The Art of Cross Examination - Would you believe a great book for salesmen...and women???

I have a secret, I've mentioned to just a few people over the years I've been in sales.  It's a book that teaches lawyers how to ask effective questions.  One thing many, if not most, average salespeople just don't get is that their commissions ride on asking effective questions too.
Successful salesmen and women, like successful litigators, ask the right questions that lead the prospect  to the answers that the salesperson desires.  This book, The Art of Cross Examination, written by Francis Wellman in 1903, teaches you how to do that.  Of course there are other books that do the same thing, and there are some people, both lawyers and salespeople, who have a natural ability, but they are few and far between. Contrary to popular myth, salespeople are made not born, as a rule. 
Asking effective questions is not easy, especially in the face of a reluctant or hostile prospect who's primary goal is to get rid of you, rather than be tricked into buying from you. You'd be amazed how many people, even...especially, those who need your product, consider you a trickster who's only after their money. Unfortunately the sales field is well populated with exactly that ilk. They've created an image over many decades that those of us that are honest, and sell good products honestly, are forced to live down. 
I, as you know, sell the Rascal. It's in my opinion the best machine out there, but it's not cheap. There are many that would tell you a scooter is a scooter, and be happy to sell you a cheapie. Then you never see them again.  Until in a year or two you need another one.  I on the other hand will show you the benefits of buying the best once, and paying a bit more, rather than buying over and over every few years. I do this by asking questions, questions that determine if you need a scooter, or a powerchair, or perhaps neither. Questions that determine which model is right for you. Questions to find out if you can afford a Rascal. And answers, to your questions, of course.
The key to helping a person that needs a scooter, is asking the right questions at the right time, and this book teaches you how. Of course if a prospect reads this perhaps they should read it also.

Lee Murray

The Art of Cross Examination

Just Found A Blog Dedicated to Napolean Hill and His Work On Success

Napolean Hill has long been one of my favorite authors, and I've read all of his books on success. He was probably the first motivational author, writing The Laws of Success in 1925, and Think and Grow Rich in 1937, among others. His books are must reading for any sales person who takes being successful seriously. No, they won't themselves make you successful, but they will point you in the right direction, and show you the right attitude. It was Mr. Hill that said "What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

Lee Murray

The Blog I Found Dedicated to Napolean Hill

From Rascal Pertaining to Safety of Three Wheel Scooters - Two Recent Innovations That Make the Three Wheel Scooter As Safe as a Four Wheel Scooter

PUBLIC AWARENESS AND SAFETY CAMPAIGN FOR  3 WHEEL MOBILITY SCOOTERS

For Medical Professionals, Medical Equipment Dealers and Administrators of Government and Private Programs Who Authorize Mobility Scooter Purchases

BACKGROUND OF MOBILITY SCOOTER’S SAFETY

3 Wheel Mobility Scooters provide independence and convenience to millions of people who have difficulty walking long distances. Since 3 wheel scooters were introduced in 1977, they have improved the quality of life for the elderly and people with disabilities who utilize them for indoor and outdoor transportation.  Because 3 wheel scooters can be accidentally tipped over sideways, more stable 4 wheel scooters were introduced in 1990. However, most scooter users prefer 3 wheel scooters over 4 wheel scooters because they are more maneuverable, more comfortable (more legroom) and easier to use (steer). In the past, stability was the only drawback in selecting a 3 wheel scooter over a 4 wheel scooter. Manufacturers, Dealers, Sales Consultants and Medical Professionals regularly warn new 3 wheel scooter users about the danger of sideways tipping. Some manufacturers have equipped their 3 wheel scooters with side anti-tip wheels to reduce sideways tipovers.  Despite warnings about accidental tipovers and the use of anti-tip side castors, thousands of people tip their 3 wheel scooters over each year.  A review of published articles analyzing data from the Consumer Products Safety Commission reveals an alarming trend of a three-fold increase in wheelchair related injuries and fatalities over a fifteen year period. Between 1986-1992, research of hospital emergency department admissions revealed an average of 36,599 wheelchair accidents causing serious injuries.
1  By 2003, the number of serious injuries increased to 102,300 according to data compiled by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS – a Division of CPSC). Tips and falls accounted for more than two-thirds of the incidents.
2  To determine how many serious injuries occur annually as a result of tipovers on electric scooters, an article analyzing data of manufacturer’s reports to the FDA of adverse incidents was reviewed. The proportion of incidents reported to the FDA related to the use of scooters was 52.8% compared to manual and powered wheelchairs 47.2%. Sideways tipping was the most common direction for scooters’ tipovers.
3  In the article that analyzed the 1986-1992 CPSC wheelchair-related injuries, the author noted that: “Presumably many accidents result in no injury, in injuries for which the affected person seeks no medical attention or in injuries for which the affected person seeks attention from his or her family physician or other health care worker. It is therefore likely that this study significantly underrepresents the incidence of accidents and injuries.”
4  If 52.8% of the 70,000 serious wheelchair-related injuries caused by tips or falls occurred on scooters in 2003, then as many as 36,960 of the serious injuries treated in hospital emergency departments in just one year can be attributed to scooter usage, with sideways tipping being the primary cause.

