Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Steven Davies and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Steven Davies and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

0:17
Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
0:20
Connections. I'm your host, Michael Foreman,
0:24
and today we're pulling back the curtain on one
0:27
of the most overlooked truths in business. People
0:30
don't just buy what you sell, they buy why they
0:34
should buy it from you. My guest knows that sales
0:39
training isn't about fancy scripts or closing
0:43
tricks. It's about understanding people, building
0:46
trust, and creating lasting connections that
0:50
drive real growth. We're also digging into the
0:53
power of the pivot, why shifting your strategy
0:57
at the right time can be the difference between
1:00
thriving and just surviving. This is going to
1:03
be a conversation packed with clarity, strategy,
1:07
and action. So let's dive in. I'd like to welcome
1:11
to the podcast today, Stephen Davies. I would
1:14
really like to explain what he does, but I'm
1:18
going to let him explain it because he'll do
1:20
such a much better job than I will. Stephen,
1:23
welcome to the podcast. And why don't you give
1:26
us a little bit about your background? Thank
1:28
you, Michael. It's an absolute pleasure to be
1:29
here. And congratulations on your 100th podcast.
1:32
That is absolutely fantastic. Well done. Thank
1:35
you. Sales Geek. Sales Geek is a franchise network
1:38
of, what's the best way of describing it, ex
1:41
-VPs of sales, ex -sales directors, entrepreneurs,
1:45
everybody that's lived a big corporate life.
1:49
And now we work with smaller businesses and help
1:53
them with their sales training. We mentor people.
1:56
We work as fractional sales directors. We go
1:59
into businesses and instead of them having to
2:01
employ very expensive sales directors, we do
2:03
it on a fractional basis. I've been myself an
2:07
ex -VP of sales for a while now. I worked in
2:10
corporate sales in technology, in logistics.
2:16
I've run my own telecoms company, so I'm well
2:18
-versed in all aspects of sales. Okay, that's
2:24
great. Do you want to tell me a little bit about
2:26
how you got here from wherever you were in corporate?
2:31
What made that decision for you? Great question.
2:37
Corporate sales is a lot of fun. The strategizing
2:40
behind it is a lot of fun. But once you reach
2:43
a certain level in corporate sales, you spend
2:45
a lot of time managing upwards, which means you
2:48
step away from actually being with a sales team.
2:52
And I've always helped out my friends and my
2:55
neighbors with their smaller businesses, but
2:58
always on an unofficial basis. And at some point,
3:02
especially when I moved over here, I figured,
3:05
you know what, corporate sales was fun. It was
3:08
fun where I lived in Europe, spent a lot of time
3:10
in Washington and New York. But maybe my talents
3:14
lie elsewhere now. Maybe I can really drill down
3:18
into helping the smaller businesses using the
3:21
experience I've got to actually push out and
3:23
expand themselves. Okay. All right. So that gives
3:27
us a little better of an understanding about
3:29
where you came from. But let's go right into
3:32
the questions. I'm going to ask you a little
3:35
about understanding the buyer's mentality. Why
3:39
is it so important for businesses to truly understand
3:42
why people buy from them and how does it connect
3:46
to building stronger networks? Okay, so I'm going
3:51
to bring up the Cracker Barrel example because
3:54
that's my favorite. Cracker Barrel knew who was
4:00
buying from them. They knew where. people were
4:03
buying from them they knew when they had all
4:06
of this data what they didn't recognize was why
4:10
people were buying from them and because they
4:13
didn't recognize that when they made the changes
4:16
that they did it all went wrong now there are
4:19
other issues behind that but the fact remains
4:22
they had no idea why the vast majority of people
4:25
that are going to crack a barrel were actually
4:27
going there And you can pull that back to every
4:31
single business. If they don't understand why
4:34
their customers are buying from them, it's very
4:36
easy for them to head off in the wrong direction,
4:39
to advertise in the wrong place, to push the
4:43
wrong buttons, if you like, for their customers.
4:46
So I think in terms of bringing it back to networking,
4:50
when you're standing up there and talking about
4:53
your business to all of these people who you
4:56
would hope will refer their customers and their
4:59
friends to you. If you don't know why people
5:02
are buying from you, that's never going to work.
