How can mastering storytelling become your ultimate sales superpower? Insights with Stephen Steers.

Freddy D: 00:00:00

Hello, Stephen, welcome to the business superfans podcast.

2

: 00:00:03

Glad you could join us.

3

: 00:00:04

Stephen Steers: Thanks

for having me Freddy.

4

: 00:00:05

It's great to be here with you.

5

: 00:00:06

Freddy D: So tell me a little bit about,

your background and what led you into,

6

: 00:00:11

the sales world that you're in right now,

where you've been consulting numerous

7

: 00:00:14

companies all over the world and been

traveling to a multitude of countries.

8

: 00:00:19

What got you there?

9

: 00:00:20

Stephen Steers: How many of errors

that's what I like to say, I got some

10

: 00:00:23

near death experiences in there I

had some really tough roles, but I'd

11

: 00:00:27

say first and foremost, I suppose

we should start at the beginning.

12

: 00:00:30

The first thing I ever

sold was ice pops as a kid.

13

: 00:00:34

So if you ever know those Costco.

14

: 00:00:35

Bulk hundred ice pops.

15

: 00:00:38

I got those in high school

for three or 4 a pack.

16

: 00:00:41

I would freeze them in my fridge

cause I was allowed to have one and I

17

: 00:00:43

would sell them for a quarter a pop.

18

: 00:00:45

So I'd profit like 10, 12 bucks on a pack.

19

: 00:00:48

And that was how I would have

my candy money or whatever seed

20

: 00:00:52

money for little silly projects

that led me to go into yard sales.

21

: 00:00:57

Where I would buy things that I

thought were cool and interesting.

22

: 00:00:59

And then I'd post them on Craigslist

because Crescent's was coming up.

23

: 00:01:02

And that's how I started to pay off.

24

: 00:01:04

My student loans was with buying and

selling things on Craigslist when

25

: 00:01:07

there weren't other jobs to have.

26

: 00:01:09

So fast forward a couple of

years here, graduated college.

27

: 00:01:13

I got into the construction business

was the first serious, actual

28

: 00:01:16

real quote unquote job I had.

29

: 00:01:18

And I was In field project manager.

30

: 00:01:20

And so my job was half to go on

site and half to be in the office

31

: 00:01:24

and make reports for my boss.

32

: 00:01:26

And so one day I was at the

Baccarat hotel and suites on sixth

33

: 00:01:30

Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

34

: 00:01:32

And the building was basically finished.

35

: 00:01:35

So nobody there was wearing

much construction gear.

36

: 00:01:37

We're just walking and doing

reports and doing punch list stuff.

37

: 00:01:40

The project's basically over.

38

: 00:01:42

People have moved into their

30 and 50 million apartments.

39

: 00:01:46

So I walked the entire building from the

ceiling, from like the rooftop, all the

40

: 00:01:51

way down to the construction entrance

took me about three hours with my foreman.

41

: 00:01:54

And we get to the construction entrance,

which is a triple height floor and

42

: 00:01:58

he's shown me pictures on his phone.

43

: 00:02:00

We're having a laugh.

44

: 00:02:01

And then he taps me on the shoulder

and I take one step forward towards

45

: 00:02:05

the door and a cement block falls

directly where I was standing.

46

: 00:02:08

Literally missed it by that much.

47

: 00:02:11

Freddy D: Holy coly.

48

: 00:02:11

Stephen Steers: Crazy situation,

and I remember staring down at this

49

: 00:02:14

block and the foreman says to me, not

everybody gets a chance like that.

50

: 00:02:17

You're here for something.

51

: 00:02:20

And I thought about that

very deeply in that moment.

52

: 00:02:23

And I said, Hey man,

I can't come to lunch.

53

: 00:02:25

I'll catch you later.

54

: 00:02:25

And I just went on the two

hour walk around New York on

55

: 00:02:27

my way back to the office.

56

: 00:02:29

And I, and it came to the conclusion.

57

: 00:02:31

I was like I'm going to die one day.

58

: 00:02:32

If I'm going to die, I might as well

die doing the thing that I want to do.

59

: 00:02:36

Or, at least be on the path to that.

60

: 00:02:37

And I'd always wanted to be

an entrepreneur and podcasts

61

: 00:02:40

were very new at the time.

62

: 00:02:42

So I was listening to like smart,

passive income podcast and any business

63

: 00:02:45

thing that I could remotely find,

it was just in my head and I was

64

: 00:02:49

like I want to be an entrepreneur,

but I don't know what skill I have.

65

: 00:02:51

And when I thought about it and sat down

and asked my friends and everybody else,

66

: 00:02:55

you're like you're great with people.

67

: 00:02:56

Maybe you should do sales.

68

: 00:02:58

And so that's the first spark in my head.

69

: 00:03:00

I was like I do selling

things, making money's cool.

70

: 00:03:02

Maybe I should get into sales.

71

: 00:03:04

So I've launched a campaign of going

to four to five events at night.

