In 2015 Amazon surpassed Wal Mart as the largest retailer in the United States. By all means and qualifications this makes Jeff Bezos the number one salesman on Earth. According to wikipedia, Jeff Bezos net worth is over $66 billion, which means he has the sales numbers and the commission check to match. According to Forbes in August of 2016, Jeff Bezos became the 3rd richest person in the world, bumping Warren Buffet to 4th.
Anyone who can out sell Wal Mart and out earn Warren Buffet is a badass.
Jeff Bezos represents what modern, top producing, salespeople are. He’s not your typical “traveling salesman”. Jeff is a computer science major from an Ivy League college (Princeton) who figured out how to leverage the internet to sell to the masses. These days, you can pretty much buy anything you want from Amazon. And in some places, you can get it in less than an hour.
Not only has Mr Bezos figured out a way to sell more stuff than anyone else on the planet, he’s also figured out how to get it in the hands of his clients as fast as possible. This says a lot about the way he thinks and why he’s so successful. I’ll get more into that, here in a couple more paragraphs.
Jeff Bezos came up with the idea for Amazon, while driving from NY to Seattle. He started the company in his garage and grew it from there. He’s had to make several sells to different markets, to earn the title where he’s at now. First he had to sell people into using his store and trusting Amazon with their credit card info. Second he had to sell retailers into selling their stuff on his site. Third he had to sell investors into investing in his company, and the list goes on and on.
Amazon has changed the way products are bought and sold. There’s been plenty of times where I’ve walked in a retail store, touched the product I wanted, then got in my car, on my phone, and ordered it from Amazon. The sneakiest part about Jeff Bezos’s creation is his site is 100% ABC selling at all times, yet it gives the client the illusion of making a buying decision.
If you look at the layout of any page in Amazon, you’ll see offers. From conversion targeting, suggested upsells, retargeting, mirroring and one-click-upsells to any other type of offer you can think of, they are all over every single page on the site. Jeff and his team of tech geniuses has studied the human buying psyche to an extent that makes us common salesfolk jealous AF.
Amazon didn’t take off as the leader in sales overnight. Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and just last year he earned his spot at the top. Each time Amazon made a sale, it took a portion of that money and used it towards software and education on how to sell more. Mr Bezos invested in learning more and more about sales until he sold more than anyone on the planet. In less than a quarter century, he completely invented a niche, and crushed the 800 pound reigning gorilla that owned it.
This should serve as proof that the way sales is done is changing. The days of us knocking doors, cold calling, dropping by and surprising people are going away. Sure, cold calls and door knocking works, but with guys like Bezos out there, their sites can metaphorically knock more doors in 2 seconds than a team of 1,000,000 salespeople can knock in a week.
I’ve been saying it for years now and the evidence is all around us. The way things are sold is changing. The richest people in sales are not fast taking, smooth shaven, suit wearing salesmen. They are guys and gals who get the internet and have learned how to leverage technology to make more sales. It’s not the future of sales, it’s the present tense.
I’d reccomend reading the latest book about Jeff Bezos and Amazon called “The Everything Store” surprisingly, you can get it on Amazon. Imagine that…
If you’re ready to embrace the present state of sales and start using technology to assist you with generating leads and closing sales, I’d suggest you click on the banner below and check out my “how to sell from your phone” program called Phone Funnels. Let me introduce you to the dark world of making millions from online selling! (it’s not dark. it’s sunshine and rainbows)