5:06
That's true. That's true. And would you say that
5:08
Cracker Barrel falls into the category of, if
5:13
it's not broken, don't fix it? No, because it
5:17
was broken. If you go back and look at their
5:20
share price and you look at their sales were
5:22
dropping off, they had to do something. I think
5:27
with Cracker Barrel Safe, I have the mantra of
5:31
evolution, not revolution, when it comes to sales
5:34
and when it comes to marketing. It's the same
5:37
with car companies. You never see very many car
5:39
companies going from one design straight to something
5:42
that's completely different. It puts customers
5:44
off. If they're used to one thing, you can change
5:47
it slowly over time. And if you look at cars,
5:49
you can see the evolution. But with Cracker Barrel,
5:53
that's not what they did. They went... From here
5:56
to here, and everybody went, whoa, hold on, this
5:59
is too fast. Most people don't like change. And
6:02
if you change things that, especially if they
6:04
go in there for comfort, that's never going to
6:07
work. You're right on, right on. Okay, let's
6:11
go a little bit beyond the close then. You've
6:14
said sales training isn't just about closing
6:17
deals. How should professionals shift their focus
6:21
when it comes to building relationships? that
6:24
lead to sales? I love that question. And I love
6:30
that question because I have a bugbear and my
6:33
bugbear is AI. I think what's happening, people
6:39
buy authenticity. People buy, it's a cliche,
6:43
but people do buy from people. And more and more,
6:47
there's a massive disconnect between how people
6:51
are presenting themselves online in networking
6:54
events, and who they actually are. Because they're
6:58
asking AI to write their scripts, they write
7:00
their elevator pitches, and that's not you. And
7:05
what's happening is that everybody is starting
7:07
to sound the same. If you can't get away from
7:10
that, then who's buying who? What are you buying?
7:13
Who are you buying? Because you always buy a
7:16
person, not necessarily a product. You've seen
7:21
me in networking events, networking meetings,
7:24
and I truly, I'm behind you 100%. Authenticity
7:29
is what makes us different. Now, I use AI to
7:33
write articles and things like that, but for
7:36
networking events, it's all me. And listen, if
7:40
you don't like me, then I can't help that. Because
7:43
there's a mantra, know you, like you, trust you,
7:47
do business with you. Now, everybody knows you.
7:50
Hey, look, you're a great guy. Like you, that
7:53
now is the field down just a little bit because
7:56
not everybody's going to like you. But trust
7:59
you, that's a deciding factor because, like I
8:03
said, nobody will buy from you unless they trust
8:06
you and they won't trust you unless you're authentic.
8:10
Absolutely. Okay, so let's go into the sales
8:14
training a little bit. How can networking itself
8:18
be one of the most powerful sales training tools
8:21
a business has? How can networking be a sales
8:27
training tool? I love that question. Pushing
8:31
out. Yeah. When you go to a networking event,
8:34
you are forced to present yourself in a certain
8:40
way. You have to know your business. You have
8:44
to understand how to communicate the value points
8:48
of your business, not just to the people in the
8:50
room, but you're selling through them. So you
8:54
have to be really spot on in, okay, this is why
8:57
people buy from me. This is who I am. This is
9:00
what I do. This is why I do what I do. You have
9:02
to build that authenticity and that trust. From
9:07
a sales perspective, that is... probably the
9:11
best sales training you could come up with for
9:13
a lot of people. Most people are put off from
9:16
sales training because they see the clips online
9:18
of 200 people in a room, and you've got somebody
9:23
standing at the front, and they're big, and they're
9:26
bold, and you've got to close this, and you've
9:29
got to close this, and I want to see 100 deals
9:30
in the pipeline by this point. That's not relevant
9:33
to most people. They're never going to be in
9:36
that position where they're needing to push a
9:38
hard sale, especially small business owners and
9:40
networking events. What they're looking for is,
9:43
how do I present my business well? Now, listen,
9:49
I'm a firm believer. I use the pandemic as a
9:53
mark in time. Before the pandemic, things were
9:57
very transactional. networking was very transactional.