72

: 00:03:08

I'm sorry, a week part of me in New York

that were startup or whatever related.

73

: 00:03:12

And in about three months,

I had an offer to a startup.

74

: 00:03:16

And I got a job as an SDR and then

I started by code calling and cold

75

: 00:03:20

emailing journey with a lot of

errors and a lot of mistakes, but

76

: 00:03:24

a lot of learnings and eventually

got promoted into an AE position.

77

: 00:03:28

That company started to not do super well.

78

: 00:03:30

So they let go of a lot of salespeople

started at another company.

79

: 00:03:33

My first remote position.

80

: 00:03:35

And then that company went belly up in a

couple of months because they built their

81

: 00:03:39

platform on Facebook and Facebook changed

the algorithm as in diversify friends,

82

: 00:03:44

that's a good thing for you to do.

83

: 00:03:46

But luckily as it happened, when

I was working there running sales,

84

: 00:03:49

they'd hired a consultant, a super

experienced consultant to work with

85

: 00:03:52

me as we built out our B2B process.

86

: 00:03:54

And I got along very well with this guy.

87

: 00:03:56

He was massively helpful, and I let

him know that I got the ax from the

88

: 00:03:59

place, sent him a thank you email.

89

: 00:04:01

And he got back to me a few days later and

he said, Hey, I'm sorry to hear that, but

90

: 00:04:06

maybe we should hop on a call and I can

help you figure out what's next for you.

91

: 00:04:09

And so a half an hour call

turned into a three hour call.

92

: 00:04:12

And at the end, he said, Hey, I have a

job for someone like you, if you want it.

93

: 00:04:16

And that's how I got into consulting.

94

: 00:04:18

I worked with him for a number of

years, cut my teeth and learned a lot.

95

: 00:04:20

Okay.

96

: 00:04:21

And then eventually I was ready to

scratch the proper itch and do what

97

: 00:04:25

I'd set out at the beginning and start

my own thing, which is where I am now.

98

: 00:04:29

Freddy D: And what is your own thing now?

99

: 00:04:31

Stephen Steers: Yeah.

100

: 00:04:31

I run a small boutique consultancy

called Context Selling,

101

: 00:04:36

where we review phone calls.

102

: 00:04:39

We review B2B phone calls.

103

: 00:04:40

So the nexus here is The phone

call is the lobby to your business.

104

: 00:04:45

If you want to build super fans,

they got to have a great experience

105

: 00:04:48

with you from the very get go.

106

: 00:04:50

And if they're coming to speak with

someone from your team, and you

107

: 00:04:53

don't have that figured out the

right way, they're not going to

108

: 00:04:56

be able to tell anybody about you.

109

: 00:04:57

And they're not going to want

to because the experience is

110

: 00:04:59

going to leave them wanting.

111

: 00:05:01

So what we do is we review phone

calls with a 30 point rubric.

112

: 00:05:05

That's everything that should

be in a good discovery call.

113

: 00:05:08

Including stories, what stories you can

tell, where you should put the stories.

114

: 00:05:12

And then I create those calls and then

coach reps or teams on the findings

115

: 00:05:17

from those calls with the goal of

making your next call your best call.

116

: 00:05:22

So I wrote a book called Superpower

Storytelling that informs a lot of

117

: 00:05:25

the ways that I teach folks because

stories sell and they close the sale,

118

: 00:05:32

but they never close the conversation.

119

: 00:05:34

And if you want to build super fans,

you got to keep the conversation moving.

120

: 00:05:37

Freddy D: Absolutely.

121

: 00:05:38

Stephen Steers: What's the name of

that book and where can people find it?

122

: 00:05:40

It's called Superpower Storytelling, a

tactical guide to telling the stories

123

: 00:05:44

you need to lead, sell, and inspire.

124

: 00:05:46

And you can get it on my

website at stephensteers.

125

: 00:05:48

com or on Amazon, if you are so inclined.

126

: 00:05:52

Freddy D: Excellent.

127

: 00:05:53

So tell us a little bit of a

story of how your method has

128

: 00:05:57

transformed some companies.

129

: 00:05:59

Stephen Steers: Yeah, great question.

130

: 00:06:00

So I can speak to two that

really make me extremely excited.

131

: 00:06:04

There was a company in the podcasting

space, and I came over there to

132

: 00:06:08

help them build out their sales.

133

: 00:06:10

And so rewrote their entire series of

sales scripts, redefined their stories,

134

: 00:06:15

trained our team on it, and we were

able to triple revenue in 12 months.

135

: 00:06:20

Wow.

136

: 00:06:20

So that's super exciting.

137

: 00:06:22

And it feels really nice.

138

: 00:06:24

There's another company in the

consulting space that works in

139

: 00:06:28

the medical side of consulting.

140

: 00:06:29

And by adjusting two or three questions

inside of their scripts and helping them

141

: 00:06:34

always make sure to book the next meeting

on the call, we increased their close

142

: 00:06:37

rates by 25 percent in three months.

