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Prospecting on Purpose is Forbes meets Saturday Night Live - it’s *the* show for everything prospecting, sales, business, and mindset.
As business grows more complex, the biggest opportunities emerge when we learn beyond our own industries. From hospitality and design to technology and travel, this is where professionals come together to exchange ideas, uncover new perspectives, and prospect for business with creativity, authenticity, and intention.
Hosted by Sara Murray, a heart-centric sales champion, each episode helps you raise both your vibes and your game. Sara's playbook is simple - ABAV: Always Be Adding Value. Embrace your authentic self, lean into your unique strengths, and sell the outcome instead of the product or service.
Join Sara each week as she sits down with world-class thought leaders to unpack today's business strategies, mindset shifts, and relationship-driven approaches to growth, giving you practical ideas you can put into action right away.
Connect with Sara: www.saramurray.com IG: @saramurraysales LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/saramurraysales/
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose:
You're listening to Prospecting on
Purpose, where we discuss all things
prospecting, sales, business, and mindset.
I'm your host, Sara Murray, a sales
champion who's here to show you that you
can be a shark in business and still lead
with intentionality and authenticity.
Tune in each week as we dive into methods
to connect with clients, communicate
with confidence, and close the deal.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Hello, hello.
Welcome to Prospecting on Purpose
Live via LinkedIn and YouTube.
I am thrilled to welcome
today's guest, Bart Berkey.
Bart is the CEO and founder
of Most People Don't.
He's an international keynote speaker,
podcast host and bestselling author who
inspires individuals and organizations to
take the actions that most people avoid.
A Penn State University graduate, Bart
spent more than 30 years in global
leadership roles in hospitality,
including 16 years as global director
of sales for the Ritz Carlton, helping
generate nearly $1 billion in revenue.
Today he is known for a highly
engaging keynote presentations,
that is where I saw Bart.
And he really challenges audience
to push past their limitations
and take the actions required to
achieve extraordinary results.
Bart, welcome to Prospecting on Purpose.
Bart Berkey: Thank you, Sara.
I can't wait.
Thank you, thank you, and
thanks for your flexibility.
I was stuck somewhere before and thank
you for getting me back on the show.
I really appreciate it, Sara.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Oh, I'm so happy to have you.
I shared before we went live that
the last LinkedIn Live had a lot of
technical issues and so I was a little
afraid to get back on the horse,
but I knew I could do it with Bart.
So thank you so much for being here and
thanks for those who are watching live.
Let's get right into the big question
what is it that most people don't do?
Bart.
Bart Berkey: There are so many things,
and when I challenge people, and I
know Sara, when you are on my show,
I ask you to complete the sentence,
because it's different for everyone.
What do you think most people don't do?
When I originally came up with a
concept, and this was years ago, I was
noticing that people weren't doing what
they said that they were going to do,
that they weren't following up, that
they weren't showing appreciation,
that they weren't being kind,
they weren't expressing gratitude.
So there's a whole lot of things that
people are not doing, and what we found,
very simply, is that when you do, when
you take action, when you do what most
aren't, it's gonna one, differentiate you.
And the world is not always
about differentiation, but
it is about contributing.
So if you are doing what most people
aren't doing, if you're pushing your,
your shopping cart back into the crowd and
most people aren't, you are contributing
to cleanliness, you're contributing
to conciseness, to organization
for safety, for that parking lot.
That's simple.
If you pick up a piece of
trash, you're contributing.
If you hold open the door for
someone, you're contributing.
If you say thank you, you're
contributing to goodness in this world.
And then at this point, right,
we all could use more goodness.
A lot of people think that they can't
contribute, but little things matter.
And so there's a lot.
There's many things that people
can't do or people don't do,
and we know that they should.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Yeah, even your example of returning
the shopping cart like, and it being
a contribution to a greater society.
I think even that little mindset shift is
a good example too, because I feel right
now, and I want to get into this maybe
in the back half of our interview, so we
don't get into the heavy stuff right away.
But, right now it just feels
like there's so much, just,
a lot of stuff on us, right?
And if coming from all angles, and it
can be really hard to stay positive
or take that extra step to return
the cart or hold the door, you know?
And I know that it's a muscle and
we're good at it, but when there's so
much noise and stress and just things
coming at us, I think it can get very
easy to drop those things because
we're in just this survival mindset.
So , I think we need to talk about that.
Because that's what would
help me to hear right now.
And I think it would help a lot of people.
Bart Berkey: Yeah.
And when you just said survival
mindset and that's really
what it is, it's mindset.
Every single day, and I'm thinking
about the groups that recently that
I presented to, I will ask them
what is their number one obstacle?
What does your group need to hear?
And a lot of people right now are saying
how to deal with this uncertainty.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: And this negativity and
this perception and this heavyweight,
this dark cloud that sometimes
appears almost every single day.
