The Ten Times Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

, much less the supposed five times that
are necessary
.
My company was recently hired to conduct a “mystery shop” campaign for an
international company to identify where the breakdowns in the sales process
were occurring. We were trying to collect information on where the franchises
needed the most help. We visited more than 500 locations to see what percentage
of time the sales force was able to position the client to even ask for an order on
the product. To the company's amazement, 63 percent of the locations shopped
never even presented the client with a proposal to purchase—much less ask our
mystery shopper to buy! This company was about to spend millions on a product
training program when in reality, this was not the problem. The franchises and
their sales teams feared failure or rejection and never even played a hand—much
less went all in.
If a client comes to you or you get a chance to get in front of a client and talk
about your product but never present a proposal, I assure you that you will not
get the business 
100 percent
of the time. Society has successfully taught most of
us to play it safe rather than to go all in with every customer and every
opportunity. This is perpetuated in the business world with things like closing
ratios, which supposedly reflect the success rate of a salesperson. I'll tell you
what I do: I am willing to go for it with every customer, every time, and have the
lowest closing ratio of everyone but the highest production! All in. I don't care
how many times I bust out, I will just reload my chips and play again!
Think about it: What's the worst thing that can happen to you if you just totally
go for it? You may lose the customer, but so what? You still have unlimited
resources to give it your all with the next client. You have everything to gain and
nothing to lose; you simply have to rethink your approach.

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This brings me to the topic of overcommitting, another “frowned-upon” and
misunderstood issue in business today. How many times have you been told to
“undercommit and overdeliver?” I have never heard anything so backward and
ridiculous. Let's say you are putting on a Broadway show that you're advertising
to the public. Should you announce that you have a mediocre cast with just
“average” singing ability—and then wait until opening night to overdeliver? Of
course not. This phrase suggests that overcommitting—or, at the very least, 
fully
committing—somehow puts you in danger. If you're then not able to deliver as
promised, you'll leave the other party dissatisfied. Why not overcommit in your
promise—and then exceed by overdelivering as well? Tell everyone about your
spectacular Broadway cast, and compel them to see the show for themselves.
Overcommit 
and
overdeliver!
I find that the greater the commitment I make to a client, the higher my level
of delivery naturally becomes. It is as though I'm promising to both them and
myself to reach new levels of what I'm able to do for them. The more energy I
devote to the markets, my clients, or my family, the more intent I am upon
delivering exactly what I said I was going to. This, of course, goes back to acting
with 10X effort rather than 1X effort. It's easy for someone to claim to be giving
“110 percent” but then fail to fully commit—either because that person is
playing it safe or is afraid that he or she won't perform to the level necessary.
A common problem that almost every business faces is the tendency to
increase appointments in order to present a product or idea. People who request
an appointment aren't willing to overcommit to the person who has to give up his
or her valuable time in order to see them. Grand claims, overcommitment, and
extreme promises will immediately separate you from the masses—and therefore
force
you to deliver at 10X levels. The only way to increase appointments is to
increase the number of people to whom you speak—and then amplify the
reasons why they should make time for you.
The same goes for every step of the sales process, whether it involves follow
up, fliers, regular mail, e-mails, social media, phone calls, personal visits, events,
meetings, or any other action you take. Overcommit your energy, resources,
creativity, and persistence. Know that you are all in on every activity, every time
you take action, every day you're in business.
Now, you might worry—as so many people do—about not being able to
deliver. And that is certainly a problem; however, as we discussed earlier, you
need
new problems. They're signs that you're making progress and heading in
the right direction. Learn to commit first, and figure out how to show up later.
Most people simply never bother to perform and instead spend their time trying

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to wrap their heads around things that may never happen for them. Anyone who
doesn't face new problems but who instead grapples with the same old problems
his or her whole life isn't moving forward. Simply put: If you are not creating
new problems for yourself, then you aren't taking enough action.
You need to face new issues and dilemmas that will challenge you to keep
finding and creating solutions. Wouldn't it be nice if you had 
too
many people to
see at 2 PM or if you had a line outside your restaurant because there were so
many people waiting for a table? One of the major differences between
successful and unsuccessful people is that the former 
look
for problems to
resolve, whereas the latter make every attempt to 
avoid
them. So remember:
Overcommit, be all in, and take massive levels of action followed up by massive
amounts of more actions. You will create new problems and deliver at levels that
will amaze even you.

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