How to Master Sales & Crush Your Sales Quota with Jeffrey Helton

0:00Speaker A: Foreign.

0:11Speaker B: Welcome to another episode of Crush and climb. I'm Jason McLean, and I'm with my good friend and dear brother in arms, the one, the only, Jeffrey Helton. Well, welcome to the show. And you know what? I think today in our podcast, we are excited about a bunch of different things. And you know what? I got a bottle of wine out for today's episode, and it's a bottle we've not had in quite a long time. I'm introducing to you, ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only, Timeless. I love Timeless 2017.

0:41Speaker A: I love. I love Timeless. I think timeless is Timeless.

0:44Speaker B: Dude, we haven't made that wine Literally since 2017. Yeah.

0:48Speaker A: And I was drinking it like it was going out of style.

0:51Speaker B: It's our only 100% San Jose. We got blends with San Jose, different things. We've never done 100% San Jose since 2017, and we weren't even selling to the public back then, so it was literally just the grand experiment.

1:07Speaker A: So it was good. I'm very excited about this. I haven't had it since. Oh, God. Just after Covid Laguna.

1:16Speaker B: Oh, my God.

1:17Speaker A: And it's been a minute.

1:19Speaker B: You're dating both of us?

1:20Speaker A: Well, no, I just think that it was. It was there, and there was more of an abundance of it, and I think you're a little short staffed on that stuff now.

1:29Speaker B: I know. It's a moment. God bless America. The queen dogs and cats that live together.

1:34Speaker A: It's a good sign, though. That means you sold it all.

1:36Speaker B: I sold it all.

1:36Speaker A: Yeah.

1:37Speaker B: I think right now we've got probably 20 bottles left, if that. Because I have wine that I don't put in inventory, so my staff don't grab it and sell it or drink it. And my whole MO is when there's a wine that's only a few bottles left, the price just keeps going up, out of stock. And I hope you don't buy it, because the more it ages, the better it becomes.

2:00Speaker A: Or you bless it in an event like what we're doing here.

2:02Speaker B: Exactly.

2:02Speaker A: Yeah.

2:03Speaker B: Because, you know, this is America.

2:05Speaker A: Yeah. Dogs, cats.

2:06Speaker B: Yes. They live together. So I'm opening up a beautiful box bottle of Timeless, and there's a reason behind it. So first of all, yummy. All right, so, my friends, let's go ahead and take some Timeless out for a second. And I want to take a moment. Jeff, and pour out a little bit of the wine. So let's go ahead and do some love here. Oh, God.

2:30Speaker A: Yeah. That's like movie wine.

2:31Speaker B: That's it, baby.

2:32Speaker A: That's a movie pour.

2:33Speaker B: This could be like the movie Psycho and all the blood.

2:36Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

2:39Speaker B: All right. So my friends here, as you can see, is the coolest example of a great wine. It's timeless, it's 100% Sangiovese, and it's from the year 2017. And this particular bottle is number 0216. We name every one of our bottles and we number every one of the bottles. Tonight we poured a bottle of timeless. Because I want to talk to you tonight about making money. Simply put, the timeless effort of the day to day grind and what it will take each person to find a way that they can meet the numbers at the end of the month. What's the one thing that we do when we're trying to get a deal done? I mean, listen, it's. It's for us right now, we're doing this podcast. It's middle of the month and it's past the hump day of the bill of the month, the 50th is passed, and we're closing towards the beginning of the next month. And frankly, you know, we're selling this, we're selling that, but damn, we gotta make sure rent's covered, mortgage paid, payroll gets done, sales commissions, get engaged and start all over again. Now you are in a business that lives and breathes by the day and by the numbers, by the month. And so you know, the book pivot to Profit is all about showing someone how to make money when they're in crisis. And you've been in sales your whole life. So you're on the guest today. You're the co host today. And so I believe that making money is a timeless quest. It never ends. Every month we're going after the same door to open it up again and again and again. So let's raise our glasses, shall we?

4:19Speaker A: Absolutely.

4:19Speaker B: And cheers to the doorway of making a damn buck, please. Oh, that's so good.

4:26Speaker A: Did I just become Catholic?

4:27Speaker B: I think you did.

4:27Speaker A: Oh, my. I'm good.

4:29Speaker B: Gluteus maximus as it was in the beginning. Now, Michelle, be world without end. I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. All right, Jeffy, that is delicious, by the way. That good?

4:47Speaker A: Yeah.

4:48Speaker B: Do 100% Sangiovese. And listen, if you don't have 100%.

4:52Speaker A: I have a goose from it.

4:53Speaker B: Yeah, I'm a gooser.

4:55Speaker A: That's good.

4:55Speaker B: If you don't get 100% Sangiovese poured into your mouth every single day, then you haven't lived, you haven't lived whatsoever.

5:02Speaker A: Yeah, you are definitely living in a bubble. Yeah, bubble boy.

5:05Speaker B: So, dude, we go back in time, we think of the worlds that were before us. Like, right behind me here is a 1921 Royal typewriter.

5:13Speaker A: And I love that typewriter.

