Harvey J. Eisenstadt is a sales professional boasting over 50 years of award-winning sales and sales management experience.
Samuel D. Osborne is here to bring out the best in young people; He provides engaging presentations to school students.
In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Harvey and Samuel run through the selling fundamentals that have and will never change.
Featured on this episode:
Resources:
- hjesales.com
- Harvey on Linkedin
- Book: Battle Tested 28 Winning Sales Philosophies
- osborneinstitute.com
- Samuel on Linkedin
- Book: Switch On the Bliss: 7 Keys to Discover Your Purpose
Transcript
Will Barron:
Coming up on today’s episode of the Salesman podcast.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
There’s very little difference to a prospect between two salespeople. They’re telling the prospect the same thing, they’re telling the prospect the same story. But, what truly differentiates one sales person from another? And I spent years identifying those differentiations. Once I identified what made me different than my competitor, I found the tools and knowledge to strengthen that difference. And once I did that, my sales success rate skyrocketed.
Will Barron:
Hello, sales nation, I’m Will Barron, host of the Salesman podcast, the world’s most listened to B2B sales show. If you haven’t already, make sure to click, subscribe. And with that, let’s meet today’s guests.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Okay. I’m Harvey J. Eisenstadt. I’m a sales consultant and my website is Harvey Eisenstadt. And I’ve also written two books on sales that are based on my personal experiences in my 45 years in the field of sales, the last 12 years as a consultant.
Samuel D. Osborne :
Hi, I’m Samuel D. Osborne, and I’m a philosopher, an author and a speaker. And what I specialise in is helping people find out what their difference is and strengthening that so that they can be an expert in their field. And my website is osborneinstitute.com.
50 Years of Sales Experience · [01:58]
Will Barron:
On this episode of the show with the legends that are Harvey and Samuel, we’re diving into the age old tenants of B2B sales. The things that if you implement them now, if you get them into your game right this moment, will serve you well not over the next kind of month, year, quarter, such as social selling. But, things that will change your life for the better over the decades to come. So let’s jump right in. We’re going to dive into, so battle tested a bunch of philosophies and constants in sales, which hopefully you can give us some context here of whether they were constant 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and how far back all of this goes. But with that, tell us where the book came from and why you decided to write a book in this context.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
The book came from, actually everything I’ve written about in this book, it comes from my personal sales experiences in the field. I got into the field of sales in 1961. I was a technical writer for the sales department of one of the foremost franchise organisations in the country. And as I spent time writing, I became a sales engineer. And then I became a sales product manager. And I spent all those years with sales people, and I listened carefully to them. I watched the way they worked and I said, “I got to be a salesman. I want to go out and sell.” And I got hold of the director of marketing, who was a friend of mine. And I said, “Ron,” I said, and this was in the mid sixties. And I said, “Ron, I want to be a salesman.” He says, “Why?” I said, “Because they make a hell of a lot of money and much more than I make. And that’s what I want to do.”
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
So we talked and he said, “Tell you what,” he was brilliant. He said, “Hang onto to my shirt tails and follow me around.” I said, “But do me a favour first.” He said, “What?” I said, “Turn around.” He turned around, I pulled his shirt tails out of the back of his pants, and I said, “Let’s go.” And that’s true story, by the way. And that’s where I started to get my training and I got into field sales. As I grew in the sales industry, I got into regional sales and then national sales. And for a while for about nine years, I was vice president of sales and marketing for a multi-million dollar company, and worked with salespeople all over the country. Salespeople that worked for our company’s, salespeople that worked for our accounts. And I learned a lot.
