REAL AF with Andy Frisella - Sales As A Way of Life, with Andy Frisella - MFCEO83

Episode Date: August 9, 2016

Sales skills aren't just helpful for business. They are applicable--and essential--for success in all of life. Joined by his brother, 1st Phorm President of Operations Sal Frisella, The MFCEO returns to a favorite subject. Ultimately, it's not about selling products and services. It's about selling yourself--and helping people.

Hey guys, what's up? You're listening to the MFCEO Project. I'm Andy, I'm your host, and you know the fucking rest. I'm here with my co-host Vaughn Kohler, the pastor of disaster. What's up, my dude? I've decided I'm never going to answer the question, what's up? I'm just going to reply by asking you a random question. All right, what's up my dude i've decided i'm never going to answer the question what's up i'm just going to reply by asking you a random question all right what's the question what's the very first rap album you remember listening to boys in the hood soundtrack really boys in the hood soundtrack okay very good boys in the hood very good the soundtrack of boys in the hood and because of the boys in the hood are always hard they come talking their trash you're going to pull their card knowing nothing in life but to be legit.

Don't quote me, boy, because I ain't saying what, Sal. Shit. By the way, since we don't... We have a special guest here today. My brother, Sal Frisella, and I'm going to kick your ass if you don't do a good job. That's only because The Rock canceled, so you don't do a good job. Yeah. That's only because The Rock canceled.

So I figured it was like a fitting sub. The Rock canceled. Yeah. So I'm like, you know what? Well, it was pretty good though.

Good, man. I remember we used to listen to that at Mom's house. You know, in the one little CD. We had one CD player. It was like big because our stepdad

was into fucking audio. Yeah, it was like the Onkyo. The Onkyo. Don't fucking touch it. Don't fucking touch it. Those motherfuckers went to work and that shit was the fucking audio. Yeah, it was like the unky. The unky. Don't fucking touch it. Like, don't fucking touch it. Don't fucking touch it. Those motherfuckers went to work

and that shit was on all day. The same. You know, I wish. We listened to Boyz II Men's soundtrack for, dude, four years. It was like the only rap song that we weren't allowed to listen to, but we had access to it.

And we weren't allowed to watch it either. So remember we went to Marco Glogovac's house after baseball one day and his mom let us rent it we had to we had to ride up the schnooks we rented it for a dollar yeah that's still one of the greatest movies ever i watch it every time it's on as a gift i could go back in time and record myself driving down main street hutchinson kansas in a ford f-150, a 1973 Ford F-150 with NWA. Dude, Vaughn's the dude from Office Space. He fucking slowly rolled the window up.

Oh, man. Good to have you, Sal. Yeah, it is good. Thanks for having me. And the real reason we have him here is we are going to talk about the number one skill that you can develop when it comes to your career, when it comes to business, when it comes to making money, and that's sales. It's how to sell shit. Just to let you guys know, Sal is the president of operations at First Form. He runs the company. He started out as director of sales and moved up from there.

Before that, he was at J&J, which Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon. He was the number one sales rep in the world out of 10,000 reps for two years in a row. So he's perfectly qualified for this discussion. He spent, and he'll be the first to tell you one trillion nights on the road selling shit uh in that right what is that one trillion one trillion and one one trillion and one it always grows i just got back from new york so i had to add that one yeah so it's always you know i spent 75 nights on the road this year how many nights did you spend on the road that's that's the internal argument it no it's not the internal argument it's the ultimate dick measuring contest of salespeople.

You know what I mean? It's like how many nights have you spent on the road? How many Marriott points do you have? Are you willing to grind? Right. Right. When you have platinum status, I haven't even stayed at a Marriott in probably seven or eight months, and I still remain my platinum status.

It's like, yeah, I fucking got it. Now, question. Were you literally on the road, or did you fly anywhere? No. I mean, for the first year of... We had a little Nissan Maxima that we bought, and we're like, dude, here's your company car. And he put like fucking 200,000 miles on it in like a year.

So no, he's on the fucking road. I actually like that car. That car, for all people, I mean, I would actually buy a Nissan Maxima again. Yeah, it's nice. Yeah, it's a good car. Spent a lot of time in it. But look, you got gotta fucking hustle to sell you you gotta make calls you gotta go see people everybody knows these things today we're gonna get down to the

nitty-gritty of how to sell shit and understand that it is a way of life. Okay. And, and what I mean by that isn't like, Oh, I got to live and breathe and be working 24 hours a day to sell. What I mean is that the principles and practices that make you good in sales are also what make you successful in all areas of life. So as we're speaking about this, you're going to hear us talk about not just actually selling a product, but how it's going to impact you in other ways. All right. Most people, like if you're 16, 15, 16, 17 years old, and you're looking like, I need to get a job right now, dude, go to retail sales, go get a job in retail and somewhere where you earn commission. and that will be a great place to start. Most people are scared of sales.

They hear sales and they think like, you know, high pressure, used car salesman guy. And that is the exact opposite way of what sales really is. And you need to get out there, get in the game and feel, you know, the pressure, feel the heat and learn how to deal with it. Because the thing is, is that that pressure that you're going to feel and that and that, you know, to make your commissions, to make your points, to be successful in sales is very minute compared to the amount of pressure that you're going to feel when you get out in the real world and you have a fucking mortgage and you have uh you know car payments and you have all this other shit and you don't know how to make your money so if you could develop a skill of how to sell it's really the only skill that you can develop and cultivate within yourself that can

make somebody who is more or less uneducated formally in other ways a multimillionaire in life. And that's it. So if you want to make money, guess what? You got to learn how to sell shit. Yeah, I love talking about sales with you because, I mean, you're intense about everything you talk about. But when we talk about sales, you just get this little glint in your eye, this glimmer, because I know how much you like it and you're good at it. And I'm excited to have the person to talk to everything that you know, right?

Oh, dude, look, let's not even get into that. I'm the fucking master and you're the grasshopper, first of all. I don't know. If anybody's a master, I think Big Jimbo gets the award here. We used to drive around and this is the, this is the, actually, this is pretty funny. So Andrew and I, you mean your dad, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Big Jim, the human rain delay. When, when Andrew and I were kids kids we used to ride around and he used to make us listen to zig ziglar yeah literally eight years old we didn't get to listen to like you know today like pokemon or right on or whatever the fuck it is like we literally listened to zig ziglar and the early days of tony robbins like yeah and he would speed it up on two times play yeah it was like

so he could listen to it faster i mean i mean i swear to god you think about the the the foundation it built in us i forgot about all that yeah yeah i go back and watch them before we have like our sales meetings here like i will actually go back and watch old zig ziglar videos yeah just to think about the core concepts because they don't change no they don't change everybody it's different now no it's not no but the biggest mistake and and i know we sal you and i talk about this all the time the biggest mistake people make when it comes to sales is thinking this that it's a manipulation that you are here to trick the other person into buying your goods or services dude the slimy salesman technique, right? That's what people, when they think salesman, that's what most people think.

And that is the complete wrong way to think about what sales really is. What is sales really? Well, what it really is, guys, is it's solving a problem. It's helping people find the proper solution. And if you're going to go out there and sell fucking snake oil, or you're going to go out there and sell fucking snake oil or you're going to go out there and sell some bullshit insurance scheme, guess what?

You're going to have to be fucking sneaky. But finding a product that is quality and going out and selling it in a legitimate way has nothing to do with manipulation and everything to do with helping someone. And I think if you want to break down why most people fail in sales, because you get a lot of really good-hearted people that come into sales,

they think to be successful you have to manipulate, and they don't align with that on their core values, so they struggle, they get frustrated, and they quit. And then they have a negative viewpoint of what sales really is their whole entire life. And because they never really developed that skill, they limit their, their ability to produce income. Which is funny because I always, you know, you always meet those people and like, Oh, I tried sales once. It wasn't for me. You know what I mean? It's a lifestyle. Yeah. Well, and there's also, I mean, there's a, in choosing the right career path, you're all, you're always going to have to do some things you don't want to do, but when it comes to like

really taking it serious, you better find something you enjoy doing. That's a key, especially in sales. Because if you don't enjoy selling something, you sure as hell aren't going to be able to fake it. But what I'm saying is like most people don't enjoy selling because they think of it as a trick as opposed to what it really is. Like, dude, like when I think of selling and I think of like what we do personally, like when we help somebody lose 100 pounds or help somebody change their health or help somebody perform better,

dude, and they used our products that we quote unquote sold them, there's tremendous satisfaction in that and you feel good. And because I have 17 years of experience doing that, I feel great when I sell product because I know the chances are these people are going to improve because of that. Hearing you say that, I'm reminded that Daniel Pink has a number of New York Times bestselling books. One of the books that he has is called To Sell is Human. Which is really at the core, sales, the principles of sales are the same principles of influence that we use in being a human being.