The suggestion is, it is up to us to
decide how we want it to weigh on us.
Do we want it to weigh heavy?
Or do we think that there's
a choice that we can make?
Uncertainty is going to exist,
but it's also up to us in our
mind how we choose to perceive it.
And that's nothing new.
It is nothing new.
But I'll share a couple of stories that
is, it's a reminder to me when I think
that I can't do anything about it.
I can do something about it.
You can do something about
it, Sara, your listeners, your
viewers can do something about it.
And part of it deals with
this mindset approach.
I'll share with you an example.
I have a coordinator that I used to
work with that was, overseas and every
single morning she would send me a
message, 12 hour time difference, but she
would send me a message every morning.
"Good morning, Bart, how are you?"
And this was a while ago.
I remember waking up and I felt
like it was one of those heavy days.
There was negativity in the news.
There was a lot of things going on.
I was determined that I was
going to be terrible that day.
Because that's how I felt.
And I started to type in my response,
T-E-R-R-I was all ready to be grumpy.
And what happened was the smartphone,
the system, the technology, the
universe gave me an option, gave me an
option, and it started to auto-correct.
Terrible.
Do you know what the other word could be?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Terrific!
Bart Berkey: Terrific.
It gave me a choice right then and there.
I could keep on typing terrible
or I could move my thumb over just
a little bit and hit terrific.
And I laughed and I said,
I don't need to be terrible.
Let me see what happens
when I hit terrific.
And just by doing that, a little key thumb
stroke, changed my perception on the day.
I laughed at myself.
But you don't have to
feel sorry for yourself.
Things are good.
Things are always easy, but things are
good and things are getting better.
Why not choose terrific?
That changed my outlook for the day.
That's one example.
We had the ability of choosing
terrible or terrific every single day.
It is up to us.
The other element, you
had used the word mindset.
If we get out of our own mind, and if
we start to look up and look out, in
fact, I guess it was maybe last week's
newsletter, was look up and look out
because there's life in front of you.
There's a world in front of you.
Too often, I believe we are getting
bombarded and consumed with negativity.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: And if we are
doom scrolling, well, let's do
positive strolling, instead.
Let's put the phone down, right?
Let's get a little exercise.
Let's walk.
Let's look up and let's
see what we can experience.
When we get out of the worry of
our own heads and we start doing
something for someone else, naturally
that allows us to think about
giving and to think about doing.
Because we can't be worried and me doing
something nice for you, Sara, at the same
time, I don't think that's even possible.
Once I start doing nice things for people,
complimenting people on the street,
letting them go ahead of me opening
up the door, seeing who I can help.
Then I start to feel better.
And there's studies done, and I'm sure
you probably have read them as well.
One act of kindness a day for seven days
increases your personal happiness by 8%.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Wow!
Bart Berkey: Why wouldn't we?
If we wake up feeling doom and
gloom, why wouldn't we think:
let me be kind to others, and
let me see how it makes me feel.
And it works.
And I do it as much as I possibly can.
It gets you out of your own head and
starts having you think about others.
Who else needs me?
There's a story.
Can I share it with you?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Yeah, please.
Bart Berkey: This was not too
long ago, I was having, what I
perceived as maybe not the ideal day.
I was waiting for a contract to
come back and it didn't, and I saw
that someone else was selected for
a speaking engagement and I was sad.
I was waiting for good news
while I'm shopping and I
keep on looking at my phone.
I didn't get the note yet.
Oh, I wasn't accepted.
Oh.
Just kind of bad news.
And a friend of mine had told me, if ever
you feel that way, just try to do this.
This was the task.
Look up and just say this to the universe.
Whatever you believe.
Show me how good it can be.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: That was it.
Just that statement.
So, I'm done shopping, I'm getting all
this negative news while I'm in the store.
I come out and I'm like,
okay, you know what?
Enough of that, it's a nice sunny day.
Let me see, let me just try this.
Show me how good it can be.
I said it once nothing happened, I almost
thought that my phone would ding and the
computer, the contract would be signed
immediately or I would get great news.
Nothing happened.
So then I said it the second time, a
little bit louder, a little bit more
empathetically and more passionately,
show me how good it can be.
Nothing, right?
And I'm sure I'm looking
ridiculous in front of anyone
that's outside of Trader Joe's.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
You said this out loud, right?
Bart Berkey: Out loud, of course.
And then I said it a third time,
show me how good it can be.
As soon as I finished saying it, the
third time there was a woman that
passed around the corner was just
getting her daughter out of their
car, and she was in a wheelchair.
She was about 11 years old or so, and it
wasn't one of the wheelchair situations.
Hopefully that doesn't sound bad.
I didn't notice like a
cast on anyone's leg.
I think that this young girl had
an ailment, a chronic illness.
But what I did notice is that as the
mother pushed this little girl, they
were laughing and they were joking.
And the mother was, you know,
acting like she was gonna run
into a car just having fun.
