WOW this was an amazing episode. Colin is an amazing storyteller–and told great stories.
Hear about how his rep found a deal in a couch. Learn how to develop a mission statement so powerful it carries you through the hardest days. Listen to how and why to focus on friction instead of wins.
Stream it here.
Questions? Comments? Requests? I’d love to hear from you: Derek@DerekJankowski.com
Looking for more content like this, but more in depth? Check out the talks from the Next Level Sales Leadership Summit 2020.
Download the episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, or Listen Notes–or listen below. See all the places you can get the episodes here.
Here’s the transcript:
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Derek: [00:00:00] Right. Collin. Thanks so much for joining the show today, man.
Colin: [00:00:07] It’s my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me.
Derek: [00:00:10] Could you kick us off by telling us your story? How did you end up getting into sales, becoming a leader and landing where you are right now?
Colin: [00:00:19] Yeah. I grew up. With a mother that hated salespeople because her father was a salesman, like a traveling salesman.
So from like a really early age. It was just ingrained in me to like, It just, wasn’t a real profession. Like not, not anyone, not anyone of credibility is going to be a sales person to your point. Right? Like they weren’t, they weren’t majoring in it in college. So I was just, you know, I was the kid 15 years old growing up in Los Angeles.
You know, I was at the Beverly center. At Macy’s and Salesforce and would walk up to me and I’d, you know, I’d stare up at the ceiling and just ignore him. Like, I just wanted nothing to do. I had a real disdain for salespeople. Like they were all sleazy. They were all pushy aggressive in my head. And then I went to a, I went to UC Santa Barbara for undergrad.
And when I graduated, I had a job at a PR firm, but it was in Santa Barbara and I really wanted to come back home. So I had two options. One was moved back in with my parents. The other was take the first job that I could get. And at that point they were, they were really just sales jobs that were taking risks on newly graduated, sociology majors, from UC Santa Barbara, with a minor in women’s studies.
You know, I didn’t, I didn’t have the career path thought out yet when I, when I entered into college. So as karma would have it. The first job I had was just the most stereotypical stigmatized sales environment that I could be thrown into.
Think of it as timeshare, you know, like I could call it fractional ownership.
There was a great tech piece. There was a recurring revenue model, you know, it was SaaS before it was SaaS, but, but the model itself, like was still very reminiscent of a timeshare sales room where you would walk in. People were coming in for something for free. they were only there for something for free.
And like the salespeople’s job was to sell them in 90 minutes for tens and twenties and hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it wasn’t anything tangible.
Right. It was literally fractional ownership. And I hated it and I sucked and you know, like the, the. What I hated about sales as a kid, was just so ever present in that sales room, you know, like, and, and I did what most 21 year old kids do fresh out of college, just straight blamed displacement.
You know, it was like, well, obviously I’m not good. Like I’m smarter than them. I’m better than them. I’m too. I’m too good for this. Right. And you know, I’m in a room with like 40 year olds and 50 year olds and 60 year olds. And I’m just like, these guys didn’t even go to college. You know, I’m just like just shitting on people, just a horrible version of myself.
But you know, that’s what you do when you’re young and you’re not succeeding. And so my third month I got put on a PIP performance improvement plan. So essentially I knew I was going to get fired. I’m in the third month. So, you know, I’m like 21 took this job. Didn’t want it still hate it. Sales I’m in a sales environment.
The worst kind, I think at the time, third month comes around the boss, like, yeah, like you’re going to get fired. Like if you don’t change this month, you know, like, and it wasn’t working like every single training that they were doing it just, I was trying to follow the rules and I just couldn’t do it. So, yeah.
Anyways, long story long, I showed up. On that third month and I had nothing to lose. So like I had this commitment to myself, like, pardon my friench, but I was just like, fuck them. You know, like if I’m going to go out, like at least I’ll go out and like, just have fun with it. And I came in that third month and I am going to ignore everything they taught me I’m going to do it. You know what I mean? Like I have nothing to lose. Like, so I just like, I didn’t care if I was going to sell because. That wasn’t working when I did care. so I showed up as the complete opposite of the sales person I was being trained to be. I like, I only ask questions that I actually wanted to know the answers to.
Right. I like, I only laugh the jokes that were funny, you know, I, I sat cross-legged cause it was comfortable. Like I didn’t ask people to buy if I didn’t think that they could afford it or if I didn’t think that they should buy it based on what they told me their income was. Right. Like, I. I showed up as the antithesis of the great salesperson that they wanted and trained us all to be.
