Two business owners met in a pub in Seattle in late January of this year. We’ll call them Larry and Bob to protect their identity. I had met with Bob to discuss increasing sales in his office furniture business and given him an idea to use. He had identified Larry as a potential Joint Venture partner for this marketing system and arranged a meeting.

Bob’s offer went something like this:

“Larry, we both sell good office furniture and we both offer great service. You’re not to far away from where I am based, as you know, and I have an idea to run by you. What is your average closing ratio? In other words, out of every ten people you pitch, how many buy from you?”

Larry replied that he sold about two in ten.

“So, Larry, what do you do with the other eight prospects? It cost you good marketing money to find them, and they all have an urgent need for office furniture, and they can afford it, or you wouldn’t be talking with them. If they leave your store, they’re going to buy somewhere else, right?”

“You’re right, Bob. What do you suggest, Bob?”

“I suggest that you say to everyone who doesn’t buy from you, ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you today. I know you’re serious about getting some office furniture right away, and I hate to waste your valuable time, so I’m going to call a good friend of mine who offers equally good products and service to what I do, and ask him to meet with you and see if he can help you.’ Then you call me and set up an appointment with your prospect. I’ll do the same for you. That way, Larry, we each get to see 18 prospects instead of 10! I see your pre-sold prospects and you see mine!”

On average 50% of the referred customers buy using this technique of cross referring unconverted leads between businesses.

Since they instituted this simple, yet effective system, both Larry and Bob have seen significant increases in their sales figures, at absolutely no cost or risk. Try it in your business; work WITH your “competition”, and make more money!

Elephants Know Win/WIn

Last night, my friend, Jos told me that when African elephants stand along the bank of a river to drink water, they instinctively adopt a very considerate and practical approach. Those who stand upstream wait until last to drink. Those furthest downstream first drink, then wash themselves in the river, so that the mud doesn’t affect the other elephants. Then the next one drinks, and so on, one by one, upstream. In this way, everyone gets clean, clear water to drink and bathe in. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Deer Know Consideration Pays

Then Jos told me about deer on steep mountain trails here in British Columbia. Evidently, when a deer is about to pass another on a narrow, slippery and treacherous trail, the deer at the highest point stops and waits until the other deer has passed. This is to avoid slipping and pushing the other deer over the edge. Some small minded, egotistical business owners seem to relish the prospect of pushing their competition “over the edge”, as it were!  Smart entrepreneurs, on the other hand, realize that their competition can be their strongest allies.

I Grew from $4,000 to $20,000 in 4 Days

• Did you know that 20% of the revenues of large, Fortune 500 and International 2,000 companies come from Joint Ventures?
• And that a massive 50% of those Joint Ventures are with their competition?

Amazing, but true. The best entrepreneurs create powerful, win/win strategic alliances and share resources, distribution and access. Wal-Mart established themselves in Mexico in a fraction of the normal time by joint venturing with an existing Mexican company. I once grew my revenues in one of the profit centers in my business from $4,000 to $20,000 in four days using a joint venture. It would have taken me four years on my own!

The Key is Linking Up with the Right People

Together, we can do amazing things. We don’t have money problems; we have thinking problems. Everything you need is already available when you create synergistic relationships, in any area of life – not only business. Unity is strength. United we stand, divided we fall. The key to success is linking up with the right people. We started the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum to link successful professional entrepreneurs, and it works magnificently. By being very selective and educating ourselves, we team up to reach our goals and create value, just like elephants and deer.

We’ve come along way since the “hard sell” and the manipulative closing techniques and tricks that used to work so well, so long ago.  Salespeople face a far more sophisticated, self-centered market today. New markets and new challenges require a new approach.  Things that used to work, don’t work anymore. Adjust or die.  The new business environment demands a mindset that is a step ahead of the competition.

Used to be…

We’d “pitch” the prospect and then close hard and keep on closing, ignore objections, force our products and services down their throats and trumpet loudly as we swaggered back to the office clutching a check.  Never more, Miranda; never more.  Try that approach these days and you’ll end up driving a truck and showing off the watch you won for “Best Salesman in 1979”.  Join the has-beens.  No.  Times have changed.

The Correct New Approach

The good news is that it’s really not hard to do.  The correct new approach not only increases closing ratios and retains customers, it cuts attrition and leads to massive increases in referrals.  The solution is Joint Ventures.  By creating unprecedented added value and talking only with people who are ready, even eager to talk with you because of the Joint Venture platform you’ve created, closing ratios can skyrocket. Strategists work ON their business, while tacticians work reactively IN their businesses.  Think more, work less, close more.  Be VERY selective.