10:01
I've got a widget to sell. Oh, I've got $3. I'll
10:04
trade you and you build up a customer list. But
10:07
after the pandemic, for about five years now,
10:11
networking is more relational, relationship.
10:15
And it's because I feel that networking is the
10:21
base of all businesses. And as you said, you
10:26
have to really know your stuff. You have to be
10:28
authentic. And you have to sell what you were
10:31
saying through the person. Because you're not
10:34
just selling to those people. You're selling
10:38
to their network of people. So you really better
10:42
be spot on to what you're selling and what you're
10:44
saying if you want that to happen. Yeah, you're
10:48
dead right there, Michael. The big thing about
10:50
going to a networking event, especially... things
10:53
like the Chamber of Commerce or other closed
10:55
networking events, you've got maybe 30 or 40
10:58
people in the room. So if you go with the mindset
11:02
of, I'm going to sell to you, I want you to be
11:05
my customers, you might get maybe 10, depending
11:09
on the service or product you're selling. But
11:11
if you go with the mindset of, I want to educate
11:16
these people so they can then go out and sell
11:18
my product on my behalf. then you've got a massive
11:23
network that you can sell to. Absolutely, absolutely.
11:26
And I can't emphasize this enough because when
11:30
you're in, let's say, a chamber meeting, because
11:32
that's where we met, you're not selling to those
11:37
people exactly. You're selling to their network
11:41
of people. So you always have to keep that in
11:45
mind. And I'll get into the follow -up and everything
11:47
later on. It is so important for you to keep
11:52
that in mind that, oh, I just don't want to sell
11:55
to Stephen. I want to sell to Stephen's network.
11:59
And that network isn't just their customers.
12:01
That network is their family and friends. It's
12:05
every relationship they've got. Absolutely. Listen,
12:08
I'm the networking guy, right? And I always say
12:12
you network wherever you go. If you're online
12:14
at the grocery store or if you're online in a
12:18
department store and somebody's talking about
12:21
something in your field or not, you can turn
12:25
around, give your two cents as long as it's intelligent.
12:28
You can give your two cents and turn back around.
12:31
And if you did your job correctly, they're going
12:34
to tap you on the shoulder and say, what do you
12:36
mean by that? Or. That's right. But what about
12:39
this? And that starts the conversation. All you
12:42
have to do is start the conversation. And if
12:45
you're worth your salt, then it will go far.
12:49
Here's a great example of how the networking
12:51
works or how well it can work. So I had lunch
12:54
with a chiropractor in my network yesterday.
12:59
And I had my hair cut today. And the lady cutting
13:02
my hair was talking about the fact that she just
13:05
had a car accident. and she needed to go and
13:07
see a chiropractor. And she was talking about
13:11
some issues she had previously with a chiropractor.
13:13
And I mentioned something that the chiropractor
13:15
I met yesterday said. And she went, oh, is that?
13:20
And I went, yes, it is. And she said, the third
13:24
person has mentioned that chiropractor. I'm going
13:26
to go see them. It's that word of mouth. Absolutely.
13:32
The power of networking is how you do it. And
13:35
you're not pushing yourself on the person. You're
13:38
not pushing whoever you're trying to refer on
13:40
the person. But you're just saying a few facts,
13:44
a few good logical facts, and let it go where
13:48
it goes. So that's the perfect way. And listen,
13:52
I am known throughout the area as being a connector.
13:57
I like to connect to people just like you just
14:00
did. I like to connect two people together. This
14:03
person does. This person is in need of it. And
14:07
I'm away. I pushed away. I said, okay, look,
14:09
I put you two together. Go have it. Go have at
14:12
it. And you know what? It's a really good feeling.
14:15
It's a really good feeling. Yeah. Okay. And then
14:18
you get back into the reciprocal side of that
14:21
in that you give and people will give back to
14:24
you. Absolutely. When you network, you have what's
14:28
called a servant's heart. You're givers gain.
14:31
So when you go to a networking event, you look
14:33
to help everybody else. And by you referring
14:38
somebody else, and again, this falls into the
14:41
follow -up and everything else, but it takes
14:46
all the pressure off of you. You enjoy yourself.
