Ronnell (00:10):
Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Shut the Hell Up and Sell podcast. You know, if I had to choose, now I gotta say, I gotta be honest, like I didn't make this happen. Like I sent, I actually sent invitations out to, to, to multiple folks that are just killers in this world of cells. And, um, it just so happened by coincidence, this is our first guess, but if I had to pick one, one person's our first guess to kind of set the bar, it, it definitely would be my guy James. Say, what? Sales Buckley my guy. What's going on,
James Buckley (00:45):
Man? Thanks for having me. I'm glad we got, we got on first. Uh, <laugh>. That just, that just goes to show you that, like we find the people that we gravitate towards and we run full sprint, right? Adam? And you, like you said, you didn't try for this, but this is the way it is for all of y'all following me. Best of luck to you, <laugh>.
Ronnell (01:03):
Listen, for those of you that are going to be next, and those of you that want to, uh, appear on the podcast know that, um, we're all sharing our truths, right? So like, yeah, James gonna come with the heat doing what he normally does, but you know, you may not be as animated as he and I, but your truth is still impactful and someone needs to hear that message. And that's what the hell this thing is about. This is the companion podcast for the Shut the Hell Up and Sell book. For those of you that have not at your copy yet, I'm gonna tell you really quick what it's about, man. It's about combining philosophy with tactical execution. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that I feel that one of the things that sellers need to connect with is their why.
(01:46):
Why the hell do we do what we do? And I don't mean that big philosophical why of, you know, why are we here? I don't, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about why we do the specific things that we do to be successful in sales. And a lot of that comes from lessons that we've learned over the course of our life and the course of our career. So in the book, what I'm trying to do is to connect people with those lessons, connect people with those pains and those joys and those things that, that taught me how to, what I like to think is be a pretty damn good seller. But, you know, so that's what we're doing. And so the companion podcast, that's what it's about as well. I am inviting rock stars in the world of sales to pop hop on this podcast and share their story, share one of their impactful stories, and then share some tactical execution. Cuz that's what the book is about. Like, yeah, you guys know I'm a storyteller. I love to tell stories, but I'm telling stories in a way of teaching. And then the second part is, Hey, this is what you do. Here's the ABCs, here's the blocking and tackling so you can be successful. Okay? All that said, setting that up, guys, I, again, am joined by one of my very, very good friends. James Buckley. Dude, it's good to see you,
James Buckley (03:03):
Man. Thanks for having me. I'm glad we got, we got on first, uh, <laugh> that just, that just goes to show you that, like we find the people that we gravitate towards and we run full sprint, right? Adam, and you, like you said, you didn't try for this, but this is the way it is.
Ronnell (03:17):
But it all
James Buckley (03:18):
Following me. Best of luck to you <laugh>.
Ronnell (03:21):
So for, for, for those that do not know, um, who you are and what you do, uh, which, um, guys climb out from of your rock, get out of your cave, um, step into 2022. Uh, could you briefly tell folks Sure. What it is that you do?
James Buckley (03:39):
Yeah, so I am with Sell Better by JB Sales. I have the pleasure of hosting daily webinars where we talk to sales leaders every day. Um, and it's the best job in the world because I get to exercise two things that I'm very passionate about. The first one being my genuine curiosity for how to be the best possible seller in the modern selling world. And the other is this ability to connect with strangers. I think that's our job as salespeople. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> connect with strangers. New revenue comes from new conversations. That's a hundred percent true no matter what you sell. So there's this like gift that I have for this magnetism that people just want to talk to me. And that's the first chasm that every seller has to cross. How do I get people to want to talk to me? Because nothing can happen until you cross that bridge.
Ronnell (04:24):
No doubt.
James Buckley (04:25):
So that's what I do. I teach people how to do that. <laugh>.
Ronnell (04:28):
Love it. So let's, let's go back. Let's go back and I, I want to know how long you've been Helen Long been a professional seller?
