As consumers, we are constantly surrounded by sales messaging. From streaming services to online advertising with cold calls and emails in between, companies are trying to sell us their products and services from every angle.
So, what makes you, the consumer, choose to purchase one product or service instead of another with the same capabilities? The answer is the messaging. You chose to purchase that specific product or service because the messaging spoke to your need in a specific way. The same applies for who chooses to purchase the product or service you are selling.
What are some steps you can take to stop sounding like everyone else?
Not only is Jeffrey Gitomer, The King of Sales and CEO of Buy Gitomer, a messaging pro - he’s also here to tell us what steps to take to stand out from the crowd and win more accounts.
On this episode of Evolved Sales Live, our host Jonathan Fischer sits down with Jeffrey to discuss how you can tweak your sales messaging to skyrocket your business.
Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn for more engaging sales insights and discussions! Happy watching!
Meet Jeffrey:
With just a briefcase, a MacBook Pro, a prospective customer, and a well-prepared presentation, Jeffrey has earned the crown as the King of Sales. Couple that with 40 years of hand-to-hand, face-to-face, tweet-to-tweet experience and you have the criteria of what it takes to be king! He is the CEO of Buy Gitomer, author and speaker on Sales Training, Customer Loyalty and Yes! Attitude. He has published 17 books including The Little Red Book of Selling and has delivered more than 2500 customized seminars & keynotes across the world!
Check out the transcription of this webinar episode below!
Jonathan Fischer 0:07
It's time for another value packed episode of Evolve sales live. Welcome back. I'm Jonathan Fisher. According to Forbes magazine were exposed to between 4010 1000 marketing and sales messages every day. If your messaging sounds just like everyone else, then your ability to grow and scale is going to be limited to say the least. With so much clutter and background noise, it's critical to find ways to stand out from the crowd if you want to exponentially increase your sales. Well, today we have as our guest the king of sales himself, Jeffrey Gitomer. For over four decades now, Jeffrey has been an internationally known highly sought after speaker, sales trainer and online influencer and the author of dozens of best sellers. His best known title is probably the Little Red Book of Selling, which has sold over 5 million copies have gotten mine right here on Kindle to classic and is an active keynote speaker and trainer, creator of the online get them are learning academy, co host of the cellar, die podcast and many other activities. Jeffrey shows no sign of slowing down. And we're thrilled to have him with us today. Jeffrey Gitomer, welcome to the show.
Jeffrey Gitomer 1:12
Thank you. If you have four daughters and four granddaughters, and wife, you don't slow down. One of the deal?
Jonathan Fischer 1:21
Yeah, I hear you. I hear that makes a lot of sense. It's, it's, by necessity, even more than choices sounds like as fun. Yeah, I love it. I love it. A brief reminder to our live audience. We'll be taking your questions at the end of our show today. So if you can stick around past the half hour, you can get answers right here on the spot with the expert Jeffrey, so start sending us your questions on the chat whenever they occur to you. So Jeffrey, to start off on a personal note, you kind of already went through a little bit, you've done so much. I mean, you could have retired years ago on your on the island that you own right. But here you are still at it still going strong. My question for you is Where's the fire come from?
Jeffrey Gitomer 2:02
Well, let's take the pandemic as an example. The day the pandemic struck, in the middle of March, a couple of years ago, I decided that I would go live and talk to salespeople just to encourage them. Because if you remember, it was going to take two weeks to flatten the curve. So two years later, the curve still wasn't flat. And I put myself in a leadership position by going live every day to my audience. And people from around the world came every day. It was It wasn't working was just fun. And it was inspiration to me. So I kept doing it. Those are the kinds of projects that I do and the kinds of things that I do that keep it rolling. I just purchased back my rights to the Little Red Book of Selling. And we're going to reissue it as the classic edition and put 15 pages of quote full page quotes to add to the book. And it's, you know, Jonathan's gonna sell forever. Yeah, so why would I not want to hang out and enjoy the fun?