5:14Speaker B: My brother John gave it to me.

5:15Speaker A: That's cool.

5:16Speaker B: Yeah, he gave it to me as a gift. I don't know if he got it from a garage sale or in a garbage dump or whatever it was, but he thought about me because I love to write words. So this typewriter, 21, you know, guys are out there working their butts off to make a living. And everything we look about, everyone's trying to make a living. Whether you're a musician, whether you are a salesperson in. In the auto business or insurance, or whether you are a wine owner or whether you are. Whoever you are, it takes dollars to make the world go around. And you control a sales team at your organization, in your dealership. So what do you tell people? What do you say to somebody who's got, at this point, middle of the month, how do you grind? How do you find a deal? How do you close a deal when you have no choice?

6:02Speaker A: Well, a lot of it has to do with, you know, obviously, prospecting, but you don't want to focus on their strengths. You want to focus on their weaknesses, everything that they're missing throughout the entire month originally. So they've already tackled their strengths. Obviously, we're at the 23rd of the month.

6:20Speaker B: Yeah.

6:20Speaker A: So they've already had 23, 22 days to tackle their strengths. The last grind is their weaknesses. Everything that they haven't done already, you got a majority of the month that's already over. So everything else you have to focus on is everything else that you haven't done the entire month, because that's the. That's a leftover meat of the bone. So you don't want to keep going after the people that you've already gone after. You've already. You've already exhausted every resource in that avenue. You want to go to the people that you didn't think was a deal and swipe back at them with information that they don't already have. So the customer's already said no, because you haven't said anything that's actually piqued their interest. You haven't delivered information that they've found to be enticing. So that's your job to swing back around. For example, if you're. I'll use car dealership as an example. If you have a dealership that has a Abundance of a certain type of car. And the guy in charge says, hey, you know what? We're going to do blowout specials on these. You're going to go to everybody that's already said no and offer them a deal better than the deal you've already given them. Now you have information to give them. You have something at the table to talk about. You have a reason to call them. Because before all you're doing is saying the same thing that you've already said before. And they're not going to say yes. So you have to bring something else to the table. That's that last third of the month grind. That's what it's all about.

7:44Speaker B: How does someone pull that out of themselves?

7:46Speaker A: Oh, it's. That's. Now you're talking motivation. That's a whole different thing. You have to be motivated to want to actually do that grind. And that's the point of the sales. Sales is a different game. Most people would say not everybody's bred for the sales game. Not everybody has that in them. People feel like there's a certain title with salespeople when it comes to, you know, they get a bad rap and everything like that. But it has nothing to do with that. It's about delivering deals. I deliver deals that are phenomenal. I know that there's people that don't do deals the way I do them. There's people out there that take advantage of customers. And I'm just not one of those people. I am a market salesperson. I deliver what the market's doing. If the market's down, I will deliver the down market. If the market's up, I will deliver the up market. It is what it is. Now I can find a way to bring value to the up market also. So that way they know that they're getting value on it.

8:46Speaker B: So let's clarify that one. So those who are just learning the details of this one, we deliver value to the down market or the up market. Are you making reference to the fact that the up market, meaning everyone's buying, there's a lot of competition in the world and you want to bring value to somebody although they go anywhere else to get the same deal?

9:04Speaker A: Yep.

9:05Speaker B: The down market is where you're walking to a place where you need to sell that one and they know you want to sell that one and you're trying to find a value position to give to that individual when they know they have you over a barrel. Yep. It's hard.

9:17Speaker A: Yep. It's. That's probably the down one. Is the hardest part. Yeah, I, you know, I live through the joy of COVID where there was no inventory and everybody was just knocking on the door and saying, please, can I buy it? You. It literally took zero talent. You just had to have a person to process the deal. That was it.

9:39Speaker B: That's scary.

9:40Speaker A: And it was sad to say sometimes because there were some times where I had friends, you know, that want to buy cars. Yeah, you, you were one of them. But I've. We waited on the deal. Yeah. And we, we approached the deal. But there's other friends that have to buy at that current point. And you just can't help them because it doesn't say Jeff Helton Motors on, on the front of the building. And I, I, you know, I got someone to answer to, obviously. But I do understand that when I work somewhere, I'm going to work somewhere with integrity. I want to make sure I can sleep at night.

10:10Speaker B: Yeah.

10:11Speaker A: So the whole purpose of, you know, the down market is strictly a grind. That's the grind. I believe we are halfway between the up and the down market. It's really vehicle based. Every make has their, you know, niche vehicle, and then they have the rest of the stuff that they have to get rid of. The, the, the market share that they have to produce. So it's really about grinding out and just trying to sell to zero.

10:44Speaker B: Yeah.

10:44Speaker A: Trying to get zero inventory in stock. So that way they have to replenish you all the time.

10:48Speaker B: So listen, you. The car business is a hard business. I mean, and people look at people saying, you know, hey, why do you do it? What's the deal about it? What's the ups and downs? It's a grind every single day. I was in it years ago. And I understand it's crime and you've been it for a long time. It's a grind, but there's an upside. Tell me the joys of the upside when you close that deal.