And obviously that was the month, right? So my third month, and just for context like that third month, this 21 year old kid made $30,000. And my dream job in PR was 36 grand for the year. Right? So like,
Derek: wait, so you went from zero and zero to $30,000 for third month by just being the antithesis of a salesy person
Colin: just being like, yeah, it was, it was magic.
It was, it was like, cause the thing was, you know, you know is 2020, but they, they were, they were expecting me to be the person that I was being trained. You know, I can’t sit here and act like I knew it all at the time. Right. Like I stumbled on it on accident, but everyone was expecting me to show up to be this person.
And 90% of that entire sales room was that person. I was at sales person for two months. Like they just happened to be successful at it. I wasn’t for whatever reason. So when I decided like, screw it, like I’m going to go out with a bang. it worked and so. To be able to like that wasn’t $30,000 in revenue that was $30,000 in income.
Right. So you can imagine how much revenue I generated that month. And it was just this weird feeling of like, damn, like I just made $30,000 in one month. My dream job is 36 K for the year. I’m stuck, but I still hate it. Like, I still feel like, like. I didn’t want to be part of this industry, right? Like there was still that stigma that, that really persisted, but what did happen was management took notice and gave me a shot.
Like they were like, whatever you’re doing is working. And so they started letting me train 60 year olds and 50 year olds and 40 people that were double and triple my age at the time. And that started working. You know, and so I would just happen to be fortunate enough to. Do a really good job really early.
Yeah. I broke a lot of sales records and those first two years, and then became, you know, the youngest manager and the youngest, forgot what they called it. Like say, assistant sales director and then the youngest sales director. And, you know, for six years, like I took this modality that I stumbled upon an accident and really baked out like an entire playbook, because I was training on it so much and teaching it and it was working and then six years later, I was like, if I don’t leave now I’ll never leave, you know?
so that company really luckily got acquired by Wyndham. and I was able to make a really clean exit and, and I had my pick because what I didn’t know at the time was there was this thing called sad out there right now, what it was, or that I was even close to selling it, but the industry did, you know?
And so I was. I was engaged by a bunch of recruiters and ended up going to this company called results.com, which was just another lucky, my career trajectory. Cause they were a consultancy that wanted to transition to a recurring revenue, SaaS model. So they were taking all of their IP and they were turning it into, Into a SaaS model.
Right. But it was like, it was, it was everything you would ever want from like an MBA. Right. It was like KPI I analysis and strategy sessions and SWATs. And like, you know, for the next two years, like I was training entrepreneurs, how to run their businesses through data intelligence. Right. And they were teaching me like what it really meant to like run a business.
And so that was amazing. And I ran the entire West coast sales operation. and that company really was just so special. They ended up packing up and moving to the Bay during the whole Silicon Valley sort of Exodus. and I just, I wasn’t ready to go back to the Bay cause I had been there for a little bit during that first six years stint as a, as a sales director.
So. I finally got what I thought was like the, the Motherload. Is that a thing? Not mine. That’s a sounds horrible. You might want to cut that. I finally, you got to, I violate God’s was the pinnacle of my career, which was. Like I was wanting to be the entertainment industry. Like that’s what I always wanted to do.
I didn’t know what, but I knew I was good at selling. And so I was like, I’ll figure out a way to get in. And this company named Phunware reached out to me and they were like, Hey, like I heard you did some really great things, transitioning this agency for lack of a better word. Right. The consultancy. Into this recurring revenue model, right?
For a SAS product, we’re doing the same thing. We’re we’re in this industry right now. That’s all the craze called apps. Right. And like, at the time everybody had an app and they were like, we want you to head up our mobile as a service, division, which was the first of its kind. And I was like, yes. And I was working with, you know, like I did the, I was on the WWE first over the top app.
Right. Like before HBO go existed, you know, like I was working with NBC universal. I mean, like they were doing the Olympics app home shopping network. Like I really felt like I was home. The only problem was, I wasn’t leading a team team as much as, as I was heading up a group of creatives and engineers.
Creating apps. And I was really the focal point of the transaction and that wasn’t my goal, right? Like I really loved sales leadership. And so one day I start working on the puff daddy app for the revolt TV network. And it comes down to, you know, after a long process, it’s enterprise sales, it’s a multi multimillion dollar app.
It comes down to, to us and another company and they go, come in. Go bring your, bring your, bring your engineers, bring your, bring your, your, your art director. Bring your creatives and pitch. Fuck. Yeah. I mean like, right, like this is a kid you grew up in LA loves hip hop, right? Like, no, one’s bigger than Diddy, except for home for me, you know what I mean?
