Success in sales is about getting in front of the right people at the right time and helping them make decisions. But it's it's about getting in front of the right people and what i've discovered is a lot of people. Just don't have the swag or the skills or the mindset to be an appointment setting machine, so i want to just walk you through some things see if i could get you to go on two to three appointments a day. How would your business be different? If i got you on two to three appointments a day, how would your life be different, i mean look, you could be the worst salesperson on the planet and, if you're in front of two to three potentially great prospects every single day, my goodness, someone is gon Na say, yes, hey welcome back to the podcast today i want to talk to you about some of the lessons i learned my first three years in sales uh.

If you could imagine, i was on the phones monday through friday, 7 30 to 5 30.. That's hundreds of calls a day, 30 plus conversations a day, an unlimited number of presentations being made day in and day out. I actually figured it out that it was about 7 500 hours of time spent on the phone, not including the time i was doing on the weekends that was just the clocking in clocking out monday, through friday time from age 19 to 21.. Well, when you're blessed - and i do say blessed to have that kind of experience growing up - you learn so much about yourself.

I mean think about it. Eight, nine ten hours a day on the phone i would get in early call the east coast. I would finish the day calling into hawaii looking to find customers to build the business, to make the money to achieve the dreams that i had set for myself and when you're on the phone, seven eight nine ten hours a day for three plus years straight boy. Do you learn a lot? You learn a lot again, i'm going to say it about yourself about what it takes to be mentally disciplined what it takes to persevere, what it takes to experience rejection.

I was thinking about the interview i did with david goggins and rich. Remember the the person asked the question of david goggins. Like you know, how do i get over my fear of the phone he's like you make 300 phone calls a day you just keep going and going and eventually you'll get over that you learn so much. You know what i also learned.

I learned so much about human beings, and - and i could i could literally talk for days just about my interpretation of people's psychology. You know how they think, how they operate, what's important to them. Modalities drivers of motivation, internal versus external, towards and away pleasure and pain. You know, sameness versus difference all this stuff that the early days of my career, where i was studying neuro-linguistic programming, it was like a playground to be on the phone.

It was so much fun to be talking to so many different people around the country. From my case, you know u.s canada to really understand why people do what they do. It was fascinating, but i also got to learn how to optimize like think about it. So i was just on the phone it wasn't like today is the you know the the first and only video first coaching company, where everything is now you know, inside of our software and we're doing everything on video and it's video, video video, because we all want To be face to face because we want to optimize the senses right i mean if i can touch you.

If i can see you, if i can hear you if i can smell you and taste, you wouldn't that be great over the phone or face to face at a meeting as well kind of weird for a presentation or a sales presentation. But you know what i mean right and i know some of you might be saying tom. I've got that sixth sense as a salesperson. I feel that i understand it, but when you learn over the course of three years how to really be effective over the phone, one of the key distinctions was: how do you optimize the only sense you have, which is listening right: the ability to really listen to A customer and hear, through the difference between have you had any thoughts of selling well versus.

Have you had any thoughts of selling? No right just that subtle shift in their tonality? You know that. There's a story behind that: most people are racing so fast they miss the little subtleties when you do it as long as i've done it, you hear those little things that are like, like little windows, opening or little doors coming ajar. Where suddenly there's an opportunity for you to go in and provide value, to show your degrees of separation to make a difference to help somebody, you know what you also learn doing it as much as i did it. You learn about how important your environment is right and how your environment, like the place, you work, how it impacts your energy and your effectiveness, and today what i thought i would do on this podcast is just share with you.

You know some of the key lessons. Some of the key distinctions, some of the things that were important for me, they're things that we teach like, i think about an event i used to do called tag, the appointment game or my goodness, the years and years and years we did a thing called over. The phone training where we were teaching people - you know in three one-hour sessions: how to be effective over the phone and some of those distinctions i'm going to give to you today, but think about it. Like this, you know you're listening to this podcast right now and you're, i don't know you're in your car you're.