14:49
And you say, look, I put these two people together.
14:51
Okay, that's great. And eventually they're going
14:54
to refer you. Okay. In your experience, how does
15:00
knowing when to pivot your strategy or tactics
15:03
directly impact the quality of your network and
15:07
business success? Pivoting someone's business
15:13
or pivoting your own business is something that
15:16
is very scary for a lot of people to do. They've
15:19
gone into their business with an idea of, this
15:24
is what I'm going to do. This is how I'm going
15:26
to do it. This is why I'm doing it. And there's
15:31
a lot of people have an ethos of I'm going to
15:36
stick by my principles, which is fine. But in
15:40
business, you have to recognize when something
15:43
either isn't working or not necessarily isn't
15:46
working, but is something better going to work
15:50
faster for me? Am I putting my efforts into the
15:54
wrong channel? That's a great example. The difference
15:57
between working through a channel, which is networking,
16:01
when you think about it, channel sales, you're
16:04
asking other people to sell your business for
16:06
you, albeit they get a financial reward for it.
16:09
But it's still the same thing. You have to get
16:11
somebody else to sell your business or whether
16:15
direct sales is best or whether internet sales
16:17
is best. Is it better to, do you have a business
16:20
where picking up the phone and talking to people
16:23
is the right way to sell your business? You have
16:27
to, as a business owner or as a sales team manager,
16:31
be able to look at your business and go, I'm
16:36
going to make the change. I can make the change.
16:39
And if I can't make the change, but I want to
16:41
make the change, who do I bring in to help me
16:43
make the change? Who do I ask? How do I ask for
16:46
help? That, of course, involves a mentor or somebody
16:52
else that can coach you or something. Listen,
16:55
I mentor. certain people already, but I am always
17:01
being mentored. I'm always being coached by somebody
17:04
else. So I'm being coached by somebody else yet.
17:08
I am mentoring. I think it's six people right
17:10
now. I'm coaching six people. So you know what?
17:14
You never stop learning. You never stop changing.
17:17
You never stop trying to do it better because
17:20
there's always a better way. There's always a
17:23
better way. Every day is a school day. Every
17:26
day is a school day. I try to learn something
17:28
every single day. Every day that I don't, I feel
17:32
like, oh, I didn't learn anything today. It was
17:35
almost like a wasted day because I feel that
17:38
people tend to call me a networking expert. And
17:43
I hate that term, expert, because that means
17:45
that you've learned everything. And I haven't.
17:49
And I'm always learning. So, yeah, I've been
17:53
known as a networking guru, how to make sales
17:56
stronger, everything else. But I am always learning,
18:00
always picking up something new. Okay. What role
18:05
does trust play in both networking and sales?
18:08
And how do you recommend people earn it instead
18:11
of just asking for it? Trust is. The most important
18:19
aspect of sales, unless you're selling a commodity
18:23
where it is price, people are only going to buy
18:29
you from you if they trust you. And people will
18:31
only trust you, as you said previously, if they
18:33
know you. You have to be authentic in sales.
18:37
You have to put yourself out there. And in many
18:39
cases, you have to step across a boundary where
18:43
you feel fear, especially in networking. that
18:47
in in many cases in networking you have to stand
18:50
up in front of 40 50 people and say your piece
18:55
and you have to be confident enough to do that
18:56
so people will look at you and go yeah okay i
19:00
understand that i get that but you also have
19:04
to make mistakes and you have to be comfortable
19:08
making those mistakes you have to be comfortable
19:10
being uncomfortable as my tennis coach used to
19:13
say all the time that's the authenticity of it
19:16
And that's where if you're standing up there
19:18
and you're reading from a sheet of paper that
19:19
is clearly an AI elevator pitch, where's the
19:23
authenticity? Where's that trust going to be
19:26
developed? Because if you're standing there talking
19:28
that way and you're not showing who you are,
19:31
when it comes to your business, people are going
19:33
to look at the business and go, am I seeing exactly
19:36
what the business is? If I'm not seeing who the
19:40
person is, what's the business? What's the product?