143

: 00:06:40

So those are two I'm really excited about.

144

: 00:06:42

Freddy D: So, let's talk more about

the power of storytelling and how

145

: 00:06:47

that really transforms the whole

conversation and creates superfans

146

: 00:06:53

that in turn attracts more of the same.

147

: 00:06:57

Stephen Steers: Absolutely.

148

: 00:06:57

There's a stat I researched

when I was writing the book.

149

: 00:07:01

And it says that 65 percent of information

is retained when shared in story form.

150

: 00:07:07

So if you think about this, you can tell

people all the stuff that your company

151

: 00:07:11

does, but if you can tell them a story

about another founder or another company

152

: 00:07:15

that came to you, What that founders name

is, what their business was like when they

153

: 00:07:20

came to you and the vectors that you've

been able to influence and change through

154

: 00:07:24

methodologies and the results you got

them to, that's something I could take

155

: 00:07:27

to my team, that's something I could take

to somebody else that I meet at a meetup

156

: 00:07:31

or somebody in one of my many groups and

say, Hey, yeah, they worked with John over

157

: 00:07:35

at lagavulin construction company, and

when we started working with John's team

158

: 00:07:39

was flatlining, but what we were able to

do was help them understand for specific

159

: 00:07:44

places that they were able to grow in.

160

: 00:07:46

We doubled down, triple down, and we

doubled the goal that we had because

161

: 00:07:50

we were super stringent about the

criteria where they weren't previously.

162

: 00:07:54

And so now.

163

: 00:07:55

They've grown their team.

164

: 00:07:57

They've grown their

influence in the marketplace.

165

: 00:07:59

And they're one of the best

known people in the business.

166

: 00:08:02

Freddy D: Excellent.

167

: 00:08:03

That's just amazing because when you

think about it, I look back in my sales

168

: 00:08:08

career and share stories about other

manufacturing companies cause I was

169

: 00:08:14

selling manufacturing software and how

the technology that I was marketing

170

: 00:08:18

had transformed those companies.

171

: 00:08:20

So that intrigued, especially the

executive management team, cause we were

172

: 00:08:25

talking not about features and functions.

173

: 00:08:28

We were talking about business growth

strategies, in a manufacturing world

174

: 00:08:33

where I was at, which was a tool and

die, scrapping metal cost them money.

175

: 00:08:38

Stephen Steers: Yeah.

176

: 00:08:38

Freddy D: So we talked about, that

business part of the equation, but

177

: 00:08:42

it was all about stories of how, this

company had those issues, they bought our

178

: 00:08:47

technology and those issues went away.

179

: 00:08:50

Stephen Steers: Exactly.

180

: 00:08:51

And I think the other reason that

storytelling is super important is

181

: 00:08:55

There's a quote I really like about it.

182

: 00:08:57

It's by a guy named Horace and it

says, you need change only the name

183

: 00:09:01

and you are the subject of the story.

184

: 00:09:03

So if you're talking about great

results for a company in a similar

185

: 00:09:07

industry, manufacturing, tool and

dye, et cetera, if you've gotten

186

: 00:09:10

great results for these folks.

187

: 00:09:12

I can see myself as

getting to those as well.

188

: 00:09:15

And so it's a social proof

point because it's not just you

189

: 00:09:19

saying, Hey, I'm great at my job.

190

: 00:09:20

Buy my services.

191

: 00:09:21

I'm great at my job.

192

: 00:09:21

It's look what we did for John and

Sally and their family business.

193

: 00:09:26

It creates a different emotional

space around the issues.

194

: 00:09:29

And then furthermore, most importantly,

is stories enable you to sell an

195

: 00:09:34

outcome, which is what people want

to buy from you in the first place.

196

: 00:09:37

I don't care about the widget.

197

: 00:09:39

I don't care about what language

your platform is coded in.

198

: 00:09:42

At least not yet.

199

: 00:09:43

I want to know that you've thought about

me and what you can help me to achieve.

200

: 00:09:48

And I think a story is the easiest

way to get people to understand that.

201

: 00:09:51

Freddy D: Yeah, you bring me a point

that was one of my techniques was

202

: 00:09:56

with the owners of the company,

especially in a tool and dye shops.

203

: 00:09:59

That was my world that I was

in for a decade and change.

204

: 00:10:03

I didn't get into the features, it

spins this way, it turns that way and

205

: 00:10:08

it's blue or it's green or the button,

the menu button isn't the right size

206

: 00:10:13

or whatever, got out of all that stuff.

207

: 00:10:15

We focused on, okay, Stephen, where do you

want to be in three years in the company?

208

: 00:10:21

What's your goal for the company?

209

: 00:10:23

What are the challenges

to get you to the goal?

210

: 00:10:26

And the other part that I would

talk about is, okay, when do

211

: 00:10:29

you want to be profitable with

this investment in technology?

212

: 00:10:33

Because it's not about when

am I going to get installed?