James Buckley (04:36):
Hmm. Yeah. So, uh, on the prof, I would say that I've only been a professional seller since about 2015. Prior to that mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I was doing door-to-door residential and door-to-door B2B as an amateur. But it was amazing. I loved it. I was great at it. I learned a lot. And then I joined SASS after going back to college and getting a degree. I had this other opportunity to do inside sales instead of beating on doors in the heat. Right. <laugh>. So I joined that in 2015 and I naturally gravitated towards the phone. It turns out I don't have that thing that people are, that are born with that makes them uncomfortable connecting with someone they don't know. I don't have one of those <laugh>, whatever that is. I don't have
Ronnell (05:16):
One of those. Can we bottle that? Can we, can we bottle that?
James Buckley (05:20):
Get in that line? When God was creating people, I was just like, no thanks. I don't want one of those. And I went the other way. Right. <laugh>,
Ronnell (05:28):
That's something so many, so many struggle with though, man. Like, that's hard. Like that's a, that's
James Buckley (05:33):
A, that's they care about rejection.
Ronnell (05:35):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
James Buckley (05:36):
They care about rejection and you don't have to care about that. It's a choice that you make to care about that
Ronnell (05:41):
<laugh>. Yes. But I
James Buckley (05:42):
Gravitated towards the phones and that was cold calling became my thing. Still my thing. I default to the phone. I love cold calling people. I love calling people that I'm supposed to follow up with. And you know, they expect an email, but you're like, yo, I'm calling to follow up. We had a great last week. What's the update?
Ronnell (05:59):
Yeah.
James Buckley (05:59):
And you just put 'em on the spot like that and they have to tell you whether or not they did something and then they feel bad and then they go take action and you can get the momentum you need that way. Pick up the phone and call people first before you just send emails. Y'all <laugh>.
Ronnell (06:13):
So, so let me ask you, your, your phone calling. Like, okay, you're, you're a cold call warrior. Did you have to build that, build up that skillset? And not, not skillset, but kind of, you know, a lot, again, a lot of people struggle with cold calling, right? Because of, because of the, the rejection. Did you have to build up that muscle, exercise that muscle first before you, or to get to the point to where it's like, ah, man, I don't, I don't care about rejections and just keep, I keep it moving.
James Buckley (06:42):
You know, like anything, I think it takes practice and consistency. I think in order to get good at something, you have to do it all the time. You gotta do it as often as possible. Um, but I think my door-to-door experience really helped me to develop a thick skin.
Ronnell (06:56):
Yes. Yes. You know,
James Buckley (06:57):
Because, dude, if you think cold calling has a high rejection rate, try being a 290 pound man knocking on doors in the middle of the day where no one is home. But old folks, like, dude, they're not opening the door for you. You are a large mammal standing on the other side of a wooden door that could easily injure me if you wanted to. Yeah. I'm 87 years old and female. I'm not opening the door for you, but you have to be consistent and show up, step back from the door after you knock. There's a lot of things that you learn in a door-to-door setting that give you that thick skin. Most of the time I'm sticking my little card right in the, in the gap there and being like, okay, I'm just gonna leave this here, but I'll see you soon. And then, yeah, boom, you're out to the next door.
(07:43):
That little light touch is enough. You do it enough times and then finally they might open the door. Hi. Right. I just, you have to understand, I'm very cautious. Yes, I do understand that. More power to you. You should be cautious. I want to give you this brochure. You should look through it. Do you have any questions Right off the bat? We should have a conversation about what you're seeing in your house. I was with Orkin Pest Control at the time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I was trying to get into a free pest inspection, find whatever issues they might be having, and then close a monthly pest control deal. That was my, that was my, my deal. Yeah. And it was very transactional. You had one opportunity to sign up for this and then I was gone.
Ronnell (08:19):
Yeah. <laugh>. Dude. Dude. Okay, so, so here's, when we, when I asked you the question about your first professional sales job, I'm talking about where you first got paid a check, where you first made some money for selling and Oh yeah. The, the, when you, when you said 2015 and you skipped over, you know, or in the door to door, here's what I want to bring people to and this, this is what we talk about in the book, and this is why, one of the reasons why I'm so excited to talk to you and so many other folks that I know have this great background. Like I started, you talk about knocking on doors. So, you know, I started knocking on doors when I was single digits. Right. Um, and I was selling religion, selling religion. My wife, my, my <laugh>. My wife. My mother doesn't like when I say that, sorry mom.
