The conman who invented personal development

Published: Wed, 11/15/23

November 15, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

Some people will tell you that if you can’t get a prospect to commit before Thanksgiving, then you might as well write the deal off until next year. We disagree. With enough begging, blackmail, and bodily threats, you can turn anyone into a buyer up until midnight, December 31. But let’s just forget about all that for a few minutes and escape into another soothing issue of The Quota. Enjoy.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

Top performers’ discovery calls are 76% longer than those of average performers, and their presentation meetings are 55% longer.

Source: Sales Insights Lab

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

According to a recent report in the Washington Post, some buyers interested in electric vehicles have run into a roadblock: car dealerships and car salesmen. The article delves into the electric vehicle buying experience, citing a lack of product knowledge and attempts by dealers to steer buyers away from electric, and toward ICE vehicles. You can read the report here.
A car salesman in the UK lost his job after he threatened to shoot his colleagues with a shotgun during a showroom brawl over a football sticker. John Thompson went ‘off his head’ after a spirited work debate over a Liverpool FC sticker sparking a major spat at Ron Brooks Suzuki in Mansfield. The salesman launched an expletive laden tirade at co-workers before the ugly brawl became physical. It took five men to break up the scrap. You can read about the fight here.

FEATURE

The story of Napoleon Hill, the controversial creator of the personal success genre

Early Life

Oliver Napoleon Hill's life story is as dramatic and contested as the principles he famously penned in Think and Grow Rich, one of the best-selling self-help books of all time. Born in a one-room cabin in Virginia in 1883, Hill's journey from Appalachian poverty to the summit of American self-help literature is marred by accusations of deception and fraud.

Hill's early life was fraught with hardship. After the death of his mother, his stepmother encouraged him to pursue education and writing, which led to a job with lawyer Rufus A. Ayers and a short-lived stint in law school. Hill's personal life was equally tumultuous, with a marriage annulled at 15 and subsequent marriages marred by allegations of abuse and infidelity.

Entrepreneurial Journey

As a fledgling entrepreneur, Hill faced a string of failed ventures, from the Acree-Hill Lumber Company, which was charged with mail fraud, to the Automobile College of Washington, which was labeled a scam, and the George Washington Institute of Advertising, which he tried to sell shares of at a valuation of $100,000 when the company’s assets were appraised at just $1,200, leading to the state of Illinois issuing multiple arrest warrants for fraud. But each failure seemed to only sharpen his resolve, as he repeatedly reinvented himself amidst controversy.

Despite his dubious past, Hill's "Philosophy of Achievement" captivated the nation. Published in his first book, The Law of Success, his principles of freedom, democracy, capitalism, and harmony promised a blueprint for prosperity that Americans ate up. The book was a best-seller. A year after publishing, Napoleon bought himself a Rolls-Royce and 600 acres of land in the Catskills in upstate New York.

However, Hill's claim to a secret formula for success, allegedly revealed to him by Andrew Carnegie, was never substantiated, and many of his other claims, such as aiding Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt, have been widely discredited.

Yet, it was Think and Grow Rich that cemented Hill's legacy. The book, significant for its vague promise of a hidden secret to prosperity, was a hit. Despite its success, Hill's life remained a series of peaks and valleys, with allegations of spirit visitations and further accusations of fraud.

Legacy

Hill's influence on the self-help industry is undeniable. His works, inspired by New Thought and the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, have inspired generations of writers and thinkers. In 1995, an authorized biography attempted to solidify his meeting with Carnegie, but the debate over the authenticity of his claims persists.

The Napoleon Hill Foundation, established to promote his teachings, continues to navigate the complexities of his legacy, selling his books and courses and striving to maintain the relevance of his "Philosophy of Achievement."

As we reflect on Hill's life, we can’t help but wonder: Can the measure of a man be found in the success of his philosophies, or do the shadows of his personal misgivings cast a cloud over his achievements? One thing is for sure: Napoleon Hill remains a figure shrouded in the mystique of potential and the controversy of his past.

MAKE AN IMPACT WITH YOUR NEXT PROPOSAL

It’s proposal season, and you only get one chance to make a first impression. In today’s competitive market, it pays to be memorable!

With buyers preparing for 2024, our friends at Qwilr want to help you transform your boring, text-heavy proposals into proposals that cut through the noise and:

Differentiate you from the competition
Demonstrate value for your prospect
Make it easy to sell to your ‘invisible buyer’

Qwilr and 30MPC have just released this free, ungated guide, ‘5 proposal plays that get buyers to respond’, with actionable advice you can use today.

Get the free guide now!

PS. That’s not all. For a limited time, Qwilr will upgrade your proposal for free! 🎉 Their professional design team will transform your existing static proposal (PDF, slides, word.doc etc) into a slick, interactive web page for free. See the link in the guide.

Get the free guide!

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

LOOKING FOR A NEW SALES JOB?

Tired of unreachable prospects? Overbearing managers? Too many meetings that could have been an email?

Try a fresh start with a role at Cox Business! Cox offers:

Competitive salary plus top-notch bonus & incentive plans
Full benefits (including healthcare from day one)
Extra perks (like free home internet, cable and smart home automation)
Career advancement and professional development

Browse open sales roles from entry-level to leadership positions here.

