On the heels of an unpredictable, yet robust and profitable year for many, small businesses are starting to incorporate unique strategies to close more deals. Whether you’re a manager or salesperson, our next guest will share skillful ways to build better customer relationships and close more often.
On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Matt Easton, sales trainer, consultant, and Founder of Easton University. Matt has gained popularity and quite a following on the social platform, TikTok as he shares his daily tips to becoming a top sales consultant.
Transcription:
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Thanks so much, Matt for joining us.
Matt Easton:
Jim, it’s great to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
I’m sure you’re a very busy person these days, and I love your TikTok videos.
Matt Easton:
Thank you.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
I know that so many people get so much out of them and we need those bursts each day and reminders of what needs to get done. Whether we’re a leader, manager, salesperson, whatever the case might be. We’re in sales, but we need that type of motivation. Also, techniques that you do provide in a very straightforward way.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
We appreciate you doing that. Talk to us about some of the things that you do talk to your students and your clients about with regard to winning through these difficult times. With COVID now, we’re going into our third year with it in dealing with it, but I’m sure that you’re asked that question a lot, “How do I succeed through all of this?”
Matt Easton:
Absolutely, Jim. You bring up a great point where I’ve gained notoriety in being a leader in sales training and helping people effectively communicate and negotiate, where I think these times over the last three years with everything that’s going on, where lot of people have started following me as well on the social side, is it’s not just about being effective in business.
Matt Easton:
It’s not just about being effective in sales, if we’re a leader, you there at the network, you still have to sell. “I want to get this story on.” We all have to sell, whether our job is sales. I think an added benefit, to me at least, in this incredible surge of a following is everything that I teach Jim, is not a trick, or a tactic, or a technique that you would use in your career, these are simple life skills.
Matt Easton:
It’s about listening to people in today’s world on the business side. No matter what industry you’re in, your customer has access to more information than ever before. Right here on their phone. They’ve got more choices than ever before. Where a lot of that old training doesn’t help us is it’s all about me understanding what’s going on in your situation, Jim.
Matt Easton:
Really listening to you and being empathetic, and then helping you make a decision. If that decision is with me, great. If that decision’s someplace else, I’m still going to win in the process. Where I teach things a little bit differently is, how do you communicate effectively? How do you really hear that other person that you’re talking to.
Matt Easton:
Then, help them make the decision for their own reasons. We found that there’s a lot of success there, whether it’s getting somebody to purchase an extended warranty on a vehicle, or just getting your kid to do their homework before hockey practice. It’s the same techniques work in any situation.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
You’re really asking people to change the way they look at things based on what got us here might not get us there kind of approach because the world has changed. Consumers are more demanding. They want more authenticity and more transparency from the companies they’re doing business with.
Matt Easton:
It’s just being more skillful. I think that’s where we’ve missed a lot, both in our professional life and our personal life is it’s not just as much as I want the best for you, Jim, and I want you to do business with me. I also have to be more skillful in the questions that I ask you and how I ask them.
Matt Easton:
I’ll give you a quick example. That one that just popped into my head on the extended warranty on a vehicle. Old school training, which there’s a lot of misinformation out there, some of its complete garbage would be this trick or manipulation of I’m going to ask you three questions that I’m going to get you to say yes on.
Matt Easton:
Then, I’m going to throw in the, “Do you want to buy the extended warranty?” At least for me, that’s gross. That feels uncomfortable. I wouldn’t want to use that in my personal life. “Jim, do you love the Tahoe?” Yes. “Are you planning on keeping it for more than three years?” Yes. “Do you want the extended warranty?” Yes.
Matt Easton:
Man, I was tricked into buying that. Would that work on your kid? I’ve got a son Anderson that plays hockey. “Anderson, how was school? Was it good?” Yes. “Are you looking forward to hockey practice?” Yes. “Do you want to do your homework before hockey practice?” No, dad.
Matt Easton:
A more skillful way would be, “Little buddy, does it make sense to do your homework before hockey practice?” “No, dad, I’m tired.” What’s a good next step then? Then, pause and listen. My son is going to go, “Well, I’m never going to get around to it after hockey practice. You’re going to take my iPad away. I’ll just do it.”
Matt Easton:
Now, flip that script into your business world. “I’m really excited for you Jim with the new Tahoe purchase. Does it make sense to add the warranty?” No. What’s a good next step? “Well, I am planning on keeping it for five years. Can you give me some more background on what it would cost me after?”
Matt Easton:
Now, you’re having a good discussion with somebody. Whether it’s your kid or your prospect. Now, look at how that would work in your career too. “We’ve got a new regional manager position. Does it make sense to put me in the role?” No, not right now. Perfect, what’s a good next step then?