213

: 00:10:37

It's when do you want

to make money with it?

214

: 00:10:39

So it'd be you and I on a marker

board, laying out all the steps that

215

: 00:10:42

need to take place to achieve the

profitability and the goals you want.

216

: 00:10:48

We worked it backwards, because you

got to run two systems simultaneously

217

: 00:10:52

the old way, the new way.

218

: 00:10:54

Okay.

219

: 00:10:55

You can't just shut it off, you

got business to do, then you've got

220

: 00:10:58

to get productivity and everything

else steps in the way and the people

221

: 00:11:02

got to be trained and et cetera.

222

: 00:11:04

And we would lay all that out and

be like Stephen, to meet your goal,

223

: 00:11:07

can you give me that PO today?

224

: 00:11:11

Stephen Steers: It's your goal.

225

: 00:11:12

Yeah.

226

: 00:11:14

Freddy D: You'd be surprised how

many deals closed that way because

227

: 00:11:18

I emotionally, through the story,

in a sense, laid out the plan.

228

: 00:11:22

You agreed, you put it together,

you gave me the timelines.

229

: 00:11:26

So it's, your story.

230

: 00:11:28

I'm just going to have you read it.

231

: 00:11:29

Stephen Steers: Yeah.

232

: 00:11:30

Freddy D: That's it.

233

: 00:11:31

Stephen Steers: Do you know

the sales trainer, Tom Hopkins?

234

: 00:11:33

Freddy D: Yes.

235

: 00:11:34

I've met him.

236

: 00:11:34

I've met him a couple of times.

237

: 00:11:35

Actually funny story since we're

talking about stories I got

238

: 00:11:38

one of his books and I lost it.

239

: 00:11:42

So I sent him a letter.

240

: 00:11:44

saying I was at this event that

he was at and I had gotten one

241

: 00:11:47

of his books and I lost the book.

242

: 00:11:49

He sent me a free one, mailed me a

free one with his signature on it.

243

: 00:11:54

I still have it, and it was

like, that's a cool dude.

244

: 00:11:59

Stephen Steers: I love that guy and

I think one thing I've been doing

245

: 00:12:02

with my sales journey is just going

back, even closer to source material.

246

: 00:12:06

Freddy D: Yep.

247

: 00:12:07

Stephen Steers: I follow a guy

named Patrick BeDavid, he says

248

: 00:12:09

he learned from Tom Hopkins.

249

: 00:12:10

So I never heard this guy.

250

: 00:12:12

Freddy D: I know patrick.

251

: 00:12:13

Stephen Steers: So I was like,

Oh who's this Tom Hopkins guy.

252

: 00:12:15

I look up Tom Hopkins.

253

: 00:12:16

I read a couple of his books.

254

: 00:12:17

He mentions like Dick Gardner and

P E Can't remember the other guy's

255

: 00:12:21

name right now, but he mentioned

all these other folks and I go

256

: 00:12:23

and get their books and I read.

257

: 00:12:25

And I think what's really important

about that for me is once you can find

258

: 00:12:29

those threads before there were gurus.

259

: 00:12:32

But before this was a big

thing, it was like super niche.

260

: 00:12:35

It was like, these guys were out here

testing all of these phrases, these

261

: 00:12:38

words, these scripts, and the building,

these stories, and that just makes

262

: 00:12:43

the methodology that much stickier.

263

: 00:12:45

So I love that.

264

: 00:12:45

But I mentioned Tom Hopkins specifically

on your point there, because.

265

: 00:12:49

He says, if the prospect

says it, it's true.

266

: 00:12:53

So everything that you've worked

with them on the board, it's

267

: 00:12:56

like, here's what you said.

268

: 00:12:57

And what I love about that

is it unlocks urgency.

269

: 00:13:02

And I think where a lot of folks get

it wrong in sales is they want to

270

: 00:13:04

establish urgency, which you can't,

they have to feel it themselves.

271

: 00:13:09

And you have to be able to come up

272

: 00:13:11

Freddy D: with that

whole mindset themselves.

273

: 00:13:13

Stephen Steers: Correct.

274

: 00:13:13

Freddy D: And that can be

buying, not you selling.

275

: 00:13:16

Stephen Steers: Exactly.

276

: 00:13:17

So sales is really about opening

doors and it's asking the right

277

: 00:13:20

questions that create the space

for you to help them build a story.

278

: 00:13:24

So why do you tell a story?

279

: 00:13:26

The whole point of telling a

story is to better help your

280

: 00:13:29

prospect tell their own story.

281

: 00:13:30

And if you're doing that the right way,

like you do with outlining it on the

282

: 00:13:33

board, they're going to not be able to

see it any other way, except, you know

283

: 00:13:37

what, I got to do something about this.

284

: 00:13:39

And that way you are a partner with a

long term vision for their business and

285

: 00:13:43

that's how they become a superfan because

you've asked them the right questions.

286

: 00:13:47

Freddy D: I would go one other

step is ,they would have the guys

287

: 00:13:50

from the shop floor come in, they

would have management come in.