And so incredibly important to success. Oh, dude. And it's so simple. It's just that the stereotype of quote unquote salesman, I almost feel like that whole word or title should be like struck from vocabulary when you're talking to people how to develop the skill because it's nothing like the greasy slick back hair dude in like a fucking

$200 suit coming up with his cheese dick smile fucking telling you how you know he's hey Bob how are you doing today? Hey you're looking mighty fit. oh your wife's looking nice oh dude get the fuck out of here man that ain't what this is about you know this is about legitimately you know hey look let's just cut to the chase you have this problem this is

what i can do to help you this is what it is this is how we do it and i'm here to support that boom it's done and it's fucking easy right you know but so many people complicate it and so i want to start you know with talking to you guys clear the idea of you know what i just said the stereo the typical prototypical stereotype of sales guy from your brain wipe that completely out and start fresh. And then what we're going to do is we're going to give you some practical tips, not all of them, because there's a million of them. We could literally do 10 podcasts on the subject and we will, but I'm going to give you, you know, five good practical tips and we'll go from there. Sounds good. Okay. So the first thing that most people do in sales, besides the mentality that we already talked about,

I'm talking about in a practical sense, is they tell people that they're wrong. Okay? When you're selling somebody and you're engaged in a discussion about what this person should be buying or shouldn't be buying, you have to understand that when you tell somebody they're wrong for whatever it is that they currently do, you've got to understand that that is the same thing as calling them an idiot or calling them stupid or making fun of them or insulting them because they made a psychological decision to go that route. And for you to say, well, that's wrong, or that's not the way it should be. That is exactly the same thing as calling them an idiot.

You talking about like recently I went into Home Depot, I got a microwave and I got our previous microwave was a Kenmore, which admittedly is not a great brand. And the first thing out of the guy's mouth was, oh, you gotmore exactly is that what you're talking about exactly so so that is something that you you can avoid and get around very easily all right the way that should be handled okay should be something more like this um you know what i used to have a Kenmore too. I had a lot of trouble with it. I didn't like it. Um, and I switched over to this other brand and I've had nothing but great things and good luck with it. Okay. That's completely different than that shows empathy that shows, Hey man, I've been in your position. You know, you, you can't just, I would say that 75% of sales interactions fuck up the first step, which is when the person says, like what you said, oh, I'm using a Kenmore.

And the dude says, dude, why the fuck you buy a Kenmore? Those are junk. Right. You know what I'm saying? Right. Like that's their automatic response. To me, there is no bigger mistake that you can make on an initial conversation. But I think that's the key there, right?

Like the empathy piece is, you know, typically in most people in most sales environment, it's almost like a me versus him, right? To where as if you can turn the tables by having that conversation saying, hey, I've been there as well. Dude, we're on the same team. Yeah, you slide and you take that person versus being in front of you. Now you take yourself and put yourself in a position being right next to him.

You know, you're holding your hand. Hey, listen, I've been there as well. Let me show you. That's not manipulation. Sal.

That's true. That's the, that's how you should be wired mentally. Like, Hey, I'm here to help this person. You know what I mean? So you have to be careful with your language.

Well, in a bit, I mean, that's the key, right? The key is, and it goes back to the core principle of being successful salespeople is you have to truly want to help that person.

It's not like, what microwave am I getting the biggest spiff on? It's like, all right, if I want this person to walk away happy and send his friends in, I went through this exact same situation, which one would I buy? Knowing everything that I know on this side of the table, how do I put him in the best position? You get on his team. And a great way to stay in that mindset is exactly what you just said. Stop worrying about what's going on right this second and think about this customer over the course of the life. Think about all his friends.

Think about all the people he's going to tell. You know, when I talk to somebody personally, and I say this all the time internally, I assume that the person, and I'm talking talking about i'm not talking about when i'm talking about my company i'm talking about anybody that i talk to i assume that that person is going to go on facebook and write a review of the interaction and if you can imagine that and make that reality for yourself you're automatically thinking long term which means you're going to do the right fucking thing in the situation you You know, so keeping yourself in that mindset of this is I'm trying to build a lifetime relationship here instead of I'm trying to sell a fucking microwave today is a way for you to automatically regulate the language that you use.

Right. You know, as I hear you guys talking, though, I remember a conversation you and I had a long time ago when I first met and I was, you know, I was asking you about your products and I had mentioned that, um, you know, I kind of mentioned sheepishly, well, I'm from the generation, I think I bought like, you know, 50 pounds of Joe Wider's weight gain and felt kind of stupid. And, and your response was, well, no, wait, wait a second. I mean, there's, here are the, here are the positive things about that product right and then you so so so what i hear you saying or at least this is what came out in the conversation we had a long time ago it was

not just empathy but also affirming someone's choice like making them feel good about here i'll tell you an example of it and i've used this before the same example but i was a hardcore pc guy for years like i looked at like mac people as like it was like a stereotype that i didn't want to be a part of you know it was the like i say play business dude it was the dude at starbucks with this fucking computer open and his you know his monster outfit on on, and sitting there pretending like he's doing work. So I associated MacBook with snobby, nose in the air, aloof, too cool for school people.

Well, I had a PC, and the fucker kept shutting down on me. It would just shut off. And I was working on a big project for the company, and the PC shut off in the middle of it i lost it and like i was like 80 pages into it was for a business plan i was trying to get a loan which we didn't end up getting um but i mean i just went over the edge like i fucking flipped out i think i threw it against the wall and like threw a temper tantrum and shit anyway um i ended up yeah i went i went for zilla on it we anyway i went to the mac store and uh you know i

was like i look in the store and i see all these fucking dudes in blue shirts you know that are look like fucking nerds in there okay no. No offense. If you work in the Mac store, I love you guys. And I mean, it's true, right? Right. You're outside the glass looking in. I mean, it's there. I'm like, I'm like, I got to enter the fucking nerd zone to get to talk to more and talk to maybe get a computer. I don't know. So I walk in, you know, and I get to be like halfway through the store. And by this time I'm starting to sweat. Cause I'm like, man, this is really uncomfortable. Cause like, I look nothing like any of these people and i know i don't fucking act like them and you know i'm thinking like everybody in there works during the day and then plays dungeons of

dragons in their mouth basement at night you know like that's my fucking take on it and i know that's bullshit right i'm just right i'm just saying what like. Listen, you're not the only person that felt that way. So I walk in there and I'm standing there and I'm kind of like, oh, I don't know. I was very unsure. And fucking sure enough, dude, Harry Potter comes out the back with this fucking on his broom, dude. And he flies out right up to me. He's like, hey, so how can I help you and i'm like dude it's fucking harry potter i swear to god this guy looked just like harry potter like probably was yeah i don't

it the motherfucker came out on a broom okay so he's like and i'm like oh this is gonna be bad because he like this like of all the max stereotype dudes, this is like the fucking dude. Right. Right. And he looks at me. He's like, how can I help you? And he's like all excited. And I'm like already like sweating and uncomfortable. And I'm just want to get the fuck out of there. Right.

So I just say, fuck it. I'm just going to tell him what's up. Hey, bro. Look, I don't know nothing about whatever it is you guys got going on here, but I use a PC, and I'm interested in a Mac because my PC just keeps crashing, and I'm just tired of it. And I don't know anything about Macs. I don't even know if I could fucking use a Mac, but that's why I'm here. And the dude looks at me, and he goes,

Hey, you know what, man? I used to use a PC, too. And you know what? There's a lot to use a PC too. And you know what? There's a lot of things about PC that are really good. But let me show you what we have and what it could do for you. And I'm like, and like knowing a lot about,

you know, at this time I still, I'm a sales teacher at this time. I step back, I'm like, oh, dude, well, Harry's got some skills. You know? So I got immediate respect for this dude because I'm like, this motherfucker. Harry enchanted you. He got some So I got immediate respect for this dude because I'm like, this motherfucker. Harry enchanted you.

He got some skills. He got some sales skills. So I'm like, all right. So I stopped sweating. I'm like, all right, this guy, this is all right. He's got me. So, dude. He's on your team.

Yeah, right. Exactly. Exactly. He's on my team. He's here to fucking help. So the dude goes over and literally shows me how to use the Mac in fucking 10 minutes. Like, and I was so hardcore PC and anti-Mac. And this guy, his one interaction made me feel so comfortable and so good about Mac because of the way that he handled it to solve my problem. And he showed me why my computer wasn't going to crash,

why I wasn't going to get viruses from all the porn I was looking at. Damn, he stole my thunder. I was getting rid of you. I already knew it, so I called myself out. Literally what really happened was you said, hey, man. I think the look on your face, you were really telegraphing that one. I was so excited to drop it. I knew that was coming.

I already knew he was going to say it, so I had to call myself on it. So, dude, so anyway. He had them at No Viruses from porn. Yeah, he said No Viruses. I'm like, all right. And you bought one for everybody in the company. No, no, no. So, dude, so this is no bullshit.

So that day I bought a Mac. I went home. I used it for like two days. And I was like amazed at how fucking awesome it was. Like I became like a Mac expert. Like it just made sense. Like if you've ever switched your PC to Mac, you know what I mean. It's just so much easier.

