Robert Ringer Quotes Page 2

“Regardless of the business you're in, never allow yourself to be intimidated into believing that you aren't entitled to the same rights as the so-called principals in a deal. I say so-called because, from your standpoint, you are a principal.

If you have a vested interest in a deal, you have a right to protect that interest, regardless of the size of your stake relative to the other players' shares. Just don't expect the other principals to agree with your viewpoint. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.”

“Regardless of what business you're in, when it comes to sales or deal-making, it's critical that you to build a detailed record of your involvement — not just to use as a last resort in court, but as a constant reminder to all the principals involved that you are/were instrumental in making the deal happen.”

“Remember, the Theory of Intimidation states that the results a person achieves are inversely proportionate to the degree to which he is intimidated. By developing techniques to dramatically improve my posture, I positioned myself for accomplishing my ultimate objective — getting paid. 

In the final analysis, what I really did was separate myself from the rest of the pack by learning how to cope with intimidating people and thereby increasing my chances of actually receiving what I earned.

Specifically, as a closing drew near, I took three important steps to maintain my strong posture: I kept my finger on the pulse of the deal twenty-four hours a day so I could pinpoint the time and place of the closing.

I continued to nurture my relationship with the buyer in the hopes that, at a minimum, I would have his moral support. I showed up at the closing with my attorney, and counted on the Universal Attorney-to-Attorney Respect Rule as my insurance policy if all else failed.”

“Since the general population will never understand that an attorney is nothing more than a college graduate with a fancy certificate on his wall that grants him a monopolistic right to practice intimidation on civilians, you're at a decided advantage if you are among the minority of players who possess such an understanding.”

“Stressed-out individuals tend to press too hard for results at crucial moments, and the harder someone presses for a result, the less likely it is he will achieve it.”

“That's because time brings into play the Fiddle Theory, which states: The longer you fiddle around with a deal, the greater the odds that it will never close.”

“The bedrock theory I am referring to is the Theory of Reality, which states: Reality is neither the way you wish things to be nor the way they appear to be, but the way they actually are.  Either you acknowledge reality and use it to your benefit, or it will automatically work against you.”

“The fact is that Legalman's financial survival depends upon his ability to kill deals, and the creatures who spawn those deals are more often than not salesmen, businessmen, and entrepreneurs.

Where Legalman is concerned, we're talking about a literal life-or-death matter here. After all, if every deal closed smoothly, he could become an endangered species.”

“The first four steps of selling are familiar to most people. Being a successful salesman requires: Having a product to sell that other people value. Locating a market (i.e., buyers) for your product. Implementing a sales presentation and/or marketing strategy. Closing the sale.

These four steps have been discussed in many sales books, but, remarkably, I've never seen the fifth — and most important — step discussed in any book: 5. Getting paid!”

“The first one is the Tortoise and Hare Theory, which states: The outcome of most situations in life are determined over the long term. The guy who gets off to a fast start merely wins a battle; the individual who's ahead at the end of the race wins the war.

Battles are for ego-trippers, wars are for money-grippers.”

“The owner I was searching for was the guy who would come to the phone and give at least some indication that he might be interested in selling his property. I say indication, because an owner will rarely come right out and admit that he's interested in selling his property.”

“The reality from my vantage point was that 50 billion years from now, when the earth is nothing but an ice ball, my problems of today will be too insignificant to have been recorded.

Indeed, there would undoubtedly not even be a record of the entire century in which I had lived most of my life.”

“The reality was that the more desperate the owner, the better my chances of concluding a sale.  As a result of my new posture, desperation had become my best friend.

Thus, if the owner's asking price was at least within shouting distance of the ball-park price I had calculated, and assuming there were no extraordinarily negative factors involved, I would be prepared to move forward with trying to find a buyer.”

“There are only three types of people in the business world as follows:

Type Number One, who lets you know from the outset — either through his words, his actions, or both — that he's out to get your chips.

He then follows through by attempting to do just that.

Type Number Two, who goes to great lengths to assure you that he would never dream of pilfering your chips, often trying to throw you off guard by assuring you that he really wants to see you 'get everything that's coming to you'.

