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Hey everybody. Week two of Showbiz Blueprint and welcome. Today we’re talking about connection and relationships because that my friends is the new economy. Today we leave the world of selling and we enter the world of connecting, a completely different paradigm. A man who I love following, Seth Godin, says “All media is now optional. No one is going to look at your Tweet or open your junk mail unless they want to. The mass market is no longer important. The edges are what’s most important. The only work that matters is the work that matters.” Isn’t that something else? “Just because it’s important to you it doesn’t mean that it’s important to your audience. Focus on the latter not the former. Will you risk to matter?” I love that. Let’s do a couple quick reflections from week one.

I love the Facebook groups. Every year they are some of my favorite places, and although this one is small at the end of this program we will move into the alumni group but the energy in the small group man I can just feel it. Over the years members have joined Facebook itself just to be a part of this group, people who chose not to be on Facebook, and I love seeing the vulnerabilities. I love seeing people who are telling on themselves; who are taking the risk of being honest and raw and saying, “I don’t get it all, and I want to be here, and I want to get it all.” Post your breakthroughs. Group coaching like we’re getting to do here is a win-win situation. You get to hear other people’s wins and that can inspire you, and they get to hear your wins, the hardships. There is something so magic as someone who has done a ton of private coaching and a ton of group coaching, there is power in groups that could never be matched in one-on-one.

The accountability groups, I’ve heard from a couple people. Guys, everyone it sounds like you’ve met once which is great. Probably be on your second one right now in the second group. I mentioned LinkedIn in the last lesson and some people are at different levels of playing with that, and that’s fine. We’ve got a lot of changes coming over the next 10 weeks and I see some people already jumping ahead and defining this is what I want to see. I love stirring this up. For a guy who doesn’t like gardening I sure like doing this. If you haven’t chimed in in the group yet bring your voice into the conversation, take that bold risk.

Our agenda for today, we are going to dig into some stuff that a camera can see if it were taped to your wall; we’re going to dig into some stuff that a camera would never see if it was mounted to your wall; and we’re going to pick up the phone and we’re going to continue the conversation of serving. How can we give, and give, and give to people in a niche market that never saw us coming? All right. In Showbiz Blueprint we are going to be working with at least seven and possibly more series of actions in our business that I call funnels. This is a great business word because it paints a picture of something going up and coming down to a point. The up is the big prospect, the big picture looking around, and down towards the bottom is the gig. We’re going to be using a lot of funnels that help us do our business more effectively using funnels.

The big benefit of funnels is that they simplify the necessity of processes in your business. What I mean by that is there are certain actions that just get repeated every time, they have be automated even. A computer that you never even see can handle them. A whole bunch of my business is handled on a computer that I don’t even know where it lives, but that’s business automation and we will do a little module on that as we move forward. You have systems in your life it’s time to bring the systems into your business so that we are doing things more effectively that are more effective. Every time that an opportunity comes up we’re not going into “How do I feel like doing it this time?” Or “I don’t have much time to do it.” Or “Maybe I should try it this other way.” We’re going to refine systems. We have seven of them at least and maybe more in the Showbiz Blueprint for every type of occurrence we could possibly have.

We’ll put these to use instantly. We’re not going to spend a lot of time; we’re not going to get hung up on works that goes towards perfectionism which I talked about in module one. We’re not going to do that and we’re going to use funnels every single chance we get. We’re going to find a place to use a funnel. We used them when we didn’t book a gig, we used them when we do book a gig. We use them after we get the contract; we have one for after the show ends. We have one for after the contracts is signed; we have one for when you get a business card; we have one for others. A lot of them. They’re all rolling around my mind. We will use all types of business funnels over the next 10 weeks. Today we’re going to break into a remarkable funnel that most entertainers leave more money on the table than some of them even make in a year by not using this one funnel.

This first funnel is called I Didn’t Land the Gig, and it’s funnel number one in Showbiz Blueprint. There are tools for automation. We are big fans here at Showbiz Blueprint of one called [Mago Talent 00:05:00] There is a link on this page to it. It takes care of so much of the business automation that I did for 20 plus years by hand or by spreadsheet, or even by computer early on. I used to use tools inside of Gmail, and I still use one now which I’ll link to on this page as well. There is a beautiful one called Mago which I really want you to consider adding to your toolkit. There’s a demo video right on this page about that.