And to me, all of my worries
just went right out the door.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yeah.
Bart Berkey: What am I worried about?
I'm healthy.
My wife is healthy.
My kids are healthy.
We all love each other.
We communicate well.
I'm doing what I've always wanted to do.
I have enough money to pay for groceries.
I have a home, like what
am I really worried about?
I didn't get a contract right
away when they said that they
were gonna send it to me.
It put things really
back into perspective.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yeah.
Bart Berkey: If here is a, an 11-year-old
girl who is bound to a wheelchair and
they can have fun and appreciate life and
smile and joke, what is wrong with me?
Now, to tie back into that story about
how worry is not important and how worry
doesn't really matter, later that day,
I got a note and it was from the client
that had promised to send me a contract.
And she said, in my mind I'm
thinking she hates me, she doesn't
like me, I was priced high.
They found someone else.
It was basically, she was in the process
of retiring and they were finding, she
was finding her replacement, a succession
plan, a replacement, and she was a little
delayed and she was horribly apologetic.
I'm so sorry I'm about a week
late, but of course we want
you, here's the signed contract.
So what was I worried
about in the beginning?
And it's just little stories like
that, that we all can look for are good
reminders that we don't need to worry.
If we do worry, if we're negative,
if we're feeling the pressure and the
uncertainty of this world, don't ever
feel like you don't have control.
You have control over your thoughts.
You have control over how you
are helping others, how you are
contributing to others, how you
are showing kindness and gratitude.
Because most people don't.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Oh, I love, okay, there's so many
things to unpack there, Bart.
I want to recap some of the things
that really stood out to me.
One is we get to choose how we feel.
So it's either terrific or terrible.
Your choice.
I actually have, in my bathroom,
I have an affirmation that says
I am in charge of how I feel and
today I'm choosing happiness.
Bart Berkey: Beauty.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Doesn't always happen though, and I think
the other tool that you shared that I'm
gonna start doing today is stop doom
scrolling, start positive strolling.
And I like the idea of, show me how
good it can be, because sometimes,
you know, you're on your walk and
Bart Berkey: Yeah.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Little bunny crosses the trail.
It's like, oh, okay.
It kind of takes you outta
yourself and your problems.
Bart Berkey: Yes.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
And the other thing you shared was,
the one act of kindness a day for a
week increases your happiness by 8%.
I think that you hit on this concept
of uncertainty, and I think when we
think of the heaviness going on in the
world, it's the fear of uncertainty.
Are we gonna lose our jobs to AI, is
global warfares actively happening now.
Bart Berkey: Price of gas,
attacks on California.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Uncertainty.
And so what I think you shared that
really resonated was all of these
different things you can do for others,
gives you that sense of control.
And so if we can look at what's
gonna make us certain, what are
the things that are in our control?
We're returning the shopping
cart, holding the door for
other people, saying thank you.
Like those are some basic human
niceties, but I feel like they're
becoming something that's more
of the exception, not the rule.
And so I love it when I meet
people like you who are doing
this as your day in, day out work.
Bart Berkey: Yeah.
And I'm not perfect, Sara.
I'm not perfect.
And it's good, reminders to me.
What I just shared with you, maybe
yesterday, I needed to hear myself.
And once in a while, this sounds
really egotistical and ridiculous.
I remember I was on a trip, I had just
got done presenting and it went well.
500 people.
I was listening back to the
audio because I was gonna get
some videotapes from it, clips.
And,
I appreciated it.
I looked at it like an audience
member and I was laughing at my
own jokes, which sounds so silly,
but it made me feel better.
My point is that we all
know what we can do.
We all know what we want to do.
We know in our own minds what we
probably should do, not because
someone is telling us, but because
in our hearts and our minds, we
know we should do certain things.
We can do those things.
We just need to be reminded.
That's it.
So maybe it's the one
story that we just shared.
Maybe it's a book,
maybe it's your podcast.
Maybe it's anything.
Maybe it's a speaker.
Maybe it's a sales training.
Maybe it's an article.
Maybe it's a movie.
But take those things that are
reminders of good and use them
to the best of your ability.
Take the things that are not
helpful and not good reminders,
and try to disregard those.
Don't look at them, right?
If looking at Facebook makes you upset
or angry or watching the news makes
you upset or angry, you have a choice.
You can turn that off and listen to music.
You can turn it off and go for a walk.
There are things within our control,
even though things are unique and
uncertain, we still have control.
I just went off a little
too much there, Sara.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Oh, no.
I loved it because I think for anyone
listening, this is our collective
reminder that we're allowed to be happy,
we're allowed to be proud of ourselves,
we're allowed to show up and be kind.
I think that's the other thing, Bart,
we do have a choice and sometimes
it feels like if we do a LinkedIn
post on how well we're doing, then
it feels tone deaf to the state
of the world or people suffering.
