Do you need to increase sales? Not meeting your sales quotas? In this time of a down economy, it’s not always the easiest thing to do. So sometimes it helps to look at those who have been leaders in their fields. For more than 12 consecutive years (1963-1977), John Girard [complete bio] was the #1 retailer in the world and set sales records that have yet to be broken. And these records are found in the most difficult business in the world: car sales. So let’s take a look at some of those records that are in the Guinness Book of World Records:

• Most new retail sales in one day (18 cars)
• Most new retail sales in a month (174 cars)
• Most new retail sales in a year (1,425 cars)
• Most new retail sales in a 15-year career (13,001 cars)

All of those cars were new retail purchases. No wholesale, no fleet, and he was never in management. He AVERAGED a staggering 6 sales per day on a sales floor that had 41 other salespeople who only averaged 5 cars per month. The funny thing was that he was actually fired from his first car sales job for being ‘too aggressive’; apparently the other vendors didn’t like having to work. And in 2001, he was inducted into the “Automobile Hall of Fame”.

So what was Joe Girard’s secret? He didn’t have one. joe said,

“If there is one word I hate, it is the word secret. There is no secret. If there was a secret, no one would share it with you. There are no secrets.”

But Joe had an attitude that no one else seemed to have.

“Life is a game and you must know what you are playing. Whatever you do and whatever you sell, you are not selling it. You must never stop learning more about this game… what moves people, what makes people buy, makes people do what he does.”

But there was something that Joe did,

“I will carve my name into your brain.”

And how did he do that? Joe Girard’s main tool was greeting cards. Every year he commissioned an artist to draw 12 cards and then send them out. That’s all he did. He sent a card every month. And the first card he sent out to any new prospect, whether they were buying a car or not, simply said one thing: “I like you.” That card was followed by cards for all the major holidays, but he also sent out birthday and anniversary cards. Joe went to great lengths to get contact information for everyone he knew, and everyone he knew received a card each month. What an amazing follow-up example. It is said that Joe’s cards arrive every month, that his contacts almost considered him part of the family. Here is his simple, yet highly focused checklist.

Keep in touch with people regularly. Send them “thank you” notes. Send them seasonal greetings. Send them news and information that will be of benefit to them. Send them free treats. Wouldn’t you like your customers to think of you that way? When people thought of a ‘new card’, they immediately thought of Joe Girard. For Joe, it was always about RELATIONSHIPS and nurturing those relationships. And what was true for Joe, I think, is even truer today. People WANT AND DESIRE a personal touch. They want to be made to feel special, and in today’s high-tech society, it seems like the ‘personal’ has gone with yesterday’s trash. Well, it’s time to make it personal again. And I can show you how to send a card to anyone, no strings attached, for FREE and see just how powerful Joe’s method can be. Send just a few cards each year and imagine what the odds are that YOUR name will be the first to come to mind when they need that product or service.

NOTE: We are building relationships, and relationships are not built by sending anything but ads to each contact. Submit something that is beneficial to the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. For example, if you’re a real estate agent, send tips on how to get the highest value for a potential client’s home, or make that client work for you by offering a “referral reward” to anyone you refer to your office that sells or buys. at home.

Think of it this way. Do you want your ‘flyer’ thrown in the trash, or your ‘greeting card’ put on the refrigerator or bulletin board? Show your appreciation by giving them something: a heartfelt greeting card. Simply put, appreciation is greater than self-promotion.