Ep2 Building a Word-of-Mouth Client Acquisition System

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:17:20
Joe Blackburn
Word of mouth. It doesn't happen overnight. It's just the sweat equity and the ability to pass for the know like and trust bridge is much greater. You know, all of us are trying to figure out like, can this person help me? Do they get me? Like, if you say, hey, go talk to Joe. I already know I can trust you, so I've already crossed the bridge.

00:00:17:22 - 00:00:23:16
Jason Croft
Welcome to Sales Assassins, the podcast that unveils the lost art of word of mouth marketing.

00:00:23:16 - 00:00:23:19
Joe Blackburn
For.

00:00:23:19 - 00:00:50:02
Jason Croft
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. Now let's dive in and make you deadly effective at sales.

00:00:50:04 - 00:00:56:16
Jason Croft
Welcome to episode number two of the Sales Assassins podcast. Joe, how is it?

00:00:56:18 - 00:01:00:12
Joe Blackburn
It's warm and sunny. Warm and sunny.

00:01:00:18 - 00:01:03:09
Jason Croft
See your heart in your heart.

00:01:04:05 - 00:01:06:08
Joe Blackburn
With cloudy and chance of rain.

00:01:07:06 - 00:01:33:03
Jason Croft
Well, hopefully we'll we'll we'll shed a little, little sunlight on that heart of yours. As you as you talk about, everything today. I, I really wanted to to talk today about another foundational piece of sales assassins. And really, some of the programs you have going on like this, this this is called how you built your business and how you're teaching people is this idea of having a word of mouth client acquisition system.

00:01:33:04 - 00:01:56:20
Jason Croft
And if you watched episode one, you know, we certainly touched on this, but this is one of those foundational pieces, and it's one that's so overlooked. It's like we're going back in the day. This is what you did. Oh, there's a reason it's foundational. And it's one of those things that can get so messed up like, oh, yeah.

00:01:56:22 - 00:02:16:16
Jason Croft
Word of mouth. Yeah, yeah, I get some of those. Well, there is a system. This isn't something that you just have to hope for or accidentally come across, correct? Not only do you not have to leave it up to chance. You better not. You better start with this. That's. That's our thesis out there.

00:02:16:20 - 00:02:18:07
Joe Blackburn
That it's the foundation of it.

00:02:18:12 - 00:02:27:18
Jason Croft
Yeah. That you've proven over and over again. So? So give me that. You really your definition of it and why you feel it's so foundational.

00:02:27:20 - 00:02:43:11
Joe Blackburn
Well and I say it's not a strategy. So in assassins will often have someone say I hope this works I hope this and I say hope is not a strategy. And you're right. You know, word of mouth that if you think about it, should be your endgame. But it's also your starting point. And there are other things you can do.

00:02:43:11 - 00:02:58:15
Joe Blackburn
And I've said this for a long time and I wish it was mine, but it was one of my old peers. And then someone that actually worked with me and bore me and everything, and he's a killer. And he would say, everything works and nothing works. So it's not that this works, this doesn't. It's everything works and nothing works.

00:02:58:17 - 00:03:23:17
Joe Blackburn
I look at it like what? How fast? What's the level of effectiveness and how can I attract more affluent, you know, clients, customers, higher paying and pillars, the ideal paying client. And if I do anything other than this, I have to go backwards or down in the influence because people with a lot of money, they're going to pay you for financial services, taxes, insurance, coaching, luxury, whatever it is.

00:03:23:19 - 00:03:48:19
Joe Blackburn
They don't generally respond as well to direct marketing, like they're not googling or watching a video on X, Y, Z. They're getting it from someone just like them. You know, I probably used this example before when I moved down here to Orange Beach, Alabama. I didn't Google all the things I needed. I talked to the people I'd already developed relationships with, and they say, talk to this person, and I text that person or we get text road.

00:03:49:01 - 00:04:14:08
Joe Blackburn
That's a new verb. If you guys want to steal a text road and there's a text introduction. So I'm, I'm cutting out all that time it would take for me to go through and figure that out. But to bring that back to word of mouth, the reason it's so foundational is you don't have to give the variables to, you know, the cold market, to online, to all these things that are really out of your control and to take that randomness out of it.

