Leadership Lounge with guest Dan Friesen

spk_0:   0:09
Hi. This Jack tester. Welcome to another episode of Leadership Lounge. Mm. Lovely ST Paul, Minnesota. And across the desk. Rami is a non native. Dan Freeze. And how you doing, Dan? Doing great Jack here from Canada. I am Welcome

spk_1:   0:23
program. So, yeah, you're the only kind of full

spk_0:   0:26
timer at next star that is not from the United States. Where do you live?

spk_1:   0:31
I live in a little town called Left Bridge in Southern Albertus, about two hours south of Calgary, Alberta. Or if you're not familiar with Canada at all and you went to Montana and then drove about an hour north, you'd land in my backyard.

spk_0:   0:45
Yeah. People aren't even with Montana, Dan. That's out in the middle of nowhere.

spk_1:   0:48
You are. Should we say Denver and then further north? Well, you've been a

spk_0:   0:53
part of next arson lists. Let's just walk through a little bit of your journey here. So first year full timer with next are you are a master trainer. You do a lot of our content creation. And and virtually anyone who's a member of our next are listening to this podcast will know exactly who I'm talking to right now. Because You're a very familiar face. You've been on the stage line.

spk_1:   1:12
Yeah, I've had a few miles doing this site a few years down under my belt. Yeah. And you do a great

spk_0:   1:19
job for us, and I think you have a great story to tell. Write. So, um, so let's just walk back first. Let's just give people a sense of who you are because they know the guy in the stage. They know the tall guy with the bad ties in the beard. Thank you. Right. Wear next. Compliments. Right. And, uh so but but tell us how you got in the industry down

spk_1:   1:40
eso straight out of high school. I was on my way to college to become an electronics engineer, and I needed a summer job. So I took a summer job and I had a friend whose dad worked at a company heating air conditioning company, and she called him up and said, Hey, Danny, it's job. So my job interview consisted of Do you have steel toed boots? No, but I can get some. Do you have a hammer and a tape measures. I get that. I have. All right, We'll see you tomorrow. So that's how he got hired and I became an installers. Help Didn't even know what job I had signed up for right. And it became an installers helper in an H V C world and loved the fact that I got to go into people's houses. Do something with my hands. So trades run in my family. My dad's an automotive mechanic of an input, was a plumber cousins. An electrician's like this stuff runs in my blood, and, um so it felt very natural. The work was easy to do and fit like a glove and talking with people every day and doing something substantial in their homes and going to bed at night. Having done something, completed a project every day. It just worked. So I never left. I stayed with that company and I moved through the room, went to college. You just stayed there. I just stayed. Yeah. So what did you

spk_0:   2:49
do just just quickly that the positions you held at this HBC company and left bridge were

spk_1:   2:55
so 17 years worth of I started with installers Helper. I moved into being a full time like a lead installer. That was six months later then did Service technician. From there, I moved into an estimator slash hills roll because it estimated they called it estimated. Yeah. Was it residential replacements? Yes. Okay. Yes. We're selling Lennox furnaces. Okay. In fact, a little known fact about that company is the owner of that company. 1941 drove across the Montana border, bought Lennox furnaces. So we were, like, literally the first company in Canada to put these things in before Lennox actually officially made them available to us. So that's a company was kind of old. And, um Okay, so there's that. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah. I don't know. It's critical. Critical trivia test later. Yeah. So from there into management. And when I was managing the department, I also had to step in at times for call center roles. Had to step in at times for install coordinator. And I handled all of those positions and and, yeah, it was It was a long, fun journey.

spk_0:   4:00
Well, you join next are through this company, and I know you were It was so many employees. Just the owner walks in one day and says, by the way we remember of next are and that wasn't the case in your business, was it? No. Tell us about how you came to know Next star, because I think this is interesting.

spk_1:   4:17
Well, so I I was This was still while I was doing sales, and I was fairly successful at it, you know, I did. I did 1.2 million in my second year sales. This is in the late nineties. It's okay. Texturally were like 50,000 person market Canadian money, though. A zits, like four bucks and, uh, and so in there. And I was getting paid, like, $13 an hour. So I went to the manager and said you were

spk_0:   4:42
on hourly rate. So yes, Air conditioning, Yes. 13 bucks an hour.

