Assume the Sale: Unlocking Top Performer Mindset with Dominic Caminata of Grosso University

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome to Close it now, thepodcast that's revolutionizing the
H Vac and home improvementtrades industries.
Get ready to dive deep intothe world of heating, ventilation
and air conditioning.
We're turning up the heat onindustry standards and cooling down
misconceptions.
And we're not just talkingabout fixing vents and adjusting

(00:21):
thermostats.
It's about the transformativemovement that's reshaping the very
foundation of H Vac and home improvement.
We're the driving force,inspiring top performers who crave
excellence not only in theirprofessional endeavors, but also
in fitness, nutrition,relationships and personal growth,
proving that we can indeedhave it all.

(00:44):
This is Close it now, whereexcellence meets excitement.
Let's get to work now yourhost, Sam Wakefield.
Well, all right.
Welcome back.
Close It Now.
Sam Wakefield here.
I am so stoked to have thisguest today.

(01:06):
This is a gentleman I met abit about a year ago, a little over
a year ago in Houston, Texas,at our mutual friend, Stephen Martinez.
His.
His event, the American Dream Conference.
Make sure to check that out.
That is a incredible event andalso a big mission that we both support.

(01:26):
But today, this gentleman, he.
I've been so impressed.
I've got to.
We met there, didn't know whohe was at the time, didn't know anything
about the history of hisorganization, and across this last
year, realized that, holy cow,I was sitting in the presence of
greatness.
And as I've gotten to know himfrom afar, we have lots of mutual

(01:47):
friends that mutually respect him.
This is the CEO and founder ofGrasso University.
This is Dominic Caminata, andhe is here today to light some fire
under you because.
So if you don't know GrassoUniversity, they are the leading.

(02:07):
The leading.
And I would definitely secondthis training organization in all
of home services.
So they know exactly whatthey're doing.
They have a heck of a programand I'm excited to learn more about
it today as well.
But we're sitting here withone of the world's greatest closers
on the planet.

(02:28):
So, Dominic, welcome to theshow, man.
Thank you.
That's a heck of anintroduction, man.
So my head's going to be toobig to walk out the door.
Oh, no, no, no.
I know that's not true.
No, I just want to saycongrats to you as well.
Obviously you had your firstevent this year and I heard it was
absolutely amazing.
I've been following you aswell, ever since we met at the American

(02:49):
Dream Conference and obviouslythe quality and caliber of training
that you're providing to Homeservices, from what I hear, is second
to none as well.
So kudos to you, congrats onthe podcast and thanks for having
me on.
Appreciate that, man.
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, this is a fun month.
It's the six year anniversaryof the podcast, which has been really.

(03:09):
It's consistency over time iswhere success happens.
You know what episode numberthis is, how many episodes you've
done?
Oh, I don't.
We're pushing 250 though.
That's what I'll need to getthe specifics in.
I know a lot of people trackevery single episode.
This is number such and such.
And yeah, yeah, after yourfirst 10 or 15, then you're like,

(03:30):
oh, who cares?
Yeah, I did that for about.
That's about how many I didthat with.
It's about 15.
And then it's like, you know what?
I'm, I'm too busy to thinkabout that.
I'm doing all the rest.
And sometimes when you say theepisode number, you kind of, you
know, pigeonhole yourself towhen you can release certain episodes.
Because I've actually had itwhere I film multiple episodes within
a few days.

(03:51):
But I'm like, I would like,you know, episode 18 to be released
before episode 16.
So then I just started saying,you know, welcome to our next podcast
instead of saying the specificepisode number.
So, you know, 100%.
I think that's probably whathappened because I had some guests
a few times that, oh man, thiswas important.
I want to bump it in front of,you know, we did event, you know,

(04:12):
building towards events orsomething that were real time specific
and had others recorded and scheduled.
And.
But, but it happens.
But.
And that's adaptability.
That's, that's what we have tohave in what we do.
Yeah.
Which is a cool topic.
But so let's start with this.
I always like to get all ofthe guests on the show a little bit
of a highlight reel.
How in the world did you getto where I heard.

(04:33):
Of course I've heard yourstory a couple times, but I know
our guests haven't.
And in fact, you know, it's,it's really interesting to me how
a lot of times in generallyspeaking there's all of home services.
However, so many times thethree verticals that get really siloed
away from the rest of homeservices are H vac, plumbing and

(04:56):
electrical.
And for some reason it's itsown little world.
And so I've made it a bigmission to bring in people from outside
of that space because there'sso much to learn and So a lot of
people in my communityprobably have never heard of Grassdale
University or of you.
So I'd love to have ahighlight reel of who you are, how
you earned your right to besitting in the seat, how you, you

(05:18):
know, lead the organization,every bit of that.
So give us a snapshot, man.
How.
What's your history?
Like, how'd you get here?
Yeah, I appreciate that.
So my journey started back in 2010.
I actually went to auniversity here in Wisconsin, so
I'm based out of Madison,Wisconsin, for those watching this
that don't know.
And there was a Division 3business school called UW Whitewater

(05:40):
that I attended out of highschool, and, like many college students,
really had no idea what I wasgoing to do after college.
I did go for entrepreneurship,which I highly recommend for anybody
that's going to collegebecause it gives you a lot of options,
a lot of opportunities, justsimply learning the general framework
of how to write a businessplan and financials and sales and

(06:02):
marketing, stuff like that.
But there is this competitionthat UW Whitewater had every single
year called the CEO BusinessPlan Competition, and that that stands
for the CollegiateEntrepreneurship Organization Business
Plan Competition.
So out of 14,000 students,you're able to submit your business
plan.
And it's kind of like SharkTank in a way, where you work your

(06:26):
way through different levelsof this competition, and then the
very end is where you'reliterally pitching and presenting
your business idea in front ofa panel of judges and potential investors.
Nice.
And this was actually the real deal.
These were real world experience.
And one thing I reallydiscovered about myself in college,

(06:47):
because, you know, I struggledall through high school.
I always joked about.
I said I was in the 50% of myclass and made the top 50% possible,
you know, not very good, like,at taking tests.
But in college, I reallydiscovered that I had a knack for
giving presentations.
I always excelled anytime wewere doing, like, a group presentation
or getting in front of peopleand just speaking.

(07:07):
And I never really knew thatabout myself until I went to college.
It was very interesting.
So I entered this businessplan competition, and it was for
a prototype demolitionattachment called DDC's dismantler.
So a lot of people don't knowthis, but throughout my childhood,
I was in demolition.
So my father owned ademolition company.
So literally, buildings down,I literally had a sledgehammer in

(07:30):
my hand ever since I could walk.
That's why I got the big arms,you know?
But literally, I.
I grew up in the trades.
I grew up in construction.
I've had jobs from demolitionto concrete masonry, roofing houses,
siding houses, working forwindow companies.
You know, a lot of real likegrunt work, bull work.
So I had that sounds like isbanging on something in every single

(07:52):
one of those positions.
Yeah, exactly.
Just smack, smack.
They all require a hammer ofdifferent sizes and shapes.
Right.
So anyway, I had that background.
So I actually invented aproduct with my dad called the Dismantler.
And it was essentially anattachment that mounts on the front
of skid loaders like a Bobcatskid loader.
And you could basically do allphases of a demolition project without

(08:14):
the use of hand tools.
So it dramatically improvesafety and productivity while exponentially
increasing profitability of anorganization and obviously not having
the risk of injury and allthat stuff.
So I get up in front of allthese bankers and investors and I
had a really dialed inbusiness plan and I give my master
presentation.
So I took first place in thewhole competition out of everyone

(08:37):
in the university.
I got a $5,000 check and I gotan automatic A in three of my classes,
which means I didn't have totake the final exam.
So imagine my relief beingenough to take the damn test.
Right.
Easy button.
Yeah.
And that's when I'm like, man,I think I got a knack for giving
presentations.
I'm not sure how that's goingto apply to my life, but that really

(08:59):
solidified my belief that Ican give a really good presentation.
So I graduated from college,still don't know what I want to do.
And it was my mother thatsuggested I look for a job to be
an estimator for aconstruction company.
Because I had the backgroundin the construction industry and
the trades.
I had my business degree.
It's a way I can still beactive in construction without doing
the physical labor.

(09:20):
And the estimators.
These project estimators makepretty decent money.
So I went on the Googlemachine and started researching estimation
jobs construction.
And I came across this ad on Craigslist.
And the, the hook on the ad here.
Yeah, it was, it was a rare opportunity.
That's what the ad said.

(09:40):
A rare opportunity.
I'm like, I'm looking for arare opportunity.
So I look at the ad and isthis ad posted by Mad City Roofing,
siding and Windows.
People that don't know MadCity, I'll get to like who they are
here in just a minute.
But I was reading this ad andit said in home presentations, I'm
like, I can do that, I cangive presentations, right?