“All salespeople are basically saying the same thing. There’s very little difference to a prospect between two salespeople. They’re telling the prospect the same thing, they’re telling prospects the same story.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [04:25]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
And one of the things, I’m going to fast forward a little bit. One of the things I learned was that all salespeople are basically saying the same thing. There’s very little difference to a prospect between two sales people. They’re telling the prospect the same thing, they’re telling prospects the same story. And I said, what truly differentiates one sales person from another? And I spent years identifying those differentiations. And once I identified what made me different than my competitor, who was selling a similar product to mine, who thought his company was the greatest, same as I did. We thought our products were better than anybody else’s. Once I found out what made me different, I found the tools and knowledge to strengthen that difference. And from there, one of my first mentors who never knew he was a mentor of mine, was Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach that I saw in 1961 at a national sales meeting.
“Practise alone does not make perfect. Perfect practise makes perfect.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [05:35]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
From there, I practise what Vince Lombardi said, “Practise alone does not make perfect. Perfect practise makes perfect.” And I perfected what made me different. And once I did that, my sales success rates skyrocketed. And not only that, but my relationships in the field were greatly enhanced. So going back about 25 years, I started to write an article for a magazine in our industry on sales. And those articles were all written based on my sales experiences. And my first book, which came out about six or seven years ago, had 95 of those articles in it. And this book, every one of these chapters is written from one of those articles, but it’s written in a different format. And the reason I did it, well, you do it to make some money of course. I’m not going to lie. But the reason I did it was I felt I had such good results from what I was telling other people, that I wanted other people to have the same results as I had. And I also created several training programmes. And the basis of the training programmes is what I learned from my own experiences in field.
How Much of Sales Success Comes From Perfect Practise Versus Embracing High-end Technology and Sales Tools · [07:12]
Will Barron:
Got it. So in that case, Harvey, we’ll come to you in a second Samuel, and this’ll tee up the rest of the conversation. In a world where we are constantly marketed to as sales professionals and sales leaders that we need this latest artificial intelligence app. We need this CRM, which does machine learning and all this technical jargon and nonsense that’s been pitched to us through marketing messages. How much of sales success comes through the constants that you see kind of over the decades of perhaps practising or perfect practise, as opposed to how much the sales success comes from apps, tools, and every else that gets laid on top of it?
“Technology has invaded our younger generation to a point where they don’t know how to speak to people. Sales is a people to people concept. So the fact that they have computers, iPhones, iPads to do all their communication with, they’re not practising how to speak to people.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [08:53]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
That’s an interesting question. And there is an answer to that. We live in a world where there’s always new inventions, new things that we have to adapt to and that we have to use. We went from the horse and buggy to the car, as an example. One of the things about some of the new technologies that are coming out and especially social media, I found is that they provide a tremendous wealth of opportunities for people to use what can help them grow. But at the same time, there’s a lot of negatives to it. And let me give you an example. Google. There’s a wealth of knowledge on Google. Anything you want to look up quickly and learn about you can quote, Google it. But by the same time, the technology has invaded our younger generation to a point where they don’t know how to speak to people.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Sales is a people to people concept. So the fact that they have computers, iPhones, iPads to do all their communication with, they’re not practising how to speak to people. I want to give you a quick example. About seven or eight years ago, I was asked to teach a class for one of the government programmes, city government programmes out here in LA. And it was class on sales. And I had 30 or 40 people in the class, and I was doing it on a monthly basis. And in one of my classes, there was a young lady, I’m guessing, 20 years old, 21 years old. And I’m talking about, how do you make an appointment? What do you have to do to make an appointment? And I’m giving people ideas on what they have to say to get the person at the other end to want to listen to them. She raises her hand and I say, “Yes?” She says, “I have a problem.” I said, “What’s the problem?” She said, “I have trouble speaking to people.”