It's a fearful thing going into. As soon as you start playing around, you're good. It's like common sense operating, right? And anyway, so I went on Facebook and I made like a confession post. You probably remember the post. Oh, yeah, I remember. And I made a confession post. I'm like, look, I was this and now I'm this. All right. So automatically I told all the people

who follow me, um, which, you know, clearly wasn't like it is now, but about this experience. Okay. Then I went back, I bought my girlfriend a Mac. Then i went back and i bought the 12 managers i had at the company at a time of mac then i went and bought my business partner mac then i went and bought max for all my stores then i went and bought a pos system for mac now i'm here talking to a million fucking people that download this podcast about how awesome mac is all because harry potter took a fucking minute where he could have been like you know hey this is here's this dude and he doesn't play dungeons and dragons with us so fuck that guy and been a smart ass and made me feel stupid but all because little harry had some sales skills

and knew what the fuck he was doing, guess what? We spent over $2 million on Macs and Mac software since that time. I keep track of it because to use it, just for this example, how valuable that first interaction can be. If you make somebody feel stupid, if he would have made me feel stupid,

you know what I would have done? I would turn around, walked out the store store and we'd all still be fucking blowing our computers up on porn that's the bottom line god bless apple but but guys private viewing window okay so quick i mean we drug this out but don't tell people they're wrong be on their team you didn't really drag it out though i mean that's the story you got to understand you have to understand the importance of each interaction, right? Cause you never know who that person is, but you should do it from the heart. Anyhow. So, and not only that, you should assume that every single person is, is going to be that person.

You should, you know what I'm saying? Like so many salespeople, they look at people, they, they prejudge a customer based on what they look like or what they act like i mean fuck dude if people didn't know who i was and saw the way i dressed and didn't see what i drove up in they would think i was a fucking shit bum because i dressed like shit and free clothes that i get for free it happened to st louis motorsports that day yeah no shit it did you know what i mean yeah we got big league at a car dealership one time because we rolled up in andrew's truck and we were both in mesh shorts and hoodies. Yeah. For real. I wouldn't even look at us.

Wow. I asked the guy about ordering a fucking new Lamborghini and he fucking blew me off like I was like. Wow. Yeah. So anyway, long story short, I ended up making up with the owner of that company and we're friends now and I'm their number one customer. But over that story, right? Yeah. But here's the. Well, no, we made up because I went and told him.

I said, hey, your fucking salespeople did this. I'm a legitimate customer and but ever since then it's been great right and he used it to train his staff so i don't want to like go too hard on them no no i mean they're all learning examples like you never know you never know who that person is and for me that turning point was because i had a pretty my my sales career i started actually in retail just like anderson i was in america I sold clothes at American Eagle. Yeah. My first, like, quote, unquote, job. My first job was sweeping the warehouse for our dad, like, every fucking summer, doing all this shit work. You know, when guys would throw things in a dumpster they weren't supposed to do, we had to crawl in there and get it out.

Yeah. But my first, like, job job was American Eagle, you know? And then I went to selling copiers. You ever want to, like, cut your teeth on selling something? Go sell some copiers. Because I can tell you it's the hardest fucking thing you'll ever do. But when I learned the personal interaction and truly how important it was to really care about that person on the other side was when I started selling, I sold hernia mesh and breast reconstruction tissue and things like that. But you start thinking about this person's going to walk away with this product

and live their life with my product in them for the next however many years. And you really, if you, if you have a conscious that you can really wrap your head around it, you really have to truly do what's best for that person. This person is, I mean, you're going to impact, you're going to directly impact their life on a daily basis. How do you do it? How do you help? And how do you educate in the best way possible to help that person really live a comfortable lifestyle? I mean, this isn't like, hey, I'm going to buy the scratch-off lottery ticket. You know, this is like, hey, this is a $10,000 piece of fucking mesh, and hopefully it'll help me live a normal life. And I was able to adapt that and have those conversations with the doctors.

Like, hey, listen, I really, this is, and we would be paid on all these products. You know, I get paid on plugs, and we get paid on flat mesh and these types of things. But I would give them my personal recommendation on what I would do and how I'd want to live my life. And it wasn't necessarily the most money I would make. It was what I thought was best for that patient. And it's no different than going back to your microwave or going back to Harry Potter. It's like, what is best?

Well, you learn to think long-term there. And what that is, it's an ice cream cone today or an ice cream store tomorrow. And you have to adopt the mindset of the big picture when you're talking to somebody, no matter who it is. Yeah. And like for my, and this is hard to explain over the air, but, um, you know, we had plugs and we had flat mesh.

Well, we got paid more on the plugs versus the flat mesh. But I always thought, man, if it was me, like if I was under the knife, like this is what I would want. I wouldn't want flat mesh in me because I wouldn't want that plug like bound up in my hip. And so I would tell the doctors that I'd be like, dude, if it was me, like if I was under the knife, like this is what I would want. I would want flat mesh in me because I wouldn't want that plug like bound up in my hip. And so I would tell the doctors that. I'd be like, dude, if it were me, I wouldn't put that in. And they would look at me like, well, you're selling this and I'm using this as your product. I just wouldn't use that for me.

And you look at them like, you know, they give you like, what? But you make more money over here. No, I understand that. But I just personally would not put that in myself. And I would gain instant credibility with them. And I was just telling him the fucking truth. That's a great point that I actually don't have on the list, but I'm going to add. Dude, it's all about the trust factor and genuine trust. And dude, one of the best ways to earn trust with somebody is by telling the truth about something they don't need that you sell.

Yeah. And you know what's funny is I literally did that like 15 or 20 times. And here I am. I didn't even, I mean, I didn't understand the impact of it over time. But what I was doing is I was just being honest and I was helping these guys out, trying to help their patients out to do right by them. And then these doctors would never trust anybody else. They would never trust other salespeople because fuck, I wasn't going to lie to them. One of the,

everybody knows me. Like I'm not going to lie. Like you might not like what I'm going to say, but I don't have that conscious to be able to look at you in the face, lie to you and move on. So I'm going to be honest with you. And this is where I was at. And what,

what happened is those guys, it was cultivating a trust factor with each one of those doctors that no matter what I said after that point was fucking true. Right. And what happens, what happens when you trust somebody and you have trust one time, then you go, okay, so you go to somebody, they tell you some shit, you go back and you find out that it's true, right? Cause you're going to go verify it. Okay. Now I trust you a little bit. Now I go back to you a second

time and you tell me something and I go back and I find out a little bit more that what you said is true. And then I go a third time and then that happens three or four or five, six, seven times. What naturally occurs after that? Loyalty. That's right. You automatically become loyal to that person because they educate you. It's true. You trust them. You go back enough. It's loyal. They're your fucking guy boom i mean think about it right even in the 50 50 coin flip who you're gonna trust at that point there is no 50 50 you don't even flip the coin because you say you learn you know what you'll buy you people will buy more expensive goods from somebody they're loyal to because

they love that person and they trust that person. And that person has brought so much value to them that they enjoy spending the extra money with that person. And that's the catch 22, right? The catch 22 was, is like, I wasn't by no means the smartest dude in that fucking room. I was very logical. I'm still very logical. Like I like handy stuff. So I would just explain to him why I thought what I did. And then over time I was a guy getting calls at 2 o'clock in the morning like, hey, Sal, what would you do here? And I'm thinking, man, you went to school for 16 fucking years. I played fucking baseball.

Yeah, I played baseball. And I took this job because, man, I thought it was the right move. But just being honest and I always educated myself on the products because I like to – I don't want to be combative, but when I'm having that deep conversation with somebody, especially like a surgeon, you know, high level surgeon, you know, I'm dude, I'm in the mix. Like I want to, I want to know what he's thinking. I want to know, you know, I want to know his game plan. I don't know how, how is, what his next move is. And you know, uh, I, his name's Dr. Brent Matthews. He worked, he's now he's the chief operating or he's a chief surgeon over at CMC in Carolina Medical Center, but he was like my biggest target.

And he's, everybody on God's green earth looked at Brent Matthews on what he did, and at the time he didn't use any of our products. But at that point in time, this is probably one of your points, is like, man, I don't know shit about a tip of what this guy does. I'm going to go in and learn from him. I'm going to go in and teach myself and educate myself. Andrew and I would talk about this all the time. At worst case scenario, that guy was going to be my advocate. So I wanted to make him my friend. So I could learn.

I wanted him to teach me. That's the third point I have on here, and we can kind of switch them around because it really doesn't matter. So let's just jump right into that point. Can I just be Captain Obvious real quick real quick though because you started out i mean you guys immediately here are talking about the context of of well for lack of a better way of putting it a sales call but to to your point at the beginning andy this isn't obviously just applicable to sales what you're saying which you just it's life and i was just thinking about it's

being sales is so morally right it's such a like people that's what's so that's the fucking paradox of what most people think sales is and what it actually is um is that it's it's completely opposite if you want to be a fucking multi-million dollar earner and fucking sales you have to be morally. You have to be somebody who tells the truth. You know what I mean? Absolutely. You can't be the fucking snake. The snake oil guy is always going to struggle. No, it's an oxymoron, right? Right. But I was saying just in terms of just overall success, just general life success, I was just thinking like all the people that you dealt with in your sales career, both were, it was Johnson & Johnson and now. I mean, suppose down

the line, not that this is why you do it, because it's not, but suppose down the line, 10 years from now, you decide you're going to run for public office. How many of those people are going to say, you know what, he was such a stand-up guy in the role in which I interacted with him that I have no doubt that he has my vote absolutely 100%. And so these principles transcend in the immediate context. So I want to throw this in there too. This is something that Gary Vee talks about all the time that I think a lot of people miss the point on when he says it. But it's about your legacy.