288

: 00:13:53

I made sure I got everybody's name.

289

: 00:13:56

Then I sent them all a thank you letter

through the mail that said, okay,

290

: 00:14:01

Stephen, thank you for your time.

291

: 00:14:02

I appreciate your input

in today's meeting.

292

: 00:14:04

Hope you got a lot out of it, et cetera.

293

: 00:14:06

We look forward to working with

your company, blah, blah, blah,

294

: 00:14:09

but everybody got a letter tweaked

a little bit for each individual.

295

: 00:14:13

We would win the sale and I would ask

what was the decision that helped,

296

: 00:14:18

finalize everything and go with us.

297

: 00:14:21

The answer always was we felt

after the sale you would provide

298

: 00:14:25

us with the best support.

299

: 00:14:27

Stephen Steers: Yes.

300

: 00:14:27

Freddy D: That was really the seed

was planted with the thank you because

301

: 00:14:31

Johnny in a shop floor, nobody ever

acknowledges Johnny, and for him to get

302

: 00:14:35

a letter that says, thank you so much

for your time and participation in our

303

: 00:14:39

meet, that when they had a meeting to

discuss which vendor they were going

304

: 00:14:42

with , he'd say, I like these guys.

305

: 00:14:44

Stephen Steers: That's how

I got my first sales job.

306

: 00:14:45

I interviewed.

307

: 00:14:46

I sent every single person I talked

to a personalized handwritten

308

: 00:14:50

thank you note in the mail with

a piece of candy or something.

309

: 00:14:53

And then I'm remembering one of the

larger software deals I sold with Gartner.

310

: 00:14:58

I'll give you the quick story on that one.

311

: 00:14:59

That one's a fun one.

312

: 00:15:00

So when I was working at the software

company, I was on the phone with Gartner

313

: 00:15:04

and I started that deal when I was in SDR.

314

: 00:15:07

So I met them at an event, I

qualified them, they went dead.

315

: 00:15:10

I got promoted in that time.

316

: 00:15:12

And the whole sales cycle took 524 days

from qualified opportunity to close.

317

: 00:15:18

So it was a slog, right?

318

: 00:15:20

My first six figure deal for business

lines of Gartner, which felt great when

319

: 00:15:24

it closed, but it was a slog on the

way, but we get back into conversations

320

: 00:15:28

after maybe a year of me nurturing them.

321

: 00:15:31

And there are big companies,

so they move really slow.

322

: 00:15:33

And they said, Hey we want

to test this software out.

323

: 00:15:35

Can you give us a license

for a month to play with?

324

: 00:15:38

So I go to my manager and I was

like, Hey, they're looking for this.

325

: 00:15:41

We might lose the deal if they can't

do this because it's competitive.

326

: 00:15:43

And he's we can't do that.

327

: 00:15:45

You got to find another way.

328

: 00:15:46

So thought about it.

329

: 00:15:47

And I was like, Hey, I'll be

down in DC on such and such date.

330

: 00:15:52

If you guys want, I can come in and

bring anybody you wanted to the meeting.

331

: 00:15:56

And we could play around

with the platform.

332

: 00:15:57

You can ask me all the questions you want.

333

: 00:15:59

That'll be better than you just

figuring it out on your own.

334

: 00:16:01

And they're like, yeah, come do that.

335

: 00:16:03

So booked a two hour, three

hour meeting with them.

336

: 00:16:06

They invited maybe like 30, 40 people.

337

: 00:16:09

And I'm also a scrum master.

338

: 00:16:10

So I'm super curious

about how you build tech.

339

: 00:16:13

So I would always join the early

morning scrums with the tech team.

340

: 00:16:17

I'd come in early and just sit

with them because I want to know

341

: 00:16:19

about how this product's built.

342

: 00:16:20

If I'm selling it, I love to be able

to say, actually, no, that's not a

343

: 00:16:23

feature on our roadmap because of X,

Y, and Z, or that's going to take this.

344

: 00:16:27

And those guys appreciated it.

345

: 00:16:28

So I made friends with

a guy named Dimitri and.

346

: 00:16:32

He was the sales engineer.

347

: 00:16:34

So he would assist on sales

if we needed certain things.

348

: 00:16:36

So I said, Dimitri, I'm going

down for this big meeting.

349

: 00:16:39

Can you be available for

30 minutes after this time?

350

: 00:16:42

And he's yep, I got you, Steven.

351

: 00:16:44

No problem.

352

: 00:16:45

So we go through the meeting.

353

: 00:16:46

And I make sure to mention, I said,

Hey if there's some technology

354

: 00:16:49

related questions I can't answer,

I have Dimitri standing by.

355

: 00:16:53

From a five to five 30 when we'll

call him with any questions.

356

: 00:16:56

I can't answer, go through.

357

: 00:16:57

There's only two questions.

358

: 00:16:58

I can't answer, call up Dimitri at

five picks up on the second ring.

