From Broke to Breaking Sales Records

Summary

Podcast Summary: Andy Elliott's Elite Mindset Motivation and Sales Training
Episode: From Broke to Breaking Sales Records
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Host: Andy Elliott

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Introduction: Overcoming Adversity and Unlocking Potential

In the compelling episode titled "From Broke to Breaking Sales Records," Andy Elliott, CEO of The Elliott Group, delves deep into the transformative journey of Cory Baker, a standout sales professional who revolutionized his career through unwavering determination and elite training. Joined by his top coach, Ian Macklin, and sales expert Sean Smirnoff, Andy shares invaluable insights into the mindset and strategies that turn setbacks into spectacular successes.

Cory Baker’s Struggle: From Financial Hardship to Sales Entry

Cory Baker's story is a testament to resilience. Beginning his automotive sales career in August 2022, Cory faced significant challenges:

• Lack of Guidance and Negative Environment:
  "There was really no true guidance. Everybody around me was kind of like they were telling me how much of a moron I was for joining the car industry." [01:32]

• Financial Crisis:
  Within two months, Cory's financial situation deteriorated sharply. By October, his paycheck had dwindled to $200, leading to severe personal and familial stress:

  "We had creditors trying to sue us. Credit score, down the tank, repost. Our gas got cut off." [02:37]

• Support System:
  Despite the hardships, Cory found unwavering support from his wife and a few believers:

  "My wife really believed in me. Nobody else really did." [02:45]

The Turning Point: Embracing Andy Elliott’s Training

Cory’s life took a pivotal turn when he discovered Andy Elliott’s $299 car sales course. Faced with no other options, he made a bold decision:

• Sacrifices Made:
  "I called the wife and said, we need to sell our TVs." [03:16]

• Immediate Results:
  After enrolling, Cory’s dedication paid off swiftly. Within the first month, he earned $8,800, which stabilized his financial situation:

  "In that first month, I made $8,800, and it pretty much got me back on my feet." [03:16]

• Growing Success:
  Cory’s belief in Andy Elliott fueled his continuous improvement, leading to substantial monthly earnings and numerous sales achievements:

  "This whole entire podcast today is about what's possible." [00:23]

Implementing Elite Strategies: Work Ethic and Consistency

Cory’s strategy centered around relentless work ethic and consistent use of social media to generate leads:

• Extreme Work Hours:
  "I woke up at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning. I would drive an hour to work. I would study until about 7:30, then work all day until 7-8 o'clock." [05:03]

• Massive Cold Calling:
  "I would make about 250 phone calls a day. That came out to about 6,000 calls a month." [24:31]

• Social Media Mastery:
  Utilizing Facebook, Cory posted extensive content to engage and attract customers:

  "I sold over 100 cars a month on Facebook, 100 cars a month on Marketplace, Craigslist. I didn't post to me because I couldn't really afford it, but that's 200 pieces of content per month." [24:23]

Breaking Records: Achieving Unprecedented Sales

Cory’s relentless approach led to extraordinary achievements:

• Setting New Benchmarks:
  "In my third month there, I sold 55 cars. The all-time record at that dealership was 43 cars. It had been the record for 25 years." [07:09]

• Scaling Success:
  Cory and Ian partnered with local dealerships, demonstrating their methods could exponentially increase sales:

  "We sold 26 cars on a Saturday for a small dealership that previously never sold more than 60 cars a month." [18:22]

The Power of Mindset and Accountability

Central to Cory’s success was adopting an elite mindset and maintaining high accountability:

• Customer-Centric Approach:
  "The moment you care more about the customer than yourself, that's when you'll start doing it 100%." [11:27]

• Accountability Systems:
  Implementing strict self-imposed consequences for missed targets kept Cory motivated:

  "If I didn’t hit that, I get a punishment mark. If I did accomplish all, only successful people." [25:51]

Community and Collaboration: Building a Supportive Network

Cory and Ian emphasized the importance of surrounding oneself with supportive, like-minded individuals:

• Collaborative Success:
  "You guys are actually really good people, too. You guys are pushing each other, motivating each other, working together." [10:04]

• Creating Raving Fans:
  Their approach not only boosted sales but also built a strong, loyal community:

  "You guys have created raving fans that are out there because you’re really good people and you’re doing the right things." [10:04]

Key Takeaways: Lessons for Aspiring Sales Professionals

1. Embrace Adversity:
   "Adversity is a terrible thing to let go to waste." [28:51]

2. Consistency is Crucial:
   Persistent effort and regular engagement, especially on platforms like Facebook, are vital for sustained success.

3. Customer Over Self:
   Prioritizing customer needs fosters trust and drives referrals.

4. Accountability Fuels Growth:
   High levels of personal accountability lead to exceptional performance and results.

5. Support Networks Matter:
   Building and nurturing a supportive community enhances motivation and success.

Closing Inspiration: Betting on Yourself

Andy Elliott wraps up the episode by emphasizing the importance of self-belief:

• Self-Belief:
  "When your back’s against the wall, when you bet against yourself, you always win." [32:57]

• Continuous Improvement:
  Success is an ongoing journey that requires dedication, learning, and adapting.