So tools for automation. There is four emails in the funnel called Didn’t Get the Gig. The very first one and I write this the day of the gig. It’s in my calendar already as a hold that I didn’t get so I will set it up in the automation to happen on the day that the gig was going to happen and it’s a real simple email. You can find samples for all of that, links to all of these on the page but I want to convey to you in this live video the excitement that you written this thing. You’re going to treat this as if you got the gig, as if you did it because your producer who their client didn’t end up choosing you they still probably chose them to book the gig, so celebrate that person. This is day one. This is just the day of gig, day of.

You say “Hope it was an incredible gig. Hope it was a great night. I hope your client got everything they imagined out of it. I hope they saw you for the shining star that you are for getting the talent for the night.” Whatever it is you’re going to grab something that’s in your voice that actually just sounds like you are so excited for them doing it. It may be a bit of acting for you because you may be bummed you didn’t get the gig but we’re not going to that place. It doesn’t even matter. In Showbiz Blueprint philosophy the world is way too big to worry about the ones you didn’t get. We instead take all of our focus onto the ones we did get.

Number two. I should touch at the top of this the why, why are we doing this. We’re doing this to build a relationship so that next time the producer has an opportunity they remember us but nothing but happiness surrounding our entire interaction with them. That we were there to supply materials before the show, that we checked in the day of, that we wished them a great show. It’s powerful stuff. The first email in this funnel, it happens the day of the gig. You already have it in your calendar, you have it on hold. You know you would have been there had you gotten the gig so what do you do? That morning, email number one, the day of, you write them an email that says, “I know tonight’s your big show in Minneapolis. I hope it rocks. Whoever your client picked I’m sure they felt it was the best for them and I want you to know that from over here in California I’m picturing you with a great event tonight. All the best. Take care, and we sign off.” Why do we do something like that? You know I love covering the why. We do that so that we build a stronger relationship with that producer so that we stay in their mind for longer, so that next time they have an opportunity to hire us they remember us with nothing but glowing lights surrounding us. Very powerful, this day one email.

Second email in the funnel, it’s two days after. Number two, it’s two days later. We write them and we say, “How was it? I bet it was a big hit. Just checking in to make sure and if there’s anything I can do to serve you or this client in the future know that I’m here for you.” Very short. These emails are all short. If you find yourself going into a third paragraph you’ve gone way too long. If you’ve gone into a second paragraph it should be you saying sincerely. Third email, number three, we’re going to take a little break. Why do we take a break? We give them a chance to have the hallucination that we’ve forgotten them. No, no, no, we haven’t forgotten them. This is six to 10 months after the gig, six to 10 months after the gig. This changes with every gig.

The best thing I always do is I like at the calendar for when I was first contacted. If the gig was in July I look at my calendar and I say, “Oh they first contacted me around March. That’s when I’m going to contact them this year.” I’m going to check-in. I’m going to say, “Hey I wonder if client xyz is booking that date again. Here’s some new things that have happened this year; here’s a new proposal; here’s new pricing; here’s something that I thought about that would be perfect for them which we will get into. I think in the next module we’re going to talk about really customizing these proposals but you know darn well if it’s a show for Nike Nike’s had some things happen in a year. Don’t be shy about mentioning one of those here in this email number three. “I know Nike’s just come out with a shoe that allows people to jump 10 feet into the air, and we do a juggling routine that happens 12 feet in the air.” Whatever it is you’re going to make some connection if you have something new. No matter what you’re going to connect with them. Six to 10 months before the gig look for when they first called you and you’re going to touch base with that client again. Powerful stuff.

the fourth email here, this is five days later. Five days later onto that if we did it in the last letter, wonderful, we mentioned something pertinent to that event. If we didn’t we’re going to do it right here. You’re going to use Dr Google to just find something that’s going on in that company’s life, in those people’s lives. There’s very little privacy going on nowadays so we can jump in, we can find some news. We can look on LinkedIn or Google, Facebook, Twitter. We can find something that’s happening with that association, that group, that company, and we can put it in this email five days later and tie it to something that we will do for them in our show. Get that connection.

If you’re a singer you’re going to write a custom song and you’ve got the title for it already. If we’re a juggler we’re going to use two of those big tennis shoes in a way that they’ve never imagined for a juggling routine. We threw knives around Shaquille O’Neal once in an event and it was very fun because of the height difference. We played with that in the pitch because when we threw the knives around Shaquille they were actually going across a very dangerous area for him, so lots of fun. Show them that you’re thinking about this stuff in advance. These emails are all from a place of what? Service. These are not ever from a place of desperation. These are 100% from us showing up to let the client know that we are already delivering some results in advance for them. We’re already giving them the feeling that this is going to be something extra, something special, that we are going to shine very rightly.

