Ep10 The Exponential Skill You Can Take Anywhere

00;00;00;08 - 00;00;10;20
Joe Blackburn
I mean, people are people. So the ability of people to know, like and trust you and pay you for your services and enjoy it. That in and of itself is is what your end game should be.

00;00;10;22 - 00;00;35;01
Jason Croft
Welcome to Sales Assassins, the podcast that unveils the lost art of word of mouth marketing for professionals just like you. We cover everything from building relationships and nurturing connections to overcoming the challenges of modern marketing. You'll learn how to stand out in a crowded market. Charge confidently for your services and create an army of people recommending you without hesitation.

00;00;35;03 - 00;00;43;03
Jason Croft
Now let's dive in and make you deadly effective at sales.

00;00;43;05 - 00;00;50;11
Jason Croft
Welcome to sales assassins. We are your host. Handsome and handsomer. We'll let you decide who's who.

00;00;50;14 - 00;01;00;25
Joe Blackburn
As I say, who's who. But. Okay. I'll give it to you. You're more of a looker than I am. I'm. I'm the brains. You're the. You're the look. You're the face.

00;01;00;28 - 00;01;21;26
Jason Croft
I'll take it. I'll take it. I'll give you anything I can get. This is going to be a fun one. I know the audience has heard us talk about pillars as one of these core elements, but I want to go deep on why this is so important. Well beyond sales assassins, well beyond even your inner circle. No matter what you go and do in life.

00;01;21;26 - 00;01;40;23
Jason Croft
It's it's one of these things that I refer to as as an anchor skill. You know, if you become a good public speaker, that's an anchor skill that you can take anywhere. And I think mastering this idea of word of mouth getting pillars down is one of those as well. And that's why it's resonated so much with me.

00;01;40;24 - 00;01;53;22
Jason Croft
When you and I have talked about it, give everybody a quick review what pillars is when we keep saying that, what does that mean? And then let's go into to that what this the bigger picture of pillars for it.

00;01;53;28 - 00;02;23;01
Joe Blackburn
So I would and if you could envision this your business is essentially an army of people out there that pay you. Ideally they'll introduce you when you ask properly, you like one another, which is really important. They listen to whatever advice you're rendering. So depending on your profession, they take your advice. And if you do all those things really well and you give them a great experience, they send you unsolicited referrals.

00;02;23;01 - 00;02;37;19
Joe Blackburn
That's pillars. And you notice again, I say all the time, there's no place actually someone in the inner circle send me a book. It's the no asshole rule. So there's a whole book on it, so I wasn't making it up. If someone wrote a book, it's got to be true. You don't. You just don't have those in your life.

00;02;37;19 - 00;03;03;20
Joe Blackburn
So you're not dreading a client or an event or whatever it is you're doing. You don't dread it because you have to deal with someone that you just deep down don't want to or need to. Quite frankly. So that's what it is in large scale. And when you have multiple pillars and that's how you operate. They're doing the marketing for and with you, I mean they're they're it's not a one way street.

00;03;03;21 - 00;03;25;25
Joe Blackburn
I mean they're getting a great experience, great results. They like you because that's the, you know, the L they like you back. You like each other. So it becomes something that you actually look forward to on a daily basis. I get to go spend all my time with the people I like, and we both make a lot of money and have fulfilling families and lives and everything like that, and that becomes your lifestyle.

00;03;25;28 - 00;03;55;03
Joe Blackburn
So if you are judicious about the noise, your life gets a lot better. And if you follow the, you know, the invaluable, your skill set can be taken anywhere and be done in any place, in any form. I mean, I did the coaching one from essentially from my basement in Illinois and did it virtually. So like it's not even now even restricted by geography, it works good if you have it local, you know, network to plug in to, but it's not mandatory.

00;03;55;05 - 00;04;07;15
Joe Blackburn
I mean, it's no longer, you know, you and I have never met in person, and I know you pretty well. I think you know me and we like each other. Or at least you pretend like me, so I haven't I haven't uncovered it yet. But do you know what I'm in.

