The Ultimate Sales Machine Summary
6 min read ⌚
MicroSummary: “The Ultimate Sales Machine” by the late great sales and marketing guru Chet Holmes is based around a simple premise: that mastery isn’t about doing 4,000 things, but about doing 12 things 4,000 times. And these 12 things – ranging from time management techniques to aggressive marketing strategies – are exhaustively examined and resourcefully related throughout this wonderful little book.
Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies
No matter how good your company is doing, it probably can do a lot better. Interestingly enough, the strategies you need to employ are pretty much the same even if it is not doing good at all.
And according to Chet Holmes, you only need to focus on twelve of them to become “The Ultimate Sales Machine.”
Our summary takes a quick – but piercing – look at all twelve!
Who Should Read “The Ultimate Sales Machine”? And Why?
“The Ultimate Sales Machine” is one of the numerous books out there which aim to help you make the operations in your company as efficient as possible. And just like them, it’s a book everyone with a crucial position in any company should find valuable.
We can single out the sales reps, the executives, and the CEOs – but, believe us, many others may find both pleasure and benefit if they reserve some time for “The Ultimate Sales Machine.”
About Chet Holmes
Chet Holmes was a much-admired corporate trainer and sales and marketing consultant. Beloved lecturer and founder of Chet Holmes International, his portfolio included numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Warner Bros., NBC, Pacific Bell, GNC, Citibank, Wells Fargo and many others.
“The Ultimate Sales Machine” was the only book he authored before he passed away from leukemia in 2012.”
“The Ultimate Sales Machine Summary”
Let’s cut to the chase, by citing one of the most oft-quoted sentences ever written by Chet Holmes: “Mastery isn’t about doing 4,000 things, it’s about doing 12 things 4,000 times.”
A good cue as any to start listing and summarizing each of the twelve key strategies from the subtitle of “The Ultimate Sales Machine.”
1. Time management
Do you have too many of those “one-minute” meetings which take a bit longer to finish (which, by the way, are even less efficient than you already know)? Well, it’s time to end them all!
And it’s time you started each and every one of your days by already knowing what you want to do – and what you’ll ultimately end up doing. In order to do this, use the Ivy Lee method and make each night a list of 6 tasks you’ll work on the next day.
In that order. No excuses.
2. Continuous employee training
Let’s face it: no one becomes better without training, and, after a while, even the best ones tend to stagnate unless they are continually pushed forward.
By the new ideas and strategies, by the fact that they’re learning, by the new-found youth – you name it! Either case, training is essential and it never stops.
3. Regular company meetings
Of course – there are also some meetings that make sense. These are the ones aimed at improving the company chemistry and further advance the idea of a shared tradition and a common goal.
Maximize the effectiveness of these meetings by developing procedures each of your employees will know beforehand.
4. Develop the right strategies
First of all, find out what makes your product so essential and unique; and start from there. This way, you won’t even need to talk about your product to persuade your customers. You’ll prepare them by talking about their needs first.
5. Hire sales superstars
Creating the best sales team is not an easy job. You can really learn a lot from the rookies, but, it’s the sales superstars which ultimately make the difference. You’ll probably need more money to hire them, but, it will pay off – in the long run.
6. Target the best buyers
We’ve already talked about the Pareto principle, and Malcolm Gladwell has even written a book to demonstrate the consequences of the 80/20 rule on society as a whole.
In the case of your company, it means that a lot of your income comes from a small number of your customers. Find who they are. And never let them go!
7. Perfect your marketing strategy
Of course, you’ll need the ultimate marketing strategy to do this. It’s a combination of advertising and direct mail campaigns, of good public relations management and a long personal contacts list. But, nowadays, it’s mainly about using the phenomenal power of the internet to, say, turn a tweet into a trend.
8. Perfect your presentation with visual aids
Leonardo da Vinci believed that the “eye embraces the beauty of the whole world.” So, use this when presenting your product. A simple graph may relate thousands of sentences in a single second. (For example, just have a look at what Hans Rosling did with boring statistical data.)
9. The sales process starts with a list of your ideal customers
This one is closely related to 6; the only difference is that these customers are not yours. That doesn’t mean that they don’t belong on a longlist of 100 ideal customers.
Start contacting them. And using a good marketing strategy (see #7), commence with the wooing process.
10. Perfect your selling skills
And the wooing process is basically a science.
First of all, you establish a relationship. Then, you identify your customers’ needs. As we already said at #4, use this knowledge to talk your customers into craving your product even before they learn you’re selling it.
Then, prove your clients that not buying it will cost them more money than the opposite. Finally, close the sale. And then…
11. Follow-up
In Holmes’ opinion, following up is what makes the difference between a good and a great company. Because, building an emotional relationship with your client goes a long way. And, ultimately, can make all the difference.
12. Set objectives and constantly meet them
Be aggressive when setting your goals. And measure your performance over time – carefully and systematically. You don’t need to exceed your goals. You just need to be disciplined enough to meet them.
Key Lessons from “The Ultimate Sales Machine”
1. Start Each Day with a 6-Item Priority List
2. Once in a While, Call Your Best Buyers to Ask Them How They Are
3. Never Stop Reading Summaries Such as This One
Start Each Day with a 6-Item Priority List
Ivy Lee is considered the founder of modern PR. Supposedly, he once made Charles M. Schwab’s steel empire ten times more productive by introducing its employees to a simple method. Namely, to write down each night 6 things they should do the day after. And to do them in the order of priority – no matter what.
True, it’s simple. But, it really works!
Once in a While, Call Your Best Buyers for No Reason
If you want to become a great company, it’s essential to build long-lasting customer relationships. True, some may say that challengers have started rewriting the book of sales from recently, but, even so, it wouldn’t hurt to call your best buyers from time to time.
Just to see how they’re doing. So that your professional relationship grows into something bigger.
Never Stop Reading Summaries Such as This One
Really!
Training is essential to becoming better. And if you don’t have time to read the whole books, reading their summaries may do the trick. So, what are you waiting for? Click on some of the links and go on reading!
Like this summary? We’d Like to invite you to download our free 12 min app, for more amazing summaries and audiobooks.
“The Ultimate Sales Machine” Quotes
Mastery isn’t about doing 4,000 things, it’s about doing 12 things 4,000 times. Click To Tweet Advertising brings in the customers, but it is your job to keep them buying from you. Click To Tweet Implementation, not ideas, is the key to real success. Click To Tweet You’re only one person away from the most important people in the world. Click To Tweet A company that thinks like a small company remains small. A company that thinks and acts like a big company is going to grow faster, smarter, and better. Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
“The Ultimate Sales Machine” has been lauded by many as one of the ultimate sales books ever. And the only reason it didn’t make the cut in our top sales booklist, is a pretty trivial one: it was a top 15, not a top 20 list,
And if we longlisted it among the best sales books in history, we don’t need to tell you that we think that “The Ultimate Sales Machine” is a book you should definitely read in detail and apply it as completely.
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
