How To Sell With Class And Still Make Out Like a Bandit

I don’t care if you sell online, offline, or on the sideline….you should pay close attention to the following lesson.

Why?

Two reasons:

(1) Because I’m a well-respected author, teacher, and email copywriter who should be heard and obeyed.

Do I even need to give you the other reason?

I do?

Hm. O.K.

I see how it is.

Alright then, here’s the other reason:

Because today, I’m going to talk about, what I believe, are the two most overlooked, underrated, and undervalued characteristics of a supreme salesperson. And mark my words, these two characteristics can make you mucho dinero.

But first…a little story.

Once upon a time (circa 1988), a man named, Attila Ambrus, escaped communist controlled Romania by hanging on the underside of a freight train.

He ended up in Hungary.

Once in Hungary, he found a little place to lay his head and settled in as best he could. Well anyway, one fine day, Ambrus heard that the local ice hockey club was looking for more players. Ambrus used to play a little ice hockey back in Romania, so he rolls up to try out for the team.

And, he makes the team.

Not because he was good, but because they were desperately in need of more players.

They gave him the goalkeeper position. Amrus was a horrible goalkeeper. He once gave up 23 goals in a single game. But when Ambrus wasn’t screwing up on the ice, he was screwing over postal office workers. By that I mean…

…He Was Robbing Them!

Yup, Attila Ambrus was a bank robber.

And, unlike his goalkeeping, he was very good at it.

He robbed places with great skill and aplomb.

He robbed post offices, travel agencies, and his favorite of all – banks.

But Ambrus was not your garden-variety bank robber. Oh no. Ambrus was an incredibly charming and nice fellow. He acted more like a butler than a bank robber. Instead of intimidating his marks, he would charm them. He would treat them with great respect and dignity.

For example, on his bank robberies, Ambrus would waltz into the bank and hand the female tellers a rose and pay them sweet compliments. The debonaire bank robber was even nice to the boys in blue. He would regularly send bottles of Montoya Cabernet to the police chief who was chasing him down.

But like all bank robbers, he finally got caught. He got 12 years.

Dear subscriber, what you just read was a true story.

Yep, Attila Ambrus became infamous in Hungary as a folk hero. His “gentleman robberies” were legendary. Ambrus was nicknamed the Whiskey Robber. He was given that name because, before every robbery, he would stop in at the closest bar and down a glass of Johnnie Walker whiskey.

His story has since been made into a book and a movie. If you’re interested, it’s called The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber.

Now, why did I tell you that story?

Well, remember my intro? I mentioned that there are two characteristics of every supreme salesperson that are overlooked by the amateur salesperson. Remember? (C’mon, Chief, keep up)

I told you that story because it reveals those two underrated and undervalued characteristics.

And those two characteristics are: (1) charm, and (2) being nice.

If you don’t agree that those two characteristics are essential to succeeding in sales…I don’t know what to tell you, other than, good luck.

In my book (and almost every other successful salesperson’s book), all salespeople, marketers and business owners should excel at both.

Now think about it, if a bank robber can have a little charm, and be nice, surely every business person, marketer, and salesperson can be, right?

Sadly, this is not the case.

Having a little charm and being genuinely nice seems to be more the exception than the rule.

Which reminds me of last Saturday night.

Let me tell you about last Saturday night.

What happened is, I went to a bar to see some live music. The music was good, but the service at the bar was downright pitiful. The bartender’s demeanor was colder than the beer (and the beers were almost ice cold)

I’m telling you, this ice queen who served me did not smile, did not utter a word; she just looked at me as if I were a stranger who just wandered into her house.

I was nothing but an inconvenience.

It was unbelievable.

If the bar is busy, I get it. The bartender has no time for chit chat. But I was one of only three people in the whole bar at the time.

Here are two facts:

FACT #1 Charming and nice bartenders sell more drinks. FACT #2 Good looking bartenders who are charming and nice sell even more.

But let’s just deal with what we can control, eh?

I mean, we can’t all be pleasing to the eye, but we CAN all give a pleasing experience, can’t we?

It’s not hard to give your prospects and customers a good sales experience. It just takes a little charm and some adherence to what our parents taught us at a tender age.

Which is…

….To Be Nice!

What do I mean by charming and nice?

Excellent question.

By charm, I simply mean that you should learn to display a little showmanship and let your personality show. And being nice means just that. Be nice.

I know, this all seems a little too simple, doesn’t it? But don’t be fooled, my friend.

It’s not the “ninja” sales techniques and tricks that make the difference, it’s the basics.

Kelvin, why do you think so many people overlook the basics?

Hm. That’s like asking what’s on the other side of a black hole?

No one really knows.

Just make sure you’re not one of them!

I’m out.

Kelvin

www.kelvindorsey.com