It's not about your fucking income. Okay? And he has a different way of saying it. I forget what he says exactly. But he always says, it's not about how much money you make. It's about how many people show up at your funeral. That's what we're fucking talking about. Yeah.

And I think that's – when he said that, when I heard him say that for the first time it like really struck home yeah but he but he's the way he says it i think people it goes over their head they miss it you know what i'm saying like he sometimes he says it's all about long ball yeah but if you if you grasp this concept the way we're talking about it you'll have the money too that's what people miss yeah yeah and well here's here's how here's how i took that approach right to the friendship well here let me jump let me say what the next point is okay the next point is make a friend you make a sale right okay and that's what we're getting into so i that's going to be point number two so point number one was don't tell people they're fucking wrong.

Okay? Point number two is make a friend, make a sale. Which is, if you're doing it with a good conscience, you kind of do it subconsciously, right? So my approach here was, all right, I'm fortunate enough to have the number one hitter in hernia repair. And really, the guy's top surgery, he's an overall phenomenal guy. At the time, I was scared shitless of him. Everybody in our little world was like, dude, are you going to go in surgery with Dr. Brent Matthews?

And I'm not, everybody knows me, I'm also not afraid of anybody. I'm like, fuck yeah, I'm going to try to get in there. And so, all I want to do is get in there, and I figured in the worst case scenario, he doesn't use my product. I don't make any money off him. It's not a big deal.

I'm going to learn something from the guy. You know what I mean? I can constantly learn from him. Well, I got in the case and, you know, you sit over in the corner and, you know, live surgery. People gut it open on the table. And when do you ask a question? When you not ask a question? I just started asking questions.

Started finding some commonality with the guy. You know, he's a huge Cardinal baseball fan. He likes to run. He's a family man. He likes craft beers. He loves the Grateful Dead. And so I just started talking to him. You sit in a case with somebody for eight hours and anybody's ever been in a car with me,

like I'm not going to sit in a corner. I got to talk. So I just started talking. And you know what? Three years later, I was in 90% of his cases. He used a ton of my product. We went to baseball games together. He invited me to his Christmas party. We genuinely became friends. You know what I mean? And if I saw the guy today, I'd give him a big hug and a love. You know what I mean and right he taught me so much from a from an educational

standpoint on specifically hernia repair but in the in the byproduct of it really the main product of is i was i was building a friend you know what i mean and i didn't i didn't go into it what can i get out of this guy i thought well shit i'm gonna go in there and worst case scenario when i walk out he'll vote for me right like i'm just gonna show him hey man i'm a good dude worst case scenario i'm a good dude you might not put any of my shit in. Let me give you a, you guys a story on this. Okay. There's a story on this that, that I want to share about somebody who works here in this office. Okay. Um, there's a guy that works here in the office who, who his name is Ryan Riggle. All right. And he is basically, he doesn't really have a title

here. He's like the fucking utility man. He's Jose Oquendo. Yeah. Right. He's like, whatever the fuck needs to get done. He does it and he does it right. And he, and he, dude, he earns a great living here. I mean, a good, good, good, great living. Like most people, if I told you what you make, you would say this dude is wealthy. Okay. Um, he was, uh was a sales radio rep here in st louis for uh or no i'm sorry a cable tv rep and and you'll understand why i made that mistake here in a second um he used to come in the store back in 2006 when i we had a little bit of office in the back and he'd come in and he'd want to talk about us advertising on the TV and how it could help, uh, the, the stores out. And I, I don't like when people fucking call on me. Okay. Cause usually at 99% of the time, a, their sales skills are

terrible and I'm just critiquing them. Like, dude, you're fucking horrible. I'm not buying your shit. Okay. So like if your skills are terrible, don't even fucking call on me cause I will just slam you right in the face. All right. And second of all, I'm annoyed cause I'm busy, right? Like most people that you call on. So he would come in and at first it was cool. I would see him. Hey, Ryan, what's up? Blah, blah, blah. We'd talk a little bit. I'd go in the back, do my work.

He'd hang out with Cody out in the front who still works here. And he'd be there for like two hours. And I would like see him on the camera because we had a little camera system. I'm like, man, that motherfucker's still here. And so I'd come out. He'd leave. I'd be'd be like dude what are you guys talking about and cody be like oh we're just bullshitting about you know whatever you know it was nothing he wasn't talking about like trying to like me the way i think i'm like he's trying to

convince cody to tell me to fucking buy shit you know so i'm like what's he trying to do fucking turn my own guys against me so like uh this went on you know for a while and then i would pull up and i would just see him and he'd be in the fucking store and i would like drive away because i'm like dude this motherfucker is always here like he's always here i can't get away from him all right then it got to the point where like i just accepted that he was always this i'm talking about this is over like two or three years not a month okay so this is over years then i would see him and i just accept all right fucking i gotta do my work ryan's in there i'd walk right past him be like ryan what's up walk right in the back do my shit so one day we start you know we start talking about uh ryan played baseball we start talking about baseball and we start talking about some other shit. We start talking about baseball.

And we start talking about some other shifts. We start talking about football games. And then eventually, dude, we just became buddies. Like I still wasn't buying anything from him. And we got to the point where we were just friends. You know, like I got over the fact that I'm just like, this dude must be really bored. And he just wants to hang out here at the store. And we became buddies in the store.

And so we, I don't know. I started talking to him. I don't remember how it came up. And I asked him, I'm like, so you really think this cable shit that you sell works? And he's like, well, yeah, man. I wouldn't sell it if it didn't work. And I'm like, all right. So we had a conversation about it after like two and a half years.

Turns out that I couldn't really afford to advertise on it. OK, so he's like, well, look, you've got to give it like 12 weeks. And I couldn't afford it because it was like four grand a week. And it was like to me back then, like that was fucking that was like a million dollars a week okay and I was like dude we can't fucking afford that and he's like look it's a it's an investment it's it's not an expense and honestly now that I'm like talking about it he really taught me a lot of shit about about how to how marketing works um and I owe a lot of like what I know now to that foundation because we had tried things and it didn't work, tried things that didn't work, tried things that

didn't work because we weren't given enough time. And so basically what he did was he, he, he's like, all right, well just give me a commitment for 12 weeks. And, and I'm like, dude, I don't know if we can do that. And he's like, you know what? If you, if it doesn't work, I'll give you your money back. And I'm like, you're going to give me four grand a week back if it doesn't work. And he's like, yeah. And I'm like, all right, well, we'll figure out how to make it work. So like, dude, we had to run it on credit cards. You know, some of it was cash. You know, it's like the dude that goes to the grocery store and he's splitting it up on three different cards that's what we were doing with business we got eight weeks in and sales had not gone up at all and i called him and i'm like bro fucking and it wasn't like a nice conversation it

was like dude you fucking you're not you know like i fucking blew up on him and he's like dude give four more weeks four more weeks dude in four weeks we doubled sales in that next four weeks doubled sales wow okay like honestly it it it kind of saved our company because it taught me something that i that i would have never learned otherwise i would have continued to do you know the two week or four week thing and quit and it would have continued to do the two-week or four-week thing and quit, and it would have never worked, and I would have said, you know what, that doesn't fucking work. I mean, the math makes sense, right?

It's funny because I've heard this story several times. You think about 30, 60, 90. Yeah, right. Like you think 30, 60, 90. It takes 90 days for habits to affect. Right. The fact that it worked in 12 weeks is amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the point is that, and so we started being a customer of his.

Okay? So now he's my friend and we're a customer. All right? So he's made the company money. He's got us rolling. We're doing a lot better. So we decided we're going to expand into radio. So Ryan, who works for the cable company, starts talking to me about which radio stations.

And then he starts talking to me about which packages. And I'm like, how do you know the packages? He's like, oh, I fucking called them. I got a package. Here's the package. Here's what they can do. I think they could do less than this. Let's hit them on this. So anyway, basically he

took the initiative to take that responsibility from me knowing that he wasn't making any money on it at all. Okay. Took over our whole radio advertising budget and fucking did it. He didn't even work for me. All right. This is what I'm talking about guys. When I'm talking about taking initiative, doing things as an investment to your future. Cause I know now what the fuck he was thinking. All right. And it was very intelligent. So especially knowing him now as a human dude, he's got a super calculated brain, right? And it's awesome to know him. Cause I know like, it's almost like you're playing chess with him when you're talking. So he, long story short, he believed in what the fuck we were doing from the beginning. And then we started first form.

