The Frank Bettger Way
I have been a student of Frank Bettger for over 30 years.
To quote Dale Carnegie “…when I met him he was 29 years of age, trying to sell life insurance, and was a total failure as a salesman. Yet during the next twelve years, he made enough money to purchase a seventy-thousand-dollar country estate,($75,000.00 in 1941 had about the same buying power as $1,148,664.89 in 2010. Annual inflation over this period was about 4.03%). and could have retired at forty. I know. I saw it happen. I saw him rise from a total failure to 
one of the most successful and highest paid salesmen in America. In fact, I persuaded him to join me a few years ago and tell his story in a series of one-week schools I was giving under the auspices of the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, on “Leadership Training, Human Relations and Salesmanship.” How I raised myself
The thing that has impressed me more with his teachings than all the other great self development books I’ve read over the years, and I have read most of the big ones, is this: Frank Bettger’s teachings are so easy to apply to everyday life and work. This lifelong Presbyterian Sunday School teacher never talks about slick closes and high pressure tactics but the kind of business practices that will make your customers and prospects lifelong friends. I applied these to my work and the principles never failed me.
What will we do with our opportunities in nest 12 months?
Frank Bettger began his sales career during the worst economic times the United States ever faced yet he became a tremendous success. On a personal note, I have looked over my 30 plus year sales and product development career and the economic climate ups and downs and I found something interesting: some of my most productive years came during those times when the media and the economic statistics said times were bad for business. Truth is I was so busy doing my job I had little time to notice the reports.
It has always been interesting to me to see the history of all the great companies that started up or thrived during the Great Depression era and are still doing well today. Even during the Great Depression, Radio Flyer produced up to 1,500 wagons a day. The automobile business must have done well -look at all the 30s vintage cars that are still available today.
So our challenge is to use the great principle promoted by the father of modern psychology, William James and subscribed to by Frank Bettger, Napoleon Hill, Clement Stone, Dale Carnegie and Earl Nightingale: “Act As If” If we act like we expect to do well and put our belief behind it,2010 will be our best year yet.
The following poem by Herbert Kauffman made such an impact on him that Frank Bettger says he passed out hundreds of copies of this life changing poem.
Victory
You are the one who used to boast
That you’d achieve the uttermost
some day.
You merely wished a show,
To demonstrate how much you know
And prove the distance you can go…
Another year we’ve just passed through.
What new ideas came to you?
How many big things did you do?
Time… left twelve fresh months in your care
How many of them did you share
With opportunity and dare
Again where you so often missed?
We do not find you on the list of Makers Good.
Explain the fact!
Ah no ’twas not the chance you lacked!
As usual — you failed to act!
If you have read How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, you will find that the recording soon to be offered on our web site Fridays with Frank Bettger.com is a concise digest of the book plus the bonus of additional material not included in the book. If you have not read this book you will still enjoy this inspirational, motivational material. Get and read the Frank Bettger Classics