You know at the gym you're in the office. The question i want you to think about is this: how would your life be different if you could generate a consistent number of great appointments with potential clients, all the time think about the question? How would your life be different if you could generate a consistent number of great appointments with potential customers all the time? You know if you took the time to answer 15 or 20 reasons like reasons of how your your life would be different, or how would your business be different if you were an appointment, setting machine think about it? How would your business be different if you were an appointment setting machine? I would argue that doubling your business would be pretty realistic. I think back to one of my clients, i'm actually looking at uh two of my teammates over here. One of the clients i took on years ago, his name is john mcmonagle.

I think he was just named 14 or 15 on the wall street journal, top 1000 uh. So big shout out to john and his team and and look the first time i sat down with john. It was very simple. We were saying gulfstream restaurant.

It was like 2005 and i asked him. What is your ambition? What is your goal and he gave me this? You know fantastical number of sales volume that he wanted to achieve, and i said what is the only leading indicator of your success and he said you know i've never been asked that question. I said no think about it. Like you know you, you want to do x and volume, which means you got to get y in sign contracts, which means you got to do z and what he's like listings and sales, i'm like yeah.

That's the contract side, i'm like what he's like appointments. I go right. How many appointments you go on a typical week now and again, i'm dating myself. If he's listening, he would laugh.

Probably just thinking about you know where we were at that time in our lives and he said, look i'm going on maybe two or three appointments a week and i'm like: what's the most you can handle, what's the most that you could really do and provide consistent. Great value provide consistent great energy and not be completely exhausted at the end of the day and he's like i don't know two to three a day and i'm like, what's the most you've ever done, he's like i've done five appointments in a day. Think about that. If i could get you to go on two to three appointments a day, how would your business be different? If i got you on two to three appointments a day, how would your life be different, i mean look, you could be the worst salesperson on the planet and, if you're in front of two to three potentially great prospects every single day, my goodness, someone is going To say yes, the old line my dad used to use a million times had always made me laugh he'd say you could throw up on every third presentation and someone's going to go.

I like that and they're going to sign a contract so think about it. Am i saying to you the numbers game? Yes, and no. What i'm really saying to you is success in sales is about getting in front of the right people at the right time and helping them make decisions. But it's it's about getting in front of the right people and what i've discovered is a lot of people just don't have the swag or the skills or the mindset to be an appointment setting machine.

So i want to just walk you through some things: eight, nine. Ten key distinctions things that you may check the box and say i'm already doing that things. You may say: oh god, i've always thought about doing that. Or can i do that? Okay, hey i'm going to do that and my hope is that look you're just gon na find you know one or two ideas, one or two things that really stand out for you.

Now it's funny, i'm actually looking at my very first point, but before i share it, i'm going to share a bonus point you ready. So this is not my first point. It's just a bonus point when i reflect back on that time. I was in a cubicle environment sitting across from my older brother, and we were on the phones every day together and there's just something about if you're going to be effective over the phone, having someone to compete with having someone to you know go after it with Having somebody to high five with having somebody to take breaks with having someone there that on the days you don't feel like doing it, looks you in the eyes and says, shut up man, let's get on the phone.

Let's go make it happen. Your goals are not going to create themselves, get your ass on the phone and i would argue there might be some lone rangers out there. There might be a few of you like no like i don't you know, and i'm not comfortable doing it around people and i'm not. You know i kind of want to be in my own private environment.

I can't have the noise and the distractions, and i would say to you yeah. I get all that and look at the end of the day when you're on the phone, with somebody across from you, even if they're a little far away. It's just gon na make you better. So that's my bonus bonus point and everybody knows it's doing this.

I mean certainly, i think, about some of my clients that have dan blackwell cole banker, uh coal banker, commercial, real estate broker in orange county california he's got four or five sales people on his team he's making 10 contacts a day, they're all making their contacts every Day, they're all making it essentially in the same exact environment. So it's loud, it's probably exciting. You know you do the little hacks you throw a headset on all those little things that that maybe remove some of the distraction, but you feed on the energy you feed on the energy. So my first bonus point to you would be don't.