(10:02):
And it said selling homeimprovement products like roofing,
siding and Windows.
I'm like, I just, I'veinstalled that stuff before.
I know how to do this.
Like, this is the two thingscoming together that I want to do.
Yeah.
And then I'm looking at the add.
It says you don't have togenerate your own leads.
I'm like, well, that's prettyideal because I don't know the first
thing about that.
And then I look at the income potential.
It said you can make anywherefrom 150 to 200,000 your first year.

(10:27):
And my job dropped.
I mean, coming fresh out ofcollege, that seemed like a million
dollars, 150 grand.
I didn't think it was real.
So naturally I call on the adand I talked to this amazing woman
named Liana, and arguably sheis one of the most talented people
on the phone I've ever had theprivilege of talking to.
Like, when it came to sellingMad City, selling the dream, immediately

(10:47):
I was just like, I have towork here.
So she set me up an interviewwith Nathan Richmond, who had just
came to Mad City and broughtwith him the Grosso 10 step sales
methodology.
And this was written by mymentor, Rick Grosso.
Okay, so those people watchingthis podcast, some may have heard
of Rick Grasso, some may haven't.

(11:09):
But pretty much in the homeimprovement industry, you had Dave
Yoho and Rick Grasso fordecades as the dominant sales trainers
and consultants in the industry.
And as a matter of fact, manyof the largest companies in the industry
today were influenced in oneway or the other by either Dave Yoho
or Rick Gro.
And when Nathan Richmondbrought the Grosso 10 step sales

(11:31):
methodology to Mad City, MadCity had just switched from being
a storm restoration company,you know, chasing storms, bidding
jobs for cost.
They were leaving estimates inthe mailbox.
They were known as the lowprice competitor in town.
And as a result of that, theywere $800,000 in debt, on the verge
of going bankrupt.
So Nathan came and changed itall around.

(11:53):
Had to let go of much of theteam and kind of rebuild and no longer
focusing on order taking andselling on price.
We're going to talk about value.
We're going to sell premium products.
We're going to be known as theRolls Royce, dealer of the home improvement
space in this city.
So that was his mission.
Right?
And thankfully, I was one ofhis first hires.
So now I came into Mad Citywith zero sales experience.

(12:16):
No sales experience at all,Some would say.
I didn't know the first thingabout closing.
I didn't know how to close thedoor with the wind behind me.
But I had this paint by number system.
So have you ever heard of asales process being referred to as
a paint by number system, Sam?
Absolutely.
Okay, so paint by numbers.
I don't know about you, but ifyou gave me a blank canvas and asked
me to paint something onthere, it would look horrendous.

(12:38):
Like a two year old just threwsome paint at it and called her a
day.
But my wife and Ioccasionally, it's something we enjoy
doing.
We'll buy these paint bynumber systems and essentially gives
you the canvas.
It gives you all the differentsections on the canvas.
They're all clearly numberedand it matches the numbers of every
paint swatch, every paint color.
So let's say I have a 10 steppaint by number system.

(12:59):
I got 10 paint colors.
As long as I can follow basicinstructions, I can create masterpieces.
Yeah, no doubt.
And this becomes replicatableand duplicatable even if I'm not
a natural artist.
So that's exactly what theright sales process can do.
It can take somebody that'smaybe not a natural born salesperson
and it can show them the stepby step proven way to create sales

(13:21):
masterpieces.
So I get into training.
I started at Mad City.
This was about, I think it wasMay or June of 2010.
I started as an outsidesalesperson, learned this system
having never done this before.
I ended up closing my firstseven sales in a row, not having
a clue what I was even doing.
And I was robotic to a fault.

(13:41):
Sam.
I was like, that was step one,the intro.
John and Mary let me go on tostep two.
Now the needs assessment andor survey.
That's how I was talking inthe house.
Oh, I love it.
You're literally reading thebullet, telling them the bullet points
of each step.
Yep.
My transitions was literallytelling him which step I just completed
and what step was about tofollow it.
I feel like there's a massivelesson here though.
Yeah.

(14:01):
But the thing is crazy, it was working.
So I closed my first sevensales in a row and I started to quantify
immediately.
Like, holy Lord, I just madelike $10,000.
What if I could do that every week?
What if I could do that allmonth long?
What if I could maintain?
I mean, I'm just started.
What if I could grow on thisall year?

(14:23):
What would that look like?
So it became very clear to meearly in my career that the life
of freedom, abundance, fun andlove, the life of prosperity that
I could in this industry wasvery clear.
And it became an obsessionearly on.
And as a matter of fact, in Myfirst six months, I ended up selling
just shy of a million dollarsright out of the gate.

(14:44):
I was the number one sales repin the company, first multi million
dollar sales producer for Mad City.
And basically my first threeconsecutive years was the number
one salesperson in the organization.
But putting that aside, onething that I had even greater passion
for was teaching.
Even without being a leader,without being required to, I was

(15:06):
constantly role playing withreps, taking them in the house with
me because as I'm kicking buttand taking names, everyone's like,
what are you doing?
What are you doing?
I'm like, did you read thedamn training book?
I'm just, I'm just doing whatI was training.
Yeah, to a fault, right?
So anyway, I love teaching andI found early on that I had a lot

(15:26):
of passion and fulfillment forwatching others succeed in achieving
their goals.
So when an opportunitypresented itself in 2012 for me to
take over as a sales trainer,sales leader, it was a very smooth
and easy transition.
It was something I couldn't,couldn't imagine in any other way.
So I got my hands on thesteering wheel.
At that time, Mad City wasabout a $7 million company.

(15:48):
So by the way, in 2010, when Ifirst got there, they're about a
four and a half million dollar company.
We grew from 4.5 million toabout 7 million in 2012.
From 2012 to 2019, we grewthat sales team to over 100 million.
Yeah, I had 55 adult lead babies.
I mean, sales professionalsthat are closing.
We can totally talk about that too.

(16:09):
We go hard in the paint onthat one.
Yeah, so I was runningWisconsin largest adult daycare center.
But yeah, we were closingcumulatively as a team, over 50%.
And it was one of the highestperforming sales teams in the industry,
certainly in the Midwest.
And we're shattering recordsleft and right.
And throughout this journey,throughout my 10 year career at Mad

(16:32):
City, I became very close to Rick.
And I made up my mind early inmy career that I didn't just want
to master his training andmaster his system.
I wanted to be Rick Gro.
I wanted to be a national trainer.
And I made sure each and everyyear going back from 2010 to 2019
that when he's ready toretire, I'm first in line to grab

(16:54):
the baton.
Right.
I'm right behind him, ready to go.
And that opportunity presenteditself in 2019.
Rick Grasso announced thathe'd be doing his last ever Closers
Camp.
And that was in Washington D.C.
i talked about Closers Camp atthe beginning of this conversation.
So those of you that haven'tbeen to Closers Camp, it's a sales
training event, but it'sactually a competition.

(17:16):
So you go to this salestraining event competing for $5,000
cash.
Oh, nice.
And whoever wins, and you winby being punctual, being on time,
you, by role playing, gettingyour assignments done, getting up
in front of the audience anddelivering the key scripts, participating,
get physically and mentallyinvolved, not being negative, being
a positive influence on the event.
There's a lot of differentways you can earn points.

(17:38):
And essentially at the end,whoever wins is crowned Closers Camp
Champion.
Now, Rick Grasso wasn't givingout the cash prizes at the time,
but that trophy that I earnedfrom being Closers Camp champion,
it's still one of the thingsthat means more to me than anything
I've ever earned, Especiallythe last ever Closers Camp champion.
So I go there in 2019, I winclosers Camp, the last Closers Camp

(18:00):
ever.
And I had the opportunity totake Rick Grasso out to dinner that
evening to celebrate.
And obviously my goal was notjust to win Closers Camp, it was
to let him know that I'mtaking over his legacy.
Now, Rick Rosso always taughtthat we don't ask for the sale, we
assume the sale as if theyalready said yes.
So obviously that's the way Iwas going to approach him.
Absolutely.

(18:20):
Taking over his legacy.
Legacy.
I said after I had some winewith the guy, got him feeling real
good, I said, rick, I justwant to let you know in person that
the real reason I'm here is Ijust want to let you know I'm taking
over your legacy.
And his response was, Icouldn't think of anybody better.
That's awesome.
So that was the origin storyof Garassa University.
And it was no question that Iwas going to name my company after

(18:43):
Rick because it was his giftthat changed my life.
Without Rick's mentorship,without his step selling system,
I wouldn't have had anysuccess in this industry.
I didn't know the first thingabout selling, but it was his gift
that I was able to master.
And now I'm going to pay thatforward to as many people as humanly
possible.
So beautiful.
Yeah.