00;04;07;15 - 00;04;08;13
Jason Croft
You never will.

00;04;08;14 - 00;04;30;11
Joe Blackburn
I know the master plan, but, you know, I call it the speaker. And it's like, what's the pillars in game? What's the end game? By learning the skill and mastering it. And you're always going to be refining it, getting better at it. It becomes your unconscious competence, it becomes more natural. But the lifestyle you gain from it, that's what the.

00;04;30;11 - 00;04;52;03
Joe Blackburn
And the real invaluable is, is that's how I spend all my time. And it's not mutually exclusive of my family or my friends. My family, my friends and my business all become one thing, and I get to do what I want, when I want, with who I want. That's actually the definition of wealth. So the lifestyle becomes, I've built this around the people, you know.

00;04;52;03 - 00;05;15;05
Joe Blackburn
It's not the processes those change in will break in our high and they're necessary. So I don't want anyone to take away like I don't need processes. Yes you do. They're expected. That's a given. This is about the people and who I spend my life with. And it's just one of those things that once you get it down, it just becomes how you operate and who you are.

00;05;15;10 - 00;05;33;06
Jason Croft
This came up yesterday on a call on this idea of both. What of a core element to life and business. This is and then also, for whatever reason, how we're wired to go look for something else. You know, this.

00;05;33;06 - 00;05;35;14
Joe Blackburn
Works really well.

00;05;35;17 - 00;05;36;03
Jason Croft
Here. That does.

00;05;36;03 - 00;05;37;01
Joe Blackburn
It. Yeah, I get it.

00;05;37;01 - 00;06;00;07
Jason Croft
Exactly in in the sit down and and keep reminding yourself like this is the baseline. Yes. There is more to do. You can build on top of this. But as we've talked about before, this is the both the foundation for everything and the endgame. Like you said, the endgame for everything as well as what you want to get to.

00;06;00;10 - 00;06;08;23
Jason Croft
And it's funny how everything else is sort of window dressing, right a little bit, you know, and.

00;06;08;25 - 00;06;09;11
Joe Blackburn
They all.

00;06;09;11 - 00;06;27;11
Jason Croft
Have their place, but it's so important the intention you go and do those other things with, if you do them with the intention of building on top of it and getting to a better level of pillars, word of mouth, then things skyrocket.

00;06;27;13 - 00;06;48;20
Joe Blackburn
Right? And you can take it anywhere. I mean, you can do it in advisory, you can do it in leadership, you can do it in coaching. And it's I mean, people are people. So the ability to get people to know, like and trust you and pay you for your services and enjoy it, that in and of itself is is what your endgame should be.

00;06;48;23 - 00;07;05;01
Joe Blackburn
You know, I when I left corporate America, one of my rules became I'm not doing it. If it ain't fun, if it ain't fun to me, I'm just not going to do it. That doesn't mean I don't do hard things I don't like to do. But do you know what I mean by that? Like, I don't like if I don't think that's something I'll enjoy, I don't I'm not obligated to go do it.

00;07;05;01 - 00;07;26;00
Joe Blackburn
I don't owe any one or thing. And it's not selfishness. It's just I choose to do what I enjoy. And there is a cost to it, because you have to say no to some people, and you have to say no to some things you might have normally done out of obligation. And you know, it doesn't give you a license to go be a jerk.

00;07;26;00 - 00;07;50;19
Joe Blackburn
And now I've been accused of it. But it's it's one of those things. It's it's it's freedom. Like I just choose to do the stuff I want with the people I want. I mean, even way back when I was an advisor, at the end of the day where we spent most of the time or where I spent a lot of my time was, you know, at the table, at the lunch table, at the dinner table, at the coffee table, and just really getting to know people and care about them, and them care about me.

00;07;50;19 - 00;08;22;29
Joe Blackburn
And, you know, it just it was that human element that I don't know that it's going away. I just think with trust where it is, it's harder for people to open up. But once you get there, it's it becomes something that takes on a life of its own. And when you're looking at your day, your week, your month, your year or whatever, your just your planning mentality around what I'm going to do or more importantly, sometimes what I'm not going to do becomes more clear and you get to bonus you.