Jonathan Fischer 3:15
Makes a lot of sense to me. I love it. And it's our careers.
Jeffrey Gitomer 3:18
I'm not a fisherman or a golfer, I'm a writer.
Jonathan Fischer 3:22
Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. Well, and as we move on to careers, I think contribution does become more and more of a focus for us, doesn't it? The satisfaction of that.
Jeffrey Gitomer 3:32
If you wake up and you solve the drive, then you do it. And if you don't go to Paris
Jonathan Fischer 3:41
that's a pretty good set of of options. Either way you go. Well, our topic today is how to stop sounding like everyone else and when more accounts and that kind of begs the question, What's everyone else doing? That's not working? Like you know, what are some examples of tropes fails and the gosh awful stuff that you see going on in sales today.
Jeffrey Gitomer 4:00
Most people are more afraid of rejection, or have some kind of approval and we can't access your video. Rain is pretty hard right here right now. So I don't want to do anything I'm not supposed to do. Are you okay with I'm looking or sounding,
Jonathan Fischer 4:24
looking and sounding fine. Okay.
Jeffrey Gitomer 4:27
So, salespeople are afraid they're going to be rejected? That's, that's a big one. Salespeople need to prove themselves when they're in a meeting. That's another big one, male or female. And I think both of those are stupid. If you walk into a sales call and you're afraid you're going to be rejected, it's likely you will be if you walk in and you need to fix seek approval, then it means you have no platform. I don't explain who I am. I give an autograph book to somebody and they're completely impressed. Most people give a business card. That's literally a piece of shit. Yeah, I am the best guy in the world to do this. Here's my piece of shit business card to prove it. Right, right. So I don't think it's about bragging. I think it's about engagement. And I think it's about emotionally engaging. So there's two ways of looking at number one, you have to be perceived as different. So I would send my slide deck to the CEO, or whoever I'm going to meet with the night before and say, look, here's my boring slides, but I have about an hour's worth of ideas that I want to discuss with you. Love that? No, I'm in correct. Exactly. I'm not going to meet with me. How could he know? He wants to hear my ideas. He doesn't want to see my slides. He can Google me and find out anything he wants. Okay, so that's number one. And number two is how you engage somebody when you first meet them, or when you're first in their room. So I ask one question every single time. And let me ask it of you. Where did you grow up?
Jonathan Fischer 6:27
In the great Midwest, here in central Ohio.
Jeffrey Gitomer 6:30
And so central Ohio. Is that like Columbus? Yeah. And so did you go to the Ohio State University?
Jonathan Fischer 6:39
I did not. But multiple family members have and I was born there at that hospital. Oh, wow. So where do you go to school? Asbury college and graduate school there as well in doubt in the bluegrass.
Jeffrey Gitomer 6:50
Gotcha. So I'm going to look for something about you or with you, that will bind us slightly together. If I'm lucky, I'll find what's known as a shared value. Something that we both know about or love deeply. And that's the challenge for any salesperson to be able to get to that next level of emotional engagement. Where did you grow up, takes you back to your home. I spent four years in the Midwest and being Boston, Indiana. I totally had the ethic of the Midwest totally get it's snowy, it's cold. It's crazy. But people live there because their mom lives there.
Jonathan Fischer 7:35
Yeah, more or less. Yeah.
Jeffrey Gitomer 7:38
I mean, that's part of the deal. And I grew up you know, my kids were in first grade when I we settled in the Midwest, and it was fun for them. It was totally fun with your kid born in Franklin, Indiana. And the signs of Franklin, Indiana. high school basketball final for 1948.
Jonathan Fischer 8:00
Right there on the side. Love it.