11:08Speaker A: Well, I'm actually about the W. It doesn't matter about the gross profit or anything like that. Is not really the win. I mean, there's been times where I've.

11:18Speaker B: What's the W?

11:19Speaker A: The win?

11:20Speaker B: Okay.

11:20Speaker A: Just the win. I don't, I don't like a customer leaving without the car. And that's my win, is I've, I've had days where the next day I've had boss man come in and tell me, you know, what in the heck were you doing on that deal? And I just had to win.

11:38Speaker B: Yeah.

11:38Speaker A: I just had to put them in the car. The Car had to be in their driveway. So there's times where I make a decision and it is absolutely the wrong decision, but that guy is in the car. You know, business wise, it's probably the wrong decision, but I just had to win. And I got, I got people in front of me looking at me like with little doughy puppy dog eyes. And I worked hard on this deal and I need to get paid. I'm like, oh, you're right. Yeah, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta deliver the deal. So I go out there and I do everything and when I'm failing, I'm like, I'm still gonna roll this deal. We're doing this deal. But yeah, I'm more about the win and less about the money. I don't know. That's, that's a, that's, that's a, that's a competitiveness in me, I guess.

12:19Speaker B: Yeah.

12:20Speaker A: So it's, it's a little different.

12:22Speaker B: So, so what do you tell your guys, your sales team when you are literally at that one moment and they've got to close the damn deal? You've got two weeks left. Here's the guy who's been with you for many years or just, just joining you and you know you've got to get 30 more units sold or.

12:38Speaker A: And you.

12:39Speaker B: And you're trying to get this guy engaged. What do you say to him to motivate him to get the other. You know, he'll bring in three units if he can work his butt off.

12:46Speaker A: Well, I try not to do money motivation because that breeds bad habit. I. We have a pay plan that's actually designed for volume. Pays. It's, it's probably the best pay plan I've ever seen in the automotive industry. And I mean, we actually have a scenario where. Can I talk dollars on there?

13:12Speaker B: Yeah, okay, sure. This is called crush and climb.

13:16Speaker A: I know.

13:17Speaker B: I wrote a book on profit, so if we can't talk dollars, we're in the wrong room.

13:21Speaker A: I know, I just. Some people are like, there's no reason to say a number, but that swine's so good, so delicious.

13:28Speaker B: And I want to crush it every day with time.

13:31Speaker A: We have a Internet sales department. You know, you got, you got the regular sales department which is like, you know, walking customers and phone calls and things like that. Internet sales is when you submit a lead through maybe the website or any other lead source and it comes through. And their job is to gather information and deliver it to the customer. It's usually a more of a volume based department. We have a pay Plan that's structured, and this is where everything's going to come together. That we guarantee that if you sell 20 cars in a month, we'll pay 20 grand. And there's not very many stores out there that are willing to back that up. In the two years that I've been at this dealership, I've only had to true up one guy. The pay plan usually takes care of that, the way that it's designed.

14:14Speaker B: So you just said, you sell 20 cars, I'll give you 20 grand.

14:18Speaker A: Yeah.

14:18Speaker B: Guaranteed. Yep. No matter what.

14:19Speaker A: No matter what.

14:20Speaker B: Minimum. Minimum.

14:20Speaker A: Yep.

14:21Speaker B: So those who are listening to this episode right now, this show here on this podcast, and they hear that.

14:26Speaker A: Yeah.

14:26Speaker B: And they reach out to you in your dealership and they say, I can do it. I'll close those 20 deals. I guarantee it's done. You'll bring that up into them based on the way the plan is today.

14:37Speaker A: Yeah. And so when it comes to the motivation, the pay plan will motivate the money alone. So I don't need to bonus them out to make those extra deals. It's really about managing results. We have a certain level of activity and results that you have to be doing every day. So I kind of monitor those, and the deals just happen and fall into. Into their laps.

15:06Speaker B: So you put together the system to make sure that you can close the deal. And that system, if they do the.

15:14Speaker A: Work, follow the process.

15:15Speaker B: All the process. I gotta make these phone calls, these emails, these communications, these touch points, this process. If I follow those every day, then I should close myself 20 deals in a month.

15:26Speaker A: Yeah. Right.

15:26Speaker B: And so you're following the nitty gritty details. So it's not just, hey, go out there and do your best.

15:31Speaker A: No, no, no, no.

15:32Speaker B: It's go out there and follow my plan. Shut up. Follow my plan. Sit down, let's get you going.

15:37Speaker A: Yeah, it's more of like a. Here's the. Here's the process. Have blind faith.

15:41Speaker B: Yep.

15:42Speaker A: If it doesn't work, we'll pivot. I'll figure it out, and I'll make sure you make money.

15:45Speaker B: Pivot to profit.

15:46Speaker A: Yep.

15:46Speaker B: Love it.

15:48Speaker A: Another thing is, is I had a. This is where you have to understand that it doesn't just always fall on the salesperson. It's always about management. We have a great team. Where I'm at, I love everybody on the. On the staff. My gm, he was at a dealership or he was. He was a. He was in control of a bunch of dealerships at one time.