And I think people hold in their happiness
or hold in their joy because they're
afraid of optically how it's gonna appear.
And I will tell you, I'll get messages
from people on LinkedIn saying
your post is always so positive, I
really enjoy seeing that positivity.
And so because I've gotten enough
feedback, okay, my job is to
stay as positive as possible so I
can show up fully for my clients
and my friends and my family.
But if that means I have to
lock my Instagram with an app.
I locked the Instagram,
so, You're so right.
There's a lot of tools out there for us.
There are people doing good in the world.
We just needed to look at , how
good it can be, and so I'm
happy we spent some time there.
Bart Berkey: Yeah.
And one other thing that you brought
up about LinkedIn posts and things,
I think there's a difference.
What sometimes frustrates me
is that during difficult times
people are getting promoted.
And that's not always easy.
If unemployment is the worst that
it's been in X number of months,
whatever the case is, and there is.
I am so proud to announce that I've
been promoted and I am like, but we
should be happy for those people.
We should be happy when someone is
successful at doing other things.
And to me, that's also a reminder
that there is abundance in the world.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: And if my first thought
is, I can't believe when so many people
are suffering, this person is just
bragging about them getting promoted.
But you know what?
They probably deserve to get promoted.
And because there is abundance in
the world, that is a good thing.
That's a positive thing.
We don't need to be negative or
envious or anxious, or critical.
We can be happy when
people have happy things.
Again, just other good
reminders, but I'm with you.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
I like that.
Sometimes I'd like to think
of it as: Ooh, Bart closed.
I'm going to use you as an example.
Bart closed a really
awesome keynote speech.
It gets me excited because it knows
I can do that one day soon too.
I think that's how I try to shift it.
I'm excited for that person's success.
Because if I'm close to it, it
means that I'm close to that too.
So I think that that helps me reframe
it and be like, oh yeah, I hang out
with people that are doing cool things
and I get, I get access to them, which
is something I'm always grateful for.
Bart Berkey: It's a nice way
to think about it for sure.
Yeah, a nice way to think about it.
I'm surrounding myself with
people that are also successful.
That are trying to do
good, for good reasons.
And, yeah, that's a great way.
The other thing I talk
about, the abundance element.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: As a speaker like
you, there's so many different
opportunities and you don't know
where they're gonna come from.
And I'll share with you an example.
I know it's a big deal if people are able
to present to supposedly Google, right?
The big people and the Amazons of
the world and the IBMs of the world.
But you know what, there's also
great, messaging for the, Iowa Rural
Association of Telecommunication experts.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Totally.
Bart Berkey: They need
to hear your message too.
So does Google, but so does this rural
local association and guess what?
They might be more thrilled to hear you.
Your impact might be even more important
and they might even be able to pay more.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yeah.
Bart Berkey: You never know.
There's abundance in the
world and it's a reminder.
There's goodness and abundance.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: I
mean, , I very much have an abundance
mindset too, and it comes with time.
Like you have to practice it.
It's a muscle.
But I think I want to ask you, because
of your sales background too, and because
of your expertise on the relationship
side of business development, I think
that there's a lot of abundance in
our sales opportunities as well.
But, I think now with ai there's
all sorts of oh, let's blast as
many people as we can, because now
we have these tools and there's a
place for that maybe at some point.
But what I like about you and your work
and the work I do, it's differentiating
yourself through this concept that most
people don't send a thank you card.
Most people don't do this stuff.
And so I'd love to switch gears a
tiny bit and start talking about how
your teachings and takeaways show up
in a sales environment or business
development environment as well.
Bart Berkey: No.
Amazing.
Thank you for asking.
Yeah.
People are afraid of ai.
They're afraid to lose their jobs.
They are afraid that they
will become redundant.
And in fact, I was just on a call
the other day co-hosting, a club,
a live conversation office hours
with David Meltzer and friends.
And there was a gentleman who is all
about an AI competency and bringing
AI into the sports marketing world.
And we were discussing it and we were
asking, similar types of questions.
Is it gonna replace everyone
and should we be afraid?
And the message is that there are
certain things that we do every single
day in a job that are repetitive.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: And that are automated.
And those are the things that we
should use technology for to be
able to make our lives easier.
If we go back and we think about,
gosh, when I started years ago in
hospitality, we would type out letters.
We didn't have computers at
every single workstation.
We would type out letters
and we would then, mail them.
We would either go to the post
office or the mailman would come to
our office and we would send them.
So let's just think about that.
Could that be automated?
Could that be quicker?
Yeah, fax machines and a lot of your
younger listeners, and you probably
don't even know what fax machines
are, but that became a better
way of doing an automated task.
It could go quicker.
We didn't have to wait to
get something in the mail.
And then we had email communications
and that could be better in phone
communications and that could be quicker.
And it just helped us.
It helped us to be able to communicate
with more people more quickly.
I think that's how we should
use automations and technology.
