61 Lessons from Jeffrey Fox’s Book: How to Get to the Top

My copy of the book, in MLA form, is:

Fox, Jeffrey J. How to Get to the Top: Business Lessons Learned at the Dinner Table. New York: Hyperion, 2007.

You can get a copy of the book on Amazon or your local library.

If you’re interested in listening to the audiobook, you can get two free audiobooks with your 30-day free trial on Audible.

"When sellers and buyers come to an agreement after some  back and forth counters, then the seller sold high and the buyer bought  low. Don’t immediately take the first offer. It will upset the offerer.  Counter and count the money." - Jeffrey Fox (page 144)

About Jeffrey Fox

Jeffrey J. Fox is a marketing consultant, speaker, and author. His writing is concise,  practical, full of wisdom, and fun to read. All of Jeffrey’s twelve  internationally best-selling books can be read cover to cover in as  little as 2 hours.

Jeffrey graduated from Trinity College and earned hs MBA from  Harvard Business School. He has worked for several large  companies—including Loctite and Pillsbury—before starting his consulting  firm, Fox & Company. Below is a TEDx talk he gave on an important  concept that he coined dollarization.

Business Etiquette Notes

1. Be sensitive to cultures, ethnicities, religions, backgrounds, politics, causes, and relationships (Fox 159).
2. Never be late. Show that you respect the value of time, both yours and others’ (Fox 150).
3. “Get your point across, but never be rude” (Fox 139).
4. “Treat customers as important guests to your home” (Fox 123).
5. Never become intoxicated during business or around your associates (Fox 96-97).
6. Cut food into dime sized pieces. Eat slowly (Fox 94-95).
7. Give the best parking spaces to customers, not executives (Fox 84-88).
8. Do not use pronouns in communication. Use names (Fox 65-66).
9. Always compliment the chef, whether you are out or at home (Fox 29-31).
10. When you are at your place of work be modest, humble, collegian,  courteous, calm, controlled, questioning, inspecting, and helpful. Solve  problems, remove barriers/frustrations, give credit, recognition, and  thank-yous (Fox 16).
11. Have impeccable table manners regardless of whether you are eating  alone or with others. Enjoy meals with other people when possible (Fox  1-4).
12. Don’t immediately take the first offer (Fox 144).

Career Development Notes

1. “Never be sick. Never be tired. Never half-arse it. Jump at any opportunity to shine” (Fox 119).
2. Keep a list of ideas to increase revenues, increase profits, cut  costs, and beat competitors. If/when a new CEO is hired, give him/her  some time then send them this list named “What I would Do in the First  100 Days If I Were CEO.” Be polite, nonjudgmental, and noncritical. This  will get you on the CEO’s radar and possibly even get you a  meeting/promotion to discuss the ideas and start projects (Fox 18-20).

Business Management Notes

1. “Spend the company money as you would your own, and you and the company will have a lot more” (Fox 158).
2. Get out of the office and into the action. Sell and market in  person. Assess employees, competitors, facilities, et. in person rather  than by reading reports. Talk. Listen. Learn (Fox 147-149).
3. Sign all the checks. “Signing all the checks ferrets out  embezzlement, identifies areas for expense control, and red alerts  misspending” (Fox 133).
4. “Only hire people you would invite home to dinner” (Fox 120).
5. “Working on fixing weaknesses is a waste of time. Working on strengths is where the money is” (Fox 113).
6. “Work on what’s working or you won’t be” (Fox 115).
7. Tell employees what needs to be done and why the ‘what’ needs to be done but leave the ‘how’ to them (Fox 98).
8. Don’t promote causes, religions, politics, sports teams, etc. in your business (Fox 81-83).
9. “Don’t do nonbusiness activities at your business. Nonbusiness leads to no business” (Fox 83).
10. Have a good sense of humor. It can be useful for relieving tension” (Fox 78-80).
11. Find someone in the company who is a good judge of character and  work ethic. Use that person to help in the hiring process to avoid  expensive mis-hires (Fox 70-72).
12. Get in the trenches! “The sales force is the company’s eyes to the marketplace” (Fox 59).
13. Don’t waste time on tasks or activities that don’t get/keep customers (Fox 55-56).
14. Don’t blame, accuse, or criticize (Fox 26).
15. “Don’t complain about a problem; do something to make the problem go bye-bye” (Fox 28).
16. Keep people doing the jobs they’re best at (Fox 23-24).