16:09Speaker B: Sure.

16:09Speaker A: Where he worked for a Group and you know, they couldn't let somebody go unless he okayed it. And they sent over information saying this guy's taken the most customers phone calls. He's you know, been with these people and he's sold the least amount of cars. We got to get rid of this guy. He goes, what's his name? And looks him up and goes in. This guy had the most, we call them opportunities. So the people that walk in the front door phone calls, interior phone calls and exterior phone calls or inbound phone calls, outbound phone calls and write ups which is, you know, the customers commitments and things like that, but never sold the cars, had the least amount of cars. So he gets a hold of the GM of that store because the sales manager said we got to get rid of this guy. Gets older the gm. And he said fire your manager. And the GM goes, excuse me, he goes, fire your manager. It is not the salesperson's job to sell the car. It's the manager manager's job to sell the car. So he's brought every opportunity that manager and that manager has not gotten off his ass to go make that deal some. You know, he hasn't battled the issues with the customer, overcame objections. He's complacent, lazy and wants to keep his ass in that chair. So he's got to go. That's exactly how it went down. They actually we had a follow up conversation about a week ago about that situation. I was curious where that salesperson was. That salesperson is a GM of a dealership now, I swear to God, but I'm telling you, they wanted to put a bolt in this guy and this guy's talented enough to be the general manager of a store. But that's what I'm talking about is there's more to the sale than just the salesperson. It's about teamwork, communication and 100% camaraderie.

18:07Speaker B: So you build a system now, a system that helps somebody to identify what is the anatomy of a sale or transaction, what's the process you go through to make sure that sale always closes. So if somebody's in insurance, somebody's in hospitality, somebody's in legal, somebody's in whatever they're in. There's always a system, as you and I both know, about getting the deal done. How do you close it? You know, I did when I was starting my wine business, I started something called the platinum training and I did almost a 40 hour training program. So you come to work at McLean Cellars, you've got to go through a 40 hour training of watching me pontificate and talk on video for 40 hours until you're allowed to go on the floor.

18:50Speaker A: Yeah.

18:50Speaker B: No one of any exception is allowed to go on the floor and talk to one of my guests unless they go through my program. So my ticket is, hey, I can look at my program. And it's great for hospitality, it's great for the brand. People love it. It's all good. I got a problem. I can't figure out how to get them to close more wine club because wine club's my money. Because wine clubs literally make or break our business as an organization. And so I've been struggling for months of Sundays. So I know how to teach them the system. Teachers teaching the process make sure everything's all good, the experience is perfect. But when it comes to that close, turning that person into perfection and saying, you need to get wine on a regular basis, you say, I've always gone. The assembly says, listen, I'm going to give you a dollar amount. You know, so many dollars for every member you sell. And then when they buy allocation revenues and wine clubs, I'll give you that money too. So if I give a little, I give them cash.

19:49Speaker A: Yeah.

19:50Speaker B: But it doesn't make them happy.

19:52Speaker A: A residual as well.

19:53Speaker B: Exactly. Residual, yes. And they're not happy. They're not making the numbers. So what you've got here, which is great for someone who's in crisis, someone who's trying to figure out how to make a deal. Done. And for the salesperson. So listen, if you're listening today, and this is maybe your first time or one of the other times, and you've never heard the story of a proper, true, 100% grinding sales sales manager. The man, the myth, the legend, the guy who can sell ice cream to Eskimos and get the store up for the winter, you've got today on crush and climb, Jeffrey Helton. Jeffrey knows sales, so I'm going to ask him a question right now and I'm going to ask him to paint me a picture. And he's going to take this idea from his experience in the world of selling in the carpets for many, many years and more. So selling directly and give me a path. So we'll rise up with Jeffrey. Are you ready? Let's rise. So, Jeff, I'm trying to find out how to sell wine clubs. In my business. My people are happy when they come in. They love the product. The product is fantastic. They're really, really good. Give me a system where I can offer my staff a guarantee. At the end, that gets them to come in and close a deal. From zero to hero. They love the wine, but they're pouring their wine. The person's happy. My original plan was introduce our benefits, our program, and then see if they close. They say no, walk away. It's not the right program. It's not working. Give me a plan to sell wine.

21:23Speaker A: Well, a lot of it has to do with. And you and I haven't spoken about this yet, so I'm kind of just winging it.

21:29Speaker B: But I did this.

21:30Speaker A: I would say the majority of it would have to come to treat it as a book of business. When I get a fresh salesperson in that has no customer database, I will supply them with a customer database. I will give them people that have been to my shop, contact them, talk about specials, talk about deals, talk about something that's going on. That way maybe I can entice them to at least come in for a test drive or tasting. Invite them in for a tasting.

22:01Speaker B: Sure.

22:03Speaker A: And then build that customer as your customer and own the customer.

22:06Speaker B: Interesting.

