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D32 is a premium business growth network where business leaders and experts in Perth and across Australia form meaningful relationships so they can leverage the time, contacts and activities of a vast network. D32 supports the little guys (and gals) and the 7-8-figure businesses. We’re a community that has each others’ backs. This podcast is about all things business, entrepreneurship and connectiom.
Mindset
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Kingsley: [00:00:00] Welcome to episode five, the District 32 or D 32. We can say, oh, that's it. Podcast Dean. And thanks for joining us. My name's Kingsley, from tomorrow's not today and in the studio co-founder of D 32. Dean,
Dean: great to be here, king. See, appreciate team invite.
Kingsley: We are gonna get Lorraine in here one day. Oh, very good.
Very keen on getting Lorraine and having a chat. 'cause I know she's full of wisdom. Yeah, she she's superb on that, particularly on the sales and marketing stuff. Yeah. Outstanding. Yeah. Very keen to get her in. Yeah. Now, today, like in the last episode, we were talking about sales strategies, et cetera, and today is sort of, you're talking a little bit, mindset.
So it's sort of, it's still, we're still talking. Sales. Yeah. But it's from a very different perspective. It's more about what's going on in the head. Yeah. To a lot degree. Yeah. Isn't it?
Dean: I'd say I was very fortunate. I suppose when I started in sales, I was doing door to door and, didn't, no training. The guy in the warehouse used to give some [00:01:00] nuggets and, one of the nuggets he shared was, embrace the no dean.
And what that means is like we're all looking for, positive, yes, I'll take your product or service, and that can backfire you. 'cause if you're continue looking for the yeses, you're gonna get more disappointment, as you know, from doing sales. If we're all getting yeses every nine outta 10 times, it would be brilliant, but it stood away.
We, it could be one over every 10, could be one over every 20. So for me, like what I learned early on is embrace the nos. So, what he said to me was, knock on $180 team, you'll get 30 sales. So I'm looking for the nos. Yeah. I got an, I get excited. Yay. I gotta know I got another No, but what, what's, what that is doing is it's bringing me closer to a yes.
So I always kind of align it to, it's like a deck of cards. You have four ACEs. You need to turn over X amount of cards to find an ace, and sometimes an ace is the first card up. Sometimes it's the middle, sometimes it's the end. But if you're looking for those nos, you're, it's, it has that opposite, more or less a positive reaction internally.
And, I'll tell you a funny story actually. It was, I was trying to get people motivated this three years ago. [00:02:00] And on a Monday morning, I said, I'm gonna do a hundred outbound calls today. Start a half, eight, finished a half, five, I got my a hundred done. And soon my wife comes home, did you get your a hundred calls done?
And I was like, yeah, I was excited. I got my a hundred calls done. And she goes, that's brilliant. How many sales did she get? I got no sales, but I was excited for, because it was actually pushing those a hundred people one step down the, the, sales funnel. So kind of embracing the nose is great for your mindset as well, because most then you're getting a positive reaction.
Yeah. I gotta know. So I take a deck of cards.
Kingsley: I love that. I was actually listening to a podcast not too long ago, and I can't remember who it was. It may have been Dan Martel, I'm not sure. But he was saying that he changed his whole philosophy Yeah. To what you're talking about. Yeah. So he deliberately set out to do whatever he could to get a no.
Yeah. Yeah. And the more nosy racked up Yeah. The more he excited he got. Yeah. And was a complete shift. Yeah. But it did what you're talking about, it actually made him really excited. Yeah. And then when it did come to a sale [00:03:00] and it, and somehow it made it easier for him to sell. Yeah. When he did that.
Dean: It's interesting when you have that mindset and someone goes, yeah, I'll take, take your product or service, you're nearly kinda surprised because you're embracing the nose, but it really works Just in terms of. Of that mindset. Whereas if you're kind of, I want a yes, obviously we all want a yes, but your ex, your expectation is a yes, yes, yes.
It can wear you down a wee bit. Because we all, it's more negatives you're going to get, but look at the negative , as a step forward. There was a guy when I was doing the door to door in, Glasgow, and he knew, he knew our people 'cause we had the same bags and he get outta my shop, don't come here.
I said I wasn't coming to sell. Why? Here I was just wishing you, hope you're having a great day or any chance of a tea. But after a while I kind of wore him down and he goes, oh, come on in for a tea. And eventually he bought, took me 12 months. But
Kingsley: it's funny, I remember when I first started in real estate and I just got going Yeah.