This stuff takes place and does the work for you on such a subliminal level with that client, with that producer. They will never even know what came with them but all they know is they want to push you for this event. We’re going to customize these letters just enough to sound personal. Can you write these ahead of time and have them scheduled? Absolutely. I will write these things so far in advance. Just know that this is going to be perfect when this launched out. I set the timer for it to email then. Summary is down below on the funnel. Dig into this one. This is one you can use right away. If you didn’t get a gig that just passed last week jump into this funnel. It is powerful.

All right you guys I want to take a second. I’m going to break away from the camera right now. We’re going to have an interview with a man who … How do I even talk about Bill? He is responsible for every change that’s mattered to me since 2007 probably, 2008. A time when there was a big shift in my life when I flew off my mountain bike, shattered my collarbone. Soon after that met Bill [Lamon 00:12:37] and he started opening up my visions for who I was in the world, what was possible. He taught me techniques to clean up small mental ticks that had haunted me since childhood and how to replace those with processes that are powerful, that help me create the future I actually want. To find the future and then create the future I want. He will talk about all of that and more in this treasured interview that he did for entertainers, and I want to share with you. The one, the only Bill Lamond. We’ll be back after this interview.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Bill. Always delivers man. I love still speaking with him and seeing what he’s working on, and his writings. Really remarkable guy. That entire interview is on this page as an MP3 which you can just download and keep on your phone because boy I listen to him all the time. Good stuff. Let’s talk about the telephone, the next piece of this lesson of module two today is the phone. There is a huge place for the phone in your business, and I want to tell you something about the phone. The phone is used to connect. It’s used to connect on a deep level. The phon is not for selling. We don’t sell ever because of what we say, we sell because of who we are and that is given across the board. We would market research that until the end of time we only sell because of who we are, and we can show that by using the phone properly.

The phone has gone through so many incarnations. I was saying to my son recently, the cellphone he has is an Apple Phone. I said, “Why do they even call it a phone anymore? It’s like the least used app on the thing but we still call it a phone. It’s so strange.” The phone is that giant thing on your desk, it’s that thing in your pocket, and it is time for a new relationship with it. On the tail end of hearing Bill talk I want to invite you all to do a completion about your relationship to the phone, your beliefs about the phone, a history with the phone. There are a dozen completions you can do about the phone, and as long as they own you they’re crippling you. Take care of some of the work as Bill talked about it and let’s start installing.

What can it look like if this is a tool used to connect? I have blueprinted out my inquiry process. We’re going to go through all that today and we’re going to go deep into it. We’re going to look at the phone with an entirely new lens. This is core for the phone, for in person, for in email. What I’m going to talk about today, this blueprint, is a foundation for how to approach clients, how to start building trust, to build connection, to see if there’s a fit. We’re going to run through that trifecta over, and over, and over in this. Who’s ready for a new relationship with the phone? In your home say I am.

The new paradigm of the phone. A sale happens when there is a connection. That is the only time a sale happens and that connection can look a dozen different ways but at it’s core when you sign a contract with a client that means a connection is happening. In this paradigm we focus on the beginning, we don’t focus on the end. Wrap your cranial 2000 around the guys. We focus on the beginning. What can we do in advance? What service can we give? What ideas can we give? What tips can we give? What suggestions can we make? Who else can we bring into this puzzle? Way before we worry about the end. That makes the end the only logical choice, a no brainer, if we build a beginning that feels so good, so trusting, and there’s a great piece that happens by focusing on the beginning because that’s something that we have so much control over, the beginning of a phone call.

Think about when you’re at a party and you meet someone. That first few seconds you are in total control of the relationship that will be for the rest of time with that person depending on what you say, so let’s break down the first seven seconds of a phone call right now and let’s just talk about what it looks like, how we control it. First there is a mindset going in. So much happens on the phone before you ever pick up or dial that thing. We are going to change our objective to one of connecting not of selling. I don’t know about you but I just feel like 50 pounds lighter when I just think about that. We are making our objective to connect, not to sell. We’re not going to scare them away. What happens when someone calls you at home and you can tell in on second it’s a sales call? You just get scared and you want to hang that thing up; and what happens when we try selling right away is we bypass the golden opportunity to build trust. It’s the same thing at a networking event you’ll hear later in this course.