And I’m just like, okay, like I don’t hate sales anymore. I love it. And I’m about to have an opportunity to do this at like the highest level. And I walk in the room with my whole team and there’s cameras everywhere. And I’m like, this seems weird. And then they make us sign this like waiver and then Andre Harrell rest in peace.
He ran uptown records. He gave puff daddy, his first shot. He had just paid, just passed away. Like this year, he pulls me aside. He goes, listen, man, I have one piece of advice for you. Puff hates salespeople. And I go in my head. I’m like, great. I don’t like them either. And he’s like, no, no, no, no. You don’t understand.
Like, I know that you were called in here, you know, to pitch like he is going to shit on you. Like that’s what he does. Have you ever seen any of his TV shows? Have you ever seen making the band, like he’s going to embarrass you on national TV. He’s making a show called making the network. That’s why there’s 200 cameras in here.
If I were you, I would introduce yourself, introduce your creative team and pass it to them and just show him pictures. And meanwhile, I had put together the pitch of my life. So I, so I took his advice and I was like, screw it. So I sat down, Diddy sits down, a room just standing like just shoulder to shoulder, everyone with cameras and recorders, standing watching this.
And, and it’s just me sitting at the table and Puff across the table. It’s this big table. And that. And I’m going to do it. I’m not going to pitch, right. I’m going to do exactly what they advise me to do. And as I opened my mouth, he like sticks his finger up like this, like, hold on a second. I’m like, okay.
And his chef comes out, chef top hat on. With a big ass coconut in his hand and puts this like fresh coconut in front of Diddy’s, like in front of them puts a strong on it and like puff, like takes a sip and he goes, sorry, I need to hydrate. It was a long weekend in Vegas. And in my head I’m like, Oh, he’s already shitting on me.
I have nothing to lose. So I did it. I pitched my heart out. Right. Like I crafted this beautiful pitch. And, and then I passed it to my creative team as fast as I could. And before my creative team could say one word, he put his finger up again and he looked at me and he goes, I like that pitch. And, you know, you could see the whole room, just like a breath of relief because they thought they were gonna, you know, and we ended up winning that deal and it was a big deal.
And then like the next week, this company called mobile roadie called me and they were like, yo, you just, you just took like millions of dollars out of our pocket. You guys were not supposed to win that deal. How about you come over to us and be our SVP of global sales and services. We know you want to lead a team.
Oh, that was it. So I went back to mobile roadie. That was amazing. I worked with everyone from ironically puff again. but you know, Funkmaster flex as a hip hop head to Taylor Swift, you know, to the CMHS to Dre. I mean, everyone that you could think of was using a mobile roadie at TGI Fridays, you know, to, To the Washington Redskins.
Right? So Dallas Mavericks, like, you know, I got to have conversations with Cuban in the room. Like it was everything. And that company, we did great things got acquired by intellect soft. and then this recruiter calls me and said, I know you think that, and the entertainment industry is sexy, but do you want to know what’s really sexy? And I said, what? And he said, software security,
Derek: you laughed right.
Colin: And so I ended up like walking into this, walking in this cool, like old art, gallery on main street and, and meeting with, who’s now like my partner and almost everything. Garrett Brown. and we sat down and Garrett was like, he was a CRO, but he wasn’t a sales guy.
You know what I mean? Like he just found his way weirdly in this role from being a lawyer to then heading up sales for fast playing games. But like we had, we had, we were like kindred spirits because like, we didn’t love sales until we love sales, you know? And now we were both in these leadership roles and we just, like Garrett says, like, we fell in love at first sight.
You know, because we just, we vibed out on like what a perfect world could look like. Like what if you could create like a salesforce, that showed up as the antithesis of salespeople, right? Like, like quote unquote, good salespeople, you know, that showed up as their most authentic version of themselves.
Right? Like that, that, that we’re just, you know, in our eyes, perfect. Yeah, that was like this vision that we had this grand vision. And, and I signed on the dotted line and, you know, he gave me full autonomy, right. He was like, run this shit, dude. And we ran and we ran fast. And a couple of years later that company got acquired by Google.
And that was, you know, that was the exit that got me this house. Right. And so, you know, we, we, after that Garrett and I had a lot of, you know, consulting offers, but I had just had a kid at the time. So I wanted to do what most new dads did, which was go out and change the world. So I did some, some consulting for the LA Cleantech incubator.
While Garrett and I were doing a bunch of public speaking. cause at the time people thought it was a big deal. You know, what we had done, in the software security space. And I went to Mumbai and like was consulting for like the minister of industry. And like I went to, I went to China. I dude, I was all over trying to change the world.
