devoted my life's work to studying winners in every walk of life, from Apollo astronauts to world-class athletes, from top executives of multinational corporations, to youth groups and young entrepreneurs, I consider it a privilege to offer a few opening comments about Gary Pittard's new book, Why Winners Win.
It has been said, with timeless wisdom, ‘The greatest teachers are themselves the greatest students,' and I can say emphatically that Gary Pittard has studied ‘winners' all his adult life. He is just as curious, inspired and eager to continue growing as a student of life-management attitudes and habits today as he was when he first began his upward journey to enlightenment. As with each of us, Gary was not necessarily born to win. He was born with the equal right to invest in his potential to become a winner by choice, rather than by chance. If winning in life was based on luck, Las Vegas and Macao would be ghost towns. Winning, other than the lottery, is based on universal principles that time, technology and circumstance cannot alter.
There are several major differences that make this book so relevant and special. First, although it deals with winning in the real estate industry, with a banquet of hands-on examples, Why Winners Win is just as applicable to every industry, leadership position, sales situation, and personal development program for individuals and family members. Another major difference is that, while quoting many icons in business and the personal growth fields, Gary does not merely recycle what he has learned by reading and studying their work, as well as attending their keynotes and workshops – he has lived his own success journey after decades of trial and error. He has earned his reputation as one of the premier sales and sales leadership experts in Australia, and I believe his book will gain global recognition as the ‘winning by example' manual.
A noteworthy difference that Gary's book provides is that he structures the critical qualities of a winner in their natural progression: attitude, knowledge, skill and competent action. Attitude certainly is the primary key to our lock on the door leading to success. The right attitude opens up the treasure chest of knowledge and skills (habits) development. While many books talk about the Law of Attraction, Why Winners Win gives us, the readers, the most important ingredient of all: Competent Action. Winners are busy ‘doing' while the rest of the population keeps ‘stewing'.
I consider Gary Pittard a colleague worth emulating and a lifelong friend. If you internalise the concepts within, this book can change your life.
Dr Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning
Introduction
Why Winners Win shows what it takes to be successful in any field. It is not just for businesspeople, leaders, managers and salespeople – if you want to succeed in any endeavour, this book can help you. It is as much about success in life as it is about success in business. The two, in my opinion, are inextricably linked.
Although my work over the past two decades has focused on training real estate business owners and salespeople, before that I was in sales and sales management in the office equipment industry, and before that I worked in the hospitality industry (hotels).
So, while many of the examples I use concern real estate sales, others relate to office equipment sales and the hotel industry. Still other examples are drawn from people I have met during my life, many of whom were not businesspeople, and from books and seminars I have attended over the past three decades.
Winners are everywhere you look; unfortunately, so too are people who have chosen a different path. I learn from everyone. I recommend you do too.
It can be too easy to look at an example and say to yourself, ‘This doesn't apply to me.' Perhaps the example involves someone who is not in the same field as you, but this does not mean you cannot draw parallels and learn. ‘This doesn't apply to me' shuts out any possibility of learning important lessons that could change your life.
Throughout my career I have always sought winners and gone to great lengths to learn from the best. I did this before I entered Sales and Sales management, and it is a practice I continue to this day.
Why Winners Win is a distillation of lessons from my lifetime of learning. Whether you are in customer service, Sales, leadership or management, or are a salaried employee, a stay-at-home parent or just starting your working life, this book has much to offer you.
A golden opportunity
Sandy Rogers is now a high-income producer at Marsellos Pike Real Estate in Morayfield, Queensland, but her rise to the top wasn't easy.
Sandy started in the real estate business as a single mother with a young son. She has now been in the industry for about 18 years, commencing as a receptionist on $28 000 per annum, later moving into property management.
Observing the company's salespeople in action, Sandy often thought, ‘I can do that.' The company gave her the opportunity to go into Sales; she put her head down, worked hard, set goals and started to forge herself a great career.
She looked after her money carefully and at one stage was able to take her family on an extended trip to Malta.
She was very gracious in thanking us for her success, but I pointed out it was really all her own doing by coming to our training programs and implementing what she had learned.
When she opened a seminar for us once she said, ‘I pulled the manual apart! I'd just go through the manual, study it and then I'd apply it in the field.'
That, to me, is the epitome of a winner: They train, they study and they have the courage to test their knowledge in the field. They know they might fail when they try new techniques. When Sandy tried and failed, she studied the manual again, went back out and tried again … until she got it right.
Fast forward 15 years, and she has built a great life for herself. She has done so as a single mum, raising her son on her own, and now she's financially secure.
Sandy Rogers is a winner – in her career and in her life.
I wonder how many real estate salespeople actually appreciate the golden opportunity their careers offer them. When you landed this career, you won the lottery. Do you need reminding how good you have it?
• Selling dreams: So many people dream of owning property. It is a talking point at many parties and in the media. I would go as far to say that real estate is more talked about now than the weather.
• Freedom: Your time is your own. Although you may have to attend sales and training meetings, you don't have a boss looking over your shoulder. Get results and most of the time you are left alone.
• Nice clothes: You don't have to put on high-vis vests and work in hot, dirty environments. You wear nice clothes, work most of the time in air conditioning, and if you know what you are doing, you make more money than any miner.
• Nice car: I'm not advocating that a salesperson leases a flashy car that ends up costing three times the list price by the time it is paid out. I prefer salespeople to buy good cars with cash. But you can still buy a nice car and enjoy it.
• Satisfaction: Salespeople can experience career highs every day when they sell a property and see the faces of happy sellers and buyers. For both sellers and buyers, the process of selling, buying and moving home can be traumatic. What a great feeling it is to help people and get paid well for it!
• Huge income potential: I've put this last because most people put income low in their lists of the most important things they want from a career. This doesn't mean money isn't important;