spk_1:   4:46
Yes. Closing at nearly 60%. Doing a lot of lot of things really well. I immediately created my own spreadsheet to track all this because they didn't have any tracking. So tracking down to a science and it was just not we didn't have money to pay me a bonus. That's what I was told. There's we lost money. So, you know, you did all this work and here's your 13 bucks an hour, which doesn't amount to a lot of, you know, income on a $1.2 million worth of sales. It didn't have to do a lot of research to find out that that wasn't normal in the industry. So then I said while somebody out there's got to be smarter than us, I figured this thing out. So I went looking and I found a handful of best practices organizations. And then I You're

spk_0:   5:23
just a sales guy to search in the industry right now trying to figure out how to get a pay raise from this company. Yeah. Is that right? Yep. Okay. How to do things better?

spk_1:   5:31
Yeah, Just just be better be the best in our in our marketplace is really driven toe to create something of value for customers to be a company that has this company had a great reputation and it had been around forever. And it was just struggling. And I didn't like that. And I wanted, like, somebody had to be smarter than us. Just needed help.

spk_0:   5:48
Big thinking, outage even Think to go Look. How did you know that? Just the way life waas. I don't think

spk_1:   5:53
it's a great question, Jack, but you know, and I think that's kind of a thread for me that I'm always This is what serves me as a trainer. Is anyone who's been to serve a system with me twice, didn't experience the same thing, and that goes back to the exact same that's never done. It's never good enough. What's what's next? What are we missing? What can we still take up a notch, right? Let's see that. Yeah, so that's a

spk_0:   6:16
little frustrating at times, but I like the Yep. So that caused you to research?

spk_1:   6:22
Yeah, and I called. I called Contractors 2000 then

spk_0:   6:27
her name back then. So this is pretty like 2000 1

spk_1:   6:29
thing. It would have been about 2000 when I started making these phone calls and we officially joined in 2002 and that was after I had marched up to CEO's office. And I love your local business, my local business and I and I laid out my research, said, Here's what I've done here is everybody have called. Here's why the folks that had quit, I actually asked Greg Niimi, then president of Contractors 2000. I asked him for the names of Canadian contractors who had signed up and then quit. Okay, Like those for whom it didn't work, I needed to have that story because I knew I was gonna get asked that question. So on and all They said they all have the exact same answer, or we just didn't implement. So we're spending money on a membership that we weren't using, so we just decided to quit, and it's really great. And you should do it. That was what everyone told me. So So I was sold, and then I went in and I sold it. And so as a sales person, I got sent to boot camp. Okay? In May of 2000

spk_0:   7:24
that's the class that typically owners go to. Yeah, but you as a sales guy went to you, okay?

spk_1:   7:29
And along with a manager and a handful of other people.

spk_0:   7:32
OK, so you went with some other folks too. You got it right?

spk_1:   7:36
Yeah, But there I was doing a sales person in that room. Okay. Make it 13. Yes, Yes, Yes, right. Not making a lot.

spk_0:   7:43
That's cool. So it's So what happened in Sudan? So for those who who don't know, Dan has been a trainer for next are for over a decade since 2004. Yes, right. So you became Ah, we were just starting this idea of hiring and I should say, partnering with member trainers, these people that have a day job, running a business or, in your case, working in business. But then a handful of times a year come and train. Next are content. So you're one of the first ones of them, weren't you? I was number four, number four and that Yes, the only Chapman and I came home. Who else would have

spk_1:   8:21
Would have been Jeff Belle Belle? Continue. Don't. And so that's the order of it. Why did you

spk_0:   8:27
want to be a next our trainer

spk_1:   8:28
because of Bill Raymond? I mean so at the bottom of the bill,

spk_0:   8:31
Raymond's are still he's actually a full time business coach for next year and still trains in our longest 10 year trainer. Yes, right? Yes, in a former member,

spk_1:   8:39
Yes, yes. And so he stood up at boot camp and and and worked his magic and was so inspiring and really did shift the course off. My life, like with the information, is shared And it wasn't just like, you know, raise your prices in charge rate numbers, and we did a lot of we did all of that, right? We did all of that. And that was all good. We needed that operational stuff. That's what got us on. The right track is a business. But what it would it opened my mind to was the idea that there was more that there was a possibility of doing what he did and giving in that way. And and that's just that was just

spk_0:   9:11
had you been a public speaker. And any capacity to this point? Yes. What had you done? Church. So you're a minister? Yes. OK, so you say your daytime job was install or a sales person and you were a minister, you faster or

spk_1:   9:30
volunteer and eventually part timely, important, employed, like, paid for the work I was doing, um, with the local

spk_0:   9:37
church. So you got Pope a time? Yes, I got it.