(09:01):
But it is what it is. Uh, when you get eggs thrown at you and everything, you kinda learn. You learn some things. Anyway, what we talked about, talk about in the book, and I know you can really re connect with is just how those lessons, those lessons and in such a, um, front lines type of selling have impacted everything since then. Right? Yeah. Like and how, how, how you learn. So, so many things that are just, I think a lot of people in corporate sales don't necessarily get the opportunity to learn that cuz they go from college to their corporate sales training and they don't get that opportunity to learn some of those lessons like you, like you were sharing. And I want to, uh, we're, we're gonna dig into that. Um, but let's go back to Orkin. Is that, was that your first professional sales job?
James Buckley (09:51):
Uh, no. I also, prior to Orkin, I sold B2B door to door. And I was with at and t and we did phone line sales. And this was actually a really interesting, like best practice, if you will. Uh, I would literally go in and just introduce myself and then shop. I would look in their little shops. I was selling mostly just s and b like mom and pop shops and I was doing phone line installations. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, simply add another phone line to your existing account. And here did
Ronnell (10:19):
You work for me?
James Buckley (10:20):
<laugh>? So, so
Ronnell (10:22):
I guys all over the country. You,
James Buckley (10:24):
You were regional at, at t at the time or if you were with Winsted Marketing, which was the third party logistics firm that I worked with that was the affiliate of at and t. Yeah. Out of Knoxville.
Ronnell (10:36):
I own three companies that did that.
James Buckley (10:38):
<laugh>, we did the whole East coast man. Uh, and it was, it was awesome. You know, I might have been working for you at the time and just didn't know it. It's possible. But I would literally stand inside of the establishment and just wait for them to have to hang up the phone. To use the credit card machine. Yeah. And I would say, Hey, you know, if we added a line here, it would only cost you about 15 to 20 bucks a month, or you could pay it annually and I'd give you a little bit of a break, but you wouldn't have to hang up to run credit cards. That way you can keep doing business and keep swiping your card and making money. Sounds like a good plan. Right. And I would shake my head yes. Just like you're doing mm-hmm. <affirmative> right now, because that was the method at the time. Shake your head Yes. While you talk. They called it the Yes. Yes. <laugh> mm-hmm.
Ronnell (11:17):
<affirmative>.
James Buckley (11:18):
And people would say, that sounds great. It's only 15 bucks a month. Huh? And you'd be like, yep. Absolutely. Man, I was doing 7, 8, 9 of those a day. Sometimes just spending an hour in the store kind of perusing, talking to them, building a relationship, and then watching as customers came into pay and noticing that they had to hang up the phone or, you know, had to make sure have like problems like swipe real fast, you know, and it wouldn't catch. And I, you know, we have our own devices, we could probably replace that with something a little more modern would help you out. You'd get people outta here faster. They love that kind of talk. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Cause it helps their customers. Yep. So I did really well there and then I moved to Orkin and it did the thing. And that was, that was where brand really took off for me. But I have a whole story about that.
Ronnell (11:58):
Okay. Well, I, I want, I want to get into that. So first thank you for sharing that. So now if we're, if we're putting the, putting those years together now, when did, when did you start,
James Buckley (12:09):
Uh,
Ronnell (12:10):
Your sales career?
James Buckley (12:11):
Thousand and 11. 2012?
Ronnell (12:13):
Yeah.
James Buckley (12:14):
Yeah. Before college. I mean, I went to college after I had those jobs.
Ronnell (12:18):
Yeah. Okay. All right.
James Buckley (12:20):
And then when I graduated from college, I stepped into the sass space and that, that all started from a post on Facebook. Dude, the stories I have, like, you're like, what?