00;08;22;29 - 00;08;35;24
Joe Blackburn
If you do it really well, you get to do the stuff you really like doing. I mean, I didn't hate going to Cardinals games and eating plays and yeah, now I've learned to like the ribeye better. I don't know if it's because I'm older, but you know, drink some more, go.

00;08;35;24 - 00;08;38;08
Jason Croft
Back and forth and you go back and forth. Yeah.

00;08;38;10 - 00;08;48;02
Joe Blackburn
But you know what I mean. Like then it becomes about how do I create this environment and experience for the people I care about. And and that's fun. I mean, to me that's fun. I've enjoyed it.

00;08;48;09 - 00;09;13;23
Jason Croft
That's what came up yesterday in the conversation I was having as well. Is that it's it's this is the fun stuff to me. Is that connecting? Is that, like you said, sitting across the table virtual or physical and I understand that for some people that's not there, you know, joy in life and in kind of there's there's an aspect of, well, too bad.

00;09;13;23 - 00;09;14;12
Jason Croft
Like.

00;09;14;14 - 00;09;19;09
Joe Blackburn
I don't think this is it. I don't like people, Jason. I mean, that's not what I'm saying.

00;09;19;11 - 00;09;20;20
Jason Croft
I like people to like me.

00;09;20;20 - 00;09;29;27
Joe Blackburn
That's what I want to be liked. I'm not sure I want to reciprocate it. Well, exactly. I mean, really, you know, you don't have to be a people person.

00;09;29;27 - 00;09;42;01
Jason Croft
In a in a brought that up, though, to acknowledge the the fact that I love this stuff and I still get away from it, I still go looking for the other thing. And so.

00;09;42;01 - 00;09;46;01
Joe Blackburn
You do things like this and ads and stuff like that, that.

00;09;46;03 - 00;09;47;08
Jason Croft
Crazy stuff.

00;09;47;11 - 00;09;50;21
Joe Blackburn
Stuff you don't like. No. I like the podcast bar.

00;09;50;23 - 00;09;53;23
Jason Croft
Okay. You better. You have to say you're legally obligated to say that.

00;09;53;27 - 00;10;17;03
Joe Blackburn
There may come a point to where the law of familiarity and it's so normal. And just like anyone else, you may aspire to do something else. That's what I'm saying. You can take it anywhere, you know, I mean, I wasn't I'm not an advisor anymore. I'm not in corporate leadership anymore. I'm not in cold ass Illinois anymore. I mean, so it's it's almost portable because it's inside of you.

00;10;17;06 - 00;10;42;27
Joe Blackburn
So wherever you go, it goes and the principles remain. So if you are good at it and you're intentional about it and you're authentic about it, meaning you're not, you know, cheesy and pushy and and, you know, you're you're only motive is to get then you can do it anywhere. And there is a the price is you. You have to give of yourself and your time to establish it in different places.

00;10;42;27 - 00;11;09;12
Joe Blackburn
And I don't think that's an unfair trade. I mean, and by the way, I going back to if it's the stuff you like anyway, why not? I mean, why would you not then pour everything into it and find your passions? I mean, I can give you countless examples, especially in Inner Circle now where a lot of our people, they just decided the things they really enjoy, and they've learned how to include other people and build that.

00;11;09;15 - 00;11;37;06
Joe Blackburn
You know, it's not the worst life to look. L can't bear hunt, golf, snowmobile and ride side by sides 90% of your week. Given the time here. I mean, that's yeah, I know it's a big sacrifice and it takes I mean, don't get me wrong, it takes time and energy. However, where else would you put it? You're going to go to the cold universe and try to make it happen again.

00;11;37;10 - 00;12;02;01
Joe Blackburn
Now there is a limit at times to what you can accomplish, and at that point, maybe you just teach other people in the assassins. There's other people that work for those people that are learning how to do what they're doing there, you start to multiply the chemistry. So that's a that's somewhat of a limit. And, I just have experienced and witnessed that it becomes what you do and who you are.

