Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You Got THE BOOK OF PERSONAL AND BUSINESS GROWTH By Jay Abraham 18 Super logical ways to multiply your talent, income and success in today’s new world of opportunity. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION i. PART I: MAXIMIZING WHAT YOU HAVE Chapter 1: YOUR FLIGHT PLAN 1 Where You’re Headed – Understanding the Big Picture Chapter 2: GREAT EXPECTATIONS 30 The Art of Becoming Unbeatable Chapter 3: HOW CAN YOU GO FORWARD IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY YOU’RE FACING? 45 Your Current Business Strengths and Weaknesses Chapter 4: YOUR BUSINESS SOUL – THE STRATEGY OF PREEMINENCE 52 How to Philosophically Approach Clients and Colleagues Chapter 5: BREAK EVEN TODAY, BREAK THE BANK TOMORROW 66 Calculating the Lifetime Value of a Client Chapter 6: VIVE LA DIFFERENCE 75 Developing a Unique Selling Proposition Chapter 7: MAKE ‘EM AN OFFER THEY CAN’T REFUSE 100 Risk Reversal – Eliminating the Number One Obstacle to Buying Chapter 8: WOULD YOU LIKE THE LEFT SHOE, TOO? 115 Increasing Client Satisfaction and Transaction Value Chapter 9: HOW TO NEVER FALL OFF A CLIFF 142 Testing to Guarantee the Highest Results and Lowest Risk PART II: MULTIPLYING YOUR MAXIMUM Chapter 10: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS 159 Benefiting Through Host-Beneficiary Relationships Chapter 11: SOMEONE YOU SHOULD MEET 187 Creating a Formal Referral System Chapter 12: THE PRODIGAL CLIENT 206 Reactivating Past Clients and Relationships Chapter 13: YOUR 10,000 PERSON SALES DEPARTMENT 225 Gaining Clients with Sales Letters and the Written Word Chapter 14: FISH WHERE THE FISH ARE 252 Targeting High Quality Prospects Chapter 15: WATSON, COME HERE, I NEED YOU 271 Gaining Clients over the Telephone Chapter 16: BIG PROFITS.COM 286 Selling on the Internet Chapter 17: MANHATTAN FOR $29 WORTH OF BEADS 302 Barter – Leveraging Your Product or Service as Cash Chapter 18: LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP 323 Communicating with People Who Create Your Wealth Chapter 19: SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW 331 Establishing and Reaching Your Goal Chapter 20: YOUR NEVER ENDING SUCCESS 336 Getting the Most, Day after Day, Year after Year Chapter 21: YOU ARE RICHER THAN YOU THINK 341 Your Definition of Success ONE LAST THOUGHT 354 RECOMMENDED READING 355 INTRODUCTION GOOD NEWS I have very good news for you – we live in a world of extreme uncertainty. No one knows what changes will occur next year, next month or even tomorrow. And because of the new global economy we don’t know where those changes and new realities will come from or how significant they’ll be. Technological advances are happening with heart-stopping speed. The foundation of your current success could crumble virtually overnight. Change has always been with us, but today the speed of change is greater than ever before. And all evidence indicates that this uncertainty will be with us for some time to come. But this is not just very good news for you. This is great news. Some see this chaotic world reality as a long uphill battle. Success to them means merely to not lose ground and survive. Those who hold that belief will, at best, merely survive. I, however, see the same realities from a completely different angle. Fast paced change and uncertainty offer the greatest opportunities to achieve massive success. Business success, career success, financial success and personal success. These are times to think not of mere business or personal survival. This is the time to reach for success and prosperity. Breakthrough success and prosperity. We live in a new world of opportunity. And the rewards await the men and women who take advantage of the opportunity. The greatest certainties in uncertain times are opportunity and possibility. This has always been true. i More millionaires were made during the depression in the 1930’s than any other period before that. World War II resulted in the greatest economic expansion and life style improvements the world has ever seen. In the 1970’s and 1980’s Japan dominated the world economy. This forced other countries to change and innovate their manufacturing methods, quality and efficiency. The results have been an economic rebirth for those who took advantage of the opportunities and possibilities that faced them. In the next 21 chapters I’m going to introduce you to the essential strategies you will need to take advantage of the opportunities and possibilities that you now face. The strategies you need to “maximize” your business and personal actions. These strategies can be successfully applied in an uncomplicated, straightforward manner or they can be taken to extremely high levels of sophistication. And I’ll show you how to apply them to your business, your company, your own career and your life to produce more clients, more sales, more