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
What I’m going to show you now, you may not like, but I’m going to say it anyway. And I said, “Well, if you want to be in sales, you got to learn how to pick up the phone and call somebody and speak to them.” She said, “But, I have difficulty doing that.” And she says, “I don’t know whether I could learn that.” So I looked at her and I said, “You look like a lovely young lady, but I’m going to ask you to do me a favour right now. There are 40 people in his classroom that want to learn how to sell. I’m going to ask you to leave because you shouldn’t be in sales.” She said, “But I don’t want to leave.” I said, “Then you’re going to have to learn how to speak.” She said, “But I can’t.” I said, “There’s the door.” And she left. I wasn’t going to waste the other 39 people’s time with somebody who wasn’t willing to identify with the important factor that’s sales is a people to people business.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
So let’s just give you a little bit of an example of what some of the artificial intelligence and social media and all of that, the negative effect it can have in a field like sales.
Harvey Goes Through the Pros and Cons of Traditional “People Sales” Versus Modern Social Selling · [11:58]
Will Barron:
For sure. This is a conversation for another time, perhaps in another 20 years, because there’s going to be, potentially there might be a weird twist of, so I’m a millennial, I’m 32, I’m in the top end of that kind of bracket. There’s going to be a point where the people who don’t like speaking to other people except for a screen are going to be our buyers. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but that’s probably a conversation for another time. But with that said Harvey, is this potentially then a competitive advantage in that if we are training ourselves, if we’re capable of speaking on the phone, if we’re capable of cold calling, whatever it is, are we then just a massive advantage versus the competition who are trying to do things like sell through social media, sell through LinkedIn, exclusively, and trying to avoid being on the phone at all costs?
“The most successful salespeople today are ones that know how to communicate face-to-face with prospects. And will that change in 20 years? Probably. But I’m talking about today and not 20 years from now.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [12:57]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
I’m going to answer that question by saying, yes, we are an advantage. But, we may not be because there are a lot of people out there on the prospect side of the sales process who are totally tuned into social media, artificial intelligence and all of that. But, I think if I had to take a survey, which I haven’t, so I can’t talk from that intelligence. If I had to take a survey, I would find that most successful salespeople today, that’s today, are ones that know how to communicate face-to-face with prospects. And will that change in 20 years? Probably. But I’m talking about today and not 20 years from now. Everything I write about is today. So it’s interesting.
The Fear of Rejection in Sales · [13:28]
Will Barron:
For sure. Well, Samuel, let me ask you this mate. So if we’re talking about constants in sales over the decades, and even generations here, we’ve got practising perfect. We’ve got being able to communicate face-to-face, on the phone with a real human being, which I think is massively underrated as kind of Harvey’s pointing out here. What other kind of high level sales constants are there that perhaps aren’t going to change over the next few years or decades?
“If you look at it from a point of where do you get the confidence and the motivation to go out there and to be successful, you have to address the individual’s fear of being rejected and failing. And that is a constant. No matter the technology, no matter the age.” – Samuel D. Osborne · [14:26]
Samuel D. Osborne :
The fear of rejection, that is a constant in sales. And Harvey and I talk about this all the time, we talk about in our book, that the fear of rejection is probably not talked about as much as say the goal of sales or reaching your goal or the technique of how. But, I really love analysing the psychology behind the sales process of the salesperson and the person at the other end. This fascinates me. And if you look at it from a point of where do you get the confidence and the motivation to go out there and to be successful, you have to address the individual’s fear of being rejected and failing. And that is a constant. No matter the technology, no matter the age, whether you’re doing face-to-face, it’s a very human thing to feel that you are going to be rejected and fail. So I believe that if you can at least face that on an ongoing, until you get it to the point that you are confident, that you will be a better salesperson because of it.
Practical Advise to Handling Rejection in Sales · [15:09]
Will Barron:
And it makes total sense, right? And why we don’t talk about it is, clearly it’s not as interesting as a book title of, Hey, you’re going to be kicked in the teeth every morning, get on with it. As opposed to all the other stuff that we talk about on the show. I’m super interested in the psychology behind all of this as well. And with that said, Samuel, is the answer to rejection, to give some practical advice before we get back into some more constants here, is the answer to face it and just go through it every single day until the sting kind of dissipates from the scenario? Because this goes back to what we’re talking about earlier on with Harvey of, I think a lot of people hide behind email, LinkedIn, social selling, all this kind of stuff, because they avoiding rejection, as opposed to they’re unable of communicating. Because, we can communicate with our family and friends, right? So with all that said, how do we break through this barrier of rejection, which might be affecting us on multiple levels?