3 WHEEL SCOOTER SAFETY BREAKTHROUGH

Recently, two new patent-pending stability technologies have been developed that make 3 wheel scooters just as stable as 4 wheel scooters. These breakthrough ideas provide both the superior maneuverability of a 3 wheel scooter and the stability of a 4 wheel scooter.  One technology introduced in 2008, actually turns a 3 wheel scooter into a 5 wheel scooter, with three steerable front wheels. The Quingo®, developed in the UK by Advanced Vehicle Concepts Limited, with a design to prevent accidental sideways tipovers, is now in use by thousands of scooter users in Europe.

The second technology was introduced by The Rascal Company in 2009. This
breakthrough technology is relatively simple and maintenance free.
Magnetically controlled swivel castor wheels are positioned on each side of the scooter’s steerable front wheel, slightly above the ground. If the 3 wheel scooter turns too fast, the outside swivel castor wheel touches down and instantly turns to follow the single front steerable wheel. During most turns, the 3 wheel scooter becomes a “4 wheel scooter”, but one that remains highly maneuverable.
According to The Rascal Company, over 2000 Rascal® BalanceTM scooters are in use by customers without a reported incident of sideways tipover. Test reports conducted by an independent test lab posted on the Rascal Balance website (http://www.rascalbalance.com/) show the exact same stability ratings for the new Rascal Balance 3 wheeler compared to the Rascal full sized 4 wheel scooter.  The incidence of 3 wheel scooter sideways tipovers is believed to be so prevalent as

many as one of every two 3 wheel scooter users may have tipped over. Many users are embarrassed because they tipped over. Others do not want friends and loved ones to know they tipped because they fear losing their driving privileges, much like the use of an automobile. The cost of scooters is frequently covered by insurance companies or government programs under Medicare and Veterans benefits. Medical expenses to treat seriously injured scooter users and the rehabilitation necessary to return them to better health are also covered by the same programs. “Medical bills incurred in wheelchair-related falls, including rehabilitation are often between $25,000 - $75,000.”6 The cost savings for private insurers and government programs such as Medicare and Veterans Hospitals as the new stability technology for 3 wheel scooters is adopted will be significant - as much as $2.3 million to $7 million a year.  The inherent instability of 3 wheeled ATV’s and the serious injuries and fatalities they caused resulted in a government ban on new sales by the Consumer Products Safety Commission in 1988. Hopefully, as the community of Medical Professionals, Dealers, Sales Consultants and FederalHealth Care Programs embrace the cost-savings and safety of these new advanced stability technologies, they will no longer recommend or purchase 3 wheel scooters that lack 4 wheel stability.

1 Ummat S, Kirby RL. Nonfatal wheelchair-related accidents reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1994;73:163-167
2 H Xiang, A-M Chany, and G A Smith. Wheelchair related injuries treated in US emergency departments. Inj Prev 2006; 12:8-11
3  Kirby RL, Ackroyd-Stolarz SA. Wheelchair safety—adverse reports to the United States Food and Drug Administration. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1995 Jul-Aug;74(4):308-12
4  Ummat S, Kirby RL. Nonfatal wheelchair-related accidents reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1994;73:163-167
5 E061810-02 Test Reports of Rascal Balance 3 Wheel and Rascal 4 Wheel Scooters, Ammer Consulting, June, 2010 - Attached
6  Gavin-Dreschnack D, Nelson A, Fitzgerald S, Harrow J, Sanchez-Anguiano A, Ahmed S, Powell-Cope G. Wheelchair-related falls: current evidence and directions for improved quality care. J Nurs Care Qual. 2005 Apr-Jun;20(2):119-27

This article was commissioned by The Rascal Company of Sewell, NJ. For more information or to set-up an interview, please contact the firm at  http://www.rascalbalancesafetyprogram.com/

Beware: AV Security Systems Looks Real But Is A Virus

WARNING to all of you with computers hooked to the internet. My sister and her husband on their computer and I on mine were attacked over the weekend by a virus called the AV Security System. It gets in and blocked everything making it virtually impossible to remove. I don't know if it came in in an email, or got around my firewall somehow. If you google the name you'll see that it's a hack created to look like a real program, that claims your computer is under attack by dozens of virus' and worms, and demands something like 60-70 dollars, but according to what I read it takes your money, gives you nothing, and to add insult to injury screws up your computer anyway. In both cases from what they told me, and my experience, it keeps you from accessing your virus software, your control panel, your registry, in my case I downloaded the same software they used to get rid of it, called AVG, and a couple others, and it allowed the downloads but blocked the installation, the gist is it blocks any way to get rid of it. It reloaded everytime you'd reboot, and kept popping up basically saying buy me, over and over whether connected to the web or not, also it kept opening web pages to porno sites when connected to the web. Very disconcerting and annoying. Neither of us paid, from what they said they disconnected their high speed connection, and that allowed the virus software to work and it removed the AV Security. In my case my virus software was blocked, and installing the dowloads was blocked, I was about to wipe the drive and reload the operating system, when I came across instructions, put it in safe mode and work through it that way, didn't work... Then I had a thought, according to what I'd read it also blocked or could infect system restore, but out of options I used system restore and set it back two days. Miracle of miracles it worked, I rebooted and it didn't show up. Since then I've been running all the virus software I've got and boosted the firewall. As of 3am it was gone. The point is this is a major PITA but if you get it it can be dealt with, just takes time and patience.

Lee Murray