And I came back home and we just kept guest lecturing at USC. And Garrett was a fourth generation Trojan and we were guest lecturing at UC Irvine and USC. And we had this thing where like, listen, we can do this. We can change the way the world views sales. If we target academia, you know what I mean? Like get these kids at the lowest level and get them to where they need to be so that they don’t perpetuate this horrible stereotype.
And de-stigmatize an industry that has been, you know, For the last hundred years and snake oil salespeople really shat on by anyone have quote unquote or respect the job’s title. long story long. I’m a recruiter. Great recruiter reached out and said, Hey, like, You can change the world in your backyard.
Like there’s this evil company out there called Chanje. Like they’re going to change the world, no pun intended. and they’re looking for someone that’s not like a car guy, you know, they want, they, they, they envision themselves as a tech company. They want a recurring revenue model, like all this stuff.
So I met the CEO and, you know, you want to talk about a CEO that’s the best sales person you’ve ever met. You even have to give him permission. He took permission. Like he was just epic. And when I left the room, he said, Hey, let me know when you want to work for me, like assumptive close and one-on-one.
And I signed on the dotted line, maybe the chief revenue officer at Chanje, and concurrently got offered Garrett and I got offered a permanent course at USC, to teach sales mindset for entrepreneurs. So. That’s what we’ve been doing, you know, around the same time, Techstars LA reached out to me and asked me to be the, the lead sales mentor for them.
so, you know, for the last couple of years I’ve been really running parallel paths, you know, being a sales advisor and now an entrepreneur in residence for Techstars LA, Teaching sales mindset at USC, Mondays at six o’clock. So that doesn’t interfere with work. and, and, and running revenue over at Chanje.
And, you know, between all that, some really interesting stuff’s happened that I won’t belabor the point because I’ve been talking for half an hour about my story.
Derek: [00:19:20] So does not feel like half an hour, man. That’s a pretty epic story. Yeah.
Colin: [00:19:25] I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a lucky man, which is really, l I’d much rather be talking about Brianna Taylor right now. Yeah. So it’s like, it’s, it’s a, it takes a lot, it takes a lot right now to be talking about anything else other than. You know, Jacob Blake, right? Like it takes a lot to not be talking about what’s really important. But you know, I think that, through all of these parallel paths, there’s, there’s, there’s entry points for me to make a real change.
And so I think it’s important that we use your platform to do all the above.
Derek: [00:20:08] Yeah. I’d certainly. Thank you. I appreciate coming out. I don’t want to take away those other really important messages.
but if you don’t mind, like if you could put yourself back into the shoes of you, your third or fourth month as a manager, what was stressing you out?
What do you wish you knew?
Colin: [00:20:33] What do I wish I knew? I wish I knew that everything was going to be okay. You know, like I wish I knew, I wish I knew to be more data oriented, you know, like at some point, especially in sales it’s such an emotional roller coaster, like as a manager, or even as like a, as a sales executive, like account executive, like you, you hit those months and those strides and you’re like, damn, like you start envisioning what the worst case scenario looks like.
Right? Like what happens if I don’t hit this month or next month, what happens if my team doesn’t hit? Like what does worst case scenario look like? Like what, you know, the worst case scenario has never happened ever because I’m sitting here talking to you right now, even though like how many times have we all had the worst case scenario thought, but like, if you just look at the data, you know what I mean?
Like, it was always okay. I get what it couldn’t have been worst case scenario. Cause we’re here now. So, you know, back in the day, I wish I knew like Colin, look at the data. Like if you look at the data, how many times have you been freaked out? That worst case scenario is X, Y, Z. And then, you know, two years later you just forgot about that because miraculously like you’re here.
So, you know, one thing that I would, that I would tell my 21 year old self or let’s see what, my first time being a sales manager was 23. That’s how my 23 year old self, like the data never lies. You will always be okay until you’re not. And so I think that that’s, that’s always held me down.
Derek: [00:22:14] So if we have somebody, most of the people sitting in this for their first couple of years leading a team and they go to look at that data. What are the things you recommend they look at or think about, or what should they do in order to convince themselves that it’s going to be okay?
Colin: [00:22:32] Well, let’s be clear, like we’re talking about two different.
Sets of data, right? Like we’re talking about historic data on a personal level, right? Like where as a sales manager, you’re freaking out like, it’s going to be taken from you and that you’re going to have to go back to being an account executive, but then for some real reason, you’re not going to be able to hit your number.
