Thank you. Sign in. Come in.
Sign in sheet is in the back here. Come in. Don't look.
He said there's only like due date. Like by the end. Like once you see it, do it. Okay. But there's no due date, as long as you finish them by the end of the course.
Yeah, it's not due to them, for some reason. It is for some reason. Yeah, it's not due to them. I think as long as you just give them, I'll be there coming as a great.
I think that's pretty simple. Yeah. There's shortly enough time here. The reading kind of, the questions, I mean the questions are like five, anywhere from three to like five questions for knowledge check.
Pretty easy stuff. No teachers? I'll just give you a call. I got one.
Come on buddy. Alright buddy. Buy it. Doesn't look like a half of it, but I still got it, please. You want your name in the magic box, I would think.
Yeah. I won. You didn't win last time, did you?
Is it Slay, I think? Ah, Jordan. Oh, Jordan? All right, got a couple things we're doing this week, two days, Monday, Wednesday.
We're going to talk about the types of franchises, sole proprietorship, partnership, franchise, LLC, and then our second skill, what was our first skill that we covered already? We covered a skill already, a very vital skill. Hint, Chick-fil-A Hardee's.
Target. Customer service. That's skill one.
Somebody tell me the steps. Angry Jeff Myers comes into your store, wants to talk to you, the owner. How do you handle me? What were the steps?
Kind of an owner. Yes? Acknowledge, say sorry, ask, listen, apologize, again, take action, but give them a pity or call the vet, and then apologize again and then follow up. Good.
And that will save every customer. If you don't follow up, we're at the 50% mark. So I don't care if you use my plan of action or you find a plan of action, but you have to follow a process to handle an angry customer. Otherwise, you're going to get rolled over. There's a lot of people like me out there that will test your ability to handle a customer service issue.
And why do we want to keep customers happy? What can they do if they're not? Complain? What else can they do? Hurt the business.
Huh? Hurt the business. How?
Reviews. Reviews? Yup.
Anything else? You lose their customer lifetime value. That happened with US Air in Charlotte with me.
I was on a flight, it was very turbulent. I asked the waitress, flight attendant for a Pepsi. She looked at me and she said, We only serve Coke.
Oh, I mean, did she think it was her last flight? Was she panicking? I was nervous. So I never flew them again. That cost them a lot of money.
It wasn't the $400 ticket. It's the rest of my life not flying them. Customer lifetime value.
The second skill we're going to cover this week is selling. Sales. Who's in sales?
You're all in sales. What do I mean by that? Every day you're interviewing, you're selling yourself.
You're coming up with excuses, you're selling yourself. You're asking people out on dates, you're selling yourself. Our point of view, political or whatever, you're selling yourself.
We're all in sales. It's the only career that all of you are in at some level. I'm going to put this as the most valuable skill you can have in life other than communication.
But before we get to that, we've got a video or two, and we've got to talk about sole proprietorship, partnership, and franchise. So, I have another video on, by one of my favorite mentors for personal finance, Dave Ramsey. He talks about the characteristics of an entrepreneur. Tell me what you got out of this video, after I unmute it.
So I decided I didn't want just leaders because I was afraid they might end up being managers. And I thought, what I really want is entrepreneurs in my organization. You do want entrepreneurs in your organization, but the entrepreneurs in your organization, how many of us are entrepreneurs? Raise your hand.
I'm not going to call you up here. It's okay. You know, if you're an entrepreneur, I mean, I'm an entrepreneur.
Those of us that are real entrepreneurs, we have like 63 ideas in the morning before sharp. And we're all a little bit ADD, aren't we? Like, squirt. Right?
You know what I'm talking about. We're all a little bit that guy. So you want entrepreneurs on your team, but if you only have entrepreneurs on your team, it's awful. It's like trying to nail jello to a tree.
It's like trying to herd cats. Because it's just chaos everywhere. Because entrepreneurs are weird. I mean, when they work for you, they think they own your company. And they're truth tellers.
The more immature they are emotionally, the more they say things they should not say. They do not have a filter. We were sitting in a meeting the other day. One of my law entrepreneurs, he goes, that idea sucks.
So that's my idea. I have socks older than you. He goes, that doesn't keep the idea from sucking. I mean, he went back for more. These are the guys who will stand up and go, the emperor has no clothes, boy's butt naked.
I mean, well, they'll tell you the truth about stuff. You need entrepreneurs on your team, don't you? Think of a great world-class entrepreneur in your mind and think of one word character qualities about that person. What are one word character qualities that describe a world-class entrepreneur? Raise your hand and I'll call on you.
Yes, sir. Drive. Driven.
Very good. Yes, sir. Intelligent. Sometimes.
Yes, sir. Bold. Yes, yes, ma'am.