00:04:14:08 - 00:04:39:17
Joe Blackburn
If you do systemize it, you can build it much faster. So what I'm saying by that is if you go through pillars, there is a way for you to not just randomly get clients. It's a way for me to identify my, you know, who my targets are and then figure out in progression how to get to them. So if I do that through word of mouth, I don't have to be, you know, a slave or a subject to all the other things that I have no control over.

00:04:39:17 - 00:05:04:09
Joe Blackburn
I'll give you an example of that. I'm not saying you shouldn't run ads or do a podcast or have on social media or any of those things. Those all can work. It's just now, if that's what I'm relying upon, I no longer have control. You know, I can give you example after example of our, you know, experiences with LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, you know, YouTube, all these different things.

00:05:04:09 - 00:05:25:03
Joe Blackburn
And the control is by the platform, whereas you're the platform and word of mouth, I'm the product. So as long as I control me, which I have, if you follow the lob response, you know, self-responsibility, I control everything about me, how I look, how I talk, how I think now, my actual beauty I don't control. But this I have some control over.

00:05:25:05 - 00:05:53:04
Joe Blackburn
And let's not kid each other. I'm beautiful. However, when I'm the product and I'm the platform and I build that on that foundation, those things are irrelevant. So I want to start there. And even if I have zero clients or I have 100 clients or a thousand clients, I want to refine my foundation and word of mouth first, and then I can add in what I call the amplifiers, which would be ads or email campaigns or all those things.

00:05:53:04 - 00:06:16:06
Joe Blackburn
And I mean, we're going through all that right now. And if you my experience with it has been this and I only talk about things I do, if we started there, we'd starve to death. I'd gone I would have gone back to corporate America and back to the the handcuffs. Because if you try to start there, it will take ten times longer and cost ten times more because of those variables that are out of your control.

00:06:16:06 - 00:06:38:05
Joe Blackburn
Plus, it's so saturated. I mean, you know, differentiation. It's not that you can't do it. It's just, you know, it's the probabilities are lower. So I know I was long winded that but I if I, I'd say it this way, if you master word of mouth, you can go anywhere in any community, any town, any place, any association and build a business and then do those things.

00:06:38:05 - 00:06:47:10
Joe Blackburn
And it doesn't matter what your industry is, because if you're the people we target or the people that we work with, you're the product. Yeah.

00:06:47:12 - 00:07:14:02
Jason Croft
And, and I, I think there's a additional way to look at this too, is that if those other things work, right, if you get their all for attention, if you get attention from ads, social media, doing a podcast and video and it works and you paying the interest of somebody, well, what happens when they ask about you? Who can they ask?

00:07:14:03 - 00:07:45:12
Jason Croft
Right. Having this in place so that if those things do work, just like you go to Orange Beach, we still want to. I wonder if I wonder if so-and-so knows about this, if he's heard of Joe. Let me ask him real quick. So if those things work to get somebody to even ask about you, well, they have this foundation in place to where you are set and solid, that you're showing up all of these things.

00:07:45:12 - 00:08:08:00
Jason Croft
And we'll get into, you know, some of these foundations of word of mouth, then all the better, right? Because once again, it's like, if you don't, if you don't have your product down or if you don't like you talk about the hygiene like you don't have that stuff down. If all that you do this other stuff and it works and you get someone's attention and then they ask their buddy about you and they're like, oh, now, no, there's nothing there, there's nothing.

00:08:08:00 - 00:08:08:22
Jason Croft
It's, you know.

00:08:09:00 - 00:08:29:00
Joe Blackburn
Right. Oh yeah. Well, it's someone's not going to purposely bullshit someone else. On whether you, you know, like well and online. I hate to burst everyone's bubble. I may not even be real. This could be I, I could just be a bot, like, who knows. So yeah, it's valuable. And you can multiply there and scale and all those words you hear online and everything.

00:08:29:02 - 00:08:52:14
Joe Blackburn
However foundationally, you know, I recommend get to seven figures like make a million bucks and then do that because, you know, if you have responsibilities like kids rent, house payment, whatever you guys have out there, car payments, like you'll go fast through that dollar amount on in the online world, whereas in word of mouth it doesn't it doesn't happen overnight.

