Jeff West: Becoming ObjectionProof

Join us on The Guy Who Knows A Guy Podcast as Michael Whitehouse sits down with Jeff West, a renowned author and sales expert with decades of experience transforming the sales landscape. Dive into Jeff’s journey of authoring award-winning business parables and uncover the insights that have made him a pivotal figure in sales and entrepreneurship.

streetwisetosaleswise.com

fusionpoints.com

jeffcwest.com

Transcript
Michael Whitehouse:

Welcome back to the Guy Who Knows A Guy podcast.

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These are bonus episodes that

did not fit into Season 6, which

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was a countdown to JV Connect.

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We hit JV Connect and we still had some

great interviews to share with you.

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But don't worry, you

haven't missed JV Connect.

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It's a quarterly event.

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You can learn more about it by sticking

around to the end of this episode.

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We'll tell you all about it.

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But right now, check out this next

awesome interview with one of the awesome

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people that the Guy Who Knows A Guy knows

and is going to introduce to you now.

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Jeff West: Welcome

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Michael Whitehouse: to the

guy who knows a guy podcast.

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I'm your host, Michael Whitehouse,

the guy who knows a guy.

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And our guest today is Jeff West.

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Let me tell you about Jeff.

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After over 30 years in sales, sales,

leadership, and entrepreneurship.

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Jeff West is now a best selling

and award winning author,

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speaker, and leadership coach.

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His books, the unexpected tour

guide and said the lady with the

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blue hair coauthored with direct

sales legend, Lisa M Wilbur, who I.

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Thought I had her on my show, but

maybe I had her on a different show.

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I don't know.

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We were talking about that beforehand,

but I definitely have met her.

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Definitely know her.

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She's awesome.

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Anyway, those books have earned

recognition from the Axiom Business Book

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Awards, the National Indie Excellence

Awards, and the American Book Fest Awards.

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His latest book, Streetwise to Sales

Wise Become Objection Proof and Beat

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the Sales Blues, co authored with Bob

Berg, who you may remember from earlier

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this season, and is earning praise

from business leaders around the U.

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S.

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He has been a guest on numerous sales

leadership shows and is a member of

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the GoGiver Success Alliance created

by Bob Berg and Kathy Tagenow.

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Jeff West: Welcome to the show, Jeff.

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My honor.

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Thank you so much for

having me on board, Michael.

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Awesome.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yes.

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So, so we were talking earlier, cause

you, you you talk about becoming objection

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proof and creating fusion points.

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And when I was going through the notes you

sent me, I said, okay, objection proof.

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If I can.

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I don't know what that is exactly,

but I can guess what that means.

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And you talk about the science

of how people make decisions.

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Important.

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Can kind of figure out what that means.

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And then fusion points.

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What's that mean?

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So tell us, let's start with there.

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What, tell us about a fusion points

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Jeff West: and what that means.

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You know, Fusion Points is actually a

branding that I did, Michael, that grew

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out of my question that I had when I was

leading a team of about 400 salespeople.

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And that was, I could get

two people in the same room.

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Their resumes looked similar,

their leadership skills looked

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right, everything about them told

me they'll both be very successful

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out there in the field of sales.

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And then I would put them out there

and one would decide to stick it

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out and be great, and the other

would make the decision to quit.

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And it puzzled me why that happened.

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So I began to study the science

of how people make decisions.

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And long story short, I ran

across the works of a Dr.

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Antonio Damasio, who was a professor

of neuroscience at USC and an associate

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professor at the Salk Institute.

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Long story short, the entire

process is built around the

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idea that people make decisions.

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only when they can connect

logic and emotion together.

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No one makes a purely logical decision.

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No one makes a purely emotional decision.

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It's that combination that happens.

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And if it's a negative emotion

in our brain, two things happen.

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Number one, it sends a

somatic marker into our chest.

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We start feeling funny.

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We have a physiological

response that we don't like.

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We don't want to go forward.

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So whatever logically we were

trying to do at the time, the

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decision is to get away from it.

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On the other hand, The use of positive

emotional responses between our ears

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when that touches our chest and creates

a physical, physical sensation for us,

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that is a sensation that people love.

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And so when you combine that with a

logic that you're trying to accomplish

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at the time, it creates tenacity.

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It creates so many good things.

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So I basically, I define a fusion

point is that moment in time.

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It's a unique point where logic and

positive emotion merge and ignite,

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and it creates acceleration, it

creates commitment, it creates energy,

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and it moves the process forward.

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And what I do is I teach salespeople

how to do that in a sales process,

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but I teach entrepreneurs and small

business owners how to create that

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in their market and with their team.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yeah,

that's, that's powerful.

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And so it would not only be to make

prospects move forward with the

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process, but to your team and yourself.

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move forward with the business and, and I

imagine this would also probably help with

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some of the, the morning routine stuff,

the getting from sleeping to working and.

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Absolutely.

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You know, bouncing back from a challenging

situation, those, those sorts of things.

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Jeff West: Yeah, absolutely.

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You know, and when it comes to

building a business or growing a sales

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career, your success, your future

isn't determined by the economy.