• Encouragement to Listeners:
  Andy urges listeners to take action and transform their lives through the strategies discussed.

  "Draw a line in the sand today. Make a decision. Go all in." [35:30]

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Elliott on Belief:
  "I believe in people, which is why we've blown up like crazy." [00:23]

• Cory Baker on Transformation:
  "Once I really believed in Andy Elliott, he changed my life in that moment because I believed it." [03:15]

• Sean Smirnoff on Community:
  "You guys have inspired your community like no other. It's like you guys got a hundred salespeople out there fighting for you because they believe in you." [10:04]

• Ian Macklin on Accountability:
  "You're getting a taste of success, so you're not gonna get comfortable. You're not gonna go backwards." [32:55]

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Final Thoughts:

"From Broke to Breaking Sales Records" is more than just a success story; it's a blueprint for anyone looking to overcome challenges and excel in sales. Andy Elliott, alongside Cory Baker, Ian Macklin, and Sean Smirnoff, illustrates that with the right mindset, work ethic, and support system, extraordinary achievements are within reach. This episode serves as an inspiring guide, encouraging listeners to invest in themselves, stay consistent, and prioritize their customers to achieve unparalleled success.

Transcript

[A]

Hey guys, what's going on? Andy Elliot. Guys, today's podcast is going to be life changing. By the way, if you're out there right now and I'm going to tell you this, I say this all the time and you're maybe going through something. You know, I wear a hat and I was telling them, I was like, I'm going to give these guys this hat. It's called the Comeback Kid.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And it's like I believe in people, which is why we've blown up like crazy. Because I believe in people and I believe that when somebody decides to make a change, everything can change. And this whole entire podcast today is about what's possible. Now I've got this stud right here, his Name's Baker. Okay, Mr. Baker over here literally sold his TV. Okay. And you can go into the story, but to buy a $299 course that I had for car sales. And by the way, he wasn't in car sales, he got into car sales. He. And number one, he broke the company record. He did some crazy stuff. He makes a lot of money. He did what no one believed was ever possible, including people that were professionals in the field and they've got a really cool story together. And you know, I'm here with one of my top coaches, Ian Macklin, part of the Elliott Army. He's one of my right hand guys that's with me everywhere I go. Started the company with us. Today's about them telling their story. And I want to start with you because then it goes from you to him and love you, bro. Proud of you, proud of you. We're going to change a lot of people's lives right now. And I'm telling you, your story deserves to be told. It's amazing. I'm going to let you let it rip.

[C]

Alright? Thank you. So pretty much my name is Cory Baker and I got into the business around August of 2022 and I got in because I kind of failed out of insurance and just had a lot of personal things going on. Well, I come into the car industry because I had a friend that actually was in the car industry and he was like, you're the hardest working guy I've ever met. I just think you'll do well. I come in the dealership I did start with, there was really no true guidance. I had a couple of managers that really cared, but I didn't really have any guidance. And everybody around me was kind of like they were telling me how much of a moron I was for joining the car industry. Just because the bad reputations and the not making money part. So pretty much about two months in, I'm going broke. In October, my paycheck was $200. My wife literally calls me and goes, is that our paycheck? And so it got hysterically bad. We had a credit card company suing us for $40,000. It's embarrassing to say that, but.

[A]

No, no, it's not embarrassing. This is real life. I want you to lay it all out there. How much was it? I want people to know what's going on.

[B]

And you got four kids. So that.

[C]

I mean, four kids, a wife. She really believed in me. Nobody else really did. And so we had creditors trying to sue us. Credit score, down the tank, repost. As for the vehicles, literally once we got that paycheck, our gas got cut off, and I would come home from work not selling cars, making over 200 phone calls a day, doing all I actually could do to sell a car, but just no real guidance. I come home and she's boiling water so our kids could have a warm bath. She was a true trooper through all this.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Well, then one day I come across Andy. Somebody referred me to him. And so I called the wife and said, we need to sell our TVs. She's like, for what? And pretty much that money was to be able to buy the 0-100k course. Taking that course with the two and a half months of extreme work ethic I put into trying to sell a car, it funneled me into exactly what I needed to do. And that first month, I made $8,800, and it pretty much got me back on my feet. It didn't, you know, solve all my problems. It just got me back on my feet. And then for some reason, I really just believed in Andy Elliott. I just, like, once that happened especially, I was like, this is a guy. I don't care what people say about him, anything. He changed my life in that moment because I believed it. Google said, you made $50,000 a year if you're good at selling cars. You had friends and family. Just did not believe in me at all. If I sound like I'm getting a little emotional because it was. It's hard a time in my life where you just didn't know. And so I followed that path the next month, 10k, and I never looked back. 20, 23 hits. I win salesperson month, seven months in a row. And then I pretty much get to the point where I'm getting extremely sick, come back, and in a week and A half. I outsell the whole dealership and win salesperson once again. I end up winning salesperson a year. My first full year is 2023. Once I won salesperson a year, I look at all the numbers. I sold over 100 cars more than a second place person and I'll be honest, I made over $150,000 and second place person made less than 50. That's what I knew. It's not the car business, it's the person in the car business.