It helps us communicate with
more people more quickly and
sometimes a little bit better.
I'll share with you all an example.
There's a tool that I use called Marblism.
It's M-A-R-B-L-I-S-M.
It is an AI tool that gives you
essentially seven employees, AI
employees to help you do things.
And, I don't want people to think
that this is cheating, and I'll
share with you the reason why.
There's one of these AI employees that
is an assistant and this person, Ava,
will go into your inbox and they will
help to organize your emails based on
marketing follow up to do lead, whatever
it is, whatever categories you want.
But what they'll also do is that they
will go to your inbox and they will
draft email responses and put 'em in
your draft folder for you to review.
And at first, I didn't
know if I would like that.
And so I'm traveling and
I get a note from Sara.
Thank you Sara.
Can we reschedule?
And my response might be, because
I'm getting onto an airplane.
Yep.
Or yes or thumbs up or thanks.
But then I looked at what this AI tool was
responding and how they were responding.
It was: Sara, thank you so much
for being flexible in allowing
me to reschedule with you.
I had such a great time
when you were on my show.
Thank you for allowing me the honor to be
on your show, March, whatever looks great.
Thank you.
Let me know if there's anything
I need to be prepared for.
To me, that was much kinder, much more
professional, much smoother, much more
eloquent than me just saying: "Gotcha.
Thumbs up."
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Totally.
And it gave the date too, so that
they were more efficient too.
Yeah, that's a great example bar.
That's a great example.
Because I think that there's that
fear of the human touch being lost.
And or resistance to
learning something new.
Like there's a whole nuances , to
incorporating AI into our workflows.
But I think that's a great example
of how it's still able to do
that customization and the prompt
follow up and be more efficient.
Because that's an area I,
personally struggle with.
I find letters in my draft all the time
that I just started and then walked
away for whatever reason and never sent.
And it sucks.
It's out of alignment with
how I work and do business.
But it happens.
And I think maybe we
can talk about that too.
If somebody does screw up whatever
that is, in the most people don't
category and we fall into the trap.
What are some things we can
do to maybe course correct?
Let's say you made a
mistake with a client.
Bart Berkey: Mm-hmm.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
How can we leverage some of your
teachings to get through it and
push through it and kind of forgive
ourselves, but also make it right?
Bart Berkey: When we make mistakes?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yeah.
Bart Berkey: Yeah.
I think the greatest thing is
just admit that you're human.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: And, don't
try to cover up anything.
Admit that you made a mistake.
You don't need to necessarily give excuses
for it, but just say you are right.
This was my mistake.
I strive to do better.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Mm.
Bart Berkey: I never want to let
anything like that ever happen again.
If necessary, will you forgive me?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Mm.
Bart Berkey: What could
I do to make it right?
, From my hospitality background
with Ritz Carlton, we are always
trying to make things right.
Even if it wasn't necessarily
our full blown responsibility, we
wanted to make people feel better.
I believe being honest and up upfront
and just let people know that you
are human and as long as you are
trying your best and doing your
best, that's all that you can do.
And I have kind of a fun
story if I can share with you.
So we were talking before we hit
record about, in luxury, both of us
coming from luxury sales, trying to
always be perfect, and we wanted to
have the right clothes and the right
polish and the right makeup, and the
right hairstyle, the right everything.
When I first started
working for Ritz Carlton.
I had never been into a Ritz-Carlton.
I had never stayed in a Ritz-Carlton.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Pretty common.
Bart Berkey: I didn't
grow up that way, right?
I didn't grow up that way,
Pittsburgh guy right here.
And, , I wanted to be perfect.
So, first time I stepped onto Ritz-Carlton
property was for the interview process.
And thank goodness I got the job.
My first day at work, I wanted to make
sure everything was perfect, that the
car was clean, my shoes were clean,
my everything was ironed and pressed.
Fantastic.
I remember the general manager asked
me, would you like to have lunch today,
day one in the employee cafeteria?
Sure, let's do it.
It's an early lunch, 1130, and as
we go down there, a housekeeper
greets me and wants to make sure
that I'm feeling welcome on my first
day and says, good morning, Mr.
Berkey, we're glad you're here.
That's what they said.
Wow.
Knew my name, knew it was my first day.
Recognized me from the photos, I guess,
and I had to think what I wanted to
respond and how I wanted to respond.
Sara, I wanted to be perfect.
This was my first day and
I'm thinking, well, they say
certainly, they say, my pleasure.
They said, good morning,
good afternoon, good evening.
How may I help you?
And I thought in my head.
They said good morning because
it was 1130, but I was there to
have lunch and if it's morning I
would be there to have breakfast.
So shouldn't they have
said good afternoon?
Because I was there to have lunch Because
the breakfast food wasn't out anymore.
And I thought of all of these things
and guess what my response was,
Sara Murray, guess what it was.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Did you say good afternoon?