Jeffrey Gitomer 8:03
To put it. It's nice. People are nice. I used to knock on doors and farmers and beg them for me to ride on their tractor and Harvest Moon. They thought I was nuts. I understand. I grew up in Philly. This is, you know, this. Let me authorize an attractor. If you need help, I'll help you. Are i right? But it was fun for me. I do what's fun. And I learned a lot about humanity and about America living in the Midwest a lot. Because it's where real Americans live. People that are genuine people that are honest. I went into the bank to get a loan on my property that a house and an old log cabin and 30 acres of land in 1977. And the lady who owned the bank was also the president of the bank and Crawford and she said how much of the property and I said what 70,000 bucks. And she saw how much you got to put down. And I said I was like 20,000 And she said make it 25 I'll give you a mortgage. He doesn't know my name. doesn't know anything about
Jonathan Fischer 9:28
just took your measure took a look at you went with it. Yeah, exactly. So yep. That's
Jeffrey Gitomer 9:34
telling you about life in the Midwest.
Jonathan Fischer 9:36
Yeah, it is. It's a little bit a little bit old school in certain ways. That's for sure. Yeah.
Jeffrey Gitomer 9:42
And yeah, we Indianapolis is exactly the same way. They have Shapiro's Deli. They have st Elmo Steakhouse. And if you don't eat there and you don't know Indianapolis, yeah. And Columbus has the same damn thing. it. Yeah, it's
Jonathan Fischer 10:01
super similar. You're right.
Jeffrey Gitomer 10:05
So that's what I tried to do in terms of engaging someone differently. The second thing I do is ask a question they've never been asked before. Guaranteed. Okay? I say, Do you want to buy now or you want to hear the pitch?
Jonathan Fischer 10:23
I love it. Talk about lowering that guard. That's great.
Jeffrey Gitomer 10:25
And they say, and they say, Well, we're probably going to do something, I say, Great, let's go eat. Why do I want to pitch somebody that's already gonna buy?
Jonathan Fischer 10:37
Right? save some time.
Jeffrey Gitomer 10:40
Those are things that I do that are different than the other guys. I never and Jonathan's very important. I never walk into a sales call, without an idea in favor of the other person,
Jonathan Fischer 10:53
as an idea in favor of the other person, how they the example of that.
Jeffrey Gitomer 11:02
Guy, fix his roof, save a big roofing company. And I say, let me see your business card. And they show me and I said, let me show you mine. And their five gallon buckets with the guy's name on it. I said, you go out on a sales call to a person, they got a leaky roof. Give them the bucket. That's your business card. It's way better than the one you're using. And they go. Yeah, I said, if you're a cheap bastard, you can probably do one with a gallon. So now I've already told you guys a cheap bastard gave me an idea. Laughing. Yeah, how am I doing so far?
Jonathan Fischer 11:42
Doing great. I mean, these are levels of rapport. And you're getting there at lightning speed at that most salespeople never ever learn how to get in an entire career.
Jeffrey Gitomer 11:52
This is because they're afraid of being rejected. Yeah, they feel like they have to prove themselves. They have no platform. They have no reputation. Somebody taught him send an email to somebody. And like an idiot, they believe.
Jonathan Fischer 12:08
Yeah. I think there's a difference between process and principles is what I'm picking up on here a little bit. See, see if you resonate with this. Like, I feel like, obviously, process is really important when you're designing businesses. And as working in my work in consulting, we talk a lot about process but we're in selling the process can get in your way. It's really more about understanding the principles and how they work. So that you've got the flexibility to apply that in real time. That's what, to me, you're giving us a masterclass on that there's no you got you got some steps you got to go to but this isn't like some set process. It's already pre cooked like a recipe. But it's more like martial arts, aren't you
Jeffrey Gitomer 12:47
with this, people learn systems of selling. And they're all bogus. They're all manipulative, that the salesperson is not comfortable with, and feels that they're pushing, rather than pulling. So if I go in with strategic selling, or I don't want to name people because it's I'm gonna install, right, but I don't want to find the pain. That's bullshit to me. I have a blue sheet to fill out and follow the ship. You know, I need the SD 20 questions so I can check my box. Now I'm, I'm going to engage this person intellectually and emotionally. And I can win every time. It's more important for me to find out why they bought than it is for me to find out what they need. About that.
Jonathan Fischer 13:48
That's gold right there.