Creative. Always. Very good. Yes, ma'am. Brave.
Yes, sir. Fearless. Brave, fearless, bold. Yes.
Wild Card? Maverick. Good. I like it. Good.
Yes, sir. Risk taker, very good. Again, the answers are so predictable and pre-printed in your workbook, you might have even been looking at your workbook to give me the answer, but you got this figured out by now. Driven risk taker, fearless out of the box. Maverick, creative, decisive, competitive.
Is this an entrepreneur who would say yes? You want these people on your team? You do want these people on your team.
You do want these people, but they're very hard to lead. They're very hard to lead. They never, they just need to. They're just crazy. They're wonderful.
And let me just tell you, you've got to have them because they bring all this stuff. They bring the driven. They bring the risk taker.
They bring the maverick. They bring it is what they do. And they'll make a mess from activity. They very seldom make mistakes of inaction. If you are an organization and you have absolutely no entrepreneurs on your team, do you know what you are?
The government. Think DMV. So the dictionary says a leader is a person who rules, guides, or inspires others.
This is the part where you start writing in your workbook if you didn't know. An entrepreneur is a person who assumes risk for a venture. The word entrepreneur comes from the French word entreprende, which is still Billy French.
Literally means what you said, risk taker. Literally what the word means. Now, we are all risk takers.
We should not all be gamblers. If you drove to the organization that you're sitting in today, you took a risk going on the highway with morons driving while they text. Because they can't drive while they text. People putting on makeup and eating and swerving while you come here. You took a risk just driving today.
Would you agree with that? Say yes. But it was a reasonable risk.
We measure the return. versus walking or riding a bike in the rain, the heat, or the cold, compared with dodging a few drivers. It's a good rate of return for the risk I'm taking.
It's not a gamble. It's a reasonable risk. We all are risk takers. Some people act like they never take a risk. Oh, you take a risk all the time.
Just opening a can of food, you take a risk. You just measure the risk versus the alternatives, and it's a reasonable risk. And so what we did was we said we don't want just leaders and we don't want just entrepreneurs. We want to put the two together.
And in Tennessee, what we do if we don't know what to do is we just make up a new word. And so we call it entre leadership, entrepreneurs and leaders mixed together. I want a hybrid of the entrepreneurial spirit and the polish and diplomacy and nobility of a leader.
I want them woven together, and that's who I want on my team. And I've got a bunch of them after 30 years of very intentionally seeking them out and teaching them to be this. And entrepreneur leadership is the purpose or the process of leading to cause a venture to grow or prosper. Anybody get anything out of that? Make sure that sign-in sheet is filled out.
Make sure everybody signs the sign-in sheet. If you don't sign the sign-in sheet, I don't know you were here and you're marked out. I put all the sign-in sheet information in this after every class. So if you don't sign, you weren't here.
If you come in late, it'll be up here. But when you walk in, it'll be on one of the tables. What was his point here?
What was the theme of that video? Entrepreneurs are what? We've talked about that. Risk.
Does anybody risk anything? Made a major risk in their life? What?
Every day we risk our lives. Especially here. This is the worst city on a number of 67 countries, including Southeast Asia, where they drive insane. I'm much more scared of the 440. Something with New York. In Florida and everybody coming here, I don't know what's going on.
I am scared for them. That's a risk. Any other risk that you've taken? Yeah. Yeah.
Why do you say that? I know why, but why do you say that? What is the risk of coming to college today? Debt versus what?
No job. College is not like 1990 whatever when I graduated a while ago. I don't want to give the year.
But when I graduated, it was almost an automatic job because I had a degree. The door was open, but it wasn't open like when my dad got his degree. You got a job immediately. Today, degree plus what gets you a job, Tony? Skill.
You graduate from here and you don't have the skill, good luck. They don't care that you went to NC State or Campbell. There's about ten schools they do. Duke, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, Xavier. The door's open.
Big risk in going to school today. I'm for it. But if I had a kid, I'd really be telling him, hey, you got to get on that skill before we pick a college.
And learn the skill versus your, I got to get a 4.0. So it's mean nothing to them. What else is a risk that you've done? I went to North Korea. That was a risk.
Anybody know anything about North Korea? I risked it. I wanted to go.
I did it. I've done it. What else?
Anybody skydive? Anybody extreme sports? A risk. That's it.
Getting married today is a risk. At a 64% divorce rate, I don't know what it's like to get divorced. We'll lose head. That's another big one I should imagine. You've got to be a risk taker to do this.
And they're crazy people. I know three entrepreneurs close, friends. They are crazy. They've got a lot of energy. They like to talk a lot about it.
They're almost borderline narcissistic. That's okay. They're hard workers.
