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If You’re Not First, You’re Last

Guest post by: Grant Cardone

Article Overview: How to become and remain first in your customers eyes and dominate your market.

If You’re Not First, You’re Last

I recently wrote a book about the value of being first in your market that has gotten a great deal of attention. Some are offended by this concept and others are drawn to it. Some agree with it and many disagree. Regardless of your position, the basis of the book is that a person in life or in business should never settle for any other position than being first. Especially during economically troubling times, first place is the only safe place to operate from. The fact that schools today reward each of your kids a trophy just for being on the team doesn’t make them the best player on the team or even strive to accomplish that; it only disservices them by teaching that in the real world they will be rewarded for sitting the bench. The reality is, in the real world money, attention and power follows those that are able to dominate their sector.

Whether it’s the Olympics, Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl, your SEO ranking or where you sit in the sales rankings in your region there is one place more valuable than all others and it’s FIRST.

My most recent book, “If You’re Not First, You’re Last – Sales Strategies to Dominate the Competition” immediately went to #1 ranking on Amazon Business Books and #1 overall at Barnes and Noble and then made the New York Times Best Seller List and The Wall Street Journal Best Seller List. Not bad when there are over 700,000 new book titles written each year. When I set out to write this book the goal was to get to number one; then I found out how competitive the book environment was. I thought I needed a really catchy title so I could grab people’s attention and break through all the clutter. The original title of this book was, “Don’t be a Little Bitch”, but the publishing company, Wiley, convinced me to soften it up a bit so as not to offend anyone. I succumbed to their wisdom and we came to an agreement on the current title. This book goes into detail about why first is the position your every action should lead you to and that you must quit settling for any other position. We aren’t just talking about being first in sales position but also, more importantly, how to be first in the minds of your customers when it comes to your product or service line!

The first step is to quit kidding yourself; money follows number one and every other position fights over the leftovers. Look at Google, Apple, Starbucks, Zappo’s, Exxon, Fox TV – these companies don’t compete, they dominate their sectors. You can like Fox Broadcasting or hate them, but the reality is they own their space. Take a look at Peyton Manning, Warren Buffett, LeBron James, Leo DiCaprio, The Rolling Stones, and the like. Like them or not, these people get what they want, how they want it because they dominate their sectors and are considered first in their fields! You don’t have to be an actor, athlete or Wall Street billionaire. Regardless of the size of your business or your position the same idea applies to you. You have been told that competition is healthy and while that sounds good, why choose health when you could have complete immunity! The greatest of companies and individuals do not think in terms of competition, but rather domination.

Andy Grove, Intel founder wrote years ago, “Only the Paranoid Survive”, where he wrote about Intel’s quest to dominate and the idea that they would consume their own products and reinvent themselves before anyone in their sector could threaten them or their product line. The difference between Intel and its closest competition, Advanced Micro, is mind-boggling! In 2009, Advanced Micro had 2 billion in cash and Intel had $13 billion. Steve Jobs at Apple literally destroys his own product lines with newer products before a competitor can. He’s dominating the competition!

With the current economic conditions people are convincing themselves to settle for whatever they can get. With unemployment numbers skyrocketing many people say, “I am just grateful I have a job.” Rather than settling at this time, you should be setting your every thought, intention and action on how to advance and conquer market share. To think in terms of settling is a recipe for average at best and probably defeat. Advance, conquer and dominate is the only secure way to approach the current economic scene. The first step is to decide that first is the position you desire and then every action following should be about gobbling up the weak, the reasonable, and those that just want to settle. A recession is a terrible thing to waste, and this one presents a massive opportunity for those that push themselves to the top.

As a father, a husband and a business owner I was terrified 18 months ago into the realization that I had to get my company and myself into the number one position in my field. Every other position puts me in a place where I have to compete and I don’t want to compete. I want to dominate so that I can command my price and sell my services regardless of the economy. I don’t want to put my family or the people who work with me at risk. Understand, to be first does not mean you have to be first in the market, but first in your customers’ mind. To be first means people have to think about you, your product, and your service before anyone or anything else. When I write an article, a book or create a product I think about what I must do to place myself in the dominant “first” position. Do you think an Olympian who wins a silver medal is thinking that they won a silver medal? No, they are thinking, “I lost the Gold.”

This economy only rewards and protects those that are first, and first is only for those that are unreasonable and unwilling to settle. So remember, don’t be a little bitch and settle for anything other than first, because If You’re Not First…Well, you know the rest.

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Article Tags: dominate, money, success



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