(19:03):
And very cool.
Since 2019, I'm hell bent oncreating the single most powerful
sales training group in the industry.
And that's one thing I'mreally proud of, is Grass University
is not just the guy you seebefore you.
It's a whole team of worldclass trainers and coaches.
And we offer more than Justsales training.
So we have a whole team ofelite consultants that can educate

(19:26):
our marketing, sales, even theback end of the business, production
operation.
Yeah, I love it.
I love it.
I've recently, somewhatrecently stepped into that because,
you know, it's interesting andI'm glad that you're doing that as
well.
I realized about a year agothat the first handful of companies
I really got out in was training.

(19:47):
It was awesome.
And the sales went up andeverybody's crushing it.
But it became almostdetrimental to these companies because
we were now all of a suddenoutpacing every single thing that
the company could do.
And so we were booking jobsout weeks at these places, and homeowners
are getting angry because thefulfillment can't keep up with it.
So they've done the same thing.

(20:08):
I've expanded into being ableto help people with all elements
of the company because, holycow, it's gotta.
It's gotta work together as a team.
It's a machine.
Yeah, that's very much myjourney as well.
It was out of necessitybecause I was constantly getting
in front of sales teams whereI'm getting them fired up, we're
gonna go sell, and all of asudden they're like, well, Dominic,
we're getting like one lead aweek right now.
Like, how are we supposed toget excited about closing more when

(20:29):
we're not getting any opportunities?
Yeah.
I'm like, man, we got tofigure out this marketing issue that's
horrendous, you know?
And then the opposite, likeyou just said, happened, where they're
like, dominic, how are wesupposed to get excited about selling
more when we're nine, 10months out on installs?
Like, our backlog is so extreme.
Most of these people arecanceling their orders post rescission
because we can't even installwhat we're already selling.

(20:52):
So I'm like, wow, we got tofigure out the back end too.
So it really is necessary thatcompanies have tools and resources.
I always say, from phone callto install everywhere in between.
Because if you're focusing onjust one pillar of a business that
is detrimental to a companylong term.
Yeah, no doubt.
So you said something a bit ago.
You're a master sales trainer.

(21:13):
You've got the incredible system.
And you said something aminute ago that I want to go back
to about assuming the cell.
There's a lot of.
We know the statistics.
80% of salespeople don't askfor the sell at all.
But there's a fine line.
So not asking for the sell isnot the same Thing as assuming the

(21:35):
cell is actually asking forthe cell just a different way.
So I'd love for you to unpackthat for everybody list.
Sometimes what they hear is,oh, when you say it, assume the cell,
that means I don't have toactually ask them.
Which couldn't be farther fromthe truth.
So talk to us about this alittle bit because, yeah, this is
something.
I absolutely love talkingabout because this one little tip

(21:55):
alone can transform yourclosing percentage.
Okay, so now a hundredpercent, I'm on board with what you're
saying that most salespeopledon't even try to close the sale.
So most salespeople get oneobjection and they leave.
Here's the bid.
Hero attempts.
Yeah, so that's yourcompetition, which is funny because
there's a trillion dollars ayear spent on sales training.

(22:16):
A trillion dollars a year.
And out of all that money,like you said, 80% of people don't
even attempt to close a saleone time.
So that's your competition.
That's good news for us, right?
Yeah.
That means there's a lot ofabundance out there.
So now a lot of salespeople,though, are trained to always be
asking for the business.
Always be asking.
Now, I agree that asking forthe business is better than doing

(22:37):
nothing.
Rick Grasso always instilledin me, though, that you never ask
for the sale.
You assume the order.
Now, there's a very powerfulpsychological reason why that's important.
So when you're at thenegotiating table and you're following
the closing sequence and youask the prospect for your business
and a lot of salespeople,they'll even like timidly beat around

(23:00):
the bush and ask for the orderin a very soft tone.
And they're trying to do thisbecause they don't want to come off
as high pressure.
Correct.
Because they feel like ifthey're coming off too aggressive
and assuming the order,they're going to create pressure.
Now, I want you to picture fora minute that you're at the negotiating
table.
You're sitting across fromJohn and Mary homeowner, and you
have this 200 pound bag of sand.

(23:22):
And on that bag of sand itsays the word decision on it when
you ask the homeowner fortheir business.
So if I say, what do youthink, Sam?
Could we earn your businessand get you on a busy schedule?
That doesn't sound bad, right?
Sounds pretty simple.
Yeah, I'm basically takingthat 200 pound bag of sand that says
decision and I'm setting thaton your lap now.

(23:42):
And now the entire weight ofthat decision is bearing down on
you.
So a lot of salespeople, in anattempt to be non confrontational
and bypass any pressure, areactually achieving the exact opposite
and creating much morepressure by asking for the sale.
And if you study millions ofsales encounters, salespeople that

(24:04):
ask for the business onaverage are closed between 10 and
31%.
Now you can make a decentliving asking for the sale.
I'm not.
There's people watching thisthat probably ask for the business
and they're having reasonablelevels of success.
No, no doubt.
But what I will tell you iskeep all other things created equal.
Let's say you're doing exactlywhat you're doing.
Now, if you can switch yourapproach from asking for the business

(24:28):
to assuming the sale, you canin some cases double your closing
percentage.
Now what is the difference?
By assuming the sale, insteadof saying what do you think, Sam?
Can we get you on a busyschedule after you've determined
that the project is affordable?
The initial deposit issomething within your budget, the
monthly investment makes sense.
I don't ask your permission.

(24:48):
I say congratulations, I knewwe can make this affordable.
Welcome to Gross University.
And the key is the handshake.
You shake their hand, smile,and this is a relaxed, assertive
confidence.
So I want everyone to thinkabout those three words.
You want to have a relaxed,assertive confidence when you go
for the no long headed into objection.
Right.

(25:08):
But I'm going for theassumptive close.
And what this actually does,it bypasses the entire process of
them having to make a decisionand also as a result, bypasses any
pressure that they could befeeling as a result.
And the more relaxed,assertive and confident I am when
I go for the no, when I go forthat assumptive close, the more relaxed
and confident they will beshaking my hand and moving forward

(25:31):
as if they've already said yes.
So to simplify all this asmuch as humanly possible, when you're
at the negotiating table, youwant to act and behave as if the
close is a natural conclusion.
You want to act and behavethat this is the way every single
person buys.
Now, what does the study showsalespeople that assume the sale,
assuming all our thingscreated equal close on average between

(25:53):
50 and 71% of the time.
Now Sam, I want to ask you, doyou believe that most salespeople
should have the mindsetthey're going to walk out earning
that customer's business more often.
Than they're not 100% everysingle time?
Right.
So your prospects are notgoing to.
Objections every singleAppointment, you, you pull around
the corner, you set your timerand you visualize closing the sale.

(26:15):
Just like Tiger woodsvisualizes making the putt every
time.
Yeah, life's a self fulfillingprophecy, right?
So whatever, you're the man.
The mind of man can conceiveit and believe it will achieve, but
you have to have thatvisualization for sure.
You got to see before it happens.
But I'm a firm believer that asalesperson should have the expectation
they're going to close thesale and earn that prospect's business

(26:37):
more often than they're not.
Especially because we have theadvantage of going into every house
with next level preparationand we know what objections are coming
in advance.
Where a lot of salespeopledrop the ball is when they're at
the negotiating table, theyget too timid and it's almost like
they're asking permission.
Now what happens in any stepof the sale when you ask permission?

(26:59):
Well, this is really a funconversation because I teach a very
permission based sellingapproach to a lot of things.
A lot of times, again,depending on what you're selling
and how you're selling it.
But.
So the way I train it is whenyou ask the homeowner permission,
you're essentially handingthem a key to the getaway car.
And what I mean is, let's sayI'm going to make an attempt to measure

(27:21):
and inspect all the windows inthe house.
Right.
One salesperson would say,sam, let me ask you a question.
Would it be okay if we measureand inspect all the windows in the
house?
That's asking permission.
Now, I just gave them theopportunity to say.
Say what?
Well, no, you can't go intothese rooms.
Yeah, well, no, let's justfocus on the one or two windows that
we called you out here for.

(27:42):
Right?
So as we're a salesprofessional, be like, here's what
we're going to do and why.
So what I'm going to do as afree service to you, Sam, is measure
and inspect all the windows inthe house.
That way you have a preciseinvestment on what the whole thing
would run.
And the great news is, if wecan earn your business on the windows
that are most important toyou, that allows me to put a price
lock in the windows you're not doing.