Do it alone get some other people with you now here's the deal if they're not as committed as you are you don't take it personally, you still got ta. Do it, but a bonus point is: do it with a group? Do it with a couple buddies you'll, be really happy with the success all right, here's my points, i'm gon na go through it relatively quickly. So let's go to the very first point right, and that is what i've learned is. You've got to set up your environment to be successful, so what do i mean? I mean your your office environment now i know if you go back to your broker and you say look i want to make all these changes.

You go back to your manager, i'm going to make all these changes like that. You know that you might get it done. I found that being personally responsible and doing the work yourself um like i just never wanted to rely on everybody. I just wanted to make it right for me right without making it obnoxious, for you know the my manager etc.

So here's my list, you ready number one. You want to be in a stand-up situation, not a sitting situation. So if you're sitting down making phone calls, could you just imagine for a moment? I know you're listening to me on audio, but we're also doing a video of this so like when i say to people: okay, we're in a seminar environment. I'm like show me you're sitting at your desk, making phone calls everybody immediately slumps over and grabs their phone, and i say in that slumping over position.

Are you in a powerful state? Are you in the kind of state where people are like? Oh, my god, i can't wait to talk this person. I want to book a bit. You know book an appointment with this person. The answer is no right.

We know that 55 of your total communication. 55 of your total communication is what the way you move. Your body right, so, if i'm standing up on my presentation, i'm going to be more animated, i'm free to move my arms because i'm also wearing a headset right, so physiology right. The way you move your body absolutely like you've watched me on videos before i'm smacking.

My hands i'm moving, my body like when i was on the phone. I was talking to somebody three thousand miles away, but i was acting as if they were standing right in front like i'd reach over and grab their shoulder right. I'd give them a high five. I'm like come on man.

Let's go right. I was physically engaged in the presentation. You can only do that in a standing environment. Number two presentation should be up and visual.

Ideally looking up. You know 30 40, 50 degrees up. Think about that. If you're using a presentation, write a script right, a talking track whatever you whatever, you say, you want to have it up.

Why, if i'm standing and i'm looking up, my shoulders are back. My chest is up, i'm more likely to be smiling and what i'm doing is i'm standing in a confident state, almost as if i put a superwoman or superman cape on your back and you're on the phone standing there going through your talking points going through your Script, you know what you're doing you're projecting confidence you're projecting confidence over the phone versus oh slumped over sitting at my desk, making my phone calls because i've just got to get through this. I hope they don't answer. You know what i'm talking about.

You want to stand up. You want to have that energy third thing is my goals were always up and visual in front of me. I actually created a a phone board at one point. If you can imagine you go to like staples and you buy one of those presentation boards, you open it up with the little flaps and on the left side i had a picture of cal ripken jr.

If you remember cal ripken jr, he had he had like the record for playing in the most baseball games ever and i had like the number there 2000 and whatever it was, and the reason i have that up was i wanted to be the cal ripken of Appointment setting, i wanted to be the cal ripken of the phone, so that visual reminder there right below was a photo of my two kids cute as a button one with the angel's hat, one of the new york yankees had and we were in hawaii and they Were really young and it was the visual reminder of i am on the phone, because i want to take my kids to hawaii right, i'm making money for a reason right, i'm making these phone calls for a reason. So i want to connect with that. When i open up that presentation board right and of course, i'd have my scripts or i'd, have my objection, handlers my talking tracks - and i even put the world famous mirror on the right to remind me that i was talking to somebody over the phone. I was.

I was technically, and you know this - i was interrupting someone's day, so it was probably good that i brought them value and had a smile on my face. Does that make sense all right, obviously number four, i had a visual tracker up at all times. How many calls, how many contacts, how many leads, how many appointments, what my numbers were and back then it wasn't like we could do it today with like plecto and hoopla, and all these cool apps that we can, you know, have with our you know our sales Force or whatever crm you use, but back then it was just a wall board. That said, today, i'm committed to making a hundred dollars, i'm committed to talking to 30 people committed to booking x number of appointments, and i kept all that up visually in front of me at all times.