So you went from the top. All the way down to the bottom and then you have to take a shitty job and then like you have to move the like podunk. I don’t know. Antarctica, you know, like you think about that worst case scenario, but when you’ve had enough of those experiences, you realize like it’s not true.
You know what I mean? Like the universe has got your back not to get all foo on you. So, so that’s the data I’m talking about, but to answer your question directly, like as a sales manager, like, what do I w what data do I wish I knew, like my first year on the job versus now is like the vanity numbers are the stupidest shit you could ever focus your attention on.
You know, it’s like the goal is to figure out where the friction is. Like, I, you know, like, like I, I wish I wish I could, I could go back in time and say, just focus on where the friction is. Like celebrating wins is okay. Celebrating losses is big, right? Like I wish I could have, well, I wish I could go back and tell myself, celebrate the nose at getting no’s are great.
Like your team failing is great. Getting the same note twice your team failing for the same reason twice. That means you’re not doing your job. You know, it’s like this idea that we talk a lot about like celebrating the process, like, you know, I wish I could go back. I don’t actually wish, but like in the context of this conversation, you know, I also think, you know, we talk about data and, and vanity numbers versus friction.
You know, sales, velocity metrics are so easy to look at. Like, if you look at like five numbers, you’ll never be able to like hype yourself up. Like, you’ll never be able to look at yourself like, yeah, I’m the man. I got this. Cause there’s always one number. That’s not where it needs to be. You know, your lead to conversion ratio might be hot.
Your opportunity to close might be hot. Your sales cycle might be low, right? Your average sales price might be high.
If you look at your total number of opportunities, you’re like, shit, that number is not hot. That’s where I need to focus my time. You know? So I would, I think that’s one piece of advice that I would give myself as focused on the friction. Another thing is, you know, I would, I focus more on the say, do gap, you know, I think as an early manager, accountability feels like a one way street.
You know, it’s like, Hey, I’m holding you accountable, dude. You know, dudette, right? Like this is your number. You got to figure it out. I got your back. But like accountability, as you get older, it’s a two way street. Right? And you set those expectations up front and you go, listen, this is what I expect from you.
Now I’m going to pass the mic. Tell me what you expect from me. You know, managers are bullies. I mean, I could go, we could spend an hour just talking about how much I fucking hate, like these like brolick sales managers that act like their shit doesn’t stink. And they like walk around the room. You know what I mean?
Like, we’re all like, yeah. Like they, like, they just like around like, they’re better than everybody else. Right? Like, they’ve got these titles, they got these titles. Like they think that like, they’re like, they forgot that they were 21. You know what I mean? Like, like accountability is a one way street to them.
Like they forgot and they, they forget probably cause they’re not looking that your sales account executives, those people underneath you, they add a shit ton of value to you. If you look for it, you know, I was just talking to a guy that he’s, it was so refreshing to hear. And he’s like, I learned so much from my sales reps.
But, you know, there’s a lot of managers out there and I was probably one of them, you know, for the first year where I had all the answers, I wasn’t looking to gain value. I was looking to add value, but, you know, nowadays when you get me in a classroom and like I’m learning from students, as much as I’m teaching from him, you know, you get me into a room with a fortune 500 company.
Like the goal is to offer unexpected value, but I also get to receive unexpected value. So, you know, those conversations, Those conversations as a 23 year old manager probably would have been really helpful.
Derek: [00:27:08] Okay. So you’re the, you’re the mindset teacher. How, how does somebody shift into that mindset?
Colin: [00:27:15] Like sales is traditionally been a really goal oriented profession and the problem with goals is they’re ephemeral. Which is very weird. Cause like the younger generation knows that word cause of Snapchat, you know, I’m 36, you know, if you told me if you told 26, Oh God, like goals are ephemeral, I’d have to like go look up ephemeral.
But like they it’s a revolving door, you know, like I was at. As a 21 year old kid, all I wanted was a fresh pair of air force ones. Every time that like I went outside, that was success. And then the minute I got it, all I wanted was like a Cadillac escalate. And then I wanted a house in the Hills and then I wanted to own my own house.
And just to make this point really clear. I wanted to own a house my entire life, because I grew up in an apartment and my parents still live. So think about someone that has wanted to own a house, their entire life. And you finally buy the house and I probably celebrate that achievement for two days before freaking out that I had just spent.
That much money from my savings account. And now I got to rebuild for what? For retirement. That’s like 30 plus years from now, even if I ever really retire, but that’s what goals do you know what I mean? So the mindset of the sales industry and being as goal oriented as it is, is really hurtful because we tend not to focus on like purpose. Cause like a goal.