(28:02):
Which with everything going onwith inflation and tariffs and lord
knows price increases, this isgoing to really protect you in case
any of those windows give youtrouble down the road.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
So I'm not asking permission.
I'm assuming that part of thesale, assuming that Part of the inspection,
I'm assuming throughout.
But you got to do it with arelaxed assertive confidence because

(28:22):
you got to remind yourselfthese homeowners really don't know
what they don't know and theydon't necessarily know like what's
best for them.
And there's going to be someincentives and some benefits and
some more excitement andpassion around you taking control.
You being the thermostat, notthe thermometer.
Correct.
You being the agent of influence.
Influence in the direction ofthe sales encounter.
Yeah.
I think the one of the mostimportant elements to this and there's

(28:45):
a fine line between therelaxed assertive confidence and
being overbearing and brow beating.
Correct.
That's why this is so crucialin this step.
Otherwise than that's whereyou slide into that pushy salesman
that everybody hates and isgoing to kick out of the house.
Yeah.
So now I will say thatassuming the sale has to make sense.

(29:08):
So now if you didn't earn theright to assume the order, it will
not feel right.
And if it doesn't feel right,you shouldn't be doing it right.
So like for example, let's sayI'm at financial terms and I'm basically
asking you.
So let me ask you a question.
The initial deposit 10% andthe monthly investment that seven
year term that's completelyaffordable for you.
And you're like, no, it's not, Dominic.
Well, congratulations, welcometo Grass University.

(29:31):
That would.
Wait, I just told you it's notgoing to work.
And then also if I don't havea sales process that is intentionally
built to proactively overcomethe objections before they come up
in the close, it's going to bea lot harder for me to assume the
order because I know in theback of my mind any and all objections
are still on the table.
So what's really important isthat I have a sales process that

(29:53):
gets out the procrastination,that proactively overcomes the price
conditioning and the monetaryobjections that destroy Shop around
and ideally isolate any andall objections down to affordability.
Not price, but affordability.
And that way when I solve theaffordability issue in the close,
I have every right at thatpoint to assume the order.

(30:14):
But if I haven't accomplishedthose things, if I haven't checked
those boxes along the way inthe sales encounter, assuming the
order is not going to comeoff, it's not going to make sense
and it is going to feel very uncomfortable.
100 I love it.
Your tonality is key here.
Right.
So that's why I say a relaxed,assertive confidence.
So making sure that I have avery soft delivery.

(30:35):
I don't want to be too aggressive.
A lot of salespeople make themistake of talking faster in the
close than they did throughoutthe demo because they get nervous.
They get borderline confrontational.
Again, I'm smiling, right?
Nothing's a big deal.
It's almost like I'm goingthrough this.
Like I could care less whetheror not they buy from me.
That's kind of my demeanor.

(30:55):
Absolutely.
But I'm also assuming theorder, as if this is the way everybody
buys, as if this is, again,the natural conclusion to every sales
encounter.
Oh, I love this.
When I was at the event inBoston, you mentioned this.
What I've trained for years isthe minute the dollars come out,
all of us, we've led theenergy throughout the appointment.
We've gone through ourdiscovery phase, and we've been in

(31:17):
the negative and the points.
And then when we're paintingthe picture forward, we're positive.
And it was like, oh, here'swhat life is going to be like.
But the second the dollarscome out, we go low and slow.
And it's funny because I'm, ofcourse, from Texas.
I was like, has anybody eversmoked meat in here?
It's low and slow.
This is how.
The second the dollars comeout, this is how you treat the clothes.

(31:40):
It's got to be low and slow.
And your attitude and tonalityhas to be.
It's no big deal.
Whatever comes up, yourattitude and tonality is.
We'll figure it out.
No problem.
Yep, exactly.
The top closers getdramatically more patient when price
is on the table versusthroughout any point the sales encounter.
Whereas the norm is to geteven faster.

(32:02):
So the norm is when price onthe table.
I.
I always joke, I say you turninto Rambo, your machine gun closing.
Like, yeah, we feel like vomit.
All of the technical specsonto the people.
As if that's going to do thejob now.
Yeah, exactly.
So trying to handle itreactively versus proactively and.
Yeah.
So that it's.
So it's a very sensitivemoment because when you're at the

(32:25):
negotiating table, when priceis on the table, both the salesperson
and the prospect are tiptoeingon the edge of fight or flight.
So it's very easy for a salesrep to get their fight or flight
response activated.
If the customer objects tothem aggressively say, no, no matter
what you do, we're not buying tonight.
And all of a sudden, the salesrep feels threatened.
Their fight or flight Responsegets activated and they just go brain
dead.

(32:45):
And raise your hand if you'veever had that happen to you in the
house.
I've had it happen, no doubt.
Total jerk.
The customer is having a badhair day.
They come off super aggressiveand all of a sudden like, it's like
they hit you between the eyeswith this really aggressive objection.
Now I'm in my fight or flight.
Now I'm basically useless.
The same thing with the customer.
It's very easy if thesalesperson does not keep the right

(33:09):
tonality, does not keep theright pacing, does not have the right
patience and voice inflection.
If they don't do it slow andlow like you were talking about,
you can easily activate theirfight or flight response.
And the second they feelthreatened, like you're trying to
strong arm them into adecision, it's over.
Because now they're brain deadas well.
They have the most brain fogand they can't think of anything
more that they want in lifethan for you to get the hell out

(33:30):
of their house.
Well, no wonder they say, hey,we're gonna have to think about it,
because we just shut theirability to think right down right
then.
Correct?
Absolutely.
Right now there is no clarityof thought because of how you navigated
the closing sequence.
Now, to help with this, it'sreally important that let's say I
delivered the totalinvestment, I'm in the beginning
stages of the negotiation,that I'm remaining in the if and

(33:53):
when stage.
So it's one thing we trainextensively at Grass University.
When I'm first trying to talkabout financial terms and how they're
going to move forward withthis project and talking about personal
things when it comes to theirfinances and money.
I want to avoid making himfeel and believe that we're closing
them right now.
We call our system a velvet hammer.

(34:13):
So we don't telegraph thepunch, we don't telegraph the clothes.
We essentially blindside themwith the clothes after we've already
gathered the information andfunnel it down to affordability is
the only thing.
Staying away and determinedthat it is affordable.
But if I'm in the if and whenstage, if the homeowner feels and
believe that the conversationwe're having is just to for their

(34:35):
future consideration, they seeno harm in giving you honest answers.
So a lot of sales reps, a lotof amateurs, they'll be like, so
if you were to move forward inthe project today, how would you
handle it?
And they just heard that word today.
Now that triggers a fight orflight response.
They're like whoa, whoa, whoa.
Today like you said, the totalinvestment is good for 30 days.
And now they feel like they'restrong armed into a decision versus

(34:57):
saying if and when you were tomove forward the project like this,
how would you handle it?
Is this something you do as acash investment check or credit card
or like most of our customers,some you'd handle on a monthly investment
or budget plan.
So if and when for theirfuture consideration and let's say
they say, oh, we have tofinance it.
Great.
Since I'm here anyway, almostlike before I leave, let me just
show you a few of the mostpopular options.

(35:18):
Just let me know which oneworks best for you.
Fair enough.
So completely nonconfrontation confrontational.
No pressure, no problem.
So Rick Ross always said whenyou're at the close, pretend you're
going to Jamaica.
It's like no pressure, noproblem man, just chill.
That's a great mnemonic deviceto remember that.
Yeah, exactly.
So because sales is atransference of emotion and you've

(35:41):
done the research, you know,there's so many studies that show
the prospect's heart rate andtheir emotion that they feel will
actually mimic the salesperson's.
So if my heart rate increases,I'm starting to feel anxiety.
I'm getting uncomfortable.
You're never going to havesuccess doing that.
And if you do, they'reprobably going to cancel because
they're feeling that samelevel of discomfort as a result of
that.

(36:01):
You know, it's funny that you mentioned.
It's not funny.
There's no such thing as coincidence.
I just yesterday releasedepisode nine of a nine part series
that I just did on leading theenergy of a sales appointment.
How to set the container, howto recognize third level listening
in the energy.
And we talked very deeply inthat series about mirror neurons,

(36:24):
which is that our nervoussystem and how our nervous system
leads their nervous system.
So we have to be the calm intheir chaos.
So which allows those yesesand those decisions to appear because
they don't feel pressure.
We're, we're, we're, we're theones holding the anchor in the calmness.
So it allows them to kind ofrest into it.
So I, I love that you saidthat because it absolutely matches,

(36:48):
you know what the path thatI've been on lately.
And for everybody listening,we, we did not coordinate this before
we hopped on this episode.
It's just, you know, it's justtop level, top level performers think
very similarly because wefound what works.
Yeah.
Rick always said when you gointo a house, you gotta Be the thermostat,
not the thermometer.
So which means you control andregulate the environment.