Jeffrey Gitomer 13:50
Because if I have done any research, I kind of know what they need. I know what they do. I don't want to regurgitate that. I want to find out why they bought the last time. Yeah, I want to find out how it worked. What's going on? Where? What am I chances are you know, can I ask this guy or is is it your brother in law?
Jonathan Fischer 14:12
Right, right. So Jeffrey, let me give you this scenario. So obviously, when you're talking about fullcycle selling this stuff, the application is self evident. When you're dealing in a structure where there are SDRs trying to pack a calendar full of appointments, and they're running those phones. It's tougher. What would you say to that team or that team leader that needs to apply what you're talking about here in that scenario?
Jeffrey Gitomer 14:40
A visitor a BDR SDR. What are you what are we talking about?
Jonathan Fischer 14:44
There's a team of SDRS just working those phones, man. Obviously they have to have a script and a process right. So how would you why would you talk about here?
Jeffrey Gitomer 14:52
If you sound human, I'll talk to you. If you sound scripted, I'm going to hang up And if somebody calls me and you can tell they're a salesperson, I say, what are you calling about? And they lapse into their purse for script their presentation. Yeah, if one guy would sit, I'm calling about your money and why you need more of it right now. And I only need two minutes to talk to you about it. I've listened. But they don't. They don't go off script to get it to get an appointment, every SDR BDR, wherever they are, went off script to get appointments. They'd make so many appointments, their boss would say, how are you making all these appointments? So what I really love to tell you, but I'd rather sell it to you if you want to know. I'm offering classes.
Jonathan Fischer 15:45
Yeah, yeah. I think the Joker said, never do it. If you're good at something, never do it for free. Right? Yeah.
Jeffrey Gitomer 15:52
But I will also say that I build my business in Charlotte, going to rotary clubs and civic organizations, and giving a speech for free and then getting hired by somebody in the audience. So there's sometimes freeze, okay.
Jonathan Fischer 16:09
Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure. So that that team of SDR so they need to sound lot not like robots, their script can be a guide, but not something that's going to get in their way. What what are some great recommendations you would give to how they can get good at this? I mean, they're just on the phone. After all, they're not in person.
Jeffrey Gitomer 16:26
They're not just on the phone. They have to be on the phone with a company that they believe in, and a product that they believe in? Or get out of there as fast as you can? Well, yeah. Okay. So number one is, you got to be worked for the greatest company in the world, you got to believe you offer the greatest products and services in the world. And that will help you strengthen your own self confidence to be able to ask for someone to come to a meeting. Yeah, say listen, I know you don't know me. But if you have any faith in humanity, I can bring you people that will help you know, I'm asking, given 10 minutes if you don't like him. Well, I'll give them a stopwatch. They can click the stopwatch in 10 minutes, you get thrown out. Fair enough. I love it. Yeah. But there's no script like that in the world. Right? They're all bullshit. They're all 100% Bullshit, written by people that couldn't use their own script to set an appointment.
Jonathan Fischer 17:24
They just love that out there. Why do you think that there is such an issue? And what are some of the main BS aspects that bother you? You mentioned one where they just sound too scripted. But what are some others?
Jeffrey Gitomer 17:34
Well, if you're trying to prove how great you are, you're gonna have a problem. And most of the people who are in the scripted world, calling people on the phone, the customer already has what you're selling. And they already have a supplier out and you're trying to get through get that to people out of 100, or three people out of 100 that might not, or they might have a need, you might go through 97 rejections. Yeah. And you have to have the fortitude to be able to take that. So in training these people, you can't tell them what to do, before you tell them how to build their strength. Like, you know, Bob, this job pretty much for shit, you're gonna get rejected 97 times out of 100. But I'm going to share with you for your future, this is the place to be. Because as a as a doll for dollars rep. It's allows you place to make a sale, but it's an amazing place to learn how to sell. Now, if a if a trainer ever said that, you'd get better retention. Yeah, yeah. Because he's gonna get rejected. I mean, you know? Well, we think you can do one out of 10. Right, you show me a guy that can do one out of 10 I'll show you what a salesperson that doesn't need to be doing it. So you do it and you don't have to do it. In the meantime, you know, one out of 10 one out of 21 out of 50 Just go for it. Very the script till it suits you.
