The Sticking Point Solution: 9 Ways to Move Your Business from Stagnation to Stunning Growth InTough Economic Times

265 Pages·2009·11.6 MB·English

by  Jay Abraham

THE
"Jay's innovative
STICKING and dynamic approaches to
increasing sales, cutting costs
and boosting profits are the
simplest, most powerful and
POINT
practical I have ever seen.»
-Brian Tracy,
New York Times
bestselling author
SOLUTION
9 Ways to Move Your Business
From Stagnation to Stunning Growth
In Tough Economic Times
• Unlock the true potential of your company
• Learn how to ask the right questions about your business
• Achieve new levels of profitability and success
• Gain control over the future of your business today
JAY ABRAHAM
America's #1 Marketing Expert
"Jack Canfield and I approached Jay when we wanted
to do the book concept for Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Jay gave Jack and me two killer concepts. Obviously
they must have worked, because so far we've sold
over 14 million copies using his approach."
-Mark Victor Hansen,
co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series
". .. possibly the greatest marketing expert alive today ... "
-Success Magazine
"Jay Abraham goes for the jugular when it comes to
marketing. He is one of the highest paid consultants
in the country." -Los Angeles BusinessJournal
"Jay Abraham's specialty: turning corporate under
performers into marketing and sales whizzes."
-Forhes Magazine
"Jay Abraham has identified the limiting patterns in
marketing that restrict most business success .... Jay
learned how to take success concepts from differ
ent industries and combine them to give a powerful
advantage to the clients he advises."
-Anthony Robbins,
bestselling author of Personal Power
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525.95 U.S.
530.00 CAN