Obviously i had a headset um. There's no doubt there's a lot of different headset companies. I always love the boom.com theboom.com. Now today i wear the iphone earbuds because they're sexy and cool, but the reality was.

You know if i was back then in a bullpen environment, where there's lots of people on the phone i needed something that like covered up my ears, kind of judy from time life magazine. If i'm dating myself or even let's go princess, leia right, the really big ones with the microphone that came down near my mouth, that also would turn on and off. When i was talking or not talking those little distinctions when you're over the phone make a big difference, i always had a living plan. Do you have a living plant in your environment? I would call it new business or new relationships, or you know, client, success and, and the deal was that plant was sort of the metaphor.

Some people have the money plant right, you've seen the money trees before i i just the plant. There is the reminder of how i treat the people i'm talking to and how i treat that planter could be one of the same. So if that plant is thriving, i'm treating my customers the same way. It was just more just my heart.

If you will, in this connection with the plant and the people i was talking to, i always had music playing right, depeche mode, pick up the receiver i'll make you a believer right. Those kind of songs over and over, i literally, had musical tracks the soundtrack to superman, i'm going to date, myself, audio cassettes, cds that i was burning now. You know iphone and everything else right, but the bottom line is music, creates emotion and i want to be in a strong emotional state. So you know call me, maybe call me by blondie.

You know i could just go for days on this. You with me, like. I made the music and the phone fun dancing, my older brother loved to listen to saturday night fever right and that album by dating myself. I don't think it was the actual album but like that cd would be playing because he wanted to do disco moves while he was on the phone, so we were having fun and like whoever booked the most appointments got to choose the music.

You with me on this, you might also be picking up on my energy right now, because just thinking about this gets me all fired up like i love the phone, the phone is my friend. The phone has made me a fortune. You with me on this by the way: what's your mindset about the phone, how do you feel about the phone? I imagine by the way side note that when i used to pick up the phone right, remember, remember picking up the phone, not not talking about grabbing your iphone out of your back pocket like remember, picking up the phone and like dialing beep beep beep right. I would pick up that phone and i would imagine the second i picked it up 100 bills flying out of it because see the phone gave me everything i wanted.

The phone helped me realize the purchase of my first house at 19. My second one at like 21, like the phone, is my friend you with me so music energy heck. We even had a time for a while that we were playing every one of the first three star wars: videos on vhs, i'm totally dating myself. I'm going to be 50 in like 13 months, so just go with me on this right, but imagine like you're on the phone it's the last hour of the day and i'm competitive and we are dialing and we're smiling and we're having fun we're going through the Game and you know what you pop on a little star - wars, video and all of a sudden, luke skywalker right.

The force like it was fantastic. I could watch episode three. I guess technically it was episode six over and over just that scene with jabba the hutt right like it was fantastic. Now you might say tom, i am so add, i'm having a hard time listening to you right now.

I couldn't imagine if that was playing in the background: 7 500 hours monday through friday, 7 30 to 5 30.. I had to make the environment conducive of sustainable success so whether it was music, a living plant, my goals in front of me, the ability to stand up and back then we didn't have the adjustable desk like we have. Today. I put those like bricks below my desk and put the desk on top of it.

We did whatever it took to make it fun. We actually had for a while surfboard leashes tied from our desk to our leg, because i know you've done this before where you're like you get on the phone you book an appointment, you're like yeah, you do the! I just got an appointment, you round your office. Well, look when you're hot stay on the phone when you're hot stay on the phone, so what i would always do is like attach myself to my desk to make sure that i wasn't doing the. I just got an appointment, dance and running around.

So that was all just number one right. The next one are very easy, but that's a big one set up your environment to make sure that it's fun and you're winning.