Who Really Is The World's Greatest Vacuum Cleaner Salesman?

I belong to a forum that I posted that very question. I gave some of my records, and had a couple people post records that they heard.

Who is the greatest heart surgeon in the world? Is it the heart surgeon that did the most surgerys? Had the most good outcomes? Had the highest percentage of good outcomes? Has the perfect record? (meaning nobody ever dies after the surgery)

I submit that quality is better than quantity.
I used to work in the field (the sales field) with a lady thaet once told me "Do you know the difference between you and me? I'll give 10 presentations a week, sell two, and be happy as a clam. You'll give three presentations a week, sell two, and try to figure out why you missed the third one." She was absolutely right. And eventually, all this study, of the craft of selling paid off.

The last 3 or 4 years I was still in selling in people's homes, my closing rate was over 80%
I hear plenty of lies from salespeople, bragging about a 99% closing rate (or some such equally unbelievable lie). They then have to explain that the figure only counts the people who bought! or the people who called them to buy.

How could I consistantly sell 80% or more of the people I showed my product to? Simple.
I refused to show it to people I knew weren't likely to buy.

I asked qualifying questions in the form of a survey. If the answers led me to believe that they would be willing to buy...if the offer was good enough...I would show my product. If I could see that they just weren't going to be open minded about buying (or a condition like bad credit prevented them from buying), I would politely give them the gift that was promised, and go to my next appointment...or knock on my next door.

I relied heavily on refrrals from my past buyers. I only asked for referrals from people who bought from me. I also woul follow salespeople who sold a string of people through referrals.
I played "Follow the salesman". I only saw the people who bought from them, ad only asked for the referrals that also bought from them. I was only seeing buyers. People who have proven (by buying) that they would buy from an in-home salesperson...that day...and had good credit.

I also would see people who bought a high end vacuum cleaner from me several years before. I would take it as a trade-in with a generous discount. So I was only seeing buyers...and their close friends...who were also buyers.

If you don't know, this is alsothe One Big Secret of most direct mail companies. They buy lists of ...not just names...but names of buyers.
They buy the names of people who have shown a strong interest in the product area, by their buying habits. The names of people who buy from a certain media are also valuable. If you sell through direct mail, you want a list of people who have bought similar products to yours...by direct mail. Not purchases from infomercials, magazines, or internet shopping.

The last three paragraphs just gave you the whole picture. Got it?

Dedicated to your success, Claude