This is before first form even existed. Then we started first form. Then we started growing first form. And you know who, you know, you know what happened whenever we started growing first form? I needed a guy internally that could do all these things for both companies. You know who I called? Ryan. Now he works here. He's a fucking executive for the company he handles a ton of our shit a ton of our sales training still actually does the advertising stuff but in fact shooting tv

commercials yesterday right but the point of it here guys is that we're talking about making a friend you make a sale he didn't come in and try to fucking close me. He didn't come in and say, hey, buy my shit. He came in and we became buddies. And I can honestly look back and think about how patient he had to have been to do that because for the middle time when I was like, dude, I'm not fucking talking to this guy, I was rude as fuck to him. Like I would, you know what I mean? Like I would have personally, I would have been like, dude, you know what? Fuck that guy. I'd like to point out something

to knowing Ryan, Ryan a little bit and maybe dispel a possible assumption that people make. And you guys know him better than I do, but I think there's a lot of people that assume that in order to be a good sales person, you have to be this like dynamic, charismatic, sanguine person. He's like the most quiet dude ever. Right. That's something that I think might shock everybody that doesn't know him is that he's really laid back. I mean, you have to be able to socialize. You don't have to be, dude, that's the cheesy salesman stereotype. You got to be, you know, and like, I'm going to use this example.

I like Grant Cardone. Okay. But Grant Cardone has that salesman charisma that you're talking about right you know what i mean right absolutely i love i love you uncle grant if you listen to this shit you're my boy but he's got that fucking he'll be the first one to tell you he's got that charisma that's salesman-ish right that's not bad either right you just gotta know how to harness it no dude no point being is you don't have to have it he He's one of the best salesmen in the world. Yeah. No question. And the shit he teaches is gold.

But I'm going to tell you, he's got that. And just because you don't have that doesn't mean that you're not going to be able to sell. That's what I'm trying to say. Right. The people who give salespeople a bad name, they try to fake that. Exactly. Exactly. He's genuinely like that.

Right. And it's cool. He's a cool motherfucking dude, it's cool he's a cool cool motherfucking dude man i like him a lot but uh but anyhow um you know a lot of people will say hey i i don't know how to talk to people i'm not comfortable i'm an introvert i'm this or that okay if that's you because like that believe it or not that's me all right i think you'll agree with this like sal sal salesmanman ability comes very natural to him. And we're both great salespeople, both of us.

And we have different styles. And his ability is he's always been charismatic and it's always come natural. I'm the complete opposite. I've had to cultivate it. I've had to learn it. I have to like work at it because to be completely honest, I don't like fucking people that much. Yeah. And I would say the flip side of that is I love people. Right. And it's, it's funny when I go back and it's, it's weird how like I'm sitting here, I didn't expect to be on a podcast today,

but I'm recalling like funny rock cancels. Yeah. The rock part two has to step up. That's right. So the pebble, I'm at least, I'm at least in the rock family, right? Yeah, exactly. No, but I think about our sales relationship has still never changed because Andrew's actually a great, it's not that he's a great salesman in the sense of like the door to door. He's a great sales strategist, which is key to being a great salesman. And it's not that I lack in the great sales strategy. It's I'm a good executor on the sales front. And the two of it works together and it goes all the way back to us selling light bulbs.

Yeah, man. We used to sell light bulbs door to door. This is no shit too. Simply. I, people, people ask all the time. Did you really do that? Did you really sell light bulbs? Well, our dad fucking owned a lighting distributorship, right?

So we had, we figured out this cost of goods sold thing really, really, really early on in life. If we stole the light bulbs from dad's work, we could make 100% profit. And we fucking put them in a cooler and we walked up and down Eleanor Drive. And at the time, I mean, dude, I would buy fucking light bulbs from the kids up and down the street.

You know what I'm saying? So Andrew would carry the fucking thing and I would sell the light bulbs. I'd knock on the door. Scared shit. We were like, how old were we really? I don't know, 10, 8, 10. Think about that. And our dad, you go sell them fucking things. If you're going We were like, how old were we really? I don't know, 10, 8, 10. Think about that.

Yeah. That's awesome. And our dad, we'd fuck, you go sell them fucking things. You know, if you're going to steal them, you're going to sell them. That's great. And fucking kick us out the door, and that's what we did. You know? That's awesome.

So, so. I think it's funny that people think that's bullshit. I know. Dude, whatever. Remember our little blue Metro Electric Metro lighting jackets? Yeah, man. We had a fucking, we had a gang. Nice.

They were light bulb gang. You got your name on the front. Dude, we should make some first form jackets like that. Like. For a couple. The black sheen. Yeah, man. We had a fucking, we had a gang. Nice. You got your name on the front. Dude, we should make some first form jackets like that. Like the black sheen. Dude, edit that shit out, man. Every other fucking

summer company will be doing that shit next week. I know definitely who will be. Yeah. So dude. Let's start setting traps. Hey, let's get some fucking brown Carhartt jackets.

So dude. Sucker. So, oh man, that's some funny shit so anyway guys if you're not good at socializing let me give you a couple tips that i use for me okay because i i i had to learn to be good at socializing dude i was fat growing up i was fat in college and you know what i had to get laid so i had to learn how to fucking talk to people it's the best way to sell. That's right.

So I'm just keeping it real, dude. That's where I developed most of my good sales skills, is trying to talk to girls. Which is actually, this is really true. When you talk about good values and morals and ethics, it's where I learned what not to do. You know what I mean? Because I would say the only people in my sales career

that don't like me are my ex-girlfriends. Dude, look, man. It is the same. you know what I mean because I would say the only people in my sales career that don't like me are my ex-girlfriends dude look man it is the same so like you young you young fellas out there listening right now you want to talk to the girls learn how to sell shit

because you'll be able to sell yourself too yeah well I did the backwards of the Kevin Plank I over promised and under delivered right

at the end of the day I should have over promised and delivered except I was trying to deliver to like 10 girls at once and you just can't fucking do it that's hilarious that's bad policy man it was but i learned i learned what not to do

you know so dude all right these are things that i practice doing for real like it's really simple man when you're at the grocery store talk to the checker when you're walking down the aisle of the grocery store say hello to the people walking the other way when you're walking down the aisle of the grocery store say hello to the people walking the other way when you're at the mall people walk the other way they make eye contact with you say hey how you doing that simple that will break 98 of the social awkwardness that you feel from your body if you could if you could just execute that shit on a normal everyday basis you know you go to chipotle you know i went to chipotle or i went to fucking qdoba the other day we've got sal hates fucking trader yeah i do too long

story long story different but we can talk about that in the customer service one but uh but anyway i still go there and i went there and the the girl this is how good this skill is. Okay. There was a, there was a girl behind the counter in a bad mood. You know, I could tell she was like not wanting to be at work. And, um, she's like, what do you want? I hadn't been there in a while. Cause I usually send Tyler to go get my shit. So I forgot how to fucking order. And so she like asked me like what I wanted.

And I'm like, I want one of those bowls, the, you know, the bowl. She's like, yeah, I know. And I'm like, how are you doing today? And she's like, she didn't answer me. She goes chicken or rice or chicken or beef or whatever. And I said, how are you doing again? And she's like, you know what? I'm doing pretty good.

And like, it took her, you know what I'm saying? It took her like twice for me to say I was actually asking her. And dude, it totally changed her whole fucking personality her whole demeanor everything changed but that's what you can do by just genuinely asking somebody how are you doing or saying hello to them you break that that impersonal contact that most you know like when you're walking on the sidewalk and everybody looks at the ground because they don't want to fucking have to say hi right be the motherfucker that says hi. Because, dude, that will develop a skill in you that drops that fear of the social awkwardness.

I conquered a lot of mine that way. Just being, just talking to people I would see every day. When you shared that example, the first thing that popped into my mind was that great scene in Tommy Boy. You know, you've seen tommy boy where they were the where the waitress is like completely cold and he says hey what's your name yeah helen that's nice you look like a helen yeah and then it's just complete you know yeah 180 yeah actually that's it's kind of i don't even think put the two together that's a great example yeah but i mean dude just why are you giving the big bucks just caring you know and guys let me say this it has to be genuine okay this is not the guys who make a hundred grand a year are fake the guys who make

10 million a year selling shit they're genuine okay and it takes time can you squeeze out a hundred grand a year faking fucking sales and shit absolutely no question it's actually pretty easy it's it's easy i've watched a lot of people do it but that's all you're gonna fucking get no stop right but i but if you're genuine and you could sell because dude selling is such a dynamic useful uh utility skill like dude if you're you could be a fucking ceo you could be a head of sales you could be a director of sales nationally you could be a director of sales nationally. You could be a sales rep. You could do so much shit if you know how to fucking sell. You know what I mean? So, but, but, but do the great salespeople and the average salespeople are separated by how genuine

they are and how they do things. A hundred percent. I don't, I think that, and I think that's linear across all markets. I mean, if you're a great engineer, dude, it's, it's about life. You better be a great salesperson, right? There's probably better engineers that never make it outside the box because they can't get outside the box. Right. Right. Right. I, and you know, to piggyback on Andrew's point, you know, one thing that, you know, he talks about, he had to, he doesn't like people. And I think it's like the yin and the yang, right? When you're raised around people, you know, you acquire, we have totally different skill sets like natural and unnatural but I love people I like fucking talking to people I think saying I don't like people is is not no no no but

it's unfair but I'm using your example I have less of a tolerance for people than you do so I would say you're probably energized by talking to people you're probably drained dude I will wear the stewardess out on the flight. Yeah. Hey, where are you from? What do you do? How many kids you have?