Ronnell (12:28):
Wait, man. Well you know what? We might have to just change this to the shut the hell up and sell. Say what sells chronicles and just, uh, do a series of these. We'll do a series of these bitches. It'll be like, bam. James one. I got stories. James two man James three. I
James Buckley (12:42):
Got stories,
Ronnell (12:43):
<laugh>. Uh, but,
James Buckley (12:44):
But I think Orkin kicked it off for branding for me because I was door to door residential and having a really hard time getting in these doors in Knoxville in June. It is a thousand degrees outside, bro. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you are like ba you know, you know, cuz you sold religion. So you know, you're walking around broad daylight in the heat in long sleeves. Now if you work for Orkin, you are the Orkin man, hard hat, white shirt, pocket protector, mustache. That's you. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Right? But they make you drive around with the Orkin truck, with all the equipment and everything. You look the part. So every day at lunch, I would sit in gas stations and grocery store parking lots with my cooler and I would drink my, my water and my sodas and I would eat my sandwiches. And I never made it through a lunch without somebody interrupting me to be like, can I ask you a question, <laugh>? I think I might have ants. Yeah. I think I might have roaches. Dude, lemme tell you, for like three months I was hot about this. I could not get through a lunch. I like, ah, people just bother me. And then it hit me. Bam. James, why are you so mad?
Ronnell (13:46):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>,
James Buckley (13:48):
Stop knocking on doors and just move the truck and eat sandwiches.
Ronnell (13:53):
There you go. <laugh>. So
James Buckley (13:55):
I started, I gave up strategically doors and I just started moving the truck. Two hours here, two hours there, two hours here. I've made more money just sitting in the truck, eating sandwiches, having people approach me and ask me questions because I looked like the Orkin man mm-hmm. <affirmative> that they see on tv. And they'd be like, oh, I think I have termites. There's a tree in my backyard that, ha, can you come look? That's my meeting. That's my mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That's my opportunity.
Ronnell (14:22):
What a, what a great lesson. And that's, and and you cheated cuz now you're gonna get two stories. Cuz that was a great lesson in how to think outside of the box, man. Like, you know, with sellers, one of the things I see with sellers is that, you know, we're given this box right. From our companies and, and, and, and, and, and we think that that's the only area that we play. We gotta, that's the only playbook that we run. But the beauty of sales is that it's the closest you can get to entrepreneurship and not taking all the risk. Right? Like you, it's literally your business. So invest in your business, do things outside the box, do things that other people aren't doing to be successful. So, okay. So, so my next question for you, cuz again, with the pod, with, with our, with the book and the podcast, we're really focused on doing two things. One, storytelling. We want to tell stories that help educate people. Um, and then we want to, you know, share some tactical advice. So that's what, that's how we're gonna end with the podcast, is with your specific tactical advice. Like, hey, do this, boom, boom, boom. And this is something that I do. Or is this something that I did? Yeah. And you'll be successful. Yeah. All right. So we're, we're onto story. It's story time. It's story time with Ronnell and James. How's that voice? What you like that <laugh>?
James Buckley (15:44):
Thanks for inviting me to story time.
Ronnell (15:46):
Story time. Maybe we'll, uh, rebrand the podcast story time. All right, so it's story time. So again, the purpose of the story is I would, I'd like you to share a story from your, your career. Something that helped shape you, something that helped build the philosophy that you have today. Um, it could be pain, it could be, um, success, it could be whatever, it's your story. And I'd love, can you share one of those?
James Buckley (16:13):
I got you right now. So it's gonna be a little bit of both of those actually. Um, so this was a pain that I felt, but also something that made me realize that every leader that we know doesn't have it all figured out. So, uh, I had a great marketing VP in 2015 that supported the say what sales brand and my personal brand. And then that person left the company and the new leader of marketing was anti James. They did not care for me. It was very obvious. I was very clear that I didn't care for them. <laugh> like, you know, uh, we didn't vibe, but I kept doing my thing. And I was hearing things from this marketing leader saying things like, you don't know what you're doing and what you're doing isn't valuable. And, you know, you don't, you don't, you're not bringing any value to the company.
(17:03):
Like, these are things that were actually being said to me at the time. And I was like, I'm, you know, I, I feel like I'm helping a lot of people and I feel like I'm having a lot of new conversations and I'm watching my account executives close business that I'm passing to them, so I'm gonna disagree with you and that's okay. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? And we had a disagreement, well, my inbound leads stopped completely, right? Marketing was controlling a lot of things. There was a lot of like underhanded things being said to the C-level leadership about me. I had a great relationship with them. I completely disregarded it. I could care less what this person was saying about me, right? Didn't bother me. I just kept doing my thing. Well, in the end, this person was let go for many reasons. I had an opportunity there to really stick it to, right?
