Transcribed for the business coach program at Thrive15.com
Robert Zoellner: Remain calm. You just- Keep your business coach focus.
Clay Clark: Okay. Phil I wanna get your take on this to. I discovered through my career and read through sales books is, “he who speaks first loses.” So, the idea is if you’re sitting down with a customer and you believe in your product. And you’ve laid out the plan, formulate out the product. You say, “hey, do you wanna get started this day or that day, or do you wanna sign here or there?”
Robert Zoellner: You wanna pay with credit or debit? Then you sit there.
Clay Clark: I wanna ask you this Phil, when you’re talking to somebody, helping them lay out their financial future. You’ve laid out a plan and they feel good about it and you feel good about it. What about the listener who feels almost like they don’t want to pressure someone, they don’t want to feel embarrassed to ask for the deal. What advise would you have for the Thriver listening who’s like, “I just feel like that part is so stressful asking for the deal.”
Phil Pickle: What you do is kind of wait for them to respond. Usually in my situation, they’re so static that they have to come down and realize, hey this is a great deal but I need to focus and get this done. It’s definitely a sense of urgency that you have to create, but you don’t have to create it by pressuring them to sign the paper.
Clay Clark: I want to ask this Phil as a business coach client. You do, some of the products you do and obviously you do financial planning with people. One of the ones you do is an Asset Evaluation. Is that right?
Phil Pickle: That is correct.
Clay Clark: Evaluation and analysis. What does that mean?
Phil Pickle: That’s basically on an individual sense, taking what they have now and putting together a plan of where they need to be for retirement.
Clay Clark: Yeah.
Phil Pickle: Seeing how far they’ve gotten. Then devising a plan to get them where they need to go.
Clay Clark: So you’re saying, once you’ve sat down with somebody and helped them lay out their financial future. They’re pretty ectatic about it.
Phil Pickle: Right.
Clay Clark: [inaudible 00:47:52] just asking for the deal, right?
Phil Pickle: Right. It’s basically … I’m going to show them the road map how to get there.
Clay Clark: Okay.
Phil Pickle: That’s exciting in itself for a lot of folks, because they don’t know how to get a real retirement going. They don’t know what they need. They’ve got somebody telling them, put $100 into a 401k plan and your retirements taken care of. Well, that’s not the case. We show them the actual roadmap. They’re excited about the programs that we have to get them there. It’s just up to them to implement.
Clay Clark: Now Z, what’s the next business coach move?
Robert Zoellner: You’ve covered several of these right there when you had this conversation. The second one is, you always want to do a proposal in writing. People are always … they hear a lot of things during the day, so if you can give it to them in writing, it carries much more weight when you’re getting ready to close the deal.
Clay Clark: I know when you’re working with Phil … for anybody who doesn’t know who you guys are or how to get a hold of you. What’s your website? What’s your phone number?
Phil Pickle: We are Myanchorgroup.com is our website. Phone number 918-591-2880
Clay Clark: If I’m listening right now and I’m trying to listen to you while having Oklahoma Joe’s, I’ve got a lot going on here. I’m trying to eat my Oklahoma Joe’s, tryna have my baked beans while also listening to the show here. At the end of the day here, you’re financial planners. That’s correct?
Phil Pickle: That is correct.
Clay Clark: Okay. When you make a plan, when you say we’re gonna invest in these particular financial, whether it’s an annuity, or a mutual fund, or these particular financial products. Why do you want to have something in writing and not just a bunch of hyperbole. You’re speaking verbally. Why do you want … for anybody listening and struggling with the idea of why they need to write down something specific. Why would you advise to do that?
Phil Pickle: Well first of all, anytime anybody talks about putting goals together and that’s what we’re doing a lot of cases. You always want to write down those goals so you can review them. It helps the client to understand what we’re going with. After the meeting they can go back and review what we had written down and what we show them.
They don’t always catch everything the first time they talk with me. Sometimes they don’t catch it the 10th time when they talk to me. But, they’ll have the notes and they’ll have the proposal to review and that’s critical.
Clay Clark: Here’s a motivational shirt for applying sales pressure Z, that you also did not let me print.
Robert Zoellner: Yeah. What was it?
Clay Clark: The shirt said, “The pros go slow and only a (silent) goes fast.” It says, “The pros go slow and only a bleep goes fast.
Robert Zoellner: Yeah. I didn’t want you to print that one in the business coach room either.
Clay Clark: The thing is, honestly, when you talk super fast at your sales prospect and nothing’s written down. You get known as a fast talker, a scammer, a whatever you insert in the blank. No one wants to be sold to that way.
Robert Zoellner: Nobody wants to be sold that way. Most business coach clients start out that way in the beginning. That goes into my number, step three. Communicate clearly. You want to be able to … you don’t want to talk quickly but you want to talk efficiently. You want to be able to tell your business story in less than a minute. You want to be able to summarize and get to the point quickly. That doesn’t mean you talk real slow and take forever. Nobody wants that. You have to be efficient but you have to communicate clearly.
