Dear Friend,

My name is Peter Droubay and I am very proud to call myself a great salesman.  I've earned very large sums of money from my ability to sell, I've won awards many times while selling for several different organizations and, over the last few years, I've been called on to teach thousands of people how to sell more effectively.  Not bad for some one who hated the idea of selling when I was younger.

You see, my background is as an investment broker.  I got out of college and looked around to decide what to do and I saw Wall Street.  I had read books and seen movies and I decide that is what I wanted to do.  So I headed off to be an investment broker.  A few days into it I realized that the title of "investment broker" is just another title for a salesman, something I wasn't sure I wanted to be.  I liked the results that the best brokers in the firm were achieving though and decided to stick with it in spite of the selling that was required.  I had heard that, with a great work ethic and a good attitude, anyone could make it in sales.  I thought I had a good work ethic and a great attitude so I figured I would come out on top.

Six months later I was flat broke.  I started wondering whether or not I should be doing this.  I was looking through the want ads a lot and really not enjoying myself.  I had decided that I hated being a salesman!

Fortunately, I caught the eye of one of the senior partners of the firm who stopped me one day in the hallway.  He said,

"Pete, I've been meaning to talk to you.  I'm impressed by you because I see that you're working hard.  I come in in the morning and you're here!  I leave here at night and you're still here!  Anyone who can outwork me impresses me.  I wanted to talk to you, though, because in going over the production numbers I've noticed that you're not producing what someone working as hard as you are should be producing." 

Then he asked me an all-important question.  The same that I ask each one of my clients now, and one that I will ask you.

He said, "Are you getting all the results that you want?"

I told him that if he had seen the numbers, then he knew that I was not.  I also told him that I was a little frustrated.

He said, "Would you mind if I helped you out a little?  Would you be willing to allow me to be your coach, or mentor?"

I said, "Of course!"  It was like a dream come true to have that kind of help. 

He said, "I'd be willing to work with you, but only on one condition. There's a formula that you must understand before I work with you.  It's a formula for success.  Most people do not earn what they would like to earn because they do not really understand this formula."  The formula he shared with me is:

  E x E = R

It's a simple formula. You may have seen it before, at least I hope that you have.  I had seen the formula but I didn't really get it. 

Here is what it stands for: The R stands for Results.  The first E stands for Effort, and the second E stands for Effectiveness. 

Now on the surface this is a very simple formula: 
Effort times Effectiveness equals Results.

Anyone that has been in sales for any length of time understands this formula to some degree.  If you work 20 days (that's your effort) and you average one sale per day (that's how effective you are) then it's a pretty simple formula.  20 x 1 = 20 sales this month.  That's not rocket science.  Everyone understands that. 

But here's what he told me that most people don't really get. 

He said, "Pete, most people don't really understand the formula and that's why they don't make very much, it's why they get frustrated, burnt out, or disillusioned.  You see when most people want to increase their results they only really think of one side of the formula." 

Which side, effort or effectiveness, do most people immediately think of when they want to increase the results that they are getting?  Effort!  You hear it all the time: "I want more money so I'm just going to hit it hard, put the petal to the metal, work my tail to the bone, put in extra hours, etc."

Have you ever done this?  That's OK because it is one way to increase your results.  But here's what my coach shared with me that was brilliant. 

He said, "The challenge with this is that out of the two ways to increase your results, there is only one of them that is limited, and it happens to be the effort side." 

Think about it!  Sooner or later you run out of effort to give.  Sooner or later there's no time left in the day.  Let me ask you two questions. 

1) Would like to double the results that you are currently getting? 
Of course! 

2) Are you willing to double the amount of time you are currently working?  Of course not! 

But you want to know what's even worse. 

He said "In our society great effort is expected and therefore it will always get you only an average income.  Those who have made more, haven't done it by giving more effort.  They're the ones who have figured out a better way of doing things - they have gotten more effective." 

He told me that if I was going to work with him I had to start focusing on being more effective.  "Most people are broke", he said, "because they are too busy working in their business and they never work on it."  Do you know what I am talking about? 

He said, for instance, "I want you to start reading books.  One per week", he said. 

I said, "I can't do that!  Where am I going to get the time to do that?" 

He said, "Pete, you're indulging in that same thinking that I just told you most salespeople use.  You're so caught up in being a great worker that you aren't willing to spend the time to become more effective." 

Then he told me I had to participate, every month in some sort of class, course or seminar where I could focus on being more effective at what I was doing.  Again I wasn't certain, but he told me that I had to, and I trusted him. 

He said, "Think of it this way: Every great company has a budget for R & D.  They reinvest time and capital into becoming more effective so that they can compete in the future."  

He said, "If I'm going to work with you, you must do the same and I know that you are not currently doing that."

He also told me that I must start associating with, and learning from, people who were achieving more than I was.  He asked me, "In the last thirty days, how many people, who are doing better than you are, have you interviewed, sat and listened to, picked their brain, taken to lunch or dinner?"  He said, "My office is right upstairs, why do I have to stop you in the hallway. Why haven't you come knocking on my door?"

I suddenly felt ashamed and realized that while I had been working hard, I really had not done what I could to improve my business.

I immediately adopted, with his help, a set of disciplines which have created for me a level of success that I only dreamed of before.  These disciplines allowed me to increase my sales from the pitiful level they were at when I met my coach to a six-figure annual income within 18 months.  These disciplines have also enabled me to dramatically increase my income even when I thought I was at the peak of my career!

These disciplines include:

1.  Daily or weekly sales training times. 

Each day, in the beginning (once per week now), I would spend one hour, studying the art of sales.  When I first began I couldn't find a comprehensive study program to follow, so I simply studied books or audio tapes that I had bought, notes I had taken while attending seminars, and notes I had taken while meeting with top-producing sales people. 

Since then I have produced my own sales training course which has been called "the most comprehensive sales training course available today."  It is divided into 30 segments, each 30 to 50 minutes long, which are delivered on video or audio, along with written workbooks.  It is based on the information I have gathered from the best sales people in the country.  For more information on using this course for your sales training, click here.

Whether you use the sales training program I've developed, or some other information, you must set aside time each day to study your craft.  Just think - How good will you be at what you do, after a year of studying your craft, every day?

2.  Get a good coach.

 In the beginning, I had a great mentor and coach who met with me every week and guided my career.  A couple years later, he suggested that it was time to seek advice from others, something I've consistently done ever since.  Many of my best coaches have been people that I've paid for their time.  Some have been "professional coaches" and some haven't been, but I've gained a tremendous amount from each.  I've learned that "going it alone" is not glamorous, tough or productive.  Having some one that I'm accountable to helps me and stretches me more than trying to do it all myself.

Over the years, I've had many people who've requested help to find a good mentor, or coach.  So many, in fact, that I finally set up a company which matches up great coaches with sales people of all sorts.  Generally, people speak to their coaches once every two weeks on the telephone.  Each coach helps his/her clients to set goals and meet them, apply new sales skills and ideas, eliminate excuses and adopt beliefs that assist them in being the best sales people they can be.  For more information on sales coaching, click here.

 Whether you find a coach or mentor through my company, or through some other means, you must commit to get consistent help from someone else besides yourself.  You must have a good mentor or coach helping you and guiding you.

3.  Attend an outstanding sales training event at least once
     per year