What's going on? Where are you flying to? And I don't know why I'm like that. It's just, I've always been that way. Well, it's probably just like everything else. Like I,

we just, we have some polarizing. Cause I do like your personalities, what your personality is. I mean, that's the way it goes. Some personalities just are energized by social interaction. I like people when you're having a meaningful,

genuine conversation. I don't like fucking small talk. Right. You know what I'm saying? That's a way to put it. Like, if you're in a small talk with me, get the fuck out of my face. Which is funny,

because I would put dad right in between us. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, if you really think about it, which is interesting. He's a mesovert. He's not an introvert or an extrovert.

He's a mesovert. He's got his moments. So basically what you're saying is, you're the most full of shit you know basically what you're saying is you're the most full of shit he's a little bit of full of shit and i don't have i'm not full of shit that's the best way to describe it though i'm exactly like you like i don't i don't i hate fucking that little bullshit small talk yeah but but for both you guys once you get it warmed up it's going you know what it is dude people always say the same fucking thing to me they only they only want to talk about business. Right.

Hey, how's the fucking business going? How's this going? Look, motherfucker. I talk about this all day. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, if you want to talk about how business is going, go listen to my fucking podcast. It's all about it.

Yeah. You know what I mean? But, you know, to your point about not liking small talk and wanting to go right into heavier things, I mean, people always say don't get on, you know, well, you're supposed to avoid politics, religion, or whatever. But the reality is, my experience is that people open up when you ask them a really deep question. I don't avoid that shit.

I never avoid that shit. Yeah, and people are tired of... Like all the race stuff that's going on right now. I'm the first guy to dive in because like, listen, this is who I am. Right. You know what I mean? Our culture around us is pretty shallow.

So when you do have somebody who says, hey, what do you think about this? Dude, some guy was popping off on Andrew's page a couple of weeks ago. Like I'm like, and I'm not a keyboard warrior or any of that stuff, but I think learning people, you know, being able to get into those sticky situations, it's a very, it's a reward. It's very rewarding on both ends because most people avoid it. Right. It's no different than anything else in life. Like, well, dude, look fruits of labor you could tell you could i could tell how much money someone makes by the shit they write on facebook because of what you're saying no 100 because yeah the way that they like people that go all in and are polarizing in terms of like their opinions and try to like stir the

shit and all this shit like dude i already know you can't make any fucking money because you you're not intelligent enough to have a real conversation right yeah no no exactly for the record though one of the best things that i love asking any stranger is what's the best thing that's happened to you this year because that'll that'll tell you what they value that'll tell you the things that they really find important but we're kind of getting off the topic a little bit. So let's go to the third point. Let's just jump right back in. My son.

The third point. Yes. Good answer. Yeah, that dude's cool. Enzo. Yes. He looks like me, though. It's fucking weird.

Does he? He does look like me. He's got Anders right here in between his eyes. Dude, if you look at a baby picture of me and him, he looks a lot like me. I think Ann Raquel and I were in a fight about that time, you know? No, man. We were arguing. I don't know.

My shit's just that good. I probably spilled a little on the floor. Went airborne. I've actually been praying. What's that movie, Outbreak? I've got to be careful where it goes, dude. No, it's the one with Will Smith, but what the fuck's that movie? Keep going.

I am legend. I've actually been praying for my younger daughter, Veronica. She looks a lot like me. At least I know she's going to be my convent baby. She's going to be a nun. She's going to be a nun. Not out of choice, out of requirement. Yeah, because she looks like me.

So look, dude, point number three. When you're talking about your product don't talk about the features talk about how the benefits of the product are going to solve the problem basic sales shit right features versus benefits but it's amazing to me how many people can spout off features versus benefits but then when they fucking talk to you talking about the motherfucking features like dude an inexperienced sales guy, you can always tell how good people are in sales because they're going like this.

And I'm going to use cars as an example, okay? And I'm going to keep this point short because we've gone long on some other points. This is really fucking simple, guys. Get to the bottom line of what the problem is that you're trying to solve. If you're selling cool clothes, then make people feel cool. If you're selling cool clothes, they make people feel cool.

If you're selling a Harley, guess what? It ain't about the fucking 1300cc's and the fucking Vans and high end exhausts. It's about looking like a bad motherfucker on Sundays at the group ride, all right? Selling a fucking Ferrari. It isn't because it has triple gloss red paint and 576 horsepower. No, it's because you're gonna be the badass at

the club on saturday night dude get to the fucking benefits put tell the story and tell the product present the product in a way that solves the problem and dude people are like well my product doesn't solve a problem yes it does you just don't get it yet okay not feeling cool solve a problem. Yes, it does. You just don't get it yet. Okay. Not feeling cool is a problem, right? Like people are like, Oh, well I saw t-shirts. What solves that problem is the problem that they need clothes. No motherfucker. The problem is, is that you're selling a fucking, you're selling something that they want to identify with so that they feel a certain way. How is the way that you're trying to make them feel? That's the problem that you're trying to make them feel that's the problem that you're trying to solve okay so quit worrying about you know the the uh fucking number of horsepowers in your fucking vespa and start worrying about how how fucking hipster you're gonna look riding around

your fucking vepsta but okay so think about this right i mean dude your your fucking hipster beard grows seven more inches by even owning a Vespa. Right? That would be a real benefit. That would be a great benefit. Like, dude, you're going to get free craft beer at the fucking open micro brew. You're going to get laid by the hipster chick. I was going to say, girls that don't wear deodorant are going to flock to you.

You're going to find five more chicks that don't shave their armpits just from riding a Vespa. Okay, so there's kind of this guy who pointed this out to me one time, and he's 50% of tangible retail items can be sold, excuse me, can be factored back to or can directly correlate with people getting laid. Think about that. 50? 50%.

I would say more than that. Okay, but think about it. Think about your Vespa. Why do you drive a Vespa? Because you're trying to get laid by a certain kind of chick. Yeah, right. Why do you drive a Harley? Because I'm a surgeon during the day. by a certain kind of chick. Yeah, right. Why do you drive a Harley? Because I'm a surgeon during the day.

Look, I know there's motherfucking hipsters listening to this shit right now saying this. No, I drive a Vespa because I really care about the environment. All right, motherfucker. Let me talk. Let me break it down for you. Why do you care about the environment? You don't fucking care about the environment because you can't measure the environmental impact on you. So you can't measure the environmental impact on you so you can't

possibly care about it that much what you really care about is how that fucking chick with the long armpit hair at the bar fucking cares about the environment so you care about the environment and it all ends up with something on your dick listen i i agree as as fucking far-fetched as the story it's fucking true. It is true. Think about it. Why do people work out? To get laid. They want to look better.

Why is that 100%? I don't know what you guys are talking about. Listen, they'll tell you, oh, I want to feel better. No, no, no, no, no. You want to look better naked when you get out so you get a chance to get laid. So why do you want to feel better? So I look better. But why?

I'm sorry. I was answering a question. Why do you want to work out? I mean, I know exactly why. Yeah, I know. That's what I'm sorry. I was answering a question. Why do you want to work out? Why do I? I mean, I know exactly why. Yeah, I know. That's what I'm saying. If you ask enough whys, eventually it comes down to, I want to stick my dick in a hole somewhere.

Right? Dude, we have derailed. No, we haven't. This is a perfectly on track. That's the beauty. You see it as derailed, but the truth is, you have to understand, the whole point of the story is the why. Right?

No, I get it. That person is seeking an answer to something answer to something right you got to figure out what the why is basic human and what he was teaching me at that time when he was talking about think about that person getting laid is get into their mind and think all right why is this person buying this exactly otherwise we'd all wear the same shit we'd wear a potato sack all of us because it's comfortable game of thrones it worked those guys i'm just saying no but i i agree all of us, because it's comfortable. Game of Thrones, it worked. I'm just saying. No, but I agree, but it's mentally. Walk down the mall in your imagination right now.

Why do you wear certain sunglasses? Why do you wear certain shoes? Why do you wear certain jeans? Why do you wear certain clothes? Why do you use a Mac over a fucking PC? Why do you do anything? You want to fit in. You want to be accepted. Absolutely. My point being, you know, do anything? You want to fit in. You want to be accepted.

Those things all, my point being, it all funnels back into that. No, what it funnels into is, those are legitimate fucking problems. And people say, oh,

those aren't problems. World peace is a problem. Well, look, we're talking about making fucking money here. Identify the problem, solve the fucking problem. World peace probably be a whole lot less if everybody was getting laid.