19:44
Absolutely. And as you're talking, as you're
19:47
speaking, I'm just thinking about my mentor and
19:51
what she said that what make mistakes, own the
19:56
mistakes, make fun of the mistakes and then move
20:00
on. If you own the mistake and you move on, they
20:04
can't say anything except that they know that
20:06
you're human. Yeah, that's that's such an important
20:09
point. We all make mistakes. We all stutter over
20:13
words. We all say the wrong words. We all forget
20:16
a sheet of paper every now and again. Everybody
20:18
does it. If you're comfortable doing that and
20:22
you just accept that everybody does it and I've
20:24
done it again, that's the authenticity that people
20:28
are looking for. You buy from a human. You buy
20:31
from someone that's like you. Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
20:35
Absolutely. I couldn't have said it better myself.
20:37
I couldn't have said it better. Okay. So. How
20:41
can professionals uncover the deeper motivations
20:44
of their buyers through networking conversations
20:47
rather than traditional sales pitches? That's
20:54
asking questions. Yes. As pure and simple as
20:59
that. Be curious. And if you don't treat your
21:06
network the people in your very close networking
21:10
group, as your customers. Treat them as peers.
21:16
Treat them as people you can ask questions to.
21:19
Hey, so I've got this new idea for a product.
21:22
What do you think? Do you know anybody that might
21:24
be interested in buying this? Why would that
21:27
be? Who do you think in your network wouldn't
21:31
buy this? Why do you think that would be? Ask
21:35
questions, be curious, be open. Absolutely. And
21:39
that was the best answer I can possibly think
21:43
of, because asking questions always is the right
21:48
idea. Anytime you want to get to know somebody
21:50
or whatever they're trying to sell or whether
21:53
they have, you are a problem solver. The only
21:58
way that you can get to the root of the problem
22:01
is to ask. questions about their problem once
22:06
you find out what their problem is then you can
22:09
solve it then you can solve it but those questions
22:12
very important i like to look at it so i have
22:15
a anybody that's had a sort of seven to ten year
22:19
old child think when they have a problem you
22:25
can't get to the root of that problem until you
22:28
ask questions and it's not a case of asking One
22:31
question and getting a straight answer. It's
22:33
the, what was school like? Fine. Okay. And then
22:39
you have to start drilling down. And that's a
22:41
great way of looking at, how do I ask questions
22:44
about my sales technique? How do I ask questions
22:47
about my product? How do I ask questions about
22:48
who I need to sell to, my customers? Think about
22:51
it like you're asking a child and you need to
22:53
pull that information from a child. That's a
22:57
very good way of thinking about it. I hadn't
23:00
thought about that until just now. And that is
23:04
a great way to think about how to pose your questions,
23:07
because the first question, you're not going
23:10
to get an answer. The second question, you're
23:12
not going to get an answer. You're not going
23:14
to get an answer or something around the answer
23:17
to the fifth, sixth or seventh question. So you're
23:20
literally pulling. the information out from them.
23:23
So yeah. So if you don't mind, I'm going to use
23:26
that from now on. Absolutely. Go for it. Okay.
23:30
What are the biggest mistakes businesses make
23:34
when it comes to networking for sales growth
23:37
and how can they avoid them? The biggest mistake
23:42
is selling to the room. Don't sell to the person
23:48
you're talking to. It's an immediate turnoff.
23:51
It's like opening the door. You open the front
23:54
door and there's someone standing there and they've
23:56
got a little bit of, they've got a t -shirt on
23:58
and it's so -and -so roofing or it's so -and
24:00
-so driveways or it's pressure washing. Your
24:03
heart just goes, and you immediately go on the
24:09
defensive. You're not, you feel you're being
24:12
sold to. And as a salesperson, it's completely
24:19
the wrong way of doing it. Absolutely, these
24:23
companies make money. There's no question about
24:25
that. But from a sales perspective in a networking
24:30
event, it's the last thing you want. What you're
24:33
going to start seeing if you go straight in with
24:36
that mindset of I'm going to sell to you is people
24:39
looking around straight away, looking for an
24:42
escape route. That's not the way to do it. Again,
24:46
that's not building trust. you're immediately
24:50
asking someone to put a wall up. Absolutely.