(17:49):
I could have posted about this, I could have called their name out. I could have done lots of things at the time. Instead, what I chose to do was just move on with my career to the next company and not worry about it. And then later I was able to talk about this in a public setting and say like, sometimes you have to support the people that are beneath you so that they feel like you're invested in their futures. But the other thing it made me do was question my value and start examining the results that I was getting from what I was building and doing so that I could improve it consistently. Day after day, what I realized was she was kind of right. I wasn't generating as much revenue as I thought I was, which meant I had to turn around and change, say what sales it had to be about something else, right?
(18:40):
And then it became more about the people that I serve and the people that I want to attract rather than making sales. And you know what, everything for me changed from that point on. So in a way I'm like, screw this person for hurting my feelings. But in another way, I'm like, thank you for pointing that out to me so that I could make a change that made say what sales more valuable in the future. We can hate the people that, that disagree with us, or we can learn to change based on feedback we're getting from people that know more than us or know something different than us. So I learned very quickly that collaboration is the goal. Feedback has to be welcome. And you can't be offended or irritated when you're doing something new or building something new that somebody disagrees with. You just have to take that feedback, make changes, and then execute, and then track and measure everything that you do so you can point to successes and failures and not continue to do things that don't build value for you, for your customers, for your company, for their companies.
(19:46):
Value is the measure point for everything that we do. So we have to track and measure everything so we know what to do. So, uh, screw you for hurting my feelings person, but thank you for putting it in front of me that I need to know what I'm doing and what it's d whether it's what it's giving back to the community and to the company I work for. Beautiful. So that's my, that's my story. And I think that happens to a lot of salespeople. They get a leadership that this, that doesn't support them, or they feel unsupported and they wanna run away, or they wanna buck the system and, and push back. Don't do this. Collaborate, don't confront. That's way more productive.
Ronnell (20:24):
You know, James, I got a double lesson in that, man. I got a double lesson. So from the, from the seller perspective, it's like being, uh, more open to critical feedback, which is so hard. I know. E every we all want to think that, you know, everything that we're doing is, is awesome and we can't do anything wrong, and it's hard to receive that sort of thing.
James Buckley (20:44):
Um, it is, we also want to think that all our leadership supports what we're doing.
Ronnell (20:49):
Yeah.
James Buckley (20:50):
You know, but they don't always. And there's good reasons for that usually. Yeah. You gotta be open to those
Ronnell (20:55):
Reasons that sometimes that we just don't know. It's above our pay grade now. And, and having sat in both of those roles, having sat in a leadership room, this is the second, the second lesson from the, from what I just heard you share, uh, and this is for leadership. I'm talking to you guys. It is so hard to be the mean guy or gal. It is so easy to be the nice guy. And we all want to be the nice guy. We all want to be liked. We all, we don't want, we don't want James to hate us. But, you know, one of the thing, and, and I, and in saying this, James, this is a lesson that, man, it's been hard for me over the years, very hard. But I've come to the conclusion and I continue to grow in this respect that I would much rather be loved later than liked now, <laugh>. And what I mean by this,
James Buckley (21:50):
I, I don't think, I don't think that that leader and I will ever love each other. Yeah. Lemme be very frank here, right? We butted heads a lot, but that person taught me a very valuable lesson about what I should be looking at with every action I take. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I've brought that lesson to every person I've coached, every person I've trained. Uh, I bring that lesson of self-reflection. It's always easier to be like, that person just doesn't like me.
Ronnell (22:14):
Yeah.
James Buckley (22:15):
Than it is to say, what can I change about me that will change the results? And this person's opinion of me.
Ronnell (22:22):
Well, KU to you for receiving that gift. But I, you know, I also say that that leader, um, made a hard decision. Like that person could have just not said anything. Now I don't know their motives and all that doesn't really matter. This is, again, for the lesson, for leaders that are listening. It's easier sometimes to not say, always, to not say anything and kinda let things go and not, and, and shy away from conflict, but conflict. That's where, that's where the growth is. And, and being honest with, uh, the people that you report to. Yeah. They may not love you, but they're gonna respect you, not
James Buckley (22:57):
You, they don't love. It's the transparency that makes them uncomfortable,
Ronnell (23:01):
You know? And respect at the end of the day is what, what really matters, I think the, the most in, in, in business. So, man, what a great story. Thank you for sharing that. Um, oh yeah.