359

: 00:17:03

Hey, what's up, Steven?

360

: 00:17:03

How you doing?

361

: 00:17:04

And I said, Hey, I'm here

with X, Y, Z, his name.

362

: 00:17:07

They have a couple of questions for you.

363

: 00:17:09

They run through Dimitri

answers them flawlessly.

364

: 00:17:11

We'll call him.

365

: 00:17:11

We hang up with Dimitri and then it's

me and my main contact and I said,

366

: 00:17:15

Hey, what did you, how did it go today?

367

: 00:17:16

What did you think?

368

: 00:17:17

Any feedback?

369

: 00:17:17

He's Oh, I think very good.

370

: 00:17:18

We're going to have

some things to consider.

371

: 00:17:20

We're going to get back to you and stuff.

372

: 00:17:21

I was like, great.

373

: 00:17:22

That makes sense and I said,

just to clarify, this is a

374

: 00:17:25

competitive situation, right?

375

: 00:17:27

You're looking at our competitors,

our top two or three, and

376

: 00:17:29

they're like, yep, absolutely.

377

: 00:17:30

We are.

378

: 00:17:30

And I said, Hey, at the end of the

day, whoever you choose, they're

379

: 00:17:34

going to have a great product

that's going to serve your needs.

380

: 00:17:37

But we're going to come down and

see ya and Dimitri is available

381

: 00:17:40

on the line if you have questions.

382

: 00:17:42

And I saw his eyes flicker and

I was like, I know I got it.

383

: 00:17:46

And of course I won the deal.

384

: 00:17:47

It came in Christmas Eve that year,

which was a fun one, but I'd certainly

385

: 00:17:50

echo with you that personal touch, that

taking the time, that showing who you

386

: 00:17:55

are before there's a dollar exchanged

is the thing that most salespeople,

387

: 00:18:00

most organizations don't bother doing.

388

: 00:18:03

And so I think it's actually

pretty easy to build those fans.

389

: 00:18:05

If you just think about the

other person a little bit more.

390

: 00:18:07

Freddy D: You remind me of a similar kind

of a story, but a little bit different.

391

: 00:18:12

Again, selling in the manufacturing

space, I had a reseller in Germany and we

392

: 00:18:17

did a presentation to a Bosch location.

393

: 00:18:19

They really liked the technology.

394

: 00:18:20

The tagline I came up with was machining

intelligence and, decades later, now

395

: 00:18:25

we've got artificial intelligence,

but it was a relational database to

396

: 00:18:29

add some smarts based upon geometric

shapes it would automatically create

397

: 00:18:33

toolpaths and stuff like that.

398

: 00:18:34

So it was state of the art stuff

and this division of Bosch was

399

: 00:18:39

interested and they liked it but they

didn't have the authority to buy it.

400

: 00:18:43

It had to be done by corporate.

401

: 00:18:45

So I flew back to the United

States, my reseller set up

402

: 00:18:49

an appointment at corporate.

403

: 00:18:50

So now I'm flying back out and this is

only a 10, 000 sale cause they're only

404

: 00:18:55

going to buy one license initially.

405

: 00:18:56

We're in corporate and we're

doing the demo and the software

406

: 00:19:00

crashes and, how fun that is.

407

: 00:19:03

So it came up to lunchtime

and they invited us to lunch.

408

: 00:19:07

I says, no, I was in charge of

global sales at the time and I

409

: 00:19:11

said we're going to talk our tech

team and find out what's going on.

410

: 00:19:14

We call and we find out

it's a repeatable bug.

411

: 00:19:17

During lunchtime we could

repeat it multiple times.

412

: 00:19:19

Once everyone returned from lunch

I said, first off, we found a

413

: 00:19:23

softer bug and we can repeat it.

414

: 00:19:26

We showed the bug and the softer crashes.

415

: 00:19:28

Came clean , we have an issue.

416

: 00:19:30

We identified it, we'll take care of it.

417

: 00:19:32

But I also noticed that throughout

the whole presentation, because

418

: 00:19:35

this is brand new technology, some

artificial intelligence in the

419

: 00:19:39

machining, some of the eyes were

glassed over, because they didn't

420

: 00:19:43

understand it, we were going too fast.

421

: 00:19:45

So I says, you know what, we're going

to restart this whole presentation

422

: 00:19:48

all over and go step by step and

make sure that you understand it.

423

: 00:19:53

That whole afternoon, there was a

transformation, because they were more

424

: 00:19:58

interested now, because one, we came

clean, who usually comes clean saying

425

: 00:20:03

that we have a software bug, usually

you try to hide it, we admitted it,

426

: 00:20:08

hey, it's software, there's going to be

some challenges, and we went through,

427

: 00:20:13

and all of a sudden the dynamics of the

room changed because, I acknowledged

428

: 00:20:19

and recognized that they were being

glossed over and they were not paying

429

: 00:20:23

attention anymore because they weren't

understanding what was going on.