Then, like Type Number One — and without hesitation — he goes about trying to grab your chips anyway.

Type Number Three, who, like Type Number Two, assures you that he's not interested in your chips. Unlike Type Number Two, however, he sincerely means what he says. But that's where the difference ends.

Due to any one of a number of reasons — ranging from his own bungling to his amoral standards for rationalizing what's right and wrong — he, like Types Number One and Two, still ends up trying to grab your chips. 

Which means that his supposed good intentions are irrelevant to the final outcome.”

“Throughout the book I have continually used the phrase earning and receiving. Why do I keep adding the words 'and receiving'? Because, as everyone who has ever tried to sell anything has discovered, to his dismay, it's one thing to earn a fee, but quite another to actually receive it. You make a grave mistake if you develop the habit of prematurely celebrating.”

“Timing is a critical factor in every deal, and I knew that the time was right for my now historic speech: The Tortoise Briefcase Address.

In a deadpan, matter-of-fact manner, I said, "Boys, there's no sense going around in circles all night. It looks like we aren't going to be able work this deal out, so let's just write if off to experience. Hey, it's not the last deal in the world."

I then looked at Ernest and said, "Don't worry, I'm working on a lot of other properties. Sooner or later, I'll come across a deal for you where the mathematics make sense."

I then turned to the Booze Brothers and said, "As to your properties, I've been talking to several other prospective buyers, and I think I can crank up some serious interest in the next couple of weeks."

You can just imagine how happy Ernest was to hear that. I then put my papers back in my briefcase, closed it, and snapped the latches shut—very slowly — one latch at a time.

Then I rose, smiled pleasantly, started toward the door, paused, glanced back over my shoulder, and, in the most cavalier manner, said, "Why don't you guys get some sleep. I'll be in touch with you in the next couple of weeks."

I was conscious of my every move and every word as I completed The Tortoise Briefcase Address in a style that rivaled some of the Booze Brothers' greatest performances.

I will always remember the distance — I was approximately three feet from the door — when Ernest and the Booze Brothers yelled out, in unison, 'Wait!'

That was the most telltale word anyone had ever spoken to me. That one word confirmed that I had been right all along — that this was the right buyer and the right seller in the right place at the right time.

What Ernest had meant by that one word was that there was no way, after all the effort he had put into this deal, that he was going to miss the opportunity to propel his company into a significant real estate investment trust just because some real estate broker happened to be crazy.

As for the Booze Brothers, the word wait was their way of saying that there was no way, after all the work they had done, that they were going to miss the opportunity to pocket more than $2 million profit just because some real estate broker was too stupid to understand the consequences of his actions.”

“What I am referring to is the Theory of Next, which states: The key to maintaining a positive mental attitude is to recognize that no one deal is that important.

The person with a true positive mental attitude possesses the power to say 'Next!' and quickly move on to the next deal when things don't work out.”

“When a Type Number Two performs chip-replacement surgery on your wallet, all he's saying to you is: I meant from the outset to cut off your fingers when you reached for your chips, even though I assured you that was not my intention.”

“When I reached the point not just of finding an owner who was interested in selling his property, but who had a saleable property, my next step was to haul my healthy posture onto a plane and pay a personal visit to that owner. Only then could I decide whether or not I would be willing to 'make a commitment'.

Of course, the real purpose of my trip was to obtain a signed commission agreement, but how many owners do you think would have been excited about my visiting them had I told them what my real objective was?  Zero is a pretty good guess.”

“When you deal with sick minds, never waste time trying to become a healer. The most humane act you can perform for such a person is to state things in such a way that it will make him feel better about how things work out — especially if it involves you getting paid.

After all, you can cause him a great deal of stress if you allow him to believe that he might actually be paying you what he owes you.”

“With the techniques I describe in the next chapter, I finally achieved the image power I had dreamed about for so long. And with the use of my three legal tools, I would have the real power to back up my new image.

But I wanted to take it one step further and back up my image power and legal power by being the best at my profession. In other words, I wanted to demonstrate performance power.

There is nothing more powerful than having a reputation for getting results. The combination of image and substance is virtually unbeatable, and that was my aim.”