Bart Berkey: That would've been lovely.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Ha-Ha.
What did you say?
Bart Berkey: It was, it was much worse.
Much worse.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
You too?
Bart Berkey: That
would've been lovely also.
That would've been better.
That would've been a nine on a
scale of 10 compared to what I did.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
What'd you do?
Bart Berkey: I saidâ¦
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
You were just quiet?
Bart Berkey: I said nothing.
That was my response.
Good morning, Mr.
Berkey, we're glad you're here.
Said nothing.
And it taught me a valuable lesson.
A few days later, I
realized how dumb that was.
I was so worried.
About making a mistake that I
made the worst mistake by being
rude to someone by saying nothing.
I found the housekeeper.
I apologized and I said I was
just trying to be perfect.
Instead of just trying to be me, I should
have said, Hey, I should have said hi.
I could have said, what's up?
I could have said, dude, and it would've
been better than saying nothing,
but that just teaches me right.
Another example I think that we all can,
understand and learn with and grow from.
Just be yourself.
You don't need to be perfect.
Just be yourself.
I'm up on stage and I say words that
aren't even words sometimes, and I laugh
about it and I have to check with my wife
who is the co-founder of the company.
Is this a word I even
check with the audience?
Is this a word?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Oh God.
Bart Berkey: Which will bring
me back to a sales related
conversation whenever you're ready.
But my suggestion there
is just, be yourself.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yeah.
Well it's so funny you say that, because
I was writing up some questions for
our interview and I wrote the word in
excellence and I was like, is this a word?
And it is not, in excellence is not
a word, trying to say the opposite
of excellence, like mediocrity.
And I think you're so right.
I want to just close the loop on the
luxury, the fear of luxury, because
the luxury market is not going away.
It's just gonna keep booming.
Bart Berkey: Mm-hmm.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: So for
all of us here, it's a great opportunity
to sell into that luxury space.
And I just want to empower people that
you don't need to have a perfect manicure.
You don't need to be super polished.
I mean, you want to be hygienic
and well groomed, but you can be
yourself, and I think that's what.
That's the difference.
I think when you see stuffy
inauthenticity, sometimes people are
just really polished and that's their
authentic self, and that's great.
But I want to encourage people that the
luxury experience is just being real and
letting other people be real too, because.
It's about the feeling and the experience,
not if you have a manicure or not.
Not if you say good morning, you know, Ms.
Murray like it.
It doesn't have to be that hard.
And so I think that's what I really
appreciate about your message and the way
you show up is it's accessible to others.
Bart Berkey: Yes, it, it's the way
that we are inclined to be able
to, I use this in my workshops,
notice, anticipate, and over deliver.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Hmm.
Let's dive into that.
Bart Berkey: Yeah.
I, if you have the propensity in your
heart to be able to notice, which is also
taking you out of worry to anticipate
what might someone need and overdeliver,
how could I surprise and delight them?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: That element.
To me is luxury and probably more
so that element to me is service.
Someone comes to your house
and that is hospitality.
You're going to notice that,
that when they took off their
shoes, they didn't have socks on.
So you can anticipate, well, I have a cold
floor Because it's 30 degrees outside.
You know what, I have a, I just
bought a brand new pair of socks.
Let me put them in a little basket.
And so if anyone chooses to take
off their shoes, I mean, I've
never even used this example, Sara.
I don't even know where it's coming from.
But here, here's a
brand new pair of socks.
And and to me that's
overdelivering, right?
That's just one little example.
friends of ours across the way,
they lost their, their father.
And so it was my wife.
Who was talking about, you know,
we had to divide and conquer.
She had a different event to go to.
I was gonna go to the neighborhood event
and she's just like, well, Bart, make,
I know you're out and you're busy today
and maybe it's not what you planned
for, but can you pick up something?
I was like, well, what do you
pick up for a celebration of life?
You know, I'm sure they're
gonna have tons of food.
And she's just like, why
don't you get a flower, right?
A flower represents
growth in life and bloom.
Why don't you pick up a flower?
So I, that's what I did, and
it was her encouraging me.
To me that is over-delivering,
because I looked to see what did other
people bring when they showed up?
Respectfully.
Most people didn't bring anything
because there was plenty of food
and there was plenty of beverages.
But the flower was an
element of over-delivering.
Yeah.
It's noticing, anticipating
and over-delivering.
So I, I think we all can do that
and doesn't necessarily need to be
luxury, but it needs to be customized,
it needs to be personalized.
It needs to make someone feel good
for the hoteliers that are listening.
You don't need to, if you hotel doesn't
do monogramed bathrobes and monogrammed
pillowcases, you know, give me an apple.
Because I love apples.
If you can write a little handwritten
note and spell my name properly,
and I will probably tell a million
people about that experience.
I had one client, they hired me to
come speak, for their, their hotel.
And I was joking around, you
know, what else do you require?