430

: 00:20:27

The fact that I recognized it and

started the whole thing over by the

431

: 00:20:31

end of the day, everybody was happy.

432

: 00:20:34

They were thanking us, smiles

and conversation and we got

433

: 00:20:39

the order a few weeks later.

434

: 00:20:43

I remember the owner of the

company tells me , you've spent

435

: 00:20:46

more money than we made on this.

436

: 00:20:47

I replied you don't

understand the big picture.

437

: 00:20:50

We got Bosch.

438

: 00:20:51

Stephen Steers: Yeah.

439

: 00:20:54

We're in.

440

: 00:20:54

Freddy D: Yeah.

441

: 00:20:55

Now we can go market to all

the suppliers of Bosch and say,

442

: 00:21:00

Bosch is using this technology.

443

: 00:21:02

Maybe you guys should look at it.

444

: 00:21:03

That's exactly what happened.

445

: 00:21:04

Stephen Steers: Exactly what happened.

446

: 00:21:05

Yeah.

447

: 00:21:06

I can't see the forest for

the trees a lot of people.

448

: 00:21:08

That's great.

449

: 00:21:09

Congratulations on that, man.

450

: 00:21:10

The principles always apply, right?

451

: 00:21:12

Like the same there's a quote I love.

452

: 00:21:14

It says we need to be reminded

more than we need to be taught.

453

: 00:21:17

I think that's part and parlance why

sales training is so important because a

454

: 00:21:21

lot of people just tend to forget small

things, but also the stuff that worked in

455

: 00:21:24

the old school way with being in a room

with people being a person of integrity.

456

: 00:21:28

Walking people through things, admitting

your mistakes and sharing that value.

457

: 00:21:32

That's the game.

458

: 00:21:33

That is the entire game of sales.

459

: 00:21:35

And I think a lot of people

forget it's still the same.

460

: 00:21:37

It hasn't changed.

461

: 00:21:38

Has not changed.

462

: 00:21:39

Freddy D: Yeah.

463

: 00:21:40

Stephen Steers: People solving

humans solving human problems

464

: 00:21:42

in a business context.

465

: 00:21:43

It hasn't changed.

466

: 00:21:44

Freddy D: Nope.

467

: 00:21:44

I would always, when we would do a

presentation, I would go around the room

468

: 00:21:48

before we even started and say, Stephen,

what's your objective on today's meeting?

469

: 00:21:52

What are you looking to get out of it?

470

: 00:21:54

And then you circle back and

says, okay, did we address

471

: 00:21:57

what you're looking out of it?

472

: 00:21:59

So it's either a yes or no and if

it's a no, you go back and clarify

473

: 00:22:02

whatever, till it becomes a yes.

474

: 00:22:04

. But if it's a yes, then

that's a first by sign too.

475

: 00:22:08

Stephen Steers: Yes.

476

: 00:22:08

Oh, I love it, man.

477

: 00:22:09

When it works and the strategies are

aligned, man it's a beautiful blast.

478

: 00:22:13

It's such a blast

479

: 00:22:14

Freddy D: I try not to smile sometimes

in those events because I know

480

: 00:22:18

what's happening, and you just got to

481

: 00:22:21

Stephen Steers: A blue steel face,

482

: 00:22:22

Freddy D: Yes . It's just a

domino effect, and yeah it's fun.

483

: 00:22:27

I love it.

484

: 00:22:28

Stephen Steers: What is your

favorite part about sales?

485

: 00:22:30

Freddy D: My favorite part about sales.

486

: 00:22:32

It's an excellent question is when

everybody's happy that they made the

487

: 00:22:37

right decision, when they're excited

that they bought it and they're

488

: 00:22:42

excited to utilize the service.

489

: 00:22:45

So as an example, I landed a

very large government agency.

490

: 00:22:48

The story was they wanted a partner

that could deliver, that would

491

: 00:22:54

be there if they had any issues.

492

: 00:22:57

We've been there whenever

they've had any issues which is

493

: 00:23:00

infrequent and they're my superfan.

494

: 00:23:02

Usually we have a monthly meeting and

we spend maybe five minutes on business

495

: 00:23:08

and 15 minutes on personal stuff.

496

: 00:23:10

Stephen Steers: Real friends.

497

: 00:23:11

Yeah.

498

: 00:23:12

What about you?

499

: 00:23:13

Stephen Steers: There's a couple of

things, but I think, I echo what you

500

: 00:23:17

said, but I think it's the person you

have to become when you're selling

501

: 00:23:20

and you're selling with integrity.

502

: 00:23:22

I think that's it's knowing

what tasks you need to complete.

503

: 00:23:25

It's following up with people and

it's just being the person that

504

: 00:23:30

is resilient when things go wrong

and knowing how to handle it.

505

: 00:23:32

And I think like just being resourceful,

I think that sales is one of the only

506

: 00:23:38

things that I don't want to say forces

is the right word, but I'm going to say

507

: 00:23:42

forces you to have to be resourceful

with the way you interact with people,

508

: 00:23:45

the way you garner resources, how you

make your arguments for certain things

509

: 00:23:49

and how you help people see stuff.

