It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. A perfect day to go to the zoo with the family.
We packed up everything we needed for our little adventure.
Water – Check! Money – Check! Kids – Check! Gas in the car – Check!
We were ready to go. As we were approaching the zoo, we thought about potentially getting a membership opposing to paying each and every time, which would be more money anyhow.
We arrived at the zoo and approached the counter to purchase our tickets for the day.
Without delay, the ticket clerk immediately went into how we should consider getting an annual membership. It’s like she read our minds.
However, my wife and I weren’t sure yet as we didn’t know how often we would even go.
So we said that we had to talk and think about. Uh oh, what a bad thing to say.
It’s like her attack instincts instantly kicked in and she was going in for the attack.
I mentioned to the clerk we will think about it while we are in the zoo.
As we began walking away, this girl jumped out of the ticket booth and was running towards us yelling, “Sir, Sir.”
My wife and I were like, OMG. I turned around and asked, “Yes, what is it?”
“You should really consider buying a membership now because today’s ticket purchase would go to the annual membership cost,” she mentioned.
I thanked her for that and I told her that will help us in making our decision. What was up with this girl?
I’m telling you, I felt like I was being viciously attacked right in front of the zoo and it wasn’t by the animals either.
She was the tiger and I was her prey.
I was so tempted to share with her one of the seven secrets to success, but a part of me held back. Besides, she was just a young girl in training.
I must give her credit though, she was so persistent.
She was determined to make the sale. Failure was clearly not an option for her.
However, she’ll need to reinvent her approach, just a little if it’s going to work.
Speaking of reinventing, as you recall in the “Reinvention post“, we shared with you one of reinventions we were going through.
Today we released that reinvention and you can have it here – for free.
If you are already a subscriber, you would have gotten this in an email I sent out early this morning.
If you are not yet, I am going to share it with you here (no opt-in required)…
New and Updated – Seven Secrets to Success in Network Marketing
(Just click the image below and save it to your computer)
If you find this one bit useful, go ahead and share it with your friends. That’s secret #4 by the way.
Have you ever felt like you were being attacked, just so the other person could get the sale?
I know Twila Jacobs had a wonderful experience with this one. 
Check out her post when you have a few minutes, you’ll enjoy it.
If there was one thing you learn from being attacked, what part of that can you use to strengthen your business? Give it some thought and let us know.
Jerome Ratliff
P.S. Reinventing your network marketing business requires simple changes to what is not working, in order to get you the results you are really after.
P.P.S.If you’re new here, and/or you liked this post, would you mind sharing your take on it, or at least click the Facebook, Twitter, or Digg buttons above? It would be great if you did, plus people may even click over to your site. Hint! Hint! 
If you want even more business building tips to FUEL your home business, simply fill in your contact information below and I will see you on the inside.
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It sounds like the trainers need to work a little better with the animals
Teach them how to not attack the visitors.
In all honesty, a lot of sales positions like that are not really trained in sales. I use to work for a box office in college and there was ZERO sale training. So, if I were as daring as the tiger you encountered, I probably would have done the same things.
That’s what is awesome about this industry, there are so many useful skills you develop, such as how to make a sale with out attacking your prey!
Thanks for the great post!
Michael Novak´s last [type] ..The Best Industry to Learn Leadership
Hi Michael,
What a difference a little training can have done for this person. It would have made a HUGE difference.
Thanks for dropping by and hope to see you soon.
Have a great day,
Jerome Ratliff
Hi Jerome,
nice and teaching story. This young lady had the will to close the sale. I think it’s easier to tame sales behaviour that is little bit rough than motivating someone who hasn’t the same will power.
Thanks for sharing.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend´s last [type] ..The Anatomy Of Quitting – Would You Like To Change Places With Another Person
Hi Oliver,
She sure did. I do have her credit, she was doing what she thought was right.
Take care too,
Jerome Ratliff
I’m glad you and your family are OK
I went into a furniture store one time with a girlfreind to buy something.
The second we walked in the door we were attacked, we narrowly escaped, and two more people approached us, this is within 2 minutes, and 20ft from the door.
We then decided to leave and then the Manager came across and asked us why we were leaving, and was everything OK, in the same pushy manner.