22:06Speaker A: Create a book of business. That way your people come to you, you're their own concierge for all the wine, and then their book of business will build over time. And this is more of a longevity thing as well. It builds longevity, less turnover. And then obviously because you have residuals, their job is to want to put as much wine into them as possible. As far as allocation, start them off small, then grow them. So you want to put someone into the entry level car, the entry level wine club, you know, you start them off small, you don't always go for the big prize. But I'll always tell you, someone comes in and is stupid enough like me to flop for all the stuff because this wine is so freaking good, Just let it happen. Don't talk past the sale.

22:54Speaker B: That's a good one, by the way. But that's it. Write that down. I gotta have that on the bottom of the screen. Don't talk past sales.

23:00Speaker A: Well, it's true. I mean, if someone comes in and says, hey, I'm in love with this wine, what's your best package? Just write it up. Don't over talk. Cause you might screw the deal up. But always start off, always offer the lowest amount. Don't talk about anything higher. Let them talk about the higher one saying, well, only your bottom one is four bottles.

23:22Speaker B: Three.

23:22Speaker A: Three. So let them say, oh, we pop through three bottles in a week. Let them talk themselves up. But all you've done is you've taken someone that has no customer database given them customers. They've invited them in for a tasting and you've pitched them on the lowest level of your club.

23:42Speaker B: Yeah.

23:43Speaker A: That's all you have to do. That's it. You have to cold call. You can't just pray that your SEOs or whatever is driving people to the store.

23:55Speaker B: So they're in the store. Right. And you've given them everything they want. I get the idea. I love the idea of going to the staff and say, okay, here's 10,000 people. Call them up and bring them in. Give them a free tasting. And look, I love that one. That's one. Number two, they're. They're in the tasting room, they're at the dealership. They've enjoyed the cars drive, they've enjoyed the wine. They're having a good time, they're having fun. What's the close? How do you see the clothes?

24:19Speaker A: Well, it's, it's asking for the clothes. It has nothing to do with. There's no special remedy to anything. It's a little different with the car business because we do. We call them payment brochures where I'm from. And it shows cash price, finance, lease, different down payment options. It's basically every option available, which I've seen your club membership card and that's what it has. So it has everything available on it. So you're pretty much just presenting the menu to them and allowing them to make the decision. Start them off small, show them the bottom and let them work themselves the way up. When it comes to the close, you have to, I would say in your business, let them know they're. Whether there's an out or not, or I don't know if there is an out, but let them know that, hey, I can put you on to a trial run. I can also, I have the ability to pause you for a certain amount of time. Take away any and all fear of the expense of the objections. Yeah.

25:17Speaker B: Take the fears away. So go in, connect directly to their desires and take away the fears.

25:24Speaker A: Well, most deals are not made because you haven't removed the fear of the customer making a bad decision. Correct. Yeah.

25:29Speaker B: Yes.

25:30Speaker A: So that's what I always base everything on, is whenever I'm with a customer and I'm really not a pushy salesperson, I don't push, I make sense. I reason. When I'm. If I was in your lounge and somebody said, well, I don't know about it, and I'd say, well, obviously I haven't given you enough information for you to Make a good decision. So what information haven't I given you about our product? You have to understand that you haven't given them enough information to just say yes. So it's all about knowing everything front and back. Um, all I do is drink the wine. I wish I knew more about your wine. Uh, maybe I should take the class. But it's all about having the information to give to them. So customer asks information saying, hey, I really like this one. Tell me more about it. You're going to keep giving them information about the wine and you're going to let them taste it while you're giving the information and talk about it and, you know, building the value in the wine and why it makes sense to be part of the club.

26:32Speaker B: So I want to take it one step further. So. And I think that every industry should do this one. I don't know if you guys do this in the car business or this regulation where you cannot, but tell me if you can. So one of the ways I made my living before I got into the wine business and of course into, you know, you know, the world is affiliate marketing. I am all about giving a piece, giving back the kickback. Matter of fact, when I was in the car business, I had a brokerage service. Yeah, broker, before they really had them per se. And I had something called Pacific Auto Leasing. This is way back in the 90s, a long, long time ago. And I had the very first we come to you concept. Okay, so it was literally when Lexus first was introduced in the US Right. And no one knew about it. It's car, it's a toy. The thing who knows was. And Lexus came over and so I said to people, it's open at leases. Back in those days, just make money you want to. So I was selling deals and I went put an ad in the Penny Saver and a big old full page ad and says, we come to you in the Penny Saver and the big ad says, little logo and come over here. And we would show up and I call the dealers up, right? And I say, hey, I'm Jason McLean, I'm a broker. My little broker's license, yada yada, yada. And I got a deal I'm going to work on. I need to get a Mercedes, this one. That's what I want. I want to get this Lexus and I want to get this. And can I get them? Okay, The Porter, right, 555. So these guys had to make relationships because for a guy to the dealership to come and say, listen, I'm going to take that car and give you a port and drive it someplace. I'm putting miles in the car, you better close the deal. If not, you're wasting my time. And most of you guys are strokes. So I get these guys. I'll pay you at the dealership. I'll pay you, you know, for your hourly rate plus $25 for your porter to bring the car to me. And I want three chances to car out.

28:20Speaker A: Yeah.