What else do you require?
I'm like, just, you know, a, a, a room
that, that's it, you know, and just, and
now I'll get my way from the airport.
Don't worry about me.
And I said, oh, by the way, yes,
I need 23 green m and ms, and 14
red Skittles in the funniest thing.
Sure enough, and I have a picture
of it somewhere when I arrived, and
this is, shout out to my friends
at Quorum Hospitality, that's
what they gave me for an amenity.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Oh my God, that's awesome.
Bart Berkey: 14 red m and ms, and
14, 13 skittles, whatever the number
was, with just a little handwritten
note with my name spelled properly.
I have told hundreds of thousands of
people about that experience because
that was noticing, that was anticipating
and that was over-delivering.
They could have given me an apple, they
could have given me a bottle of wine,
and I haven't had a drink in seven years.
They could have given me, brownies
and my wife and co-founder,
she's gluten intolerant.
They could have given me a glass
of milk and I'm lactose intolerant.
No, they noticed, they anticipated
and they over-delivered, and anyone
on the phone can do that right now.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: And
I feel like that should just, I mean,
your examples, that's a little above
and beyond, but at this point I feel
like even the baseline is like wowing.
Ooh, somebody answers their phone,
great surface, like the bar is
so low that we can only go up.
So I like what, you know, these little
tips and tricks you're giving us.
It's not that hard, write a review.
That's one thing I've been really
committed to is if I have a good
experience, I will write a review.
But I've learned.
If I don't just do it
right there in the store.
Yes, I won't.
So I'll just sit and do
it before I check out.
Bart Berkey: Okay.
And you bring up another amazing
point, Sara, and this is a reminder.
Um, I loved having you on the podcast.
Thank you.
And hopefully I sent an email.
Thank you.
Hopefully I sent you a link to
some of the highlight clips.
Um, hopefully.
I know I did.
We promoted it in our newsletter
that goes out to 12,000 people.
Okay, great.
I could have found your home address
and I could have sent you a handwritten
note instead of you buying the book.
Didn't I give you the book when I saw you?
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
I bought the book, but that is just..
I just, but that's just my way.
Bart Berkey: Well thank you for that.
But I could have sent you
a handwritten note and.
A copy of my book and I could
find your address in Los Angeles.
I could have done that and
that's a reminder to me.
I can do better.
So, so that, that component
you're just talking about writing
reviews when we get great service.
Well, Sara, after this, Because you are a
great, interviewer and you are very kind
and friendly and supportive and nice to
me as a new friend, wouldn't it be nice.
How can I provide you a
recommendation or endorsement?
Oh wait, LinkedIn.
Oh, so maybe I can find your name.
Sara Murray.
And I can say I had a phenomenal
experience with Sara on her podcast,
and I can put that on LinkedIn and
my 20,000 followers can see that.
And your 30,000 followers
in connections can see that.
Wouldn't that be a nice thing to do?
So I said it, I will do it now and
then to, to your listeners right now.
Seriously, and Sara, thank you and
thank you and all those things are real.
But then even for our listeners, like I
will share my email address and I will
share my mobile number and, I will share
after I'm on stage, look, if anyone else
could hear this message, let me know.
Just click this little button.
Some people do it, and I don't want it to
sound self-serving, but not everyone does.
Yeah.
And but if people need help and we are
offering help, I would hope that people
would go to your podcast and leave another
rave review for all of the great guests.
If you're listening now, you can do that.
It's being broadcast live on LinkedIn
to your channel and to my channel.
Put a comment down there.
Don't just give it a thumbs up.
Don't just give it a like.
Because everyone can do that.
Type in something.
Tony Vargas service is the key.
Tony did what most people are not doing.
If you're listening and something
resonated, type in tag Sara, tag me.
Type into the live comment.
This is so darn cool.
Thank you.
This is what I'm learning.
Have you ever thought about this?
Right?
Because that helps us grow.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
And I think you're so right.
All the examples you just
rattled off, they are free.
They take five seconds and
they help lift other people up.
And when I think about like the
biggest emotional bank account deposit
you can give to someone else, it's
something that helps build their
business, promotes their career.
there's so many ways
we can help each other.
Bart, we do have a question.
Yeah, I dunno who it's from.
Because it says.
It's a little generic, but in your
opinion, what in general makes a
company a luxury brand from a buyer's
perspective, and how do I sell to
that as a salesperson is a great one.
Bart Berkey: What makes a company a
luxury brand from a buyer's perspective?
Okay.
A few things.
luxury is perceived by the buyer.
I could be selling, any of us
could be selling a hotel room.
If it has a luxury name on it, it's
$1,200 a night, and if it doesn't
have a luxury name, it's $200 a night.
It is the perception of value.
And I know Sara, you talk so
well about this, about value.
It's about what the value is to the buyer,
but more than anything else, and this is
kind of coming full circle, I believe it
is how you are making the buyer feel okay?