00;12;02;04 - 00;12;21;09
Joe Blackburn
And it's pretty fulfilling. And you know, who gets a lot out of it? The people that are paying actually paying you, they enjoy that. They said it last week or whatever they pay you for how they feel. It's because they feel like that they're important and that you care about them, and you will do whatever it takes to help them achieve what they want.

00;12;21;12 - 00;12;26;28
Joe Blackburn
You know what Zig Ziglar say? Help other people get what they want. You'll get everything you want. I don't think he was wrong.

00;12;27;01 - 00;12;57;08
Jason Croft
It's such a call out for why the program Sales Assassins is such a big deal. It's because it's. It's not just. Okay, I'm a financial advisor. This will help me grow my business. It's things like this that we're going to build, that anchor skill. That. Yeah. If you stop being a financial planner tomorrow, then you're still light years ahead of anybody else.

00;12;57;08 - 00;13;01;09
Jason Croft
Wherever you go. And you you like you said you take that skill, right?

00;13;01;16 - 00;13;21;24
Joe Blackburn
I mean, I call it the invaluable because it's hard to place a value on that. You know, you can talk ROI in a given 12 month period. However, if you can do it anywhere with anyone, in any industry that's related to being a professional or or an entrepreneur or whatever it is, that's pretty invaluable. It's a good one to have.

00;13;21;24 - 00;13;35;07
Joe Blackburn
I'd have it, you know, if I had to pick coding versus this, which one would you pick? I took one computer coding class back in the 1900s, and I wanted to pull my hair and eyeballs out.

00;13;35;09 - 00;13;37;29
Jason Croft
And that's the thing. There's there's stuff for everyone. And but this is.

00;13;37;29 - 00;14;04;08
Joe Blackburn
Everybody's got their cup of tea. This is this is this cup of teas for those people that are passionate about serving others and doing the things that they really enjoy, and also want to create a lifestyle and wealth and a family that I mean, it's it's impervious. And by the way, as we speak to each other over a screen and you look at what's going on in the online world, it ain't like that because that is a different animal.

00;14;04;08 - 00;14;19;25
Joe Blackburn
I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm trying to learn it and get better at it. And that's a so now like, so let's just play this out. If you can do pillars and you can influence at scale on the medium of choice, now you're real deadly.

00;14;19;27 - 00;14;44;27
Jason Croft
Right now it's exponential. Correct. So you take that high leverage skill with another high leverage skill for anybody who you know. Here's us continue to talk about pillars in this word of mouth and we will continue. This is this is the episode of of why. Yeah because of how important it is. And as a nice reminder to all of us okay, these other activities are great.

00;14;45;04 - 00;14;49;17
Jason Croft
Let's make sure they're in support of building that connection with that other person.

00;14;49;17 - 00;14;54;29
Joe Blackburn
Absolutely. That's where it all starts and and ends is what the person.

00;14;55;01 - 00;14;58;29
Jason Croft
Fantastic. All right. We'll see you all next time.

00;14;59;02 - 00;15;01;27
Joe Blackburn
Peace.

00;15;02;00 - 00;15;28;22
Jason Croft
In a sea of endless digital noise, your ability to connect and generate authentic word of mouth is your deadliest weapon. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to break through to the next level, the principles we discuss here are your blueprint for success. It's all about being the most trusted and valued in your network to maximize what you've learned today, visit Join Sales assassins.com to see how you can become a true sales assassin in your industry.

00;15;28;25 - 00;15;57;21
Jason Croft
Until next time, keep sharpening your skills, expanding your network. And remember, in the world of sales, the true assassins strike silently but effectively by doing what nobody sees coming, building genuine connections and powerful relationships. Stay deadly. Stay authentic there. We'll see you on the next episode of Sales Assassins.

00;15;57;23 - 00;16;04;29
Joe Blackburn
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