Jonathan Fischer 19:28
Right, right. Sounds like the the the the key some of the keys that you're mentioning are included not just that the company but it'd be awesome. So that puts a lot of good pressure on the leaders. Hey, make your company awesome guys, if you want to have fantastic sales results, right, and also be realistic and be honest, and undersell, so to stop overselling the sales role. But meanwhile, if it's a career path, you're not you know, that's still there's still a good value proposition there for someone to get in there. Get a lot of reps at bat. Learn some basic core skills they can use elsewhere. Air, which, hey, if you're smart is as a business leader, I'm sure you would agree, have a career path for them from there. Correct?
Jeffrey Gitomer 20:06
Right. So when I moved to Charlotte in 1998, I had no business. So I started one selling sales leads, new homeowners, new building permits, new fictitious names, new corporations, for lists. And I go into a place. And I'd say, I'd like to speak to the person in charge of sales leads. The boss would always come out. That's the only question I ever Yes. And somebody would say, you know, I, a lady would say we're not interested. I'd say, Well, it's great. You're my second non interested this morning. He usually takes me for not interested before I even get one who is interested. Do you know anybody else that might not be interested? And I completely disarmed? Yeah. So you want to know, and let me explain something? It works. I did it myself. It works. So now your job is to figure out what can work. And to every boss out there. Let me say it by doing it yourself. To every marketing department. Let me say it by doing it yourself. Not everybody who builds a slide deck. Go make five sales and tell me what happened.
Jonathan Fischer 21:37
Right. Yeah, I love that. Well, and there's a theme in a lot of the questions you've been modeling for us, Jeffrey. And that is that they, you have a knack for subverting expectations. You're gonna go exactly where they don't think you're gonna go. And that is very disarming.
Jeffrey Gitomer 21:55
I have a knack for being funny. And if you're not funny, get out of sales, because it's not going to help you. Not jokes, humor. Not jokes, humor. And I mean, if you're if you're going to if you're going to be funny about it, just say three Ohio State football players walk into a bar to watch the national championship.
Jonathan Fischer 22:24
Oh, nice. Okay, so cue the drums the background there. But
Jeffrey Gitomer 22:31
I can say that once I know where you are.
Jonathan Fischer 22:34
Yeah. Yeah, once you've got that background, and that, that that connection with who you think it really stands out, Jeffrey,
Jeffrey Gitomer 22:45
I am not going to watch Netflix. I'm not going to have a craft beer. I'm not going to have a glass of rose a wine. I'm going to do my homework. Yeah, you were taught what to do in school, and you've ignored it. Way too long. Yeah.
Jonathan Fischer 23:01
That's the thing to come comes up in a lot of your stuff, Jeffrey, and I've enjoyed your material going back years. And you really are a big advocate for self guided learning that you've got to take the initiative and better your skill set. Increase your knowledge, learn about your market, learn about your specific targets you're going after, so that you can go in knowing that the guy's already a fan of you know, this bowl team and has these hobbies and so forth. And figure out where you have a connecting point go. Make the connection your
Jeffrey Gitomer 23:28
system, Jonathan to a point where you're not afraid of losing. Don't worry if if you lose, you know what, you've learned something you gotta learn. Don't do that. Again. We're told you that next time, we're the guy who says that is oh, you tell him you're a cheap bastard. And of course this I gotta go now.
Jonathan Fischer 23:52
And as he's laughing, you're probably not going to have to go right then. Right? Right when I was cold
Jeffrey Gitomer 23:56
calling in New York City, which in the 70s and I bang on the door, and the guy would not even open up the door and say, We have no time for you. And I would say no time today, can I come back tomorrow? Three out of 10 would open up the door. expletives I've never heard before. But I was determined to have a good time.