Like if the goal is to have 17 conversations, Right before you can go to the bar and take shots with your friends, right? Like, or not, because I think the sales profession has an issue with alcoholism. So that’s not even, I don’t want to use that to make it sound cool, but whatever, right? Like if the goal is to have 17 conversations or if the goal is to make X amount of calls with the goal is to get X amount of deals.
It’s like, then what. You get that fatty commission check. And how many times have we achieved the goal? And we thought to ourselves, this is all it feels like? I was going to feel different. Like I thought I was going to be more,
Derek: [00:29:24] not to mention they spend all the money right away. So it’s not even right. That’s ephemeral, too.
Colin: [00:29:30] Danza. Right. It’s all of it. It’s all. It’s like, you know what we, what I’ve found that’s really worked is like, We focus a lot on purpose statements. Cause like, if you can craft a really good purpose statement, like there’s no finish line to that. Right? Like your purpose is a lot about the pursuit, not about the attainment.
And so like a purpose statement of whatever it is, you know what I mean? Like to inspire hope or create, or do you know, like whatever, I don’t know, like whatever your purpose statement is like, that will keep you. Working until 11:00 PM at night, while everyone else around you has already left. But if the goal is to like hit 200 calls before you can leave, like, okay, you achieved your goal.
Like now you can leave. So I think the difference between goals, I think the difference between goals and purpose, like really show up in the greatest salespeople that I’ve ever trained, led, or just viewed. you know, we could talk about scarcity versus abundance for forever, but, but I will tell you, like, it’s really tied into like purpose versus goals.
You know what I mean? Like it’s, I know a dude that found a deal on a couch, literally. Like I brought this dude into, to, to my office and I was like, yo, you’re getting complaints that you’re hoarding leads. Cause the number one, Salesforce and came to me and said, this dude’s hoarding leads. Like I show up because we had open territories at the time show up every lead I want to call already is in him CRM.
And I’m like, right, well, let me, let me call it the ultimate, like, yeah. That’s, that seems unfair. Right? He has thousands of leads and you have hundreds, right? And this was the number one salesperson. And I put her in and I brought this dude into the office and there was like this amazing Brown couch and I, and he sits down and I go, yeah.
So listen, here’s what I want to talk to you about. And before I could even get to my point, he’s like, complimenting me on this couch. He’s like, this is the amazing couch I’m like, okay. And then I’m like, all right. So listen. So I talked to, and he’s like, who makes this couch? Brethren. I don’t know. Is he, but he, it seems top of mine.
So at this point, like I’m like, okay, maybe I’m watching genius. Right? Cause I don’t know what’s happening. Okay. So he stands up just not in caring about me being in the room, looks flips over the couch. Cushion finds the maker of the couch. Looks them up on LinkedIn. They have 3000 employees and he looks at me and he goes, dude, I forgot where they were.
And they were like middle America. He was like they have 3000 employees, they have to be using cloud apps, they for sure need access identity management software. And I go, okay, I gotta tell you what go that. We’ll have our one-on-one next week. It comes in next week with that deal. And it was like, you know, this is the guy that drove to Vegas every weekend to while out.
But those big rigs that drove by, like, all he did was look at the names of the companies. Like, you know, like, like you want to say, like he just, there was, there were, he had something abundance mindset that there were deals and couch cushions. Meanwhile, my number one seller who obviously was never the number one seller again, after this dude showed up, you know, she was worried about not having enough leads.
And so I think, you know, like I can’t divulge this guy’s purpose statement, but it was powerful. Right. It was so powerful that it kept him looking for deals in the most mundane of places. And if he didn’t have a purpose and it was just a goal, you know, I think he would have hit the goal and then he’d have been off to Vegas.
Derek: [00:33:24] So do you develop purpose statements with reps?
Colin: [00:33:28] I do.
Derek: [00:33:29] Or how can, okay. Can you talk us through. How, how to go at doing that.
Colin: [00:33:34] Yeah. You there’s, there’s tons of ways. Garrett and I do it with our students. it’s, it’s not that hard. I mean, I think the easiest approach is really just to identify and isolate like two characteristic traits of yours.
And, you know, if you don’t, if you don’t know what they are, you ask someone, you know, like, like what are two characteristic traits of mine, you know? That you’re proud of that you’re proud of. Right. it could be creativity or optimism or introvert, you know, intro, whatever the, you know, you could, it could be anything.
