12 Key Strategies from "The Ultimate Sales Machine" to Turbocharge Your Business

Separate yourself from the competition with this powerful business book by the creator of the "Dream 100 Method"

May 02, 2023

I sent these epic book notes to my other 2,000-person email list and the response was pretty clear:

“More of these books, please!”

So now I’m sending my best notes and takeaways from The Ultimate Sales Machine, by Chet Holmes, to you guys as well.

My other newsletter is called The Reading Life, by the way, which is where I deliver my best book recommendations.

The Competitive Advantage is more about achievement, self-discipline, and business, but if you love to read as well, you might like The Reading Life!

Virtually every serious business owner I know swears by this book I’m going to share today, so you might get a lot out of it as well! Especially if you’re a business owner, or have anything to do with sales - which pretty much describes all of us in some way or another.

In the summary below, we’ll get into some of the key takeaways, but here’s one of my favorite quotes, which will give you an idea of the quality of thinking you can expect from Holmes:

“If I eat at a restaurant just once per week, spending $100 each time, and I go there for five years, I’m worth more than $25,000 to that restaurant.

If you own a restaurant, do your waiters treat your customers like they are worth $25,000 in business or like they are just worth the $25 meal they’re buying that night?”

How many business owners do you know who think like that?

Instead of trying to squeeze all the money they can out of people before discarding them and moving on to the next prospect, smart business owners seek to build a relationship and motivate people to come back again and again.

I recommend reading this book all the way through (especially if you run a business or are engaged in sales), but I also favor spaced repetition as a way to learn more effectively and remember more of what I read.

They say “knowledge is power,” but actually, “applied knowledge is power,” so make sure that, if you found value in this book - or any book - you don’t just fly through it once and never think about it again.

Take notes, and review them, again and again, to solidify them in your memory.

That’s one of the best reasons to take notes on every single book you read.

Then apply what you’ve been reading to your actual life!

I’d also like to know if this book recommendation “landed” for you! You can just hit reply to this email and let me know.

As always, my book notes and summary for this book are available on my Patreon, as well as my personal notes from more than 1,150+ other books. Updated monthly.

The support I’ve received on Patreon over the years has been nothing less than incredible. It honestly just started out as a way to make some extra money, but it’s become so much more than that.

First off, I want to mention two of my biggest supporters by name, Jeremy Steingraber and Denisse Nantes!

Everyone’s support helps, of course, but to have someone believe in me and my work to the extent that they do is just…I can’t even put it into words without swearing haha.

I appreciate the hell out of everyone who supports me on Patreon, which is basically what I’m saying, and I want to help you out too by sharing my best book notes and summaries on there for you to enjoy and profit from.

There are plenty of other cool rewards available too, but the main thing is that you get more than 1,150+ summaries and thousands of pages of book notes for just $1! 

They’re updated monthly with all the new books I’ve been reading and taking notes on, but I do have to say that my earliest book notes need to be updated, and I’m working on that.

Just to be fully upfront with you guys.

I mean, they’re very good, but my notes from 2020 onwards are much more in-depth and complete than the ones from, say, 2015.

Back then, I was taking notes just for myself, but now I have to go back and make sure that other people can navigate them easily as well!

I should have them all updated by the end of the year, though, and my latest reads are updated monthly.

But again, thank you to everyone for either supporting me on Patreon or even considering doing so, and you can click here for my complete notes from today’s book and more than 1,150+ other books too.

Happy reading!

The Dream 100 method was pioneered by Chet Holmes, and this classic business book has at least 5 more strategies and ideas like it that are almost as valuable to the success of your business as that one is.

The idea of the Dream 100 is that you go ahead and make a list of your top prospects, the people you’d most like to work with, the biggest players in your space, etc.

Then, you systematically engage with that list, attracting their attention, and drawing them closer to you so that you can make the most progress in the least amount of time.

Everyone you know of in business today uses or at least has heard of this strategy - myself included - and it’s potentially transformational for any business.

But you don’t need a bunch of fancy tactics and strategies, says Chet Holmes. You just need to work on implementation, to apply the fundamentals of business, over and over and over again until you win. With pig-headed discipline, as he says.

Instead of chasing after all these shiny objects, zero in on the essential areas that make an actual difference to your business.

A huge theme in the book is also, naturally enough, relationships. Holmes mentions that virtually all of his best clients have eaten dinner at his home, and more than a few even attended his wedding.

Some of the advice is just a tad outdated - the book came out in 2007 - but you cannot skip this book if you want to increase your business profits over the next year. Or even the next month!

It’ll teach you management skills, sales skills, organizational skills, public relations skills…the fundamentals! Get these right and you’ll never have to worry about your business success ever again.

“Any area of achievement in your life required you to stick with the basics until you became great. And yet so many businesses don’t do that.”

“Implementation, not ideas, is the key to real success.”

“If you spend just 15 minutes per day to revisit, readdress, or reread documents or emails, you will waste 97 hours per year where no action is taken.”

“If you touch it, take action. That’s the first step to great time management.”

“Email is there for your convenience. If it’s not convenient, don’t answer it.”