I would want them working for me versus someone that isn't. Let's go back to that video that we didn't finish, that TED Talk. Because that's important.
She said this course cannot teach you to become an entrepreneur. True or false? True.
What can I teach you? What can I teach you? The skills. Like what? We're starting with them.
Can I teach you organization? No. Can I teach you attitude?
No. Can I teach you ethical behavior? No. Can I teach you work ethic?
No. So it can't be taught. I can only teach you the skills for those that were born entrepreneurs. What I can't teach you is the actual attitude of being one. And the problem is there's too many people that go into it without what I can't teach you.
So I hope you're thinking, remember, there's nothing wrong with working for other people, but you can't become wealthy. And you don't have the freedom that this career does. Now, can you change your attitude at some point? You can, I can't change it for you.
That is something that just clicks. And for some of you it will. And for others, the majority, it won't.
So just keep that in mind. There's really four types of entrepreneurs. Sole proprietor.
I got some videos we'll look at maybe. They're not real exciting. I just want you to know them. What is a sole proprietor?
You. Are there advantages to that? Just you?
Yeah. Like what? You get to keep it all. What's another advantage of a one-person entrepreneur? Soul proprietorship.
You make all the decisions. Complete freedom. You don't have to bounce stuff off your partner.
Complete freedom to do what you want to do, when you want to do. That's good. What's another advantage of a soul proprietor? That the book talks about.
Easy taxes. It's the same as doing your personal taxes. That's it.
It's not like you own a company. Easy taxation, they say. What's a disadvantage, if any? Does anybody in here want to be a sole proprietor? Why?
Well wait, let's wait on disadvantages. So we gotta think about it. One person.
What's a disadvantage? You're responsible for everything. Everything. It's just you. You go on vacation, who's doing the business?
Nobody. What's another disadvantage of just you? There's a big one.
Yeah, you're doing all of them. Just you? Well, yeah, just you.
What's another one? Yeah. Well, we've got to attach something, don't we, to our business called what?
LLC. LLC. Limited Liability Company.
Aluminum, business, small business owners don't have that. They get in big trouble when something happens. We'll talk about that. Another big disadvantage of a one-man shop is what? You have to provide all the funding.
It's part of the cost. It's just you. What's another one? That was good.
Not thinking of the big one, though. You're an accountant. You're everything. You better be proficient. Not at all.
An expert? No, but I am going to venture out to say you better be a sales expert. Otherwise you ain't going to make it. What's the big one though?
It's one person. Long hours working. It's just you?
Yes, you're close. One more disadvantage, I've seen it with a buddy of mine in college. He owned a meat delivery service.
He would buy meat in the morning in Chicago and then do walk-ins and sell it and make a lot of money. He would mark it up like crazy. seafood, chicken, and beef. He would mark it up like 70, 80%. Made a lot of money.
But he was just him. His name was Tom Myers. Not my brother.
No relation. And I drove with him for a day just to check out what things, what was happening. How is he making this type of money? And what I heard was a bunch of talk as he was driving. And I kept saying, what?
He goes, what? So are you talking to me? He goes, oh no, I didn't realize I was talking. He was talking to himself. Why?
Huh? He's going crazy. It was just him all day. Eight hours, nine hours, ten hours out of the day.
Boring! I gotta have some camaraderie during the day. I gotta be able to wake up, know I'm going to, me personally, I gotta be, hey, how was your weekend? With colleagues, that's me though. You're by yourself all day, I've seen it.
People go crazy. No interaction, sitting at home, especially those in-home businesses. Man, you gotta be special. Alright, so we have a couple hands.
Why do you want to, you're nodding, why do you want to be Sophie Pryor? I mean, just to be my own boss. Okay. Did you think about the boredom piece?
No, I mean, I just need music. Really? Okay, whatever works for you. What type of business?
Yeah, you raise your hand. What type? Yeah, you want to be a sole proprietor, right? What type of business? I want to open a coffee shop.
Coffee shop, okay. Well you'll, you'll, okay. You own customers. Yeah, you own customers. You'll do it.
Yeah. Eventually a partner or? We'll see when it grows, okay?
Anybody else? Sole proprietor? Just you? Owning the business?
All right, what about a partnership? Two. What's an example of a partnership? Marriage.
So what are the advantages of a partnership? What's the advantage of two? Huh? Other ideas. Shared ideas.
If Tony and I were going into business, I'm the marketing guy, I would hope he was the accounting guy, because I suck at that. Shared resources, shared knowledge, shared education, shared skills. What's another advantage of a partnership?
Shared money, shared starting costs, right? You don't have to share a good deal. Yeah, right. Hey dude, can I, I've been, we've been doing this a while. I got to take a break.
Watch the place for five days. Shared eyes around the office, shared ethical work ethic. I mean, I got to take a break eventually. Sole proprietorship, I can't.
