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Chapter 12 - Law Of Averages Can Double Sales
In my last book, How to Turn Your Ability into Cash, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, N. Y., I wrote a chapter entitled: "How the Law of Averages Can Make You Rich." That chapter bears so significantly on selling that I feel it only fair to acquaint you with its contents. In order to do so, I am going to review the chapter and amplify some of its salient points. The Law of Averages is usually shrouded in mysterious terminology and statistics. It is seldom demonstrated as an effective means to help increase the production of sales. All natural laws, which are laws of God, express justice. They have no favorites, and are available to all who endeavor to understand and apply them. They work with absolute certainty, precision, and justice. The Law of Averages is one of these natural laws, and it can be effectively and efficiently applied to selling. The results can be anticipated with accuracy. In my 42 years of experience in the field of selling, I have proved that the Law of Averages applies in dealing with prospects, as well as it does to other things. A knowledge of this law is one of the most stimulating and fascinating factors in selling. The application of this law guarantees the success of any salesman. I shall examine the Law of Averages in three ways, and an understanding of each will give you a more comprehensive picture of its operations. First: I will give you a practical introduction to the Law of Averages. Second: I will give you an interpretation of this Law. Third: I will show you how the Law of Averages can double your sales. To introduce the practical application of the Law of Averages, take a coin and toss it into the air one hundred times. Mark down the number of times it falls heads and the number of times it falls tails. What happens? There are only two sides to that coin, and both sides are exposed; the Law of Averages determines that the coin will fall heads approximately the same number of times it falls tails. What Is the Law of Averages? The above demonstration will prove that the Law of Averages works. Since it does work, let us endeavor to define it. Socrates, one of the greatest thinkers who ever lived, had a great motto: "Define your terms." It is only logical, therefore, that you should know the meaning of the Law of Averages. In my attempt to define the Law of Averages, I wrote letters, made inquiries, and asked many questions. From these different sources I received many ideas and suggestions. To sum them all up, the answer was: "If you put something in, you get something out." A very good answer, and it contains the elements of truth; however, it did not satisfy me. Many millions of people had seen things fall to the ground long before Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravitation. But Newton wanted to know the reason why things fell to the ground. Some one asked him how he discovered the law of gravitation. His answer was: "By thinking about it." After thinking a long time about the Law of Averages in terms of application, in terms of demonstration, in terms of relationships, and in terms of how it produces results, I created the following definition: The Law of Averages is the law that determines the number of times a thing will happen in proportion to the number of times that that thing is exposed. The definition of the Law of Averages establishes it on a practical basis. Therefore, it will prove very helpful to you to visualize this definition and get it well established in your mind. To know a principle thoroughly inspires us to apply it. Anyone who applies the Law of Averages, based on the above definition, cannot fail to produce results. Many salesmen are inclined to confuse the Law of Averages with luck. Luck is that which happens to one seemingly by chance. Chance is taking a gamble that a thing may or may not happen. It is a pure risk with a possibility to win based on that imaginary thing called luck. Voltaire said: "There is no such thing as luck. Everything has a cause." The cause of a sale is the intelligent application of the Law of Averages. Sometime a sale will fall into your lap and you may be inclined to say, "Oh! I was just lucky," but somewhere along the line you have planted many ideas about your product and this is only a delayed reward for a just application of the law. The Law of Averages guarantees a certain number of sales, provided that you will expose a certain number of ideas about the product you are selling. The sooner you expose these ideas, the sooner will you make a sale. You will be pleased to know that the Law of Averages puts into action two other very definite laws. One is the Law of Acceleration and the other one is the Law of Compensation. The Law of Acceleration hastens the ordinary process of selling. You learn to sell with a definite goal in view. You concentrate on results, and sales take place with an unusual pace. You often wonder from where they come. The Law of Compensation is another law you can rely on. It never fails to compensate you for every ounce of energy that you expend. This law never cheats any man and rewards everyone exactly in proportion to the amount of effort they have expended. No one can cheat you but yourself. The Law of Compensation embodies the invisible power of God that guarantees that no honest effort can suffer a loss. Every effort toward a sale will be rewarded. If it is delayed, you are collecting compound interest and in many instances the delay is only testing your faith in an unfailing law. How to Use the Law of Averages The Law of Averages operates in all your sales activities. To be conscious of