Book summary “If you're not first, you're last”: summary

Introduction

You face economic contractions, declining sales, and uncertain markets that threaten your financial survival. Conventional advice tells you to cut costs, conserve resources, and wait for stability to return. This moderate approach leads to stagnation and failure during severe downturns.

Grant Cardone argues that in any economy, first place is the only position that provides real safety and abundance. You must stop trying to fit in and start dominating your industry through overwhelming force and unreasonable commitment.

The book provides a blueprint for market dominance through four distinct areas. You will examine the absolute necessity of claiming first place. You will learn aggressive outbound strategies to create your own economy. You will discover how to increase value rather than cut prices. Finally, you will master massive action and product repackaging.

• How do you secure the number one spot in your market?
• What outbound strategies generate revenue during a contraction?
• How do you protect your profit margins without losing customers?
• What actions ensure your business expands when others fail?

1. The Importance of First

In business and careers, first place is the only position that truly matters and provides safety during economic storms.

While participants in other systems get rewarded just for showing up, the real world rewards only the dominant player. In good times, the number one company expands while others eke out small gains. In tough times, the top company seizes market share from all weaker competitors, leaving everyone else to pay the price.

Intel held $32.7 billion in revenue and $13 billion in cash as of December 2009. That performance vastly outpassed second-place Advanced Micro, which held $4.92 billion in revenues and $2.5 billion in cash. Barack Obama won the presidency despite coming thirty years after his opponent and having less experience because he secured the number one spot.

The Game-Changing Economy

You operate within a game-changing economy where normal rules no longer apply. Normal conditions reward average effort, but contractions eliminate any margin for error. You must abandon conventional moderation to survive the new environment.

Four Responses to Contractions

People adopt one of four distinct behavioral responses during economic contractions, but only one leads to survival and dominance.

• The cheerleader response
• Old school response
• The quitter response
• Advance and conquer

Most people react to economic downturns with denial, apathy, or fear. They fall into one of those categories, hoping the situation will resolve itself without personal exertion.

Over 10 percent of the total workforce faced unemployment, exceeding 15 percent in certain locations. Auto sales dropped by almost 40 percent while retail sales hit 25-year lows and 20 percent of teenagers remained unemployed.

Simply returning to basic fundamentals is insufficient when facing a severe economic shift and deep market contraction. While fundamental skills are important, relying exclusively on block-and-tackle basics fails when you are severely behind. Contractions bring tighter credit, fearful customers, and high objection levels that require massive actions rather than simplistic sayings.

An automotive executive claimed they just needed to get back to basics. That executive ignored that their industry had plummeted from 16 million new car sales a year down to 9 million, the lowest level in 25 years. Banks had pulled floor plans and salespeople possessed zero traffic generation skills.

To extract millions in value from professional literature, you must commit to strict completion deadlines and look up all misunderstood words. Most people fail to finish books because they invest little money, lack a completion deadline, and quit when encountering unfamiliar terminology. You should treat books as million-dollar assets, set a strict due date, and use the glossary to understand every doubtful term.

• Write today's date and the target completion date on the inside cover of the book.
• Look up the meaning of every word about which you have even the slightest doubt in the glossary.

The average person reads 200 words per minute. You can accelerate your mastery by maintaining strict focus throughout every page.

2. Advance and Conquer Outbound Strategies

You must actively mine your existing networks and execute direct personal contacts to create your own economy.

Attempting to build a business solely through mass advertising is expensive and less personal, especially during contractions. Direct marketing companies succeed because they mine their existing networks of friends, family, past employers, and acquaintances rather than relying purely on cold public advertising. Companies like Amway, Nu Skin, Herbalife, Mary Kay, Market America, and Kangen Water build their entire model on the principle that success depends on effectively informing one's power base about products.

• Make a list of everyone you know including friends, family, relatives, schoolmates, past employers, existing employees, and enemies.
• Contact everyone on the list without qualifying them or pre-judging their interest.
• Take a genuine interest in their lives, careers, and families without making it a sales pitch.
• Collect and update data including email, postal addresses, and phone numbers.
• Set up a time to meet in person over lunch or a visit.
• Follow up every phone call with a letter or email the same day.

Power Base Reactivation

Reactivating a power base requires a casual catch-up call focused strictly on personal reconnection and data gathering rather than immediate selling. When calling contacts from your power base, the objective is to reestablish rapport, show genuine interest, and avoid discussing negative economic news. Once the contact asks about your activities, share your current professional focus with enthusiasm and lock in a face-to-face meeting.

• Say: John, Grant Cardone here. Just thinking about you and wanted to catch up. How are things? What are you doing now? Tell me about the family, the house, the job?
• Collect updated data: email, postal addresses, phone numbers, and family changes.
• Secure a meeting time by asking: Let's catch up this month over lunch. When is good for you?
• End the call by saying: Great speaking with you. I look forward to catching up with you in person.