spk_1:   9:40
Okay. And I got it. I got trained by still in my mind, the best public speaker I've ever had the privilege of being with

spk_0:   9:48
with it. But that lead pastor, they teaching past journalists, did okay.

spk_1:   9:53
Just a magnificent public speaker. Just his. Yeah, he's He's a big factor in my performance.

spk_0:   10:00
All right, So you so you kind of like the front of the church. Yeah. Yeah, I did a little bit. And you wanted the front of the class a little bit. Why's that, Dan? What draws you to the front of the room? Because so many of us, you know, our leaders and just don't particularly self select. I wouldn't fly from here to left Bridge to do it. Let's put it that

spk_1:   10:22
way. Okay. So what's rewarding to me about it? The reason I do it is because I feel like in all of my years, even running the business I had reached there for sure there was reach. I had his team of employees that I had an impact on. Um what I what business didn't give me that church did. And what next are now does was was an expand expansion of that reach. Right. So now all of a sudden, what I'm teaching is I'm getting a chance to do it. Bill Raymond did for me to inspire somebody to do this, and so I might roll here next start now to teach. Took tip to teach those who will teach.

spk_0:   11:04
So your your mission is not misled to train installers how to do this service system Well, right, it's the train someone in that room to become another.

spk_1:   11:13
Somebody comes out of there and says, Hey, can I talk to you? Can you give me your phone number tonight? Will you mentor me? And I've got dozens of these folks in next our member shops all her a company that our country and many dance And then we've got our staff trainers, which is a big is massive for me. These guys know it, you know I love him to death, and this is the stuff that I I'm the most. I'm the most fulfilled when I'm working with with those folks and I'm seeing that them improve and and all of a sudden a guy who thought he was just always going to be just a thing. Whatever, you know, roll you want to fill in with that is now doing something that they find great fulfilment in. And now they're spreading the magic to somebody else. And we've got this. What's this multiplication effect? It's

spk_0:   11:59
Lis. Lis. Lis. What? You're talking about you today and we just jumped over about 15 years. Okay. All right. So I want to go back to when you started, become a member trainer. And then I remember I came back to next door on 2006 and I heard you speak for the first time. I was pretty good. I thought that was 2006 But you're still working as a manager. Maybe at this point at this company, you're within number two. And then, um and we had had conversations with you about at some point when you left that business about being full time with next are. But it didn't work, right? Not for a next star. It didn't work for Dan, for some reason. Right? You want travel or what was the deal?

spk_1:   12:48
No, that travel was fine. What held us up at that time was it's the cross border thing, so Oh, yeah, there's some complications in the permitting, so I mean, I'm I have the correct permitting to make this thing work. Now, on back then. That was just a more challenging

spk_0:   13:04
God. It's us. You have. You can work like half the year. Hear something like that? Yeah. Yeah, very cool. So that was an issue back then. So you decided that, you know, for whatever the reason, you left this other business and, uh, he went into business. Yeah, tell us about that. What motivated you do that rather than something else? Uh, started a business Greenfield from scratch from scratch on air conditioning and plumbing business?

spk_1:   13:29
Yes, in a tiny little marketplace where four big companies had collectively existed for 100 and 75 years. So the top four in that marketplace were pretty well established, and then there was 40 beneath them. At the time, I started my company, and and those were all tiny little like, you know, one man operations. And there's a new one every day and one fault folding every day, same stories, every other marketplaces in a marketplace that was at that time, maybe 80,000 people. Okay. All right. It was tiny, relatively speaking, for that kind of, you know, it would be competition, and all of that was true. Making excuses, right? Really? Yeah, really, Really Set. Just when we were in the class, you'd be gone right now. What would, you know, because that story serving your, um, hold him here. So So, Yeah, I had these illusions of grandeur. I was gonna build this thing and we were gonna be massive in no time. And it was gonna be great. And the thing that's the hardest thing in the whole world to do when you're starting a business from scratch is to get that phone to ring because no one knows who you are. And I set myself up to be to look like a big corporation, like a big company from the beginning. So I had a logo professionally done. It wasn't dance plumbing. It was It was my service company ink, and it had a phone number. That was 403 Easy fix. It was I had all of that very carefully selected. The website was professionally done. I had hired a web service company to create our website, get our CEO set up so that by the time I open the business, we were like number three rank on and done business yet, So I mean, he did a lot of those things well, and people were like, Who's this franchise that showed up on our city. We don't want to do that. So all of that shot me in the foot. And it just took me a long time to get the marketplace to trust that this was a local company that wasn't gonna hurt more. So let's

spk_0:   15:22
give into, you know, and I know ultimately you sold your business. Yes, sir. Period of years. You sold it. And it was at that point that you came in next year full time. Yeah. I mean, you talked about it, right? You remember. Next are on owner of business, and next are. And then you decided, Why did you decide it was time to be to leave the excitement of running a business and become a full time trainer for next door?