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It's not determined by

the political landscape.

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It's not even determined

by your competition.

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It's determined by how one simple

question is answered by your

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prospects in the market, by your

sales team by the, your support

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staff, the people that work for you.

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It's how they answer one simple question.

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And it's when it comes to

their relationship with you.

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Will they persist or will they quit?

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If you learn how to work within the

science of how we're naturally built

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anyway, what it does is it equips

you to have some influence over those

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decisions that they want to stay with

you and move forward in the process.

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Yep.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yep.

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Very powerful.

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So we were talking earlier because the

theme of the show is around networking.

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And of course you're part of the,

the go getter success Alliance.

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So tell me a bit about you know, what,

what that's done for you and you know,

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how networking has helped you build

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Jeff West: your business.

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Well, that's a great question.

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You know, when I guess it was,

I can remember exactly, it was

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A sales mentor of mine, I was in

the insurance industry at that time.

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I was in North Texas and I was a

district manager for the insurance

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carrier that I was working with.

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Still self employed, but

had, had overrides involved.

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And a sales mentor of mine gave me

two books and it changed my world.

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One was John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws

of Leadership, a great leadership book.

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But the second one.

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Was a book I had never

heard of by an author.

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I had no clue who he was.

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And it was endless referrals by

Bob Burke and reading those 2 books

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and applying what I learned from

those, even though they didn't

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necessarily apply to my industry.

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I adapted them to my industry

that made all the difference.

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And it's my career went from being an

average district manager that would would.

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Make my numbers one

time, miss them one time.

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And I wasn't in danger of getting

fired, but I wasn't a superstar either.

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But two years after I implemented what I

learned at Endless Referrals, which was

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basically built around the idea of what

proper networking is, I, at that time,

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two years later, I was a regional manager.

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Two years after that,

I was a state manager.

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And I was a state manager the last

10 years of my career in insurance

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till I decided to start writing and

speaking and doing this for a living.

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But to me, networking is

all about focusing on.

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How you can provide value to the other

people in the network and how you can make

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those connections, you know and when I

was reading in those referrals, one of the

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things that I saw in that book that just

jumped out at me and I have implemented

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it in everything I've done since then,

is asking the person that you're working

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with at the time, what do I need to

know when I'm out there in the field?

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What do I need to know to it to make

sure if someone I run into is a good

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referral for me to send your way?

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And you think about the magic

in the networking process.

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If everyone is focused last like that

and you start making those connections.

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Everybody wins.

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And Bob was talking about doing it

in networking events and all that

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in the book and in other places

too, but that was the primary focus.

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Talking about don't give your

cards out and say, or have an

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elevator pitch or whatever ready.

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It was talking about really working

on making the connections for

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people and providing that value.

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So how it directly applied

and helped my career take off.

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I began to develop a network, a

referral network of my existing clients.

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I, at that time I probably had

200 different clients that were

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employers and I was involved in

their employee benefit program.

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I went in and I asked I told one of the

owners, it was a place in downtown Dallas,

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Texas on the 23rd floor of a building.

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And I don't like heights all that much

either, but I had a meeting with a.

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Owner of the, of a mortgage company, it

was one of my clients and I had called

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him ahead of time saying, I want to pick

your brain about a couple of things.

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And he said, sure.

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So we got there.

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And the first thing I did, I sat down with

him and I said, you know, the first thing

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I want to do before I ask you what I'm

going to ask you is tell you, thank you.

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He said, for what?

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And I said, I feed my family by providing,

getting involved in employee benefits

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and providing the services that we offer.

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And I am, that's how I, that's

how everything in my life outside

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of work works effectively.

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And I just want to thank you

because you're a part of that.

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And I appreciate that.

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Of course it was true.

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And of course he

appreciated the compliment.

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And I said, but I want

to ask you a question.

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And he said, what?

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And I said, I am out there in

the marketplace all the time.

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I'm contacting new companies.

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I've got existing clients.

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I need to ask you a question.

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What do I need to be

looking for out there?

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What questions do I need to be asking

people to know if they would be a

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good referral for me to send your way?

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I want to return the

favor and help you too.

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And I'll tell you what he did, Michael.

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I'll never forget this.

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I actually wrote the scene into my first

book, The Unexpected Tour Guide, but

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he said, He took off his glasses and

he laid them on his table and he said,

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I'm going to answer that question, but

I have to tell you something first.

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And I said, what?

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And he said, I've been

in business 30 years.

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I've had a lot of salespeople

ask me for referrals.

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This is the first time ever a

salesperson has ever asked me how

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they could refer business to me.

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Thank you.

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And of course, the discussion

just got even better.

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And he told me what to look for.

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I had already kind of planned

a couple of things in my head.

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And so I said, well,

hang on just a second.

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And I picked up my cell phone and

I called a client that I felt like

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would be a good referral for him.

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And I got him on the phone and I said,

Hey, I just want to ask you a question.

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I've got another client who does,

who owns a mortgage company.

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He's starting to do some things

with employers and their employees.

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I think.

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He would be somebody you should talk to.

