The Education of Millionaires - Michael Ellsberg [71]
SUCCESS SKILL #4
WHAT EVERY SUCCESSFUL PERSON NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT SALES, AND HOW TO TEACH YOURSELF
Some years ago, Robert Kiyosaki, author of the internationally bestselling personal finance book Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money—That The Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, was in Singapore and granted an interview with a local newspaper journalist.
As they were chatting before the interview, the journalist mentioned that she had written several novels, but they had not been successful in the marketplace. She confessed to Robert, “Someday, I’d like to be a bestselling author like you.”
Robert had seen her articles and saw she had writing talent. He asked her why she thought she hadn’t been successful. Robert narrates what happened next:“My work does not seem to go anywhere,” [the journalist] said quietly. “Everyone says that my novels are excellent, but nothing happens. So I keep my job with the paper. At least it pays the bills. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Yes, I do,” I said brightly. “A friend of mine here in Singapore runs a school that trains people to sell. He runs sales-training courses for many of the top corporations here in Singapore, and I think attending one of his courses would greatly enhance your career.”
She stiffened. “Are you saying I should go to school to learn to sell?”
I nodded.
“You aren’t serious, are you?”
Again I nodded. “What is wrong with that?”
“I have a master’s degree in English literature. Why should I go to school to learn to be a salesperson? I am a professional. I went to school to be trained in a profession so I would not have to be a salesperson. I hate salespeople. All they want is money. So tell me why I should study sales?” She was now packing her briefcase forcibly. The interview was over.
On the coffee table sat a copy of my first book, If You Want to Be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go to School: Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children. I picked it up, as well as the notes she had jotted down on her legal pad. “Do you see this?” I said pointing to her notes.
She looked down at her notes. “What,” she said, confused.
On her pad, she had written “Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author.”
“It says ‘best-selling author,’ not best ‘writing’ author.... I am a terrible writer. You are a great writer. I went to sales school. You have a master’s degree. Put them together and you get a ‘bestselling author’ and a ‘best-writing author.’”
Anger flared from her eyes. “I’ll never stoop so low as to learn how to sell. People like you have no business writing. I am a professionally trained writer and you are a salesman. It’s not fair.”1
The journalist exhibits the precise mentality that I hope my own book will sledgehammer out of you, if there’s even a molecule of that mentality still lurking within you.
I call it the “I’m Above Learning How to Sell” mentality, and it’s pretty much the bread and butter of our nation’s highereducation system. What they sell you is the idea that, if you get enough of their credentials, enough letters after your name, then financial security, a great career, and real-world success will just fall in your lap without your having to do anything.
To the extent you haven’t achieved the material results you want in the real world, it’s because you’ve bought into this “I’m Above Learning to Sell” mentality. Expunge it from your system. Now. Every last drop of it.
I’m not just talking about selling products and services for money. (If you work in a large corporation and you’re not