James Buckley (23:10):
Thanks for putting a forum together where people can share these
Ronnell (23:12):
Things. This is what it's about, man. Like, we want, this is what, this is what I do, you know, that. So it's about telling stories that people can relate to in a way to educate them. Again, guys, if you don't have your copy of the book yet, get your copy of the book. Go to Shut the Hell Up and sell.com where you can get your book, where I share my, my stories of <laugh>, of, uh, of everything. Um, little bit about my sell's career. And, um, yeah, hopefully you guys get some enjoyment onto it. But most importantly, make sure that you're listening to continue to listen to this podcast. Subscribe of heaven already. I'm gonna have more rock stars like James. All right, James, next piece of this. You know, I feel that a lot of us, um, most of us, all of us will go, all of us, all of us at some point in our career, like you just mentioned, your, your, your story.
(24:03):
And, um, I wouldn't consider necessarily consider that person a mentor. But you know, all, all of us, we have times in our career where we receive some mentorship. And I believe that it's important to, to, to, to, to just continue to evolve and grow this beautiful profession that we're part of. I think it's super important that those of us that have got a little skin in the game, got a few gray hairs that we mentor and we help the next generation in teaching them these lessons because the game ain't changed, folks. The tech changes. The game ain't change. The game will always remain the same. So if I, I this at this point, this is, this is where I'd like to ask my guests, and you being the very first one, give a shout out. Let's give a shout out to someone that made a difference in your career, someone that was a mentor for you.
James Buckley (24:54):
So I've got several, uh, first of all, Ronnell, I've been, I've admired your work for a very long time. And you know that another person, another person that I admire greatly is Nick f Nelson. Uh, I've been watching the brand entrepreneur for a, a good while now, and I, I just love his vibe and the things that he's putting out. Uh, I love Nikki Ivy. Nikki Ivy's brand is super strong. Um, I think that Trish Bertuzzi is someone I've looked up to for a long time because man, she is just probably one of the most resilient people. Lori Richardson is fantastic. Uh, you know, women, women, uh, women's sales club, uh, Alex, scene, gb, <laugh>, uh,
Ronnell (25:33):
My God, this is awesome. But I feel like I'm about to start playing Emmy music on you. Go ahead.
James Buckley (25:40):
Go ahead. I, you know, listen, I don't, let's go. Wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for all of you and 10,000 others that I've learned from. Lift your Veil of ignorance, learn from others.
Ronnell (25:50):
No doubt.
James Buckley (25:50):
Uh, that's a John Raws philosophical. If you're not familiar, happy to talk about it. John Raws the Veil of Ignorance.
Ronnell (25:56):
So I, and thank you so much, and I appreciate that. And many of those people that you mentioned, uh, I, I know them as well, and they're awesome. Um, yeah, I, I, I, I, you know what I'd love to hear from you. Let's bring attention to maybe somebody that people don't know, man. Like, you know, like that, that, that janitor, when you were, uh, <laugh> 19 that put his arm rod, he said, look, James, get
James Buckley (26:20):
Your shit. I had a drama teacher in high school. His name was Mr. Abbott. Um, and Abbott helped me to get off hard drugs. And I, if it wasn't for that person, I would not have not have been as successful as I am today. Uh, he was an alcoholic and he was going to AA meetings, and he picked up on some behavior of mine when I was really young and kind of took me under his wing and was like, come meet, come meet. You know, just come sit, you know? And I did. And it was, it was very helpful for me. So I appreciate that. Uh, I'll also give a shout out to Ms. Nelson, Ms. Zimbler, uh, every teacher that ever had to put up with me as a child because I was just awful, but they were so patient and understood that I was going through some really crappy things at home, and this was how I acted out as a result. Um, those people put up with a lot from me. And when you're young, you don't know what you're putting other people through. You're a very selfish, teenage kid. Right. Uh, but you, you all had major impacts on the way that I speak to people now. You were all teachers, and now I teach other people. So you can see how those people impacted me in a big way. Yeah. There was a math teacher, Mr. Schwartz, I literally threw a chair at you, forgive me, <laugh>.