00:08:52:14 - 00:09:12:13
Joe Blackburn
It's just the sweat equity and the ability to pass the know like and trust. Bridge is much greater. This is what you're saying. Like I, you know, all of us are trying to figure out like, can this person help me? Do they get me? Can it be like, if you say, hey, go talk to Joe. I already know I can trust you, so I've already crossed the bridge.

00:09:12:15 - 00:09:31:06
Joe Blackburn
Doesn't mean they always say yes. It just means that that work via the person making the introduction and the foundation on word of mouth is when I come across someone that has a problem that Jason solves, I say, go talk to Jason. That's essentially what it is, or I've seen it enough or hear it enough from everyone I need.

00:09:31:11 - 00:09:54:07
Joe Blackburn
I know to go talk to you. You fast forwarded the bridge and now I'm at the is this right for me or not? And I it's up to me to make that decision. And as the person providing like a service, I don't have to sell. Like if you sell a service and you can and I have generally there's some buyer's remorse versus me actually wanting what it is that that person does.

00:09:54:07 - 00:10:14:02
Joe Blackburn
And and trusting the person who sent me. So the paradigm of the sales changes dramatically. And if I'm so let's say I'm in assassins. We had this conversation yesterday, by the way. You know, someone was trying to overcome I don't do, business with friends and family, which probably was a made up excuse. Right? I mean, that's probably just I don't want to hurt your feelings.

00:10:14:02 - 00:10:27:12
Joe Blackburn
So I don't do business with friends or family. It's an easy way to kill that. And they're like, rack in the rain. Now, to overcome this, I'm like, why would you want to overcome that objection the first time something goes wrong? What do you think they're going to say? That's why I don't do business with friends and family.

00:10:27:12 - 00:10:43:05
Joe Blackburn
So when I'm get and that was someone that they kind of outreach to versus it coming from someone says you need to go talk to this person because then they're not going to have that object. Do you understand the difference? If I find myself in that overcoming objections phase of the business, it's because me, the product wasn't dialed in.

00:10:43:05 - 00:10:59:23
Joe Blackburn
My word of mouth marketing wasn't dialed in, and now I'm in a sales conversation. You still need that skill set, especially if you're beginning, because you're not going to get as much volume and you need to learn it. And but trying to figure out how to overcome objections all the time, you're you're even telling yourself, like, I have to sell this.

00:11:00:01 - 00:11:25:17
Joe Blackburn
And unless you're selling a thing, you should not get into that part of the business. And so dialing that back to word of mouth, generally when someone comes to me via that, it's just a matter of are we a fit? Which is totally different. Is what I do something you need or want and do you gel with me like I always tell our people, they pick the advisor, they pick the agent, they pick the coach.

00:11:25:19 - 00:11:48:23
Joe Blackburn
That's what they're they're they're making the human connections. Why? Connectivity or chemistry cannot be commoditized. Your ability to connect cannot be commoditized. They're picking you. You're it. And that's what I, I think people are starting to understand and to go, if you were I think people are trying to fast for that through like stamping out products online. Like I'm just boom, boom, boom.

00:11:48:23 - 00:12:16:03
Joe Blackburn
And that's okay. At some point you can productize your service after you've done it repeatedly, made a lot of money, and have a proof set and testimonials and all that. You can do that. But starting there is is very it's not impossible. Nothing is very difficult. Yeah. Yeah. I mean that, you know, I, I would highly recommend you figure out how to get people to know like and trust you foundationally so that you can never be replaced by anything.

00:12:16:05 - 00:12:23:08
Joe Blackburn
AI platforms, whatever. That's you. So I know I answer long winded answers, but as you can see, I'm passionate about it.

00:12:23:10 - 00:12:44:10
Jason Croft
Yeah. Right. It again. That's why it's foundational. That's why we're covering it in episode two. It's so important. It's it's so for the folks who are like, okay, I get it. I'm in. I'm drinking the Kool-Aid, I love it. How the heck do I do this? What are some what are some beginnings to that? And so that it doesn't just, you know, get left up to chance?