Past Client Reactivation

Past clients represent an untapped gold mine that must be systematically and proactively contacted daily to secure repeat business and referrals. In tightening economies, past clients often forget about you simply because they get busy elsewhere. By increasing communication and offering to improve their situation, such as upgrading products or reducing monthly costs, you reactivate old relationships and capture market share while competitors do nothing.

Grant Cardone's firm calls past training clients whose contracts are nearing completion, adds needed training dates, and carries the balance over to a new contract with extended terms to lower their monthly payments while securing new revenue. Expect 1 order or assignment expected for every 10 to 12 calls made when you maintain this discipline.

• Pull up five clients from your database who bought from you previously.
• Make personal phone calls to past clients daily without organizing or qualifying the list beforehand.
• Ask how previous products are working and whether there are any points of dissatisfaction.
• Offer to improve the client's situation by introducing special programs that upgrade their product line without increasing monthly expenses.
• Gather best mailing addresses and email addresses for follow-up mailings and personal visits.
• Ask every reactivated client: Who do you know who might be in the market for our product?

Personal visits are the most powerful method for contacting clients and advancing your market position. Making face-to-face visits builds confidence, hones critical skills, and cuts through the noise of ineffective mass marketing and unread emails. It forces you to bypass social norms and cold-call reluctance to create your own economy. The author built his seminar and speaking business by making unannounced cold visits to clients who did not know him because he lacked advertising capital. Remember that 10 phone calls equal the outcome of one personal visit.

• Choose one person a day from your power base or past contacts for the next 21 days.
• Do not call or ask for permission; just drop in.
• If they are in, ask how they are doing and if your product or service is satisfying them.
• If they are not in, leave your card and befriend the receptionist for future contacts.
• If there is no immediate fit, ask for the name of someone else who might need your services.

3. Value Creation and Pricing Strategy

Avoid price cuts by building perceived value, delivering exceptional wow experiences, and activating second sales.

Competitors during bad times get locked up in problems and fail to deliver positive service. A wow experience gives customers a reason to part with their money by making them feel special and exceeding expectations. Most people have not received a true wow experience within 90 days.

On a hot day, the author served a prospect a Diet Coke on a silver platter with two glasses, straws, and a opened can, prompting the client to buy a high-margin product without discounting.

Service Excellence

You must differentiate your business during economic downturns by delivering exceptional wow experiences rather than mere satisfaction. Cultivate, nurture, and serve current customers to amaze them constantly.

• Go the extra mile in greetings, phone answers, or small courtesies.
• Instruct staff to unpack clothes, hang them up, and address hotel guests by name.
• Cultivate, nurture, and serve current customers to amaze them constantly.
• Ask yourself how you can deliver ten times the value of the dollar received.

You can also use creative, non-monetary value-added propositions instead of fee increases or price cuts during soft economies. Unique selling propositions differentiate your goods or services from competitors by offering real or perceived extra benefits that cost little or nothing extra to provide.

An apartment owner added fences to downstairs units to allow dogs of any size, increasing rents and occupancy above competitors who were lowering prices.

• Hold initial group meetings and follow-up trainings after product installation.
• Conduct periodic teleconferences throughout the year to answer client questions.
• Offer complimentary wine, cheese, or head massages at a salon to incentivize visits.

The Pricing Myth

Lowering prices signals a weak-minded organization and reduces perceived value. Buyers spend money based on perceived value and alternative uses for their cash, not just lowest cost.

A car dealer discounted prices to compete with a rival down the street while the buyer decided to spend 40,000 dollars on a home kitchen instead because the dealer failed to build value.

You must drop arrogance and actively demonstrate intense hunger and appreciation to secure customer business in tough times. Past success and industry ratings do not pay bills. Customers value results and genuine effort, rejecting arrogance and the attitude that you do not need their business.

Sears and Kmart once dominated their fields, but past arrogance cost them their market positions. Companies still acting like top industry players experience a 40 percent drop in sales.

• Make the mental adjustment that economic conditions require increased activity.
• Demonstrate deep appreciation, gratitude, and accessibility for every client opportunity.
• Follow up relentlessly and go the extra mile to prove you want the business.

You can boost profits and customer satisfaction by instantly offering add-ons or second sales after closing the first transaction. Second money is easier to get because customers use ancillary purchases to justify their initial decision. This technique increases the average dollar value per project without requiring new customers.

Restaurant patrons hesitate over the cost of an entrée, but once agreed, they readily add appetizers, wine, and dessert. 99.99 percent of salespeople miss the second sale opportunity, yet this technique achieves an increase of 25 to 40 percent or more in average project value.

• Complete and close the first sale, congratulate the customer, and reiterate its value.
• Suggest related add-ons, extra ad frequency, complementary furniture, or matching accessories.
• Wait for the customer to ask for the price of the add-on.

4. Massive Action and Product Repackaging

Expand your market reach and marketing efforts while repackaging your offerings to fit tighter customer budgets.