You know what I'm saying? So if people would solve that problem faster, we'd get rid of this shit. I would pay a lot of money to have you guys hired as salespeople at the local Christian bookstore selling Bibles. I fucking guarantee you. I would sell the most Bibles in history. I would beat them. Actually, everything you're saying could definitely be applied to selling a Bible. For sure.

It could. Yeah. All right. So I said it was all about getting in the hole, and you're saying it's holy. Well. So it goes together. That's pretty good. Yeah.

That's pretty good. A Vaughn's twist. Yeah. That's a Vaughn joke. That's a. That's a. That's a. That's a pro-hand twist.

Yeah, it is. I think you mean Vaughn Kong. That's a Vaughn Kong joke. Yes. So, it is. I think you mean Von Kong. That's a Von Kong joke. Yes. So, dude, all right. Present the fucking problem. Solve the problem. Present the problem.

Solve the problem. Present the problem. Solve the problem. Next point. Next point that I have on my list, and like I said, this is a long list, and I know there's quote-unquote salespeople out there that think they're fucking boss hog of the sales world. But I'm going to tell you right now, I'm going over my quick little guide to like, you know nothing about sales to becoming a good salesman. All right.

Go the extra mile. This is a core value of my company. You know, one of the best ways that you can gain the loyalty of, we talked about loyalty a little bit, a bit ago, but the loyalty of a potential customer besides making them a friend is also by showing that you're willing to go the extra mile in everything that you do. Going the extra mile isn't just like a technique either. It's a way of life. You know, when you give people your all, all the time, and they know that you're going to go above and beyond in helping your friends, your family, your customers, and it just becomes who you are. Dude, there's tremendous value in that, that I think is highly underrated. Most people, guys, will do the bare minimum. You know, I did a snap

yesterday about talking about the two different groups. There's the group who is not afraid to do the work and says, bring the fucking work to me and I'll get it done. And then there's the person who hides in the corner and waits till fucking four 15 so they can go home and does the least amount that they can do without getting fired. You're in one of those two groups. You listening right now are in one of those two groups. Which one are you in? Go the extra mile is a great way to get in the group that makes the fucking money. Okay. People love extra shit. And I don't mean extra material goods. I mean, extra time, extra effort, uh, because it shows that you care. It shows that you value

that person genuinely. Okay. If you work in retail, this could be as simple as carrying somebody's shit to their car. You know, it could be as simple as calling them to check up and see how they're doing with the sale post sale. You know, there's a million ways to go the extra mile dude i have people in my company who have changed car batteries who have helped people move who have cleaned people's businesses when they had like i've had a guy who opened people's business a person's business for them because they had a death in the family couldn't open their fucking store so they're gonna miss the sales he went open their fucking business for him for a customer okay there's a million ways you can go the extra mile but the point of of this point the point of this point

must be extra pointy um it's that you have to make this a way of life. You know, I can't tell you anything that will make you more valuable than making this a habit. All right. If somebody gives you a task to do, you do the task plus the extra loose ends that you know need to be done post-task. Don't be a fucking robot. Look ahead. You know what I mean? There's nothing more valuable to a CEO than somebody who you give something to and they come back and say, dude, I did this. And then I knew you're going to need this and this. And I did that. Right. You know what I mean? And this goes for like, like I said, just, it goes for, you know, the, it goes for the people above you in your business. It goes for your customers. It goes for your family. It's just a way to be, to make value to make yourself valuable in any way.

Yeah. I like what you say in the S2 core value statement, where you say that going the extra mile is really what produces the wow factor. And it's the wow factor that makes the difference between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. You know what I'm saying? No, no, 100%. I'll take that one step further, because this is where you see it from the outside and you listen to this podcast. And some of it's funny, but it's all true in the sense when you talk about tying these things together. Okay. How do you create the opportunity to go the extra mile? You think people think about that? Like, how do I, well, what do I do? You do that by going back a couple of steps. And when you get to the friendship level,

what happens when you create that friendship and you're talking to this customer's walking to retail, that's what you learn. Yeah. You learn about their life. You learn about, you see opportunities. That's right. Good, bad, or indifferent, right? Like you hear all the things and sometimes everything's good and you know, and hunky dory and opportunity presents itself. Hey, maybe that guy's having a shit day and that guy's been really good to me. You're just doing the right thing. You know what I mean? You're, but by making that friend and just honestly being a good person you're opening up the opportunities to go the extra mile and it's not like hey how can i find these opportunities to go because that's where people get lost they're like well i'm gonna go

the extra mile and they're gonna try to like manufacture an opportunity you're doing you're venturing into manipulation then correct versus if you're a friend you know and he's like man i gotta move this weekend and my buddy his wife you know is my buddy's you know dog and he's like, man, I got to move this weekend. And my buddy, his wife, you know, is my buddy's, you know, dog died and he's going out of town and he was going to help me move. And you think, man, dude, I love this guy. This guy's a great fucking customer. We've become really good friends, dude. I can help you move on Saturday. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's not like I'm, I'm making this up. It's like, dude, I'm just, fuck, you've been good to me. I'm going to be good to you. It's amazing how humanity can't figure that out. Dude, it's doing the right thing. You know, it's, you know, I always say this.

You guys, if you follow me, you know I've said this a million times. It isn't even selling. It's helping. It's not sell. It's help. In your mental vocabulary, draw a line through the word sell and and replace it with the word help, and help. And if you could grasp that concept and live that concept, you can make literally millions and millions

and millions of dollars. You'll definitely have financial freedom. No question. You're not going to be struggling. No. Right. So learn how to go the extra mile. Learn how to make it a core value of yourself and

your heart. Um, and we're going to move on to the last point. And this is really basic shit, but I feel like because everybody now is selling things and there's all kinds of, you know, I'm going to sell this shit like scam products out there. You know, people selling bullshit flashlights on the fucking internet, you know, and you know what I'm saying? Like just crazy shit all over the place, dude, have a great product or service and know it. Well, know everything about it. You know, this, this is so basic, but if I feel like I need to point it out because most people will try to sell anything.

They'll try to sell something they think they can make money on versus something they think is a helpful product or solves a problem or is something that, you know, is a genuine product. You know, in life, you are in control of how people perceive you and what they think of you and this and that, and that go, your reputation is attached to the products you sell. So if you choose to represent a shitty product or try to sell a shitty product, not only are you going to be not successful because the product shit, people aren't going to trust you. It's going to ruin your integrity. It's, it's going to, it's going to do damage to your reputation. You know, you're going to become that guy. Nobody answers a fucking phone when they call, you know, having a great product and service is, is a huge, huge, huge deal. You have to believe

in it. Um, knowing it well, dude, if you don't know your fucking product, how are you going to sell it? You know, those are the same people that you see online. They bounce from job to job or they bounce from company to company. They're always they think it's going to be a month. Yeah. And it's funny. So this is, it's weird how these conversations always end up like full circle. Okay. So full circle.

And I don't even, there's a lot of the motivational, everybody's a motivational fucking speaker online right now. I mean, that's, I just changed my phone number partially because I started getting like motivational texts from people. I'm thinking, motherfucker, I should be sending you motivational texts, you know, but so I'm getting them in a roundabout way. We, we, we bring this thing full circles and it's one of those stupid a lot less motivational people out there if people actually examine if these people were actually successful or not yeah yeah no for sure but when you go full circle and you bring this

and this is one of the the few memes that i i don't even say i believe in but it does it makes sense you know if you find something you love to, you'll never work another day in your life. Okay. Well, all right. That's the fairy method of it. When you talk about finding something you enjoy to do and you sell that product, you naturally know that product. You're educated on that product. You love that product. That's where that passion part comes in. So, you know, and maybe you don't make as much money right out of the gate, but the one thing you can't fake is that passion and that enjoyment of doing so. You know what I mean? Absolutely. And so when you start talking about like, then here's a question. Do you love selling supplements? No, I'm not passionate about

selling supplements in the sense of when you look at it that way. But if you help somebody lose a hundred fucking pounds and you change your life and it's exciting shit. Fuck yeah. Yeah. Those are the best emails. I'm talking about when you have a shitty day, we have a folder of those things come into. We're fortunate. We are the best emails. I'm talking about when you have a shitty day, we have a folder of those things coming to you. We're fortunate. We are very fortunate to be in a business where we could see that kind of result produced. You know, a lot of guys are like, well, I sell tires.

