[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Hello, my friend, and welcome to this episode of A Call to Leadership. I'm Dr. Nate Salah your host. I am so glad you are here. Well, on this episode of the show, we're gonna dive into an area of leadership we've talked about, but not in this specific way. Have you ever been in a situation where you are purchasing a car or purchasing some big ticket item, and you were apprehensive about that exchange? Why? Because we as individuals, as human beings naturally consider selling as possibly adversarial, we consider when we are sold, that someone is trying to take something that belongs to us our time and or our money. And so what do we do? Naturally, we want to protect it because we don't know if there's a value exchange there.
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And you may have heard me talk about this on previous episodes, we're going to dive into how we create an ally, from an adversary. And so in so doing, we move the needle from someone who is going to take from you and perhaps doesn't have the value to someone who is giving to you. Now in sales. This is very difficult of a concept to understand. But it's really leadership friend, when we're talking about sales leadership, we're talking about having the best interest of those who you're desiring to serve. When we're selling, whether we're selling real estate, whether we're selling a candy bar, whether we're selling a product or a service, anything that it might be, there are many factors that go into this.
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And we must have the competence and the character to be trustworthy. We've talked about this before on the show, we've talked about definitions of trustworthiness based on the two factors of having both pillars of competence and character, good character, and competence. In other words, doing the right thing for the right reasons. And also having the know how the knowledge to get the job done and get it done. Right. Those are important factors. However, it does not change the fact that most buying is adversarial think about last time you went to buy a car just happen to me, I recently was looking for a car in the market for one. And the very first thing when you think about when you're going to the car dealer, oh boy, they are going to try to take advantage of you, right?
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Maybe the prices are inflated, maybe there's a bunch of junk fees, all this other stuff. What if the car is junk itself? All these question marks when you go in to buy a car. So it's certainly for many of us adversaries, maybe not for everyone, but I purchase cars my entire life. I have bought so many cars over the years, maybe 50 Plus not as a car dealer, but to enjoy and turn around and sell. And over the last probably like 10 years or so. I bought cars that I purchased and was able to sell for at least what I purchase for if not more, because I've learned the technique of really smart car shopping. And when it comes to car shopping, this is a great example, because I went into a car dealership, and I asked about a vehicle. And the very first thing that the dealer said is where are you from? I said I'm from St. Louis. I wasn't in my hometown. I said, Okay, well, here's the car, XY and Z. Here's what the deal is. I said I'm not coming down. It was a 45-minute drive. I'm not coming down to look at the car until we go through a number of steps.
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All right, sir. What are the steps? What can I do to help you keywords here? What can I do to help you but then you're still guarded. I'm still guarded, because that's just what you're saying. Maybe you're just like what Ron Reagan said about the government. We're from the government, we're here to help, right? Or stop, pump the brakes. I don't trust you. All right, we haven't really moved into a leadership perspective. We haven't moved into influence in this situation. Then what happens? We went through, hey, I need a sniff test. Because I don't smoke. I can't stand smoke cigarette or anything else. And it's a deal killer. So don't waste my time. I'll be coming out. No problem, sir. I'll make sure to give it a sniff test. Do a walk around. Tell me if there's anything any blemishes, whatever. I don't think it's gonna not have any because it's not a new vehicle. But just tell me so I'm not surprised. Okay, sir. Check, check, check. Then what happens? Well, then I get a callback. Hey, nonsmoker vehicle. Car is in excellent condition.
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How many times have you heard the car is in excellent condition. And I remember one time that I was told the car was perfect. Perfect. It was a car it had 100,000 miles on it. It was far from perfect friend. In fact, it was so bad that the dealer and I almost got into a scuffle at the dealership, and this dealership was let's just say a little shady. All right, little sus as they say today, so I was there my cousin and he was like Nate, you need to bring it down like three notches because we're here, this guy looks like he's got a bunch of thugs with him. We probably need to get on out of here. I was like, you're still a crook. Anyhow, that day is over. And here we are today. So I say, All right, well, let's talk numbers.
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Okay, let me see what where do you have to be I gave my number. So let me get one of my sales managers out and talk to you. He gets one of the sales managers job technique. Number one, sales managers, this whole happens to be from St. Louis, how about that? You know, there's something to shared experiences. Not only shared experiences, but shared experiences become even more valuable, when they are unique or rare. And what do I say that for? I say that for this, this particular car salesperson, we don't call them salesmen anymore. By the way, friend, if you still use the word salesmen, you need to possibly eliminate from your vocabulary.