510

: 00:23:51

I think it incorporates

every part of your brain.

511

: 00:23:53

And that's my favorite part about it.

512

: 00:23:55

Freddy D: I agree because like my story

with Bosch, I had to pivot and make

513

: 00:24:01

some adjustments, in a small window

of time, lunchtime, and that was it.

514

: 00:24:07

I had to regroup and turn this

thing around because it was

515

: 00:24:10

going south, it was tanking.

516

: 00:24:14

So it's also being observant and

watching body language, watching how

517

: 00:24:21

people are reacting to what's going on.

518

: 00:24:23

You've got to be on game.

519

: 00:24:25

Stephen Steers: You have to be the person

the room needs and be able to move the

520

: 00:24:27

room if you need to move the room, and

yeah, it's just, there's nothing like it.

521

: 00:24:32

I don't think there's any

profession that requires that much

522

: 00:24:34

of people to be on, that's fun.

523

: 00:24:37

Freddy D: I'd like to have another

show to really deep dive into phone

524

: 00:24:41

conversations, because that's your

specialty which can be very beneficial

525

: 00:24:45

to our audience, as people overlook

the importance of phone sales, and you

526

: 00:24:49

have to really establish a relationship

with somebody that you can't see.

527

: 00:24:54

Stephen Steers: Yes.

528

: 00:24:55

Freddy D: It's creating a superfan

out of that person over the

529

: 00:24:57

phone, and that takes an art.

530

: 00:25:00

Stephen Steers: It is.

531

: 00:25:00

But I'd say it's the biggest

thing you can do there is just

532

: 00:25:03

do your research on people before

you get on the phone with them.

533

: 00:25:06

And that's something I don't see

people do enough of spend 10 minutes.

534

: 00:25:10

Study their company, study the person's

LinkedIn profile, see what they're about,

535

: 00:25:14

be able to talk to them and come with a

potential solution for them before they

536

: 00:25:18

even get on the phone to show you're

like, Hey, it looks like you're doing

537

: 00:25:20

X folks that typically do X who we

work with are usually experiencing Z.

538

: 00:25:24

Is that consistent with you?

539

: 00:25:26

Yes.

540

: 00:25:27

I have some ideas, right?

541

: 00:25:29

Okay.

542

: 00:25:29

Just do your job

543

: 00:25:31

Freddy D: And learn personality types.

544

: 00:25:34

That's another one that we can

have a long conversation on because

545

: 00:25:38

you, you take a soft personality

versus a driver personality.

546

: 00:25:43

Someone that makes things

happen, they're oil and water.

547

: 00:25:46

Stephen Steers: Do you prefer the Brian

Tracy or are you doing Myers Briggs?

548

: 00:25:49

What personality tests do you like?

549

: 00:25:51

Freddy D: I don't remember the name

of it, but it was basically, there

550

: 00:25:54

was four quadrants and there was four

quadrants within those four quadrants.

551

: 00:25:57

So you had driver, expressive,

amiable, and analytical, and

552

: 00:26:02

then you get the same squares.

553

: 00:26:03

into each group.

554

: 00:26:05

Because everybody has a secondary

aspect, and this is way back when

555

: 00:26:09

they first started doing that stuff.

556

: 00:26:12

And it's a lot of fun because

if personality types and you can

557

: 00:26:15

tweak yourself and share the story

to their tonality that they need

558

: 00:26:21

you shortcut the whole process.

559

: 00:26:22

Stephen Steers: Yes.

560

: 00:26:23

Yes.

561

: 00:26:25

It's a beautiful game.

562

: 00:26:26

It's a beautiful science.

563

: 00:26:27

Freddy D: All right, Stephen, so

how can people get ahold of you?

564

: 00:26:30

Stephen Steers: I'm easy to find.

565

: 00:26:31

I'm on all your social medias at

Stephen with a p h s t e p h e

566

: 00:26:35

n steers s t e r s underscore.

567

: 00:26:38

I would love to say hi

to you and he meet you.

568

: 00:26:40

LinkedIn is probably where

you'll find me the most.

569

: 00:26:43

If you like any resources about

storytelling, about call scripts

570

: 00:26:47

Or if you even want me to review

one of your calls, you can find

571

: 00:26:51

information on that at stephensteers.

572

: 00:26:53

com slash podcast, where I'll have every

bit of information for you there and

573

: 00:26:57

plenty of things to download that you

can use and put in your business today.

574

: 00:27:01

Freddy D: Excellent.

575

: 00:27:02

Stephen, it was a pleasure having

you on a business super fan podcast.

576

: 00:27:05

Great conversation.

577

: 00:27:06

And to all our listeners,

thank you much for listening.

578

: 00:27:09

And let's go out there and

become superfan superstars.

579

: 00:27:14

Stephen Steers: Thank you for having me.