Samuel D. Osborne :
It is not by desensitising yourself by doing it over and over. It can work a little bit, but I have found, and I’ll use the example of public speaking and the fear of getting up in front of an audience and speaking. You cannot just get up and desensitise yourself to the fear of public speaking by just getting up there and doing it. You actually have to have a realisation that you will never feel ready. You may not ever feel ready. You may not ever feel that you have overcome the fear, that you are going to be rejected or that you going to fail, and simply carry on anyway, and simply walk through the fire over and over. And kind of like you do with a hard drive of a computer. You can create this part of my hard drive is going to be for the system files. And this file over here is going to be for my photos, my videos, and my games and all this.
“Do not worry about failing or being rejected because it is going to happen. But it is also going to happen that you will succeed.” – Samuel D. Osborne · [17:44]
Samuel D. Osborne :
So, you have to do this in your mind and you have to go, okay, all the mind that wants to feel fear and doubts, fine. I’m not going to try and change that. But, I’m going to create this compartmentalised part of my brain that just says, “Carry on anyway.” And you go through the fire and feel vulnerable and you feel, yes, I’m probably going to fail, and keep going. So you have to trick yourself in a way. You have to create these psychological constructs so that you will keep going. And if I was to put it into short words, do not worry about failing or being rejected because it is going to happen. But it is also going to happen that you will succeed.
Will Barron:
Do you want to add to that Harvey?
Samuel D. Osborne :
Harvey wants to add.
“First, nobody, and I’ve met thousands of wonderful salespeople in my career, nobody has a hundred percent closing ratio. The second is, rejection is part of the learning process. If you fail to make a sale, what you’ve got to do is go back to your office, sit down by your desk, analyse the sales call, and don’t say, “Why didn’t the prospect buy from me?” What you’ve got to say is, “How could I have gotten the prospect to say yes?” Too many salespeople put the blame on the prospect and not on themselves. And they fail to learn from their rejection.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [18:12]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
I just want to add to that, everything Samuel said is gospel, but there’s one more thing to the fear of rejection. The person has to understand two things I mean, not one. First, nobody, and I’ve met thousands of wonderful salespeople in my career. Nobody has a hundred percent closing ratio. That’s the first thing. The second is, rejection is part of the learning process. If you fail to make a sale, what you got to do is go back to your office, sit down by your desk, analyse the sales call and say not, “Why didn’t the prospect buy from me?” What you got to say is, “How could I have gotten the prospect to say yes?” Too many salespeople put the blame on the prospect and not on themselves. And they fail to learn from their rejection. And one of the things we write about in the book is how to do that.
“What I teach people is, just change one word around, from the prospect to I. How could I have made them believe that they were ready to buy? How could I have made them understand the price was right? How could I have made sure that they had everybody there? If you can change that one word and put the onus on yourself, you’re going to learn from your failures, and those failures are going to start to diminish.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [19:57]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
I’ll give you a very quick example. Rejection is usually found in several words, “I’m not ready to buy. I’m not sure. I need other people to help me. Your price is too high.” And a myriad of others. Salesperson will come back to his office or her office, sit down with their sales manager or by themselves and analyse it. And why didn’t you make the sale? The prospect wasn’t ready to buy. The prospect thought the price was too high. The prospect needed other people. Once the sales person does that, they’re losing the opportunity to learn from that rejection. So, what I teach people is, just change one word around from the prospect to I. How could I have made them believe that they were ready to buy? How could I have made them understand the price was right? How could I have been sure that they had everybody there? If you can change that one word and put the onus on yourself, you’re going to learn from your failures, and those failures are going to start to diminish.
