Tie Your Sales Objectives to the Things That Are Important to You

Summary:  “Mattress Mack” – Jim McIngvale is a living legend.  He loves to work, to delight his customers, reinvent himself and his company, and contributes to the community. He counts his inspiration to leaders like George H. Bush, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, his father George McIngvale “Mr. Mack”, Peter Drucker, Dr. Michael Debakey, his wife Linda, and Daughter Elizabeth.  Mr. McIngvale is a salesman’s salesman and his salesman is Jeffrey Gitomer (www.Gitomer.com).

I became aware of Mr. McIngvale when I first moved to Houston in 1993.  However, I did not know about his long history in the “Make It Happen City” until I had the honor of getting an appointment with him over breakfast in 2000. From afar, I guess the commercials and his name continued to press the ever important message, that “Gallery Furniture really will save you money.”  So, after while, I found it very important to meet the man.

The reason for my appointment with Mr. McIngvale (he reserves “Mr. Mack” for his dad)?  I had a client who admired him and I proposed that we take Mr. McIngvale to breakfast (the only time Mr. McIngvale could meet) to pick his brain.  I did get that appointment after much persistence and determination (a value he appreciates) – after all I am a former Marine.  Well, we had a great breakfast and finally got Mr. McIngvale to relay a few valuable insights that made him a success.  He quietly spoke about being relentless when it comes to customer service, working his model to create same day delivery, and his work ethic “early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise”.  Well, as we prepared to leave, he picked up the bill for six and I have told that story hundreds of times.  I have been fortunate to cross paths with Mr. McIngvale periodically.

I have read both of his books, “Elvis on the Lot” and “Always Think Big” – having him autograph both.  I am a fan of Mr. McIngvale for his tenacity (some of which I am working hard to emulate – this is really hard to do).

I had the opportunity to hear Mr. McIngvale speak back to back this week.  He spoke at a recent Realtor® luncheon in Northwest Houston and at Open Door Mission.  At the Realtor luncheon he spoke about “customer service”, which meant answering the phone when you didn’t feel like it or calling customers back .  I have been challenged by Mr. Lupe Fraga, President of Tejas Office Supply and fellow Aggie and influential business owner here in Houston to make sure that I tell people that they need to return calls.  I tell people all of the time, if Mr. McIngvale can call people back, so can you.  In fact, Mr. McIngvale publishes his personal cell phone – you can call him direct.  Well I captured the wind up discussion from Mr. McIngvale here for my great readers:

His admonishment is to write the five things that are important to you and the five selling things you need to do to make each selling day great.  At the macro level and at the macro level this could be huge.  Selling is an ongoing skill and we should be learning as much as we can about sales.

Finally, Mr. McIngvale spoke at Open Door Mission (I found out about his speaking late in the morning and made a point to rush over to hear him).  I currently do some volunteer work at Open Door and one of my guys called me to tell me that he would be there.  Mr. McIngvale treated these guys with respect and just shared his story and it has remained the same.  He works hard, loves hard work, loves his customers, and challenged the men to develop a “World Class Work Ethic”.  He told the men “I am not a show horse, I am a work horse.” He told the guys if they will find an opportunity, start at the bottom, and that they might one day find themselves at the top.  The man is amazing and as hard as he works, he cites others who work harder than he. For example, Dr. Michael Debakey, who at 99 continues to teach heart surgery to new students and Dr. Mann who saved his brother George’s life recently, dedicating his personal care and going beyond the call of duty.  In the end, a salesman job is never done and the mantra “If it is to be, it is up to me!”, still prevails.  Happy selling!!

If you are interested in talking more about selling, I would be happy to talk to you.  You can reach me at 281.463.4560 or e-mail:  info@marketingdynamics.org

Andy Valadez is President and Founder of Marketing Dynamics, a Strategic Marketing firm working with emerging entrepreneurs and growth-oriented companies, movie makers, authors, musicians, media personalities, television shows, technologists, networkers, non-profit organizations, and real estate professionals with gross annual sales under $50M.  Andy graduated from Texas A&M University with a BBA Degree in Marketing focusing on Public Relations, Promotion Strategy, and Sales. He also received an Applied Business Certificate from Tulane University in New Orleans and served our country as a United States Marine during Desert Storm/Shield.