I’ve heard some amazing ones. and then the next step is to figure out two ways that you will enjoy expressing those. Right. So you identify you’ve isolated, like two of your most amazing qualities. And then you’ve isolated two ways that you love expressing those qualities. So if it’s teaching or if it’s talking or if it’s listening or it’s dancing or if it’s selling, right, like whatever it is, if it’s interviewing people.
Right. Like whatever it is. and then the third piece is too to isolate the ideal sales pitch. This is for sales specifically, you can do a purpose statement for obviously lots of facets of your life, and then you, and then you, you ring fence. What. A perfect situation. Looks like, like a perfect sales situation, right?
Like we’re engaged, we’re learning from each other. Like we forgot that we were in a sales conversation. Like they’re falling off of every word. Right? Like really get detailed in that. And then you put it all together, you know? And it, it normally sounds like my purpose is to use my, whatever those two qualities are, to.
And then, you know, whatever it is, right. Whatever those two actionable, right? Like teach, inspire, whatever, the ways that you enjoy acting on those two. And then the third part is, you know what I mean, to. To help my customers like fall in love with themselves, right. To like, be able to, be open minded and change the world.
Like, you know, like everybody’s purpose statement is different. but it works, man. Like I’ve had, I’ve had students and sales reps email me years later and guys want to let you know, like it was a hard week hard week, you know, seven no’s in a row, sure things that turned into nos and that, and I found my purpose statement and it was just like, abudanza like, it’s all good, right?
Like this has nothing to do with me not serving my purpose. Right. Like I was serving my purpose just because it was turned into a note and those reps always end up being, they are, they’re always, they’re always the future CEO. Right. They’re always the person in the middle of the room, because I’ll tell you something about a purpose.
Like, have you ever met someone and people just gravitate towards them? You know, like you’re like, there’s, someone’s in the middle of the room and there’s five people in the room with them. And each one of those five people feel like they have a connection with that person. Right. Like, and you don’t know what it is, you can’t explain it.
But like, they just like, there’s this they’re endeared. They just like something about that person. Right. The energy. You don’t know what it is, but like you are in a vibe with them normally that’s because that person sees their purpose in that. You know, like I’m in a vibe with you because I see my purpose in your eyes.
Like we’re on the same team and if you were my customer, I would still see like my purpose in your eyes. Right. Cause like, whatever my purpose is, like you are helping me fulfill my purpose. So all of a sudden, like we’re on the same team, of course, like you’re attracted to me, right? Like in a platonic way, you know, like you’re gravitating towards me because.
I’m treating you like you are helping me achieve the most special thing in the world, even though you won’t be able to quantify it or like put your finger on it. Right.
Derek: [00:37:36] I don’t, I wouldn’t have recognized that that was happening. Right. But, but you being in that mindset makes you magnetic.
Colin: [00:37:43] Right. And now you think about that with COVID, you know, like I’ve seen some amazing reps do some special shit during COVID, you know, there, because they’re. They were always really good at being on the same team with people. They were always good at, at setting themselves up to be on the same team. So now during COVID, like you have one sort of sales rep.
It’s like, yo, during this new normal, you know what I mean? Like blah, blah, blah, blah. You got another rep that’s answering the phone and goes, I just want to tell you, like, I have no idea how to do this. You know, like, I don’t know what, I don’t even know if we’re supposed to be having this conversation. I know you’re at work.
I know I’m at work and I know we had scheduled this, but like, I actually don’t like I have. I don’t know. Right. Like how to do what, know what this is, but this is normally supposed to look like. And nine times out of 10, the customer goes, I’m so happy. You said that. Cause neither do I. The shit is wild.
This is great. Right? Because all of a sudden, like whenever in history, like have you been able to live through such a shared experience where a sales person and a customer can be on the same team and the first 15 seconds? You know, like shit I had to, I had to tell people about like, when I was engaged with my wife, like in order to accomplish that, like I had to tell people some of the most vulnerable shit in the first 15 seconds to get them to open up to me, you know, like I had to tell them about arguments that my wife was having about the differences between Google and values and, you know, tulip arches for my wedding, you know, like real, real shit, like getting on the phone and being like, I’m sorry, I should have been here before you hopped on this call.
My wife thought it was more important to discuss the differences between tulips versus roses. And then they had permission to say, it’s okay. It gets better on your second marriage for them. Or then they say, it’s all good. I’ve been married for 36 years. Happy wife, happy life. Right. It’s like, and that’s a deal.
You tell me about your, you know, you, you tell me that in the first 10 seconds, like we’re, we’re on the same page, so that’s a lot of jumble, but I think you get it. That’s the mindset like the best salespeople I’ve ever met are not the best at overcoming objections. They’re the most self-aware like they realize that they said to me, shit, it didn’t land.