More than anything, it is how
you are making the buyer feel.
There are studies that my, myself
and my team have done that buyers
don't want to feel processed.
They want to feel cared for,
and let's just dissect that they
don't want to feel processed.
We're talking about AI and
using AI as a tool to be able
to communicate with more people.
Well, if it's thoughtful and meaningful,
like the examples that I shared,
it is gonna make me feel cared for
because it's a little bit more in
depth than me just giving a thumbs up.
However.
If I get a note from Sara after this
is over and it's automated and it
says, dear, insert name here, comma,
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
I would never,
Bart Berkey: I know you would never, yes,
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: no.
Bart Berkey: There are so many times
where we spent way too much money for
a product or a service, and that's
the coding that we get because it's
from a generated automated system.
That says, insert name here,
thank you so much for buying the
Mercedes-Benz gl and I mean, we don't
own a Mercedes, but as an example.
Right?
So it's about how you can make them feel.
There's another element of, of
something when we were talking about
words that we might make up Sara.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey: There's a term, when I've
been doing some consulting work with
another organization, their goal was
to move away from transaction selling.
We uncovered that it needs
to be more transformative.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Hmm.
Bart Berkey: Anyone can do the checklist
of, tell me what you need, what kind of
car you need, what kind of house you need,
what type of meeting space do you need?
What size suit do you need?
We can go through the check,
check, check, check, check.
And that is all transactional.
It's not until we get into the
transformational thing, it's
how it will make you feel.
And to answer this question,
how it makes them feel.
I believe then identifies luxury.
Along those lines, AI might help
with a process, but we are able to,
and my new sales training program's
called "Humanality", and that's the
word that I made up because I was
finding, when I was asking people.
What element of specialness can
you insert into this process,
into this customer journey?
What element of personality, what element
of emotional intelligence can you insert?
And all of those words just started
to come out as where can you insert
"Humanality" into the process to make
people feel cared for, not processed?
To make them seem seen, not manufactured,
to make them feel trusted, not managed.
And so this "Humanality" element helps
for customers, it helps for clients, for
buyers, it helps for how you lead people.
And I believe that it is, and I'm in the
process of getting a trademarked, tm.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yep.
Bart Berkey: that, that's
gonna be the differentiator.
How can we insert "Humanality"
into the buying process into
the interactional process.
That's not even a word into the
transactional process, but I think
that will be a differentiator
for any company, luxury or not.
When you can insert more of a humanality
aspect to make people feel a certain
way, people will remember how they felt.
They don't necessarily remember the specs.
People will analyze with their heads,
but they will buy with their hearts.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Yes.
Bart Berkey: That's where
"Humanality" comes into role.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
I love it.
I mean, mic drop changing from feeling
processed to feeling cared for.
I think that's a great delineation.
And then that transactional
versus transformative.
I think that that's what you ask
yourself and when you're out and
about in the world, look for those
moments, look for those things.
I think, I think it's brilliant, Bart.
Where can people find you and connect
with you if they want to learn more?
Bart Berkey: They can
find me on your podcast.
Goodbye.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
Awesome.
We'll put that in show notes, but if they
want to right now, what is the best place?
Bart Berkey: Yes, easiest place.
It's easy to remember.
It's all one word.
Mostpeopledon't.
There's no apostrophe.
Mostpeopledon't.com.
That's it.
And my mobile number, which I pick up
all the time, 3 0 1, 3 1 2 1 6 0 0.
Maybe it's not the smartest thing to
give out my number, but I share it
because if people are dealing with
uncertainty or sadness or frustration
or they need a speaker, great.
Reach out to me, but
I'm a new friend, right?
Sara, you and I are new friends,
and hopefully I can be a new
friend to anyone that needs it.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose: Well,
we so appreciate you lending us your
time and expertise and your experience.
I love Humanality.
I love what you stand for.
Thank you for joining the
show, and we'll see you soon.
Bart Berkey: Thank you.
And if everyone listening right, Sara
Murray, of course, prospecting on purpose.
Go to where her podcast
is being broadcast, apple,
Spotify, all the channels.
Write a review, write a recommendation,
and go to LinkedIn and write a review.
Write em recommendation,
be kind to others.
It only comes back.
Sara Murray Prospecting on Purpose:
I love it.
Bar and Bart's podcast, as most people
don't, and for our, for all the marbles,
and I'll link that in the show notes.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
Happy Friday.
Stay positive.
I'll see you soon.
Bart Berkey: Thank you, Sara.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose:
Thank you so much for listening to
the Prospecting on Purpose podcast.
If you loved what you heard today,
subscribe to the podcast and
please rate and leave a review.
For more info on me or if you'd
like to work together, feel free to
go to my website, sarahmurray.com.
On social media, I'm usually
hanging out @sarahmurraysales.
Thanks again for joining me,
and I'll see you next time.