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I think somebody that, that it's

a good connection there for you.

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Would you mind if I gave him

your contact information?

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Person said, no, that'd be perfectly fine.

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And I said, I'll tell you, I know

the guy I've known him for a while.

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I like him and I trust him.

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And I think you guys will get along well.

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And I said, he said, great.

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So I hung up the phone and I did

that in front of the person that

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I was given the referral to.

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And so that worked out long

story short, he and I keep saying

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long story short too many times.

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If I were writing, I would edit,

I would edit that out, but he and

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I developed a referral network.

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We would have lunches where he would

have, we'd have it at his place and

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his business and we'd invite some of

his clients, some of my clients, and we

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just began to take it off from there.

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And I also began to teach that in my team.

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And it wasn't just that I did it and

I was great at it, it was also I was

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pretty darn good at equipping the others

around me to know how to do that too.

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So that's why when it really took off.

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So that's how networking for

me made all the difference.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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That's

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Michael Whitehouse: it.

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What I love about that is there's nothing

new to me in the basic principle that

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asks people how you can help them.

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But the way you did very intentionally

with your clients, because we often

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think about this with our network

or the people are meeting in.

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In networking, but to actually

ask your client explicitly,

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you know, how can I refer?

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And even the, if you can, if you

can make a referral, that's great.

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And even if you can't, maybe they

say something and you're like

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I've never met anyone like that.

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That's yeah.

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Yeah.

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Well, well really I'm looking

for a, you know, a one legged

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midget who's into basketball.

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Oh, that's interesting.

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I'll keep an eye out for the, you

know, you don't have one, but just

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the fact that you asked, right.

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Cause that's, if I, you know, in, in

networking events, I find to the extent

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that I, I catch people flat footed.

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I asked them like, so

who are you here to meet?

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Who's your, if you can beat

anyone in the County, who

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would you like to connect with?

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Oh, I don't know.

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I'm just looking to get out

there and see who's there.

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Like, really, you do

have a business, right?

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Like, do you know your customers really?

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But, but yeah, they're so not used to

that because they're used to everyone

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coming up and being like, hi, I'm Michael.

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I do this.

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And you know, so and so hires

me over this and whatever.

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But that idea of deepening the

relationship with your client for that.

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And.

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That's such a better way than saying, who

else do you know who I should talk to?

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Because like who else do I know

for you to get a sales pitch to?

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I don't know.

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Versus how can I help you?

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Right.

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How can I refer to you?

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You don't even have to

ask him for referrals.

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He's going to most people, once you've

introduced them to one or two people,

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they're going to be like, okay, I

really need to refer you to someone

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now, just so I can feel better.

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Like you're giving me so much.

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I, you haven't even asked for anything.

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I got to give something in return.

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So that, that's a really powerful concept.

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I

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Jeff West: love it.

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Well, you know, the, an interesting thing

too, and you touched on it there is when

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someone's asking for referrals in any

context to, to just ask doesn't work

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very well, but if you get specific and

you ask deeper questions that does the

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same process here, when you ask someone.

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What do I need to be asking people?

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What do I need to be looking for

out there to know if they're a

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good referral that's in your way?

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It gets them thinking deeper.

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And so it works well.

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And it actually creates a fusion point,

like I described earlier, because what I

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did at that point is I created a hugely

positive emotional response in my client.

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And I had a, I had a positive

emotional response with him

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anyway, but, but I created that.

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And then I combined it with a logic of

getting, helping him do more business.

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And when I did that, it

created a fusion points.

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And until I got promoted and moved away,

we, we, we stayed in contact pretty well.

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Yeah, that's,

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Michael Whitehouse: that's

hugely powerful concept.

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And, and I love that idea of that.

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You're creating the, and then the

other, and you mentioned specific.

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And one of the things that's

important about specific is.

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You know, if it'd be an eye, which

is where I, I started networking,

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I find B and I is often the

training wheels of networking.

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Like everyone started there

and then they sort of build up.

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And, and often it'd be, I, the, the,

the, the ass are not very specific.

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They're like, Oh, anyone with a spine?

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I'm a chiropractor.

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Yeah.

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I'm like, okay, yes.

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Everyone has a spine.

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No, I'm not going to refer anyone.

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Cause that's not them.

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But if somebody, every once in

a while, someone gets really

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specific and excessively specific.

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And.

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You know, if somebody says, yeah, so, so

my the clients I'm really looking for are.

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You know, gray haired guys named

Jeff with a Texas accent and a

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background in the insurance industry.

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aNd, and, you know, I want to talk

to them so I can make an offer.

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If I was to reach out to him and be

like, Jeff, you will not believe what

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the ask was of this BNI meeting I was at.

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He said, gray haired guys named

Jeff with a Texas accent who

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worked in the insurance industry.

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You want to meet him?

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And he'd be like, sure.

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Yeah.

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Like that's me.

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Okay.

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I don't even I'm

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Jeff West: your guy, and I know you like

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Michael Whitehouse: you're

interesting, but that's you need me.

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Awesome.

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And so there's such power in

that because you feel special.

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Right.