How do I find that pride in producing that result? Well, guys, you have to think a little bit bigger picture than what you're probably thinking. You're thinking you're selling tires. Really what you're selling is you're selling fucking, maybe you're selling the safety of a family. You know what I mean? There's all kinds of ways that you could figure out the, the, the product that you're selling in a meaningful way. I'll, I mean, you want to talk about, this is, this is probably, I don't want to say the most powerful piece of, of this conversation in the sense, but okay. Andrew alluded to it earlier. We were both fat

kids growing up. All right. You want to, everybody's, this is the question I get and I hate it. It's like, man, you guys are killing it. You guys are so successful. And it's not really that we're successful. Most people get in the supplement business are like big steroid jerk. You know, they like lifting weights and I'm a i'm a meathead right they don't they do it because they like like lifting weights and then and then they try to fake that they care about people right right and you can't fake that right so you walk in those stores and they sell them pro hormones and they sell them illegal drugs and i mean there's people in our industry who've made millions of dollars basically fucking fucking people up and you look

at us right we're really fat people that's the fucking truth speak for yourself bro i'm down fucking 60 pounds well that's fine we're still fat people and i'm less fat that's fine you still like pizza and beer and french fries i do me too so when you talk about like genuinely wanting to help that person because i know how impactful it's been to me right like i'm down 30 40 pounds myself i've been in really good shape in my life i've been fat the majority of it even it, even when I was in, even when I played baseball, like I was still like the fat guy in the locker room, right? I understand the mental struggle that somebody who is overweight goes through. I understand that at the core. And so when you talk about trying to help somebody change their life, there's true empathy there. Yeah. I don't look at the fucking dollar signs.

Like I can give two shits. Like, Hey, listen, you don't even need supplements to do that. They will help you greatly and immensely along your journey. But I want to help you because I know it goes back to this trust factor. I know I can help you. You know why? Cause I fucking have been there. I've been there majority of my life. I know the right moves and the wrong moves. And I know the struggles you're going to face. It's goes back to your conversation to a T let me go from across the counter, selling you something to write fucking next to you, to hold your hand. I can walk you through this journey. I know at six weeks, you're going to fucking motherfuck me. I know at two weeks, you're going to fucking say, why am I doing this? I haven't lost any weight yet. And I know at 12 weeks, you're going to think, you know what?

This is awesome. That's right. I'm moving in the right direction. And it ain't going to happen in fucking 12 weeks, motherfucker. That's you didn't get fat in 12 weeks. You ain't going to happen in fucking 12 weeks, motherfucker. You didn't get fat in 12 weeks. You ain't going to get skinny in 12 weeks. You know what? I'm about to have a fucking meltdown

on the fitness industry right now because the fitness industry is like the epitome of fucking jack-offs when it comes to

selling people shit they don't fucking need. And the bottom line here is that you can't fake empathy. It shows so clearly to everybody. And so when you pretend to care, you're better off pretending or just being like, I don't really care.

Because when you pretend to care and you don't, everybody can see it. Sal, what is your, uh, social media contacts? I'm, uh, well, Sal Frisella on Facebook, on the Facebook. Okay. And I'm at Mr. Frisella on Instagram and Snapchat. So it's just at M R F R I S E L L A. Okay. And Andy's obviously at Andy Frisella. Instead of sharing my contacts, I'm going to take just a quick second to say to everybody in light of making sales pitches and doing the right thing and what we get excited about. I just want to let people know, hopefully I didn't ask permission for this, but I am trying to use my writing to help a young woman who is battling

against cancer. So if you guys want to check out what I'm trying to do, go to Vaughn Kohler.com forward slash K R Y S T A L. I'm not going to go into it. Just go there and, uh, help us out. What would you like them to do? Just read? Well, there's always gotta have it. Yeah. So there is an ask. I actually created a product. It's actually a short story. How are you going to sell the product Vaughn, if you can't educate people on the product? Well, because I didn't want to take the time. All right. This is what we're talking about. We're talking about the process.

So, yes. So the reality is most of our listeners are dudes. That's okay. So this product is probably not for you guys, but you could probably get it for your girlfriend. It might help you get laid. It might. Bottom line, that's what I'm saying. But yeah, just check it out.

V-A-U-G-H-N-K-O-H-L-A-R.com forward slash crystal. It would mean a lot to me, guys. I love using my writing to help people. What is the product? Oh, the product is a short story. You're not a good salesperson right now. Sorry, sorry. The product is a short story that I wrote seven years ago.

Okay. And it has a really cool story. Essentially seven years ago, I was at a coffee shop, and a woman walked through the front door, and I was just, like, captivated by her. And it wasn't my wife, but I later on became captivated by my wife. But anyway, I actually was in the creative writing program at the time, and I wrote a story about that whole experience. And the people that read it thought it was awesome, but I never did anything with it. Well, that young woman and I, I say young woman, she's at least eight years younger than me. She ended up becoming a wife and a mother. And we

were friends on Facebook and about a year, a month and a half ago, I saw that she's basically battling a very serious form of cancer and they're, they're getting hit by a lot of medical bills. So I came up with this crazy idea. I'd never talked to her in my life before, even though we're Facebook friends. And so I emailed her. I said, I'd like to sell my short story and give the entire 100% proceeds to your medical bills. And she was pretty overwhelmed by it. And she said, sure. So that's what I'm trying to do. It's basically the cost of a cup of coffee. So the cost of a cup of coffee will teach you a story about a young woman who walked in a door and changed your life? No, no, I'm serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. So the benefit of reading

is it's just enjoyment. I think it's a pretty darn good short story. But the benefit of reading is enjoyment. And I think women will like it. It's kind of emotionally Kelsey's friend read it, said she loved it. Um, and, uh, it will also, there is a moral to the story. It's essentially that most of us, you know, walk around. You got to buy the book to find out the more. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Good, good call. Good call. So not only that reading helps stimulate your mind, it helps stimulate your imagination. It helps you become creative. It also creates the habit of reading that we talk about is so important here. Yeah. So there's a lot of benefits doing this.

So go buy the fucking book. Yeah. Thank you. All right. I'm serious. We don't ask for you guys to buy much shit. Okay. So this is a good cause.

We're not making money here. You know, support Vaughn, support his mission. And, you know, let's see if we can help this girl out. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. I think it's a help this girl out. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. I think it's a good thing, man. Thank you. It's the right thing to do.

Like we're talking about. Yeah, yeah. So guys, we have some exciting stuff coming up for the MFCEO. I can't really say what it is yet, but I can guarantee you when you find out, you're going to say, holy shit. Jaws will drop.

Yeah, it's going to be awesome. I'm also, and I haven't told Vaughn this, but I'm also considering doing like a mastermind group or a mentorship for like 12 people, 10, 12 people for like 12 weeks once a week. You know what I mean? Just through Skype. I can tell you right now, guys, if I do that and it's going to be cheap,

it's not going to be something that I'm going to, I'm not going to give away. It's not going to be 99 bucks. It's going to be fucking expensive, but I can promise you if I do decide to do that, it's going to be something that will change your life. Um, other than that, uh, guys, I just want to say thank you so much for the support where you got something to say. Yeah. I want to re I was just sitting here. I'm kind of like gazing off through the window and you think you made a comment earlier. This is how my mind works, but you made a comment earlier. This is your little clip clip to go to guide for the new salespeople. I would say you're wrong. I would say that most salespeople don't understand these concepts. Dude, look, I thought about that after I said that

and you're a hundred percent right. Because what I was speaking though, these are basic to me. Right. Right. You know what I'm saying? And I, sometimes I get caught up and I, I say things like that where I'm like, Oh, this is basic shit. And I discounted as basic because I've been doing it for 20 fucking years. You know what I mean? But this is really basic shit. This is a whole podcast. And if you haven't, if you're not implementing these techniques that we talked about, these five easy techniques, you know, don't tell people they're wrong. Make a friend, make a sale.

You know, show how your problem solves a solution, not the features, go the extra mile and know your fucking product and have a great product to sell. If you don't do those, those, those are basic to me. And if you're not doing that effectively, the way that we talked about it here, you haven't even begun down your journey of becoming successful in sales. Okay. So while you're right, I agree with you and that's a great point. I, they are basic to me and I understand that most people don't do this. So I definitely spoke from a different perspective there, but, um, but guys, you know, this is something that you should not just listen to, but try to grasp, you know, don't just put

this in your head and then walk away from it. This is a podcast and we'll have more of these too. Cause I'm trying to like bring out the practical tools. You know, I love, I love doing the motivation shit and I, I, I, I really enjoy that, but I want to give you guys the practical tools as well. And so we're trying to, you know, keep Tuesdays for practicality and, uh, Thursdays for biting your fucking face off. You know what I mean? But these are the foundational tools that will make you, like Sal said, financially free. Will you become a deca-millionaire?

I don't know. It depends on how fucking much you work and how good your product is. But I can tell you right now, you definitely aren't gonna fucking struggle if you know this shit, bottom line. Guys, you know, in closing, I just wanna say thank you for all the support. I see a lot of you guys reposting. You know, I always ask

because we don't charge anything for really anything that all I ask for is that you bring me a listener, bring me a friend. You know, if you find something of value, share it. You guys are doing that and I appreciate that. And I just want to say thank you for that and thank you for all your support. And if there's anything that we can do for you guys, content wise, you have ideas for a podcast, you have ideas for something you want us to hit, dude, throw it in my comments on my Instagram. That's where I'm going to see it.

And other than that, guys, we will see you on Thursday. Appreciate you guys having me in. One year in the making. I finally made the cut. Thanks for coming. Okay. What's up? Okay. Shut up. Ha ha. Okay. Shut up. Ha ha. Okay. What's up?

Right on.