David Ogilvy, founder of Ogilvy & Mather, shares lessons from his experience as a door-to-door salesman. He emphasizes the importance of believing in your product, keeping promises simple and truthful, and using news to generate interest. Quality salesmanship requires confidence and listening skills. Embracing dialogue and long-term relationships while shunning tricks and quick fixes leads to success. Ogilvy challenges readers to discuss what makes a great salesperson and invites top performers to compete to demonstrate and improve sales techniques.

1. How to Sell
SoMe tipS froM ogilvy

2. DaviD ogilvy
wasn’t just one of the
most accomplished
advertisers of all time.
He was, at heart, the
consummate salesman.

3. “ i started as a salesman, a door to door salesman for
kitchen stoves, on commission. if i sold i got a commission.
if i did not sell i did not get a commission, and i did not eat,
no sale, no commission, no eat.
”
See advertising is all about selling, the ability to sell. So i
sold kitchen stoves for a few years, in Scotland, and it was
damned hard work too.

4. =
“ the more prospects you talk to, the more sales you expose yourself to,
the more orders you will get.

5. QUALITY
QUANTITY
But never mistake quantity of calls for quality of salesmanship.
— David ogilvy
”

6. quality
So what is quality salesmanship?

7. DaviD HaD SoMe aDvice

8. you can’t sell anything unless you quite
genuinely feel that you want to persuade
people, your own family, your own wife,
your friends, the people you meet at
dinner parties, the world at large, to use
that product. and you can’t persuade
them to do it unless you genuinely
believe it. you can’t do it for a living.
you’ve got to believe in the product.

9. Boil down your
strategy into one
simple promise—
and that promise
should be important
and unique.

10. you wouldn’t tell lies
to your own wife. Don’t
tell them to mine. So
tell the truth but make
it fascinating.

11. you can’t bore
people into buying
your product. you
can only interest
them in buying it.
- David ogilvy

12. DaviD on tHe value of newS

13. newS
news
“ whenever you can, get news into advertising. and tell your
news loud and clear.

14. NEWS
!
”
news about a new product, or improvements in an old product.
or a new way to use an old product. news is absolutely invaluable.
- David ogilvy

15. aDvice froM otHer
great SaleS people

16. SALESMANSHIP
across the board, great sales people say the ability to sell is a “mentality.”

17. SALES
GOOD SALESMANSHIP BAD SALESMANSHIP
= CONFIDENCE
= NERVES
if you don’t think you can sell, if you’re nervous, then you can’t sell.

18. Don’t try to sell everything at once. every step
leads to the next step. for example, if you’re
making a cold call, sell them on meeting with
you in person; don’t try to sell the product.

19. the biggest secret is to develop
great listening skills. learn what your
customers want and tell them how
you’re giving it to them.

20. Don’t ever give your potential
customer a reason not to trust you.

21. a gentle reminder: any sales pitch is merely part of it.
Sales begins well before your first contact and continues
long after. it’s a relationship business, so be in it for the
long-term. Sales people and customers should be
creating value together. elegance is a craft.

22. Dialogue Messaging
Facts Speculation
Follow up Give up
Flexibility Stubbornness
Long-term Quick fix
EMBRACE SHUN
Caring Trickery
Craft Gimmicks
Dialogue Messaging
Facts Speculation
Follow up Give up
Flexibility Stubbornness
Long-term Quick fix

23. we want to know More aBout wHat workS

24. anyBoDy can Sell
after all, you’re doing it all the time, you just don’t know it. you’re
trying to get your kids to come home on time, you’re trying to get that
promotion at work, etc. But some people are great at it. are you?

25. at ogilvy, selling is in our Dna. we’re always trying to
get better at it. So tell us what we don’t know at our
Discussion group on linkedin.
Better yet, do you think you have it? are you one of
those people who can sell anything to anyone?
can you even sell a red brick?

26. FONTS: TRADE GOTHIC BOLD
SCRIPT MT BOLD (MONOTYPE)
C0 M100 Y100 K0
Pantone 485
R233 G40 B35
#DF2823
Do you Have wHat it takeS to Be
tHe worlD’S greateSt SaleSperSon?
enter to win and earn a part-time fellowship at ogilvyone.
the top finalists are flown to cannes, france, for the final
competition at the cannes lions international advertising
festival on June 21, 2010. the winner earns the job, the
title, and helps us write the sales guide for the future.
Get the brief and the rules at:
www.youtube.com/ogilvy
Follow the contest at www.twitter.com/Sell_or_Else