spk_1:   15:48
Well, this is going to go all the way back to the reason I like the pulpit at church. I wanna have I'm bent. I'm wired. I'm absolutely, um, on a mission to teach those who teach. Okay. And so there just wasn't I didn't feel like I was in a spot where I was. I was utilizing what I was capable of in a way that was effective. I was doing fine business was were you know, sales were increasing every year nicely. Double digit net profits. You know, things were looking really good. We were in a good spot and ups and downs like every other small business. Right? You were in a good spot. Um, I just wasn't fulfilled. I had, you know, all of all of my employees, even the customers that I was reaching, the relationship was different. I wasn't It wasn't in business with them. I didn't. Even my relationship with my employees wasn't so that I could so that they could share this magic with others at some point. Had to be about revenue had to be about, You know, I want them to grow and be prosperous and do well in their life. And that's always very true. But I didn't have this outlet to teach those who teached to really get inside. I wanna get in front of the room and you've seen it, Jack. And the for our listeners who sat in the room with me. I get fired up. I get passionate. It just oozes out of me. I don't have to think about it. And in no time in my life flows easier than when I'm doing that work. And so ultimately for me, I was not happy running the business for most of its existence just didn't wasn't fulfilling. I was not doing the thing that I felt like I wanted to be doing. Was passionate about it, even though I got better at it.

spk_0:   17:37
I get it, I get it. So,

spk_1:   17:39
um yeah, and then you called me one day and said, Hey, what do you have to? And I was actually just fired in a lead installed

spk_0:   17:45
today. I called you to see Hey, Dan. How about that?

spk_1:   17:49
Yeah. So I'm in the back shop and I'm actually bending up a sheet metal transition for furnace installed. A noble work, by the way. Very going over. Well, yes. And I can still do that to this day, By the way. It's kind of fun. Yeah, not what I want to do full time. And so Jack Tester picks up the phone, calls me that day and says, Hi. What's what's happening? How you doing what you're doing right now and telling him, bending up sheet metal tray. Remember this call? I don't remember exactly what you said to me at that point was like, Well, you know what you could be doing that you could be hanging out with me here and we could be building the next meeting. And you could be looking some training somewhere. And I remember just I had I had the timing down. It's about timing. I was like you. I was convinced that you had secretly tapped into the security cameras of my shop. You're stalking me because it was that well timed. And I remember I had my hand on the brake and the sheet metal break that is, and I just stopped, froze there for a minute, and it just overwhelmingly was Yes, this is what I want to do, right? And so I think we just kind of joked about it a little bit at that moment. But I had made my mind up in that phone call.

spk_0:   19:03
I know we worked out the details that will help you get exit your business. And that took a period of months and we got you here full time. I don't remember the year that was 14 13 15 15. Okay. When flooding. Okay. June 15th 15th matter. That's one then. So you came on here, and I know you have a passion for this dance. So So your your role right now. Here next stars. You're on the road a lot. You're out training. You're actually developing a lot of content for next start to you. Do we have a growing training, Ben? She work alongside to manage the train organization. Gina Barad. Oh, yeah. You know you're it again. I'm sorry She got married. Pardon me year again, Right? Who really manages the entire and keeps things running here, the training events running well and make sure that trainers are well fed. And that's a full time job, By the way,

spk_1:   19:54
A lot of prima donnas in training world. You said I didn't. I am not a high maintenance trainers, I'll tell you that. That's my story, and I'm sticking. Thio don't

spk_0:   20:05
believe anything else he says on this part, but no sets of Gina does. But, you know, in Gina's roll, here is a run is to operate her organization. Um, it's not to necessarily be the conceive er of great ideas and content that emanates from people like you are other trainers or business coaches. Julian and other folks in next door. Right? But what What have what have you been involved in Relative to our content. And let's just say the last 18 months that really got you excited about introducing to next are so just think about because you're a, uh your reader, your researcher and what you did to find next ours what you do because you bring some wild stuff here. Yes, not all. If it hits the main stage, by the

spk_1:   20:54
way. Oh, ask me about super chickens. It's kind of a modern day Solomon of sorts, right? So, you know, as faras trying different philosophy, this is

spk_0:   21:06
what I'm saying. So what? But Dan has been some amazing things. You brought it from your perspective. What it what's excited you?