00:12:44:10 - 00:12:46:12
Jason Croft
How do we get purposeful with this?

00:12:46:14 - 00:13:05:21
Joe Blackburn
Well, the the first thing you wanna do if you. So there's kind of two starting points and we've got an assassin's. We've got new doing pretty well and restart ers kind of that spectrum. The first thing you want to do is assess who you have. Like are you're like I would say this, you know if you come in or not assess your pillars.

00:13:05:21 - 00:13:25:00
Joe Blackburn
Do I have someone that pays me ideally do I have someone that introduces me or I believe would do I have someone that I like and they like me? Do I have someone that listens to me and have I received a unsolicited referral? Like just put that screen in front of your book or your clients, or however you describe your client set and built from?

00:13:25:01 - 00:13:40:15
Joe Blackburn
Start there. Or even if they if you had clients that maybe aren't paying your ideal, do they have the capability to if you upgraded them, you know, start with the people that are already paying, you know, like and trust you. That's what I'm saying. That's starting point one. And what most people do is they get that person and then go cold.

00:13:40:17 - 00:13:56:11
Joe Blackburn
It's like, oh, I got someone who does this. Now let me go back out into the cold universe and see if this works. And now I start that cycle over way out in the, you know, out there when you haven't done anything and put a structure around. Now some people put a client service model in place and things like that.

00:13:56:11 - 00:14:16:22
Joe Blackburn
I'm sure they have a technology stack that sends emails and shit, but that I mean, if you think that's helpful, I we need to spend probably one on one time and I'm really expensive there, but really start and filter there. That is the starting point. And if you don't have any, let's say you're at ground zero and we rarely work with someone at ground zero once in a while, someone who's in our immersion.

00:14:16:22 - 00:14:34:01
Joe Blackburn
The pace is $100,000. We'll put a new person in and we'll try and help them. If you're at ground Zero, then there's a totally different process of going to your existing people. And God forbid, do not going anywhere and say, do you know three people that can use what I have? Please don't do that ever. That's the worst strategy.

00:14:34:01 - 00:14:59:17
Joe Blackburn
It's dated and it just gives someone work and irritates them. And it's canon. Horrific. Don't do it. So there's a whole process of what we call announcement. I call it a cap of going to my existing network without being pushy, without being cheesy, without being salesy and getting a, you know, a result, a reaction from that group. We actually just had a new person in Assassin's.

00:14:59:18 - 00:15:17:12
Joe Blackburn
I believe you made 216 outreaches. He got three coffees, two launches, and a big shout out at, Boys and Girls Club. So like what you're doing is you're creating attention that way and you can do it. I mean, you can use Facebook and all those different mechanisms. He did it via text, but there's kind of two routes.

00:15:17:12 - 00:15:41:04
Joe Blackburn
So the starting point is make an assessment of where you are. And then we can figure out okay there's a progression to this. Where do I go to next. And when you like when you come in the first thing we have to do is work. First of all, work on your mindset because that's 80% of your success. So quickly get your mind dialed in and then start progressing through who are my pillars?

00:15:41:04 - 00:15:59:21
Joe Blackburn
What's my pipeline look like? Who am I connected to? What influencers do I already have a relationship with? And then are there big hitters in my stratosphere universe? Whatever that. If I were to make a good connection there, that could change my trajectory, and then how do I get in front of them? And then you progress across that and then start back.

00:15:59:21 - 00:16:19:20
Joe Blackburn
And so that's how it works mechanically, and that's how you start the system. And then of course there's nuances and iterations and different habits and all these things we teach. But the starting point is make an assessment of where you are. Because the fastest way to replicate a pillar is by getting it from that pillar. I mean, think logically.

00:16:19:22 - 00:16:48:06
Joe Blackburn
If I already have someone that hits the screen, the fastest way would be that person introducing me to someone just like them. And it doesn't take, you know, years and algorithms and ad spend, which again, everything works and nothing works. Those have their place and some people want to start there. My experience has been because we went way past seven figures before we even thought about it, is that and maybe it's because I am not great on camera.