A man named Larry Benet who’s a marvelous world leader in the world of the connection economy. He talks directly to us at Showbiz Blueprint and he tell us the more we give, the better the questions are that we ask the deeper the relationships and that’s what we’re doing right here on the phone. We use the phone to build trust so that we can have a conversation to see if there’s a fit. Trust, conversation, fit. That’s what we do. The words must match the mindset and it’s trust based. That’s what we talk about. We talk about building trust so that we can do all of that in the early part of a phone call. Mindset going in, I’m going to control this conversation; I’m going to speak at my pace; and I’m going to control the conversation. I’m not going to give the person on the other side the opportunity to feel awkward, or scared, or imposed upon I’m going to control that; and you can do that with your voice.

Take a breath, think about that. Think about being able to control a phone conversation. If I’m aiming to sell on that phone call the entire phone call is centered around failure. We haven’t built any trust, we haven’t had a conversation, we certainly haven’t established if there’s a fit so the entire conversation if our goal is to sell is base around a failure. From the mindset of going in of controlling the conversation, of serving in advance, of trying to build trust, conversation to see if there’s a fit there’s only the mindset of winning. It’s impossible to hang up at the end of a call that starts this way with anything less than “I won.” It’s like power washing away decades of old relationship with the phone. This is a practice. Success begins depends on your ability to connect. That’s it. It depends upon your ability to connect first with yourself, second with the person on the other side of the phone.

We’ve got our pre-call ritual. We’re going to take some breathes, we’re going to relax, we’re going to master the mindset, and we master the call. We’re going to start with the idea of serving in advance. We’ll get to the scripting in just a second but this is still before the phone is picked up. We know we’re not going to start with a big energetic, “Hello. How you doing?” Or “Hey how’s it …” none of that stuff. That triggers the negative stereotype all over again. Everything they’ve heard their entire lives on the phone. It’s not going to happen here. We’re not going to trigger that mindset. We’re going to let them feel that this is someone who is a friend, who cares about our outcome, and is not a salesperson. We don’t want to trigger that stereotype of the salesperson. Our entire goal in this is to listen for a core conflict.

What’s the normal way of starting a phone call with a prospect you may be wondering? “What’s the normal way? How do you do it Barry? Tell us.” Think about how you start a conversation with a friend. What if we got those closer? They don’t have to be exactly level. They’re not going to be exactly level but what if they came closer more than they came far apart? We’re going to start it as if we start it with a friend and then we’re going to hit the core conflict. We’re going to try and get them to actually talk about what their core conflict is. What’s going on? What keeps them awake at night? What are they worried about? What do we know that if a company’s having a conference, having a trade show, having a 50th wedding anniversary, if they’re having a grand opening for a product launch what can we assume about them and how can we reverse engineer what might be a core conflict they’re having?

I have a whole bunch of core conflicts for different markets listed in the notes for this page and you’ll enjoy looking through those, but before you look at those do the homework yourself because chances are you’ll think of something that I didn’t think of. Quite possible. If we go in with our solution they’re going to automatically have a reason to reject us. Wrap your brand around that, if we go in with our solution they’re going to automatically have a reason to object us. What does that look like? That looks like me calling, “Hey you guys are having this annual meeting and everyone’s going to be bored, and you should hire us to do a comedy and juggling show.” “We don’t do juggling. We don’t like juggling. No one’s ever bored at our events. Our events run on time.” Millions of reasons to reject us right off the bat. We can’t open that way.

We can’t open pretending that we know their core conflict. Our work is to get them to tell us that core conflict. We can take a guess at it. We can take a guess at it and then we allow them space to articulate their problem. Does that make sense? We allow them the space to articulate and then we listen to it. We get to do a little work on this. What core conflict that a group might be having does your act solve? I know a lot of core conflicts that I solve as a performer. I solve boredom, I solve information overload, I solve dead time, I solve every event looking like a boring event, I solve the one of people having fun, of them laughing. I solve problems at trade shows of we’re getting 200 new leads around a booth every hour, three or four times an hour. I know a lot of things I solve.

One of your homework assignments is to figure out what core conflicts might your clients be having that you can solve and you’re going to keep those handy. Those are going to be a reference chart for you. Not generic either. We’re going to go as specific as possible on these things, I want you to really get under the easy answer. Use the [inaudible 00:23:21] formula. I’m going to get you 200 lead at your trade show booth three or four times an hour so that your sales staff is never sitting down, so that they’re always engaging with potential leads, so that they’re always finding out what the customer needs, so that you can develop better products, so that you can sell more, so that you can be number one in your market. Do that kind of work as your working through this piece of finding your core conflicts. Once you figure that out you’re going to be able to talk to them.

