940. Find Your Windows. Use Your Leverages.

There are always windows.
 And you’ve got more leverage than you think.

But if you’re not paying attention—if you’re distracted, discouraged, or just going through the motions—you’ll miss both.

In this episode, I’m talking directly to you about the two things that separate the average from the elite in sales—and in life: your ability to spot opportunity and your willingness to use what you’ve got.

I’ll break down how curiosity and creativity open windows that others overlook—and how your unique traits, experiences, and timing are all leverages waiting to be used.

You don’t need the perfect product. You don’t need the perfect customer.
 You just need focus, presence, and the guts to step through the window when it opens.

Let’s get it.
Keep it simple. Never settle. Stay tough.
 

Transcript

0:00

All right. 3, 2, 1. Let's get it today, ma'am, we're gonna talk about windows and leverages, and specifically we will gear this towards sales, but also I believe sales is a metaphor for life as well. So if you're not in sales, you are selling your way through life. So do not click off of this because this is not just a sales podcast. This. Is a Life podcast as well. The beautiful thing about Windows and leverages is they are always there, always, but you've got to be in tune to actually see 'em. To feel 'em, and then to use them. So I'm gonna help you find your windows and leverages, and when I say help you, I'm just gonna show you where to look. You gotta do the heavy lifting so first things first, let's start with windows. Windows are where your curiosity and creativity live, and if you don't have curiosity and creativity. Bro, you're gonna be flatfooted, you're gonna miss things, and you're gonna stop seeing opportunities. You're gonna totally miss the opportunities. See, think about it. When you first started out in sales, for all my sales bros and ladies out there, when you first started off in sales. It was peace of love and soul, right? I mean, you were super curious. You were deeply interested, not only in the business, but man, the customers were just so intriguing. Everything was fresh. You were asking questions, you were exploring, but over time things stopped. You stopped being curious and creative. And you started assuming, and when you assume you coast and when you coast, you go from being a guide to now being a judge. You judge everything. You, judge what you do or what you don't think that you have. Think being the operative word. You get all big lipped when the customer doesn't buy from you. And you write 'em off, you get frustrated. But the truth is you probably missed many, many deals and those deals just perpetuate on top of one another because you missed those deals because you weren't curious enough to try to understand what was going on in their life. You stop asking you stop being creative, you stop guiding. A lot of times, man, I'll just, I'll hear a salesperson, he'll come to me or she'll come to me and they'll say something and I'll ask a clarifying question. And they were like, I don't know. They didn't say, they didn't say, or you didn't ask. Two totally different things. You stop being curious and that is proof positive right there where I say, dude, you're getting flatfooted. You're not being curious anymore. See, you're just taking statements and then you're just regurgitating to me. But see you. If you cannot clearly come to me and articulate what is going on with that customer, what is going on with your deal, then bro, you have not asked enough questions and you gotta understand that this is, this is like a momentum leak for you. This is like a huge shift. That should be a. Flag for you. Yet? A lot of times, ma'am, salespeople, we just get dumbed down we're no longer curious, we're no longer creative, and we're just judging everything. Sales is not a transaction. If you treat it as that, then you're gonna be treated as such, right? You are. If you treat your customers like a transaction, they're gonna treat you like a commodity. You better understand that. And so the differentiation price is a commodity. The low prices that your business may put out there is a commodity. How and who they buy that from is what separates the pros from the amateurs. And if you want to treat the customer as a transaction, then the customer will treat you as a commodity. Hallelujah. Amen. If your customer does not need a closer, they don't. They need someone to guide them through decisions. You gotta imagine that a customer comes in like a big glass vase and they come in with that big glass vase and you pick up that vase and you throw it 'em on the ground and you shatter it all to pieces. And then with those pieces through clarifying questions, you take those pieces and you say, I need this, I need this, I need this, I need this. See, that big vase was their logic was all the research they did. Then they meet you. You take that vase, you throw it on the ground, you shatter it apart and say, these are the usable fragments that we need to be able to move forward That way I can solve a solution in your life. That's what you need. That's what your customers need. Bro, your customers come to you with an idea and like those Russian bauska dolls, those big ones, and then you open it up and smaller ones and smaller and it keeps getting smaller. That's what happens. They come in with this big bauska doll full of analogies today, Bauska doll. You open that up, you, and then you pull that out and then, and then the next one, and then the next one, and the next one. And by the time you've gotten down to that little small one. This is where the customer feels empowered to make a decision. And even if that decision is no, that's, that's okay. That's okay. Statistically, if you do everything perfect in sales, you are going to fail more times than you succeed. But that is ultimately how you win at this game. Proof positive. So your customers come in with these ideas and they need help getting some clarity. That's your job. That's the window that I'm talking about right there. But you know, if you're just, man, what do I got here? I'm make a sale. I wonder how much I can make off of 'em. If that's all you're thinking about, you're just missing all these opportunities. And so like some of the windows or where the customer, they're right there in front of you