Clay Clark: I’ll give you an example. Before the business coach days when we would sit down with brides and grooms at DJ Connection, before the business coach days, they would say … we would say how familiar are you with our company? They would say, what, kind of heard a little bit about you. You’d say, how familiar are you with the industry? We had a questionnaire. We would ask them about their wedding, but then we would get into conveying what we do. I would say, there’s five things that DJ Connection does that nobody else does.
One, we have unlimited time. Which means, we’ll be out there till two in the morning if you grandma wants to or we’ll wrap it up at 10 p.m. Whatever you guys want. Two, any music you want we’ll go and get that for you. Except for Michael Bolton. We just don’t play it for safety concerns.
Robert Zoellner: Oh you do to play Michael Bolton.
Clay Clark: We would go through and we would speak to them in it with energy, but we weren’t talking like the micro machine guy going 90 miles an hour, like an auctioneer at one of those auctions. It wasn’t that fast. Phil why is it so important when engaging with a financial planner when you work with clients. Why is it so important from your perspective to speak slowly and communication clearly?
Phil Pickle: It comes back to them understanding what you’re saying and letting it sink in. Not just talking over them and talking too fast. Them not getting a clear picture. This is serious stuff. This is … we’re sitting down talking to them about having a real retirement. Not survivorment a retirement.
Clay Clark: Oh. Not a survivorment-
Phil Pickle: No.
Clay Clark: Phil I wanna ask you, cuz one of the things you have. It’s a serious product for people. You have this group cost recovery program. Talk to me. What does that mean? Give me the clear, what does it mean. What is it? I’m listening to the show. This is your opportunity. You tell me about this product.
Phil Pickle: What this is and we worked with businesses for several years on their 401k plans or group health insurance. Financial and insurance product where we try to go in and we try to get them a good deal get a retirement plan started or we try to save them money on their premiums. When we come across another program and cost recover program for businesses, it puts money back in the businesses pocket on things that they’re already doing. That they’re not even aware that they’re eligible for.
Clay Clark: How are you doing this?
Phil Pickle: One of the big parts of the cost segregation part, it’s an engineer based study that looks at the real estate, commercial real estate and reclassified it and gets accelerated depreciation. This one, it helps 9 out of 10 businesses out there, commercial property owner. It’s a big one. Pick your industry. Hotels for instance, on average, we’re putting $240,000 back into the business owners pockets.
Clay Clark: Real quick. Let’s don’t forget this. I’m listening right now, let’s say that I have a commercial property. You could look at it and see that perhaps with new laws, new legislation. There’s a way to reclassify the way that the property is zoned. The way that it’s treat … the way that it could be classified on your taxes.
if somebody is new to the term of depreciation. You could essentially devalue or write off the value of the property faster and actually put cash in the pocket of the owner?
Phil Pickle: That is correct.
Clay Clark: Your kind of like the Santa Clause.
Phil Pickle: Exactly.
Clay Clark: I kind of like this Z. What’s the next move Z?
Robert Zoellner: The next move is a little sound self evident. It’s something that doesn’t come natural to a lot of people and sometimes you have to practice it. It’s to make eye contact. That’s very very important.
Clay Clark: That is very stressful for somebody who’s never done it before. You’re really good at that.
Robert Zoellner: Because I practiced a lot. I know it’s important.
Clay Clark: I have seen you do this in uncomfortable situations when you’re in a meeting and the things aren’t going well. I’ve seen you look at everybody in the eye and galvanize everybody around a common goal or you’re able to … no, but seriously, so many managers when things get tough that’s when they won’t make eye contact.
Robert Zoellner: Right.
Clay Clark: Encourage the Thriver out there. Tell them what to do. If they’re struggling with eye contact, what’s the move?
Robert Zoellner: Real practice. You’ve got to practice. I know it sounds weird. You can’t just practice on yourself. You gotta get somebody. As weird as it sounds … and have communication with them. Every time they catch you not looking in their eye’s they get to reach up and pop you.
Clay Clark: You know how I practiced? I’m a Judaeo Christian, so I went around the mall trying to convert people. Just look at them in the eye for hours and hours-
Robert Zoellner: Did you scare them just staring them down?
Clay Clark: No I didn’t try that. But that might be a move.
Robert Zoellner: That’s not creepy at all. That’s not creepy at all.
Clay Clark: That might be a move. That might be a move that we don’t in tours, but it could be a move. Z, what’s the next move?
Robert Zoellner: You just gotta practice it. I now this sounds silly but you always gotta have a pen. You want to close the deal? You want to seal the deal? Now all of a sudden, you don’t have a pen on you.-
Clay Clark: The power of the pen.
Robert Zoellner: I know it sounds crazy but you always make sure you got that pen. Pen for the deal. You gotta do the deal.
Clay Clark: The pen is great because the pen … the mind will forget but the pen does not. When we get back Phil’s is gonna be talking to us. He’s helped major companies, major owners, business people throughout Tulsa plan a very secure financial future. He’s been doing this for years. He’s gonna talk to us about how to persuade people. How to show people the evidence to show that your product is truly what people need. It’s incredible. I’m telling you what thrivers, you definitely want to come out to one of our in-person workshops. If you are struggling at all with sales. When you can’t sell, your business will go to Hades.
