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Hello and welcome to another episode of Locally Owned. In this episode, I want to talk about something important to every business. Sales. They say nothing happens in business until a sale is made. But how you approach that sale determines whether your business thrives or fails. Come on too strong, you end up pushing customers away. If you're too passive, you lose them altogether. So in this episode, I want to share the secret that 30 years of running a highly successful business has taught me about striking the perfect balance and building trust that ends up driving your sales. Let's dive in. Let me ask you something. If right now you are on your way to buy a new car, would this be how you're feeling a little tense, you're kind of dreading the whole experience. And in your mind you're going through your game, right? Because you know as soon as you get there, the game that they're going to play with you, right? You see that salesman trotting across the parking lot and he's like, hey, how you doing today? And you know, it's game on. And I'm not sure why I had to do an Italian guy from Jersey. But anyway, why is it like that? Why do we feel that way? Well, honestly, because that's usually what happens right now. If you own a business, you know you don't want to be that guy, right? And you're in charge of sales for your business, you don't want your people being that guy. And honestly, I don't think that guy wants to be that guy. But he doesn't know any better. But what most of us do is that in an effort to not be him, we swing in the total opposite direction and we don't even ask for the sale, we avoid it altogether. And that simply doesn't work. But the thinking on that is that by not being pushy and by going as far away as we can from being that guy, that we're going to be a better salesman. But as well intentioned as that is, it actually leads to worse results because you've got a person in front of you that needs what you sell and you can help them, but you don't, so they don't get your assistance. It's kind of like trying to dodge a bullet by jumping off a cliff. It doesn't work. But neither extreme works. Well. What if I told you that being great at sales is actually easy and natural and making it that way is so much more simple and so much more effective than trying either one of those extremes in this video, I'm going to tell you exactly how to do that. And I'm going to start with a story about me running with my dog, a lady at the lake, and some strange dude with jumper cables. Hi folks. Buckle up because I'm about to share something with you that's going to make you rethink everything that you think you know about sales. Now, I'm not talking about sales tactics because those are old school and they don't work and people see right through it. What I'm talking about is understanding human behavior. And I'm talking about doing something that actually makes you a better person. And it just so happens to help you be really good at sales. So picture this. I'm on a morning jog, there's a damsel in distress and a mysterious dude with jumper cables. Sounds kind of like the start of a bad joke. But anyway, it's actually something that happened to me. But when it happened, it shed light on what I'm about to explain to you. And I can't wait to tell you so you can see how it all ties together. But before I do that, I want to tell you what you're in for here. First, I'm going to give you the secret ingredient that you need before you can do anything in sales. When you miss this, every sale is going to feel like you're trying to sell ice to an Eskimo in the middle of winter. And then I'm going to explain why Trust is the MVP in your sales game, scoring 90% of the points every time. Thirdly, I'm going to give you the ultimate solution to that passive pushy game. And trust me, it is not what you think. And then lastly, I'm going to teach you how playing the long game actually gives you short term wins mind blown. Right? Well, here's the kicker. Whether you're coming on too strong like a triple shot of espresso, or fading into the background like beige wallpaper. That sounded like a cheesy joke. Anyway, you're missing out on sales. But my goal here is for your customers to be calling you like it's Black Friday and you got the last PlayStation. Alright, let's dive in. Okay, so now I want to tell you the story. And this story is about building trust organically. So picture this. There's this lake near my house and a lot of mornings I go out for a run with my dog. And over time, I see the same folks out there every day walking. And so every once in a while, somebody new shows up, right? Somebody that we haven't seen before. Now, what's Interesting is that over time, this little morning community has developed its own unspoken rituals. And so I noticed that when somebody new shows up, there's sort of this progression that happens, right? It starts with a nod, you know, the universal I'm acknowledging your existence. But then eventually you might exchange good mornings, and somewhere down the road you'll actually stop and chit chat a little bit. And you know each other's names, right? So, and. And that's the extent of it. I mean, it's not like we're exchanging friendship bracelets or anything like that. But what's really cool is this sense of camaraderie sort of snuck up on me, you know, that there is this like. Like this thread of trust that has woven its way into our group and like, you know, it sort of feels like we're this, you