[D]

Tell them about what you're saying, like.

[C]

Driving back and forth to work and stuff.

[D]

How much studying you did when you got there.

[C]

The dealership I was working at at the time was an hour away. I Woke up at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning. I would drive an hour to work. I would study on the way, listen to his podcast. I would get there at 5 o'clock in the morning. I would study until about 7:30, then do my lot, walk, write down my inventory, everything. Boom. Work all day till 78 o'clock. If I didn't have a customer, I was cold calling until they kicked me out. Once that ended, I'd come back, study. On the way back home, I would crawl into bed, my wife would literally bring me food and I would study NDL until I fell asleep. There were mornings where I was going to work and puking. I would have to pull over on the side of the road, puke. I was so exhausted. But I had to make this work. Seven straight months. I didn't take a lunch break, I didn't take an off day, nothing. I didn't go home early, I didn't get in late. There's just no excuse. There was no I had to make it happen. When all that happened, when I won salesperson a year, Ian Macklin, he found my content on Facebook, reached out to me. I got a video from Andy Elliott. I was like a kid in a candy store. That was probably first day in the car business where I could not work. I was just so pumped up. Cause the guy like people talk about how they look up to people and they change their lives. When you are in that hole and you're like there's no way. And everybody else around you is telling you there's no way. And then Google's telling you there's no way. Then the people you work with are telling you there's no way. And then this guy saying crazy things, right? But those crazy things were real. And so, you know, he sent me that video. I posted on Facebook and Facebook's just been insane. It popped off. It did amazing. And then me and Ian started studying together. He started pointing me in the right direction on bigger and better things, on how to get even more better. I'm a sponge. I'm never trying to think I'm too good. I'm always trying to get better. Then my dealership, where I'm from, which is in Prattville, Alabama, Lone Lewis, they recruit me, essentially. And I come over to Lone Lewis in 2024, and what happens is my first month, not really plugged into the systems. No leads, no nothing. Just from Facebook, I sell 25 cars.

[B]

Come on, let's go, baby. Hey. I thought you were a little crazy at that point in time, too, because I just watched my boy win salesperson of the year. And a lot of people, what they do is they jump ship or they go different places in the car business, and they start. And I'm like, telling you, I'm like, dude, you got to make sure you're focused on what you're. You're like, I got it. I'm selling 50. I know what I'm doing. I'm like, all right, dude, this guy's crazy enough he's going to go do it. But I love that. Keep going.

[A]

Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt the podcast as you're watching this, man. Pretty cool story, right? By the way, this is your story. You're next. I change their life. I will change yours. You see the number below? Shoot me a text message. Just say, hey, Andy, I saw the podcast. I'm ready to go to the next level. I'll reach out to you in the next 24 hours. I love you guys. Text the number. Let's get back to the video.

[C]

Yeah. So in my first month, I did that, and it was just from Facebook, and it wasn't even Facebook Marketplace. It was just the people who followed my content. And so once I sell 25, of course, this guy right here has been the top guy there for years. He's been there for five years. And we don't really talk that first month kind of filling each other out. He comes up to me the second month, what are you doing? And so I was like, I respect everything long Lewis has, and it's awesome, and they're not wrong for anything they're doing. But this is the guy I follow. This is what he teaches. And he was like, well, I kind of heard about him here and there. So we kind of put our heads together and, like, I'm going to sell 50 cars. Third month there, I sell 55 cars. The all time record at that dealership was 43 cars. It'd been the record for 25 years. 25 years. So I broke it my third month there. And he sells like 40 something, which is insane record, but I just happen to sell. Yeah, exactly. 25 plus year record.

[A]

That's awesome.

[C]

And that following month, we have five dealerships in our auto group. The 109 year record was 63. And that was done during COVID And I sold 65. He sold 60.

[B]

Come on, boys. Come on, boys. Come on, boys.

[D]

It was so different because when we. When he broke the record, when we broke the record, and so beautiful. And they came down, you know, the big dogs came down. Hey, we're gonna.

[C]

We're gonna go.

[B]

Didn't they send y'all the jet down?

[C]

Yeah, the owner of the company, they.

[B]

Sent y'all the jet. Yeah, you got to send somebody the jet down when they both breaking those records. And, you know, we just want kicking the masses, you know.

[D]

But I was like, you know, this is way different than what the last guy did, because, you know, we were retail ordering a lot of cars. So this dude already had 30 deals lined up to go. All he had to do was sell another 30 cars. So that's how he realistically sold 62 vehicles was like, you know, compared to.

[A]

What they were ordered. Yeah, it was set up. It was. Everything was right during that guy to break that record at Covid, but you guys did it by the plan.

[C]

I never worked in Covid, so, like, the thing, from what I heard, is that he showed up on Monday. There were 20 mavericks there. Boom, boom, boom, boom. That's the way it works. And so no knock on him, but that's just, you know, part of the game. And so from us, like, out of my 65 cars, 59 were from Facebook.