Partnership, if I trust that, I don't know. I don't know if I can take five, maybe a day. Another advantage of partnership, anything?
Bouncing ideas off of each other. Anybody else? Advantage?
I know this is basic, but we got to think about it. You have skills. Yeah, skills, right. How about disadvantage? Yeah, it's my disagree.
The big one. Well, the big one. What did Tony say? We don't agree. Like in a marriage.
How do we avoid that? How do we ensure that our partner is not going to call? We're always going to disagree, but what do we got to do? Compromise. That's hard to do though.
What else do we got to do? Communicate through what? I got to put a contract together. In a business plan for partnership, number 14 in Business 110 is a contract that says, what do we do when we disagree? If you don't hand that up front, it's going to blow up.
Because we're different. We've got different ideas on ethics, on work ethic. On the way we see things, and I'm telling you what, partnerships blow up a lot faster than sole proprietorships.
If you put it in writing of what the process will be when you and I disagree, it'll work out most, if not all the time. Like my two buddies in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They own a car dealership mechanic company. They disagree all the time.
But what Tom and Randy did is they said, in case of a disagreement, the final decision first time goes to Tom, no matter what. Randy has to accept it. The second time there's a disagreement, Randy gets the final decision.
Tom... You're out of luck and you're okay with that and this happens every month back and forth that was in the contract. Any other disadvantages? You got to split the profits. We did 100 grand this year.
No you did 50. You and me. Anything else? Disadvantage?
Hey what it was in the contract I know that's a risk because if you're not interviewed by me and I'm not interviewed by you and we just jumped into this relationship I might find your unethical standards to be damaging to my career or I might get a little pissed off if you decide in week three you need a week off in the Bahamas We gotta take our time and really get to know each other like a marriage. Anybody in here want a partnership? No, you don't wanna work with one other person?
Watch out for family too. Watch out for families. Small business owning a business with a family member.
I've worked for one of those companies. I still am traumatized. Lasted eight months.
A family-owned business. President, husband, vice president, wife, head of sales, son, daughter was head of customer. It was a drama show.
Still very traumatized. Be careful. Then we have a franchise. We talked a little bit about it.
Like McDonald's. Advantage what? What is a franchise?
You buy a business that has a name. Other than McDonald's, Wendy's, Hardee's, Zaxby's, Burger King, Subway, what's another franchise example? That you know of? Yeah?
What, snack? Wifi maybe? Yeah, golds?
I wonder what the startup calls Ciro. I don't know. What's another example of a franchise? Cinnabon? That's good.
Jiffy Lube? A lot of those oil changes. You can buy one.
There you go. What's another? Any idea of another franchise? We could buy Intel.
They're all over. Iron House subs. Molly May, huh?
Iron House subs. Iron House subs. It goes on and on. What's the advantage of a Fire subs or McDonald's or Wendy's?
What's the advantage? They already have a name for themselves. Name!
You don't have to go there. What does this mean to you? They can represent a lot of things, I think. But the McDonald's arches, what does that mean when you see them? Huh?
Happy meals. Food that you know what it tastes like. Brings me back nostalgia. A lot of McDonald's.
Grimace. Fast food. It's powerful. Would I drive into a McDonald's or a Jeff's Hamburgers? What would draw more people off the highway?
The Golden Arches or Jeff's Hamburger Stand? The Golden Arches. It just attracts customers. You're buying a brand, a trademark, that serves billions.
Not millions, billions now. That's a big advantage of a franchise over a sole proprietorship. What's another advantage of a franchise?
Yeah, they do it. They map it out for you. You just gotta follow the plan.
You gotta go to Hamburger U in Oak Brook, Illinois and get a degree in hamburgerology. I'll show you that. McDonald's Hamburger University. I don't have to create anything. It's there.
And it's not just there. It's been proven successful since, what, 50 years? What's another advantage of a franchise? You have workers.
They're not automatically there. You are now the owner. What do you have to know how to do?
Hire. Interview. Select. Train. Because you went to hamburger U and they showed you what works.
What else? Advantage. Training's already done for you.
What else? Does anybody know a franchise owner of a Chick-fil-A or a McDonald's? Man, they're living large, okay?
And they usually just don't own one. They own 10 or 15 or 20 Chick-fil-A's. It just...
They prove themselves, now they get the next one, now they get the next one, now they get the next one. Money! If you want to be rich, own a McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, whatever. Stay away from Hardee's though. I'm just telling you.
Again, when's the last time you've been to Hardee's? I ate at a cool school. You did?
Hardee's? Raise your hand if you're like Tony and went to Hardee's the last 30 days. About 30. Okay, slowly they'll come up with two out of this class. Again, Chick-fil-A, raise your hand. Just about everybody.