spk_1:   21:15
Not even I don't even think about that at all. That the one meeting that gave me the biggest charge to put this thing together and to know that we're going to bring this content into next was leadership spotlight of 2000 and 19. So a year ago? Yep, March. And that was we had Robert tell Jeannie, who has now been nominated for a Nobel Prize on his work with influence. I don't know exactly where that's landed if he's actually received that Preiser or not. And I heard this when we were. When we're in conversations with him, I was I was mailed a box of goods from the speakers Often do right and you contract to do work. We'll send you some books and some gifts. So I actually have a hand written note from Robert. Tell Jeannie on inside cover of hardcover version of influence, and it's like it's that's like a $1,000,000 price for me. It's It's the world's greatest Robert

spk_0:   22:10
Children's a bright, bright guy, but it's and I know he's got great influence in the world, but not exactly like a sign thing from you know, Taylor Swift. I'm just saying,

spk_1:   22:22
I'm just saying I take that to this system for you. It is okay, yes, So in the end, that was all the way back to 1997 when I first read influence. So anyone who hasn't read that book, that's it, is the penultimate book on conversational influence with other human beings on other winter sales

spk_0:   22:43
manager. It's a great book, so you brought him to next starting you. And that was your idea. Remember, using we gotta bring Chaldean. And he did that one else

spk_1:   22:51
child. Any we brought Joe Navarro in at the same time.

spk_0:   22:53
Expert on body language.

spk_1:   22:55
Yep. So FBI spy catcher, dude. And he was phenomenal.

spk_0:   22:58
And that came from your fertile brain to hire this guy. Jack and I never had

spk_1:   23:03
it all play we were sitting at were a super meeting that fall. You and I were Yeah, wherever that was.

spk_0:   23:07
I mean, we're talking about this. Yeah,

spk_1:   23:08
And I pulled you aside and I said, Hey, I got an idea here for yeah, for leadership spot that we sat down on those little lounge chairs up in that whatever sitting area was. And when I just started spitball on this thing to you. Yeah, that was my sales pitch to you. And then and then we brought in. Um we are Souchard, right? The mentalist, right? Who is the embodiment of those principles? Go thing It was just It was It was the perfect chaotic in my mind. Like that was it? We could drop the mike we've got We've got all the greatest content will ever get and we keep finding more and better, so that does keep on happening. But what we've done since and this is what I'm I'm really grateful for is that we've now been able to take those concepts body language, print the six principles of influence that child Jeannie has made world famous. And we have baked that into our content. We now are looking at ways of creating those moments intentionally inside of our ethical commitment. Yeah, and that's you know, So this is what's so rare in teaching sales sales service system, I mean, and it's all influence. It's all in the effort to create a positive outcome with with our clients with our customer base. And so what? So rare in that world is to really leverage the skills of influence, persuasion and maintain your ethics. That's a delicate balancing act rate. So we really worked through that. And one of things I love about Shalini is his commitment ethics when he makes that case at the front of his book. In fact, when you wrote the book in 1984 one of his primary motivating factors and writing, it was to alert the consumer that this is what sales people were doing

spk_0:   24:53
right. Right now you're being manipulated,

spk_1:   24:56
and neither salespeople nor consumers have been reading it. Took it. It took him years for the thing, finally to get legs. And now it's It's national bestseller for however many years,