Matt Easton:
“Well, what we’d like to see from you, Jim is if you could do a report and you could attend this meeting.” Just simple, life can be more simple if we can just learn to communicate more effectively with each other, instead of trying to trick people into getting our way.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
People nowadays because of all of the exposure that they have, whether it be their phone or their computer, their laptop, or what have you, they know that they’re being tricked today. They know that that’s a canned type of approach. They take a big hit as a sales associate or a business owner.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
When you take that approach with somebody that says, “I don’t really like that technique that you just used on me to get me saying, yes, yes, yes. All of a sudden, you slip in there $1,000 add on.”
Matt Easton:
You know what, Jim, I like data. At Eastern University, we do a lot of data and studies. I’ll be honest, I don’t have data on this one because it’s impossible to go back in time. Jim, I think we’ve always felt that, but I think all of this being locked down and having to be on social, I think all of that has really shined a light on doing things poorly.
Matt Easton:
I think small business owners, especially, there’s been a lot of them that have been successful because of hard work, but it’s almost despite some of the sales tricks they were using and they thought, “Well, that was good.” I just don’t think that’s going to really work ever again because now there’s just so many choices out there.
Matt Easton:
We have to be more skillful. We have to be more respectful. At the same time, we have to be purposeful in our conversations. I can’t just service, service, service and hope for the best.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
I’ve heard from a number of our viewers that say they’ve got a concern for their business and their salespeople that work for them. In that, there’s such a shortage of goods out there right now for a multitude of different reasons, supply chain, what have you.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Vehicles are tough to come by and store shelves have fewer and fewer items, whether you’re in the Marine business and can’t find the boat because it takes a year to have it built or, or a camper, or whatever the case might be. Their concern is that salespeople are forgetting how to actually take good care of customers and sell them an item.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Somebody comes in and says, “I want this X, Y, Z vehicle.” “Great, sign up for it right here because if you don’t somebody coming in right behind you is going to buy it.” We pushed away the sales approach or even building rapport or getting to know, building a relationship with that customer that comes in.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
It gets right to the, “We have it, you want it. There’s a very few limited number.” Then, that salesperson, when all of a sudden the shelves start to come back and the vehicles and the boats, and the campers, it’s going to be a tough road to hope for them.
Matt Easton:
You just brought up a great example, Jim is there’s a more skillful way to go about things and you just hit it spot-on of you and I could have the exact same intentions. Our intent is to let this customer understand that there’s shortages, whether it’s a vehicle. I work with one of the number one deck building companies in the country.
Matt Easton:
They have those same problems where I can get the wood today, but all bets are off. Next week that wood could be stuck in a ship that sideways in the Panama Canal. Our intentions are the same, I need to educate this customer. I want to serve it to this customer.
Matt Easton:
I’d like to get the sale, but I want you to listen. I’m going to replay what you just said and then I’m going to give you a different perspective on it. We both have the same intentions, but you say, “Matt, if you don’t grab this vehicle right now, it’s going to be gone. I mean, things are flying off the shelves. You need to grab this right now because you don’t want to lose your vehicle.”
Matt Easton:
When I hear that, I’m sorry, what we have to realize is our customers, our clients cannot go into our heart, and read our intentions. When I hear that, you know what automatically I hear is, “Come on.” I was born at night, but I wasn’t born last night. They’re putting pressure on me to buy.
Matt Easton:
Now, let me just flip the script on that. I’m going to say the exact same message, but I’m just going to make some changes. “Jim, I totally get it. I totally understand that you want to wait. This is an important and decision. This is an expensive vehicle. It makes perfect sense that you want to wait. I just want to be really clear with you, things have been absolutely crazy with inventory.”
Matt Easton:
We can grab this one right now, but there’s a pretty good chance if we wait, we’re going to miss out on that one. Don’t worry though, I’m the best guy in Atlanta. I’ve been doing this for a long time. If we miss this vehicle, I’ll work with you to find the next best one. Fair enough?”
Matt Easton:
Now, notice what I said there. I didn’t put any pressure on you. I’m not being sleazy, I’m not being manipulative, but then there’s a key and I teach a lot of simple psychology, not complex psychology. Listen to the simple psychology of, “Jim, don’t worry. If we miss out on this one, I’ll work with you to find the next best one.”
Jim Fitzpatrick:
[crosstalk 00:11:44] that seed in the consumer that goes, “I don’t want to miss out on it.”
Matt Easton:
Does anybody in, I would say America, but I think it’s the whole world, who wants the next best of anything? That’s not being pushy.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
You’re putting them really in the driver’s seat, no pun intended, but that’s really what you’re doing.
Matt Easton:
Whether it’s getting your kid to do their homework, if you’re single getting a date with somebody, getting a sale, getting a raise at work, isn’t it better to have systems where people are making that decision based on their reasons and not your reasons?