Salespeople Should Take Total Responsibility For a Buyer’s Rejection · [20:30]
Will Barron:
Is that perhaps then another constant here then, of just taking total responsibility for our actions? Because again, I think this is something I fail to do it sometimes, but it’s something that I consciously see in other people that I look up to. They are ruthless in being responsible for things that perhaps they even control around them.
“Rejection has to be thought of as part of the learning process, not as a failure.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [21:05]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Yes. This is one of the constants that we talk about, the fear of rejection and how to overcome it, or how to deal with that. And again, Samuel mentioned it, the fear of rejection, rejection has to be thought of as part of the learning process, not as a failure.
Learning From Rejection is the One Constant That Separates the Top Salespeople From the Rest · [21:11]
Will Barron:
Got it. Well, Samuel, let me ask you this then mate, how much or is, I’m assuming this is because it’s, if it isn’t there, this podcast doesn’t have much of a life left in it. But, is a constant perhaps learning? Is that something that successful salespeople do throughout their careers? And is it something that separates average performers from high performers?
“No one knows what is going to happen in the next 10 years or the next 12 months. So the way to prepare yourself for an unknown future is to at least have the skill of learning things fast and learning things from a wide range of subjects. If you cannot do that, or you’re lazy, or you think, “Oh, I know everything,” you will be left behind. Simple as that.” – Samuel D. Osborne · [22:17]
Samuel D. Osborne :
Let me put it in the words of Warren Buffet. He said, “If you want to be a success, make reading a daily habit.” And if you know anything about the current education system in the USA, Australia, or perhaps even England, I think, is there a big push to be a lifelong learner, both as a student and in your professional world. And I think this becomes because we have such a rapidly changing environment, not even the experts who study the economy, science or even sales, know what the future is going to be like. No one knows what is going to happen in the next 10 years or the next 12 months. So the way to prepare yourself for an unknown future is to at least have the skill of learning things fast and learning things from a wide range of subjects. If you cannot do that, or you’re lazy, or you think, “Oh, I know everything,” you will be left behind. Simple as that.
Salespeople Need to Be Aware of How the Markets are Behaving Across the Board in a Range of Fields · [22:47]
Will Barron:
And then we’re seemingly on the edge of an economic collapse within the next kind of like months or years. So this is especially relevant at the moment. But with that said, Samuel, are there any marketplace factors that stay consistent? I guess one would be that we talk about on the show all the time is adding value. You’re not going to do a deal if there’s no value being exchanged or traded right. In any marketplace, in any economic circumstance, is there anything that’s constant across the plane that we should be thinking about as well?
“Regardless of what is happening in the marketplace, if you are aware of what is popular, and if you’re aware of a way of providing value to that market, you will succeed.” – Samuel D. Osborne · [23:44]
Samuel D. Osborne :
I believe people need to keep their finger on the pulse. And that is being aware of what is happening across the board in a range of fields. So that if, I’m a fundamentals guy, come back to the fundamental principles of what’s in demand, and how can I supply that. So I try not complicate things. So regardless of what is happening in the marketplace, if you are aware of what is popular, and if you’re aware of a way of providing value to that market, you will succeed.
Sales is Simply an Exchange of Value But Salespeople Overcomplicate it · [23:58]
Will Barron:
And let me ask you this Harvey, over the years, the decades, right? You’ve been involved in this industry, Samuel very confidently and simply narrowed this down of salespeople are there to facilitate that exchange in value, right? To exchange a supply for a product, with a demand for a product. So with that said, how much time, energy and just mental bandwidth is wasted by salespeople over-complicating things? Because when we drill it down to the fundamentals, it makes a lot of sense, right?