“One of the most strategic things you can do is to find market data that makes your product or service more important. I don’t care if you sell shaving cream or overnight delivery services – there is market data that will make your product more vital.”

“No matter what you sell, there are dream prospects out there. If you’re committed and stay in their face, you’ll be surprised how easy it is.”

“If I eat at a restaurant just once per week, spending $100 each time, and I go there for five years, I’m worth more than $25,000 to that restaurant.

If you own a restaurant, do your waiters treat your customers like they are worth $25,000 in business or like they are just worth the $25 meal they’re buying that night?”

“It amazes me that companies will spend $100,000 to be in a national magazine and a prospect has to work to figure out what the ad is selling.”

“If you organize industry players around an important issue, you will rule your industry.”

“Fail to stimulate the eyes, and the brain tunes out.”

Market data can also be far more motivational than product data, especially when showing changes over time, such as rapid declines, demographics, etc. It can show people that they need to act now, rather than trying to conjure up a demand for your product without showing them the data that supports the need.

 (My own note, not a direct quote from the book)

“Maturity is when all of your mirrors turn into windows.”

“Never apologize or thank them for their time. If you do a good job, then they will thank you.”

“Even though we have talked about all the things your ‘presentation’ should do, never call it that to a prospect. A ‘presentation’ sounds like a sales pitch. We call ours an ‘orientation.’ An even better term for some people is ‘an executive briefing.’”

Don’t pitch to the person who only has the authority to say “no.” Speak directly to the decision-maker, to the person empowered to say “yes.”

 (My own note, not a direct quote from the book)

“If you are friends with your clients, it is very hard for another salesperson to take them away from you. That needs to be part of your sales process. Most companies leave this up to the individual salespeople.

In my companies, we built in opportunities – parties, events, boat trips, you name it – to become friends with our clients.

This might not be practical for every company, but the more you create a sense of community and friendship with your clients, the stronger the grip you will have on your market.

Practically every client I’ve had has become a friend. Most have dined at my home or I at theirs. Some have even stayed at my house, been on my boat, talked into the wee hours. Those bonds aren’t easily breakable.”

“If you truly believe that what you have is useful and valuable to your clients, then you have a moral obligation to try to serve them in every way possible.”

 -Jay Abraham

“The best method of selling I’ve ever seen is when you can guide your prospects through a series of questions and they sell themselves on your product or service.”

“Features tell, benefits sell. Don’t tell them what it is, but rather why they need it.”

“If you remember that an objection is an opportunity to close, you will always be happy to hear one.

For example, the client states this objection: ‘I’d love to buy it, but I just can’t afford it right now.’ You should agree that the objection is valid. Always agree with an objection. The clients will drop their guard.

You might say, ‘Well, that’s certainly a good reason not to invest in this today. [meaningful pause] But let me ask you a question: Is money the only thing standing between you and the purchase of this product?’

At this point, if there are more objections, they will surface. If not, the client will say, ‘No, if I could afford it, I’d buy it.’

This is called isolating the objection.”

“Great companies are always finding ways to help their clients succeed.

Can you hook up two clients to form a referral network? When we sold advertising, we would take up-and-coming companies and get them together with much larger companies. This often resulted in relationships that were of value to both players.

For that reason, my clients always took my calls – always. Since they never knew what cool new thing I was going to offer, they always welcomed, and even looked forward to my calls.

Be a resource. Can you provide an idea to help your client succeed? Put helping the client above all else.”

“Every important client I have has dined in my home.”

“Half the people at my wedding were my clients.”

“You can’t possibly respect someone who goes away after the first rejection.”

“The hardest part of sales is getting their attention in the first place, so once you have it, you need to follow up so well they don’t have a chance to forget about you.”

“Your ultimate goal is that all of your biggest clients also become your best friends. Become involved in their lives and in the success of their businesses. Make it your personal mission to help them succeed.”

Currently, I don’t have a complete breakdown of The Ultimate Sales Machine published on the Stairway to Wisdom (my library of expert book breakdowns), but below I’ve listed some similar breakdowns that you may enjoy instead.

When you become a member of the Stairway to Wisdom, you’ll gain access to more than 100+ book breakdowns like these ones here, as well as a premium weekly newsletter that will help you build the kind of life for yourself that you’ll love living.

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That’s it! I hope you found these book recommendations helpful, and I’ll be back with even more great books for you very soon!

Mere “information” is everywhere today, but what’s going to separate you (and give you the life you desire) is consistent, meaningful action, backed up with the most powerful ideas from the greatest books ever written.

That’s what I aim to provide you with.

I’m also putting in just as much work as I’m encouraging you to put in, and if you’d like to work together, we can talk about that.

You can apply to work with me directly on this page right here.

Together, we’ll look at where you are now, where you want to go, and how you can achieve your yearly goals in the next 90 days.

If that’s something you find intriguing, talk to me here.

With that said, I hope you enjoyed this preview edition of The Reading Life, and enjoy the rest of your day!

All the best,

Matt Karamazov

P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are three more ways I can help you apply the wisdom found in the greatest books ever written to your life:

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