and the customer's like. I'm not sure about that. All you gotta do is right there calmly in the clutch. You don't even have to remember anything. Stop running off at the mouth. Diarrheaing all over 'em. What you assume that you, that you think they're thinking Don't even do that. I'm not sure about that. Not sure about that, Jim. Hold the pause. Just did a podcast on this. Go back and listen to it. If you mow over it, you better go back and listen to it again. You hold that pause, you put that productive tension in there, and that tension is back on them, and you just sit there and it causes them to have to unpack their thoughts. See, there's a whole nother narrative that's going on in their head, and it's your job to get the narrative outta their head and out into the open, so that way you can address it. Some of those things are so unfounded, so off base, but if you don't stay persistent, you gotta push yourself to be persistent with the customer. If you don't stay persistent with that customer and curious and creative. If you don't know what else to say, just say either, how so? Or repeat the last two words to 'em. That's all you gotta do. And hold the pause, put the productive attention in there, hold it, and then release it with a clarifying question. Only after they've answered, I see. This is when things start opening up. This is when real conversation begins. That's how you create movement. And movement creates momentum. It's like a good giveaway. At a casino, you must be present to win. And bro, if you're sitting there looking through your phone. Worried about the last text. Looking at your smartwatch, trying to see what that last text was, while your customer's sitting there talking, they're telling, they're, they're, they're just throwing opportunities at you. They're throwing windows for you to jump through, and you're sitting there worried about the damn last text that you got, the reminder in your phone, the, like that you just got on Instagram. You're so worried about that. And you wonder why your sales are shit. It's exactly why.' You're distracted, you're missing all of these opportunities, so don't get pissed off at anybody other than yourself. The only thing that matters, man, is just this deal right here. The last deal that you blew or that blew up on you, don't matter. The the for sure deal that's coming in at two o'clock, don't matter. The only thing that is real, 'cause how many times have those just not shown up? The only thing that's real is the one that's sitting right in front of you. Now that's enough about windows. You gotta find these windows. Curious, creative. Now let's talk about your leverages. Lemme tell you something, everybody has got leverages. Most people don't even see 'em because everybody wants what someone else has. But understand this, the leverage that you want, the traits and abilities and skills that other, that other person has the look all that. That you wish you had. Somebody's looking at you and being like, bro, man, I give my left nut to be able to be like that. Everybody's got leverages, but you don't even spot these things. So if you're tall, bro, I'm six foot three, I'm slim. I use that and I have a powerful voice. I use all three of those things to my bald head. That is leverage. It is because I have a very serious demeanor about me, so I can soften it up if I need to. I can sharpen it up if I need to. Also, that's a leverage. If you're just kind of dumpy looking, you're the apple pie kind of guy, bro. That's a leverage. I mean, make sure you smell good. Make sure you, you, you dress good. Big boys can dress good. Big girls can dress good. Don't smell like a a, a sour sock man. Don't smell like what you just ate. Alright. But that's a apple pie kind of guy. Little dumpy guy. But dude, there was a salesman I was on the floor with for years, man. He ran laps around me and he was just this fun loving, I'm from the country, y'all. He and bro, he used that to his ability. Everybody's got leverage. If you're short, it's a leverage. It is because you're not as intimidating. I have sometimes have to play short because I may overpower somebody, so I throttle that thing. But sometimes, man, when I need to get a point across, I'm six foot three, six foot five, six foot seven. I'm seven feet tall. Sometimes that's the case. If I have to disarm somebody, I'm about four foot five. Okay, but see, there's a throttling, imaginary throttling to these things. But if you're short, that's a leverage for you, man. Use that because you're not intimidating, you're unassuming. Leverage, leverage, leverage doesn't mean that you're not capable. Doesn't mean that you're not a just a stone cold killer. You are, but you gotta use it to your advantage now there's leverages with your customers too. Why are they here? Why are they here? What's going on in their life? You've gotta answer these questions like, what made you reach out to us? I mean, that's a, that's a 101 question. You know, how many salespeople just totally miss that? What made you reach out for this specific product? Why do you like that? What interests you about leasing? What's going on in their life that has changed that caused them to reach out to you? Do you even fucking know you better? And with curiosity and creativity, I like a window. Then you can channel those into leverages. So why are they here? So what Mike Weinberg says, pick the scab. Like you find these little leverage points. I mean, they need a solution solved. How can you provide that solution? How can you educate them? How can you use your curiosity and creativity? To enhance the fact that you are the best pick out there leverages. I mean, something has shifted in their life that's made the conversation matter today. Gotta figure that out. See, when you stay curious, you find the windows, when you take stock in all of your skills, abilities, talents, your own, those are your leverages. And when you do both, oh my God, this is what makes you unstoppable. Because here's the, here's the key, here's what's key. I'm gonna leave you with this. Windows give you access, leverage. Gives you power together, they give you momentous success. All right? Every phone call, every walk in every referral, there's a window to see and the leverage to use. Find it. Use it. Alright, let's get outta here. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.