spk_0:   25:05
right, right, So we baked that. That that So it's interesting. That was kind of Ah, a launching pad for a big rewrite of a lot of our sales and customer service content that we got right. We we've You know what I love about what you've done here? Dan is so often what I see is, you know, a lot of, um, homemade sales training. Yeah, just you know, I'm a good sales guy. That's how I do it, and it kind of comes to me. But, you know, we're bringing content that has been tried true, proven across industries from from you actually renowned people that have, you know, this has been vetted, tested, kicked around, and it's the real thing. And now it's it's effortlessly put into next are content. Yeah, right. And we're teaching it in. It's it's properly sourced, but, you know, it's it's now, um, got the next our industry. If you will flair to it. Yeah, right. Which is amazing. I would write. This is in my head right now is today we have two classes going on. We've got in advance sales and service that you're observing. One of our trainers is training and your coaching. I'm doing what you love, right? Helping somebody trained better right across the partition is on H V a C sales class going on. And I was looking at the participants guide, and I was listening to the instructor who happen to be Garrett Cook this time, and he was going back in showing which principle of influence we discovered in this preparation in greed Step right. So it s so it's living in this content right now, which is cool, because it was just a nice idea 18 months ago, right? Right. And, you know, our content was good 18 months ago, but I think this just gotten better. Yeah, right. Yeah, and it's interesting, Dan, you know, we're preparing right now. This will come out afterwards, but we're doing a leadership spotlight in two weeks, and it's this is about leadership. It's a little different. It's not about influence like our wise This is about creating leadership teams about self awareness. Seven. Leader becoming looking in the mirror. There's a lot of things we're talking about here. And from this meeting, we're actually building out some new leadership classes. That will be freestanding now. Yeah, which is cool. Yeah, I know. I can see where Where would this research that we're taking from the best vetting and hear it next star through our own operation in most cases here and then pushing it out to our members in a brand new way with an industry flair to it. Right? Right. So, um, I think it's easier for members to translate that when it's coming from their industry rather than just from a general, a generalist. It makes any sense. Yeah, yeah, you know, that's true. It

spk_1:   27:51
is. And that's what makes this organization special for me, is that you know, for however long I've been doing this, I got invited to become a trainer in 2004 when the service system and it was then training manager Sherry Benefit, picking up the phone calls and said, Hey, we're doing this thing called service system. I want your help. All

spk_0:   28:08
right, way hadn't existed to that it hadn't

spk_1:   28:10
existed and new so And that's that's fundamentally what you're talking about. Is that what we're building now? Leadership spot late last year was influencing that baked into our programs. HBC sales is completely a different program now, and it's magnificent, very proud of that of that work and then our doing that with leadership. So we've got leadership for managers, leadership for senior leaders and and always as we do this. So we think about what we did 18 months ago and then we look at what we're doing now that is still in forming this. Tell me more. We still, you know, even as so earlier this week, you and I were sitting in meetings and we were talking through how these how we were gonna present this. We were rehearsing, right? All intents and purposes and my coaching in the room. When that happens, when when we're going through this and we got various presenters taking different pieces is coming back to some of these principles of influence. If you say it this way and spin it, got it, got it, got it, got it. So it comes back because it's so just ingrained in Yeah, been familiar with it for so long. And now and now we have some common language with which to understand that everyone can kind of see it. And so even though in the leadership classes were not gonna necessarily, I mean, not that we make, but right now we're not necessarily gonna have a section on the principles of influence. You just know that those live inside of that content. That's right. And that's leadership. If if if leadership is anything its influence, right, and so it's not sales people that need to read that book as bad as it is CEOs and owners G. M's. You understand how that works because those principles are unilateral. They only work if the person you're dealing with happens to be human. Other than that, you have to find some other way. I can't help you. That's a great way to put it down. That's a great way to put it. Get well. I get asked that question. When I'm teaching the sales class, somebody will always say, Well, does this work on everybody because our marketplace is kind of weird, like No, you know, you got a good point there. It only works If the person you're working with happens to be human, I say that, you know, get a little chuckle out of it. And then they get the appointments. It's their universal. Yeah, since we're wired into the way we think and behave as humans and they're mostly were mostly unaware of them.

spk_0:   30:26
Yeah, well, the more the more intuitive people kind of get it. But it's nice to see it spelled out now that you can get it and just quickly down and put you on the spot. What are those principles of influence? Quickly.

spk_1:   30:37
One of the principles of influence. So you did put me on this. All right? They are liking reciprocity, consistency, and that's those are the top three. If you think about this is Sheldon. These words knows one served increased relationship. Okay, So if you like me, if I do something for you to do it for me, that's reciprocity. Consistency is once you've started to say yes to something, you want to see that he has to write more often. And on the bottom three, these reduced to thes served to reduce uncertainty. And so that's consensus. Other people have done the same thing, right? That's authority. I'm an authority figure. Have some expert knowledge to rig a flower. Dennis's recommend this right to the right, and then there's scarcity, and that's fear of missing out. And this is the one that is the most powerful. It's also the eating, the one that's most easily ethically when it's

spk_0:   31:30
right, right? The sale ends Monday in this thing called Tuesday, and we'll buy it

spk_1:   31:35
but the furnace in tomorrow. But you gotta sign right now. Otherwise, I'm giving this embassy. That's like forced scarcity, and it's very effective. It's powerful. You just have to check your ethics at the door. It's tea, not always. But you do, right, right, Yeah. So even if it's not true, right, it's not right if you're gonna do scarcity, and we teach this very carefully in our classes. So we talk about this. Fear of missing out is a way bigger motivator than the possibility of gain.