know, little secret community of lake people. And the only requirement to be in this club is that you just show up every day or you show up consistently. So there I am one morning and I'm in the middle of my run and I see, I'll call her Susie, one of the lake people, and she's looking a little stressed out next to her car. So being the good neighbor that I try to pretend to be, I go over there and see if she needs anything. Well, suddenly this random dude appears out of nowhere and he's got these jumper cables and he looks all eager to help out. Now I'm standing there in my running shorts. I'm clearly not equipped to help out. But what's funny is that Susie looks at me for help, right? She's looking at me with these eyes, pleading, begging me to stick around and not leave her with jumper cable Johnny, right? So, I mean, it's not like this guy pops out of a white van that says free candy on the side and he's wearing a ski mask, right? He's a good guy, just trying to help. Got jumper cables in his hand. But maybe he's just a little bit too eager. And so Susie looks at me and trusts me instead of him. And why is that? Well, it's because we feel like we know each other, but that happens just from showing up, you know, saying hi, a little bit of chit chat every now and then. But that familiarity is enough where we feel like we know each other and we trust each other. So I feel like this whole scenario is this perfect snapshot of how to build trust in your business organically by showing up consistently alongside of your target market, alongside your customers being one of them. Jumper cable Johnny. He shows up at the right time, but because he doesn't have the relationship, he doesn't have the trust. Alright, so let's connect the dots between the lakeside drama and the world of sales. All right? So picture jumper cable. Jack, as your typical salesperson. He's overeager, but he's got the goods and he's ready to help. But he's missing one crucial ingredient. A relationship. All right? And let me tell you, without a relationship, the trust just isn't there. They're about as willing to trust you as they are to eat something off the floor of a gas station bathroom, right? Stephen Covey nailed it in his book the Speed of Trust, which I think is a better book than the Seven Habits. But anyway, he nailed it when he says that nothing is as fast as the speed of trust. If people trust you, they'll buy from you, period. Now, here's where most salespeople fumble the ball. They're pushing for the sale faster than a cheat on Red Bull, right? Imagine going out with somebody and on the first date they start talking about marriage. It's like, yeah, I think I something in the oven, I gotta go, you know, so you don't want to do that. And some of us catch on to this, but unfortunately, we swing to the other extreme, right? We try to build trust by being more like Mr. Rogers on weed. You know, we crack jokes, we tell cute little stories, we shower them with compliments. But honestly, this approach fails spectacularly. It backfires because people start thinking nobody's that nice. Like, what's this guy up to, right? And their trust meter starts moving in the wrong direction. So what's the secret? Be direct. People actually trust someone who cuts through the fluff and gets to the point they don't have to be nice about it, right? Think of Simon Cowell on American Idol. You kind of want to hate him, but you don't because you know, he's actually the only guy sitting there telling people what they really need to hear, right? He's building trust by not sugarcoating anything. So think of your customers like performers on American Idol and you're Simon, and their performance is how they answer your questions, all right? And your job is to listen carefully and give them honest feedback. It's not to tell them all these cute little stories and all these jokes and distract them with things and make them think and try to make them like you, all right? They're going to like you by being direct. And so this last thing, it's the key to unlocking sales success. It's going to blow your mind, but it's difficult for most people to do, all right? It's all about flipping the script in your own head, all right? See, customers think they hold all the cards, but really it's a 50, 50 deal. They need what you're selling just as much as you need to make a sale, right? So remember Susie and jumper cable Jack? I mean, she needed his help. He had what she needed, but he showed up in a way that was off putting in sales. It's the same dance, right? And the dance is about asking your customers what they need. And their answers are going to tell you what they really want. But what your response needs to be is to just focus on how you can be the most helpful in getting them what they really want. All right? So I'm going to share with you a real life example that's going to blow your mind about how this approach led to massive success for my one buddy. But I'm going to preface it with this thought. People shop for what they need, but they buy what they really want. Except for me. I need 20 guitars. All right? Don't judge me. Anyway, stay tuned because in the next part, I'm going to show you how a friend of mine uses this principle exclusively in his business. And his business is a gold mine, so. So trust me, you don't wanna miss this. All right? Truth is, it's all about the long game. I know when business gets slow, it's tempting to chase that quick buck, but it always leaves a bad taste in the customer's mouth. And a lot of times they're not