They can course correct. Real time. Like they’re socially aware enough to realize that the person that’s talking to them. Absolutely thinks they’re waiting to speak and not listening and they can pivot or they’re pathologically optimistic enough to assume that they’re already going to be their customers.
So they treat them as their customers from the first 10 seconds on the call, which means back to the original point. They’re on the same team, you know, but that’s all mindset. That’s not like, go read, you can read a book. And don’t get me started on that because why is it that like two salespeople can read the same book and go off and one of them be a stereotypical, shitty salesperson and another one be genius. Like one of them has high sales IQ, the other one read the same book and is sleazy and pushy and aggressive. Like one of them is a knower and one of them’s a learner. That’s mindset. Yeah,
Derek: [00:41:08] that’s hard to teach, man, even though you have a class to teach it right.
Colin: [00:41:11] It’s hard to do, but, but you know, if I could teach that to 18 year olds and 21 year olds, you know, then they go to Cisco and Adobe and Google, you know, service Titan and PatientPop being like, then they go there and like, they have the hard part. The resiliency figured out, then they can go, you know, and listen to guys like you and you know, all of the great sales managers out there, they’re like, this is what, this is the roadmap to success.
But if you don’t have the hard part figured out, you know, you could start weaponizing shit.
Derek: [00:41:47] Woof. I’m going to have to have you on for another episode, man. No, you’re good, man. I think this was amazing. And I really appreciate you coming on and sharing all this. I want to be respectful of your time, but I’d love to invite you on again.
And if you’re interested in keep going, I could do that. I could talk about mindset for, you know, for days,
Colin: [00:42:10] you know? Yeah, of course, dude, of course, man, I think you’re, you’re doing something you’re trying to teach and using your platform to do it, you know? And like I said, like, I’m watching, I’m watching, you know, I have a, I have a blonde haired blue eyed son, and I have a son that’s my complexion.
One of them fits the description. You know what I mean? So like, like I should be, I should be having conversations about men getting shot seven times in the back at close range in front of their families, you know, like that’s like, that’s, that’s where my heart and my head is right now. You know, so, you know, I just want to make sure that, I want to make sure that your audience understands that, you know, all of this is really important.
You know, like what you’re talking about is really important. Like sales is really important, but like, there’s something going on right now. That’s pretty gnarly, you know? And it’s not like I didn’t get pulled over. And got thrown on a cop car and got cuffed for putting a rose on my girlfriend’s car windshield in college, because I fit the description like that didn’t happen because that’s what he told me.
Right? Like you fit the description of someone stealing cars. I worked at the country club where I was at, my girlfriend was a, was a member of the country club. Like I put a Rose on her car, right. Windshield. Yeah. And then I drove out and as soon as I drove out three cop cars and there was no, there was no love right there.
There was no soul. They didn’t see me. Right. They didn’t know, like that was half black. I was half white that I was Jewish. That like, my parents loved me like that. I had a community, right. That like, I, that I was. That was educated. They didn’t know any of that. They just saw me and I fit the description and they threw my ass.
Derek: [00:44:09] Right. Their first reaction was violence, not cautious optimism, right.
Colin: [00:44:16] The description. And I know it’s not easy to, you know, there’s, it’s not, you know what it’s about? It’s about taking perspective, right? Like, because I know that it’s a dangerous job, but what I’m telling you is that. Like one of them, like that did not happen because my dad wasn’t in the picture.
Cause my dad was in the picture. Right. That, that didn’t it it’s like when I, when I hear people talk about like the nuclear family being, the reason that like, that, like these people that look like me are getting shot. It’s like, I got an email today from a professor at USC. And I was just shocked and I was like, man, I am going to be on the right side of history.
You know, like I’m not going to continue to be the guy that people go, Oh yeah, it’s Colin. Like he gets it, you know, it’s not, you know, he’s, he, you’re different Collin, like, I’m not talking about you calling like that tokenism. So yeah. I just feel like this and you got it. You got a platform and you’re using it for good.
And, and I would be remiss if I didn’t at least. Make sure that we had this conversation because there’s some really, really hard shit that’s happening. And like one of my kids could, one of my kids could end up walking down the street, living in fear. And one of my kids wouldn’t, or God forbid, he wasn’t scared until, until that moment hit.
All right, brother. I appreciate you, man.
Derek: [00:45:55] Hey man, I appreciate you. Thanks for coming on for sharing all this dude. And let’s talk soon.
Colin: [00:46:01] So I’ll talk to you soon, man. Thanks for keeping up the good work dude.