spk_0:   32:01
But you're losing a child. And he said, You're losing $200 a month in your energy bill rather than you'll save $200 a month policy you're losing. Yeah, he'll save just a more powerful word,

spk_1:   32:13
and it's the

spk_0:   32:14
same. But you're not. You're not manipulating. It's just just saying it different,

spk_1:   32:17
right? Right. And that's the subtlety of influence, right? Is that just a shift in language like that creates an entirely different result. And you know, So then the big question that people ask is, Well, isn't that aren't you really manipulating people? And the answer to that is, yes, all communication is manipulation. Well, influences is manipulate is right. I can't We can't have this conversation. I have manipulated your thinking during the course of this composition as you have mine by the nature of the questions you've asked in the way you've responded, we've manipulated each other through the conversation. That's what it is. So then you ask yourself the next question. What's the difference between manipulation and influence?

spk_0:   32:53
Okay, what is it? Intent coming more

spk_1:   32:56
So this comes down to what's my reason for doing this? So that's so an example of this. If I'm sitting in class and I've got someone who's struggling with some concept that we're dealing with, and I work hard to find on a leverage consistency and I'll read leverage my authority and I'll even create scarcity in that moment, and I feel it and I'll respond to it by leveraging some of these principles. I could be told that I'm manipulating that person. Yeah, I absolutely am. And I believe that it's absolutely in their best interest in them.

spk_0:   33:27
Also, your intent there is pure. Yeah, it's not that you're trying to get a big commission out of them or right, right? You're tryingto right. I manipulate them to do something on your behalf that it only benefits you, right? Right. And for inter far business. I'm not gonna make a reach here. But, you know, we have a need business they're gonna buy from somebody, right? Right. And we want to buy from us, and it is in their best interest if we believe that, right? If we wait, we truly believe it. And

spk_1:   33:52
then so I This is the premise upon which I established all of this is that if my customers understood me, my company, my products, my service is the way that I do, they would buy for me. That's cool. And if you can say that truthfully, like like you're you're believing that internally, as you say it, my customers if they understood me, my company, my products and service is the way that I do. They would buy for me. If that's true for you, then we only have one job, and that is to help them understand it the way that you do. And to do that, we need principles of influence.

spk_0:   34:28
That's awesome. Is this true right? And it's a breakthrough for us. And I tell you that if I look at our training, Dan and I look at how how many frontline people go through it every year? You know we had seven or 8000 people through our training last year. I don't know how many of those were technicians and sales people and see us are crazy, and most of them come in and I'll say this very respectfully with a predisposition that they don't like sales right, that that that's not why we get into this industry. Typically, you know, that's not I mean, you were a little bit of an aberration, and you like the front of the room and you like sails a little bit, you know, but that's not common. And I got to tell you, we have eliminated the objection that you're making me do something I don't want to do. I mean, it happens that next are But I mean, for the thousands of people we trained for, the hand people I hear and see. It's minuscule, and it's because we have integrated ethics, indoor training and or influence. It isn't just about, you know, how do I overcome that? Objection with some little weird little Come on, a little, a little hip check or whatever. You know, we do tow telling them that they don't get it by Thursday. The price goes up 1000 bucks, right? Does that really just tell him? Right? No, right. That's not what train, and I think that's why it's so widely adapted. I think that's why it's scalable, too. Yeah, I think that our training Dan is easy to and I give I say this not to take credit for it, but I give her trainers and coaches a credit for making it something that is easily understood and then scalable because so much of this training that we go to is like the top 10% could get it, and the rest of them hate it. or fumble, or you're making them do some kind of verbal gymnastics. That is way difficulty even for a gifted communicator. And ours is the brand new technician running their first maintenance call can run the service system, right? Right. As well as the most experienced technician that's been doing this for 20 years doing a 1,000,000 bucks out of his truck her truck can can execute. And it's because of the the commitment you've made the commitment or trainers have made two simple communication. Yeah, right to clear communication. Making it weird and not having it was funny that so often it and I've been guilty of this. I've taught sales years ago in bidding sales. And when you say something, sometimes you get that little feeling in your stomach. Yeah, that doesn't feel right. And you and you say it enough. And you kind of start to get used to it and ignore it. Yeah, right. But it's still there, right? And we want everyone to say when they're going through the six steps, I never hear the little voice, right. I never hear that. Whatever that is,