[B]

Yep. You know what I like about you guys? You guys are actually really good people, too. Like, there's. There's top performers that aren't good people, or they just only want to win by themselves. When I saw you guys pushing each other, I didn't understand the dynamic on Facebook because I follow you guys. So I'm like, well, I know you, but I don't know him. And then I keep seeing you post congratulations to him. I keep seeing you build him up. And then I started understanding that, like, you guys are motivating each other, pushing each other, working together. I love that because, like, any place that I've ever been as a top performer, I've always wanted other people to win. And it pisses me off more than anything when other people don't want to win, because then I'm like, come on, man. I swear, you can do it. So to see you guys, like, pushing each other is really great. The next thing I think I like about you guys the most is you guys have inspired your community like no other. Like, something I've never seen. And I worked really hard. A part of my Facebook strategy was, you know, charities, local businesses, like, all the things that you guys have heard me talk about. I watched what you guys did, and you guys were doing all of that, but at an even higher level. Like, y'all have an engagement on your Facebook that is truly incredible. And you guys have created raving fans that are out there. Like, it's like you guys got a hundred salespeople out there that are just fighting for you guys because they believe in you guys, because you guys are really good people, and you're doing the right things. You're not selling with, you know, bad integrity or anything like that. You guys are really doing it the right way.

[C]

And that's the core of all of this. It's like, you have to have the work ethic, dedication. You have to have that, you know, unwavering belief, you know, that, you know, just kind of, you know, that crazy mindset of I will not be stopped. But one thing Andy did say when, like, back when I first started that really clicked with me was the moment you care more about the customer than yourself, that's when you'll start doing it 100%. And so it went from a selfish, selfish me, me, me, me. How do I fix this? To, well, how many people can I help out and how can I best help them? And the reason why that works in so many different ways is because, one, it pulls the stress off of yourself. Two, you study ways to help the customer, their experience, and what's best for them. A good salesperson isn't a force you into something horrible. A good salesperson is you are educating the customer on where to go and what they need to do and what's best for them. You're selling a need. Now, everybody can come by what they want.

[D]

And that's. So that's what helped me. That's what really helped me. Take me to a new level, was like, okay, I'm the doctor, so let me. Let me take control.

[B]

Yep.

[D]

And when people. When we say take control, it's not.

[C]

It's a situation.

[D]

Throw you around. Hey, let me really listen. Stop worrying about selling a car and then just Say, okay, this is what you need versus what you may want.

[C]

And learning those things, that's what really.

[D]

Helped me big time.

[C]

And we put our heads together. And the funny part is we live in society. And I believe ever since I've been in the car business, where people are very jealous of success. And even when you're trying to help each other out, it's like they have something bad to say behind your back. The funny thing is, when I started sharing his content, boosting him up, people are like, that's your competition. What are you doing? You know, your people on your Facebook's gonna go buy from him. It's like, you just can't have that mindset.

[A]

Less scarcity.

[B]

You gotta have that abundant thinking.

[D]

We're still winning.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

[A]

That's why you guys are winning, though, because again, like, Ian's talking about the abundance mindset totally doesn't think that way. Like, that's a limited mindset. And, dude, that's the trash can mindset. And an alpha producer, a good leader, let's say, in a leader, right, Always crushes the bar and builds his team up, why they're doing it.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

You don't see that anymore. And you guys are a really good example. Like, everybody, there'd be thousands of people that are going to do life differently today because of you guys. And I, you know, again, I've been telling them and I, we hear stories like y'alls all the time. I mean, thousands of them. And honestly, we don't do a good enough job displaying all of them because we're just so busy. There's so much going on. And, you know, with you guys being here in this event this weekend, we're sitting here talking to you guys. Number one, like, you know, top guy, going higher. Number two, you know, you being in the worst position of your life. No one believing in you. People saying, hey, why are you in that industry? You know, everybody's second guessing you. You know, you maybe even be doubting yourself. And all of a sudden, dude, you start plugging into some new information, you know, a new way of thinking, a new belief, a new identity. Really, truly, you have a new identity. Like, you believe you're a different person. And what happened? You freaking are crushing it totally. Human beings are resilient.

[B]

I love that dude. And he, you know, I think a lot of times in sales training, we're talking a lot about, like, how to sell more. But really, like Andy, if you actually study his content, he's talking about taking the pressure out of the deal, right? And when you do that and you treat customers so well, like I'm talking about, beyond what they've ever seen, beyond their expectation. When they leave that place, they want to tell everybody about you. They want to fight your battles on Facebook. They want to show up for you. They want to love you. They never want to forget you. That's what building a brand is. Building a brand is building a reputation in the marketplace. And you guys have done a good job. And a lot of the times, you know, since we're really intense, guys are like, that can't work with customers. I'm like, dude, listen, if you watch me and Andy with a customer, that's how we sell. Remember when we were down selling at Xander store in Cactus auto, and he sold two cars in the first hour? Pissed me off, kind of like you guys. I'm like, I'm going. Because we actually never done this. We went down to a dealer, sold next to each other. We just did it for fun, right? But you saw how he was just like, they had all these questions, right? And normal salespeople would bark at him and tell them what to do and all this stuff. And we're, like, walking him through it, coaching them, helping them, showing love, you know? And then Andy gets a referral later that day from that same customer in the same day, right? And so I'm looking around, I'm like, dude, I got to get my A game going. I got to get my customer service going. I got to get my love going for these customers. Because if you do that, like, a lot of these salespeople are out here just doing it totally wrong. They're out here thinking, like, just the word tracks are going to solve something, right? It's who you become. You became a different person, which helped him become a different person, which then helped the way that customers viewed you become a different person, which then the market failed. Facebook, all of this stuff interpreted you as a different person. And then they saw that you were just like them. Like, you guys are really good at also not just putting all your wins out on Facebook, but you put your struggles. People are able to relate with you guys. Like, you're not just branding saying, I'm a car Salesman. I'm selling 65 cars. You're like, hey, I'm part of the community. Here's how I'm doing it. I'm doing it different than ever. And I really feel like, you know, you said this the other day. You said, instead of training it, you got to live it. And what we Live it is like, if you come into our facility here at the Lions Den, how did you feel when you walked in? Right. Everybody's hugging you, loving you. They all know your name, and that's how we treat people.