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It's the time modern times there's female salespeople do. So a salesperson, the salesperson, just so happen to be a male, just so happened to say, okay, knew that I would be interested in this shared relationship with someone from St. Louis. So he picks it you know, he's like, Hey, St. Louis, we talked about different areas we're from and blah, blah, blah, what's happening here, report is being established, this individual found a common, a commonality. It's important, the commonality can't be so common, that it's not unique. In other words, we will speak English. That's not very common. You go to a foreign country, and no one speaks English, you hear someone speaking English. And then you're like, Oh, my goodness, another person who speaks English. Why is that important? Because as communal creatures, we're looking for shared interest, we're looking for shared experiences.
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It's subconscious in us. And so this binds us, this connects us. And so that shared interest, that shared place of origin, if you will, in some ways, I'm not originally from St. Louis, I'm originally from Chicago. Nonetheless, I've been living in St. Louis a long time. And so I we start, we strike up a conversation. And lo and behold, this person lives not too far from me. So we began establishing rapport. And then what happens the guard starts to come down a bit, oh, this person is relentless. Amen. You gotta hook me up, take care of me, don't charge me all these junk fees. Because guess what, they have junk fees, the car, it starts out at X dollars, let's just say 25,000. And then you have the dealer fee, 1000 bucks, you have the environmental fee, $899, you have the advantage fee, whatever that is $3,000, all sudden, you just checked on close to $5,000.
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That doesn't, you haven't even added sales tax yet to the car, said, Hey, man, here's what I'm gonna do for you. I'm gonna waive this $3,000 fee. I'm gonna waive this other fee, I'm just gonna charge you the 99 I gotta charge the 999 fee. And here's what you can walk away with. And that's your deal. So what's happening here? Couple things. One, we're starting out at a higher price. Now I'm feeling that there's more of a value proposition. Number two, there is an established rapport, then I believe that this person, whether it's true or not, by the way, is a friend, not a foe, someone who is trying to help me not harm me. So I begin to trust. And so what I do, I go down the car dealership while I get to the car dealership.
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And guess what? The car is not excellent condition. There's scratches or scrapes, whatnot. And so the salesperson said, sorry about that. Let me get my manager or at least you can meet my manager and maybe we can work something out. So a manager comes back out say, hey, you know, here we go. Nice to see you. What would you like me to do? Interesting. What would you like me to do? That is an invitation. He doesn't have to honor that. But what it does, it says Hey, I hear you. Tell me what I can do to help this purchase a law. You're going along and see if I can help you. So I said, Well, I'll take another 500 bucks off for these scratches or whatnot. So done. And what happened then you think did they buy the car? I went back I didn't have any my documents together.
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So I said, I'm gonna come back and guess what I was gonna do. I was gonna buy the car. Well, it turns out I waited too long. I was literally going back up there to get the car and someone else had purchased it. That's no problem. I don't ever consider that to be an issue by the way for inside now. If somebody else purchases something that I thought I needed, there's something else coming. This just wasn't meant for me. I know it. It might sound superstitious. It's just happened to me over and over again. This is all personal. It's all anecdotal. I haven't researched any of the science behind this. Any of the studies behind this. I can tell you this as a fact though, in my own walk my own life. I don't know if it's the same for you. I have found that that is simply another way to say hey, you know what, you can bless someone. I'm thankful that person got to enjoy that blessing. I hope they got the same deal as I did, because that's an abundance mindset friend.
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That's not a scarcity mind scarcity mindset once Hold on to that and say, oh my goodness, I drove all the way out there, I worked out the deal. What a waste of my time. No, I got to be two great people, we talked about some important things. You know, these are seeds that are being spread seeds of life. Why not spread seeds of life and recognize that every moment is relevant and important, no matter how I perceived it, perhaps in some ways, I need to reframe my perception, maybe just maybe, that someone else benefiting from my interaction, it's good enough for me, it's good enough for humanity. It's good enough for that moment. And it's good enough for the day. That releases me from any type of bondage of holding on to something that wasn't never mine in the first place.
