Excerpt From The Book Entitled
THE GREATEST SALES TRAINING IN THE WORLD
Charlie "Tremendous" Jones Answers Questions From Author Robert Nelson

How did you get started in the field of sales?

At the age of seven I would stop people and sell them on the idea of listening to me yodel. They would pay me two cents for the privilege of not hearing me yodel. After that I started selling magazines for a nickel and I earned a penny commission. Then I moved up to selling the Saturday Evening Post for a dime with a whopping two-cent commission. At the age of twelve I started selling popsicles. I would buy the popsicles in bulk for four cents apiece and sell them for ten cents apiece generating about a couple of dollars a day, which at the time was considered a lot of money. As a teenager I loved clothes so I started selling men's clothes in a department store and loved it. I became so good at it that a young lady in another department told her husband about me and he came down to the store to ask me if I would be interested in selling life insurance. At first I had no interest in it whatsoever until the man told me that he would train me and pay me the same thing I was presently earning. When I finally realized what life insurance really did and discovered that the commission on selling one policy was three times as much as I would make in a week, I thought "this is too good to be true." After I got into the insurance business I was a lousy insurance sales person but I was a great recruiter. After telling others how great the insurance business was I not only convinced them to get involved but I also convinced myself to stay in the business instead of giving up.

What is the greatest challenge you have had to face over the years?

I was born in the twenties and as a child my mother left us a few times, then by the age of twelve she and my father got divorced. Because of the poverty and lacking a real home life I decided to run away from home at the age of fifteen. So I dropped out of high school and never attended college, therefore I would say that my greatest challenge was that fear that I never received any formal education.

What do you consider to be the most outstanding achievement of your career?

Obtaining a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that completely transformed my life and developing an insatiable love for reading.

Who were some of your most influential role models and mentors?

I met one of my most influential role models when I was 6 years old at Sunday school. His name was George Mowery and he was my Sunday school teacher. George Mowery was a 21 years old shoe salesman and he always drove a new car. He always took us places. He took us fishing, swimming and to his home. He paid me a nickel to memorize Bible verses. Most of my life has been lived in the image of George Mowery. I have tried to be as much of a mentor to children as George Mowery was to me. After I became an insurance salesman Jim Rudisil became a great role model for me. Jim was the president of the Chamber of Commerce and the president of the Christians Businessman Association. Jim was a great speaker, but more important he was a godly man. I had never known that a man could be godly and such a financial success and respected in the community. Hal Nut who was the director of insurance marketing at Perdue University was my greatest speaking role model. I became so taken by Hal's uninhibited enthusiasm that over the years I became just like him in my presentation style. When I entered into the speaking arena books became my mentors. I read great authors like Watchman Nee, Oswald Chambers, Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer and other greats.

What is the most effective sales technique you have ever used?

First you must have a good approach, then you have to point out a general problem that we all have, then you point out a specific problem that they have, then point out the solution to the problem. To close the sale you need to use some form of motivation to loosen up the prospect and then you need to give him at least six opportunities to say yes. The strategy works but what really sells are stories that help him see his need to your solution.

Give an example of how you would use this technique in a real life situation?

In the insurance business I have often told the story about two kinds of dads. I would say that there is the see kind of dad and then there is the have kind of dad. Now the see kind of dad says "I am going to see that my children have every thing that they need as long as I am here to see it." But the have kind of dad says that "I want my children to have every thing I can give them, whether I am here to see it or not, so I am going to buy a lot of insurance." Over the years, this simple story has inspired many people to buy insurance.

What is the best advice that you can offer an aspiring salesperson?

Over the years I have had many salespeople come to me for advice even when I was an aspiring salesperson myself. So I developed two kinds of advice, good advice and priceless advice. Now my good advice would be good but my priceless advice would be better. My priceless advice was, never take advice, just learn the fundamentals of your business and practice them on a regular basis. Knowing your own business and being prepared gives you the confidence you will need to succeed. Knowing your business will give you head knowledge but to gain the heart knowledge that you will need to keep from giving up when the going gets rough you should read the biographies of great people and see the many trials they went through before they succeeded.

If you have not always lived by your current philosophy what provoked the change?

During the early part of my life till I was 22 years old I was the complete opposite from what I am now. I was profane and obscene because it was popular to be that way in the circles that I traveled in. At that time my philosophy was to do unto others before they do unto you. But then I came to realize that there were two different worlds. I wanted to be a part of the world that practiced discipline, truth, giving, sharing and serving. So I decided to adopt that philosophy of good, I eventually became a husband and a father. Then one day an old friend told me about Jesus, since then my life has never been the same. My friend never once argued with me but he would have me to look up verses and ask me to explain what they meant. By doing this he caused me to realize the depth of Gods love for me and that changed my life forever.