At the beginning of this call, we’ll get to the exact wording in a second but just in the flow of it, we’re going to state a problem that we believe they’re having. For the trade show one I might say to the person, “You’re going to be at [Comdex 00:24:03], a conference with 300,000, half a million people. I’m guessing you’d like to have two or 300 new people around your booth every 15 minutes laughing, being entertained and educated about your product. That’s a safe bet for someone who’s sinking six figures into running a trade show. That’s a really safe bet. I’ve hit on a problem that they may not have even verbalized that well. I’m not looking for a yes or a no in that I’m just looking to get them talking. I’m trying to get them focused on the core conflicts. You know there’s three kinds of problems in the world. One is problems that people have that they’ll instantly tell you about. Second they have problems they have that they won’t tell you about, either from embarrassment or from shame or whatever. Three, there’s problems that they’ve never even voiced; maybe they don’t even know they’re having. If you can intersect somebody on that third one you’ve got them. They’re yours, they’re yours to talk with and connect.

Let’s do this final prep here. Let me just run through the flow of this call one more time. Then we’re going to get into some wording. Aim to create a dialogue. I don’t want anyone here doing a monologue. I don’t want anyone here talking over the silent moments. I want you to do beautiful prompts and allow space for the magic to happen. I want this to be a natural conversation. Have you had one of those lately with a friend, with a prospect, with a spouse, with your child? You know what a natural conversation sounds like. Hold the possibility that you can have one of those with your prospects. You’re going to hear some samples of those this week. In the homework assignments I have actual recordings of phone calls that I’ve had with clients. I’m going to play those for you. You’ll hear what it sounds like to have actual natural conversations, leaving space for them to speak. I think in one of them I really even broke it down. I kind of give a blow by blow of what’s happening in the call.

I like to have a silent motto going in my brain during these phone calls. It’s contraindicated to what you may always carry into these phone calls, which may be “Man I hope I can close this guy,” or “I hope I can sell this show,” or “What do I need to say to convince them to book me?” My inner dialogue is “I don’t even know if we’re a fit.” I hold that in the back of my mind through a conversation with a prospect, I don’t even know if we’re a fit. I do that for a specific reason, it makes me the most curious person in the world. It allows me to ask powerful questions and leave space for them to answer, and man how people love answering questions when they are about their business, their event, their company, their profits. People love answering good questions so be the most curious person in the world; and sincerity is the key. Sincerity is the key. Shift to that, make that the operating system for your conversations that you’re going to be sincerely curious with these people and you won’t even know what happened.

All right let’s break down the blueprint. We don’t pitch. That’s death, that’s over. It kills it. Here’s where I go: “Hi. My name is Barry. I wonder if you can help me.” Do you hear that pacing? That is me on the phone doing this. “Hi. My name is Barry. I wonder if you can help me.” That’s the pace. That gives you control right in the way. How would you respond to that in real life when someone says that to you? I know what you would do. You’d say, “Yeah. What do you need? What do you need?” That’s what happens on the phone, literally. If it doesn’t happen on the phone there was something in your mindset that wasn’t cleaned up and you get to try again. It’s perfect and you get to still stay with this call.

What can go wrong on this one? “What do you want? What are you selling?” You can get any of these questions and all that means is that person is not a match for what you’re going to do. You’re not going to take this personally. We’re water off a back of a duck on this stuff. That’s another piece of the mindset we’re going to have is none of this is personal. This is not a personal. I’m not even going to write it but I would write on this entire board not personal. We can’t hold this stuff personal. There are going to be people who connect with you right away on that and they’re going to have the conversations with you, and if they don’t you both just saved each other a whole lot of time.

Next we’re going to go into the core problem or core conflict. Like I said there’s a link on here with a page of them for all kinds of markets. You of course have already done your work that you’re going to do before you pick up the phone. I’ve invited you to get deep into your problems for your market; what they are and how you’re solutions can fit. Then here’s the line. Here’s a line I want you to become very comfortable saying and you may modify it a little bit if you absolutely need to. I will tell you, it works right off the shelf. “I’m calling to see if you’re grappling with getting thousands of leads to your booth at the upcoming trade show.” I’m calling to see if you’re grappling with how to get thousands of new leads to your booth at the upcoming trade show. That’s the pace. That’s the pace you want to present this because that gives them time to digest what you’re saying and go, “Shit. Yeah we are wondering how we’re going to do that.”