As like, jump on the phone. Yeah. And go and knock on doors. Yeah. So I just spent, I spent I think six weeks. Yeah. And all I did basically was go and [00:04:00] knock on doors, hundreds and hundreds of doors. And I got to , this place. Yeah. And, and just chatting with them, they're like, yeah, we'd like to use you to auction our house.
And I'm like, oh, how do I fill a form out? Oh, man. Yeah, because that's brilliant. I, all I'd done was focus on knocking on doors for six weeks and I'd never filled one of these forms. I'd gone through the training. Yeah. Yeah. And, and my biggest fear then was. How do I fill this out? Yeah. So I don't get it wrong
Dean: and do, is it?
Well, I mean, what you're doing there as well is you've built, you're building resilience. because if you can do that for x amount of months, you're building resilience. And, that's a key part of being good in, in the sales arena, you need resilience because it is mostly negative. So yeah, when I look back at it now, I kind of go, that was a great education.
I didn't realize that at the time, but when I look back, what a massive, education that was.
Kingsley: So how do you get yourself into that mindset? Because it's not an easy thing to learn that No. And, you know, a go away Yeah. As a positive thing. Yeah. How do you actually get yourself to that place?
Dean: Because, [00:05:00] well, for me, I can think it's another, it's a major touch point. If I'm interacting with, it's the phone or. In person. It's a major interaction. It's more familiarity with my, with me as an individual, my voice in my product or service. So I should see it as another, touchpoint.
So, so for me that, that's the positive from a negative interaction. Okay, well, it's a no today, but maybe it's a yes tomorrow or an introduction to a family friend or business colleague, the following day. So, yeah, just see it as a very valuable, touchpoint is the worst case scenario.
Kingsley: So let's say for people that make a lot of cold calls Yeah. For their business, for what they're doing. Yeah. Is it the same scenario or is it a little bit different? Because there might be a cold call where you are calling somebody. But you may never talk to them again.
Dean: I would presume, if you're, if it's a once off call, they're in some type of system for the organization as in it's not just a cold call, and that's the end of it.
They're right. They're either in some type of nurture sequence or whatever. If it's just a once off call. So, yeah. So I presume it's not just do you want my product and to know Yeah. And never [00:06:00] to hear from again, would, if that's the case, they're doing, doing it wrong, for sure.
Kingsley: Okay. Yeah. Now that's a, that's actually a really good point.
So the, either way, however you view it, if you are talking to somebody, there's fitting in somewhere in your nurture system. Yeah. Yeah. Because otherwise that's why you're in touch with them in the first place. Yeah. So you're gonna put them, you're gonna do something with them. Down the track.
Dean: Exactly.
Exactly. And again, going back to probably your previous conversation, you're going with your gut feeling, what? What is the next step? Is it a bit more nurturing? Is it, I I need to ring them next week, next month, wherever the case may, but go with your gut feeling as well, but have a plan, of what's gonna happen next.
I, I think the other thing as well, mindset, Kingsley, is, people have this perception, I need to have the gift of the gap, B-L-S-L-I-C, Eskimos, which is isn't the case with good salespeople, as 80% of it is. Be yourself. Be authentic. Know your product or service and be brave. 'cause we're you're stepping into a sales arena, it's not easy.
But the more you do it, [00:07:00] the easier you get. So that's 80% of it for me, or 20% is experience by the doing and kind of reviewing your conversations or your approach, what you've said, you'll improve what, and that, that's just the experience. But for me, if you kind of keep that in mind, it's just two people having a conversation.
And that, that's all it is. The, the experience will sharpen your, your skills. And, probably touching on what we spoke about earlier on the listing is such a key part of that process. If you're not listening, with intent, you're not gonna pick out the information. I. You've, you, I'm sure you've come across salespeople.
They're asking questions. They're getting the information, but they're just waiting to deliver their next line on their project or service. They're not really taken on board the information. So the listing is, it's up there near the top of key ingredients for success in the sales arena.
Kingsley: So those points you just mentioned.
Every one of them is a skillset. Yeah. That can be developed a hundred percent. Yeah. So when we're talking mindset, you can actually change a lot of your [00:08:00] mindset. Yeah. If this is what I'm hearing from you. Yeah, yeah. You can change your mindset by building your skillset. Hundred percent. So your skillset of listening to somebody, yours, skillset of how you communicating, and a few other points in there.
Dean: Yeah. Well, I said my own experience was, start off door to door sales, no train. So it was learning everything the hard way, which I. Which with hindsight was a great education. So I had to figure out why I wasn't doing so well in the first six months. And I would bounce ideas off other people in sales and stuff, 'cause obviously they had, more experience than myself.
