Consulting Success Podcast Sales Systems That Equate to Success with Bob Burg
Bob Burg is a sought-after speaker at company leadership and sales conferences around the world. He has shared the platform with everyone from seasoned business leaders and broadcast personalities to a former U.S. president. He is the author of numerous books, and the best-seller that he is best known for is The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, which he co-authored with John David Mann. Their book has sold over half a million copies, has recently been re-released and translated into 21 languages. On this session of the Consulting Success Podcast, we dive into the story of this unsuccessful journalist who transformed into a powerful author and speaker. We examine powerful sales systems and how to make them will work for you, why you have to embrace the ‘nos,’ and the advantage that having people skills will give you over the competition. Whether you’re an introvert who resists sales and marketing or an extrovert who needs to learn how to be a better listener, you won’t want to miss the time-tested tips and systems from the author who speaks, Bob Burg.
From Failing Journalist to Successful Speaker
Before becoming a world-renowned author and speaker, Bob Burg worked in broadcasting. He started out as a sports broadcaster for a local radio station, then landed a spot as a TV news broadcaster. He enjoyed the job but wasn’t very good at it simply because he wasn’t interested in journalism. Without a passion for journalism, he knew he needed to make a career change and graduated into sales. The challenge he then faced was a lack of knowledge about sales. Despite his willingness to put himself out there and make connections with people, he wasn’t finding much success. On a serendipitous day 35 years ago, he wandered into a bookstore and found himself in the sales teaching department, surrounded by the works of Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar. After just a few weeks of studying and implementing their ideas, Bob’s sales went through the roof.
After years of failure, it seemed improbable that Bob could find success in such a short time. But by simply applying the information he learned from these sales masters, Bob had discovered a successful system that worked. By implementing this new system, he was prepared for success. He shares the simple and essential role that systems can have on the success of any work you do. He defines a system as the process of predictably achieving a goal based on a logical and specific set-up. Predictability is the key — it’s been proven that by doing “A” you will get the desired results of “B.” As long as you are willing to continue to do “A,” you will continue to see the results you want in “B.”
After discovering this methodology, Bob immersed himself in the study of sales and personal development and the applied that information to his approach to sales. He worked his way up to sales manager and began teaching people his methods, but that was just the launching point of his success.
Miserable Salesman To Successful Speaker
I was a bit dubious about Bob’s ability to turn around his sales work in just a matter of weeks, but you have to hear how it worked for him. While telling his story, he explains how simply having a system in place was the key to his transformation from failure to success.
An entrepreneur at heart, Bob recognized and capitalized on the opportunity to become an independent speaker. It was at this point that he discovered (again) that having a system in place would offer him greater success. Bob joined the National Speakers Association and by expanding his network and surrounding himself with experienced mentors, Bob learned how to market himself, grow his business, and sell his speaking services.
He appears to be a natural speaker, but Bob likens his work to that of a “decent athlete.” Just as truly successful athletes work very, very hard at becoming the best, Bob has put countless hours into learning from others in order to become the best speaker he can be. In the early stages of his speaking career, Bob offered hundreds of free speaking engagements, each one helping him to hone his craft and perfect his skills. Still today, he continues to watch other successful speakers and learn as much as he can from them. The work he has put into becoming the best hasn’t been easy, but Bob has proven that it does pay off.
How People Skills Play Into Success
Just as the masterminds Zig Ziglar and Tom Hopkins explained before him, sales is all about asking questions — discovering what a person really needs and what they want. As a successful consultant, you have to focus on the needs of your client and highlight the ways you can create value for them. The first and great mistake that too many consultants make is asking clients to listen to you talk about yourself, your products or your methodology. It may be interesting information, but that is not what clients are interested in. They want to answer the engaging questions that you are asking about them. This is a mistake that Bob says he sees consultants make far too often, simply because it is natural to want to talk about ourselves. But no matter how much you believe in your products and service, and no matter how exceptional the value you may be able to bring to your clients, talking about yourself is very ineffective. Clients who know that you understand their needs and problems will become the clients that are seeking your expertise.
The ability to show genuine interest in others is the differentiating factor between people who enjoy a moderate and an enormous amount of success. Technical understanding and skills are absolutely essential, but they are just the entry fee for getting into the game. People skills make up the real difference. Bob believes that the absolute best skill that you can have is a well-developed and authentic interest in other people. As you’ve most likely seen in your work, people know when someone is genuinely interested in them and when they are simply interested in what’s in their wallet. By developing genuine people skills you can gain the advantage and win the trust of potential clients.
Do introverts make better salespeople?