Comebacks I’ve had from that? “Who is this?” All I’ve said is Barry so far, I haven’t said from the Raspyni Brothers or I’m a four time world juggling champion. I’ve just said my name’s Barry and can you help me out? Sure. Grappling. Boom. Who is this? The key here, your work, don’t fall into the pitch mode. Don’t defend yourself. We aren’t hiding our identity. We aren’t doing anything like that. We share it when it’s appropriate, a huge difference. Someone who’s worried about, someone who’s making a call from a fear place is going to call in and just bam it right from the beginning. Google Grant [Cardone 00:30:11] see what it’s like to do ugly cold calling. That’s someone the opposite of what we’re doing here and there’s a place for him, it’s authentic for him and it works. Bless his heart they’re very entertaining videos. That’s not how we sell our act to buyers, producers, meeting planners, end clients. Nobody wants that in this world.

That’s not how we’re going to sell our act so we can share who we are when we’re appropriate, we’re going to repeat the core conflict. When they say who are you “I’m Barry of the Raspyni Brothers and I’m calling to see if you’re grappling with how to get thousands of new leads to your booth every hour.” I’ve given a little more information. I’ve said my name again, I’ve said the name of my show, and I’ve repeated what I’m doing. Let me ask you something right now, where’s the ball? Who’s court is the ball in in this conversation? I just did a beautiful serve to them and I’m waiting, I’m holding the silence. We lower the resistance with this. We’ve gotten rid of the resistance. Now a conversation can take place and that is the exact language of the opening of the phone call. I implore you to not modify that. Use it, test it, give it a hundred tries if you have to. Refine it. I know alumni that have done it so many times until the point where it just rolls off and they laugh about it. Google our alumni group when you get in for the word grappling, you’ll see some really funny things.

Traditional sales. What is traditional sales? It teaches us to ask really lame questions to pressure them for answers. Entertainment buying is a whole different beast. Some people may be successful selling it that way, it’s not what we’re here to do. It’s nothing that I’ve ever seen work. It’s nothing that any buyer that I have sold to, and I’ve sold to some very big buyers, it’s nothing that I ever felt like boy I wish this guy hard sold me from the beginning. Not going to happen right now. Take a breath, stay with me. This isn’t the same old bowl of cereal you’ve been snacking off your whole life and I get it. Take a break and just take a breath. Think about that right now, that question, where we’re at, where the ball’s at in the conversation.

Here’s the big piece of this, the other mindset piece, we’re not ever going to leverage what we say on this phone call based on our product. We’re not going to use that as the axis of our conversation, what we know about our product. We’re going to always leverage that on helping them solve their problem. That is huge so it doesn’t matter if you juggle, or you sing, or you do ventriloquism, or magic, or you’re a comedian always leverage your conversation on what’s their issue, their core conflict, their core problem. What do you know about that and how can you be of service? Maybe it’s you, maybe it’s someone you recommend. Either way this is what builds the trust, the conversation to see if there’s a fit.

What if you feel like the person is a little bit stuck? They can’t articulate a core conflict, they can’t relate to what you’re doing? This is where you get to be the expert. This is where you get to maybe even help them see a problem they don’t know they’re having. If it’s a 50th anniversary party what do you know about those? What do you know about helping an audience keep focus? What do you know about highlighting the guests of honor? If it’s a trade show what do you know about the value of a lead for that company? If they spend $500 getting a lead what’s the lifetime value of that customer? That’s one thing you could know. What do you know about awards ceremonies at corporate events? That they always run twice as long as they’re supposed to, that people get bored and start texting, start sending messages, start checking their email, start chatting at tables. These are all pieces of a core conflict that you can help them know that maybe they know some in their brain but they haven’t even put it together that yeah that’s a problem.

This isn’t a sales call. Are you feeling that? Are you feeling the difference? Follow-up and keep digging into this. Keep helping them see the bigger and bigger problems that they’re having. You know Professor Hill in Music Man? There’s trouble in River City and he creates that whole bit of trouble with the pool hall, right? There’s no problem there but he creates it so beautifully. In fact, a great assignment this week man, watch Professor Hill in the Music Man, that great movie, and then work on this. Try this on every single call. Pivot every conversation you have with a client on solving their problem. Nothing about you. Don’t bring that into the equation right now. That’s not what we’re talking about. Let them ask you about you but keep that focused on helping them see, and uncover, and solve the problems. You should never go on a call to sell again. I hope that’s clear. Never go on a call to sell again.