I went by Hardee's. What are the disadvantages then? Huh?
They know what you make. Sure. They know what you make. It's public.
What else is a disadvantage? Startup cost. What did I say McDonald's on Capitol would be?
A million and four. A McDonald's on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, 17 mil. A McDonald's in Times Square, location, location, location.
But look, a million and four. And you can't even get the rest of the loan unless you got, how much did I say? Which today, $400,000 ain't a lot. Startup costs. What's another disadvantage of a franchise?
Yeah, right. I can't just wake up owning a McDonald's and go, how about McPizza today? Can I?
Can I change the burrito? Can I change the restaurant to look Japanese inside the decor because I like it? Or Salzburg? Can I put Salzburg all over the inside of a McDonald's? Probably not.
You're the owner, but are you really the boss? Who's the boss? McDonald's and how do they prove they're the boss well they send in secret shoppers all the time Tony's working at the front desk taking orders I come in hi um can I get a number four how come you didn't say good morning who's your boss How often is your boss in the store? Once every month. Yeah.
Can you let her know that Jeff Myers from Oak Brook stopped by? Yeah. Call us immediately.
I got you. Thank you. Check the line out. It's my pleasure. They check in all the time.
That's scary as an owner. As an entrepreneur. You are at the mercy of their rules and ways they do things, and they spot check all the time at these franchises because your name can hurt other franchise owners with the same company. I think that's a disadvantage. What's another disadvantage?
Royalty fees for the life of the business. So when they sell a Coke to you, how much does McDonald's make on that Coke? They sell it for a buck.
What are they making? 49 cents. What do they have to pay McDonald's corporate?
51 cents on everything. That sucks. Yeah, but I've owned this place for 10 years. It's paid off. The building time...
Your son who's inheriting it, or your daughter, has to pay us the lifetime royalty fees every day. And then I talked about the last disadvantage last week. What was that?
I'm riding the wave of something that happened at another McDonald's. Something negative. It's happened at Subway. It's happened at Wendy's.
It's happened at McDonald's. It's happened at Domino's Pizza. Who in here would want to own a franchise? Me. I'm the only one?
What one? What? Where is it, James? In our hat? Huh?
Oh, really? What's it called? Where is it, James?
Where are they? There's one in the chapel. I'd like to find out who's going to the market. Right. They just got here.
Oh, they did? Like Culver's. Has anybody been to Culver's? Those cheese curds? Damn.
Okay, but I haven't seen any advertising except the billboard on Capitol that's behind a tree. They got a spot check that. I've never seen that billboard until I was stopped at the light. I'm like, culprits.
I bet they're pissed off if they saw where it's located. I've never heard it. Why would you want it on that one? Does it taste good?
Who else would want it on a front? What? I don't know.
Both angles and check the light. Okay, I know why Chick-fil-A, why Bojangles. Yeah? But they don't have the service.
or the efficiency of Chick-fil-A in my opinion. And their sweet tea is just a recipe for diabetes. It is good, but I mean, there's a little bit of tea in all sugars.
Anybody else own a franchise? Just two or three of us? Be the only one I know.
Okay. Then, and you brought it up. I know this is basic, but we have to break it down.
What's an LLC? Limited? Unlimited. Why should you attach that to your partnership, your sole proprietorship, and your franchise?
CYA. Cover your... From what?
And we are a suing society. We like to sue. And let's do an example.
Tony and I own a partnership. Landscape. And Tony gets the job of a huge lawn, so he's on our new tractor-riding lawnmower. And Tony's got his headphones on, listening to music, and little Timmy runs out of the house, chasing the ball, and you mow over Timmy.
What did you do? You weren't paying attention. You killed Timmy. Now, I don't have an LLC attached to our business.
What happens to the business, by the way? Gone. Gone. What happens to my personal beach home, mountain home in Villa in Salzburg?
Gone. Gone. Huh? You're going to keep it in file papers? I heard, but no.
What about my 401k? Oh. Gone. What about my pension?
Gone. Gone. What about my gold and silver collection? Gone.
Thanks, Tony. Mother. Now, what happens if I attach an LLC, which might cost $800 per year?
What happens if I have an LLC and Tony does the same thing? What happens to the business? Gone. What happens to my mountain house? I get to keep it.
What about my 401k? I get to keep it. I'm not as devastated as the first scenario. Does that make sense? Why don't people that own a business have an LLC?
They don't know. It's insurance. We have to have insurance.
But for some reason, it isn't as mandatory as you pay in your taxes. I would think it would have to be mandatory, but there's too many people that don't have it. Either because they're too cheap, or they don't know.