spk_1:   37:13
right. I remember this. So this leads me to a thought I was having a conversation with a member five or seven years ago, maybe by now, and and he was considering whether to use service system training or some other training. That was another that's similar, You know, some other some other companies doing this thing. And and I mean, my answer's always the same. I don't know what they're doing, and I don't I don't care to know. I know what we're doing and I know that it works for our members. Um and I said, Here's the thing that is the acid test for me And my commitment hasn't always been since 2004 when I was invited into this thing because I felt this from Bill Raymond. I felt this from Sherry Ben if l'd from Greg Niemi from you. Now this has always been true for us is that you could park a customer in the back of our room and they could sit for three days of training and observe everything and hear every word that any one of our facilitators has to say. And they would just say Forget it scares her. Awesome. Yeah, I'll buy from them. Right? Right, right. It would be the best advertising you could possibly do. They wouldn't leave their and run to the five o'clock news and say, Look out, scam alert, right? They just it just doesn't exist. And if if any new content any time we're finding this because as I've said is you've said I constantly on the lookout for What are we doing next? What can we do to add How can we augment? How can we take this up a notch? We're never satisfied. We're never done. When we're bringing that new content in, that's the test. It always has to pass. Does this pass? And I literally asked this question, Does this past the customer in the room desk? And if it doesn't, we don't do it. Yeah, period, that's so cool. It's gotta pass that test.

spk_0:   38:51
And I heard that articulated a number of years ago, probably from you and, uh, and that that really clarifies how we decide what hits the main stage here. Yeah, that really clarifies what goes into our frontline classes in our management classes, too. Yeah, right. It really is an easy way to define it, because so much training, so much sales, training in particular. So money you would never want your clients, if you will, sitting back there listening to the old 12 right radio and why Why were you should upgrade them. They talk about the financial reasons why they need to buy a platinum package or whatever We're talking about customer reasons why it makes sense and right. And if it makes sense so That's awesome, Dan. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Forward? Yeah. Here, man. This is so I wanted people just kind of know that. So if you add a next our vent or you're looking at some video content and you see a kind of a tall, semi gangly guy with not much on the top of his head, but a lot on his chin. And he's also known for his unique ties. Yes, you've got a sea turtle tie on today, and it looks it's good on you. It

spk_1:   40:02
was sarcasm, Duly noted, was bought in Hawaii. Oh,

spk_0:   40:09
so fantastic. Well, I just wanted people to know a little bit more about your journey here and what's important to you. And I wanna thank you for the job you're doing for others and for next start. I've said this, you know, people don't. You know, we do a lot of collaboration on content here unless I want to talk about you from it because it's fun. Um, we sit in a room and we conspire and think about new ideas for this organization, and and that could be a fun thing Or it could be a miserable thing. And it's fun when you have what you call a yes and environment where you're collaborating ideas you're not trying to win, you're just trying to see what's the best idea. And Dan, you do that as well as anybody. So I love sitting in the room with you. I don't feel like I'm gonna get bullied. I don't feel that that if I have an idea that you'll dismiss it, you'll listen. And I've learned that mostly your ideas are better. But if I have an idea that happens to be better, you will accept it without a lot of fight, right, which is fun. So I tell Gina, your boss, I say I love working with Dan. I love conspiring on new content, so I've enjoyed doing leadership spotlight, and I'm gonna enjoy finishing out these three days of leadership classes because it's fun work, Dan. Yeah, well, thank you,

spk_1:   41:24
Jack. Thank you. And I feel the same way. These meetings Air Collaborative. And you always come up with more energy than you went in with their fund. We laugh, we joke, we poke fun at each other and your ideas are hurt. Everyone has heard in the room.

spk_0:   41:38
That's important. So that's that's been That's been great. Thank you. So thank you again, Dan, for sharing your journey. If you see Dan, freeze and say hi to him. He's a smart guy. He'll talk and you will talk.

spk_1:   41:48
I will tell you. You have a hard time going to stop. And you

spk_0:   41:52
thank you all for listening. Very interesting. Special additional leadership lounges. We go north of the border into Canada, Dan. Thank you, Sonic.