this law is to increase your sales with speed and certainty. The Law of Averages is a definite law that eliminates luck, discards chance, fulfills every requirement, and affords you a means to reap the rich and full reward of its application. "Ignorance of the law excuseth no man" is an old legal maxim applying to the law of the land. To commit a crime with the plea of ignorance does not excuse the offender. The same principle applies to the laws of creation, except these laws are more exacting. To be ignorant of these laws in no way interferes with their operation. The laws are here for us to use and not using them is certainly no fault of the laws. The Law of Averages is a fundamental law of creation. To apply it is to enjoy its rewards. The Law of Averages is expressed no less than three times in the Bible: in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, the fourth chapter of Mark, and the eighth chapter of Luke. In each of these chapters is found the "Parable of the Sower," which plainly states that the sower must sow his seed before he can expect to reap a crop. Some seed will fall by the wayside, some will fall among thorns, some will fall among the rocks, but some will fall upon good ground and bring forth fruit a hundredfold. The secret of the sower is the kind of seed that he sows. The seed must be of good quality in order to take root when it falls on the right soil. That which he reaps will be of the same nature as that which he sows. If he sows wind, he will reap a whirlwind. If he sows sawdust he will reap sawdust. Everything increases after its own kind. As the seed contains all the elements essential to the plant, so must ideas contain all the elements essential to success. You must sow ideas before you can reap a reward. You must give before you can get. So when you sow and when you give, do it freely with no strings to it. As Jesus put it, "Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone. But if it die, it beareth much fruit." You do your part and the seed will do its part. Most of us, most of the time, are thwarted, distracted, and discouraged because we have no definite knowledge of a law on which to expend our efforts. Doubt, uncertainty, and dread creep into our consciousness, and there is a tendency to vacillate from one goal to another and from one interest to another. We end up by being simply bewildered, with a suspicion of being cheated. In applying a fundamental law, do not be anxious or overzealous to change your procedure. Remember that natural laws do not vacillate. The laws that rule the universe are unchangeable. They unfold logically. Observe how logically things in nature grow and develop. Nothing is accidental. They develop in logical sequence and unfold in perfect fruition. The laws of God cannot fail. If they did they would violate God's own principles. This is impossible. Does the law of gravitation fail? Drop what you have in your hand and see what happens. This law is constantly on the job even though you are not conscious of it. The laws of physics, the laws of chemistry, the laws of mathematics, or any other fundamental laws are constantly available for our use. Someone may ask what a dozen eggs will cost at six cents each. Instantly, through the laws of mathematics, you multiply 12 x 6 and solve the problem. The moment you are conscious of the law, it is there to meet your need. Thus far, I have given you a practical demonstration of the Law of Averages. I have defined it and have endeavored to interpret it. Now I want to show you how the Law of Averages works for you. The Law of Averages yields results with the same certainty and accuracy as the laws of mathematics, when applied. I not only believe in the Law of Averages and have faith in it, but more than these, I know the Law of Averages operates. When I multiply 6 x 12 I know the result is 72. Faith and belief in the laws of mathematics become ready knowledge. So, too, application of the Law of Averages becomes ready and usable knowledge the minute it is applied. How The Law Of Averages Works For You Not many years ago, the Law of Averages put me on the spot and gave me an ample opportunity to test the validity of its application. I was making 1800 calls over the telephone and not getting a bite. Was I dismayed? Was I frustrated? Was I discouraged? Not in the least. I was exposing an idea in the form of a Sales Plan portraying the benefits of life insurance. I was putting into operation the Law of Averages. I knew that this law could not fail. Operating on this principle, there was no occasion for doubt. I knew that results were certain. What happened? Within a few days, I struck the jackpot. The last few calls paid off. It rained business. Did the Law of Averages pay off? In less than one month I received more than 2 dollars for every telephone call made. In addition, I received a bonus of at least that much more. In the field of selling, the Law of Averages is exacting as to the amount of calls necessary for a sale. It certainly requires that you plant ideas, but it does not prescribe the method to use. In fact, the Law of Averages is absolutely indifferent as to the method you employ to put it in operation. In my experience in selling, I have often used the telephone. I find that the telephone method is the quickest, the most practical, the most efficient, the most feasible, and the most scientific method of carrying an idea to the greatest number of people in the shortest period of time. It is the quickest and most direct means of exposing an idea in a personalized way and, therefore, fulfilling the requirements necessary for the Law of Averages to operate. In applying the Law of Averages in the field of selling, it is absolutely