Ronnell (27:33):
That had to be terrifying.
James Buckley (27:35):
<laugh>. Yeah. And I was a large mammal then as well. Just so you know, <laugh>
Ronnell (27:40):
Well, um, shout out to, to those, those teachers that made an impact. And, and that's, you know, that's the reason I ask that question, is there's so many unsung heroes Sure. And that, that are part of our journey and our story of, you know, success and our truth. So like, you know, I think it's important that we acknowledge those folks, but not only acknowledge those folks, but realize that we can be that person for somebody else. You know? And I know you are for so many, so thank you. I tell
James Buckley (28:09):
Everybody that. Yeah. I, I, I think that it's something I spread pretty rapidly is I live on this fence and on one side of my fence, there are all these people that want to be where I am. So I'm always reaching down to help them get on my fence. And on the other side of my fence, there's all these people that are where I want to be, and I'm always reaching up so they can help me onto their fence. And if I just stay on the fence, I'll always be helping other people and learning. And isn't that like the foundation of success? Absolutely.
Ronnell (28:35):
Oh, I love it. Stay on the fence. All right, guys. Um, now it is time for some tactical, pragmatic, practical direction to the point, James, I would like you to share some sales advice or a tactic that people can take away from this podcast and apply to their business immediately. Absolutely. What you got for me?
James Buckley (29:00):
Absolutely. Okay. So this is gonna be around LinkedIn. We all know LinkedIn to be the number one place for business connections, right? Knowledge, it's all, you can get it all on LinkedIn, but finding your ideal clients on LinkedIn and sending them blank connection requests will land you a higher acceptance rate. Much higher, in fact. But here's the kicker. Once they accept your connection request, you can then send videos and voice notes recorded to them, and they have a much higher reply rate. Something like 70 or 80 something percent for products and services. It's a little bit different. Uh, but voice notes and video via dms on LinkedIn are absurdly difficult for people to ignore and not reply to, especially if they are somewhat personalized. Now, you say to me, okay, well what should I say in the video? I'm gonna give you the formula right now.
(29:56):
I sent, so here's the math on this. This is real data. I sent 90 videos to 90 cold prospects via email using Vidyard. Okay? They had no idea who we were, they weren't, they never had any contact with us at all. I know there's a big debate. Should I send video in my first touch or not? Forget that debate for a minute and just hear this math. 90 cold videos to 90 cold prospects, 12 hours, six meetings, four of them were enterprise. If you think about that. Now, here was the video. This, no shit, this is the real video. If I was sending this video to you, Ronnell, and you were a VP of sales, this is what it would've said. Ronnell. I don't know how many videos you get like this, but I wanted to put one together just for you. You're the VP of sales at X Company.
(30:36):
And the reason why I'm reaching out is that we help VPs of sales like you get more results from their team by giving them real tactics they can use. I really look forward to a conversation. No rush, no pressure. I put that link right here so that you can click on it. We'll talk soon. I'll follow up. That's the, that's the message. I swear to you, that's a 22nd video. It was almost identical for every single one. Now, here's the math. If there's an average of 22 working days in a month, and you probably do 90 videos a day, and you only ever schedule six meetings, which is unlikely, that's like 80 meetings in a month. I don't know what your sales development or your new meeting quota is, but it's probably not 80 this month.
Ronnell (31:17):
<laugh>, <laugh>,
James Buckley (31:18):
<laugh>. So if I have some pieces of advice for you, take a step back from the typical cold calls, follow up calls and emails, and step into video for a moment, and just be authentic. Hey, what's up? Here's the reason I'm reaching out to you. I put a link here, I'll follow up with you. I hope you're having a great day. Now, you'll notice a few things. I did not share who I am or who I'm with with that video, because they don't care about that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'm calling about you, and this is why. Here's the link. I really look forward to it. I'll follow up, I'll talk again. I'm not going anywhere. Use this tactic. I promise you, we'll schedule more meetings every single day.