During economic contractions, you must relinquish restrictions about your ideal customer and expand your acceptable client profile to capture new revenue. Adopting a game plan to advance and conquer requires opening up your customer base to offset pullbacks from your normal list. This means lowering project fee minimums, taking on smaller firms, or offering smaller projects while readjusting criteria temporarily.

Grant Cardone drove six hours round-trip for a presentation to only eight people, an action that would not have been practical for him during a normal year.

• Audit your past decisions regarding who you do business with.
• Ask yourself why you avoid specific zip codes, company sizes, or groups.
• Adjust your acceptable criteria to accommodate a wider range of prospects and projects during lulls.

Effective Marketing Campaigns

Never reduce advertising and marketing during an economic contraction; instead, aggressively press your bet while competitors retreat. Businesses often mistakenly cut marketing to save money, but downturns are the time to be at the fore in customers' minds. You should increase the time spent on marketing and prospecting, combining results-oriented direct marketing with low-cost or no-cost publicity techniques.

Grant Cardone conducted 25 free seminars per year, and in a single week did 15 radio interviews, met distant businesspeople, had two free post-seminar speaking gigs, sent out 50 books with personal notes, and mailed a video e-mail newsletter.

• Increase the percentage of time spent on marketing and prospecting.
• Utilize no-cost visibility activities such as phone calls, personal visits, emails, social networking, church activities, speaking at rotary clubs, and community involvement.
• Plan your marketing campaigns over the course of a full year rather than week by week.

Repackage your products and services during economic downturns to accommodate reduced customer budgets and alleviate fear of spending. When economic contraction creates fear and tighter budgets, customers hesitate to buy offerings in their standard form. By rebundling items, offering smaller versions, payment plans, or all-inclusive packages, you address financial constraints and capture new segments.

Grant Cardone's company created virtual sales training technology allowing 24/7 access, daily sales meetings, and real-time advice without requiring clients to spend money on travel and hotel boarding.

• Assess your product line for ways to rebundle large purchases into smaller increments or payment plans.
• Create alternative offerings such as hourly consultations, critiques, digital tools, or compact models.
• Focus more on servicing and improving already-sold products when overall sales diminish.

The Power Schedule

Combat economic slowdowns by implementing a disciplined power schedule that maximizes your daily production and activity levels.

During contractions, business slows down, effectively expanding the available time. Instead of succumbing to worry or unproductive habits, you must pack your calendar with production-oriented actions, aiming to spend more than 50 percent of your time directly in front of prospective clients.

Grant Cardone's daily schedule includes waking up at 6:00 AM, writing goals, working out while listening to training material, family breakfast, driving visits, writing articles, website strategy meetings, client calls, VIP lunch, book writing, PowerPoint creation, and evening family time.

• Determine exact waking and sleeping times and control your bedtime.
• Fill every moment of your day with planned production events, goals, workouts, study, and client interactions.
• Identify and restrict wasteful activities on a separate list so they do not interfere with production time.

Conclusion

You achieve true security and dominance during economic contractions only by abandoning conventional moderation and taking unreasonable action. The strategies of aggressive outbound contact, relentless value building, and continuous market expansion fit together to form a complete system for total control. When you out-commit and out-execute the competition, you turn uncertainty into opportunity and secure the first-place position.

To execute this approach daily, follow these practical rules:

1. Commit to total dominance rather than mere survival by refusing to scale back your efforts during downturns.
2. Demand attention from your audience through constant outbound contact and direct personal outreach.
3. Build massive value and engineer exceptional wow experiences instead of cutting your prices.
4. Repackage your offerings to match tightened budgets without compromising your core quality or revenue goals.
5. Treat every problem as a call for more action rather than a signal to retreat.

10 Key Ideas

1. In business and careers, first place is the only position that truly matters and provides safety during economic storms.
2. Simply returning to basic fundamentals is insufficient when facing a severe economic shift and deep market contraction.
3. You must actively mine your existing networks and execute direct personal contacts to create your own economy.
4. Past clients represent an untapped gold mine that must be systematically and proactively contacted daily to secure repeat business and referrals.
5. Personal visits are the most powerful method for contacting clients and advancing your market position because 10 phone calls equal the outcome of one personal visit.
6. You must differentiate your business during economic downturns by delivering exceptional wow experiences rather than mere satisfaction.
7. Lowering prices signals a weak-minded organization and reduces perceived value because buyers spend money based on perceived value and alternative uses for their cash, not just lowest cost.
8. You can boost profits and customer satisfaction by instantly offering add-ons or second sales after closing the first transaction.
9. Never reduce advertising and marketing during an economic contraction; instead, aggressively press your bet while competitors retreat.
10. During contractions, business slows down, and instead of succumbing to worry or unproductive habits, you must pack your calendar with production-oriented actions, aiming to spend more than 50 percent of your time directly in front of prospective clients.