(37:09):
The homeowner is responding towhat you're doing, not the other
way around.
Yeah.
And nowadays they would talkabout having high levels of emotional
intelligence and being able tocontrol your disruptive emotions
and not be so easily thrownoff or turned off by the homeowner.
And having your disruptiveemotions completely squash the entire
sales encounter, which is veryeasy to do.

(37:30):
And I've had it happen to me.
I actually had a sales rep,just as a story here, that was a
$3 million producer,consistent, top performer, super
profitable, and went into thisslump, which happens to the best
of us.
You know, sometimes we have aweek where we're just off our game,
and that's why it's great, Right?
You always have a chance to.
To turn it around.
Right.
You always have a second chance.

(37:51):
But the sales rep calls me onthe phone because this salesperson
had a daily sense of urgencyabout his numbers.
And he's just screaming on thephone how pissed off he is.
He doesn't know what thehell's going on.
And you could just feel theanger over the phone.
Okay?
And I knew the salespersonknew the system forwards and backwards,

(38:12):
didn't need any coaching onwhat to say.
But clearly the salespersonstart to lose control over their
disruptive emotions.
Sure.
So I asked that salesperson,so I guarantee you're saying the
right things.
But let me ask you, for thelast few days, when the homeowner
tells you no or objects toyou, what are you feeling?
Are you getting pissed?
You getting angry?
You getting mad?
Because it keeps leading to adead end in the sale.

(38:34):
He's like, yeah, I'm pissed.
I'm like, that is a hundredpercent your problem.
You could be saying all theright things.
You can even think that, youknow, you're coming off velvety smooth,
and you have the right patience.
But deep down, if you'reangry, you are transferring that
negative energy, thataggression to your customer, and
you're kicking them into fightor flight, and the deal is over.

(38:55):
As soon as you activate theirfight or flight response, as soon
as they feel threatened, it's over.
So you gotta calm down.
So next time the customerobjects, take a deep breath, right?
Nothing's a big deal.
Pause for a few seconds, thenrespond first.
Getting control of yourdisruptive emotions, I guarantee
that alone can turn you around.

(39:16):
So naturally, the sales repgoes in, they close their next sale,
they get back on track.
Now they're feeling all goodbecause when you're hot, you're hot.
When you're not, best time tomake a sell is when.
Yeah, right after a sale.
So after that positive momentum.
Right.
So, yeah, so that's absolutelykey in sales.
Now, this is why havingscripted performances is so crucial

(39:36):
though, or at least having aroadmap to follow in a sales encounter
is so vital because it'sabsolutely impossible for a salesperson
to think about what they'resupposed to say when they're supposed
to say it, and simultaneouslycontrol their disruptive emotions.
They can't do both this.
It's actually impossible for asales rep to think about what they're
supposed to say when they'resupposed to say it and simultaneously

(39:57):
actually listen.
Right.
So if I truly want to listen,instead of waiting for my turn to
talk and shut off that talking robot.
That monologue, to understand,not listen, to respond.
Yeah, exactly.
I need to really master thisstuff and get to the point where
I don't have to think aboutwhat I'm supposed to say and when
I'm supposed to say it.
Then you go into every salesencounter like a well trained chess

(40:19):
player.
Right.
So I'm at the negotiatingtable, I'm five, six moves ahead.
So I do step one, I make myfirst move, the customer makes their
move.
No sweat.
I already know where I'm goingnext anyway.
Why would I get upset?
And as it turns out, thatsales rep that I was talking to that
was losing control over theiranger, he happened to be a really
good chess player.
And that was the analogy I used.

(40:39):
I said, when you play chesswith somebody and they make their
move, do you get pissed or doyou have no reason to get upset because
you know where you're going next?
And even beyond that, you knowwhere your next five moves are.
So you have no reason to everlose control of your emotions.
Right?
Yeah.
No different.
When you learn the roadmap tothe sale, this is why you should
expect that you're going tocome out with a sale more often than

(41:00):
not because the homeowner isnot sitting there role playing right
now and how to not buy from you.
And you are that chess playerthat has the strategy in advance,
has the game planned out theroadmap to the sale in advance.
As long as you can keepcontrol over your emotions and you
can really, truly listen tothem, make them feel special, you're
going to come out with theoutcome you desire more often than

(41:21):
not.
Beautiful.
This is such good stuff, man.
There's so much that I want tounpack with you and we don't have
the time for it.
But let's talk about this.
When you're taking people fromthe average to the exceptional, there's
some mental shifts that haveto happen there.

(41:41):
There's some mindset things.
Resetting 1.
Reset.
You talk about being thethermostat, not the thermometer.
We have to help them resettheir own internal thermostat of
who they believe they are.
As far as I am a 30% closer.
I am a 40% closer.
So their belief system has tochange so their outcomes line up

(42:04):
with that.
How do you help people walkthrough that phase?
Because I know there's, ofcourse, plenty of people listening
at every different phase of that.
And no matter where we are, wecan always adjust higher and higher
and higher.
So I'd love for you to unpackthis a little bit, because this is
one of the most crucial steps in.
In growth and becoming a top performer.

(42:24):
Yeah, 100%.
Are you familiar with seatingand layering a bit?
Yeah.
So doubt that a lot of peoplelistening are, though.
Yeah.
So we're all creatures of habit.
We're creatures of repetition,and the repetitive content we're
exposed to in the worldactually controls and dictates our.
Our beliefs and our behaviors.
Okay.
So we wonder, like, why do wehave the behaviors that we do?

(42:46):
Well, we like to think thatwe're in control over our behavior,
but we're in less control overour behavior than we think and our
beliefs.
A lot of that stuff has beenprogrammed into us through repetition.
Okay.
It could be what you see inthe movies, what you see in the media,
what you see on social media.
Whatever it is, whatever Iallow myself to be exposed to on
a repetitive basis willultimately control my beliefs and

(43:06):
my behaviors.
So now, seeding and layeringis simply when you plant a thought
or idea in a prospect's mind,then through constant reinforcement
and repetition, you allow thatthought to nurture and grow into
belief.
Because ultimately, if I'mgoing to have success in sales, I
need to be able to reprogram aperson's belief system.
Now we have to do the samething as sales leaders and owners
of our team as well.
We have to reprogram theirbelief system.

(43:29):
Because every person has atendency to sell themselves short.
I say the first, mostimportant sale you have to make is
selling yourself to yourself.
So now, for me, this startedthe second I had him in my office
for an interview.
The second I had anysalesperson in my office for an interview,
I let them know that it's, onaverage, when People come into our

(43:50):
organization because we are anall star sales team.
We are a high performancesales organization that just so happens
to do windows and roofing and siding.
Okay.
And on average when peoplecome into this organization, they
not only double their incomepotential that they did in their
previous sales job, but theyalso double their closing percentage
on average.
That is our expectation here.

(44:12):
And I say that right away.
So that was the seed, thethought I plant right away.
And of course I was alwayslike, you're twice as good as you
think you are.
And that's only half the truth.
Much of my sales training wasmindset motivation, how to shatter
these program paradigms andself limiting beliefs and scarcity
mindset that we all have.
Because people are terrifiedto be successful in this country.

(44:32):
Absolutely terrified.
They're actually scared tomake money.
And you wonder why?
Like why are we scared to make money?
Well, because human beings arepack animals.
We find safety in what wethink or perceive the bigger herd
is thinking, saying or doing.
And if you think about it, howmany, what percentage of the population
is making over $200,000 a year?
Oh, it's tiny.

(44:52):
So simply by doing that, bybasically increasing your self worth
to be like I can make $200,000or more a year, multiple six figures.
That's a lonely place to bebecause a very small percentage of
the population is there.
Now it's even more lonely tobe highly successful financially
and also physically healthy.

(45:12):
No doubt.
I wanted to ask you this question.
Okay.
What percentage of thepopulation do you think makes over
a million dollars a year andalso lives a healthy lifestyle?
What percentage of the population?
Oh, so I do know the statistic around.
Been hanging out, did somestuff with Shawn Michael Crane.
So I know the statistic onvisible abs in Men is 1 in 25,000.

(45:35):
Yep.
So that's a pretty tinypercentage there.
To get those two thingstogether, I would say God, maybe
a hundredth of a percent.
Yeah.
So this isn't just like sixpack abs, but they're saying like
they live a healthy lifestyle,they're physically well, they eat
right.
They, they don't get into likeall the, the poisons and stuff like
that.
Now I will tell you that themore that we get into those levels,

(45:59):
the, it's more common in thecircles of the people that you run
with at that level because youjust attract each other to each other
because.
Correct.
So few and far between.
Exactly.
So like the population, thepercentage of the population that's
healthy and also makes over amillion dollars a year is 0.24%.
So it's one out of every 400 people.

