Ever write anything on a napkin? An idea, a phone number, a to-do, a note, even a sales pitch? Sure you have.
I picked up a book in the airport titled, “The Back of a Napkin,” by Dan Roam. Great concept. A book about napkin scribbling. I do it all the time and wanted to see what someone had to say in 275 pages that I hadn’t thought of or understood.
The cover is a napkin – like print with stick-people drawn on it. Cool.
Then it dawned on me – the BACK of a napkin? I always write on the front. On further thought, I never knew napkins had a back side. To me it’s always just been two sided – both front.
Anyway, I began to read. Or should I say, tried to read? For the record, I am not an academic. I’m a salesman. Oh, I’m a student, just not a structured one. My brain has no patience. I want answers that I can understand in two seconds, not 275 pages.
I skipped around, trying to find the place that suited me, but it was like a classroom showing students how to draw pictures on a napkin to solve problems. WAIT! I don’t have any problems. Rats.
I don’t use napkins to solve problems. I use them to write thoughts of the moment. So I started writing in the margins of the book to expand or clarify Roam’s thoughts.
So, I began to use his book as a napkin. To put down my own thoughts about how (as a salesperson and an entrepreneur) I have used napkins. The first thing I did was add to the subtitle. His was: “Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures.” I expanded it to read: Capturing thoughts, creating ideas, clarifying ideas, solving problems, and selling ideas with pictures and words.
NOTE WELL: This is not a criticism of the book; rather it’s my take as a napkin user for 40-plus years. Not “how to” – rather “how I do.” The book was not written in my style, but it was inspirational. Got me thinking, and writing. I wrote 20 thoughts and ideas as I read. Example: I think inside, on paper, and out loud.
I looked at the structure of the book, and realized that Dan, the author, was more of a logical thinker. I’m a combination of emotional and logical. I speak and write the idea with rapid thought and high emotion, then I logically justify it with supporting thoughts, clarifying thoughts, and expansion thoughts.
Not just the idea, but detail of what the idea entails. AND – I don’t do this for others. I do it for myself. To hear myself think out loud, and hear how it sounds as I write it.
Here’s what I mean: I met my friend Ray Bard of Bard Press for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Austin. Ray published my book, “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless,” with some success. He eagerly leaned forward and said, “I have an idea for a book, and I think you’re the perfect person to write it. Are you familiar with Harvey Penick’s ‘Little Red Book of Golf?’ I nodded yes, not wanting to interrupt his words with mine. ‘The Little Red Book of Golf’ has sold more than two million copies.” “WOW!” I interrupted.
“Jeffrey, I think you should write ‘The Little Red Book of Selling.’ It’s a natural for you. Write it in your edgy style, and you could outsell Harvey Penick. What do you think?”
“Waiter! Can I have a large paper napkin please?” I bellowed.
Ideas began flowing. I began filling in the blanks with my red Sharpie. Chapter one was at the top of the napkin. And the last chapter was at the bottom of the napkin. I wrote more thoughts and content about preparation, asking questions, networking, delivering value, relationships, and other elements that would create a buying mood rather than a selling tone. I decided that the book would be about why people buy, not how to sell. And that the opening quote of the book would be my trademarked phrase, People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy.
The napkin was filled to the edges with content, clarification, and other thoughts. I looked up at Ray and said, “I’ll do it!”
That was in the spring of 2002. Two years later, the book idea that began on a napkin was complete, edited and ready to print. I still have the napkin.
Because of that collaborated idea, because the two people at the table had mutual respect and mutual trust, because the waiter brought me a napkin, and because of readers like you, The Little Red Book of Selling has just passed the 750,000-copies-sold marker – and that’s just the numbers for the English version.
Napkins and their big brothers, flip charts, have played a major role in my ability to generate ideas, clarify them, and turn them into reality, and money.
Got idea? Get napkin!
Last month, I was in Austin and passed by that Mexican restaurant where Ray and I had met for lunch. I smiled. •
Wanna know what I wrote in the margins? Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the words MARGINS in the GitBit box.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of “The Little Red Book of Selling” and “The Sales Bible.” President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer loyalty at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112, or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.
