listened. Even though he rarely gave himself credit for his accolades, saying that the news was truly the “star” of what he did, others came to know him as the barometer of how they should think and act.

When he showed emotion — which was rare — others took notice. When he announced the death of President Kennedy, he removed his glasses and shed a tear. When he felt compelled to speak out about the Vietnam conflict and his observation that a peaceful resolution was the honorable thing to do, Americans stood up and took note. President Johnson, upon hearing that Cronkite had spoken out against sending more troops, was quoted as saying, “If we’ve lost Cronkite, then we’ve lost the war.”

Cronkite, 92, passed away this weekend, and thousands of broadcasters have come out with words of praise and admiration for the one person that inspired them to take up the microphone.

It’s interesting to note that this 800-Pound Gorilla of broadcast journalism was an inspiration to so many. Originally hired by Edward R. Murrow after proving himself in broadcast assignments during World War II, he adopted a style that became uniquely his, and was attempted to be copied by most every other successful broadcaster of his time.

If Cronkite was “the Most Trusted Man In America” in the 1970′s, which BUSINESS do you think would be voted the most trusted in America today?

You have to think hard, don’t you?

Cronkite was so well-loved because of his unwavering integrity and authenticity with the American public. When pressed to identify a business that has those same qualities today, most people have to think for a looooong time before they can come up with one that fits.

What does that say about the state of business today?

The market is wide open for someone that others can trust without thinking twice. How can YOUR business be more Cronkite-like?

– Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of clients includes the ticket sales departments of professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer. He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and his second book, The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales, is due this fall from John Wiley & Sons. Find more articles and valuable information at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.