28:20Speaker B: And so I'll pay your fees and it's all good. And if I can close a couple deals, then you'll work with me. So the guy said, okay, fine, you pay my money. It's a thing, it's a stroke, everything else. So they bring me out so I would come to the customer. I said, okay, two o' clock Thursday, this address, you're coming up. The Mercedes pulls up in the color he wants. The Lexus pulls up in the color he wants. Every car pulls up in the color the client wants. And they're all out in front, all three cars. And I go into the dealership, I go in the house, the guy, okay, Mr. Johnson, here is car one, two and three. Let's go test, try them. All three pullers up there waiting around and they're, they go and test drive 1, 2, 3. They come back, which one do you want? I want that car. I love it. And then I pull paperwork out, I sign it, we sign an open end lease. The guy signs his paperwork, it's all good. You already pre approved. Of course, it was done. And now I just closed the deal. I sold it for a lot of money. I made a great margin. It wasn't about the negotiation, it was the deal.

29:16Speaker A: Still happy.

29:17Speaker B: And the service of we come to you. And I closed a lot, matter of fact, in doing that model. I was a young kid, I made over a million dollars in one year. Just sounded like that. Bring them to you now. People who have larger dealerships for like, you know, you worked for a dealership that had lots of different lines. If they had the model that says, I will bring you a car and come to your doorstep and bring you one of each of them, it's a big investment. But if they're golden, they have golden credit. They're closing, they're ready to go, you feel you're good, they're approved, bring them over, close the deal.

29:51Speaker A: Yeah.

29:51Speaker B: So this is my model, right? So I look at this model, I said, okay, I can bring people in to come in and taste wine. Sure, sure, that's great. I Can bring people in to get them to give them a little free this, little free that. Home, the arts. But to get someone to fall in love, to get them to literally fall in love with what you've got in front of you. I mean, the taste of Kool Aid speaking Jim Jones laws, right, we're going to Ghana, here, wherever's gonna die. But thinking that idea to get that closed, that one person, there's an intoxication of joy which is beyond reproach. I love closing that deal. And my question to you is, barring someone closing that deal in that capacity. If I look at my business, or any business as you look at it, and I want to give someone a system that works, the very first thing I want my people to identify is what in the customer to know they're going to close. I can look at somebody and within a millisecond, I can tell you they're going to close it up. When I come to a wine club, to a lounge, I can tell they're going to buy a bottle of their Moon. I can tell it in an instant. And you can do that. When you see someone in your dealership, what's the one thing that stands out to you that says, I know they're going to go left or right?

31:08Speaker A: Customer involvement.

31:10Speaker B: Good point.

31:10Speaker A: I'd say engagement. When they're, you know, you get the people that walk into the dealership, you know, I'm not buying anything. I'm just here to test drive. Yeah, but when you see their involvement with the car, touching the buttons, feeling it, you know, doing all this stuff, checking out how the car parks itself, you know, all that stuff, it's the same thing with wine. When you see their eyes roll back after a sip, you're just like, gotcha, gotcha.

31:38Speaker B: That person to buy the wine to that one. I think the problem is, and my staff have this challenge sometimes I think people get so involved in being a customer, they forget that they're salespeople just.

31:51Speaker A: To just a highlight on that, you agree. You can't be afraid to hear the word no either. A lot of them are afraid of what the customer is going to think about them. If they say no. They always say, customer says no to me. Oh, my God, they're going to hate me. They're never going to come back again. It's like you've painted 6,000 different ways. This customer is going to hate you before you've even asked them for the business. So you got to think outside the box. You have to understand that all you're doing is trying to provide a service to a customer. And they came to you. It's not like you went to their house and you're not a door to door salesman selling knives.

32:26Speaker B: Right.

32:27Speaker A: God bless you people. That's terrible. But I think, you know, when they're coming to your company and they're walking in and they're saying, I want to try this, it's okay to ask them to join.

32:40Speaker B: Right.

32:41Speaker A: It's not bad. And so when you see someone that is just enjoying and having a good time and, and it's not literally all about the wine. I also joined because I love the atmosphere of the lounge. It has to do with everything. It's, it's, you know, we, we, we keep our facilities modern, clean, this and that, because when people come in, you know, we have the sonic ice. You know, we have sonic ice if you want to have. Yep. We do ice waters. So we sonic ice. People like chewing on it and stuff. It's, it's an extra added experience. And my GM came up with the Sonic ice. He had to get it. I was like, dude, brilliant. But the, when, when the customer comes in, it's, it's about, you know, do you, you know, do you want, I know you guys have a, you guys have water, you bring them, you know, perfect. You bring the wine, you bring their tastings. Hey, did you guys want some chocolates? You want some, you know, you guys want to help yourself to some meats and cheeses and whatnot. But it's the whole experience, you know, when I drink wine, I, I, we, we put out a display. You know, I like to have the charcuterie. I like to have it all. I want to taste the hot honey on this, and I want this and that and I want to drink my wine. And it's about an experience. It's not just the wine, man. It's about, you know, falling in love with the whole day and that's what they have to do. You know, the, the, the, you know, ambassador has to know that if you're not giving the customer that kind of experience, they're probably not going to join.