Even though he regularly places himself in front of large audiences, Bob considers himself an introvert. He believes that introverts make better salespeople because they are more willing to listen — they exhibit greater people skills. Unless an extrovert is willing to stop talking, they won’t be able to show the same genuine interest in their clients that an introvert does. I often hear consultants say that they are uncomfortable with sales and marketing, but that doesn’t have to be a defeating characteristic. You don’t have to hide behind your introverted tendencies — you can use your unwillingness to talk about yourself to your advantage when gaining the trust and confidence of your clients.
Becoming a Writer
As a writer of many successful business books, Bob is somewhat of an expert on the importance of becoming a published author. Authoring a book puts you in a better position — it gives you the authority in your marketplace that allows you to charge higher fees for your speaking engagements. That may seem like common knowledge today, but in the 90s when Bob decided to give it a try, writing a book was a less common approach to success. At the time, he simply considered himself a speaker who wrote books, but the Go-Giver series changed that approach as he began to share his stories. Over time Bob began viewing himself as a writer who speaks.
He used his earlier books as simple and effective outbound marketing tools, but when he started telling stories in the Go-Giver series, he began being approached by companies that had read his books and wanted to bring him in for a speaking engagement. In our conversation, he shares how he used his earlier books, including Endless Referrals, as marketing tools, how his books helped him connect with companies, and why all of that changed after he wrote the Go-Giver series. If you’ve ever considered writing a book to help increase your authority and credibility in your field, you will be inspired as you listen to Bob’s story.
Understanding the Value of the Nos
Amidst the work that Bob was doing to promote his work and his book, he was faced with a lot of rejections. Like most consultants, he needed to find a way to get through the rejections to move on to the successes. Bob recommends reading Go For No — Yes is the Destination, No Is How You Get There to better understand the value of all the “nos” that you are undoubtedly going to hear while seeking new clients and projects. Of course, no one really likes hearing “no,” but Bob explains that by understanding that “no” is part of the process, and that by accepting the “nos,” you are essentially preparing yourself for tomorrow’s highly anticipated “yes.”
Once you recognize that the “nos” are going to keep coming, you need to have a game plan — another system — in place. You need to decide what you’re going to do when you hear another no — how are you going to follow up with the person that has rejected you? How will you know when it’s no longer worth following up with that person? By having a system in place for handling and moving on from each no, you are positioning yourself for greater success and more “yeses” in your future.
Value Comes Before Money
If you’re in the thick of growing your business, you’re probably looking for ways to grow your revenue and sales. In the middle of this, you have to focus on creating real value for your customers, rather than just completing another transaction. That may be hard to understand, and if so, you need to listen to Bob’s reasoning of why the mind-shift from more money to better value is an essential one.
We know that money received is a direct result of value provided, but focusing on the value doesn’t mean give away yourself away for free. Instead, it is critical to communicate the value that people will receive by doing business with you. Until your potential clients can understand the value they will receive from you, they won’t be giving you their money. You can change that by explaining your value to them in a way that will make them want to do business with you. Once they understand your value, clients will understand how they will be better off by doing business with you.
In my experience, I have seen that many consultants find it easy to provide value but difficult to make a clear offer. Bob offers several solutions for this problem. Rather than waiting for clients to reach out to you, find ways to put yourself out into the marketplace. Put content into the marketplace by way of online articles or regular blog posts. That makes it easier for clients to understand who you are and what you have to offer. You can also bring clients to you by directing them to your website for additional content. Some people may claim that outbound connections such as phone calls or newsletters are no longer necessary, but Bob disagrees. He explains why and how those connections can create greater success for you, regardless of the size of your business.
You won’t want to miss these tips as well as the new and upcoming opportunities that Bob is working on, including the Go-Giver Sales Academy online course, where successful consultants like you can learn more about creating the business you’ve been dreaming of. You can hear more about it as well as how to connect with Bob on this episode of the Consulting Success Podcast.
Key Takeaways:
[:19] Meeting Bob Burg, the writer who speaks.
[3:56] The secret behind Bob’s transformation from misery to success.
[5:04] How to avoid the mistake of talking about yourself.
[8:14] The work that turned Bob into a successful speaker.
[9:59] Why people skills make the difference in real success.
[12:00] The introvert advantage in sales.
[14:11] Why and how Bob became a writer who speaks.
[20:34] Dealing with the seemingly endless nos.
[22:55] Providing value makes the money part come easily.
[28:51] How Bob scales his business for success.
[31:00] Connecting with Bob Burg.
Mentioned in This Episode:
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, by Bob Burg and John David Mann
Endless Referrals, by Bob Burg
Go-Givers Sell More, by Bob Burg and John David Mann
Go For No — Yes is the Destination, No Is How You Get There, by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz
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