[A]

Right.

[B]

When you came into a car dealership, when I'm telling sales people, I'm yelling over zoom, and I'm like, you could do this. I swear to God. And he's like, I swear he did it. And it almost feels like we're selling them because we want to sell them on. Like, bro, it's not just the word track. It's how you believe in the words that you say, like Andy says every day. But some of you even watching this podcast, you don't. You're not living it, man. You got to live it. You can't just train it. You got to train it, and then you got to live it. You got to become it, and then the customers will love you, and you'll see it, and you'll build a life.

[A]

It's cool to prove or it's cool to become living proof. You guys are living proof.

[B]

Yeah, it's cool.

[A]

And you're going to continue to do it, but it's cool to become living proof that you can come back from anything, and it's cool to be living proof that you can do something that everyone said wasn't possible. Ian's talking about. Was talking about me and him went into a dealership.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Two years ago.

[B]

We should do that again, dude.

[A]

I know. We should listen, because we didn't even.

[B]

Really have a media team at the time. And so, like, we. We tried to have a guy record it for us, and so we got these, like, clips.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I wanted them to see, like, Andy's weird tracks because people like, you guys can't sell cars.

[A]

I'm like, that would never.

[B]

Come on, bro.

[A]

Well, they say, like, it would never work. So we have. We have a buddy of ours. He owns a. He owns a car dealership. Smaller car dealership.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And, you know, so we have. We have all these stores, right? Big ones, small ones, independents, franchises.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We have a buddy that has a little store.

[B]

Little.

[A]

They've never sold more than about 60 cars in a month.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it's a very small store. There's little stores.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

This is crazy. What do we sell? 26.

[B]

26 cars. 26 cars on it. 26 cars on a Saturday. And, I mean, we didn't even have the infrastructure. We had deals piled out the door.

[A]

I'm not even crazy. Listen, so so again, like, what, you.

[B]

Guys, there's one finance guy.

[A]

Yeah, there's one.

[B]

So you can imagine what he looked like the whole day.

[A]

This guy's blowing his head off.

[B]

Oh, he was just, he was just.

[A]

So the owner calls us and he goes, hey, how much would I have to pay you to come down for one day on a Saturday? And I'm like, dude, we don't do that. Yeah, like that. I mean, like, we're, I'm number one. Like, I love you, but we don't, we can't do that. And Ian, Ian's like, what if we did. What if we went down, right? And we went back to like, when we did it? And I'm like, man, you know, I don't know. What do you think? And so me, big Ry, the big guy on our team, Jacob Hagerman, him, his brother, we got like five or six of us, right? We're like, alright, screw it, we're gonna do it. So this guy's like, alright, I'm gonna wire you over X amount of money. I just want you to come in. I know you would never do this for anyone else, but we want you to do it. And we really, like, we really, we love our customers, right? And his team, again, we're telling them what's possible. If we were to say you could sell 25 cars on a Saturday. Well, they sell 60 cars in one month. That doesn't make sense. And we said, all right, here's the deal. We'll go, we'll come down. We're gonna come down and we're gonna have fun. That was first and foremost, we're not fun. We're close, everyone.

[B]

But we want to get on the phones.

[A]

We want to create the music, we want to change the whole app.

[B]

We want to call the leads. We want to call.

[A]

Yeah, we want to take the calls.

[B]

We showed up an hour early. We're setting our own appointments.

[A]

I had to walk the inventory, we're.

[B]

Walking the inv, kind of see what's out there.

[A]

Got an inventory sheet, what banks to use. Check everything out. We go out, dude, we were done by 6:00, right? It wasn't like we stayed till 11:30 at night. By 6:00, we delivered the 26th deal. The owner's like, I don't know what's going on. Here's the crazy thing, but I want to tell you guys something. This is cool. He delivered 150 cars last month. That day a new owner was built. Yeah, he saw like, he's like, whoa, wait, A minute. We're not a 60 car store. We're a hundred car store. Yeah. So they. They tripled like, last month, and they did like 150 car sales. It just took someone to come in to show that it was possible. We're so proud of you guys for that.