00:16:48:06 - 00:17:06:22
Joe Blackburn
You guys can be the judge, but you know, I think that starting there, you're either going to take an enormous amount of capital, an equity or whatever it is. And most people in R and assassins are professional, so they work with someone or for a firm or sometimes they're self-employed, but they don't have that type of equity outlay and time frame.

00:17:07:02 - 00:17:30:12
Joe Blackburn
To make a work in the beginning doesn't mean you can't do it at some point. It makes sense and in the connections I mentioned, that's where you plug that in. Because how to what do we do on social media. We connect. So it's not that it doesn't work with pillars. It's just if you're going to put time, energy and money there, there's a timing aspect to it and get foundational about the word of mouth first.

00:17:30:15 - 00:17:34:04
Joe Blackburn
And you may never go there. I know people that don't, you know, may never.

00:17:34:05 - 00:17:54:05
Jason Croft
So you're saying so we we start first come back. Well, we went through and in episode one of this pillar system I get that down. Know even who you're looking for. Yeah. Right. And fit that bucket in. And I think that's I think we hit it in that episode too. But that's the that's the pieces. That's part of the mindset, right.

00:17:54:05 - 00:18:14:16
Jason Croft
That you can decide in the beginning who you want to work with. And all right, put that down. If even if you are just beginning or in that intermediate step, you got a few clients, you you can identify that. So you were putting that down. I want more of these folks. Right.

00:18:14:16 - 00:18:16:13
Joe Blackburn
And have a target certain.

00:18:16:15 - 00:18:36:18
Jason Croft
Yeah. And then we're going to the ones either existing clients or they fit this bucket perfectly. We're starting that that relationship with them. Or if they're existing clients going to them and they you want you want more people like them in order to not do the hey can tell me three people that you can, you know, to not do that.

00:18:36:20 - 00:18:57:12
Jason Croft
How do we how do we approach them instead? What is that? Because I think if you haven't done this and you are that, you know, relaxed into I just want to know I hey, let's just have a conversation like I truly just want to know, you know, in that how do we take that approach to those folks?

00:18:57:12 - 00:19:23:15
Joe Blackburn
Well, there's a skill set we teach, and I learned it kind of and it wasn't called this, but a iteration of it in 2006. And I've used it now. It's 2024 and we're I'm in my fourth or fifth business and I'm sure, they were so successful, I can't even remember them now, but but, but and I call it and we, we work on this in assassins.

00:19:23:15 - 00:19:54:07
Joe Blackburn
We teach it. It's the if you get this down, like, if you just get this down, you're pretty deadly. And it's called SAP sourcing, arranging and pivoting. So I source introductions, I source names, I actually train my mind because I tell me if I'm wrong. I train my mind to to capture names. So most people, when they're in conversation, they're thinking of what to say next.

00:19:54:09 - 00:20:09:10
Joe Blackburn
Like, what am I? I'm I'm kind of listening, but I want to get my point. You know, I'm like doing all that. You know, Momo, what I want to start doing is capturing, I call it. It used to be call the antenna. The person I learned it from, I would say, have your antenna. Now that's how old it is.

00:20:09:12 - 00:20:31:06
Joe Blackburn
I would call now, like, have your Wi-Fi on, you know, like, think about it. My phone without, you know, the data or Wi-Fi on is just my calc calculate calculator calendar. It has no function. But if I turn that Wi-Fi on or I get data driven to it, I can fly the space shuttle, correct? I mean, like, I have the same technology, so I want to do that to my own mind.

00:20:31:06 - 00:20:57:02
Joe Blackburn
I want my I want to train myself to be, you know, plugged in on my Wi-Fi on however that was. And the first thing I want to do is just start practicing. How many names am I hearing in a day? And if I'm if I have pillars and I have an interaction with them, a lunch or a review or a meeting, I want to start capturing who they do, the things that they like to do with, who they're connected to, and so forth.

00:20:57:02 - 00:21:14:16
Joe Blackburn
And we go in-depth on how to profile and do all this. But just in the beginning, like learn that and then I want to learn how to arrange an introduction. And there's a lot of ways to go about it. And there's a way that makes them say, no way, that a too much risk. You're going to try to sell them something.

