371: From Broke to Millions, How Effective Storytelling Propelled Tom Jackobs to Entrepreneurial Success

Show Notes

Tom started his first business as teenager with a mobile auto DJ/String Quartet.  Every Sunday, he would go through the paper looking at the bridal announcements, go to the white pages, and reverse lookup the address of the bride.   He would send them a demo tape and offer.  He went on to college and followed the typical path of working for someone, but realized pretty early on that being an employee was not a fit.  He was “the worst employee anyone could hire.”

He tried everything from a blinds business to a dance studio and more, but found his passion in fitness.  He was overweight and had health issues and through getting fit, he found people asking him for advice on how they could transform like he did.  That was the trigger.  He had a 6-figure oil and gas job at the time and in 2008, he quit his job and started fitness center.  In 6-months, he was almost out of business because he didn’t know how to sell.

He focused on learning how to sell and tell a story and brought the business back from the brink making it very successful.  He then went on to teach others how to sell and has built a successful business in the sales training and development space.

Talk to us about the state of selling.  What are people doing wrong?

It’s changing, but the old days get the prospect to “buy until they die” is going away, thankfully.

If someone is just learning tactics, that is the wrong approach.

The right approaching is a conversational, collaborate, problem solving approach.

It’s in that problem solving phase where the sale is made.

You can’t rely on tricks and tactics.

You mention process.  Define sales process and what are the key components?

It’s not about personality.  A process removes this.

The biggest thing is having a process to get to the root problem that a prospect is suffering to see if you can solve it.

Understanding what you can solve, getting the questions in the right order, so that it leads to a logical step forward for the prospect.

You know you’ve done it well when a prospect asks you to buy…

How do you get to a point where a prospect asks you to buy?

The process

Introduction/Rapport Building (what, why, what, why).

Paint the picture of the pain articulating it from what they tell you.

Show you are the solution to the problem because you understand it.

People will avoid pain more than gaining pleasure.  But you need to help them remove the pain, but pull them toward pleasure.

Then present the solution and by the time you are done, they should be ready move forward.

What are the components of a great story to sell?

The story is about making a deeper connection with the prospect.

There are 2 main stories.

The first is your personal story and why you are passionate about the product you are selling.

The Hero’s Journey is a good framework to use.

The second story is a success story of someone that you have helped.  A client success story.  You still use the Hero’s journey frame for this.

You should have multiple case studies stories so you can match that with the prospect you are speaking to.

What is the dramatic impact story framework?

It is an iteration on the Hero’s Journey.

It is best to just listen to Tom explain it at the 23 min mark.

How does someone create their own story?

Take inventory of your stories.

Write down all the different impact moments of your life.

Take time to remember each one.

You are looking for the telltale signs where you react physically and emotionally to the stories.  Take not of which ones you have the biggest reaction to.

You can then use those in your story (2-3)

Then write them out in the framework of the Hero’s Journey.

You have the P3 method.  Explain that.

Presentation:  The sales presentation/process.

Performance:  How do you preform your presentation?  Your voice and your body – how you move and use your voice to create emotion in others.  Voice tone make a difference in emphasizing what you are saying.

Profits:  Profiting from your presentation and performance.

What have you learned from being a pilot that has helped you as an entrepreneur?

There are many correlations

As a pilot, you have to course correct for wind changes just like in business where you have to course correct to keep the business going in the right direction.  Just being off 2 degrees could be the difference between flying to Chicago or San Francisco.

Preparedness.  Learning to fly, instructors put you through all kinds of scenarios to prepare for all the things that can wrong so you are ready to act and are trained.  In business, we should be ready and prepare ourselves for different things that could happen.

What advice would you get to a person wanting to make a leap from employee to entrepreneur?

Don’t burn the bridges, go all in, etc.

Take time to learn the business in a part-time fashion and get experience ahead of time.

Build some resources ahead of time.

Sales is the #1 skill every entrepreneur must learn!