I’m guessing he had taught them their sales technique. LOL
Take care,
Neil
Neil´s last [type] ..How to Install a Theme in WordPress
Me too Neil, me too.
That’s so not the way to do business. Thanks for sharing that story. I probably would have done the same exact thing as you did.
Chat with you later,
Jerome Ratliff
I really dig the way you tell a story Jerome.
What a little bit of training would do for this girl! With her self-confidence & persistence she can go a long way.
She just needs to be shown that to be successful in sales you first need to determine the prospects needs, then offer a solution to satisfy those needs.
Pretty much the same with online marketing!
Stay inspired,
Michael
Michael B Wilbraham´s last [type] ..Plug-In Profit Site Review
Thanks Michael.
Glad you liked the story. I was thinking the same thing, she had true fire and passion. All she really needs is a little reinvention and she will be on her way.
Talk to you later,
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome
Thanks for the “7 Secrets to Success” and yes I wil be practicing #4.
I give the girl credit for persistence. Too bad the zoo did not have a policy that at the end of the day you could still apply the daily ticket to the cost of the yearly pass. Now that would have been a nice offer.
Now I have met people in Network Marketing like that. They want to close you the first time they meet you. To be fair to the girl chances are that will be her only encounter with you, but in Network Marketing we need to always be planning our next encounters.
Peter Fuller MBA´s last [type] ..Does your Retirement Plan include Jumping out of a Window
You’re most welcome Peter.
I give the girl credit too. As I was saying Michael, she’s got passion and fire.
That says a lot of about herself. That is very rare.
Chat with you soon,
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
At least you have to give her credit for going for the sale. Do you that is how some companies go about selling their service and products? I know it is pushy…But you can’t ignore that it still works today. I’m not a pushy individual myself so I don’t like that. I will go check out version 2.0 of your ebook.
Chat with you later…
Josh
Josh Garcia´s last [type] ..What Everybody Ought to Know About DoFollow Blogs
Hey Josh,
I know, there are more people like that then we realize and yeah they are successful. It’s just taken them more rejections then those who didn’t choose to take this pushy approach.
Chat with you later too…
Jerome Ratliff
I enjoyed reading your story Jerome. I am sure we all have “attack stories” to relay.
I also always wanted to jump in and help “attackers” but I realized that everybody is on their own journey and when they finally tire of the hard work and little results they will search for an alternative.
~Marcus
Marcus Baker´s last [type] ..How to Stop People Getting Sick of Your blog
Hey Marcus,
I’ve heard my share of “attack stories” from many people. Most of them just needed a little bit of training in how to deal with people.
Glad you liked the story.
~Jerome Ratliff
Jerome first of all I’m glad you were not hurt in the attack of the ticketclerkrex.
Vicious creatures I hear you were lucky to survive.
But great analogy of how things can work here in the mlm world.
That persistence may payoff sometimes but in the long run people are sure to just start running away.
Steve Shoemaker
I was just happy to come out of it breathing. LOL
She sure had a lot of persistence – there was no doubt about that.
Chat with you later,
Jerome Ratliff
She at least earned my respect for persistence and commitment:).
Reinvention…more entrepreneurs need to look into it. It’s amazing what can be done with just a little bit of extra thought put into marketing.
Ana Hoffman
202 Bite-Sized Tips To Insanely Increase Your Blog Traffic
PS I hope you had a good trip to the zoo!
Ana | Traffic Generation Cafe´s last [type] ..Get Targeted Twitter Followers
Hi Ana,
She definitely had that going for her, and with that little tweak, I’m confident she can go and do great things. Some beginning entrepreneurs can learn a lesson from this person.
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
That story was fun to read. I can certainly relate. lol
The title of this post gave me a flashback to the time we went to the zoo and I got attacked by a monkey… but this was a little different.
Thanks for sharing the 7 secrets with all. I look forward to reading it.
Awesome post Jerome!
Susanna
Susanna Hess´s last [type] ..2 Business Mistakes- 99 Of People Make One – Which One Do YOU Make
Hi Susanna,
This is one of these stories we can a learn little from it. You know, from what she did right to what she did wrong.