So we'll be talking about that a little bit more as it goes into your business plan. Any questions on those three? Then there's one other entrepreneur that we're not going to get to yet. There's one other category that's a little different. Anybody know?
You can own a sole proprietor partnership franchise. Or a, hmm, kinda, huh? As a corporation. Corporation, company. Which gets really complex.
Double taxes. A lot of rules and regulations with insurance. Okay, we'll get to that later. Best career you can have, even above teaching. Sales.
Why? This is the skill. Why is sales the best career you can have? I was a mechanic and sales was got on my nerves. I hate sales people.
I've been selling since 97. I hate sales people. We're all scared of sales people too. If I went downtown Raleigh to a networking event, and I walked up to you in a suit and tie, and I said, Hi, Jeff Myers, I'm an M.D.
in town. You'd be like, hey, nice to meet you. I'm a lawyer. Hey, nice to meet you.
I own a bunch of Chick-fil-A's. Oh, nice to meet you. But if I walked up and I said, Hi, Jeff Myers, I'm a sales rep for New York Life Insurance.
What would you do? Oh, hi, how are you? Yeah, you back away.
You pull back. When I say sales, what's the first word that comes to your mind? It's never positive. I'm a sales guy.
What's the first thing that comes to mind? Commission. Just out to make money. Who cares what they're selling?
What else? Slimy, I've heard. Liar. Sell and run. BS.
We've all been burned. I get it. Has anybody been burned by sales rep? By buying something? Anybody been burned?
Everybody is. That's incredible. Then why not? Why would you not want to be a sales rep?
Let's go back to why. Why? Same thing as an entrepreneur, freedom.
Bad sales people have very skinny kids. Why else would you want to be a sales rep or in sales? Help people.
Why else would you want to be in sales? Stability. It's the number one job that's on Indeed.com.
If you can sell, you can get a job tomorrow. If you get laid off at another place or you quit, it's high demand. You always have a job that you can make six figures, no problem, if you understand how to sell. There's no other career like that.
First year you can make six figures. You can't do that in any other career. You've got to have the right sales process and the right trainer, though.
Great career. Incredible. But there's a lot of reasons why not.
Like what? Why would you not want to do this? And what happens if you can't sell? No money. Commission based, mostly.
No money. What's another one? Yeah, it's that ego will be in an eye. I'm in sales and watching this.
Get a lot of rejection. A lot of no's. I get it. What else?
Not in sales. Hard work. I say yes and no.
If you know how to sell, I'm telling you what, they don't work as hard as the people at Chick-fil-A. Sitting in an office making phones. calls or driving your car in an air-conditioned office. You see these people chick-fil-a outside taking orders. And I'm making a lot more in sales than they ever will.
So yeah, it's hard work to learn a process and deal with the rejections and let off your ego. But once you do, it's smooth sailing. And you get what you want most of the time. That's a good feeling.
Any other reason why you would not want to do it? Is there a risk? Yeah, risk, I guess. For that. Reputation, because, like, if you're not, then...
Reputation of... What you're selling? Like just reputation of yourself.
Because if you-Yeah, if you're bad? Yeah. If she calls you from ABC company, don't, no, it's a scam. All she hears about is your permission, she didn't hear about it. Yeah, we'll start to catch up, okay?
The qualities of a great salesperson are easy. One, great communicator. Two, great work ethic. Three, tough skin. Who cares about rejection?
Back when I was at Illinois State, I had two roommates. A Jeff and a Jim. Two Jeffs and a Jim. You heard this, right? And the two Jeffs, including me, were on the couch every Friday and Saturday watching Doogie Howser and whatever show was on back then.
Doogie Howser and Matt Locke were big back then. And Jim was always out on a date. Every night except one. Six out of seven nights.
He was out with a different girl. And finally Jeff and myself got tired of looking at each other. And we said, what is he doing to get a girl like this every time? To get these dates?
Because we're stuck on the couch together watching these TV shows. So we sat him down and we confronted him. And Jeff, my friend Jeff, he asked him, what are you telling them? He goes, what are you telling them?
You're telling them you've got millions of dollars, you're driving a Ferrari. I'm like, what are you telling them? He goes, I just asked.
He goes, what do you mean you just asked? He just says, I just asked girls on campus for the classroom, do you want to go out Friday night? Most of them say no. But eventually, down the road, someone goes, yeah.
I said, you just asked? He says, I asked everyone. He wasn't afraid of rejection. We weren't.
He didn't even hear no's. You want to go out? No. You want to go out? No.
You want to go out? No. You want to go out? No. You want to go out?
No. You want to go out? No. You want to go out?
Why not? I don't have anything to do. We didn't understand it because he wasn't as good looking as us. But we were afraid and not tough skinned. He didn't care about rejection.
