What you missed October 2007 Meeting
by Robert Davis
Our speaker was Greg Pinneo who gave us some inspiring words. He began by talking about his childhood and having to sell Almond Roca candy to get on the baseball team. His first customer taught him a lot about selling. For example, don’t set a ceiling on what you can sell. He wanted to sell one can, but his first customer bought 6 cans. By using techniques his first customer who he called Mr. Peterson taught him, he was able to outsell all the other boys selling the candy. Greg quoted Henry Ford as saying, “I’m looking for a few people who don’t know what can’t be done.” Greg said as we grow older, because of news we hear and events that just happen, our ceiling tends to get lower and lower. Most people become just one of the masses. He encouraged us to want to make a difference. Live deliberately and go for extraordinary results.
He asked the audience what one word do you want in your life. The correct answer is freedom. Freedom means to do whatever we want whenever we want to. Most people tend to live in quiet desperation and don’t always get to do what they want to in life. The greatest opportunities belong to those with the greatest courage. He urged us to break the ‘chicken-out’ cycle. This is where we see an opportunity but just wait for the next one or just do nothing about it. To get things done, we need to take action, not wait for a winning lotto ticket or something.
Greg also talked about negotiating. When we meet a perspective buyer we need to focus attention on that person or persons. When we go to a their home, we should leave our cell phone, pager, and watch in our car. Devote all of our attention on the seller. Find out what they like, what they will do when the house sells, etc. He said we need to be sincere in our interest and take as long as it takes for them to become comfortable with selling their house to us.
Mountain climbing is one of the activities Greg likes to do. He told about a trip his fellow climber and he made to La Paz to climb to over 20,000 feet without oxygen so they would qualify for a team to climb Mount Everest. A problem occurred when his climbing partner fell and he had to hold on to the rope and dig in. He said the strain on his resources was unbearable at that altitude and there were moments when he thought about letting go. He thought hang on and live or let go and die. He held on and eventually his partner got back on solid turf. Then they had to decide whether to continue to the top or go back. They decided to continue. His point of the story is to not let go. Everywhere he goes he sees people who have let go. We can sit in the stands in quiet desperation or be in the arena.
Greg Pinneo may be reached by calling his office at 877-REACH66, or on the web at reachus@reachreturns.com.
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