gonna complain, they're just gonna go somewhere else, right? So let me introduce you to my buddy. He's like this software wizard and he has cracked the code on how to sell without being that sleazy salesman or that wallflower too afraid to ask for the sale. Here is how he does it. It's. It's really good. So he owns a software development company, right? And he's the go to guy for hospitals and medical facilities. And when a new prospect calls with a problem, he offers to take a look at what's going on. No strings attached. Right? Now, between you and me, he asked him a lot of questions. So by the time he's done talking to them, he kind of knows what's up before he even takes a look. But what he's actually doing is part of his sales process. So of course they're going to ask, well, how much is this going to cost? Rather than give them some inflated Price, right? He simply just says, well, let me come out, take a look and see if I can figure out what's going on. Right? And it doesn't cost you anything for me to come take a look. Now usually he gets the problem solved pretty quick because like I said, he usually knows what's going on before he even takes a look. But where most companies would slap them with this huge bill for 30 minutes worth of work, he tells them, hey, it was a simple fix, it's not going to be any charge. But then this is the real thing. He says, hey, while I was in there, I noticed a couple things that are going to cause you some problems down the road and I've got some solutions that can save you those headaches. Right? We actually did the similar work. St. Vincent's and Parkway east was having the same problem. So I did, did this fix for them and they're loving the results. Now by showing up as the expert, competent, honest, fixing the problem, what's he doing? He's building trust. And right, sure, he could have charged a fortune for that quick fix, but instead he's playing chess while everybody else playing checkers, right? He's not selling, he's solving problems and building a relationship. And guess what? That is his sales process, right? That's genius. That's how he gets all these huge contracts with all these hospitals. Another example in my company that I had for 28 years, it was a service company we cleaned carpet for in people's homes. And my approach was always to give people options on what level of service they wanted, right? Let them decide if they want our budget plan, just the basics, or our ultimate plan with all the bells and whistles. And there was never any pressure for them to buy our highest price service. Now here's how you know that your customers trust you. They ask you, well, what do you think I should do? Now, if you're genuinely looking out for your customer's best interest, and it's in their best interest to get the lowest price plan, and that's the one you recommend, you might not make as much money, but the amount of trust that you've built that day, you can't put a price on that. And when people trust you like that, they become your unofficial marketing team. They refer you all over the place and you know they're going to use you again and again and again. It takes time to build trust and you can't do that making quick sales. So maybe the next time you have an opportunity to make a quick sale, think of how you can build the relationship instead. How you can build that trust. Because once you build that trust, every sale after that is easy and automatic. Like Stephen Covey said, when people trust you, they buy from you. Period. All right, let's recap. Number one, be like those lake walkers. Consistency is a superpower in business and your business is part of a community. So just like those walkers just showing up every day, being consistent, being real, being ready to help, no hidden agenda, it builds that relationship. Right now you got to initiate getting to know them and definitely don't initiate with a sales pitch. But when the time comes for them to need your help, you're going to have that relationship built already. Number two, Ask good questions and learn the language of straight up speak. Right? Learn how to be direct and learn how to be helpful. Your job isn't to be Mr. Charming or Mr. Nice Guy. It's to genuinely understand what your customer needs. And the only way you're going to be able to do that is by asking meaningful questions and then respond with good answers. You got to show them you're interested in helping them solve their problem. That's what people want. And you do that by following through and helping them get what they need. Thirdly, the long game is the winning game. I think Zig Ziglar said it best when he said you can have everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want in life. And you know that quote. It's not just some feel good quote. It really is the truth. So here's a pro tip. Stop thinking about how you can make the sale and think about how you can build the relationship. Because trust me, those long term connections are worth way more than any quick buck you're going to make. So be the person who helps first and sells second. Alright? The sale is never going to come to you if you're running around chasing it. Thanks for listening to another episode of Locally Owned. I hope you found this episode to be helpful and offer quick, actionable strategies. Please don't forget to hit the subscribe button and leave a review. You can find more episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or go to our website streetsmartontrepreneurship Biz to find show notes and links and more.