It's a numbers game. Boy, did he have a good time in college. If I only knew what I know now and go back in time. I mean, you may have put a post-it note on someone's chair and waited for the phone call. But I didn't want to hear no.
He got more no's than me times a million. He didn't care. He had a lot of fun. What else? Got to be patient.
Got to be a listener. Blah, blah, blah. How do you get confidence? You fail.
You wait. You got to have patience. You got to get beat up.
And you learn and eventually get confidence and then you're unstoppable. Too many people are afraid to take the first step though. And they never get there.
One or two more traits. See if your attitudes, everything. Yes.
What else? You got to know something. What?
Product knowledge is good. Do you have to know everything? No, because it gives me a chance to say, I don't know, but let me.
Call you tomorrow and tell you. I want to get back in front of them. But yeah, you got to be product knowledge on what you're selling. What else?
You got to be adaptable. What else? Yeah, that was part of it. Communication expert.
You got to know a sales process that is taught. This is the only career I know where people say, go out and sell. Do they do that with accountants? No. Do they do that with lawyers?
No. Do they do that with airline pilots? No.
And by the way, you can make a lot more money than an airline pilot if you're good at sales, but you have to be trained. Trained on what? What do you think you have to be trained on in sales? How to get their attention.
Good. What else? Good.
What else? What's the hardest thing in sales to do? Closing a deal.
That's the second hardest. What's the hardest? Handling. Starts with an O.
Handling objections. If you can't handle the objection, you're done. What's an objection? It's a stall.
What's an objection? It's a put-off. Give me an example of an objection. Huh?
Yeah, no time. I don't got money. We already got, we're already happy.
We don't take people who walk in. No soliciting. Everybody gives you objections. If you don't know how to handle them, you're going to quit that day.
Because it's hard to look dumb. It's hard to lose the people who give you an objection and you don't know what to say. So how do we handle that?
That's what I'm going to show you. This is my alarm. I was trained in 97 at New Orleans for a company that is now Verizon called MCI Direct.
They taught me the gears of sales, which has helped me make a lot of money in sales. Without that, I would have never made it, and this is basic. Agree, confirm, answer, close.
Anybody ever heard of it? Agree, confirm, answer, close. I walk into your establishment selling whatever auto parts for your new store right got a suit and tie on or sport look good right got my own briefcase or I got my brochure and immediately you tell me I'm busy what do you say what do you say if I said I'm busy to you You walked in, I own the car parts store. I know you're a rep, I'm busy.
Yeah, sure, next year at 3 o'clock. I'll shabby you around. Pardon me?
Shabby you around and talk to you. I'm calling the police, get out. I don't have two minutes, man, I'm sorry.
That's what happens. What else? What would you say? Hey, you can try to become a customer right now. Oh, you're going to do strategic sales?
Stealth sales? Stealth? That gets to a whole new level.
Okay? What are you going to say until I'm busy? It's hard if you don't have a process. This is one of maybe 60 that I've seen.
This is the only one I use. First thing I say is, I know Mondays are busy for everybody and I do this. What am I doing?
I'm agreeing. What happens when a salesperson agrees? The customer's like, who's this salesperson agreeing? Usually it's, no, no, no, no, this will take two minutes. No, I know Mondays are busy, sir.
And I do this too, because what usually happens is people nod. They say yes, because I'm agreeing. I'm shocking them by agreeing.
Then I confirm. So you're saying that Mondays are your busiest, sir? Yeah, and you're already not informing.
I agree, and then I confirm. And then I answer the best way I've been trained. You know, small businesses like yours have said, you'd rather have someone like me walk in and call you on the phone to analyze a bill, and that's why we walk in, sir. Yeah, guess what?
They're always quiet going, they're agreeing, yeah, that sounds good. And then what do I do? I close.
So all I need to just check, save you maybe a thousand a year is a phone bill. I'll stand over here in the corner, let you do what you're doing, and I'll show you the savings. If it's not enough, I'll move down the road.
Give me a phone bill. Can I get a phone bill? Thank you.
What did I add on that? Silence. And silence is the only pressure anybody needs in sales today.
Once you say and ask, shut up. Why does shutting up make so much sense in sales? Why does shutting up in silence help you make the sale?
Anybody? Yes, thank you. It's uncomfortable. Does anybody ride the elevator with a stranger? What do we usually do?
Not look at them. Silence is deadly. Has anybody been out on a date and it got quiet, silent? That ain't fun.
So putting the customer in that position and shutting up, what's one way they get out of it? What's the way they get out of that being uncomfortable? Yeah. Or they say, okay, here's the bill. They like me already because I agreed, I confirmed, I had a great answer.
I'm just asking them for a bill to show them $1,000 savings. It's magic! Does it work for everybody? No!