Jonathan Fischer 24:25
Yeah. Yeah, this guy's gonna bug me anyway. Once we get it over with them.
Jeffrey Gitomer 24:30
Right? If your boss is an ass, and you're not making enough money, and you don't believe in the company, or the product leaves now. Hurry up and get out of there. Find something you love to do. What if shorts really
Jonathan Fischer 24:43
good. That's really good. And if you are an SDR and we look for a company that has a really great culture, they're honest with you. They seem like they are growing and like to hire from within. Yeah. So what what are some of the the ways Someone can overcome just just natural jitters Do you think like, we're all we all have different temperaments and sometimes just comes with experience and familiarity and enough reps reps at bat. But what can you tell an SDR that they just do feel jittery, it's difficult for them to come out of their shell are there some specific ways they can better their skill set and get that comfort level
Jeffrey Gitomer 25:19
there is. The challenge is not your mindset. The challenge is your frame of mind. Because your frame of mind will create your mindset. And so you go back in your life, maybe it was when you're in the second grade, or the 10th grade, or the college or your first job, go back to the times that you want. And relive them and put them in your in your mind to a point where you're going to walk in remembering your wins. Not remember, not remember your loss. There was a time when I didn't have enough money. And I couldn't go to Europe, because I didn't have enough money to go to Europe. And I would recount every day that I'd been there. every city, every bakery, every restaurant, every bookstore, every art store every museum, and I was fine. I was grateful for where I had been so far. And my frame of mind changed to one have no problem. I'll knock this one down. Go to the next one.
Jonathan Fischer 26:42
Yeah. Well, this sounds like it's, you got to go away.
It sounds like this is an alternative to the fake it till you make it thing like That's correct. I think I've heard you say you're not a fan of that idea. Either or, you
Jeffrey Gitomer 26:55
know, I'm a fan of living in advance.
Jonathan Fischer 26:58
Okay. Talk to us more about that. What does it mean to live it in advance? Exactly, especially in the European
Jeffrey Gitomer 27:04
it's a frame of mind. If I know that I want to condo at the beach. And that's one of the goals is to either have a second home or move out of the city where I am and get down to the beach, which a lot of people right now Jonathan are moving a lot more, I think more than ever before. In the history of this country, people are moving out of where they don't feel safe, or they don't feel good, and they're going someplace else. And it's a hesitancy. But if you think of yourself and you think, look, I'm going to get there and be happy. I'm living it in advance. If I walk into a sales call, and I say to myself, This guy is going to buy from me and he's going to talk his way out of it. I'm living it in advance. I'm not going to say hi, my name is Jeffrey and I just listen to Jeff Lane and I got a big boat and let me take a picture of it.
Jonathan Fischer 28:04
Yeah. Right. Right. So and even spending money on those items before you have the money to spend on them. You would you recommend that people do that? Buy a fancy watch. No fancy car with a big payment they can't really afford
Jeffrey Gitomer 28:17
No, no. And I can tell you stories about mine. Don't want to do the wrong thing.
Jonathan Fischer 28:27
Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, we're gonna we're gonna shift gears into q&a here in just a few moments. Before we do that, a quick reminder that our show is sponsored by overpass.com. Overpass is the world's leading low cost solution for hiring high quality salespeople fast with 1000s of highly qualified ready to work professionals waiting to meet you. Overpass allows you to hire a whole team in just days instead of weeks. create your free account and see just how easy it is for yourself@overpass.com. Well, Jeffrey, it's been it's been so fast. This first hour has gone by we do have some questions coming in. I'd like to fold it over for you sure if that's all right. So one was for the weekend. So we have a gentleman who's been in the game for a little while he feels like you're close in age. So he's at least 35. And he says he loves learning from the pros. And as a leader in sales management, what is the one piece of advice you would give me that's from dentists? What would you say to dentists,
Jeffrey Gitomer 29:24
dentists. There's 10 pieces of advice that I would give you, but the biggest one I can give you is encourage your people to win by going with them. If you are not one notch better than every single salesperson on your team, quit and go someplace where you are. Because when if you can't make sales in front of a sales guy that cannot make the sale himself or herself you're not going to win. You have to be able to make a sale in front of a sales guy who can make the sale himself or herself. Now you're a hero.