(46:19):
So that's a very lonely placeto be.
So that terrifies people.
That's why a lot of times whenpeople start making money, they also
destroy themselves physicallybecause they have to balance it out
somewhere because their selflimiting beliefs, their thermostat
that they have is like, well,I can make a lot of money but I'm
going to still average bykicking the out of myself.
Yeah.
Physically.
Right.

(46:39):
So long story short is Irepeat these things over and over
throughout the training.
That multiple six figures isthe minimum.
Multiple six figures is the minimum.
50 closing is the average.
Over and over.
I'll say it hundreds of timesthroughout the entire onboarding
and training experience.
In every sales meeting we'rerepeating it.
We're showing the reps thatare actually achieving this.
Because when they see it, theybelieve it.

(47:00):
Right.
Seeing is believing.
And then essentially by theend of the sales training, they actually
have a newfound belief system,a new sense of belief in themselves
that they never had before.
Especially when you pour itall out in the field and give them
this gift of this world classtraining experience.
You pour in all this mindset,this inspiration, this motivation.
You repeat the stuff over and over.

(47:20):
They come out of trainingfeeling and believing and 100 confident
in the fact that they can make2, 3, $400,000 a year.
But you have to repeat this stuff.
It has to become part of the culture.
It has to be intentional, justlike seating and layering is in a
sales encounter.
Because repetition is reallythe key to anybody forming any new

(47:42):
belief system.
Yeah.
It doesn't just happen overnight.
And then when they startseeing other people in their organization
achieving those things, you'regoing to run proportionate to the
pace horses right now.
It becomes normal rise to thepeople around us.
Yeah, exactly.
Jim Rohn always said we're theaverage of the closest five people
in our lives.

(48:02):
Oh, 100%.
But people, you just have tounderstand that most people in this
country are absolutelyterrified of being successful because
they're stepping outside the pack.
They're stepping outside withthe greater herd is thinking, singer
doing.
And the subconscious mind willtabulate that as a dangerous place
to be.
They want your, your mind isdesigned for security and safety.

(48:24):
Right.
It wants to keep you safe.
And it's not a defect, it'snot a malfunction.
This is how, you know, humanbeings have been able to survive
for so long.
You know, think of a pack ofwolves, right.
If I'm getting attacked, if,if I'm a Pack of wolves is getting
attacked by a lion orsomething like that or something.
A bear.
I have more safety in themiddle of the herd than I do around
the perimeter, or I have moresafety within the middle of the herd

(48:47):
than I do if I'm a lone wolfout there by myself.
Yeah, no doubt.
So that's how we're programmedto be.
But you got to understand thatonce you step out, it is going to
be scary.
It is going to be uncomfortable.
But now, slowly but surely,after a brief amount of growing pains,
you're going to assemble a newpack of high performers.
Yeah.

(49:07):
That, you know, think, feel,and believe the way you do, that
have, you know, that don'thave the same, you know, scarcity
mentality and poverty of the mind.
And now you can all grow together.
So that you talked about.
You could become the averageof the top five people you spend
the most time with.
Everybody watching this, youhave to be honest with yourself when
it comes to this question.
Is my circle of friends andthe people I associate with on a

(49:30):
regular basis, are theymotivating me and inspiring me to
be better?
Are the people that are givingme advice and telling me how to live
my life, are they living thelife and achieving the goals that
I see for myself?
Right.
So you got to be reallycareful, because if the answer to
that is no, if they don'tmotivate you, if they don't uplift
you, encourage you and inspireyou, because they also get terrified

(49:52):
when they see somebody withintheir pack stepping outside the pack.
They're like, no, it'sdangerous out there.
Come back and be average with us.
Crabs in the bucket.
Exactly.
Pulling you back down.
So you got to understand thatthat will happen.
So if you do want to, youknow, get to performance and success
and income levels you've neverseen before, you have to understand
that temporarily, it will be alonely road, and your subconscious

(50:16):
mind will be battling you theentire time.
But the cool thing is, themore you listen to podcasts like
this, the more you starteducating yourself, exposing yourself
to repetitive content thatgets you to think bigger.
Believe in yourself in waysyou've never believed before, listening
to people that have achievedgreatness, your.
Your mind can't tell thedifference between real and imagined

(50:37):
experiences.
Right.
So if I keep exposing myselfto repetitive content from people
that have achieved greatnessand live, you know, essentially achieve
the level of success that Isee for myself over time, I will
transform myself into that individual.
I will realize that same levelof success.
But I do have to refuse anycircumstance that can pull me the

(50:59):
other way.
It's just like the book thinkand grow rich, right?
So if I truly want to achieveabundance of prosperity in life,
I got to refuse to accept anycircumstance that can pull, pull
me towards the direction ofpoverty and misery.
Because they go in opposing directions.
Yeah, let go of old things.
It doesn't just add, add, add.

(51:19):
This is why, you know, somepeople talk about balance in life
and, you know, balance is kindof a myth because sometimes by trying
to balance everything, youknow, balance being with the successful
and the average and balancebeing around the positive, the negative,
you go nowhere.
So you really got to commit,like, what is the, the best area
to focus all my energy andreally commit to that one area and

(51:43):
excel.
Master it.
The good news is there'smillions and millions of successful
people out there.
And you know, they say if youwant to hide the secret to the world,
just put it in a library.
No one will find it there.
No doubt.
But realistically, you know,people gotta.
So I was doing some researchon this too.
The average person watches twoand a half hours of TV every day.

(52:05):
So what if, just, what if youcould reduce that to an hour and
a half a day and spend an hourreading a book that's actually going
to benefit you?
Wow, what a difference.
Yeah, what a difference.
Also, the average personspends two hours scrolling through
social media every day.
So that's like four and a halfhours of time.
And what is that really doingto grow and develop you?
Maybe there's some stuff yousee on social media, some motivational

(52:26):
figure, whatever, but most ofit is just a waste of life.
It's a waste of time.
No doubt.
So little things, you know,little bit of education each day
will snowball and compound andtake you to places you can't even
imagine.
This is good.
Yeah.
So long story short, on thewhole thing, like, if I want to create
a team of sales warriors andkillers, I have to lead by example.

(52:47):
And I actually use salesstrategies like seating and layering
to accomplish that.
So this is why it's not sales skill.
It's a leadership skill too.
Oh, no doubt.
Yeah.
So absolutely, when we'rebringing teams in and, and having
the ideas and, and like movingthe direction of a team, that absolutely
is imperative to do that.

(53:08):
Man, this is so good.
I feel like there's.
There's so much I wanted to say.
It's funny, Sam, almost everysalesperson, though, that came in
and I said the followingquote, that almost everybody, because
I'm using social approvedbandwagon type language, Right.
I said almost everybody thatcomes in here their first year, they
double their income from theprevious sales position.
And guess what happened almostevery single time.

(53:29):
I'm sure they did.
They almost doubled theirincome every single.
Some people more than doubled it.
But they.
They held that idea in theirmind and it was like, seared into
their subconscious.
And of course, I repeat thatover all, all the time, but it almost
happened every single time.
And I got salespeople thatwill, even to this day, they'll follow
up with me and just tell mehow much that just changed their

(53:51):
life, getting them to believein themselves in ways they haven't
before.
So I love it.
Well, you're setting theexpectation of what we expect as
well as what you can expectfor yourself.
And of course, there's a wholenother conversation we could have
about the NLP side of that.
Oh, yeah, because you're justprogramming their brain of what the
new thought and the new idea is.
Correct?
That's what it's all about.

(54:12):
As leaders, we gotta lead byexample, too.
So, you know, if I'm demandingthat I have a team of sales warriors
that are working hard andphysically fit and, you know, ready
to chew through walls todominate the competition, and I'm
sitting there, out of shape,low energy, twiddling my thumbs behind
a desk, putting the boat inthe water three days out of the week,
no doubt it's never going to happen.

(54:33):
So I always think it's comicalwhen people get into a leadership
role hoping and praying thatthey're going to work less than they
did as a salesperson.
And that's just not the reality.
So you not only have yourpersonal responsibility in your life,
but now you have the whole team.
I mean, it's a upside down triangle.
You're lifting and supportingyour entire team, and that's with
you rolling up your sleeves,getting in the trenches, and doing

(54:54):
whatever it takes to supportyour team to generate results, not
behind it.
Oh, no doubt.
Oh, so good.
So we're gonna have to do awhole nother episode and, like, just
make it a role play episode orsomething, because I'd love to have
you demonstrate a bunch oftechniques and objections and stuff
for people, but we don't havetime on this episode.

(55:15):
What I do want to do, I knowthat you guys, you announced it at
the event that I was at.
I would love for you to take acouple minutes and cover what you've
done with Wynn in the Spanishportion of your program, because
I don't have that.
And so for everybodylistening, what you're about to hear
if learning in Spanish isbetter for you.