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I can live in that I can have peace in that. And friend peace. Peace is a very high valued, commodity fleeting for so many who never find it live in a state of peace. So guess what happened? I continued my search. And lo and behold, that same dealership had another car just a few days later, even better and more suited for me. No scratches, like brand new, under warranty, still had new car smell. And even cheaper. Guess what we had already established rapport. We had already established that this was a dealership that I found that we could work together. You see, they didn't close the door and say, Hey, Nate, you're too late. Sorry, what did they say? Hey, Nate, we're sorry that it didn't work out. Because they didn't say hey, you know, you can sign the documents now come back later and pay. I said, You know what, I'm not going to do that. I'd rather just meditate, pray, think about it.
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And then if that car is meant for me, it'll be here. And then he said, Well, we're sorry. If there's anything else on a lot that we could find you please let us know. You see, friend, this is the relationship between not thinking, Oh, I'm just one and done. You know, have you ever been in a situation maybe where you're selling a product or service? Maybe the person didn't want it at the time? Or it didn't work out for whatever reason? What do you do? Keep the door open for the relationship. You never know what tomorrow brings. In fact, another car dealer I was working with, and I had messaged me about coming to see a vehicle and I was going to go out but then this other deal came up and I got a message from this dealer after I had sealed the deal on the second vehicle from the same dealership I had bought I had visited with and I said I ended up going with a different one.
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I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Guess what I got? Okay, this is a huge mess friend. Huge Miss why this person had already spent some time establishing rapport but then I just got the Okay, what did the okay me the okay man was, hey, look, you know what? You're not important to me anymore. As we used to say you're dead to me, because they were only thinking about themselves. You know what? You didn't buy a car from me? And you found yourself a car? So we're done here? No. Wrong answer, friend. Wrong answer, the right answer would have been, hey, congratulations. I'm glad you found something that suited you. I'm here in case anything else comes up. If you need anything from me, please do not hesitate to reach out I am always available to serve you.
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That is the response that would lack that number in my phone. Because that is what true sales leadership is about. It's about helping others reach their goals. And in turn, you reach your goals. You say, hey, well, they didn't buy from me. Part of my goal is meeting my quota and actually selling my product or service. Because if I can't sell my product or service, then I am out of business or I go hungry or any of those things. Well, friend, not every single person is going to buy from us. Not every single person is going to be our customer. But can every single person be part of our network in the event that we will have a possible reconnection at one point, that person might not buy from me. But perhaps they tell a friend, you know, I didn't buy from this person. But man, what an amazing person this is you got to check them out, build some rapport, get some connection.
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And then when you're tested, because that's a test. I consider it a test when you're tested with the fact that you didn't get what you want. And they got what they needed. What is my response? My response absolutely, unequivocally must be support. Hey, I'm sorry, you don't buy a car from me. But I understand. And I am happy for you. Boy that goes so much further than okay. Because the dealer who I ended up purchasing from two of those individuals, the dealer and the sales representative. Both are perhaps going to be clients of ours in our business and exchange you see for and how that works. So in this situation, one of the most adversarial businesses Car salespeople. You go ask anyone oh my goodness, I hate shopping for a car.
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And now you've got all these places that have haggle free stuff. And then people still want to haggle because they don't believe the prices are right. And it's a very difficult world. That's why you'd like to use this example. However, this example illustrates, even though the car salesperson told me that the car was excellent, and there were some scuffs, you know what, maybe you didn't see him? Maybe he did. It's irrelevant. The point is, is that was the response. So because we don't always control every aspect of the situation, especially when we're selling, especially when we're working on an agreement. And that doesn't have to be in just in business, it can be a family, and when we're working on some kind of agreement, and maybe we miss something, or maybe something isn't visible at the time. The question is, what's the response?
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When I miss the mark? Hey, what can I do to make it right? How can I get this done? Because that opens the door, it's an invitation to first say, I hear you, I see you, I understand. And I want to help, not just with my lips, but if it's possible with my actions, you then move from adversary to ally, you move from someone who wants to take something to someone who truly desires to liberate, to give you freedom, from whatever it is, that's plaguing you, because that's what sales is. It's freedom from something that we don't have gives us utility and value. It helps to open a door we could not walk through without the presence of the sales leader to open it and guide us to a place that we desire to go. Well, my friend, I am so thrilled that you joined me on this episode of A Call to Leadership.
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And before you go to the next episode, especially if you're binge-listening, take a moment I would love to get your honest review right here on your screen. Your feedback is so important. It helps the podcast. It encourages me and it helps me helps me to give you more and more and more value. So I can't wait to read your review. I can't wait to be with you on the next episode. I'm Dr. Nate Salah. This is A Call to Leadership.