A number of years ago, I was asked to host a telethon to raise
money for PBS. Priding myself on being pretty good at raising money
from investors and customers, I accepted the position.
When the first part of the program was over, the cameras were
turned on the hostess and me, and we began asking viewers to donate
money. We smiled, we talked and we tempted viewers with great
bonuses. We did our best... but the phones sat silent.
Cold sweat began trickling down my back, and it wasn't from
the bright lights. It was from terror--a terror I had felt before
in business and was feeling now because the phones were not
ringing.
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On the second pledge break, I abandoned my cockiness and began
to speak heart-to-heart to the viewers. Slowly but surely, the
phones began to ring, and by the third break, we had raised a small
but respectable sum of money for PBS.
The ability to raise money is the best skill an entrepreneur can
have. If a business is struggling, it's often because the
entrepreneur cannot sell or has stopped selling. It's possible
the entrepreneur has hired sales staff who claim they can sell, but
can't. As my rich dad often said, "Just because someone
has the title 'sales executive' or 'vice president of
marketing' after their name does not mean they can
sell."
When I was starting my career as an entrepreneur, my rich dad
suggested I take a job in sales. When I asked him why, his reply
was, "Because that is what entrepreneurs do. Never forget: An
entrepreneur's success is not measured in college degrees or
corporate titles. An entrepreneur's success is measured in OPM
[other people's money]."
In 1974, I took my first sales position with the Xerox
Corporation. For two years, I could not sell. I asked my rich dad
for advice. He suggested I volunteer to raise money for a nonprofit
group. For the next year, I worked at Xerox by day, and three
nights a week, I dialed for dollars for a charity. Asking for OPM
for a worthy cause was my best sales training. There was no
exchange--I was asking for money without offering a product or
service. I needed to become stronger in my sales and communications
skills, and selling over the phone is tougher than selling
face-to-face.
If you want to increase sales, donate your sales talents to a
worthy cause. If you have salespeople who need to improve, suggest
the same to them. After all, a business' success is measured in
OPM.
Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dadseries of books, is an investor,
entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives have challenged and
changed the way people think about money and investing.