Jonathan Fischer 30:02
Yeah. That's, that's good.
Jeffrey Gitomer 30:09
Let me go down another path with you just quickly hire a new rep, train the new rep. And then it's the reps starting to go out and make calls in the field. And the manager says, I want you to work with Bob, because Bob's been here for a decade, and he knows exactly what's going on and loves the place. And they'll, they'll take care of you. Okay, great. Getting the call of Bob on Monday morning. And Bob, first thing Bob says is, let me tell you how things really work around here. Thereby negating your first week of training. Now, Bob drinks a lot. And Bob has his name up on Monster as an assumed name, because he's trying to get another job. Don't let your people train your people. You take them out and train them yourself. Salespeople, sales managers are the laziest people on the planet. And then they blame it on paperwork. Do your CEO and say Dude, I gotta go out in the field to make sales. I need an assistant. Thank you. Goodbye.
Jonathan Fischer 31:26
That's good. So support to be that that like the noncommissioned officer officers, you know, in the field, fighting, fighting leaders, as it were, is where it's at, in your view,
Jeffrey Gitomer 31:35
you want me to make 100 cold calls? You make them? Right next to me. Show me how you do?
Jonathan Fischer 31:41
Yeah. I love that. I love that. Another question here from Bruce. So you mentioned asking different questions that I was curious about this as well? Could you give us a few more examples of different questions, they're gonna stand out some of the stuff you're modeling was just pure gold earlier? Can you hit with a few more gems, especially in that SDR space? Can? How can I subvert expectations
Jeffrey Gitomer 32:05
about what you're selling? Maybe you're selling medical supplies? Maybe you're selling coffee machines, but whatever it is that you're selling, ask about their last purchase.
Jonathan Fischer 32:14
Okay.
Jeffrey Gitomer 32:17
unqualified out how your last purchase when, and how the service is going when you need it. Okay, everybody needs service. And I want to make sure Mr. Jones, that you're getting the best you possibly can get. Because if you're not, we may be able to help you. I'm not bragging that we're better than the other guy. I'm just saying, if you're not, maybe Hi can help. And that makes it a lot more palatable, to be able to engage the other person, but the question has to be about them or what they like. And I can go either way. It may be a sports related question or a business related question or a family related question depends on the environment that I see around them. Sure. You know, what's your favorite thing to do at 501?
Jonathan Fischer 33:15
Yeah, you can learn a lot about somebody from that question. That's good. Totally.
Jeffrey Gitomer 33:19
Because I'll tell you 50% of the people are about some form of alcohol.
Jonathan Fischer 33:28
Yeah, that's probably true.
Jeffrey Gitomer 33:36
So I'm gonna go write a book, who do you think's gonna win?
Jonathan Fischer 33:40
Yeah, this is it. Well, that's the big one that came out. It came out in the conversation today and in all of your content over the many years is just, you're you're really against wasting time on old TV shows, Netflix, binge watching anything that gets in the way when you could be bettering yourself. So I've got number of people on here, just just to pick some random people after the trip will be less than the same thing. So what are some of the best ways somebody who's like early on like they are working the phones, man, they're in that SDR role? What would be the top two to three ways you would say to them here, go spend your time on this to better yourself,
Jeffrey Gitomer 34:18
okay, I'm going to I'm going to challenge them to invest their time, not spend their time or waste their time. So let's start out with the person and what they do when they wake up in the morning. Because some people have a cup of coffee, have some breakfast or take a shower and get ready and put on their makeup or their you know, whatever. And then they drive to work and they get there on time. I wake up earlier than everybody and I spend the first hour of the day on me. I read it Right, I prepare. And that allows me to think and create. So, and I now, I don't know if this works or not yet, because I've only been doing it for 25 years. I'm gonna do it 25 more years and then that's it I'm gonna quit
Jonathan Fischer 35:17
Well, you gotta know your limits, let you know like lease would said, right a man has got to know his limitations.