(55:36):
I 100% recommend you to get intouch with Dominic in Grasso University
for this.
So tell us about it, man,because I'm so excited that you've
done this.
Yeah.
This journey for me goes backto 2018.
So I had this gentleman that I trained.
His name was John Duarte, andhe was from Honduras, and English

(55:56):
was a second language.
Now, when this guy came in forthe interview, he was probably the
last person that people wouldhave hired.
He had broken English, didn'tknow anything about construction,
didn't know how to read a tape measure.
Never did in home sellingbefore in his life.
And at the time, he wasworking at US Cellular, selling cell
phones, making about 40 granda year.

(56:18):
You can feel, though,occasionally when somebody has that
eye of the tiger, when theyhave, like, this really deep, like,
you know, that killer instinctwhere they want to achieve greatness,
they really want it.
It's just no one gave them afair shot at achieving it.
Right?
Yeah.
They're hungry.

(56:38):
They're hungry.
Yeah, absolutely.
So this guy had the eye of thetiger, but I knew it was going to
be a project.
Okay.
Now, it wasn't just a projectfor me, it was a project for him
because in order for him to gothrough this training, he had to
hear me train it in English,go back home, translate everything
he learned into Spanish, andthen relearn it again into English.

(56:58):
So it makes sense to him.
Wow.
Because when you say things inSpanish, it's not like you can go
on Google Translate and belike, hey, translate this into Spanish.
Like, no, culturally andcontextually, like, you got to translate
it completely different.
Like, you got to say the word,like, the sentences, the phrases,
the one liners, the stories.
Like, everything's totally different.
Oh, yeah.
The language pattern is builtcompletely opposite and.

(57:21):
And like the idioms,everything's so much different.
Yeah, exactly.
And this is why it's crazy tosay that in 2025, this has never
been done before in ourindustry, that someone offered a
bilingual sales training platform.
But in 2018, when I wentthrough this experience with him,
I said, man, this is highly unfair.
Like, if this guy had theopportunity to learn in his native

(57:42):
language from day one, it'd begame over.
So, but just to fast forward,even with all odds against him, his
first year, he sold three anda half million dollars in home improvements
and made $380,000.
So he went from making 40grand to 380, and it changed his
life and his family's life inways you can't even imagine.

(58:03):
Yeah.
And he ended up being one ofthe top performers in the company
year after year.
And you want to talk aboutsomeone that's grateful and hard
working and never complained,I'm like, man, if I could just have
a hundred of those guys, butgive them the training from day one
that they deserve, that wouldbe a game changer.
Okay, so that's when that.
That first got ignited in me.
Now I founded grass Universityin 2019.

(58:25):
I met this wonderful womannamed Wendy Harmeyer in 2021 at our
Nashville Closers camp.
All right, and this is a big event.
We had Jordan Belfort, theWolf of Wall street there.
We had a huge production, veryhigh energy.
And Wendy, if she ever attendsan event, you're going to know she's
there.
She makes sure you know she's there.
She's not afraid to get up inyour face and make herself known.

(58:48):
So I got to know her prettywell at that event.
And then she became a clientof Gross University for years.
And we did some amazing thingswith her and her husband's business.
They actually own a UniversalWindows direct out of Cincinnati
and Dayton, Ohio.
And after working with me, wehad many conversations about how
it would be wonderful if wecould offer our training in Spanish.

(59:09):
And Wendy's from Ecuador.
She's fully bilingual,actually trilingual.
She knows Spanish andPortuguese fluently.
And.
And I think it was in 2022,for the first time, she's like, well,
why don't I just translateyour book for you?
That way you can offer it in Spanish.
I'm like, you would do that?
She's like, yeah, I'd love to.
And I'm like, okay.
I mean, if you want to dothat, that sounds great.

(59:30):
And I thought she was blowing smoke.
I'm like, you know, like,she's really going to translate my
book.
Yeah, I swear it was in record time.
It was like three weeks later.
She comes to me with this 170page, fully translated grass University
Bible, then home song.
I'm like, my jaw just dropped.
I'm like, oh, my God.
Beautiful.
And not just translated, like,all the acronyms and all the analogies

(59:51):
and the stories.
Like, everything wastranslated in the right context,
so it's culturally fit,suitable, you know?
Yeah.
And she was breaking it all down.
I'm like, this is incredible.
So actually, three years ago,Wendy and I did a webinar announcing
the first Spanish salestraining platform in the home improvement
industry.
And three years ago, it fellon deaf ears.

(01:00:11):
Nobody cared which is crazy tosay, right?
Nobody cared.
Yeah.
I'm happy to say now people do care.
And there's millions andmillions of dollars getting invested
to support the Latinocommunity and the Spanish speaking
population.
And we have been forging somepartnerships with companies like
SRS and Owens Corning andseveral finance companies, stuff

(01:00:32):
like that.
And it got to the point wherenow the industry is going full speed
ahead at providing servicesand resources for this demographic
that's been underserved forfar too long.
Yeah, agreed.
And it was enough where Wendyactually stepped down as part owner
of Universal Windows and wentall in as our Spanish development

(01:00:52):
and sales training director atGrouse University.
Beautiful.
So she not only translated thebook, we have a whole online training
platform, all the videomodules to support it.
She does a monthly salesacademy masterclass where basically
every single month people fromall over the country can get trained
virtually live basically goingthrough our entire sales methodology.
They get tested and certified,which people really love is fluent

(01:01:16):
in the Grasso system and it's100% in Spanish.
As a matter of fact, ourclosers camp that we have coming
up July 7th, 8th and 9th isthe first bilingual sales training
event in history.
Setting, man, talk aboutraising the standard.
I love this so much and I'm.
I'm grateful to you and the commend.
Commend you man, that that issuch a huge step and I agree.

(01:01:39):
It's so needed in our.
Just where we're at in our, inour society.
And it blows my mind.
Why has no one ever done this?
It's.
There's a million reasons.
Of course there, there's goodones and bad ones.
They were doing.
They're doing good enough andwe all know the good's going to be
enemy of gray.
Right.
They're doing good enough byneglecting this segment of the population.

(01:02:01):
But as we're seeing it now,there's a big tide shifting and these
Latinos, the Spanish speakingprofessionals, they no longer just
want to be subs anymore.
They want to be business professionals.
They want to have a fair shotto run a successful and profitable
business the way everybodyelse does.
Yeah.
So they're demanding thehunger that we see for sales training

(01:02:23):
and business developmenttraining and marketing training like
professional high levelcoaching in the Spanish market is
unlike anything I've ever seen.
People are literally, if you,if you host an in person event and
you promote it to the Latinopopulation, people drive across the
country to attend this likethey don't care, like whatever it
takes.
Like I need to know this stuffbecause I'm done being a sub for

(01:02:45):
somebody else.
Yeah.
Tired of playing small.
Yeah.
Because you look at 20% of ourpopulation is Latino.
I don't know if you know this,but the Spanish population in our
country is the fifth highestGDP of any country in the world.
Just the Spanish population inthis country represents the fifth
highest GDP of any country inthe world.

(01:03:06):
That is incredible.
So now what percentage of thisindustry is influenced by the Spanish
population?
Oh, it's way higher than 20%.
Yeah.
So all we're doing is givingthem the opportunity to learn how
to run a professional businessin their native language.
It's really simple, but ithasn't been done before.
And we're really, reallyhonored to be the first.

(01:03:28):
And we're expecting that we'regoing to start seeing more training
groups doing this and we hopethat they do because we can't serve
everybody.
It's an industry of abundanceand a lot of people need help.
But yeah.
So I would announce that ifanybody wants high level professional
training, coaching, consultingin Spanish, in English, bilingual,
whatever your preference is,we, we definitely offer that solution

(01:03:50):
at Grass University.
I love it and I fully, fullysupport it.
I, I have this abundancementality that, you know, there's
so many people that need help.
You can multiply us by 10 and,and there still wouldn't be enough
of us, enough of our companiesand, and staff.
I agree.
Collaboration is very, verypowerful in this industry.
And I'm all about workingtogether with other trainers like

(01:04:12):
yourself.
Obviously we have Doug Wyatt,a mutual friend.
Yeah, yeah.
Respect for what he's doing.
I think we can do a lot moreworking together to serve this industry
than going against each other.
No doubt, no doubt.
Especially when we have somany similar philosophies and, you
know, doing things ethically,doing things correctly, doing things
how to go.
We had to go back the right way.

(01:04:33):
So talk to us a little bitabout your closers cap.
Promote that for a secondbecause I know it would, you know,
a lot of people in the, in the organization.
Of course it's right in themiddle of summer for air conditioning
season.
However, there's never a badtime to sharpen the ax.
So.
Yeah, tell us about it.
Yeah.
So Closers camp is hosted inmy home city, Madison, Wisconsin.

