SWIM WITH THE SHARKS Without Being Eaten Alive Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition HARVEY MACKAY Foreword by Kenneth Blanchard DEDICATION Two incredible men have been mentors to me throughout the years. My late father, Jack Mackay, was an exceptional journalist whose invaluable life-lessons have always guided me. He left giant footsteps in which I’ve tried to walk. Rudy Miller, my late father-in-law, was a one-of-a-kind entrepreneur, gentleman, and humanitarian whose genuine zest for life energized our entire family. There was no better businessman anywhere in the country, and I still can’t believe it was my good fortune to become his “son” when I fell in love with his daughter. CONTENTS Author’s Note Foreword by Kenneth Blanchard Acknowledgments CHAPTER ONE “I’d Like 15,000 Tickets for Tonight’s Game, Please” CHAPTER TWO Harvey Mackay’s Short Course in Salesmanship Lesson 1 It’s Not How Much It’s Worth, It’s How Much People Think It’s Worth Lesson 2 There are Objections to Every Proposition, No Matter How Attractive… Lesson 3 Knowing Something About Your Customer Is Just as Important as Knowing Everything About Your Product Lesson 4 The 66-Question Customer Profile Lesson 5 The Mackay 66 Continued: War Stories Lesson 6 Once You Attach Your Personality to a Proposition, People Start Reacting… Lesson 7 Racial and Religious Prejudice and Human Envy Have Not Been Eliminated… Lesson 8 How to Handle the Tough Prospect Lesson 9 Create Your Own Private Club Lesson 10 Short Notes Yield Long Results Lesson 11 The Second-Best Place to Look for New Business Lesson 12 What Every Salesperson—and Not Enough Entrepreneurs—Know Lesson 13 Keep Your Eye on Your Time, Not on Your Watch Lesson 14 If You Don’t Have a Destination, You’ll Never Get There Lesson 15 Believe in Yourself, Even When No One Else Does Lesson 16 Seek Role Models Lesson 17 Fantasize Lesson 18 The Easiest, Least Expensive, and Most Neglected Form of Advertising Lesson 19 Show Me a Guy Who Thinks He’s a Self-Made Man and I’ll Show You the Easiest Sell in the World CHAPTER THREE Harvey Mackay’s Short Course on Negotiation Lesson 20 Smile and Say No Until Your Tongue Bleeds Lesson 21 Send in the Clones Lesson 22 There Is No Such Thing as a Sold-Out House Lesson 23 Understanding Your Banker Lesson 24 The Single Most Powerful Tool for Winning a Negotiation Is the Ability to Walk Away from the Table Without a Deal Lesson 25 “Calling Mr. Otis” Lesson 26 The Most Important Term in Any Contract Isn’t in the Contract Lesson 27 Agreements Prevent Disagreements Lesson 28 The Longer They Keep You Waiting, the More They Want to Deal Lesson 29 He Who Burns His Bridges Better Be a Damn Good Swimmer Lesson 30 Make Your Decisions with Your Heart, and What You’ll End Up with Is Heart Disease Lesson 31 Never Buy Anything in a Room with a Chandelier Lesson 32 Everything’s Negotiable Lesson 33 The Buyer/Seller Battle CHAPTER FOUR Harvey Mackay’s Short Course in Management Lesson 34 The Single Greatest Mistake a Manager Can Make Lesson 35 When a Person with Money Meets a Person with Experience… Lesson 36 You’ll Always Get the Good News; It’s How Quickly You Get the Bad News That Counts Lesson 37 Throw It on the Floor Lesson 38 Treat Your Suppliers the Way You Treat Your Customers Lesson 39 The Time for the Renaissance Man Was the Renaissance Lesson 40 Never Be Your Own Hatchet Man Lesson 41 On the Other Hand, If You Are Going to Be Your Own Hatchet Man… Lesson 42 Little Things Don’t Mean a Lot; They Mean Everything Lesson 43 How to Spot a Winner Lesson 44 Your Best People May Spend Their Most Productive Time Staring at the Wall Lesson 45 It’s More Fun When It’s Spontaneous Lesson 46 Have You Ever Seen a Stand-Up Strike? Lesson 47 It Isn’t Practice That Makes Perfect; You Have to Add One Word: It’s Perfect Practice That Makes Perfect Lesson 48 Trust the Experts…to Be Wrong Lesson 49 It Isn’t the People You Fire Who Make Your Life Miserable, It’s the People You Don’t Lesson 50 The Best Way to Chew Someone Out Lesson 51 Never Let Anyone, Particularly a Superstar, Pick His or Her Own Successor Lesson 52 Give More Conventions and You Can Give Fewer Raises Lesson 53 How Many Salespeople Do You Have? Lesson 54 Get Bored Easily Lesson 55 Ask an Old Grizzly Lesson 56 Knowing When Not to Work Hard Is as Important as Knowing When To Lesson 57 Owning 1 Percent of Something Is Worth More Than Managing 100 Percent of Anything Lesson 58 Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty Lesson 59 Treat Your Own People the Way You Treat Your Customers Lesson 60 How to Be Fired Lesson 61 You Can’t Solve a Problem Unless You First Admit You Have One Lesson 62 If You Can Afford to Buy Your Way Out of a Problem, You Haven’t Got a Problem Lesson 63 “I Have Never Seen a Bad Résumé”: John Y. Brown Lesson 64 The Acid Test for Hiring Lesson 65 If You Want to Be Santa Claus, Your Sled Better Be Able to Pull a Trailer Lesson 66 What’s the Best Way to Save Time? Lesson 67 Don’t Get Mad and Don’t Get Even Either Lesson 68 Know Thine Enemy Lesson 69 Don’t Be Intimidated by a Reputation CHAPTER FIVE Quickies Quickie 1 Gratitude Is the Least Deeply Felt of All Human Emotions Quickie 2 It’s Not Your Last Good Idea Quickie 3 Buy Cheap Cars and Expensive Houses Quickie 4 How to Get to Know a Celebrity Quickie 5 The Best R&D in the World Is Never More Than a Keystroke Away Quickie 6“Nothing Is Greater to One Than One’s Self Is”— Walt Whitman Quickie 7 There Is No Such Thing as a Bad Memory Quickie 8 Put Your Memory Where Your Mouth Is Quickie 9 Stay Sharp by Predicting the Future Quickie 10 It Usually Pays to Look Good, but Sometimes It Pays a Lot More to Look Bad Quickie 11 Take a Multimillionaire to Lunch Quickie 12 It’s Not Only Who You Know, but How You Get to Know Them Quickie 13 To a Normal Person, $10 Million Will Seem Like Enough Quickie 14 How to Beat the Law of Supply and Demand Quickie 15 There Is a Place in the World for Anyone in the World Who Says, “I’ll Take Care of It” Quickie 16 Never Give the Same Speech Once Quickie 17 There Are Two Times in Life When You’re Totally Alone: Just Before You Die and Just Before You Make a Speech Quickie 18 The Beauty of Cash Quickie 19 The Meaning of Life CHAPTER SIX Helping Your Kids Beat the Odds Helping Your Kids Beat the Odds Don’t Plan on Sticking Around Just to Collect the Gold Watch Find Something You Like to Do and Make It Pay Make Believe Your Parents Are Right Some of the Time There’s No Future in Saying It Can’t Be Done It’s Harder to Be a Success When Your Parents Already Are CHAPTER SEVEN The Closer: How to Succeed How to Succeed Determination + Goal-Setting + Concentration = Success Searchable Terms About the Author Praise Other Books by Harvey Mackay Copyright About the Publisher