[B]

It's like telling a blind person the color is green. They're like, no, I can't see it. And then they see it. They're like, oh, my gosh. Like, anything can be possible. Like, I truly believe it. You guys did do something that most people don't do. Because I try to teach car salesmen all the time that they can sell 60 in any market. By the way, the market that they're in, there's how many people in the town?

[C]

So when I was at town, it was like less than 2,000, so.

[B]

So 2,000 people in the town. Smaller town.

[A]

Yeah. Let's say some dragons, because you're going to. People say, well, yeah, they're probably Houston.

[B]

They're not in a big market. They're not in.

[A]

Probably in Phoenix.

[B]

They're in Alabama, dude. So listen, it doesn't matter. Like, it doesn't matter the market that you're in.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

They became entrepreneurs in the business. Intrapreneurs that started backing into how things work, man. Like, evaluating the way that they treated customers, their customer service experience, evaluating the way that they spoke about their brand, the way that they created community engagement, the way that they created leads. You know, you said, as we're starting this, what did you say about our Facebook strategy that Andy was teaching, like, how you did that part?

[C]

So pretty much, yeah.

[A]

I want to say this. This is a super important. So living and dying by the gate is a. Is a term used in the car business.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Where you stand outside by the entrance.

[B]

Right.

[A]

All day long until someone pulls in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or just waiting for an Internet lead. Right. Which is someone, you know, reaching out about a certain vehicle, and then you're going to go sell that, and then really, other than that, no one's really working.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so we talked about self gen. Self generating your own business. Our company was built, the Elliott Group, by self generating.

[B]

Yeah. We didn't have leads.

[A]

Yeah, we didn't have. We created them by what we did in the car.

[B]

Me and you are marketing guys. Even when we. And you were selling cars, we may not even been the best salespeople. We're really good salespeople, but we were really good marketers.

[A]

Yeah, we generated.

[B]

And you got to be in this market.

[A]

And we tell People that you can go and generate your own business. Yeah, right. Hey, if someone walks in, they want to buy something, like, oh, my God, that's great.

[B]

That's a bonus.

[A]

I'm like, wow. But, like.

[B]

But everybody thinks that's the one.

[A]

They're, like, level. You know what I mean? And so let's kind of finish out with how you are generating this much business. And it's not the dealership handing you something. You're not the house mouse in the store.

[C]

Yeah. So it's implementing everybody who's done it before. For me, it was really just Andy Elliot. I didn't really pick a lot of different brains when I was trying to get there. So essentially what it was is I would get to work hours. It wasn't even an hour. It was hours before we opened. And then I would go through and walk the lot, take notes of my inventory, Facebook stories, picture them up. I'm gonna have four Facebook posts for the day.

[A]

You followed the training?

[C]

Yeah, four Marketplace. And then I would go inside because the place I started at had a population of less than 2,000 people. People and subprime area as well. So not only was it small population, but everything around it was subprime. So it was, you know, very. It was a struggle once you got a customer, if you could even get the deal done. So then I would walk in and make about 250 phone calls a day. I know that math so well, because it came out to about 2,000 calls a week. 2,500 a week. Because, you know, you do have time making content and actually getting people. And it came to about 6,000 calls a month. People blown away because the second person was doing about 300 calls.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Maybe the reason why people get.

[A]

Because you don't stop working, right?

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

It's a weird thing for people.

[B]

You mean you worked all day, you looked for deals?

[C]

Well, and the thing is, I smoked cigarettes for 10 years, and I noticed it cost me 15 minutes per hour, which came out to two and a half hours a day. I mean, I got that psychotic with it. I would do tally marks for my cold calls. I mean, it got so psychotic. And the thing is, I think where most people give up. Well, I know, because you can gas anything up and make it exciting, is they're doing a system that doesn't work at all, and they're selling a couple of cars. Then they implement the system that works, but they don't implement it long enough. They don't give it enough time. I did that for a couple months. And it took me nine months before I sold my first car from Facebook. And that's 100 cars a month on Facebook, 100 cars a month on Marketplace, Craigslist. I didn't post to me because I couldn't really afford it, but that's 200 pieces of content per month, not including every congratulations that he tells you. I don't care how you make it happen. You take a picture with your customer, congratulations, tag them in it, get referrals, and then the cold call. 6,000 calls a month. That turned into what I have now. Yeah, this was like, people don't understand that you planted the seed.

[B]

You planted the seed, and then the. The tree grew. But a lot of people, they plant the seed and mow the tree down because the tree didn't work and they didn't get the fruit from the tree. And they go plant another tree. And they plant another tree business.

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

And stay consistent with the content. I say all the time on every Zoom call I'm on, dude, you got to stay consistent with the content. You got to tag the customer. He just said it. You got to do. When I. When somebody comments, you got to comment back and say, thank you, and then send them a message and say, hey, man, I appreciate your support. And the times that you do that, you invent something that's massive. Like, you invent something that's this. But it just takes time.