24:52
And one of the things that I say in my workshops,
24:56
my presentations, is people love to buy, but
25:00
they hate to be sold to. And you always have
25:04
to have that mentality when you talk with anybody.
25:07
I tell everybody, I say, look, when you just
25:09
meet somebody or you go to a networking event
25:12
or meeting with somebody one -on -one, it doesn't
25:14
make a difference. Never talk business the first
25:17
10 minutes. Never talk about anything. I use
25:20
something called F -O -R -M. Family, occupation,
25:25
recreation, and a message. Pick any one of the
25:30
above. Family, sister, brother, husband, wife,
25:34
son, daughter. It doesn't make a difference.
25:36
Youth sports, big one if they have children.
25:40
Listen, I was a baseball coach for 16 years.
25:44
I was an umpire for three more years. So you
25:47
want to talk about youth baseball? I'll talk
25:49
about till your ears fall off. But you're talking
25:52
about everything but business and what's happening.
25:56
Now, everybody has a wall in front of them. And
26:00
that wall is slowly coming down. And that trust
26:04
factor is going up. So the more they're talking,
26:08
because people love to talk about themselves.
26:10
They'll talk about themselves till they're blue
26:11
in the face. But you're talking to them, they
26:15
feel more comfortable with you when you can start
26:18
to sneak in those questions, but never come out
26:22
and start with it. Okay. How do you help professionals
26:27
shift their mindset from viewing sales as a transaction
26:32
to viewing it as a relationship? building process
26:36
this goes right along with what we're talking
26:39
about yeah that becomes a thing of longevity
26:43
a business that is going out to sell will sell
26:48
to a certain point but then what where do you
26:53
go from there you've got no long -term relationships
26:56
with people you're not selling through people
26:59
because you're selling transactionally you're
27:01
selling a commodity you're in a race to the bottom.
27:06
Because selling like that is always going to
27:08
come down to cost. And unless that's your business,
27:12
your mantra, if you like, is I'm going to be
27:15
the lowest common denominator, you're going to
27:19
run up against problems again and again. Explaining
27:24
to a business person, okay, this is great now.
27:29
Where are you going to be in three years if you
27:33
stick with that model? Where's the market going
27:35
to go? How big is the market? How do you expand?
27:40
How do you get other people to sell what you're
27:43
selling if you're at the lowest common denominator
27:45
and just selling transactionally? It's about
27:48
an education process of look to the future. That's
27:53
absolutely right. And listen, this all goes back
27:56
to what we've been talking about at the beginning,
27:58
the relationship building process. It's not transactional
28:03
anymore. It's relationship building. And really,
28:07
the more you can do that, the better. I used
28:10
to be in the mortgage industry and I used to
28:13
go to networking events because mortgage people
28:15
love networking events. I used to come home with
28:18
a shoebox filled with business cards and say,
28:21
look how good I did. When what? I didn't do well
28:25
at all. I did not. So now if I get 15 or 20 business
28:30
cards in a three -hour event. I'm fine because
28:34
I built that relationship with each of those
28:37
people. I would rather have three exceptionally
28:41
good conversations in a room full of 50 people
28:45
than come home with 20 business cards. Absolutely.
28:50
I'm behind you 100%. 100%. Okay. Can networking
28:55
itself reveal when it's time to pivot in business?
28:59
And if so... How does it happen? Yes, it can.
29:09
And it can because if you're listening and asking
29:13
the right questions in your networking event,
29:16
you're going to understand the market. Somebody
29:20
will mention, oh, so yeah, you do that. I know
29:25
a company that used to do that, but now they're
29:27
doing this. Great example of this. pressure washing
29:32
companies so pressure washing companies they
29:37
go out and they pressure wash the house and they
29:39
pressure wash the the driveway and they do all
29:42
these things seasonally all of a sudden you've
29:48
got an opportunity there because it's christmas
29:51
and what have you got you've got ladders And
29:55
you've got lots of ladders. And you've got crews
29:57
going around. And what are people looking to
29:58
do? They're looking to get up on their roof and
30:00
they're looking to put their lights up. Once
30:04
you see someone else talking about doing that
30:07
in a networking event, if you're a pressure washing
30:09
company, if you're a window cleaner, ah, okay,
30:14
now I get that. I can do that. And that's a really
30:17
simple pivot in a very short period of time.