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Whereas be like, Hey, yeah, anyone

who needs insurance send them.

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Oh yeah, you need insurance.

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Right.

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But if it's right, if it's yeah, this

week, I'm focused on people who have

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a ordinal directions in their name.

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Jeff, you won't believe this.

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I would just ask for

it to be an eye group.

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That makes it easy.

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Cause cause then it's, it's you.

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It's not just, it's not just right.

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Right.

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Absolutely.

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Yep.

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So that has been being very powerful.

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Yeah.

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And so, so you're, you're telling about

the actually, yeah, you're telling me

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the story about, about Lisa Wilbur.

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I think that was an interesting

one too, how you ended up co

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authoring the book with her.

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Cause it's funny, I, I

met her a few years ago.

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I think I may have, may have had

her on my Power Launch Live show.

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I swear I had her on one of these shows.

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I don't know.

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Once you get to 200 something episodes,

it all starts to blur together.

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But I think it was interesting when you

were sharing the story of how you ended

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up co authoring that book with her.

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Said the lady with the blue hair.

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Tell us a little bit about that.

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Jeff West: Lisa and I were both in a

group that Bob Berg has, Bob Berg and

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Kathy Tejanil, the Goal Giver Success

Alliance, and we were on one of the first

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Zoom calls for that group, and it's a

mentoring community great group of people.

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It's, it's literally my favorite hour

every week, but the, the first meeting

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Lisa was on there too, and people

don't know this about Lisa when you

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first see her, first meet her, she's

Avon's Fifth highest earner in history.

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She's huge in direct sales and she

was only, and she had blue hair.

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And she was a little bit self conscious

about it because even though she's

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been super, super successful, she just

a little bit self conscious about it.

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And so she felt the

need to get on the call.

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And so she got the screen and

she was telling the story of why

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she got blue hair and she had.

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She told the reason she had made

the decision to do that, but

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then she added a little thing.

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She said, you know, if you ever want to

stop being less judgmental, I'm gonna

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do this in Lisa's accent best I can.

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If you ever want to, you ever want to stop

being less or start being less judgmental

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in your life, dye your hair blue.

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This is working for me.

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He says, I can be in a grocery store and

see a young lady who her skirt's a little

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too tight, her skirt's a little too short.

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And I can think, wow, skirt is

just too short and tight, said

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:

the lady with the blue hair.

393

:

And so she said that I'm

listening and I'm cracking up.

394

:

And I type in the chat, Hey, Lisa

said the lady with the blue hair

395

:

would make an awesome book title.

396

:

Cause at this point I had been

writing and speaking for a while

397

:

and I had not done any coauthorships

and so long story, I said it again.

398

:

I'm going to stop.

399

:

I'm going to start saying short story

long, but what happened is about a

400

:

year, year and a half later, I guess

it was when I decided to change

401

:

my business model a little bit.

402

:

And instead of just writing my own books,

go ahead and do some co authorships,

403

:

kind of like what Bob Berg and John

David Mann did with The Go Giver.

404

:

And I reached out to her and

we, that's what we did with

405

:

The Lady with the Blue Hair.

406

:

And it's, it's, that book too also

led into my co authorship with Bob.

407

:

Bob and I've actually known each

other for, 20 plus years now.

408

:We met in:

409

:

And so when, and if there's

enough story, I'll tell you

410

:

that how we met, it's hilarious.

411

:

But, and just that relationship,

we've become friends over the years.

412

:

He approached me about doing speaking

gigs with Aflac, which was the

413

:

insurance carrier that I was with.

414

:

And so I helped him as much as I could.

415

:

And then, as I became a state manager, I

had him come in and speak with our group.

416

:

I, I literally wrote letters of

referral to every single state office

417

:

with Aflac because Bob's that great.

418

:

And, so as, as the time went on and

everything Bob does, I tend to tend to

419

:

jump in there and get involved with it.

420

:

And so having that successful

collaboration with Lisa is kind of

421

:

what led into the collaboration with

Bob on street wise to sales wise.

422

:

We were.

423

:

It was about fourth quarter last year, I

guess it was, and Bob was sending me an

424

:

email about something he was going to do,

and he wanted to know my thoughts on it.

425

:

It was a publication he was

about to do about objections.

426

:

And I said and just as a comment in

there, that it wasn't even something

427

:

he was really thinking about, but he

said, by the way, keep this because

428

:

when we do our parable, this will be

something we might want to refer back to.

429

:

So I replied to his email and I put

a little PS and said, by the way, If

430

:

you're serious, that answer is yes.

431

:

And so we began talking about

he, he had this objection proof

432

:

manuscript that he'd had for years.

433

:

And he was thinking about

doing something with it.

434

:

He never, he never published the, the

actual work and he, it was a how to book.

435

:

And so when it comes to, he decided he

really would rather do it as a parable.

436

:

So he approached me last year

and It kind of went from there.

437

:

It's set in New Orleans, and I'll, we'll

get into more of that if you'd like.

438

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah,

yeah, tell me about it.

439

:

Actually, my next question is

going to be tell me about the book.

440

:

Oh, okay, cool.

