I developed a very loyal crew. For example, I went out to Newark to rebuild a small office. The office had never really taken off. The previous sales manager had deemed that Newark was incapable of making any sales.

Because of his attitude, and belief, not only had the salespeople believed him so did the management that I was working for. Originally, I was to shut down the office but I asked for it chance to redeem it.

I knew this was a last ditch effort, and all the salespeople had been infected with negative ideas. I knew I had to correct that or Newark wouldn't produce any sales.

But in my heart I knew that the people in Newark were the same as people in Columbus as the people in Dayton as the people in Cincinnati and ever were else we had opened up offices. I knew that Newark would produce sales.

Everywhere we had gone our system had been successful, and I knew all we had to do was repeat it in Newark with a positive attitude.

Immediately I let everyone go. I told them that they were correct, this city would not produce sales, and they might as well go find work elsewhere. I knew that in their frame of mind it was an uphill battle and I was better off starting with the new crew.

One young lady, by the name of Crystal, begged me to stay, she told me she really enjoyed her work there, and she wanted to keep her job.

I explained to her that I had higher quotas than her previous manager had. She had been expected before to write five hundred dollars per week, I expected one thousand five hundred dollars per week. Three times her previous quota. She told the she was willing to do that, but with tears in her eyes she told me she didn't know how to do it.

I looked at her, and I could see through her eyes into her soul, that she was open to suggestions and willing to learn. I believed that Crystal could do it if she was shown how.

I explained to her, "If you'll just follow my system I promise you'll hit your quota". So I showed her how to do it. I explained to her that sales was more than just coming to work. You have to actually work while you're at work. You have to believe while your dialing that the people want what you have. You have to be kind, you have to be sincere, you have to transmute the feeling you have about the products and services to the prospect on the phone. Without this, nothing will ever happened.

I also explained to her that you can keep track of your results by percentages. If for instance, you start out making one sale for every 10 prospects you talk to, that can be a number you can count on no matter what. I showed her that to make her quota of 1500 dollars per week, that she would have to do a certain amount of presentations each week in order to get a certain amount sales.

It seemed amazing to her, but after her first week when she actually hit her goal, it started to become possible to her. The second, third, and fourth, week it became almost gospel. She believed that her certain amount presentations would create a certain amount of income.

And then I showed her how to increase her income by increasing her ratio of sales from yes's to no's, and to increase her believe level, and her consistency.

During this time we developed a very good crew. Everyone was hitting their quotas, everything was going fine. We had a core crew of five people plus myself. Then we came back to an area that had been called by the previous manager.

Now, at this time three of my five salespersons were from the old crew. Over time two others had come back to me and since I had a positive crew going I allowed them to come back one at a time. We were able to convert than to the thinking that Newark was a great place to work and makes sales, and that people wanted our products.

It was afternoon and I pulled out of the drawer the same sheets of numbers that had been used by the previous manager. They still held bookmarks of the unfinished area and notes about who had said no, who was not home, etc..

When the old crew saw me pull out the numbers, a chill shot across their face. They asked, we're not going to dial those are we? I said yes we are.

These are wonderful numbers we are going to do great with them. They told me, we have dialed those before, and they did not work. Those are the meanest people we ever called, they slam the phone on us, they will not talk to us. If we make a sale they are never home when we try to deliver.

I explained to them, you are now a powerful crew. You are some of the finest people in this company. We have been setting records over every other office in the company.

At this time the company was covering three states, so it was quite an accomplishment for this crew. I looked at them and I told them you have the ability to call the same people on this list that told to know before, but this time they will say yes.

The reason you'll do this this time, is that now you believe, now you have a different attitude, now you have new sales skills, now you know you have something to offer that is good and that these people want it. They said "well will try." But I knew I had a problem. So we started dialing.

I did everything I could keep the room cheery, I made a pot of gourmet coffee, the aroma usually which Europe the room. I brought in some doughnuts, I try to make a few jokes.

However at five o'clock we did not even have one sale. Now I had promised my boss, that I would never walked out of my office without at least seven hundred dollars in sales for the day. We had zero.

I was not worried, I knew my crew had the ability to pull off a minimum day in only one hour if they decided to. We normally turned in twelve hundred dollars or more per day in sales.

7 o'clock rolled around and we only had two hours of dialing time left. I stopped my crew. They were very despondent.

The fear and negative thoughts that had been part of their life from the old manager had taken control of them again. It was almost as if the negative thoughts magically left the paper into their hands and went up to their brains.

I explained to them that their success had to do with themselves and their frame of mine. It had nothing to do with management. All I had simply done was point out what was inside themselves, and what their own abilities were.