Jeffrey Gitomer 35:21
I wake up and I focus on me, Jonathan, I don't focus on it, or the ship puts out there. I focus on me. I don't need to know what happened in the world. I don't need to know who got beat up in a parking lot. Or what burn down. I don't need to know that somebody got bombed. I'll hear about. And so I want to put myself in a position where I'm best for me. I have a T shirt. This is be your best self. And it's printed upside down and backwards so that when I looked down on it, I read it.
Jonathan Fischer 35:57
Pretty cool. I like that. That's really cool. So early riser. Yep. Ben Franklin style. Invest in yourself by reading. Yep, some writing quality stuff. Avoid negativity like, like news or even social media do you do pretty much hold that off and spend your time there on business?
Jeffrey Gitomer 36:17
For me, I'll acknowledge it. You know, I get a lot of play. And a lot of people follow me or whatever. And I, we have a VA company that works for us as 60 people. And they can handle the little stuff, but they can't write for me. Okay, so they'll say, Hey, here's a list of questions that I have. And I'll, I'll respond to everybody. Love it? Yeah. I mean, why would I not? Right, right. You never know who's asking a question. Yeah.
Jonathan Fischer 36:52
Here's another one from Morgan, the sales trainer and manager sales manager, I should say. So let's see if I can summarize this. So the your philosophy of being very non scripted, I think you're still a little more dots that our audience would love to connect between the need for a lot of phone calls. A replicable process, right, that can be trained can be managed, but the need to be quick on your feet. And he's wondering, like, what should he have, by way of guidance? What would you recommend? Is there still a script in addition to or short
Jeffrey Gitomer 37:27
script that the salesperson can memorize and then live? Short? The script must contain questions or your toast. If you're gonna give me one minute bullshit about you, I'm going to sense it and hang out. I don't need it. Yeah. But if you're selling refrigerators, I'm not going to say, Hey, I'm with Kenmore. I'm with LG. We have the best refrigerators in the world. And they're on sale today. So let me tell you about it. I'm going to say what kind of refrigerator do you have when you open up your refrigerator? What do you think? Yeah, I'm thinking it's full. But I mean, really, Mr. Jones? How organized is it? Well, it's, it's not. Do you have one of those refrigerators that has automatic backups of one the electric goes out. Your refrigerator stays on and nothing gets ruined? No, I don't have one of those. Would you like one?
Jonathan Fischer 38:35
Great. Yeah, super quick.
Jeffrey Gitomer 38:37
I want to be engaging by asking not by telling.
Jonathan Fischer 38:45
How important is roleplay is a follow up question from another scene, a sales manager on the line.
Jeffrey Gitomer 38:50
roleplay is the dumbest stupidest waste of time on the planet. Oh, really? No people and all they want to do is bust your balls.
Jonathan Fischer 38:59
Yeah, okay.
Jeffrey Gitomer 39:02
Just forget about bullshit. So
Jonathan Fischer 39:04
it's not it's not
Jeffrey Gitomer 39:06
if you want to roleplay go to a customer roleplay with them. Okay, because they're the ones that are sales guys aren't gonna give you any money while you're trying to sell them
Jonathan Fischer 39:18
all right, you're subverting expectations right here with us right now. Jeffrey it's just your way of life. Yeah. No, I love it. I love it. Well, I think we're gonna get out of respect for your time we're gonna stop it there and and just once again, thank you so much for being with us. Jeffrey, you've been a real you're kind of a a pioneer I think in the space of kind of nitty gritty down to earth sales training and I love how how kind of nuts and bolts and real world your content is. It's always stood out to me and I thank you for that. And I want to thank you on behalf of the whole team for being here on on evolve sales with us today, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey Gitomer 39:57
It's my pleasure, Jonathan. Travel save be safe enjoy your family
Jonathan Fischer 40:02
thanks a lot
