Harry Browne was one of America’s most successful salesmen, and he only worked 15-20 hours per week. He believed sales were natural. He passed away some years ago, but he passed along the following information he called the secret to sales success. I wanted to start this
module with his analysis because it is so fundamental to sales success. We will have other articles later on additional information.

Before you spend money on marketing and advertising, you have to find your market niche, and that niche is in the mind of your customers. Following is a condensed view of Harry’s sales secret.

The customer is the object of the sales process because the only reason we produce anything is to have things to consume — to use and enjoy because of the happiness it provides. So the one who consumes an item is the one who judges its worth.

It’s the customer’s values that count. His preferences, through the prices he is willing to pay, and your success depends on the value others place on your products and services. Also, since the customer has limited resources, he is not willing to do something unprofitable to himself.

No one willingly does something unless he’s decided it is his most profitable alternative because no one has unlimited resources. There is a shortage of funds, and everyone’s desires always outnumber resources, so everyone is choosing.

So half of the success story is: you will succeed if you are providing people what they want.

However, many people produce what they think people would like and be willing to pay for, but they are wrong. People seek happiness, and happiness is relative. Each person has a different concept of what will bring them joy. Their mistake is making the judgment based on their values to determine what other people will want. It’s not what you want that determines what other people will buy — it’s what they want that matters.

You have to make it your business to find out what people want – not what you want, and give it to them. Also, find out before you make your offer. We will find out how to do this in a sales call in another article. The net of this is that your niche must include the buyer’s values and the price the buyer is willing to pay as part of your niche — not just demographics.