Marketing Notes

1. Don’t put crap on your windows. “Your windows are not bulletin  boards. They are a place to display merchandise, to entertain customers,  to attract customers” (Fox 90).
2. Don’t use buzz words or cliches. Create your own buzzwords. Speak plainly and sincerely in order to be understood (Fox 67-69).
3. Quality is not job #1. Getting and keeping customers is job #1 (Fox 43).
4. “Getting the customer to purchase your product, and to repeat that purchase is job #1” (Fox 45).
5. “Quality is a meaningless word. Quality is defined by the customer, not by the manufacturer or seller” (Fox 43).
6. “To get and keep customers you must be able to answer this question:  “If I, the salesperson, the marketer, the manufacturer, the investor;  if I were the customer, why would I do business with me”” (Fox 52)?

You must be able to answer the question honestly, objectively,  factually. It is best if you can articulate the answer using dollarized  values” (Fox 52-53). Aim for ten words or less. (Fox 54)

Mentoring & Parenting Notes

1. “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy, but no work and all play keep Jack a boy” (Fox 62).
2. “The earlier the kid starts working, the earlier the kid starts to  learn what he or she will need to know to be successful” (Fox 61).
3. Teach kids the consequences of sloth and quitting (Fox 22).

Personal Development Notes

1. Don’t dwell on the negativity of the past. Do something to improve the present and future (Fox 162-164).
2. Act like you own the place. “Acting like you own the place means you  share all of the owners’ concerns and you act upon them” (Fox 155).
3. “Act as if you are in your complete comfort zone” (Fox 155).
4. “Only bet on yourself. Don’t bet on events and people you can’t  control or influence. Don’t bet on what you don’t know or understand”  (Fox 130-131).
5. Use numbers and probabilities to help make decisions. Waste no time  panicking or choking. Spend 90% of your time thinking before making a  decision. Do not second guess yourself unless new facts are presented”  (Fox 105-107).
6. Don’t shirk. “Shirk means to avoid doing what has to be done, or  avoiding taking responsibility. Shirk means hiding, evading, running  from the battle” (Fox 103).
7. Don’t be phony (Fox 101). “Be real. Being real leads to real deals” (Fox 102).
8. Stay fit. “Your brain makes you money. Your body carriers your brain. Take care of your body” (Fox 93).
9. If you can’t, don’t, or won’t do something, say so as soon as possible. Don’t lead people on and waste time (Fox 75-77).
10. “Tip as if you were the tippee” (Fox 46). “Yesterday’s tippee might be tomorrow’s tipper” (Fox 51).
11. Don’t mope. “Moping is a waste of time and of life. Moping steals  from action. It steals from accomplishing. You can’t get things done in a  state of mopitry” (Fox 35).
12. Speak sweetly; you may have to eat your words (Fox 31-34).
13. Anonymously pick up the check for clergy, teachers, and soldiers (Fox 25).

Sales Notes

1. Always ask for the sale or a commitment that leads to a sale (Fox 128).
2. When selling, observe the SW rule. “Some will. Some won’t. So what?” (Fox 74)
3. Do research. Get numbers. Speak little but what will aid the  decision. Respect the time of others. Give dates, time lines, and ask  for actions (Fox 40-41).
4. “Customers don’t buy technology; they buy what they get from technology” (Fox 37).
5. Outside of your company, be a flag waving company patriot. Promote  the company’s products, services, and values. Be a tireless, fearless,  enthusiastic, seller of your company (Fox 16-17).
6. Listen!

The secret to moneymaking listening is to listen  for  something. You must listen for what you need to know to make the sale,  cut the deal, achieve your business objective. Specifically, you must  listen for numbers, facts, dates, names. If a customer tells you he  wants a “longer lasting” device, you must ask “What do you mean by  longer lasting?” If the customer answers “A device I can use for a few  years,” you have heard nothing. You must ask, “What do you mean by a few  years?” If the customer answers “Three years,” then you have a number.  You have correctly listened. Jeffrey Fox (page 109)

Get the Book

Did you love it? You can get a copy of How to Get to the Top on Amazon or at your local library. If you're interested in listening to the audiobook, you can get two free audiobooks with your 30-day free trial on Audible.

My book notes are not a good substitute for reading the  actual book. There is a ton of information that I leave out. My notes  are mostly things that I thought I’d want to reference again. That said,  I hope they were useful to you!

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