34:06Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So you got this experience coin. Someone's going to walk away, you haven't closed them. You, you give them everything. The customer's ready to buy. But you didn't ask for the sell.

34:18Speaker A: Well, there's a no call too. It's the no call. Yeah, the no call. I learned this one. I, I sit with my GM a lot and he tells me a lot of stories. He's Got a. He's got a very successful son with AT&T selling fiber. And this kid's a beast. But he told me it was. It's an old school thing that he came up with called the no Call. The no call is everybody that said no to you in the lounge. They're the phone call tomorrow. And they're the phone call tomorrow because you don't. You didn't give enough value to something. And there's something that you have time to now assess and value evaluate that you didn't give to them when they were there. It's the boo boo. It's, I didn't do this, and I should have done that. And I'll tell you what, I'm going to deliver tomorrow and this is how I'm going to do it. Whether it's, you know, I'm not going to say. I don't want to say give anything away for free because I hate doing that. I don't mind the experience. But hey, you know what? When you came in, I did notice that you were more a fan of this type of. And I really focused on this type of wine. Um, next time, why don't we schedule an appointment for you to come back because I really like to show you some other stuff. Not to mention we do have an event where the guy's going to be playing live music, everything. Why don't you bring a couple extra friends? But what you're doing is you're kind of being like, remember back in the day when you have to get. You try to get on the guest list of the club.

35:44Speaker B: Yeah.

35:45Speaker A: Yeah. You're that person now. You're the promoter.

35:47Speaker B: Yes.

35:47Speaker A: You're promoting the lounge.

35:49Speaker B: Yes.

35:49Speaker A: So promote the lounge. You're. You're putting asses in the seats.

35:53Speaker B: Yep. It's.

35:53Speaker A: And you're giving yourselves more opportunity to actually sell more wine club memberships. But the no call is calling them up and offering. You know, you focused on whites because you're paying more attention to the wife. And maybe the husband's a decision maker or vice versa. But your job is to figure out what's. What do I have to do to close this deal? You have to assess the value and who's, who's. Who's really going to call the shot down.

36:16Speaker B: Okay. You just open up Pandora's box and the best way in the world, because what you just said was you have to have a system of owning the customer experience and the aftermath of that one in order to close that customer.

36:29Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

36:29Speaker B: So the answer is document every Single detail of every single moment with the customer experience. Document it all.

36:39Speaker A: Daily log.

36:40Speaker B: So imagine someone coming to my lounge and says, listen, I want to have some wine. In the first part of tasting, we bring them over. IPad. The QR code goes over. Listen, we would love to stay in contact with you. So fill us out. And people will give their email address at the first one or two pours. The wine's good, they like it, the experience is good, they're having fun. They will give a review right then. That's why these called pop cards. The pop cards are great because they click on it, they give us reviews. Reviews, we're good. That's why we have great reviews, because we get them when they're ready. Same thing with getting their data. Get their name, their email. At the same point, pop card comes in, review comes in, customer goes in. If you can't close them, you call them tomorrow. When you call tomorrow, you offer them this, you offer them that, you talk to them, you engage them, you make them relationship. I think every deal is going to be closed, whether you're insurance, whether you're legal, whether you are cars, whether you are paint sellers, whatever it is, every deal wants relationship. All the customer wants is to be heard again and know who you are. If you can give that to them, you own them. You own them in a heartbeat. Because this is truly the testimony of a sales agent. Sales client. I want to be sold by somebody who wants to know me because our entire lives are built on one thing being relevant. So I think the answer in sales is about being relevant. It comes down the same thing of, you know, when I think of the rise system, I think of pivot to profit. I think of the book that I wrote in all that world. It's about when you're in crisis trying to close a deal. You're not trying to like say these magic words or click your heels three times and find the deal go in. It's going back to the basics. And the basics are one, building rapport with the customer. Two, not over pushing the customer. Three, letting the customer say no and go away. Four, having the contact deals call the customer back the next day. Five, waiting for the customer to come back. Six through 10. The customer always will come back. If you love them and they love you and they have opportunity and you fill them, that they have given you grace and opportunity and you've given them a reason, they'll come back.

38:59Speaker A: You said have a good experience. Yeah, they'll be back. The I heard you saying the name and email address the way to differentiate and get the phone number as well is I can't email some of this data that you want. I can text it to you if you like.

39:15Speaker B: Oh, wow. So that's a good point. You walk into. I text you the details about this wine. You like that one scorecard. Can I text you the tasting notes? Gosh darn it, you can text. Oh, my God. Listen, you're learning from me, but I'm learning from him because the truth is we're all learning because he didn't suck. That was free. Yeah.

39:41Speaker A: Thank you. But I agree. I think that, you know, creating the model of having them promote the store from past experience, guests and bringing them in and then having a resell process going and then doing the no sell afterwards. I mean, you just got to take your swipes, and then obviously you can tell if you have someone that just wants to come in and drink wine and not be part of the club, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But you have to look for your book of business for the wine club.

40:12Speaker B: I love it.