Partnering up with the right people creates a funnel that attracts, qualifies and sells automatically. Credibility, trust, value and access can be created fast and effectively through Joint Ventures.  Sales are the logical and inevitable result.

Let me ask you this: What do you really, really, really want?

• If you say, “Money”, what does that translate into for you?  Control?  Power?  Security?  Dignity?  Freedom?  How much money?
• If you say,  “Health”, what does that exactly mean to you?  How will you know when you’re healthy?  What has to happen in order for you to declare, “Now, I’m healthy!”
• If you say,  “Success”, what is “Success” to you?  How would you measure it?

I once consulted with a client who wanted to start a trans-Africa transport airline service.  When I dug deep down, what he REALLY wanted was to fly an airplane!  Much cheaper, methinks, than starting an airline, wouldn’t you agree?

Assessing Hot Buttons: “What is your NUMBER?”

I like this question: “What is your NUMBER?”  The “number” is the amount of money it will take you to do something. “Everyone has his price”, they say.  And they’re right.  What will it take?  And sometimes it will take a lot less than we might think.  When you know someone’s real Hot Button, you gain control beyond your wildest dreams.

Assessing Hot Buttons:  Pinpoint the Pain

Instead of mouthing off about yourself, your product or service, ask intelligent questions.    Find out what pain the other person is currently enduring.  Find out what keeps him or her awake at night, worrying – their greatest fears.

What Doesn’t Work

I know a fellow who continually tries to recruit me into his business.  But he’s so arrogant and egotistical that he never takes the time to find out who I am or what I want.  The more he runs off at the mouth the more I lose interest.  Instead of enticing me, he bores me.

What Does

I want to know everything about the people I choose to do business with because knowledge that can be applied is power.  It sometimes takes a long time to discover the Hot Button, but when you do, it’s worth the effort.  When you think you’ve found the Hot Button, test it. Don’t “jump to the confusion” that you’re right.

When you find the pain, turn the knife in the wound and then offer the solution, remedy and escape, in the form of a Joint Venture.

Understand your potential Joint Venture partner and get to know what their How Buttons are, and you will create a great Joint Venture.  Watch them:

• What do they look at?
• What do they read?
• Where do they go?
• What do they talk about the most?
• What do they spend time and money on?
• Whom do they spend time with?

Do personality assessments.  If you know I’m a High D, INTJ, you know more about me than most.  Take the time and spend the money, do your homework.  It will pay off in spades.

Years ago, I was a Hotel School trainee hotel manager in a high end resort hotel in South Africa. I was working as a chef in the kitchen when the owners imported a chef from Germany. Klaus became a good friend, and we worked at many hotels together. Later, when I was a Food and Beverage Manager with Holiday Inns, I hired him as an Executive Chef. Klaus immigrated to Australia years ago.

He was all about quality.

One day Klaus found out that I played squash, so he asked me to teach him. We popped down to the local sports store in the town fifteen miles away, and I will always remember the way Klaus purchased his equipment. “What equipment do I need?” he asked the store clerk.

“Give me the best and most expensive of every item, the best shoes, socks, racket, balls… only the best. If you don’t have it order it, Get it. Get is soon.”

I was surprised, and asked him how he justified this large purchase, given that he was a new player and might not even enjoy the game, or be any good at it. I’ll never forget his response.

Words of a Winner

“Robin, I am the best chef, and I will be the best squash player. I use only the best equipment in the kitchen, I use the best ingredients, as you very well know, I produce the finest quality, and I got the best training. I am the best. In everything I do, I go for the gold – the best. Why would I buy anything less than the best? I go all the way. I go big. I don’t compromise. Ich bin nicht ein Affe (I’m not a monkey.) Let’s be the best squash players!” Klaus always went all the way, he never compromised, and he insisted on the best. He reminded me of the hero in The Fountainhead. I learned a lot from Klaus, and I will visit him in Australia. If you’re reading this, Klaus, “Yeah, Mazamba!”

Don’t tentatively test the water with your toe – throw yourself into the deep end. Believe in yourself. Go for the gold. Push the envelope. Be the best. Go big. Set and maintain your own high standards, fly in the face of convention, and you will have little competition.

Remember that “Financial Planner” who calculated that a loaf of bread would cost $1,000 by the time you retired, and that you would need at least two million dollars in the bank to be able to stop working?  And how you could invest in the stock market to achieve that weighty goal, which meant a hefty commission for this financial genius who had less money than you had?  Remember how scary that felt, and how daunting the monthly payments would be?

Please note: This is not a Network Marketing / MLM pitch.

Remember how North Americans lost up to 40% of their savings in the last stock market crash?

And we continue to get pitched by schemers and scammers, because they know that:

• We don’t want to work until we drop.
• We want to retire with enough money to maintain our dignity and freedom in our most vulnerable years.
• We want to be able to enjoy our autumn years with security and peace of mind.

