Millionaires have referral systems. The poor have excuses.

There were two men. One rich. One poor. One man persisted for 20 years until he finally discovered the true difference between them.

There's the myth of the seasonal business.

We'll dispell that and many other myths today using the single principle behind all success.

Because there's also a myth that it's impossible to make a lightbulb. (All the best inventors have already tried it and failed.)

And a myth that you can't get anyone in the restaurant business to improve their fried chicken recipe.

There used to be a myth that you couldn't build a V8 engine. It's impossible!

And the myth that the 4 minute mile was impossible.

And a myth that you couldn't get referral systems to work in the car business.

Everyone knows referral systems don't work in the car sales business. There's 101 reasons why they "don't work."

But one car salesman kept trying systems until he found one that work. Instead of making excuses, he made about $500,000 per year with ONE referral system.

By the way, he didn't have anything more than that one referral system, and continues looking for another referral system that works.

The only referral system he's ever found effective is based on the psychological principle of influence called "reciprocity." That means if you do something for someone else, they feel obligated to do it for you.

But it doesn't matter whether he used reciprocity, social proof, scarcity, authority, liking, or commitment and consistency. What matters is this...

HE KEPT TRYING UNTIL HE FOUND ONE THAT WORKED.

He's rich because he's the only person too "stupid" to give up trying like all the "intelligent" people who "know better."

The intelligent car salesmen knew referrals wouldn't work because you're unlikely to catch someone in the market to buy a car at any particluar time.

The intelligent salesmen knew referral systems wouldn't work because they already tried a few system, and none of them worked.

Because no one else was succeeding with referrals in the car business.

Because car salesmen never showed up in the books about referral systems.

What if Thomas Edison had stopped after trying 3 ways to make a lightbulb? After 100 ways? After 1,000 ways?

If he'd quit, we wouldn't have lightbulbs until someone more determined than Edison came along. It might have been awhile.

A reporter, talking to Edison, asked him how it felt to fail thousands of times. He said he hadn't failed. He'd simply found ten thousand ways NOT to make a lightbult.

Colonel Sanders found hundreds of people who didn't want to pay for his fried chicken recipe.

A job applicant eventually found 700 people who didn't respond to his job application and wouldn't hire him.

With every single real estate investment, Robert Kiyosake finds 100 properties he's not willing to invest in and 9 people who refuse his offer for every property he buys.

Sylvester Stallone took his Rocky Script to every agent and studio in Hollywood twice, three times, until they gave him the money for the movie AND let him star in it and direct it.

What if you're not being rejected and NOT facing hundreds or thousands of failures?

Then you're not asking for enough.

If you're rejected 100,000 times, you might be asking for too much.

On my first sales job, for the first few weeks, I came to expect 60 people to hang up on me for ever person who would listen. Until eventually, through testing and persistence, I eventually found a system that worked much, much better, and nearly everyone who answered the phone talked to me for at least 10 seconds. And then at least 30 seconds. And so on.

I tested several approaches, and several of them worked. But one worked much better than all the others.

Now, if I'd told you WHAT the referral system was, which is what you probably wanted several paragraphs ago, you would have MISSED THE POINT.

Persistence is the ONLY THING successful people have in common.

Everyone else has excuses.

The reciprocity-based referral system that was worth $500,000 per year? He remembered what business his customers had said they were in, and once a month, offered to send business to all his customers. "If I find anyone looking for a house, Mr. Realtor, I'll be sure to send them to you."

Some of these people would call him up, angry, saying, "OK. I GET IT. You'll send me a customer for my furniture store. Can you please stop calling, emailing, and sending postcards once a month?"

But he didn't stop. He persisted. He was relentless.

That's the real secret. He didn't have time to make excuses. Too busy making money.

If you have a "seasonal business" that slows down in the winter, then what you're missing is a referral system.

"Who do you know that likes their lawn fertilized in the winter?" I was surprised at how many people are so serious about their lawn care, they're pushing aside the snow for a mid-winter treatment. And I'll bet thousands of your competitors in the landscaping business just throw their hands up in the air and say, "It's a SEASONAL business."

Meanwhile, you might see winter time as the very best time to capture market share from all the sub-standard lawn care pros who don't really care about getting optimal results for their customer.

With roof de-icing up-sells to help prevent potentially hazardous icicle formation.

There's a myth that you can't raise a more than a billion dollars for your first deal, that you can't generate $49 million dollars of revenue in the first year, but Rick Scott did both in his first deal.

Because he learned from the best in the business, and knew banks would rather earn interest on a billion dollars than earning interest on a million dollars.

The secret to success isn't having a book full of referral systems that don't work in your business.

The secret to success isn't trying every referral system in every business book on the bookshelf.

The secret to success is persisting until you find something that works. Someone who says yes to you.

The right referral system won't work for the guy who tries it on ten customers and then quits.

The best referral system in the world  won't work for the guy who tries the winning referral system on his customers for a whole entire month and then quits.

It only works for the guy who keeps after all his customers with every referral system month after month after month until he finds one that works.

If you'll do that, and keep persisting, adapting and adjusting, then you'll eventually find a customer who complains and says, "Why the hell should I refer someone to YOU. What the hell have you ever DONE FOR ME?"

Only at that moment is the spark of  genius ignited. And the world's best automotive referral system is born.