Browse open roles!

QUIZ

What is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. so far this year (2023)?

A. Toyota RAV4
B. Chevy Silverado
C. Ford F-Series
D. Pontiac Aztek

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

This isn’t exactly a fail but it’s one of my best stories from my time working in sales. About a decade ago (I am old), I was an Account Executive for a regional commercial accounting firm. We handled accounting and other financial functions for large and mid-sized companies. It was a pretty good job although there wasn’t much room for advancement.

One day, I went with my sales manager to a client’s office for an initial consultation. They were some sort of technology company, and had a big boring office in an office park. They showed us around the office then brought us into a conference room. There were about a half-dozen people from their company in the meeting. We were in suits and they were dressed more casually.

There was a pitcher of water on the conference room table, so I poured myself a glass. Then, we all engaged in a bit of small talk for a while. They were pretty laid back and somewhat looser than the other companies we typically dealt with. I remember thinking that I would love to work for a company with that kind of culture someday.

As we were talking, there was one guy who was very funny. I don’t remember what his position was but he had a head of curly hair and a thick mustache and a deadpan delivery. They were telling us about a firm they’d tried before us, and that the firm had promised them the world but had ended up being a complete nightmare. As they were explaining this, the guy with the curly hair made his voice very high-pitched and pretended he was from the other firm and said, “We’ll give you nothing, and you’re gonna love it, you pieces of crap.”

When I heard this, I completely lost it. But the problem was I had just taken a huge sip of water, and it came flying out of my mouth in a giant half-spray, half-mist. The entire table in front of me was covered in water. And even though everybody stopped and looked at me, I couldn’t stop laughing because the curly haired guy just looked at me with a grin on his face. I apologized profusely and cleaned everything up. But I was completely red-faced through the rest of the meeting.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- November 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Is the entry-level Business Development Rep / Sales Development Rep role becoming a thing of the past? Some people seem to think so, as AI and other technology changes the sales landscape. We came across an interesting thread on Reddit, titled “Is the BDR/SDR role dying? The convo is worth a read. Check it out here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team

About six months ago, my company got a new general sales manager. We’re a team of about fifteen, and handle all sales (inside sales) for the organization. It’s a small company, but the comp plan is strong, and we not only get a solid base pay, but basically anybody with a pulse can make six figures as long as they answer the phone and know what they’re doing.

The new manager seemed nice at first. He is on the older side, so his mentality is somewhat old-school. He made some small changes at first, but a few months ago, he instituted a minimum call requirement for the entire sales staff. Basically, we have to make 100 outbound calls a day, Monday through Friday. These are tracked, and anybody who doesn’t make the calls gets written up (3 write-ups and you get fired).

Everybody hates this new policy, and lots of people are just calling numbers they know won’t pick up (dead leads, voicemails, etc). We are a mostly inbound call center, and get a high volume of calls, so the outbound policy basically just distracts us from pursuing deals that are likely to actually close in order to make a crazy number of useless calls.

Nobody has told the manager how dumb this policy is because he doesn’t seem to take criticism well. He has a temper and a my-way-or-the-highway mentality. Otherwise, he seems like a decent guy, but if you push back on anything, he turns into a completely different person. Is there anything we can do to change our situation, or are we stuck making these dumb calls until the manager retires or gets fired (since him abandoning this initiative is unlikely)? Thanks.

Frustrated in location withheld

Dear Frustrated,

This is a tough one, given that the manager doesn’t take feedback well. And no matter what you do, you’ll be taking a big risk.

One option is to get all of the sales reps on the same page and approach the manager in a united front. Make it clear that while you respect the policy, it’s counterproductive and takes time away from productive work. This, of course, might not go over too well, and you should be ready for some serious blowback.

Another option might be to ask for the number of outbound calls to be reduced, instead of eliminated. That might soften the blow and make the manager more receptive to the team’s input, though you still run the risk of getting blowback.

Or, you could try leaning into the policy and actually using the outbound time productively. Follow-ups close deals, and the truth is that the policy was put in place in order to get results, despite the fact that the team thinks it’s counterproductive. What if you blocked off time every day to make the calls and actually tried your best? What would happen?

Odds are that you’re stuck with the policy until the manager changes his mind, leaves to work somewhere else, or cold-calling is completely outlawed. And this might just be one of those things you have to deal with in order to benefit from the competitive pay structure. In any case, good luck!

Quiz Answer: C. Ford F-Series — (you can read the source article here)

SHARE THE QUOTA

Help us grow, and we'll send you a reward!

{% if subscriber.custom_field['RH_REFLINK'] != '' %}

Share The Quota, get cool stuff!

Know a salesperson who’d love The Quota? Give them your unique referral link (below), and we’ll give you some awesome rewards when they subscribe.

facebook

twitter

PS: You have referred people so far

{% endif %}

How did you like today's story?

Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Looking for a new gig or to hire for your sales team? Check out our jobs board — powered by RepVue.

Looking to take your sales career to the next level? Check out Ian Koniak, our Preferred Sales Coaching Partner.

Advertise with us

Books

QUOTA MEDIA LLC

651 N. Broad Street., Suite 206
Middletown DELAWARE (DE) 19709
USA

Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options