So they continually try to sell us dreams that turn into nightmares.

You DON’T Need Millions to Retire Comfortably

The GOOD NEWS is that you DON’T need millions of dollars in the bank.  What you do need is a regular, passive income that exceeds your needs.  Then you can retire.  And it doesn’t have to take years to accomplish.  And it’s not rocket science.  If you need $5,000 per month and your passive, residual income (ideally from different sources – not all your eggs in one basket) is $6,000, you’ve got it made in the shade!

How To Do It Easier Than You Think

How to do that?  Joint Ventures.  I have been doing Joint Ventures for nineteen years.  You don’t need a business, a product or a service to do Joint Ventures.  All you need is to understand them.  For more information, check out www.jvwisdom.com.  There is much more free information, e-books and articles.  And if you have a business, check out the section about the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum.  This could be one of the most articles you’ve ever read, no matter how old you are or what your circumstances are.  Financial freedom is within your reach.

I talked recently with a fellow who has a staff of eighty-five people that are not his sales team. He wants to increase his sales, so I suggested he consider turning these employees into salespeople. “But that’s not their job!” he protested.

Exactly. And that’s why most business owners overlook their greatest underutilized asset – their non sales employees. I got very excited when I realized that there were 85 people who could help increase his sales with no cost or risk!

The Unrealized Value of Your Employees

Every person on earth wants to feel important, recognized and appreciated. We want to feel that our contribution is important and that our ideas and suggestions are valued. Plus, we want to feel that we get rewarded for any value that we create. I have found that our employees at the coalface often know more about our businesses than we do. Their suggestions are based on real life, real experience and real opinions. They have insights and recommendations which could radically improve our bottom line profits, if we only gave them a reason to share those ideas, listened, and rewarded them accordingly.

Unleash Massive Sales!

Your employees want to feel a part of the business. They want to feel that they have secure jobs and that they can increase their income without moonlighting and arriving at your business half asleep. By listening to their ideas and providing them non-threatening and easy to use, understandable sales tools with a system to measure and reward results, you can unleash massive sales! When we understand that our businesses provide products and services that relieve pain and create value, we can train our employees to perceive “sales” differently. Use this massive, neglected resource – the cost is miniscule and the results are extraordinary – improved productivity and loyalty, decreased employee and customer attrition and increased sales and profits, innovation and motivation.

Give your employees what they want and the sky’s the limit

Zig Ziglar said, “You can get anything out of life, if you’re prepared to give enough other people what they want.” Most employees dread going to work and we can change that. Give your employees what they want: a voice, an ear, an opportunity, security, self esteem, reward, motivation, purpose and recognition, get your ego out of the way, and the sky’s the limit.

How workers ranked what they considered important, starting with the most important:

1. Appreciation for good work,
2. Feeling “in” on things,
3. Help with personal problems,
4. Job security,
5. Good wages,
6. Interesting work,
7. Possibility for promotion,
8. Loyalty of Management to workers,
9. Good working conditions,
10. Tactful discipline.

Apply this knowledge to your management systems and win!

After lying awake many nights, worrying about a business deal, thirty minutes with my lawyer removed all my concerns. And something he said has always stayed with me: “You were right to do nothing at the time, Robin.”

Kenny Rogers sang,

“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run”

We all know how important timing is. Or do we? As we mature as entrepreneurs, we get a gut feel for timing. At the same time, we learn that we don’t need to do every deal, or deal with everybody. We learn to walk away and we learn to stick it out. And we know that sometimes the results we work so hard for aren’t immediately evident.

The Folly of Forcing Timing

Sometimes, we’re tempted to try and force things to happen, to twist the arm of the business process, to apply undue pressure. This usually leads to disaster or at least embarrassment. Or we hold back and allow a wonderful opportunity to pas us by. It takes self control and faith to hold ‘em, to fold ‘em, to walk away and to resist counting ‘em too soon. And sometimes it’s easy to run when we should be holding on.

The Company We Keep

Sometimes, what keeps us disciplined and objective is the company we keep. If desperate people do desperate things, we need to associate with people who are not desperate, strapped for cash or emotionally unstable. Wise counsel comes from people who are relaxed, confident and impartial.

So aligning ourselves with a group of strong, patient and experienced entrepreneurs who can keep us on track when the wind howls and the seas are rough, is a smart thing to do.  Which is exactly why I started the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. Courage is not the absence of fear and every entrepreneur has known the odd sleepless night. That’s when it’s good to have a seasoned mentor or wise business associate on call. Preferably someone who has a vested interest in your success. Together, we can do amazing things.

There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries”

– William Shakespeare.