But yeah, you can develop skills like, I was rubbish, as a salesperson for a good few months when I started. But the skills improved. The confidence, the asking questions, the listening and all that stuff, and keeping an eye out for the buying signals, et cetera. So that comes with experience and time.
But just to be aware of it as well.
Kingsley: I'm glad you mentioned the whole confidence side of things there. 'cause I was actually gonna ask about that because it seems like there's a big correlation between mindset Yeah. And confidence.
Dean: Yeah.
Kingsley: And [00:09:00] skillset. Yeah. All of those seem to work hand in hand.
Yeah.
Dean: , I think for myself, it was the activities that got the confidence, as in when I started doing the door to door sales, like as I said, the warehouse guy said 180 doors, Dean, we will give you 30 sales. I never got 30 sales for the first few months. It was wavering between 10 and 15, but what gave me the confidence was the doing, I was doing the $180.
I got some sales. So, so I was doing something right to at a certain level and over, over the weeks and months, I was getting closer to that 30. And then I was consistent probably from six months on at that 30 plus. But from doing the activity that gave me the motivation, that gave me the inspiration by just focusing on my job is 180 doors.
And that kinda hasn't changed like say 22 years later, I'm going, okay, I need to do 10 phone calls today. And. Even if my, even if the call, if the calls don't go according to plan, that gives me motivation, inspiration. I'm doing it, I'm doing it. I'm getting through those 10 calls, or wherever.
Those K KPIs I've [00:10:00] set myself over the week.
Kingsley: It's interesting 'cause when you are doing that, your mindset is not. I need to sell this many people or this much dollars or anything else like that. Yeah, it's a little task that you have complete control over, whether you do or don't do.
Dean: A hundred percent. Like I, what's the phrase?
Believe in the process. So, I mean, I have bad days, I have bad weeks and sometimes bad months, but I know the process is right 'cause it's worked for so many years. So I believe in the process. And then that can flip overnight. You could have, a hundred people the following day. Yeah. I'll take your product today.
So it kind of levels over the course of time providing you're, you're sticking to the process, obviously review it, 'cause things change, people change, marketplace change, economies change, just reviewing it. But having confidence in, in the process. And that comes from, you're doing it from the experience o over weeks, months, or in my case, years now.
Kingsley: So. It sounds like you are, you're talking mindset, which [00:11:00] can, which is a big thing, and it can sound a bit woowoo sometimes as well, but if we boil everything down, you're talking about Yeah. You'll, you're going have a process that you follow. Yeah. Yeah. So you know what you do have your KPIs. Yeah. Things that you can completely control.
Yeah. Number of door knocks, number of phone calls. Yeah. Done. Know your product really well. Yeah. So that you can present it and just improve on what you're doing. So every one of those is a skill set and something that we can actually
Dean: do. And again, you're touching back. Be brave. 'cause we're all, nobody's born, I don't think a natural sales person.
It's a skill you build up over time. So, so be brave. I'll probably use their tip actually, I share as well around the mindset. 'cause you, we do have bad days, myself included, even after three, two years. So I thing I, I do is I, I found a friend, and they don't necessarily to be in business, just to feed off their energy.
If you've had a really poor morning, whether that's in meetings or on the phone, ring someone, who's a positive person. It could be a family friend or someone in business, and you just feed off their energy and it just resets you to push on for the rest of [00:12:00] the day or whatever the case may be.
Kingsley: That's really good because that actually, 'cause that does come up with all of us. Yeah. We, we come up with, it's like, I'm outta here. What am I doing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's, that's a really good point. So. Have you got any other tips on how to get the mindset or get when you're in a bit of a slump?
Yeah. What to do? That's a great one.
Dean: Yeah. I, I found a friend is, is a big one for me. And I think the other thing is, is to think I'm doing this for. Whatever months, years, I know what I'm doing. I'm good at, I do believe in that process. So as I said earlier on, you have to, you, you should be reviewing what you're doing regular enough, but the process isn't gonna change dramatically.
Just believe. Believe in your product, believe in your service, believe in the process, and know it's not you, it's just timing. That ace will turn over soon enough.
Kingsley: That's awesome, Dean. Thank you so much for that. I loved all those points. Oh, cheers. 'cause it is a big thing, the whole mindset.
A hundred percent. Yeah. And we get stuck sometimes. Yeah. And just, you've just made it so practical how to be in the best position. Oh,
Dean: that's brilliant. Oh, cheers. Cheers for the time. Thank you Dean. Cheers.