[C]

Everybody. Everybody's trying to build room in one day. And so what happens is, after nine months of that, you know, when I was breaking records in my first dealership, it actually wasn't from Facebook. I was making over 100 pieces of content every single month. But it was the cold calls. We didn't get a lot of traffic. You'd be lucky if you saw four people a week, and you had those guys out there already hunting them. So you're kind of out of the game before he even started. So once that happened and I was using his techniques to improve my wordplay, word track, how to get people in for their trades, stuff like that, and to really benefit the customer. Once all those things started coming together and I started making money, I started getting ahead in life and paid off my credit card debt and doing all those things, and things started adding up and building and building and building. Then what happened is the 250 phone calls. I didn't even have a. I couldn't physically do it anymore because I started getting too many customers. Also, that's when I started looking into analytics. Best times to post. Everybody's too worried about stuff like that. Right off the rip, they're trying to build room in a day. It took me almost a year before I started sitting there. I was like, okay, what words does Facebook hate? What should I not put in my posts? What should I do to drive more engagement? What should I do? What times 8:15am, 11:15am, 1:30pm those things didn't matter. I was posting as much as I could throughout the day and making phone calls. And then when I got done, my time block was so insane. It was in three hours. You know, in 50 minutes, I would make. I would have to make 60 phone calls. If I didn't hit that, I get a punishment mark. If I got so many punishment marks, I didn't get lunch or I didn't get an energy drink. Whatever, Whatever. You, like, you took it away from yourself. And then. And then if you did accomplish all.

[A]

That, only successful people. Well, listen, crazy people become successful, you know, And I want to say something, and this, you guys will really like this, and I want you to always remember it. But greatness, which is what. You guys are great. You guys are great. Greatness are found in the extremes. When you can get extreme and obsessed, you'll be great. And so these things when you're saying, you know, I did this, it was crazy. No, dude, that's actually called winning.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, you guys are winners, and people that win in anything are extreme and they're obsessed. And so when you're talking about these things, it's very normal what you're saying to us.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But to other people, like, oh, my God, that's.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You can't believe what. Like, that they didn't stop and play on Facebook and play games and what's crazy.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

For me, like, just hearing his stories, I mean, I didn't have anybody to do all this with, you know, and just, like, his background, you know, he's just told me a lot and just really everything. And I'm just like, dude, I don't know if I could even went through all that, you know? So, like, I gained massive respect, you know, for you because I'm like, you know, that made me want to be there for him more.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I'm like, bro, like, I need you.

[A]

You need me.

[D]

Like, let's just. Let's just grab it.

[A]

We need to get crazy together. I want to tell you something, and you'll love this, too. Adversity is a terrible thing to let go to waste.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Anytime you get adversity, you're like, oh, yeah, I'm Gonna make this count.

[C]

That's what changed my life is like when I started noticing 15 minutes, an hour to smoke a cigarette, turning two and a half hours a day, which cost me 75 phone calls, which cost me five appointments, which cost me one come in. Two to three people coming in cost me one close, which cost me X amount of commission. That's when I was like, and my wife's boiling water at the house. I'm like, what, what, what am I doing?

[A]

I love that you put consequences on the line.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That's the thing is the punishment. I didn't really have anything to reward myself.

[A]

Only, only psycho competitors have a punishment.

[D]

He would always say, I'm so obsessed. And I'm like, yeah, he is.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I'm thinking and you're thinking like, should I be around this guy or run? And then you're like, no, wait a minute. I lean in because it's scary because people like this. And remember this, like you're learning some things here. The, the, the more successful that you're going to become, the more wealth you're going to create, the better your life's going to be will only come by increasing your levels of accountability. And he makes you more accountable. And so you're naturally skilled, you're naturally talent, but because you're so talented, you don't have to be as accountable. And you can get away with stuff because you're better than a lot of people. But then this crazy ass son of a bitch comes along and he may not even be as talented as you, but he's accountable. And you're like, whoa. Like I don't know if you should be my friend or not, you know? And then you're like, wait a minute. He's sick in the head with this. I'm sick in the head with this. Us together, we're just running mates. You guys are running mates, you guys are swimming.

[C]

And that's the big thing is like when you combine a hard work ethic with, you just won't be denied. It was when I bought his program. It changed my life because I didn't take a lunch break for seven months. But imagine waking up at 3:30 in the morning and not going to bed till midnight because you're trying to figure out this entire thing. Day four when you promise yourself, hey, 125 phone calls by one o'clock and two Facebook posts where you don't get an energy drink. The energy drink looks really good. And I didn't. There was times where I messed around and I didn't. And I didn't get that energy drink. And that evening sucked. And then there would be another punishment. I would text my wife, hey, if I don't get it, those people are.

[A]

Like, I'm still getting the drink.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

The fact that you're like, I don't get it.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

See, that shit pisses you off.

[C]

And then I'd text my wife and say, hey, I failed this. If I failed that second half when I come home, you know, I have to fast. I mean, I would put myself through that on purpose because she's unfair. It's unfair to fail. It's more. I'm failing her at that point, you know, failing other people, because I'm not, you know, I'm not selling a car. I'm not making money.

[A]

This is a beautiful story.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

For any industry.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

For anybody.

[B]

The overcomer.

[A]

The overcomer. And, you know, I want to tell everybody, first of all, super important, Use Instagram or Facebook.

