Harvey Mackay
No one who has sold 10 million books is an unsung hero, but Harvey Mackay goes largely unnoticed today. I always think about Harvey Mackay a month or two before Thanksgiving but never get around to following his advice, which demands discipline and courage. That may be why the latest generation of sales professionals prefers gurus like Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracey, Joe Girard, Barry Maher and others.
Today’s top-level sales consultants (Ziglar, Tracey, Girard and Maher rank highest on SalesGurus.net list of The World’s Top 30 Sales Professionals) deliver excellent assistance to companies and individuals looking to improve sales performance. But, their methods are less rigorous than Harvey Mackay’s. Mackay, who did not make the list, purchased a nearly bankrupt manufacturer in 1956 when he was 26 years. He built Mackay-Mitchell Envelope Company into a $100 million company by making his sales people practice strict and unusual tactics that he revealed to the world in his 1988 best seller How to Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.
Although Mackay is mainly a sales guy and his company almost 100% sales driven, that book has guided my views on the integration of sales and marketing, as well as sales technology, ever since then.
If I could only find a Thanksgiving card
Thanksgiving always reminds me why. Mackay’s employees have never been allowed to send Christmas cards to customers. They send out Thanksgiving cards to be ahead of their competitors and put his company’s message front and center when no one else is around. The advantage seems obvious. The genius was in taking the most worn out sales routine and turning it into a stunt worthy of the most cutting-edge marketing or PR campaign. The problem is that no one sells Thanksgiving cards. So, every year I want follow Mackay’s advice but fail to put in the required effort. Probably, I am like millions of other Swim with the Sharks fans.
The Mackay 66 Customer Profile is the primal guidepost for successful customer relationship management (CRM) and sales force automation (SFA). Mackay’s sales people were required to answer in writing 66 questions about every one of their customers. I’ve done it, even created the template in my first DOS version of ACT! It takes time and effort. But, Mackay wrote that:
“When you know your customers, some of their special interests or characteristics, you always have a basis for contacting and talking with them.”
Ideally, CRM and SFA should simply make it easier to process and manage the personal information sales people gather, helping to create more of the relationships Mackay knew were necessary for success. Unfortunately, these technologies fail because their sponsors see them as shortcuts. Mackay disciples chew and spit out competitors who use easy-to-find, inaccurate, and impersonal information about customers.
Mackay has not fallen out of favor because he is 77 years old and out of touch. He has a great website and blog. You can follow him on Twitter and Face Book. Brian Tracey has a nice blog and you can follow him on Twitter. Zig Ziglar has ceded his social media activities to his son, Tom. Neither Girard nor Maher have any Web 2.0 presence.
He’s out of favor, not out of touch
Then, why does Mackay only have 1,200 Twitter followers, while Tom Ziglar has 26,000 and Tracey 11,000? Last year, I entered a Linked In discussion about the top sales gurus. Out of more than 30 participants, I was the only one who mentioned Mackay.
Mackay’s practices are not for people seeking easy answers to complex problems. But, promises of instant success dominate the Internet and social media. Today, people expect automation to make things easier, not enable them to get more done in less time. That may explain why too few of today’s sales professionals listen to Harvey Mackay and his inconvenient truths. But, according to Harvey Mackay, it is easy and fun:
“I really don’t know why I’m here, I’ve only worked half days my entire life. I guess my advice to you is to do the same. Work half days every day. And it doesn’t matter which half … the first twelve hours or the second twelve hours.”
Happy Thanksgiving Harvey.
John Ribbler – Media Pro, Inc.
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I’ve read several of Harvey’s books and incorporated dozens of his ideas into my business. He is a master!
Why he’s not as popular as Mr. Ziglar and Tracy – I’m not sure. I’ve seen both of them speak but never have seen Mr. Mackay.
John, thank you for sharing this article.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
Neil Wood – Hingham, Mass.
Thanks for introducing me to the Mackay66, and Happy Thanksgiving to all.
This is the special relationship between the seller and the buyer which technology of today is just not geared up for. I have created softwares for loyalty programs, intelligence extraction, CRMs etc, and I have come to the conclusion that unless one creates programs in the language of the marketing folks and the customers, much of it is just some glorified book keeping, and they ought to be evaluated as calculating machines in any real market.
Regards
Kinshuk
Thanks for the post, as an old school sales professioanl I can appreciate Harvey Mackay. I feel that the true art of selling is being lost in the internet/social media age. The bottom line is that you have to truly care about what you do and want to work hard!
Happy Thanksgiving!
John,
Excellent points about Harvey Mackay. I hope he reads this post! He has great business acumen and your post is a reminder to me to re-read his books that are in my library. I admire his requirements. He knows few other businesses will have the same rigor so he will be miles ahead of his competitors. And we can be too, if we implement his advice. Thank you for this tribute to one of my favorite business leaders.
Meredith
I must agree with you. I have had Mackay’s “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” in my library for years, and refer to it often. It is certainly an early precursor to the “networking” that is now taking place — especially LinkedIn. The value of professional and personal networking outlined in Mackay’s book has guided my efforts for many years.
I am thinking of Harvey nearly everyday. Reading his blogpost and trying to fill out the Mackay66 list. His warning at item 66, that you will still loose out if your competitor has better answers on the previous 65? I take that very serious!
Here in this area in Holland, I will do everything to promote him!
Regards
Jos