“If you’re continuously talking, you’re not hearing the prospect say I want to buy it now.” Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [25:06]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Well, first thing I’ll tell you is something you probably already know, salespeople love to talk, okay? So, there’s a lot of words that are wasted, that are not necessary. And one of the constants that I write about is the importance of listening and learning. So there’s a saying in sales, that if you’re continuously talking, you’re not hearing the prospect say I want to buy it now, okay? So salespeople have to learn how to listen carefully. And one of the negatives of most salespeople, and by the way, I was guilty of this also, until I learned not to, is interrupting a prospect when they’re talking and they hear something that they want to respond to immediately. And they interrupt the prospect. That is a constant that’s got to be changed. And it’s simple. Let the prospect finish completely. Once they have finished completely saying what they were saying or asking whatever they want to ask, whatever it is, then sales person has to do three things.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Number one, they have to repeat what the prospect said. Number two, they have to answer the prospect’s question verbally. And number three, they’ve got to get the prospect to understand that they truly believe that what the prospect said was important. And they did that by listening to everything and repeating what they said before providing their response. That’s a constant because that happens all the time, that I see myself. I go to events and I’m talking to other salespeople, and I’m in the middle of saying something and they interrupt me right in the middle to tell me what their response is, when they haven’t even heard me finish.
Samuel D. Osborne :
Yeah, can I interrupt you?
Will Barron:
I’ve been holding back from jumping in and making that joke for the past 45 seconds, and you did it before me Samuel.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
I’m trying to keep him on pins and needles, but yes, you can.
“If you listen to what a prospect is saying, you can listen for what they truly value. And when you repeat back to them that your product or service is going to help them meet that value, they are more likely to buy from you.” – Samuel D. Osborne · [27:24]
Samuel D. Osborne :
I want to interrupt you good and proper and say that if you listen to what a prospect is saying, you can listen for what they truly value. And when you repeat back to them that your product or service is going to help them meet that value, they are more likely to buy from you. As simple as that. And I have looked into the different sort of neuro-linguistic sales processes that say ask questions, get rapport, listen for the value, and then connect the value to your product. And the prospect will say, “Well, if your product or service meets my value, then yeah, I want it.” So I’m listening for a higher level of belief, or thought, or value that is dominant in the prospect’s mind. And then I’m speaking at that level.
Parting Thoughts · [28:16]
Will Barron:
Got it. Just to wrap up, is there anything I’ve missed here? Are there any huge bang for buck constants that we could not possibly end the show without mentioning?
“I think by putting yourself out there and having the confidence to show people who you are, that’s going to be reflected in the results that you get. So what I want to say to the salespeople out there is step outside your comfort zone and go and meet people face-to-face in a range of situations.” – Samuel D. Osborne · [29:14]
Samuel D. Osborne :
I’m going to talk about the most human one here, and that is how Harvey and I met and how this book came to be is that I moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and knew no one. But I knew in my mind, I have to go and meet people. If I want to be successful here in all different areas, I’m going to have to go and put myself in uncomfortable social situations. And that means going in meeting new people, going by myself, travelling distances around Los Angeles, which is huge, and putting my hand out and introducing myself. And as a result, perhaps through divine providence or something like that, I met this guy at a Chamber Of Commerce meeting. And I think by putting yourself out there and having the confidence to show people who you are, that it’s going to be reflected in the results that you get. So I want to say to the salespeople out there is step outside your comfort zone and go and meet people face-to-face in a range of situations. That’s something I definitely want people to know.
Will Barron:
Is there anything you’d add to that Harvey?
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Well, there’s a lot I could add, [crosstalk 00:29:43]…
Close More Deals By Agreeing to Disagree in Sales · [29:42]
Will Barron:
What’s the one thing? What’s the one biggest impact change that we can make now that will serve us for the next 20 years in our sales career?