Does it work for enough to make a ton of money? Yes! We don't have money, sir! Oh, we have no money!
No, I understand money is tight. Just so I understand you correctly, you'd like to save a thousand, but you think it costs money. Yeah.
Well, let me tell you right now, in two minutes, if you stand over there and give me a bill, I will be able to show you a thousand. If I can't, I'll move down the road. Give me a bill.
It's uncomfortable, isn't it? And I mean, we're in a role play here. We're not in the real world. Silence makes you a lot of money.
Another magical part. We'll go back to this on Wednesday. B2B reps walk in businesses in Morrisville and Cary. Cary Parkway.
Lester Boulevard. I walk into a big building, suitcase, suit. Who do I usually run into? Reception. Yeah.
And what is she or he trained to say? They're not in. Yeah. We don't have time.
I'm sorry, who are you? They're not interested in what you've got, I'm sorry. Is it because they hate me or what's the real reason that they would just say that? They're told not to.
They're told not to. By who? The manager. The boss.
The boss has said, Tony, while you're sitting out front, if anybody walks in, I'm not interested. Okay, we're busy. Don't let them walk past here like you did last week.
That Jeff Myers guy walked right into my office. Stop. And don't call me and say he's here.
Can you talk to them? I don't want to talk to them. So here's what 99.9% of sales people do. What's your name? Here are the receptions.
Hi, how are you? I'm Jeff Myers, I'm with NCI Direct. I was wondering who I can talk to that handles the phone service around here.
What did she really hear me say? Anybody? What did she really hear me?
I want to get an appointment. I don't want to work all day walking in and getting people not giving me information, so I got to know how to do this. What did you really hear me say?
Here's what you're doing. Hi, how are you? I'm Jeff Myers, a sales rep. You're probably new and don't have any perceptions. Can I talk to somebody important? Because it ain't you.
Go to the dentist, the doctor, the vision eye care. Sit in the lobby, watch the sales rep walk in. Can I get a card?
They give a card, they take a card, and they leave. Next day I call, are you going to give me whoever makes the decision? No. So we've got to change it up. Here's what I was trained to do.
Hi, how are you? I'm Jeff Myers with MCI Drive. Nice to meet you. You're not?
You gotta be the main decision maker for him. No? Who would that be?
The guy back there. Oh, okay. What's his name? I don't know. Okay.
How long have you worked here? Like, a couple of months. Okay.
Can I at least leave a card that you can get on his desk and let him know I walked in and I asked you on the phone? We have some incredible deals on our service rates and I just need to sit down with him and have fun. I'll call, what's the time I call back?
Probably after lunch. After lunch, okay. And your name was? Marley. Marley.
I thought you were on the place. Take care. How do you feel versus the first time?
Good. Because I what? Paid a compliment. They said... Compliment the receptionist and you'll probably get the deal.
Now, a couple of us back then in the late 90s took it the wrong way. Walked in and... Nope.
Nope. Wondering why the compliments weren't working. It is about her job, not the color dress she's wearing or the lipstick or the perfume.
How did we test this? Easy. I took three sales reps in the morning, and we did it the first way.
We left the car and took the car. And then we did three customers the second way. And then we went back in the afternoon and said this.
We came in early this morning and took a car. I know you're not interested. We ran, we have an appointment at 4 o'clock today. Can I get our business card back please?
Or it's ripped up in the trash. I lost it. I have no idea where it is. Of course she ripped it up when we left.
The second way, paying the compliment, I gave at the bottom. It's on his desk. Or here, at the church. Every time. So instead of one appointment for 50 walk-ins, it was more like 8 to 11 on that same day.
We found out that the owner sometimes sat at the front desk. We also found out that the owner told Tony, Hey, if someone walks in selling something to save us money, deal with them. Make the decision. That's why we hired you. He becomes the decision maker.
If I say, holy cow, you're probably the owner. I've never seen anybody so organized. That is incredible.
The way you handled that call, when I wasn't listening, but man, you're good. Are you in sales? Were you in sales before? Or something that's a compliment, he's going to listen to me about my product.
If you're not trained on a sales process, good luck. Happened to my brother. Financial sales with Edward something, I forgot the name of the company.
Edward Jones Financial. They just said, here's your territory, go out and make sales. He wasn't trained.
I was trained. He will never go into sales. He was beat up. He couldn't handle objections.
Yeah, it was tough the first couple weeks. I got numb to it. And you can sell not just for business, but personal stuff too.
Got to know a sales process. Any questions, comments? Since you are our receptionist, did you pick last time?
Our third magic box winner is... Why is this one wet? Just kidding.
Can you read this? Soyer key? What is this?
Did you win last time? Yeah. Two in the box. My God.
We'll see you Wednesday.