00:21:14:20 - 00:21:38:18
Joe Blackburn
Don't do that. So we teach how to do it without it being threatening to them or risky to them, so that it's natural and, you know, not abrasive or non-threatening and then if I do those two things. So if I source and I arrange those introductions, it's then up to me when I'm introduced to someone to pivot to business, I make a seamless pivot to a business conversation.

00:21:38:22 - 00:22:00:21
Joe Blackburn
What I don't do is this, hey, I see you'd like to do this with Jason. I'd really like to meet him, talk to him about insurance, and then when I meet you, say, hey, can I call your insurance? Like, don't do that. That would be your last one with that person. Like, that's what not to do. What we're really looking for in that pivot is if I'm a if I'm truly a great consultant or consultative sales professional.

00:22:00:21 - 00:22:21:02
Joe Blackburn
So I have my skill set in hygiene and I'm great at listening and finding what's going on with you. I will pick up and this takes reps and time and that's what we hold accountability in coach and everything in our group. I will start to pick up. When you expressed to me the concern I can really help you with and then I can pivot, then I can make the pivot to business.

00:22:21:02 - 00:22:37:01
Joe Blackburn
You give it. You've actually given me permission to put the business hat on versus me leading with that is, look, everything works or nothing works. You want to go direct, you want to go at somebody, have at it. And sometimes we do that. We call it the point. So if I've tried everything, I'll be like, all right, like I have, I'm out of bullets.

00:22:37:01 - 00:22:57:05
Joe Blackburn
I'm out of, you know, my like all this pawn go at you. And sometimes that works too. I mean, I do it, but I go through these first because my probability of success is much higher and my probability of a strong relationship and truly meeting the need and those things are higher. So to bring that back, I want to source, I want to arrange, I want to pivot.

00:22:57:05 - 00:23:09:22
Joe Blackburn
And that skill set can be done anywhere, any and any place. You can be restored. It could be on the boat. It can be. I mean, it's it's a transferable skill that is reliant upon only this.

00:23:10:00 - 00:23:10:20
Jason Croft
Yeah.

00:23:10:22 - 00:23:11:23
Joe Blackburn
And that's why it's deadly.

00:23:12:04 - 00:23:31:12
Jason Croft
So you're talking about that pivot in that initial conversation when you're having that talk with somebody building that either that first relationship or a catch up or whatever that is, it's that pivot there, not the pivot like later in the next, whoever they recommended or something, it's it's pivoting to business in that first conversation.

00:23:31:12 - 00:23:52:11
Joe Blackburn
Well, it the it depends on sometimes it's delayed giving the environment and your skill set. So we teach it. You know it's kind of like anything else for me. I've been doing it so long I can do it in the moment I don't. It's on my unconscious competence. Like I don't have to think about it like you say it.

00:23:52:11 - 00:24:06:02
Joe Blackburn
I'm going to pop, you know, or sometimes it may not be the appropriate place. So I want to show my IQ and be like, all right, this isn't the place. But, you know, maybe some other time I follow up or whatever it is, but you have the way that you get really good at it is by going out and doing it.

00:24:06:02 - 00:24:27:06
Joe Blackburn
And by the way, you're probably going to do it wrong once in a while and you'll learn like what not to do, just FYI. Like, yeah, we try to help you avoid those ripples. However, the best way to do it is to get good at it. And if you want to delay and say, I was thinking about what you said, or I was that you mention this or you hear it a couple times, there are ways to then readdress it that aren't, as you know, immediate.

00:24:27:08 - 00:24:57:18
Joe Blackburn
However, you should aspire to get to. If someone drops the name, I can pivot there. And then there is the pivot to business with that person. So it's kind of like I'm always tweaking and moving along in the process. So it may be with the person I'm trying to get it, you know, an introduction from. That's one. But when I do meet you, they'll say, you and I met and you said, man, markets are killing me or my rates have gone crazy, or I can't find this Rolex or whatever it is.

00:24:57:20 - 00:25:16:07
Joe Blackburn
You now open the door to me. Now I have a choice. I can I can pivot there and say, hey, hey, we're we're here at this cocktail hour or whatever it is, dinner, you name it. This isn't the place. That's something I can really help you with. I'd love to grab coffee now. I've pivoted. I got you out of the environment, and we can focus on your problem.