(01:04:55):
It's at this beautiful venuecalled the Monona Terrace.
This is a Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned venue, which is crazy.
He's one of the most famousarchitects in the history of humanity
and he actually designed thisvenue before he actually passed away,
before it actually got built.
So he designed it.
They Built it after he passed,but it's right on Lake Monona.

(01:05:17):
It's by downtown Madison, bythe state capitol.
If you've ever been in CapitolSquare in Madison, Wisconsin, it's
absolutely incredible.
And Closers Camp is a salestraining competition where salespeople
from all over the country cometo put their skills to the test against
the top sales warriors in the business.
And we're literally there.
We're going to be putting$5,000 cash on the line for whoever

(01:05:39):
can come in there andabsolutely dominate.
And in order to win ClosersCamp, you have to be willing to be
comfortable being uncomfortable.
We definitely make them workfor it.
But it's combination ofseveral things.
As I mentioned, there's allkinds of activities we get involved
in.
Role playing exercises forhomework assignments every single
day, Opportunities for them toget up on stage and go through the
different scripts.

(01:06:01):
There's a final exam and it'stwo parts.
It's a digital exam.
But also we leverage AI tomake sure that they have script adherence.
So we actually use it to gradeand score their proficiency in the
system.
Nice.
So they can actually graduateas a Grasso certified Sales Warrior,
which people put that on yourresume as a badge of honor.

(01:06:21):
It's definitely carries a lotof weight in the industry.
But we designed Closers Campas three events in one.
So we have the English salestraining ballroom or the English
sales training track.
We have the Spanish salestraining track and we expect people
will actually probably bebouncing for back and forth from
the English to the Spanish.
But then we also have theProfits for Sanity breakout session.

(01:06:43):
And that's where salesleaders, owners, executives, CEOs
will basically go for two daysduring the Closers camp to learn
how to grow and scale aprofitable business from top to bottom.
So we got guys like BrianGottlieb, I got Chad Holman, I got
some amazing owners andexecutives and business professionals
that are gonna be sharing theblueprint on how to grow and scale

(01:07:05):
a profitable business from topto bottom for sales, marketing, production
and operations.
So.
So if you're definitelylooking in for your sales team or
you as a business leader toreceive legendary training for the
modern world, Closers Campwill have something for everybody.
Love it.
How do they.
Where, where do they go to gettickets and find out more about,
you.
Can go to grassuniversity.comwe got the events tab.

(01:07:25):
There you'll see Closers Campand from there you can go ahead and
reserve your tickets.
We have the owner's levelticket, we have the Sales Warrior
ticket.
And then we also have avirtual option if people don't have
the means to travel.
They can experience closerscamp virtually beautiful.
And for everybody listening,I'll make sure that that link is
in the show notes so we'llmake sure to get it.

(01:07:46):
And it's G R O S S O.
Everybody listening.
If you're, if you're onlyhearing it.
On audio, it's not grosso.
It's grosso.
I love it, man.
Man, I commend you for whatyou're doing.
I, you know, when I heard youheard for the first time about the
Spanish a year ago.
That's.
And I agree it's, it's in myhopper for when I'm hit the place

(01:08:10):
to be able to starttranslating things into Spanish and
have, have that as well.
Because I, I agree there's,it's so needed and it just blew my
mind.
I was like, well duh, why, whydon't we do this in multiple languages?
Yeah.
I got really blessed withWendy because she was a student of
Rick Grasso before I actuallymet her because she's part of the
universal Windows Directnetwork and that was founded by Bill

(01:08:32):
Barr.
So Bill Barr was a student ofRick Grasso and he created this A
to Z sales system that wasbuilt off of the Grasso step selling
sales process.
Yeah.
And Wendy had been actuallymastering that for six years before
I even met her.
And not only was she masteringthe sales side, but you know, with
her and her husband owning thebusiness, she learned about marketing

(01:08:52):
and she learned about the backend and you know, how to read a P
L and CRMs and everything, youknow, involved in the business.
So to find somebody that'sfully bilingual, that understands
the industry to the depthsthat she does, that has a genuine
passion for teaching like Ido, it's definitely rare and this
is probably why it hasn'thappened yet.
But it's hard to find that person.
But when they exist, you gotto give them the platform and the

(01:09:15):
opportunity to shine.
So that's all I'm doing.
Absolutely.
Well, you attract, you attractwho you are.
You attract like minded peopleinto your circle.
When you become the target,not the arrow, it's incredible what
happens.
Yeah, absolutely.
Couldn't agree more.
Well, cool, man.
Well, it is time to land thisplane and if so, I'd love to give
you one for everybody.

(01:09:36):
Go to Grassley University,check out all of their products.
Check out.
There's so many opportunitiesto learn this process at some point.
For everybody listening.
I will be attending a closerscamp because I'M constant lifelong.
When you choose to be alifelong learner, you can learn from
everybody, which is awesome.
So always be sharpening your ax.

(01:09:57):
Now.
I'd love for you to give, youknow, give a few.
What do you want to say to everybody?
If you could sum everything upinto a couple things to really help
them immediately, actionablybe able to make some changes in their
life, what would that sound like?
Yeah.
So your health is your wealth.
So I would say paramount aheadof anything else in your life is

(01:10:18):
get optimal physically.
Because if you're not optimalphysically, you will not be able
to function to your bestmentally, which means you won't be
able to serve those peoplethat desperately need your help to
your fullest capacity.
So I always say, love yourself first.
Optimize yourself physicallyand mentally, and then everything
else you're trying to do isgoing to be profoundly impacted as

(01:10:39):
a result of that, because yousell proportion to how you feel.
If I'm functioning at myoptimal, if I'm healthy, if I'm crisp,
I'm clear, I'm sharp, I gointo that house radiating that positive
energy that alone is going totake your career to place you've
never been.
So make your health a top priority.
You know, wealth does notequate to health.
Your health is your wealth.

(01:11:00):
That's the most importantthing we have, because none of us
want to be the richest personin the graveyard.
And as much mindset trainingas you can possibly take, that's
great.
But if physically your body isdysfunctional, that mindset training
is only going to go so farbecause everything's connected to
how healthy you are internally.
So if my body is functioningoptimally, all the mindset stuff

(01:11:22):
that I'm doing is going to bemuch more profound and much more
powerful.
And I'm going to be able to gointo every house radiating confidence
and joy and energy and enthusiasm.
I'm going to have quickerreflex responses.
I'm going to attract a, youknow, a different level of vibration
as a result.
So that'd be my biggest tip,is put your health and wellness first.
And this is why I personallycreated step one of our sales process

(01:11:46):
being preparation.
And much of preparation has todo with your morning routine.
How to get prepared for a dayof Lee running.
Invest in yourself first.
Love yourself first, so thenyou have enough love and energy to
give to the rest of the world.
So beautiful.
Thank you so much for that.
It absolutely aligns with themessage here at close it now.
When we work harder onourselves than we do in our business,

(01:12:08):
then the business followsbecause we can never, our business
can never outgrow who we areas a person, as the law of the lid,
as John Maxwell would say.
Absolutely.
Well, thanks for being on, man.
It has been a pleasure to haveyou on the show.
I'm excited about everythingthat you're doing and yeah, 100%

(01:12:29):
can see we need to team up onsome stuff because there's so much
that we could accomplishtogether that could be super awesome.
Absolutely.
Well, I appreciate theopportunity to be on your show and
congrats everything you'redoing and I'm definitely 100% open
minded to ways to work together.
So love it, man.
Love it.

(01:12:49):
We'll the next event that'scoming up, we'll be in touch for
sure.
Good stuff.
So we're going to end this theway we always do.
Everybody.
Thanks for being on.
Dominic, make sure to go checkout Grasso University, everyone.
It is next level training thatwill, no matter where you are, it

(01:13:10):
will get you to the next leveleven beyond what you think is possible.
So highly support it, highlyrecommend it.
There's so many good, goodprograms out there and this is the
pinnacle of what is, what isgood, what is exceptional.
It is great.
It's not just good, it is exceptional.
So thanks for being on.
For everybody listening, youknow how we do this.

(01:13:32):
Go be someone worth buying from.
You've been listening to theClose it now podcast.
Our passion is to dive headfirst into the transformative movement
that's reshaping the veryfoundation of H Vac and home improvement
and at the same time coveringfitness, nutrition, relationships

(01:13:52):
and personal growth, provingthat we can indeed have it all.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did, make sure to likerate and review.
We'll be back soon, but in themeantime, find the website@closeitnow.com
find us on Instagram at thereal Close it Now and on Facebook

(01:14:13):
at Close it Now.
See you next time.

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