TilE HIGIIT HOOI\.. TilE lueliT TI~IE.
Businesses can plateau, stall, or stagnate ... without
the owners or key executives even realizing it. A
business might be achieving incremental year-on
year growth and yet still be in a situation of stag
nation or stall. Why? Because entrepreneurs and
executives often focus on the wrong things and
don't know how to solve the problems that get their
businesses stuck.
The purpose of The Sticking Point Solution is
to help entrepreneurs and executives recognize the
ways in which their businesses may be stuck, and to
then give them tools for getting unstuck and enjoy
ing exponential growth. To achieve this, lay will
help you to identify the nine "sticking points" that
keep entrepreneurs and executives alike grinding
just to survive, instead of growing and thriving.
Whether businesses are afflicted by one, two,
or all nine of these sticking points, the result is the
same: the owners, executives, or entrepreneurs are
not achieving all of the growth, success, and pros
perity they deserve. Unlocking that true potential
and diagnosing the specific issues that each reader!
business owner/entrepreneur/employee faces is the
mission of this book.
The results: freedom from stagnation and
stalling; new levels of profitability and success;
and a much greater sense of control and pleasure
from running the enterprise. How to achieve
this exquisite state is the impetus for The Sticking
Point Solution.
As founder and CEO of Abraham Group, Inc., in
Los Angeles, California, JA' ABilA IIAM has
spent the last twenty-five years solving problems
and significantly increasing the bottom lines for
over 10,000 clients in more than 400 industries
worldwide. Jay has won high praise as a market
ing genius in USA Today, the New York Times, the
Los Ange/es Times, Washington Post, San Francisco
Chronicle, aTC StockJournal, National Underwriter,
Entrepreneur, Success, Inc., and many other publica
tions. Jay's clients range from business royalty to
small business owners, many ofw hom acknowledge
that his efforts and ideas have led to an increase in
profits ranging into the millions of dollars. He lives
in Los Angeles.
Learn more about Jay Abraham at
www.abraham.com
lac/Ilt dmgn by Ervin Serrano
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~~e~2s~~~o~ress
www.perseusbooks.com
www.vangua rdpressbooks.com
THE STICKING POINT
SOLUTION
9 Ways to Move Your Business
from Stagnation to Stunning Growth
in Tough Economic Times
JAY ABRAHAM
Copyright © 2009 by Jay Abraham
Published by Vanguard Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other
wise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in
the United States of America. For information and inquiries, address
Vanguard Press, 387 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor, New York, NY
10016, or call [phone].
Designed by Pauline Brown
Set in 11 point Sabon
Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book are available from the
Library of Congress.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59315-510-0
Vanguard Press books are available at special discounts for bulk pur
chases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organiza
tions. For more information, please contact the Special Markets
Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite
200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call [phone], ext. 5000, or
e-mail [email protected].
10 9 8 7654 3 2 1
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
Introduction: Bad Economy? Good News!
1 Is Your Business Stuck? 11
2 Are You Stuck Losing Out to the Competition? 27
3 Are You Stuck Not Selling Enough? 47
4 Are You Stuck with Erratic Business Volume? 79
5 Are You Stuck Failing to Strategize? 101
6 Are You Stuck with Costs Eating Up
All Your Profits? 123
7 Are You Stuck Still Doing What's Not Working? 141
8 Are You Stuck Being Marginalized by
the Marketplace? 165
9 Are You Stuck with Mediocre Marketing? 183
10 Are You Stuck Still Saying "I Can Do It Myself"? 213
11 How to Get Going and Growing in a Crisis Economy 241
CONCLUSION: CONGRATULATIONSl YOU'RE UNSTUCKl 259
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I'm just egotistical enough to tell you that this is the book that
will make the difference for you between failure and success in
this post-2008 crisis economy-and beyond.
On the other hand, I'm not so egotistical as to suggest that
everyone of the hundreds of approaches, strategies, and tac
tics described herein were invented by the author. Instead,
you'll find in these pages the ideas (duly acknowledged, of
course!) of some of the most brilliant business minds in the
world today-men and women who are not just legendary fig
ures in the worlds of marketing and sales but also my friends,
colleagues, co-authors, and co-presenters, and current and past
business strategic partners. First among equals is Rich Schefren,
whose brilliance enlivens many of the chapters of this book,
and without whom the book (and many successful online mar
keters) would be immeasurably poorer.
You'll also discover the ideas of Chet Holmes, with whom
I have repeatedly shared the speaker's platform and whose
book, The Ultimate Sales Machine, I endorse heartily.
And the ideas of Andy Miller, a genius when it comes to
consultative selling.
Thank you, Barbara Lowenstein, for agenting the deal and
selling the book in so many foreign markets.
A special thank you also goes to Roger Cooper, the pub
lisher, for his faith in this book and his willingness to roll up
his sleeves and make it a success.
To Ruth Mills, who ably copyedited the book, helping me
to sound more organized and concise than is often the case in
real life. To Michael Levin, who-though he takes life, and me,
too seriously-gave my ideas a stronger, clearer voice.
To Christy, who has been after me for years to write an
other book.
And to all the wonderful people who have taken me under
their wing over the last thirty years to counsel, mentor, teach,
and train me in all their wisdom and knowledge.

vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If I have failed to acknowledge anyone else in this book for
their ideas and influence, it's merely an unintentional oversight
and for that, I duly apologize.
This book is offered to business owners, entrepreneurs,
professionals, start-ups, and managers alike, with the hope
that it will help your respective enterprises keep going, grow
ing, and thriving in this bad economy and beyond.
INTRODUCTION
BAD
ECONOMY?
GOOD NEWS!
I love a bad economy.
So do my clients.
And after you read this book, so will you.
For all the pain they cause, economic downturns-like the
one we're in today-allow us to discover that areas of growth
are actually more plentiful in hard times than in boom times.
And that's why I appreciate such downturns.
In a bad economy, you can walk all over your competition,
lap the field, run circles-you pick the metaphor. The main
thing is that you can win easily-if you know how to benefit
from bad times. Everyone else is dropping out of the race, and
you're seeing the checkered flag. Everyone else is looking back
ward, and you're looking forward. They're terrified, and you're
making a fortune. Indeed, you're seeing opportunities and
overlooked markets, transactions, and areas of thinking that
no one else saw in good times, so they certainly won't see them
in times of financial struggle.
The Sticking Point Solution makes a unique promise. Any
one can show you how to succeed when all the indicators are
up. But I'm going to show you how to succeed as never before
when the national and global financial picture looks bleak.