441

:

Jeff West: It's called

Streetwise to Saleswise.

442

:

Become objection proof

and beat the sales blues.

443

:

And it's a sales parable,

or a business parable.

444

:

It's what I like to write the most.

445

:

I will write non fiction.

446

:

And I've been technically a parable

is nonfiction, but it, but across it,

447

:

it's like, it's it saddles over fiction

on one side and business on the other

448

:

side, but it's set in new Orleans.

449

:

It's the story about a young

salesperson who grew up on the

450

:

streets of new Orleans and he lets his

mouth get ahead of him a little bit.

451

:

And I won't go into too much

because I loved, I love the story.

452

:

Don't you guys to read it, but it's yeah.

453

:

He, he, he finds himself out of that

job and then he gets a job in sales and

454

:

he had no clue he was going to do that.

455

:

It wasn't something he intended.

456

:

And so what we do in the story we,

we take him through his growth.

457

:

From a brand new person who knows

nothing about sales all the way

458

:

through a year where he's really doing

well And we weave in the fabric of

459

:

new orleans when I write a parable.

460

:

I'm john david man who was bob's co author

on the go giver he is my writing coach.

461

:

He is someone who's been a mentor to

me a friend As a matter of fact, in the

462

:

new book, he's somebody I mentioned in

the dedication because he's, he's just

463

:

been that awesome for helping my craft

and I, I wasn't a slouch before, but

464

:

I'm several levels better now that I've

worked with John because he's awesome,

465

:

but it's like 30 something books, nine

New York Times bestsellers anyway.

466

:

In the process of doing this, one

thing I learned from John is I like

467

:

to write the geography of a location

almost as if it's part of a character.

468

:

So in New Orleans, I've, I've got

a music background myself, so I

469

:

love the music of New Orleans.

470

:

I love the Food of New Orleans.

471

:

So it's, it's just what been

one of the places that I'll go.

472

:

And I was sitting there with my wife

and I believe it was on new Year's

473

:

Eve, maybe the day before New Year's

Eve going from:

474

:

And I knew the material we

were going to use in the book.

475

:

We're going to use some of my sales

training, which we did, my leadership

476

:

training, which we did, and the

same with Bob, some of his sales

477

:

and leadership training as well.

478

:

But I didn't really

have the story idea yet.

479

:

And we were sitting in New Orleans mid to

late afternoon, and we're on a balcony of

480

:

a restaurant, and we're just enjoying the

day, having a glass of wine, and a street

481

:

performer started performing out there and

I love street performers in New Orleans.

482

:

I just do.

483

:

I can't help myself.

484

:

I sat there and literally, Michael, the

story came to me and I knew the entire

485

:

story arc with major and minor characters.

486

:

From the get go now, it evolved

over the year that when I'd

487

:

write a book, and that's not, I

don't turn it down in 30 days.

488

:

I say here, buy this.

489

:

I don't do that.

490

:

I'll make it.

491

:

I try to do a really great job

with it, but it, we work in

492

:

the flavors of New Orleans.

493

:

We work in secondary

characters that people.

494

:

Have told me they can kind of fall in

love with and we do some unusual things

495

:

that I did in the audible version.

496

:

I actually I throw a surprise in there.

497

:

I'll just leave it at that.

498

:

It's a musical surprise that

I throw in for everybody,

499

:

Michael Whitehouse: but nice.

500

:

So, so, so audible is where

I should go listen to that.

501

:

Jeff West: Yeah.

502

:

I'm one of these people, I buy a book

that I like in every, in every format.

503

:

I tell people, if you want the

hardback, go to Barnes and Noble,

504

:

their delivery times are so fast

and it's the best for the hardback.

505

:

If you want the ebook or even the audio

book, you can go to Amazon because it's

506

:

immediate delivery on both of those.

507

:

But I tend to have it at all because I

like having my entire library on my phone.

508

:

Every book that I have,

I've got on my phone.

509

:

I can be on a plane.

510

:

I can read.

511

:

I also, I like, I like holding

up a hard book in my hand.

512

:

I'll just, I like having that

there so I can take notes, but I

513

:

have so fallen in love with audio

books over the last few years.

514

:

One of my favorite writers in

fiction is Michael Connolly and I'll

515

:

listen to the Bosch series or the

Lincoln Lawyer series and I'll, I'll

516

:

just, I can, I can do it for hours.

517

:

I really can.

518

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

519

:

Yeah.

520

:

And they're, they're really well done.

521

:

Yeah.

522

:

Or some of them are really well done

in terms of the, the voice actors

523

:

and the performances and, and just

really has a, it's funny sometimes I

524

:

listen to an audio book and the, the

reader will read it in a certain way.

525

:

I'm like, there's no way

that's written in the book.

526

:

You know, like they'll make a sound like,

there's no way it says, ah, in the book

527

:

or, you know, that sound or or, or it'll

say, you know, you know, he choked out

528

:

and they actually say, you know The way

they, they say it, it's just really,

529

:

it's more of a performance, just like

somebody reading you a book and it's

530

:

very powerful, but, but the other, I love

the business parable format and there's

531

:

not a lot of them out there, but yeah,

the go giver of course is a great one.