Matt Easton:
Jim, if you decide to hire me as your junior anchor, based on your reasons, “Matt’s great. It makes a lot of sense to bring him in here.” Versus me going, “Jim, you got to make me a junior.” It doesn’t work in relationships. It doesn’t work with your kids. It does not work in sales.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right. Customers remember, they’ve got a long memory. They know how they’re going to be treated today in order to acquire that vehicle in this case, or whether a hot tub or whether it be a pool table, or whatever it might be that you’re selling at the time, they’re going to remember that when those shelves are fully stocked, or that lot is fully stocked of cars, how you treated them.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
They’re going to be buying more products in the future, but they might not choose you if they remember how negative that actual sale went.
Matt Easton:
You bring up a great point too. It’s not just that sale, Jim going so far off the rails that they’re like, “I want to talk to a manager and it’s a horrible experience.” It could just feel a little gross. They’re not going to remember you. It could just feel a little gross and they’re not going to refer business your way.
Matt Easton:
Let’s say, I’m in Atlanta and I’ve got a small business. My small business is I’m a personal trainer, right? I’m selling personal training sessions. You’re like, “Man, thank you, Matt. This was a great session. I really appreciated this.” Again, that old tactic. “Jim, I’m glad you liked it. Could I grab the names and numbers of three of your friends?”
Matt Easton:
Immediately, you just went from being wonderful and collaborative to gross. Nobody wants, “I’m Matt. I’m Jim’s personal trainer. He’s bench pressing 500 pounds.” Instead, if I just flipped the script on that, “Jim, I am so glad you love the session. Just out of curiosity, you don’t know other people? Don’t worry, I don’t want to know their names. I don’t want to know their emails. I don’t want to know anything about them.”
Matt Easton:
I work with a lot of people at the networks. There’s a lot of people. “Perfect, Jim, the next time you’re hanging around them. If anybody’s like, “Man, you’re looking good.” They want to get fit, will you let them know how easy it is to book personal training with me? How wonderful the sessions have been and how great the service is?”
Matt Easton:
Now, you see how I flipped the script there. I didn’t ask you for any names of your friends, your family, or anybody. I just waited for you to say thank you because when we say thank you what those words mean, where they came from is I will be thinking of you until I can repay this debt. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s where the word comes from.
Matt Easton:
When I hear the words, thank you. Instead of putting pressure and trying to spin that into a gross way, “I really appreciate it. You wouldn’t happen to know anybody else? Don’t worry, I don’t want to know their names, their phone numbers. Just let them know how great the training has been. How wonderful.”
Jim Fitzpatrick:
When you say that the individual, as I just felt, then when you said it, in this example, you want to help that individual. Now, you’ll go out of your way at the water cooler or to your friends or what have you. You don’t have that element of, “They’re going to call everybody that I know.” You know what I mean?
Matt Easton:
Bingo. If you’re anything like me, Jim, if you’re anything like most people, as soon as I said, “Can I have the names and numbers of your.” You feel it in your stomach. It’s almost like acid reflux. You’re like, “Here we go again.” You’re going back to that knock on your door with the kid that’s like, “Your neighbor down the street says you should get solar energy.”
Matt Easton:
You’re like, “What neighbor? I want to make sure I toilet paper their house.” The other way, the other way of, “Next time you’re hanging out with them, if anybody needs, let them know how wonderful the training has been. How easy it is to book a session with me. How great the service has been.”
Matt Easton:
Now, all of a sudden, you’re going, “You got to talk to my guy.” Somebody else, “I just did Pilates.” You’re going to go out your way and be like, “You’ve got to talk to my guy, Matt. He’s way better.” That’s what we want. We want relationships. Yes, raving fans, relationships.
Matt Easton:
We want those people that are walking around with their face swollen. They’re like, “You got to go see my dentist. My dentist is the best.” It looks like you got punched in the face.” No, they’re great. That’s what we want.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s exactly right. Matt Easton, it’s no wonder you’ve got the following that you do on social media. Keep up the great work. As you can see folks, this guy knows what he’s talking about. Check him out on TikTok. Also, check him out online. Is it eastonuniversity.com, Matt?
Matt Easton:
You bet. Easton, E-A-S-T-O-N university.com. That’s the handle for TikTok and Instagram as well, Easton University. Wherever people want to find me, you can find me through Easton University. If you want to talk live, call our offices, they know where to find me wherever I am in the world, I’d be happy to have a conversation with you.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Fantastic. We’re showing all the information on the screen right now. Matt Easton, thank you so much for joining us on the show. I know that our viewers and subscribers will get a lot out of your visit it here today. Thank you. Look forward to the next time.
Matt Easton:
Anytime, Jim. It’s an honor and a privilege, I’m a big fan. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Great. Thanks so much.
Matt Easton:
Thanks, Jim.
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