Go to thrivetimeshow.com and see there they can learn more about our in-person today, business workshops my man.
Robert Zoellner: You come out to the business coach workshops. The next one’s gonna be March 24-25. And you get your own personal Boom book. If you’re looking on Facebook live, here’s the actual copy of it. It has the 13 steps. We go through them all and it’s awesome.
Clay Clark: It is the worlds best business workshop. Check out the reviews. That’s Thrive Times Workshop. Go to thrivetimeshow.com to learn more. If you’ve ever worn roller skates, quad skates, if you ever been to Roller City, if you ever gone to that snack bar back in the eighties and bought yourself a big pickle? Your mom and dad dropped you off at that roller skating rink with like $5. You had $5, you played Galaga, you played Pinball. This song goes out to you. It’s the Thrive Time Show on your radio. The special roller skating, quad skate edition. Back in the day when denim was the standard. Z, do you remember that time?
Robert Zoellner: Yes. I’m 52 years old. Of course I remember that. That was back in the hey days. That was back in the good old days, when you wore denim on top of denim.
Clay Clark: I want to ask you this Phil. Phil Pickle here with Anchor Financial Group. Phil how old are you at this point? My friend. How old are you right now?
Phil Pickle: I am 47 years old today.
Clay Clark: 47. Do you remember going to roller skating parties? Did you ever do that?
Phil Pickle: I did. In grade school.
Clay Clark: Did you ever go to elementary school around this area? Where did you go to school?
Phil Pickle: No, I actually grew up in Missouri.
Clay Clark: In Missouri?
Phil Pickle: Yes. West Plains, Missouri. Around that area.
Clay Clark: Was that area big into roller … was roller skating big there as well?
Phil Pickle: It was. Smaller towns. We had the roller skating rink and that’s where everybody went on Thursday’s.
Clay Clark: My entire elementary experience while going to Lynn Wood Elementary in Broken Arrow was waiting to know if they were going to serve tater tots for lunch, and if the skating party was going to be this Friday. If there was, I would go out there skaten horribly, hugging the side wall. Waiting for that couples, the couples skate.
Phil Pickle: Oh yeah.
Clay Clark: I knew how to skate backwards just well enough that I could find a girl. Usually a girl named Ashley or an Amanda. Somebody for that 80’s kind of a name.
Robert Zoellner: Oh yeah.
Clay Clark: Might get them to dance with me under the black light special. It was an incredible time in American history. I’m thankful for Lynn Wood Elementary and for the gift of the quad skates. As we talk about high pressure persuasion. I’m sure to persuade Tulsa to go roller skating.
Robert Zoellner: Why not?
Clay Clark: It’s such a great use of time.
Robert Zoellner: It’s a great exercise. Full body workout. It works the core. Sam the Lumber Jack over here, our producer probably skates all the time. I would imagine.
Clay Clark: That’s all he’s doing. He’s got 40 hours a week booked just for roller skating. producing a business coach radio show and roller skating.
Robert Zoellner: Just for roller skating. We’re on step number six of the 12 closing commandments. This is one that we use here on the show. A matter of fact.
Clay Clark: Okay.
Robert Zoellner: That is using humor.
Clay Clark: Humor.
Robert Zoellner: Humor.
Clay Clark: You know actually who invented this actual move? Do you know who invented it?
Robert Zoellner: Who invented it?
Clay Clark: Hugh Morris. Not a business coach.
Phil Pickle: Not a business coach? Hugh Morris?
Clay Clark: Very good. Yes. I was waiting on that. That took me about … that was four hours to choose Phil’s birthday gift. The jar of pickles. Four more hours for that joke. That’s eight hours of my life I’ve invested in those awful jokes. It’ll get funnier later thrivers. It’s too early to get inebriated. It will get funnier over time.
Phil Pickle: That was crazy.
Clay Clark: Humor, this is the thing about humor I tell all my business coach clients. Humor creates likeability and people buy from people they like and trust. This is one of the biggest aspects we teach people in the sales portion of the business coach program.
Phil Pickle: You said it just so well earlier. You said we play in … you go to your DJ Connection, you have a little bride and her man to be sitting in front of you and you’re closing the deal on them. You use it right there. You said, we’ll play any kind of music you want except Michael Bolton.
Clay Clark: I’ll tell you why that was so funny. The mother of the bride came to plan a wedding. It’s not the bride’s wedding. No, no, no, the mother of the bride is there to plan her wedding and everything that she wanted to have happen at her wedding that was not done. She’s gonna make sure it gets done.
Phil Pickle: Oh yeah.
Clay Clark: The bride’s rolling her eyes and the mother of the bride back in the day was always tryna weasel in a Michael Bolton song here or there. When I say we’ll get any music you want except for Michael Bolton. It was funny to the bride who was driving in a station wagon with the mom who wanted to play Michael Bolton-
Robert Zoellner: Oh yeah.
Clay Clark: It was funny for the mom, cuz the mom wanted to play Michael Bolton. It was a conversation I knew they had. They’re like, “oh, it’s so true”
Robert Zoellner: Its so true.
Business coach information can be found at Thrive15.com