“Waiter, can I have a napkin please?”
Jeffrey Gitomer, Sales Caffeine
Ever write anything on a napkin? An idea? A phone number? Something to do? A note to yourself? Maybe even a sales pitch? Sure you have.
I picked up a book in the airport titled, The Back of a Napkin, by Dan Roam. A book about napkin scribbling. I do it all the time and wanted to see what someone had to say in 275 pages that I hadn't thought of or understood.
The cover is a napkin like print with stick-people drawn on it. Cool.
Then it dawned on me - the BACK of a napkin? I always write on the front. On further thought, I never knew napkins had a backside. To me it's always just been two sided - both front.
Anyway, I began to read. Or should I say, tried to read. For the record, I am not an academic. I'm a salesman. But oh, I'm a student, just not a structured one. My brain has no patience. I want answers that I can understand in two seconds, not 275 pages.
I skipped around the book, trying to find something that suited me, but it was as if I were in a classroom showing students how to draw pictures on a napkin to solve problems.
I don't use napkins to solve problems. I use them to write thoughts of the moment. I started writing in the margins of the book to expand or clarify Roam's thoughts. I was using his book as a napkin.
The first thing I did was add to the subtitle. His was: "Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures." I expanded it to read: Capturing thoughts, creating ideas, clarifying ideas, solving problems, and selling ideas with pictures and words.
NOTE WELL: This is not a criticism of the book; rather it's my take as a napkin user of 40-plus years. It's not "how to" but rather "how I do." The book got me thinking, and writing. I wrote 20 thoughts and ideas as I read. I looked at the structure of the book, and realized that Dan, the author, was more of a logical thinker. I'm a combination of emotional and logical. I speak and write the idea with rapid thought and high emotion, then I logically justify it with supporting thoughts, clarifying thoughts, and expansion thoughts.
For me it's not just the idea, but detail of what the idea entails. And I don't do this for other people, I do it for myself.
Here's an example of what I mean: I met my friend Ray Bard of Bard Press for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Austin. Ray published my book, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.
"I have an idea for a book, and I think you're the perfect person to write it," Bard told me. "Are you familiar with Harvey Penick's Little Red Book of Golf?" I nodded yes, not wanting to interrupt his words with mine. "The Little Red Book of Golf has sold more than two million copies." "WOW!" I interrupted.
"Jeffrey, I think you should write The Little Red Book of Selling. It's a natural for you. Write it in your edgy style, and you could outsell Harvey Penick. What do you think?"
"Waiter! Can I have a large paper napkin please?" I bellowed.
I wrote the title at the top of the napkin. The ideas for a table of contents came fast and furious. "‘Kick your own ass' is chapter one!" I said with enthusiasm. "Salespeople are always looking for someone else to motivate them, and I believe they need to take responsibility for motivating themselves." Ray smiled. I continued, "The last chapter is definitely, ‘Resign your position as general manager of the universe.' Just focus on yourself and your own situation, and stay out of other people's drama."
Ideas began flowing. I began filling in the blanks with my red Sharpie. Chapter one was at the top of the napkin. And the last chapter was at the bottom of the napkin. I wrote more thoughts and content about preparation, asking questions, networking, delivering value, relationships, and other elements that would create a buying mood rather than a selling tone. I decided that the book would be about why people buy, not how to sell. And that the opening quote of the book would be my trademarked phrase, People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy.
The napkin was filled to the edges with content, clarification, and other thoughts. I looked up at Ray and said, "I'll do it!" That was in the Spring of 2002. Two years later, the book idea that began on a napkin was complete, edited, and ready to print. I still have the napkin.
Because of that collaborated idea, because the two people at the table had mutual respect and mutual trust, because the waiter brought me a napkin, and because of readers like you, The Little Red Book of Selling just passed the 750,000 copies sold marker, and that's just the numbers for the English version.
Napkins and their big brother, flipcharts, have played a major role in my ability to generate ideas, clarify them, and turn them into reality, and money.
Got idea? Get napkin!
Last month I was in Austin and passed by the Mexican restaurant where Ray and I met for lunch. I smiled.
Wanna know what I wrote in the margins? Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you're a first-time visitor, and enter the words MARGINS in the GitBit box.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling and eight other business books on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development at http://www.trainone.com/. Jeffrey conducts more than 100 personalized, customized seminars and keynotes a year. To find out more, visit http://www.gitomer.com/. Jeffrey can be reached at 704.333.1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com