00:25:16:09 - 00:25:32:22
Joe Blackburn
And I don't know if I can help you or not, but let's find out. And I'm not there to sell you. I'm seeing if what I do is something you want. So if we're a fit, if you focus on the fit and not the clothes, you'll get higher pain and better clients faster if you try to start closing people, I it's great.

00:25:32:22 - 00:25:55:22
Joe Blackburn
I mean, I've seen a lot of people online like make million $100 million, teach people how to clothes, just know what you're doing. You're closing a product. The close here is are we a fit. So and going back to pillars it's real important that you don't just try to close everyone because you'll close some assholes. And then when things go south you're going to really regret that versus transactional based product sales.

00:25:55:22 - 00:26:23:04
Joe Blackburn
That's direct. It's it's just not right or wrong different. And there's a time and place for both. So what I'm saying that and I know I'm probably rambled a little bit. You want to get the skill set of sourcing, arranging and pivoting down. Like if you get that one ingrained in you and it's second nature, you'll never run out of people to talk to like you'll never, you know, like as good looking as I am, I dance cards full.

00:26:23:04 - 00:26:48:03
Joe Blackburn
I've been here a month and it's just because I've just done it so much. I'm, you know, I'm at copies, I'm at lunch, I'm running the business. I'm meeting, you know, bigger hitters. I'm meeting people I've never, you know, I'm learning things I've never learned. Like I probably told a story. So if I did forgive me, you know, I went to lunch with the big hitter here in town, and I kept talking about the ocean, and he's like, hey, man, we don't call the ocean.

00:26:48:05 - 00:27:04:10
Joe Blackburn
You know, like it's this the Gulf. Like, that's valuable info. And I'm not going to get that online. Not that there's anything wrong with our minds. Probably you hear about thoughts. I'm just saying, like, you got to get out and get eyeball to eyeball, shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow with people that can make a big difference in your business.

00:27:04:10 - 00:27:06:06
Joe Blackburn
And it it's valuable.

00:27:06:07 - 00:27:38:16
Jason Croft
Yeah. And that's where you've mentioned before the art in the science. Right. That's where the art comes in in this especially that pivot part. Right. Not only picking up on nuances and you know when to jump in those pain points, but also that when that pivot should be because that pivot might be six conversations later. Great. And bringing it back at or it could be right in that moment and making sure that you're not delaying the pivot out of fear, you know, because I think that'll happen in the beginning of like.

00:27:38:21 - 00:27:39:11
Joe Blackburn
There's some call.

00:27:39:11 - 00:27:59:03
Jason Croft
Relying on it. Yeah. But also not pivot before it's actually time in that moment. And I think there's some pressure. And like in that example you gave of like this will make it help you with this is not I mean, this isn't the place to talk about it, but if you want to have a call, you know, to to delay that and then go back to like, man, the steak is amazing.

00:27:59:06 - 00:28:11:04
Jason Croft
Whatever. Okay. There's some I don't know, there's some trust it built up in that. And you come across as confident and you know what you're doing. You know. And not that pushy person.

00:28:11:06 - 00:28:26:19
Joe Blackburn
Correct. Well it shows the emotional intelligence enough. Even if they're excited about talking about it, that, you know, some people some tell their, you know, the stories they shouldn't tell outside their house at a cocktail party. So and they get excited and they want to talk about it. And it's something that's important to them or it's a pain.

00:28:26:19 - 00:28:45:19
Joe Blackburn
So they get going. You look like a consummate professional when you're like, hey, I get it. This is not the place. Let's grab coffee next Tuesday at nine and I can help you with that. I'd love to. Just. And then they look around there. Oh, my God, there's 20 people standing here. So it's really that. Go ahead.

00:28:45:21 - 00:29:06:19
Jason Croft
Well I was gonna say. And something else awesome happens in that moment is that time between that cocktail party and the next day, two days later, they're thinking about you and they cannot wait. Like, if they're so excited and they wanted to tell you the moment and then, oh, thank goodness I didn't, you know, hey.

00:29:06:22 - 00:29:08:05
Joe Blackburn
There's a patient.