[C]

Facebook.

[A]

Cool. Yeah. If you guys want to follow him.

[C]

On Facebook, Cory Baker is Cory Baker.

[A]

Cory Baker on Facebook. And then what is yours?

[D]

Sean Smirnoff.

[A]

Sean Smirnoff. Like the liquor. Yep. And, guys, listen, I know we've just given them so much to chew on. If you guys want to look them up on Facebook, that's amazing. So the question is, what excuse is there? Then? Who's next? And, you know, I'm excited to see what's next. You know, we were just talking about before this podcast came on, that this is just the beginning, you know, and they agree. They're like, yeah, this is just the beginning. And you're like, what's that mean? Just means it's just the beginning. These guys are just starting to understand that the better they get with their skill and their talent, because skill is a very important part of the game. You're getting more skilled. You're becoming a better communicator. You're caring a lot. Your heart's getting bigger now. You're getting a chip on your shoulder. You're like, wait a minute. Now the example now. I can't let anybody down. And plus, you're getting a taste of success, so you're not gonna get comfortable. You're not gonna go backwards. So you're like, wait a minute. This is what's possible. If I get better, this is what's possible. If I, you know, if I'm around the right people, which, what you guys did, you guys are around each other. And so it's just there's so many lessons in this total day.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

I want to say the last thing is, is that he betted on himself. That's the most important thing. When your back's against the wall, when you bet against yourself, you always win. That's it. Okay. May everybody else not believe in you. Okay? But you can never stop believing in you. Doubt is a traitor. And there's going to be a lot of people that are going to doubt you in this world, but you can never doubt yourself. You can never ever not believe in you. And if you'll just do that and you'll get around the right people and then you'll plug into some new information, you'll be really surprised what can happen. And so these guys are really young. It's just the beginning of their journey. You know, Ian, I think this was a crazy good podcast. Crazy good. This was a, this was a mastermind on how to change your life. And you know what I'm really excited to see in a year from now?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, when we do another one and they can say, you know, we sold 117 and it's like, what? And it's like, told you, you know, or maybe you guys are running a store and all of them are selling 60 cars. I don't know, nor do I care. I just know it's going to be great.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

That's it, man. And so look, we love you guys. Any last message you want to give?

[C]

Yeah, there's one. One thing I took from Andy in the very beginning is it'll get worse and worse and worse before it gets better. It went from nobody believed in me except for my wife, to my wife, Ashton Baker, my brother, Nicholas Baker, Brian Alstrom, my manager, Matthew Wingo, Ryan Ware, I mean, to. He's become my best friend in the whole world to my parents, you know, I mean, but it wasn't like that in the beginning. It just, it doesn't work. Like Zach Thornburg. These are people, you know, that, you know, I've met throughout the journey who have believed in me. River Barber, I mean, you know him. I mean, and they all, you know, they've helped support us. You know, you start finding people that are like minded, that want the best for you, but you have to prove it for so long before you even find those people.

[A]

That's right.

[C]

And then, and also you gotta prove it so long before you change their mind. So it'll start bad and it'll get worse. It'll get worse, it'll get worse and then eventually it gets better. It's a Marathon, not a sprint. Like you used to say.

[A]

Everybody laughing at you in the beginning. And then in the end, everybody wants to tell you how they knew you're always going to make it. I knew he was going to make it.

[B]

Isn't it crazy how it's the same for everybody? It's the same for everybody. Yeah.

[A]

And in the beginning, they're like, I don't know what that kid's. Yeah, but he's in trouble again. And it's like, you know, Anyway.

[B]

It's so true.

[A]

Yeah. Love you guys again. Adversity is a terrible thing to let go to waste.

[B]

Super proud of you guys.

[A]

Yeah. Is crappy. Yeah, man. Much love to you guys. Dude, so cool. Change your life. That's it. Draw a line in the sand today.

[B]

Make a decision.

[A]

Tired. Yeah. Being sick and tired.

[B]

They made a decision.

[A]

Go all in. So I love you guys. Have a blessed day. Thank you guys for being here. We're getting ready for a big event this weekend. Kill it, guys. We'll see you in the next video. Hey, guys. Looks like you made it to the end of the video. You're the true.0001 percenters. Look, I know 1 percenters that can make it halfway through the video, but making it all the way through, you guys are the best. Now here's what I'd like to do. Number one, I want to get closer to you. The fact that you made it all the way through the video, you're like, man, dude, I want to roll with this guy. Okay? So I need to connect with you. Down below. There's a description box on this YouTube video. There's a link, it says, coach with me one on one. Okay? If you'll go and you'll enter your information, I'll reach out to you in the next 24 hours. You can tell me what you need help with, what your goals are, and we will crush it together. I would love to help you guys go to the next level in life. You can tell I'm changing my life really fast, and I know that you guys want the same thing. I love to go with you on that journey. So right now, if you'd like to partner with me, team with me, if you want me to help coach you and push you, Everybody needs a coach, a higher level of accountability to go to the next level. Go to the description box below. Click on the link, fill out your information. I'll talk to you in the next 24 hours. Let's kill it.