532

:

And, and I think the great thing about

a, a business parable is it makes

533

:

you want to read the whole thing.

534

:

Most business books.

535

:

Most people tell you they, they,

and I've heard people say, this is

536

:

actually how they read them on purpose.

537

:

They read the first quarter.

538

:

That's kind of the main part of the book.

539

:

And then the rest of this

application, they skip that part.

540

:

Cause they've already got

the, the nugget of it.

541

:

And then, you know, they move on.

542

:

But with the business parable,

you know, you listen to the go

543

:

giver, you want to get to the end.

544

:

I listened to a one minute millionaire

and I was actually really surprised

545

:

because oftentimes the business

parable, it's, it's a story structure.

546

:

In order to give structure to what

they're teaching, but they're still,

547

:

you know, teaching something unless

they want to be a millionaire and I'm

548

:

like, wait, there's actually like a

story arc and tension and, and conflict

549

:

among minor characters and twists.

550

:

And like, this is actually a

real story that's also a pair

551

:

of like, wow, this is the next

level, you know, next level stuff.

552

:

So, and it sounds like that's what you're

doing with, with your book as well as

553

:

streetwise sales wise that, that it's

even if you're not learning to sell.

554

:

It's an interesting story about a

guy in New Orleans and, and like

555

:

visiting a city and all that, which

is, is a really cool way to learn.

556

:

And that's what's really going

to draw people through books.

557

:

It did if, if I had a.

558

:

If I had a nickel for every time I

read part of a book, I'd have a lot

559

:

Jeff West: of nickels.

560

:

You know, you make such a

great point there, Michael.

561

:

If a book can't grab me or grab you or

grab anybody pretty darn quickly you

562

:

can, you can lose interest in it and

then you want to go do something else.

563

:

And one of the things that is one of

my favorite compliments I ever get

564

:

when someone tells me if, especially

my, I have friends that will read

565

:

my books and they're not in sales.

566

:

And when they tell me the story was

so good, I couldn't put it down.

567

:

I read it.

568

:

Cover to cover on one sitting.

569

:

That's a big deal to me.

570

:

Yep But the audio book one of the things

I love about that and you'll appreciate

571

:

this It's audio is a good format and

it what happens is Whether someone's

572

:

an entrepreneur or just in a corporate

world and they're leading a team that the

573

:

leadership lessons that are in the book

And the sales lessons in the book, it is

574

:

so much like you're literally sitting side

by side with your mentor in a live selling

575

:

situation or in a live conflict situation.

576

:

If you're in a business and

someone is showing you, okay,

577

:

this is how you'd handle this.

578

:

And it's, it's, it brings

a lot of value that way.

579

:

Yeah.

580

:

But, and it

581

:

Michael Whitehouse: makes it very, very

clear you know, what this actually means

582

:

to me, because often they go through.

583

:

thAt's one of the things I found in

one minute people have explained to me

584

:

the concept of you can buy real estate

with No with no cash a bunch of times

585

:

and people try to explain how and i'm

like, okay, I think I did you did I

586

:

think you did that It's only when I

heard it told in a narrative format

587

:

and they're like and then she talked to

this person and this person explained

588

:

This is what our money is and then

they did like Oh, that's how it works.

589

:

Okay, because you're doing it

in theory, then it is very dry.

590

:

You're like, okay, wait,

hold on and go, go back.

591

:

What was that thinking?

592

:

But when you're listening to the

story narratively, then it gives

593

:

you that framework because that's,

you know, humans are built to

594

:

exchange knowledge and stories.

595

:

We're not built to exchange, you know,

just dry, like, here's a list of technical

596

:

terms and then apply that in this way.

597

:

And then at step 14, you

will find this result.

598

:

You need.

599

:

You need stories to provide a

structural framework for your, your

600

:

ancient human brain to understand

601

:

Jeff West: it.

602

:

You know, it loops right back

around to a fusion point because

603

:

what happens in a parable?

604

:

Or in a good narrative, even

teaching a how to book like that.

605

:

It connects an emotional part of your

brain with the logical part of your brain.

606

:

And just like in a fusion board where

it moves things forward, people get

607

:

comfortable taking the next step.

608

:

People also retain what they're trying

to learn so much better that way.

609

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah,

it makes a lot of sense.

610

:

And, and I think also, you know, if

you're coming along with the, you know,

611

:

think about like with the go giver.

612

:

There's the, the emotional arc of, of I

can't remember the main character's name.

613

:

But the main character who's, you know.

614

:

Who's struggling, huh?

615

:

Joe, his name is Joe.

616

:

It's Joe.

617

:

Okay.

618

:

Yeah, I think I was thinking it was Joe.

619

:

Like, it can't be Joe.

620

:

That's too obvious.

621

:

I remember the chairman's

Pindar, but I can't remember Joe.

622

:

Right, right.

623

:

But yeah, so, you know, Joe,

you, like, you feel his struggle.

624

:

And then every time he learns

something, you feel that, like,

625

:

hit of dopamine, like, ooh.