“How do you tell a prospect they’re wrong without telling them they’re wrong? That’s easy. I call it agree to disagree. So you say something that I think is not correct. And what I’ll respond is by saying, “Will, you bring up an extremely good point and here’s the way we resolve that issue.” Now, I’ve agreed with the prospect, but I did tell them they’re wrong by telling them how we address it.” – Harvey J. Eisenstadt · [30:46]
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
I’m going to give you the answer, and then I want to just give you a little explanation, okay? Remember when I said earlier, to me it’s the most important thing, that sales is a people-to-people business. That you have to be able to communicate to somebody, in front of somebody, and understand what it is that’s important to them. But there’s a lot of constants. And other constant that I find that is extremely important is what I call agree to disagree. A sales person can end a sales call like this, by just telling a prospect they’re wrong when they say something that’s blatantly wrong. But you’re a human being. Human beings don’t like to hear that they’re wrong. So how do you tell a prospect they’re wrong without telling them they’re wrong? That’s easy. I call it agree to disagree.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
So you say something that I think is not correct. And what I’ll respond is by saying, “Will, you bring up an extremely good point and here’s the way we resolve that issue.” Now, I’ve agreed with the prospect, but I did tell them they’re wrong by telling them how we address it. And too many salespeople don’t do that. The first thing they say, “No, no, no, that’s not correct.” I tell salespeople in my classes that I run, you say that, and you can guarantee that sales call is over and they may let you ramble on for a few more minutes. So that to me is an extremely important constant that happens over and over again. And there’s a myriad of them. Many of them are in my book.
Will Barron:
I’m making notes here because I’ll use that next time my girlfriend tries and starts an argument with me. That seems like a subtle way of getting myself out the door and escaping.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
The best thing is that when she says to you, “Get out,” don’t tell her she’s wrong.
Harvey’s Advise to His Younger Self on How to Become Better at Selling · [32:15]
Will Barron:
Okay. Well, if she shouts, I run for the nearest window, I think. Well, with that chaps, I’ve got one final question. I’ll throw it to you, Harvey, because I feel like with your experience in this, you’ll have a really insightful answer for us. It’s something I ask everyone that comes on the show, and that is, if you could go back in time and speak to your younger self, what would be the one piece of advice you’d give him to help him become better at selling?
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
I think that what I would probably tell them is if you’re young and you’re just getting into the field of sales, don’t hold anything back. Whatever is on your mind, whatever you feel you need to know more about, go after it. And in conjunction with that, what I did Will, and I think this was helpful to me and I think it’ll be helpful to anybody is spend as much time as you can listening to the salespeople that are successful. And I’d like to put one more in there.
Will Barron:
Okay. You’re twisting my arm here.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Get a mentor. Mentor is very, very important. And the mentor that you get, there’s a simple way to find one. You want your mentor to be someone who is where you want to be. And if you get a mentor, listen to them, follow their advice, success is imminent.
Battle Tested: 28 Winning Sales Philosophies · [33:39]
Will Barron:
Love it. That’s really empowering. I appreciate that Harvey. With that Samuel, tell us where we can find the book and where we can find more about both you chaps.
Samuel D. Osborne :
Okay. The book is available at Harvey’s website, hjesales.com. It is also available on amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and lulu.com. And that’s where it’s available.
Will Barron:
Amazing stuff. And where can we find both you guys? Give us Harvey’s website again for anyone who didn’t catch it at the top of the show.
Samuel D. Osborne :
Harvey’s website is hjesales.com. And mine is osborneinstitute.com. And we’re on Instagram @harveyandsamuel. We’re on LinkedIn, individually, Samuel D. Osborne, Harvey J. Eisenstadt . And we’re also on Facebook @harveyandsamuel.
Will Barron:
Amazing stuff. I’ll link to all of that in the show notes of this episode over at salesman.org. And I want to thank you both for your time, your insights on this. I want to thank you, Harvey, in particular for being in this space, this industry for all these years. We appreciate it, mate. We appreciate your insights. And I want to thank you both for joining us on the show.
Harvey J. Eisenstadt:
Thank you very much. And just remember, you got the greatest generation and the millennials working together. That’s a big one.
