What You Need To Know --
About Girard's Law of 250
by Dave Cole

Today we are going to look into some of the exact methods and tactics that Joe Girard (the "Worlds Greatest Salesman" by the Guiness Book of World Records) used and relied upon to build his business.

Actually Joe's selling career began when he was 8 years old. It was in the middle of the Great Depression which meant work and money was real scarce. Joe had to shine shoes and deliver papers to help his family eat.

The local paper Joe was delivering for ran a contest to obtain new subscribers. For every person who signed up, the paper boys would win a case of Pepsi-Cola. That was a really big deal for a young man, and gave Joe the motivation and incentive to go out and sell papers.

He knocked on every door in the neighborhood, explaining what was going on and told the people the benefits they would receive from having this newspaper. Then, if they said no, Joe would keep on talking, never giving up and never becoming so disappointed that he didn't keep on pushing doorbells.

Joe was persistent! He soon learned that the more people he talked to, the more sales he made.

Later when Joe began selling cars, things didn't just happen overnight. He had a problem, and that problem was he stuttered badly. It got to the point where either he overcome it or his family didn't eat. Joe learned to overcome that adversity by teaching himself to concentrate on what he was trying to say and say it slowly and carefully.

Joe says, "Learning to overcome stuttering was one of the most important things that happened to me when I started selling. It made me think about what I was trying to say and what I should say and what people wanted to hear. I not only cured myself, I also learned some of the fundamentals of communication because I learned to listen and to plan every word I said carefully."

As Joe grew in his trade, he developed a system of staying in contact with his customers and potential clients. Every phone call or personal contact he made, Joe would write down on a file card any relevant info.

He sent everybody a unique card or letter, and sent them every single month! These weren't high pressure sales letters, just friendly reminders. His thinking was that when someone wanted to buy a car, the first name that came to their mind was Joe Girard.

He did things that were unusual, and people don't forget things like that. He says, "Personalized mail is the best thing that anybody can receive from a salesperson. Wherever their are people, there are prospects, and if you let them know you are there and what you do, you are building your business."

Besides his file system and sending out cards, Joe passed out over 500 business cards.....every single week! "If you do a lot of things to build business, you'll build business. You don't have to do them perfectly, but you have to do them - a lot!"

But, early in his career, Joe learned the most important lesson in selling --

You have to build relationships before you can sell a person a car, a boat, a suit, or anything.

Joe honestly believed this ... every single person he ever talked to was important.

He treated everybody with respect and courtesy. Joe took a genuine interest in that person and their family, constantly trying to develop a trust in and with that person.

Girard's Law of 250 says that every person on the average knows at least 250 other people.

His thoughts were that if you just make 1 person mad or upset, they will go out and tell 250 other people what a klutz Joe Girard is, and then each of those, will go tell 250 of their friends the same thing.

But, if you treat everyone with respect and honesty, they will praise Joe Girard to 250 of their friends. "It doesn't take a mathematical genius to know that Girard's Law of 250 is the most important thing you can learn."

Joe says, "Can you afford to jeopardize just one of these people? I can't. I know how much of my sales come from people telling other people about me. When you turn away one, just one, with anger, you are running the risk of getting a bad name among at least 250 other people with money in their pocket who just might want to give it to you."

"This is a business like attitude that you had better develop and keep in your head every working hour of every day, if you don't want to be wiped out. Every time you turn off just 1 prospect, you turn off 250 more."

Joe Girard became the best automobile salesperson in the world because he consistently practiced building relationships!

Joe dedicated himself and worked tremendously hard at getting his customers to believe, really believe that Joe liked and cared about them as a person ... not as a dollar bill.

Copyright © 2001

Dave Cole, Editor - Prosperity: The Choice Is Yours.  Dave's e-zine provides you with valuable info on how to market your online business and how to make money online. All subscribers get 1 Free ad per week. Get your FREE subscription today.  http://choosetoprosper.com