We’re not opening with a big cheesy hello. We’re going natural, we’re going casual. We want to be the most curious people in the world to these people. That’s it. We want to be the most curious person they have ever had on the phone and you’re going to meet resistance. I told you that, and again our success is not hinged on the outcome. Boom. I just feel like celebrating every time I say that: our success is not hinged on the outcome because there are thousands and thousands of prospect for us to reach out to and connect with. That will never end as long as we are. We already have someone, a very common bit of information you’ll here back from. “Wonderful.” Don’t start pitching. Maintain your calm. This is the time to really hold onto the calm, to enjoy it.

You guys heard of a martial art called aikido? It’s not about coming at and hitting harder. It’s working with the energy that’s coming at you. My favorite aikido line, and I use this on the phone all the time and search our alumni group for this you’ll see people saying this a lot too, “That’s not a problem.” That line completely diffuses the affront that they have brought to you in response to what they’re feeling so far. There’s this energy dance happening right now. “We already have someone,” or “I’m not the person that hires that.” “That’s not a problem. I’m not calling to replace who you currently have. I’m calling to see if you’d be open to some ideas about your event that will give you different results from what you’ve had in the past.” “I’m calling to give you some different ideas from what you’re using right now.” Aikido. That’s taking in their energy and just stepping aside and using it.

Ask yourself right at this point, “Are you in this phone call with a clean mind?” Did you do the clean up work that I talked about before you picked up the phone? Are you not there to sell, are you there to see if you can be of service? Are you truly living in the mindset of service right now? This takes practice and when you’re living this way it is absolutely beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. There are alumni and they always post in the alumni group when they have this moment with the phone. Well, what can I say, I get chilled up at that point

What then? We’ve had a bit of a phone call; we’ve had an opening, an introduction; we’ve got to talk about a core conflict for anywhere from 10 seconds, to a couple minutes, to a longer time if it goes well; we’ve got to diffuse and dance with that energy that may be coming at us using aikido; and our next role here is to determine a possible fit and a plan to reconnect. That’s what we go for at this point. Let the ending of this call happen naturally. Don’t start pitching. Again I’m going to say it, don’t start pitching. Privately, assess in your mind, start doing the mental math right now and you can tell when you start talking to people by what they’re saying is this a priority for them; might there be a budget; is this a fit. This isn’t stuff that comes out of your mouth, this is work you’re doing up in your head. I will often ask people, “Where do you think we should go from here?” Do you know what it’s like for someone on the other side of the phone to hear that when they’re so used to being pitched?

The answer to that question, where do you think we should go from here, let there me a little space. Let them think. “Well, we’re going to think about this.” “Perfect. Is it all right if I call you back Friday?” Don’t call back Friday. “Is it all right if I call you back Wednesday at 2:00? Just to find out where you’re at with this, what’s come up.” “That’d be great.” “Can I get an email address just so I can follow=up with you? What the best email address to get in touch with you at?” Take down the email address and then you go to work. You write a little summary. “Great to speak with you today. I know you’re having this event coming up, sounds like you’re really focused on this problem,” and put in the smallest hints of what you do. Going back to that trade show example I will say, “For over 20 years the Raspyni Brothers have been helping companies such as so and so, and so and so, bring thousands of new leads back to their sales team after the trade show. I look forward to speaking with you Wednesday at 2.” Sign off with your website info, phone number, and your name; and that’s it. Ti’s a very low key.

Then call back Wednesday at 2:00. Don’t be that guy, don’t be that girl that ever misses an appointment. You guys this it he part of building the trust and the conversation to establish a fit. That summarizes a very high level look at a phone call. There’s example this week. You’re going to be doing some test calls this week. You’ll get to hear scripts from me; you’ll get to see pages of core conflicts that I’ve written up for different markets. We will cover all of that. Let me take one more poke at a big piece of the phone calling fear: gatekeepers. That’s the big “How do I get past a gatekeeper?” Let me ask you one question. Why do we think we deserve to get past a gatekeeper? Get past a gatekeeper, why do we think we deserve to speak to the decision maker? Why do we think we’ve earned any trust to be able to do that. It’s the most ridiculous thing I ever have entertainers ask me is “How do I get past the gatekeepers?” Get past? You’re nothing right now. You are nothing. You are just someone with a phone.

[inaudible 00:40:21] to a gatekeeper I will still answer in the same way. “Can I speak to Rob?” You may find someone on LinkedIn, or you may find someone in the news who is having an anniversary, a party, a trade show, a corporate event launching and you’ll call and ask to speak to that person. They’ll say “What are you calling about?” I will go right into that same thing, “I wonder if you could help me Liz. I’m calling to see …” put in that core conflict question right there. Give her a taste of exactly, and I don’t want to be sexist, give him or her a taste, of exactly how you’re going to be with the person if they put you through to speak with them. This is your chance to show well. “What group or department evaluates trade show strategies?” Even something that easy.