40:12Speaker A: Yeah.

40:13Speaker B: All right, so I already drink all my wine because I'm an American, and Jeffrey here is learning the joys of being an American. So allow me one moment. Thank you very much. And then let's go ahead and take that bottle of.

40:46Speaker A: You ever have you do your YouTube TV, aren't you?

40:49Speaker B: Yeah.

40:49Speaker A: You ever see the. The one that goes, you know, when you break to commercial, it does the, you know, beautiful scenery and the stuff in the background? Yeah, that's it right there. That needs to be on there. That has to be on YouTube TV. Just the port.

41:04Speaker B: Well, the poor. That's how we got, you know. You know, this camera. So it's funny when people watch Crush and Climb, not everyone knows that we shoot Crush and climb at the McLean Sellers Winery in Irvine. And the room we're in now and some of our episodes are in the vibe. This was called the Cellar Studio, and it's, you know, one of my favorite studios. A lot of fun. We rent it by the hour to others. Wanted to podcast. But more importantly, we pour wine here. And there's a warehouse in the back with over, I know, maybe 4,000 cases of wine all at temperature. And, you know, my wife gave me this lazy Susan.

41:44Speaker A: I love this thing. I talked about it day one when it came. That's right.

41:47Speaker B: You remember me. It's really cool. And you can spin around. Listen, this is the wine. That's right. You can watch the details, look at the score, goes around the Corner. Yes. So, you know, now we have the thing. Because Crush and Climb is about hosts. Because I have different guest hosts for culture and crime that will do their own deal. But more importantly, is climbing out of the shit you're in.

42:05Speaker A: Yeah.

42:06Speaker B: And during a glass of wine. And I got respect for a lot of the guys who came before me, like Gary Vaynerchuk.

42:12Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

42:12Speaker B: He's done a great job in motivational speaking and a great job help people out, and he knows good wine. And a lot of respect for people who just love the world they live in. But more importantly, I have a lot of respect for you because you just gave me a path. My own business, my own winery. And I tell you, wine cells aren't where they used to be, and the world ain't what it used to be. But our friendship always is. And more importantly, the path, the promise, always is, too. So I raised my glass, and Timeless was today's wine. And as we close up our podcast in this episode, we were Timeless is the sales process. Every month we get that gauge going, that grind going, and it gets scary sometimes because you haven't got enough deals in the pipeline. I can't wait. And I'm excited to go, and I've done this many times before, but I want to bring you with me. Would you be interested in coming with me to different companies, different corporations, different businesses and helping them pull back the kimono and finding the agency of sales? I think you'd be good at it. You open.

43:16Speaker A: I can help you with anything you.

43:18Speaker B: Need, dude, I'm in. I've written a workbook for companies. I've written a program for businesses who are in sales slumps. I want to find the company who can't figure out how to make the deal close and get their guys and gals to work it. I want to bring in my friends like yourself to let us close the damn deal. Because to pivot, to profit, to crush and climb, you gotta close the deal.

43:42Speaker A: You. Oh, yeah.

43:43Speaker B: And you know what? It's not hurting anyone. It's about making sure they get the best. I love it when the customer gets what they need. Like you say you love it when they win. They get the car. They drive in that car. When someone goes home with a bottle of wine, it brings cheer to my eyes. I just. I. I get, I get, I get. I get a little girly.

44:01Speaker A: The warm and fuzzies.

44:01Speaker B: It's a warm and fuzzy.

44:02Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

44:02Speaker B: You got the deal. You're good. You're happy. Like it?

44:04Speaker A: Oh, my God, Yes.

44:06Speaker B: You know, and of course, they drink Colton's Heroes. My friends.

44:18Speaker A: It'S better because it's been open.

44:20Speaker B: I do.

44:20Speaker A: It's. It's.

44:21Speaker B: It grows up.

44:22Speaker A: Yeah.

44:23Speaker B: So, my friends, today you got a door. Tomorrow, I will open a different door with my friends, Jeffrey, my friends, myself, others who will open up doors. You can enjoy a good wine. Great Crush. But more importantly, climb out of the crap you're in. Because tomorrow, I promise you, the sun will rise. And no matter how bleak or difficult doors look into right now and how you're not making the money you want or the money you deserve, I can promise you one thing. No uncertainty. It's a season. It's now. But every day, like the sun revolves around its moments, and the moon revolves around its moments, and you revolve around those you love and those who love you. So will your soul cycle. So will your deal. Your responsibility is one thing, and your mission. Ms. From Mrs. America, if you choose to accept it, is to grind your ass off. Don't freaking quit and go to work, because now is your season to make tomorrow work. Because if you don't, then you're going to be eating in a bread line, and that sucks. Until then, Crush. Climb out.

45:45Speaker C: Thank you for joining entrepreneur, author, speaker, and winery owner Jason McClay on the crush and Climb podcast. Here we hammer raw experience into wisdom, helping you not just bounce back, but bounce forward with new strength to continue the journey and build a life that's not just successful, but significant. Subscribe to Crush and Climb. Wherever you get your podcasts, let's raise a glass to the journey ahead.