626

:

And you're coming along with him in that.

627

:

Whereas if you were just reading.

628

:

The five points, you know, the five

steps of being a go giver, you wouldn't

629

:

have that same pop what you like.

630

:

Okay.

631

:

Oh, this is interesting.

632

:

Yeah, this might work.

633

:

Whereas you just watch Joe get

one step closer to solving his

634

:

problem and feeding his family

and and doing what he needs to do.

635

:

And.

636

:

yeAh, so that's I'd never thought

about that way, but but it's.

637

:

It creates that association and makes

it more, you know, when you encounter

638

:

that, I think I might do this.

639

:

Right.

640

:

You've got that, you've already

got that positive mental like,

641

:

I feel good about doing this.

642

:

Jeff West: You know, I don't know

what, I don't know what your age is.

643

:

I'm, I'm in my early 60s and I used

to read business parables a lot.

644

:

You know, it was it was like augment

Dino and things of that nature I

645

:

loved the books and they kind of

seemed to die off The go getter began

646

:

that journey back with it and then

who moved my cheese out of the maze.

647

:

There's a lot of them but They're coming

of age again, but what's happening now

648

:

with this with the audience that we have?

649

:

So many of them had never

experienced the parable.

650

:

So I'll get people that are

sending me messages saying,

651

:

Oh my God, I love that story.

652

:

I learned things.

653

:

And then they're going, it's

a new experience for them.

654

:

And that, that's actually very rewarding.

655

:

It really is.

656

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

657

:

No, that's pretty great.

658

:

And, and especially now in, you know,

cause everyone's written a book.

659

:

So there's, you know, you could read books

every minute for the rest of your life and

660

:

not begin to keep up with even the good

ones and not all of them are good ones.

661

:

So the, the parables, they could, and the

thing is too, the things we're teaching

662

:

I recently ran a, a summit called the

breakthrough summit, and we had all

663

:

kinds of people signing up for it to

speak at it because every coach can teach

664

:

us some kind of breakthrough mindset

shift, whatever it's what they all do.

665

:

So it was, it was a great event.

666

:

But I, I commented at one point, like

nothing that's been taught here is

667

:

less than a few thousand years old.

668

:

We repackage it.

669

:

We change the way we say it.

670

:

We have a different concept to it,

but It's all, you know, it's all in

671

:

the Bible and the Quran and the you

know, Confucius taught it and Taoism

672

:

teaches it and Asian Greeks taught.

673

:

It's all the same.

674

:

Like we're all human.

675

:

The basic human truths don't change.

676

:

And how you apply those

human truths don't change.

677

:

It's simply, how do you teach it

and get that information across?

678

:

Right.

679

:

So as everyone's writing their book

about, you know, how to overcome

680

:

objections, sales, mindset,

focus, motivation, whatever.

681

:

It's all the same old stuff, repackaged

in different ways and maybe it's a

682

:

little tweak here, a little tweak

there, but so putting it into a story

683

:

is actually the oldest way of sharing

information, but also very helpful

684

:

because it makes it stand out and then

give you something you can talk about.

685

:

You say, Oh yeah, I remember in

this book where the character did

686

:

this as opposed to, yeah, I think

this book teaches that in some way.

687

:

It makes it feel more, feel more

real, feel like something you

688

:

can attach more to, which is,

which is a really cool concept.

689

:

So.

690

:

Jeff West: Well, you know, my

background is actually in music.

691

:

I have a bachelor's degree in

music education and a master's

692

:

degree in music composition.

693

:

And those two degrees and a 10 bill will

buy me a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

694

:

And when I was doing my student

teaching, I had a great guy that

695

:

I was mentored by and worked

with him for about six weeks on.

696

:

learning how to be a better teacher.

697

:

And he was he, one of the things that he

taught me was when you're working with

698

:

a beginner, whether you're working with

someone at any level, sometimes it's

699

:

not so much as you're teaching, teaching

something new, but you're having to find

700

:

different ways to say the same thing

to deliver the message because sooner

701

:

or later, one of those ways is going

to resonate and it's going to work.

702

:

Yeah,

703

:

Michael Whitehouse: so Yeah, so yeah,

I love this concept with the pair.

704

:

I'm definitely gonna check out

Streetwise to Saleswise and get

705

:

that on, get that on Audible.

706

:

I've got a another road trip coming up,

so that's a great time to listen through.

707

:

It's a 19 hour trip.

708

:

It's probably the entire book

fits into a couple states.

709

:

It's about a four hour, about a four hour.

710

:

Yeah, so that's like the

length of North Carolina.

711

:

I love it.

712

:

oR, you know, Dallas to Houston, I think.

713

:

So, yeah.

714

:

Or, or that's a regular,

regular commuting in Texas.

715

:

Jeff West: It's around the corner here.

716

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yep.

717

:

Yeah.

718

:

So it's been great having you on here.

719

:

I love this, the fusion point concept

that you have linking the, the emotions.

720

:

You know, the emotions to the, the

logic and, and that connection.

721

:

And, oh, you were going to tell

the story about how you met Bob

722

:

and you said it was a good one.