necessary to determine the result you desire. The Law of Averages does not know the objective you desire until the decision is made. Once a decision is reached, the law goes into operation to fulfill it. The number of times you expose an idea about a product or service is the number that determines how often the exposure of that idea will reward you. If you sell, put a definite cash value on each call. If you work on a salary, put a definite estimate of the number of calls you want to make to consummate a sale. Keep a record, and watch the Law of Averages operate. In my own experience, I have placed a value of 2 dollars on each telephone call and also a value of 5 dollars on each call I make in person. Therefore, if I make 50 telephone calls in one day over the telephone, or if I make 20 calls in person, I know I have earned 100 dollars. To illustrate this fact, it will be of interest to you to know that in June of 1947, I purposely tested the Law of Averages on the telephone basis. Six months later I found I had made 3000 telephone calls, and the Law of Averages paid me not only 2 dollars for each call, but again rewarded me with a substantial bonus. You may ask, "How about competition?" In all my years of selling I have never given the subject of competition any thought or consideration. I have been so busily engaged putting the Law of Averages in operation, and availing myself of the opportunities and rewards it afforded me, that I never had time to devote to the subject of competition. Many men have asked me how I could sell so well making a cold canvass. My reply was that the Law of Averages knows no cold canvass. It deals only with a hot one. You may also ask, "Does the Law of Averages work among strangers?" Does the sun know any strangers? The Law of Averages knows no strangers, and once it is put in operation it works like a magnet. It attracts and draws to it the thing you desire. Remember the "Parable of the Sower," and always rely upon good seed. The value and advantage of the product or service, and what they mean to the prospect, are the seeds you sow. Exposing ideas built into a sales plan and transmitting them with absolute faith and certainty to a number of prospects puts the Law of Averages in operation. Are reactions to ideas predictable? Yes, there is nothing more certain to predict than the reaction you will get when you present a number of people with a certain definite idea. Positive action gets a reaction. This reaction will be favorable or unfavorable. If it is favorable, you act upon it quickly. If it is unfavorable, you forget it. The Law of Averages Can Double Your Sales In applying the Law of Averages, endeavor to be patient. Do not attempt to rush it, but make every effort to fulfill it. Shake the limb of an apple tree with a green apple upon it, and nothing happens. Shake the limb when the apple is ripe and the apple falls off. Also remember the grain: "first the blade, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear." The Law of Averages cannot be forced, coerced, or hastened. When the requirements are met, it operates with precision. Nothing can force it to act, and nothing can prevent it from acting. The Law of Averages will remunerate you in proportion to the value you yourself put on it. If you demand little, it pays little. If you demand much and set a worth-while goal, it will always meet your standard. Tell the Law of Averages that you want to double your sales. Ask for it, seek it, and demand it in a humble and sincere way—then pursue that demand with faith, persistence, and determination until you have achieved your objective. N. W. Ayer, one of the greatest advertising men this country ever produced, had a great slogan: "Keeping everlastingly at it brings success." Some people think that this implies a form of slavery. I think possibly Mr. Ayer was referring to the Law of Averages. A chain of ideas puts into operation the Law of Averages, which brings results. An idea once in print begins to accelerate a process of other ideas, to form a chain of influence, and eventually, through the Law of Averages, the idea brings success. In applying the Law of Averages, remember that you have no control over its rewards or the source from which the rewards come. It rewards you from the most unsuspected sources and in the most unexpected ways. As a salesman you may be all aglow with a sure sale. On the surface the prospect could not fail. What happens? The prospect does fail to buy. Why? Because he is human. The Law of Averages, on the other hand, cannot fail, and what you thought only a "suspect" turns into a genuine sale. The Law of Averages is unlike man-made law. It cannot be changed, altered, or amended. No act of chicanery, no cunning fraud, and no art of deception can force it to act or cause it to fail. It can only be put into action by concentrated thought. The true purpose of the Law of Averages is to give you a definite plan of action with the absolute assurance that the application of your sales ability cannot fail to produce results. This assurance gives you the power and determination to carry on. The experiences that I have enumerated are not opinions or theories about the Law of Averages. They are the Law of Averages in action. This law does not need a favorable place or a favorable time to operate. It will operate for anyone, at any time, at any place. As you apply the Law of Averages, many illuminating thoughts and ideas will flash into your mind and a new vista of selling will spread before you. Its unlimited possibilities will change your entire attitude towards selling. By all means, use the Law of Averages and double your sales.
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