income, more profits, more loyalty, more distinction, more power and more success. Much of this book is focused on how you can improve your business life. But the strategies also work in virtually any area of your life where you need to persuade others to accept your position or ideas. They show you how to become a leader. A person who holds a position of respect and influence. They show you how to get what you want. And how to get what you want in a totally ethical and honorable way. ii This is no time to retreat in fear. This is probably the greatest time of opportunity and possibility in your life. You live in a new world of opportunity. And when you read this book and apply what you learn, you will live in a new world of success. iii CHAPTER ONE YOUR FLIGHT PLAN – WHERE YOU’RE HEADED An amazing thing, the human brain. Capable of understanding incredibly complex and intricate concepts. Yet at times unable to recognize the obvious and simple. Some true examples: Ice cream was invented in 2000 BC. Yet it was 3,900 years later before someone figured out the ice cream cone. Meat was on the planet before humans. Bread was baked in 2600 BC. Nevertheless, it took another 4,300 years for somebody to put them together and create the sandwich. And the modern flush toilet was invented in 1775, but it wasn’t until 1857 that somebody thought up toilet paper. Once these obvious connections have been made, they seem so obvious. So evident. We can’t believe we didn’t see them sooner. An endless number of these unmade connections exist to this day, especially in the business world. You are surrounded by simple, obvious solutions that can dramatically increase your income, profit and success. The problem is, you just don’t see them. I’m going to show you how to recognize the income and success increasing connections that are all around you. I will give you proven strategies and detailed examples of how to leverage those strategies so you can turn them into greater income and success. And when you do, your life will never be the same. 1 You’ll be shocked at how truly easy this is going to be. Too good to be true? It’s not. Let me take just one seemingly huge, complicated, income-increasing problem and show you how truly easy and simple it is to solve. Did you ever wonder how many ways there are to increase your business? 100 ways? 200 ways? 500 ways? It can be intimidating to merely know where to start. I have good news – there are only three ways to increase your business: 1. Increase the number of clients. 2. Increase the average size of the sale per client. 3. Increase the number of times clients return and buy again. Only three. It’s significantly less daunting if you only have to focus on three categories. In fact, it’s easy. Let’s take a simple example. • Calculate your number of clients. • Figure the average amount they spend on each transaction/sale • Determine how often they make a purchase in a year. Let’s say you have 1,000 clients. They average $100 per transaction/sale. And they make two purchases in a year. # of Clients Transaction Value Per Client Transaction Per Year Total Income 1,000 x $100 x 2 = $200,000 But look what happens if you increase these three numbers by just 10%. # of Clients Transaction Value Per Client Transaction Per Year Total Income 1,100 x $110 x 2.2 = $266,200 A mere 10% increase across the board expands your income by 33.1%. 2 A 25% increase in these categories nearly doubles your income to $390,625. Very simple. But the results can be overwhelming. Focusing on this simple formula is just one small way people easily do increase their incomes or grow their businesses by 100%, 200% or more. Let’s get a little more specific. Here are a few examples of how various companies have increased their numbers in these three vital categories. HOW TO INCREASE YOUR NUMBER OF CLIENTS: I have a client whose income curve was stagnant. It doesn’t matter what they sold. Pretend it’s your product or service. This company had a compensation program that paid the sales people 10% of the profit. So, if the company made $1,000 profit on a sale, the sales person would get $100 and the company would get $900. I had them calculate: • What the average new client is worth to them in dollars each time they buy. • How many times that client will buy from them each year. • How many years the average client will be with them. It turned out the first sale, on average, resulted in about $200 profit for the company. Of that, $20 went to the salesman or woman, $180 to the company. On average, the client bought five times a year for three years. So basically, each time that company got a new client, they were receiving $3,000 in cumulative profits. My solution: Instead of giving the sales people 10% of the profit on a sale to a new, first time client, give them 100% of the profit of the first sale. The company management’s response: “You’re insane!” 3