If they could look inside themselves now, they would see that they still had the ability, and they could still make this a very successful day.

We tried on again. They started to whine, they started to talk negatively., I knew I was losing my crew. By 8:30 I had had enough. We only had 30 minutes left and we had no sales.

I stopped my crew. I told them, "I have made a promise never to turn in less than 700 dollars for one days sales to my boss". We have 30 minutes left to keep this promise. I have listened to your complaints and negative comments and whining all day. I know that you are the best crew I have ever had, and probably one of the best I will ever have. But you have let me down.

Now that is fine, because I have let people down also. But mostly I am concerned that you have let yourselves down. You have let this poison of negative thought infect you, and I have to show you that it is only yourself stopping you. It is not the people we are dialing.

With that, and in an angry voice, I demanded that they hand me the very worst sheet of numbers in the room. They quickly decided which was the worst, and I grabbed that one. I told them that I was going to have to do 700 dollars in sale myself.

These sales had to also be delivered by our drivers before 9:30 PM, and the checks picked up. So I told my drivers to wake up, and they were going to get very busy.

I pointed to my number one and number 2 sales writers, "you and you, I will not have time to write down these sales, so you will need to fill out the order forms as you hear me repeat the customer's name".

Our average sale was $35.00, so I was going to have to make 20 sales in about 20 minutes. I knew I had no time to take a no. Everyone had to say yes to me. I knew, that if I believed, no one could say no to me, if I was sincere, if I believed I was doing the right thing, If I believed I was doing something good for someone, and I did.

I picked up the phone and I started dialing, I sold the first person I talked to, I sold the second person I talked to, I sold the third person I talked to. No one could say no to me. My concentration was higher than it had ever been. I had to prove to my crew, that this poison in their mind was at their control. That they could get rid of it if they choose to do so.

By the time 9 o clock rolled around, dialing the very worst numbers that crew had to offer me, I hit my 700 dollar quota. My drivers had the products delivered and the checks picked up by 9:30.

The crew was amazed. They could not believe what they had just seen. I then handed back the sheet of numbers and told my crew, that I would never again accept "bad numbers" as an excuse in that office again.

From that day on, we made even more amazing accomplishments. My crew of 5 people outsold other offices with crews of 12-15 people. I was very proud of them.

Later, when I was only allowed to have 3 telephones to work with, in a territory that was considered a disaster, and unwanted by the Columbus office, we had our highest sales ever.

Although my 5 people had to share 3 phones, and we were calling an area called a disaster, my crew knew that that did not matter. They believed they could do it, and we still outsold many of the offices with 12-15 phones and 20-25 salespersons.

50% of everyone we talked to said yes. The company average was 5%.

Why was this? Did we have an edge? Only belief. That was our only edge.

Problems started building in the company as we grew. Promises that I had based the whole company on started to be broken. Territories promised, and ownership promised, never came to be.

Because of this I started to see a decline in business. We had at this point opened 40 sales offices in 5 different states, with over 1000 sales people. WE had over 60 sales managers and 10 district managers.

I was committed to help everyone do their best, and I spent almost 1500 miles per week doing this. I spent 4 days per week on the road, and then 3 days at home making up to my family.

But, I had become a slave to the business, and I no longer felt that I could control my destiny in this business. So I put in my notice, and retired, and later sold off the 2 states that I owned to one of my sales managers.

My new goal was to find another business to build, that would allow me to control my own destiny, provide wealth, and allow me to spend quality time with my family. Most of all, I did not want to become another slave.

I have started and am enjoying a new venture, but the story is not yet finished.

However, I want you to decide what it is you want out of life. It does not have to be a grand plan, but it should be something that makes you feel good about yourself and life.

Even if you have a boring job, start now to find something exciting about that job, something fun!

You should also add an activity, such as a hobby, or small business, or social club, or something that will get you excited about life.

Don't let the treadmill that people call life fool you! Enjoy something about life now, and then do everything you can to help that something grow until it stokes the fires of passion inside you!

You have control of your life and destiny if you decide you do!

This is Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. saying goodbye and wishing you a great life!

But stay tuned for more chapters!!!

You can read all the chapters of "How I Went From a Shoe Shine Boy to a Millionaire and Found Passion for Life" by going to http://salessuccessmagazine.com. These stories are copyrighted by Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. 1995 thru 2005. Any person using this article must publish it without modification and include authors bio and links.


About the Author
Timothy L Drobnick Sr has helped many people make money on the internet. Websites to visit for income opportunity are yobisc.com, http://virusfreespamfree.com, and http://myshoppingplace.net.