30:21
That's not a permanent pivot, but it's a... definite
30:24
extra arrow to the bow or string to the bow absolutely
30:29
and that's a very good example by the way because
30:31
i can think of two pressure washing companies
30:34
now that just made that pivot so you're right
30:38
on target okay so let's bring this podcast full
30:42
circle and kind of talk looking into the future
30:46
a little bit looking ahead What skills or strategies
30:51
do you believe every business leader must adopt
30:54
to connect, sell, and stay profitable in a rapidly
30:59
changing market? They need to understand where
31:07
their market is going. Not look around and go,
31:12
what's the stock market doing? Not look around
31:14
and go, where's the economy going? You have to
31:16
be aware of those things. But your individual
31:20
market, who are you selling to? Who are your
31:22
customers? Why? And it comes back to why are
31:26
your customers buying from you? Are they buying?
31:29
And I love using the mantra, cure. Why are they
31:34
buying? C, convenience. Perhaps. U, uniqueness.
31:41
Are they buying that? Relationships or expense
31:45
or cost? If you can understand which one of those
31:48
your customers are buying, the reasoning they're
31:52
buying from you, then you're able to look at
31:56
your market better and understand why your customers
32:00
are or are not going to buy. You need to protect
32:04
yourself by understanding your market and your
32:07
business, not necessarily just the wider market.
32:12
Absolutely. And I just had a client. He said
32:15
that what he has to offer, five other people
32:19
are offering the same exact thing for just about
32:23
the same price. How can he be different? I said,
32:28
well, the difference is very simple. It's you.
32:31
You have to make yourself different. You have
32:34
to make yourself more accessible. Let me go back
32:40
a little bit, okay? When you're first meeting
32:43
these people on LinkedIn and they immediately
32:46
say, I've got this to sell and I've got this
32:49
to sell. Why is that a turnoff? Because there's
32:54
no relationship. So if you bring a little value
32:58
to that relationship, the first time, the second
33:02
time, the third time, That you made the connection
33:05
and you're bringing them value. Now you've just
33:09
made yourself above everybody else. So you have
33:14
created that relationship. So it was very good.
33:17
It's the standing up and saying, what makes you
33:22
different? I value my customers. Well, I talk
33:24
to my customers. That's not unique. Show me how
33:29
you're going to do that. And that's where the
33:31
value of networking comes in because you're able
33:34
to, as you do, join people together. You bring
33:36
something to the table and you give that to somebody,
33:39
then someone is more likely to give something
33:42
back to you. That's it. That's it in a nutshell.
33:46
Spoken, you said that very well. Stephen, I have
33:50
to tell you. This was a great podcast. And if
33:53
they wanted to get hold of you, have Sales Geek
33:57
come into their office and either have a fractional
34:00
sales director or not, or just talk to you about
34:03
being coached, how can they get hold of you?
34:06
Very simple. My email address is steve, S -T
34:11
-E -V -E, at salesgeekcsg .com. And my phone
34:16
number is 404 -989 - 7189. And I'll be happy
34:23
to talk to everybody about networking and sales.
34:27
That's great. Steve, thank you so much for coming
34:29
on the podcast. You're a great guest. Thank you,
34:33
Michael. I really appreciate it. It's great fun.
34:35
Hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's hear
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connections for you. You can contact Henry at
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561 -427 -4888. All right, folks. A huge thank
35:32
you to our guests for sharing such incredible
35:34
insights today. And of course, a big shout out
35:37
to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
35:41
and spending your time with us. If you're interested
35:43
in my digital courses, being coached or having
35:47
me come and talk to your company, just go to
35:50
Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
35:54
networking isn't about being perfect. It's about
35:57
being present. So take what you've learned today.
36:00
get out there, and make some meaningful connections.
36:03
If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't
36:06
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36:10
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36:12
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36:15
You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube,
36:20
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