“Who is the party planner that’s most concerned with getting Erv and Bev’s 65th anniversary perfect? Just perfect.” “Who would I speak to if I wanted to introduce a couple of ideas to help the new launch of the cranial 2000 get more media hits than anyone on your team has ever imagined?” Anything that paints this big picture of possibility, this big picture of transformation and do it in your own tone, in your own cadence, and keep it slow. Control that conversation you guys. Ask questions. If you’re still on with the gatekeeper ask questions that lead to a conversation so that you can build trust, have the conversations, and determine if there is a fit. Very simple and don’t ever think of this as being someone I need to get past. Don’t sell and you won’t be treated like a salesperson. Easy as that. Go in with a clean mindset, start with that clean mindset, hold the clean mindset, and carry it through in all your communications.

Gatekeepers, they are your friends I promise you that. If you treat them with respect they are some of the best people in the world to have on your team. Step back from your solution. Don’t be married to your solution, we don’t know if it’s right for this. They are trained to deflect sales scripts. That’s really what they’re good at is deflecting sales script, and if you don’t sound like a sales script, if you’re asking questions, if you know some of their core conflict, if you’re there to serve and help them in advance you’re not looked at as a sales person and it is heaven. I’m going to invite you to really hold that as a piece. If we assume we know the solution we have to convince them that our solution works. We have to convince them. Convince is a terrible verb for a phone conversation. It sets a big dark energy around it and it’s horrible. Way better to be of service and have them finally ask us, “So what exactly do you do?” Even then we don’t go into selling. We will cover that a little bit more but boy to be asked what we do.

Think about the host interviewing the expert on an infomercial. You guys ever watch those late at night? Of course you do you’re in hotel rooms. That host is the most curious person in the world, their ultimate beginner’s mind. The guy’s cutting tomatoes like one of those mandolins, super fast with a knife, and the host is like an idiot. He’s like, “I never realized you could cut tomatoes with a knife.” Just anything to get the expert to keep talking, to give them a chance to talk, to give their expertise. If we can give a gatekeeper that space to talk about the importance of the show to the company, what they have launched, who the most important person to talk to they will get you an appointment with that guy if there’s that level of trust built. That’s my real big piece of gatekeepers, they are your best friends.

This is beginning. This is not even 101 I want to say. Ah, it’s 101. This is 101. We’re talking through the blueprint of what we’re going to do with this thing. Look at your product, look at what you offer the market in terms of a core conflict, a core problem. How can your product possibly, I’m not saying definitely, how could it possibly solve a core conflict, a core problem that a client is having? Never defend yourself. Never. Return to the core conflict. Always return to the core conflict. Be different from any other conversation they have had you guys. Be the person that when they hang up the phone they feel refreshed, optimistic, positive, and that something wonderful happened. Not like, “Thank god that’s not on the phone anymore.”

We don’t ever want to say to them “We do this. We solve this. We offer this.” That’s not what we’re on this phone call to do. Always go back, turn what you do into a question that may challenge their conflict. “Do you grappled with how you’re going to keep that 65th anniversary party exciting, alive, and truly in the spirit of the couple who’s celebrating it?” Give them time to digest your words. Give them time to feel you. Not as a sales person but give them time to feel you as someone who’s there to support their vision. The quicker you can become a valuable asset to their team the quicker you’re going to become valuable asset to their team.

All right, patience. There’s a detox process that happens. There’s a bad relationship with the phone a lot of people have. I know. Do the completions. I think I go deep into completions for entertainers in the homework this week. You’re going to love those. I would rather have you connect and converse than chase and pursue. Do you get that distinction? Connect and converse versus chasing and pursuing. We’re going to do something that builds a clean and bright future for you with every prospect you talk about. All right take a breath. We have completed module two. Lots of homework coming up this week. The Facebook group is alive. We will be live on our Q&A in a couple days.

Anything that comes up, and I know this module rubs a lot of buttons, this is going to be along live Q&A we’re going to do and I will be there for you for every minute of it. We will dig into this. Do all the homework you can up to the modules, up to the live Q&A. Bring what you’ve got and then let’s finish out the week strong you guys. We are scratching off an old, old ticket that we found in a drawer and all that stuff that’s supposed to scratch off easy is a little bit dried and crusty right now so keep scraping. Barry with Showbiz Blueprint week two is in the can and I’ll see you guys real soon. Bye-bye.