Glad you enjoyed the story,
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
Next time you may need some animal crackers in your pocket. HAHA!
That is why I always say, home business owners are so unique, the way we are able to handle people.
I do like to add my two cents about the zoo membership
. We purchase a membership every year, don’t know your choices but we are able to get full access to the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, NY Aquarium plus free parking and gift shop discounts. Well worth it, membership has its privileges! 
Have a great day!
Tommy D.
MLM Prospecting Hero
Tommy DiPietro | MLM Prospecting Hero´s last [type] ..HONEY- I Blew Up Our Home Based Internet Business!
Hey Tommy,
What a great idea – animal crackers!
Appreciate your two cents, we eventually (another time) went with the yearly membership. It was well worth it.
Have a great day too.
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
I enjoyed reading your story. Hope you had a fun day at the Zoo.
I admire the girl’s persistence and determination to make that sale. You know, this happens all the time.
People need to be trained on the right skills when coming to “winning” their customers’ over.
I look forward to reading your 7 Secrets to Success Report.
Thanks for sharing this.
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong´s last [type] ..Blogging Tips – 3 Primary Steps To Higher Rankings!
Hi Mavis,
I hope you enjoy the free report.
Have an awesome day,
Jerome Ratliff
It seems like the only way that most of the untrained sales people out there know how to close, is by grabbing your leg and not letting go.
It’s too bad, because that will close sales, just to get the person away from you, but the customer walks away feeling robbed.
That’s definitely not a way to build a business.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire´s last [type] ..Happy 1st Birthday Underdog Millionaire Blog-A Year in Re-Cap
Hey Joshua,
I know a lot of people who use that approach – you’re so right, untrained is very fitting.
It’s amazing what a little training will do.
Jerome Ratliff
Wow, glad that you made it out OK Jerome!
I have been the victim of many cyber attacks recently. I think of it as a long-distance attempted mauling. Thanks goodness for “delete” buttons, or “X’s” or that matter
Whatever you chase, runs. Just like the pic above of the tiger going after the deer, we are no different. The aggressive sell rarely if ever works.
Thanks for sharing buddy.
Ryan Biddulph
Ryan Biddulph´s last [type] ..Personal Development – Whatever You Criticize You Have Probably Done It
Hey Ryan,
Yes, that picture does say it all. Going in for the attack.
Talk to you later,
Jerome Ratliff
Great story Jerome. Did you ever buy the membership? It is said that about 90% of people do not like being sold to, so this approach is always going to be stressful and probably not very productive.
all the best
Charlie Holles
Charlie Holles´s last [type] ..Goal Setting – should you aim for the stars
Hey Charlie.
I did, but it was at another time though and a different person.
Glad you liked the story.
Jerome
Hey Jerome,
Great story my friend.
Well it seemed like this young lady did things in good spirits and was innocent enough…
But later on in life, she might turn into one of those really manipulative and conning salesmen types, which would be very unfortunate.
It’s always better when you let your customer make the right choice for them, not force them into a decision that would be good for you.
Thanks for the report, I’ll download it today.
Take care,
Wayne
Wayne Wu´s last [type] ..The “No Selling” Bull Crap and how to Get Over It…
Hey Wayne,
She was definitely innocent, and afterward I thought the same thing. She will probably amount to someone with great success if she continues to have that same level of passion.
Oh yeah, enjoy the report too.
Take care,
Jerome Ratliff
Thanks for sharing this story Jerome, its interesting !
I gotta agree with Josh here, probably this pushy approach is something they teach beginners, cause it still works in a way.. Maybe if you weren’t experienced marketer with the mindset you have, you might even go for that offer
Thanks for your “Secrets” for free, amazing work!
Hi Milena,
Me too….I know it definitely does work, but I would much rather not go for the pushy approach.
Have a good day,
Jerome Ratliff
P.S. Glad you liked the free report.
Hey Jerome – Wow the ticket clerk might be very persistent. Perhaps she needs to reach a certain quota of annual membership sale. But she also needs to know her limit. I find it annoying for a sales agent following me around…
Allan Murray´s last [type] ..Learn Tennis Serve Fast at TennisBully updated Thu Apr 7 2011 11:10 am CDT