723

:

So,

724

:

Jeff West: well, not, not long after

my career first began to take off in

725

:

great part to endless referrals, I began

to come into the sales organization

726

:

training school in the, with the insurance

company I was with every month, the

727

:

state manager would have me come in.

728

:

I would tell them my personal story.

729

:

It was motivational.

730

:

And then I would finish up by telling

them a little bit about those two

731

:

books, endless referrals and, and

21 irrefutable laws of leadership.

732

:

I had been telling everybody about this

book so much and I was always promoting

733

:

it inside my sales team everywhere.

734

:

Well, I was a regional manager

for the company in Plano, Texas.

735

:

And then my administrator buzzes in

one day and she says, you've got a

736

:

phone call and I said, who is it?

737

:

And she said, some guy named Bob Berg.

738

:

And I thought, yeah, one of my

buddies is playing a joke on me

739

:

right now because I'm such a big fan

of what I've learned in the book.

740

:

And so I get on the phone.

741

:

And as you know, Bob has this.

742

:

Definite distinctive voice that we

call it positive vocal velocity.

743

:

It just carries, you know.

744

:

He gets on the phone.

745

:

He says hi, Jeff, this is Bob Berg.

746

:

And I said, sure.

747

:

It is fella exact quote.

748

:

And he said excuse me.

749

:

I said.

750

:

Is this really Bob Berg?

751

:

And he said, yeah, this

is really Bob Berg.

752

:

And so then I told him the story and how

much Endless Referrals had meant to me.

753

:

And he was flattered.

754

:

He was actually calling me to prospect

to get in to speak with Aflac.

755

:

And so it was funny.

756

:

That's how we met.

757

:

And we just became friends.

758

:

And it stayed that way.

759

:

We had no

760

:

Michael Whitehouse: idea who you were.

761

:

You were just on his call list to get in.

762

:

I was,

763

:

Jeff West: I was a, I

was a cold call for him.

764

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

765

:

Yeah.

766

:

You know, you got some personal

brain going on when that happens.

767

:

Right.

768

:

That's exactly correct.

769

:

That that's amazing.

770

:

That's fantastic.

771

:

Well, I think that's a

great note to end it on.

772

:

That was a great story.

773

:

Love it.

774

:

So people obviously people can look

up streetwise to sales wise wherever

775

:

they streetwise to sales wise become

objection proof and beat the sales blues

776

:

coauthored between Jeff West and Bob Berg.

777

:

How else can people get in touch with

778

:

Jeff West: Jeff West?

779

:

Oh, thank you so much for asking that.

780

:

The 1st thing I'll tell you is on street

wise to sales wise, just go to street wise

781

:

to sales wise dot com and all the links to

go to all the retailers are there anyway.

782

:

And you can read about the book and

see what some people are saying.

783

:

They can also, if they're interested,

anyone in your audience is interested

784

:

in having me work with you on.

785

:

developing the kind of relationship

in your team that keeps them there

786

:

or your sales process for your,

your business, go to fusionpoints.

787

:

com.

788

:

That's plural on fusion points.

789

:

And, or if you lose track of

anything else, just go to jeffcwest.

790

:

com.

791

:

You'll find everything there.

792

:

Michael Whitehouse: I love it.

793

:

Great hierarchy of websites.

794

:

Well done.

795

:

Yeah, very well organized.

796

:

I like it.

797

:

So this has been great.

798

:

It's been a lot of fun talking to you.

799

:

It's funny, I was telling you at the

beginning of the show yeah, I, I, pretty

800

:much at the end of:

hey, I'm done recording season 6 episodes.

801

:

And then I got the reminder

about today, and I'm like, what?

802

:

I have another interview on

my calendar in late January?

803

:

Alright, well, what the heck, let's do it.

804

:

I guess it's already here.

805

:

Sure.

806

:

And I'm so glad we did because

this has been a great conversation.

807

:

That's why I like having a podcast.

808

:

Meet cool people.

809

:

So thank you.

810

:

It's an honor to be here with you.

811

:

Yes.

812

:

Thank you so much for being on.

813

:

And once again, that's

street wise to sales wise.

814

:

com fusion points.

815

:

com and jeffcwest.

816

:

com is the, the center

point, the nexus of it all.

817

:

So thank you so much, Jeff,

for being on the show.

818

:

Jeff West: My pleasure, Michael.

819

:

Thank you so much for having me on.

820

:

Michael Whitehouse: Thank you

so much for joining us on the

821

:

Guy Who Knows A Guy podcast.

822

:

I'm your host, Michael Whitehouse.

823

:

Be sure to join us for

the next JV Connect.

824

:

Learn all about it at jv connect.

825

:

com.

826

:

You can also get my Five Steps to

Profitable Networking course for

827

:

free right there on that site.

828

:

Our goal is that in two days, you're

going to get over 100, 000 of value

829

:

from the connections you made.

830

:

And this applies whether you are brand

new in business or well established.

831

:

So be sure to join us, jv connect.

832

:

com in March, June,

September, and December.

833

:

All the dates and details are

right there on the website.

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