Ronnell (31:58):
Bam. I couldn't, you know what, James, I don't think I could have chose a better, um, piece of advice to start this podcast off. That's fantastic. Co-signed, um, 100% approved. Check mark, all that good stuff. Uh, <laugh>, as you know, I am a absolute fan, adva advocate, evangelist for the use of video and sales, and what a great way, um, to use that. Uh, so, so guys, again, the advice from James, if you didn't, if you need to hear that again, rewind, hit that, hit that little button, go back. You got two pieces. You got two for one. He's telling you how to connect with people on LinkedIn, how to get, how to have more successful connection rates. Then two, how to start to open a conversation. All right? And I, and the last thing I love from you is where you said, Hey, look, you don't have to tell them who you are. You know, why you, you don't, one of the reasons you don't, guys, because you, it's in your profile. Like, and that is one of the most common mistakes I see in video is that people, they just get uncomfortable with how to present themselves and they forget. They're just talking to another person. You know, you're just talking to another person. And so you don't have to say, Hey, I'm Ronnell with such and such, bro, I know it's on your profile, <laugh>
James Buckley (33:17):
All the time.
Ronnell (33:19):
All right, James, listen, man, we kicked, this is, again, couldn't have been a better recording to get this thing started. I am so appreciative of you for being our first guest, number one and number two, for the human being that you are, man, like aside, if you guys are not following James, please make sure you do. And not just because he is a, uh, a, a sells dynamo, but he is just a real good dude. And he's one of these guys that's in my inner circle because of that. Um, yes, he's, he knows a lot about sell, uh, clearly, but beyond that, um, he, he, he, he brings value to my life. So I appreciate you, brother, every day, my friend. That's my, and I just gotta get a, if I could get you to move a little bit closer to Atlanta, <laugh>, <laugh> or, or
James Buckley (34:07):
I would do it, I would do it. Uh, you know, my wife is talking about moving to a bigger city eventually. I don't know if we will or not. We really like the country life and the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee, but thank you for having me on. Uh, anybody that wants to learn more, feel free to check us out, sell better.xyz
Ronnell (34:22):
Last question. So just let sell better xyz, but where can people connect with you? Where do you, where's the best way, the best way to reach out to you?
James Buckley (34:29):
Oh, so I am on every social media platform known to man at say what Sales, that's where you want to go. It's one word at say what? Sales, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, they're all the same. Or you can try to connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm very rapidly approaching the 30,000 person cap. Uh, but I'm still accepting most people. I will always accept you. Like I, I am an open door, but if you accept me and we connect, and then I reach out to you and you ignore me, I'm kicking you outta my network. I don't stay connected to people that ignore me. So that's the way it works.
Ronnell (34:58):
Love it. Love it. James, thank you again my friend. And, um, if, if you guys are not again connected, James, make sure you do that and make sure you get the book. Get the book, uh, get the book and give us your feedback. Make sure that you're, um, when you get the book, you go into Amazon, write a review if you love it, write a review, man. If you don't, don't write it in review, man. <laugh>,
James Buckley (35:24):
<laugh>. Yeah. Leave it alone, man. Don't write it. <laugh>.
Ronnell (35:28):
You can send me a dm. Be like, Ronnell, I don't love it. No, no, no. I will receive that. I learned that. Yes. Thank
James Buckley (35:35):
You for your very private feedback,
Ronnell (35:37):
<laugh>. All right, thank you brother, and thank you all for listening. Have a great rest of your day. And remember
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Sh
Ronnell (35:45):
Say less, sell more.
(35:54):
Hey guys, it's Ronnell, and I just wanted to thank you for listening to this episode of the Shut the Hell Up and Sell podcast. If you liked it, please rate us five stars on whichever podcasting platform you're listening to this on. And while you're at it, punch that subscribe button. That way you get notified every time we drop a brand new episode. Hey, I'd also appreciate it if you went to our website, shut the hell up and sell.com and became a member. It's absolutely free. And you'll have the opportunity to listen to previous episodes of our podcast. Check out some of our free courses, get a copy of the book, and we'll send you sales tips and motivational nuggets from time to time. Lastly, if you'd like to book me for either appearances or speaking engagements, just send an email to my team at team, shut the hell up and sell.com.
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