00:29:08:07 - 00:29:30:14
Jason Croft
Yeah. It's all in their mind. And that's where, in my opinion, you know, you that's where the online presence that these things having this stuff so that they can maybe go down that rabbit hole a little bit and things like that and then build that trust or. Yeah, you know, if you've built this up in your community, they may ask somebody about you in the meantime, or they may go find these things.

00:29:30:16 - 00:29:34:23
Jason Croft
And that's just building. So when you have all these on top of each other.

00:29:35:00 - 00:29:58:00
Joe Blackburn
It's a good one to watch. Yeah, yeah. You know, the way I'm looking at it now, it's like I want to do well in online and I want to, you know, if the world comes apart, I know with great certainty I can go anywhere, any place, any time and build a business. And I don't need anything other than this vessel of awesomeness.

00:29:58:01 - 00:30:11:17
Joe Blackburn
That's it. And so that's so valuable because, you know, I where I came from, I talked to my mentor, called me yesterday, and he's still there and I love him. And we were great friends and, you know, but he's still in the corporate deal.

00:30:11:19 - 00:30:13:04
Jason Croft
Oh, you mean like there at Maryland?

00:30:13:08 - 00:30:33:09
Joe Blackburn
Yeah. And I know he might see this. So if you do, man, you know I love you. But he's still there. I'm not there. I'm not complaining, worried or all these that, you know, because I can go do this anywhere, any place, anytime in any geography, any town. And you know, there still is some value to a community that's physical, like the who's who.

00:30:33:09 - 00:30:50:20
Joe Blackburn
Still, I don't know if anybody knows this, but the who, they still get together, they still go to the black tie events, they still go to the galas, they still support the community. I mean, you know, it's a it's one of those things that if you if you pay the price to get great at it, no one can take it from you.

00:30:50:22 - 00:31:10:22
Joe Blackburn
You know, my, my old man and he was he's kind of a legend. He's the only person I've ever known to be a CEO, a president and a doctor. This. I'm not saying he's had those. He has all three, he'd say, and he's. I hope he sees this someday, because I think the world of him, you know, he's got deep.

00:31:11:03 - 00:31:26:02
Joe Blackburn
He's from all in Illinois, which is essentially Kentucky. And then he grew up in South Carolina. So he'd say, Joey in talks like Nolan Ryan, by the way, that's what I hear. And where Nolan Ryan talks are nice. Joey, you can sell, you can lead and you can recruit. You can do it anywhere. So I just learned how to do that through word of mouth.

00:31:26:02 - 00:31:45:00
Joe Blackburn
Like, and I know I'm not beholden and I it is by the way, there are no silver bullets and everything works and nothing works. Get this one done first, make this your foundation. And by the way, if you look like do your homework. Look online where everyone wants to get. They want word of mouth. They they start in the coldest part of the universe.

00:31:45:06 - 00:32:02:19
Joe Blackburn
They move to paid and then they want word of mouth. So why not start there? If you can do it and you have the time, energy and talent and it's you know, it doesn't take like great skill. I've seen some people do it that are just great with people and that's about it. There's really good with people and they're consistent.

00:32:02:21 - 00:32:24:21
Jason Croft
So yeah, I love it. I think, I think we've we've painted that picture for folks. Okay. Very well. We've preached the gospel. I think here for folks. And we got some converts. So I love it. There'll be info here and certainly how to how to get more, how to jump into assassins if they want to and certainly get out there.

00:32:24:21 - 00:32:27:12
Jason Croft
And I would say start, start practicing this stuff.

00:32:27:14 - 00:32:34:05
Joe Blackburn
Yeah. We teach them a fast start and it's called Ph.D.s. And you start with even doing something and then bring it back.

00:32:34:07 - 00:32:55:00
Jason Croft
But I love it, I love it. Awesome, Joe, thanks so much for it. We'll see you all on the next one. All right. Thanks, Jason. 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.

00:32:55:06 - 00:33:22:20
Jason Croft
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. 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.

00:33:22:22 - 00:33:39:21
Jason Croft
Building genuine connections and powerful relationships. Stay deadly. Stay authentic and we'll see you on the next episode of Sales Assassins.