6. Authentic Sales: Building Trust and Lasting Success with Wes Marshburn

Episode Transcript
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Crystal Privett (00:08):
What does your sales life currently look like?
Is Authenticity a Salessuperpower? In this episode, we
speak with Wes Marshburn, whoprovides some very interesting
sales insights. It's not allabout talking and saying the
right words in sales. Staytuned.

Eric Beels (00:32):
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Business Boost
Hour podcast. My name is EricBeals, and I'm the vice
president of BNI Escondido.

The single CEU podcast. My name is Crystal
Privett, president of BNIEscondido, and we're here today
with Wes Marshburn of NorthCounty Tree. Thanks for joining
us, Wes.

Wes Marshburn (00:52):
Hey. You're welcome. Thanks for inviting me.
Appreciate the opportunity to behere.

Eric Beels (00:55):
Alright. But great having you, Wes. And you got
that I think you have a podcast,Wes.

Yeah. You're hired.

I don't know about that, but, we'll we'll
we'll go with it.

Eric Beels (01:04):
You got a you got that booming voice. Listen to
this guy. So, Wes, today, whatwe wanted to talk about, is, and
I think you are so you're reallya perfect person. I've been
thinking I've known you for along time. Perfect person for
this and that is sales andauthenticity, being authentic in

(01:25):
your sales.
And so, but before we get intothat, kind of I'd like to know a
little bit about, like, tell theaudience a little bit about you,
who you are, kind of what youdo, kinda like what kinda got
you into doing I know you do alot of sales. So kind of I do.
Get what got you into that? Tellus a little bit about who you
are.

I I would've I it really boils down to Eric. It's
part of my personality. I'vebeen a sales guy my entire life.
When I was a kid, I used to sellstuff. I would buy and sell
things.
My dad was a rancher. I'd pickfruit and sell it on the side of
the road. It just comes to menaturally. It's not something
that I find foreign ordifficult. I'm always looking
for an opportunity to make abuck as long as it's honest.

(02:07):
And at the end of the day, salesis whether you're selling a
service or a product. Eitherway, it's still sales. And there
are fundamental things that makeit effective or where you flop
and do nothing. So sales issomething that I find pretty
easy.

Eric Beels (02:19):
Sales been through and through, it

sounds like.

To to the core.

Eric Beels (02:23):
So what what I have a funny question. What was your
first thing that you sold then?

Oh, criminy. Funny story. I don't know if it
was very first thing, but when Iwas a kid, a junior high kid, my
dad was a rancher, and, we usedto have an avocado grove out in
Valley Center, young trees. Andthe deer were, snipping them off
every night, killing a 100 treesor so every single night. We had
to protect the grove, and sowe'd go out in the middle of the
night and, let's just say defendthe grove from, these marauding

(02:51):
hordes of deer with red redbeady eyes.
And dad would make jerky out ofthem, and, I would take bags of
beef jerky to school, and I hada jerky sales, sales market
going on every day at school inin junior high school.

Wow. So you solved a problem and then
profited off of the solutionfrom the problem. What a
salesman.

Eric Beels (03:12):
That's fantastic. So you saw you've solved the trees
from dying and you made money byreselling the

trees.

Eric Beels (03:18):
Awesome. That's fantastic. So okay. So then so
you've been a salesman then fora very long time.

And

Well, it's not too long. I'm old I'm older than
you and I'm that much older.But, yes, for a long time.

But you didn't just watch a YouTube video.

Let's let's delete the very just say a long
time. Okay. Go ahead.

Eric Beels (03:38):
So what okay. So then how I guess, let's kinda
start with what do you who doyou sell for currently? What do
you what do you do and who doyou sell for?

Well, at the end of the day, I primarily sell for
the benefit of my own business,but I also sell in other
situations. When if I'mrepresenting a group, I work I
am part of BNI, for example, andI don't try to sell BNI. I
really don't. I offer it. When Imeet somebody that I think
benefit being a BNI BNI.

(04:09):
English is the only language Iknow, and I don't even speak it
full of my language. But,anyway, when I run into somebody
that I think would benefit froma membership in BNI, I offer
that to them. I explain to themwhat it is. And I tell them flat
out before I even invite them asa visitor, if you're not a good
fit, I'll be honest with you. Wedon't want you.
Honestly, we don't. I'll shakeyour hand. I'll still be
friendly. Go go to lunch,whatever, but it's gotta be a

(04:31):
good fit. We offer somethingthat is beneficial to you.
And then I usually throw in it'sworth about a third of my
income. I also was a visitor onetime, and it's a really valuable
group to me. So if you'reinterested, then I go on to
explain it further. So I I sell,if you will, BNI, all the time.
But in reality, I'm justoffering it.
And that's kind of a core thatgoes through even if I am
selling a contract as acontractor. I'm really offering

(04:54):
them an opportunity to solvetheir problem. The first
question that I ask when I go toa potential client's house is,
why am I here? What is the issuethat you're concerned about? You
know, this tree, is it you know,what's the problem?
You're hearing noises, is itcracked, or you don't like it,
or the neighbor's griping aboutit and whatever. What is the
issue? And I try to come up witha solution for the problem. If
that means a service that I canprovide them, then great. But if

(05:17):
not, sometimes it isn't.
I'll give them counsel on that.

That authenticity sometimes means
telling them no or that it won'tbe a good fit.

Yeah. The bottom line when you're interacting
with people, I like to rememberto treat others as I would like
to be treated. That's a biblicalproverb and I am a man of faith
and I try to keep that ingrainedin everything that I do. I am
not there to pick your pocket ifyou're my client. I'm there to
help you.
I genuinely mean that. Sometimesthe advice or counsel that I
give is not in my my personalfinancial best interest, but it

(05:47):
is in the best interest of theclient to the best of my
ability. And that is aneffective tool for sales, but
it's also just a good way tolive, I think.

Well, and that authenticity sometimes help you
because I I've never some peoplemight not know this, but you can
be a character witness. Tell usabout how your authenticity
helps you because I knowsometimes with trees, there'll
be some, maybe arguments or,people will need evidence to
prove, certain thing on a tree.Can you tell them about some of

(06:18):
your specialties in that area?

Sure. Well, first of all, I'm a 30 year tree
service contractor, so I've seenvirtually any conceivable
situation that a tree brings toa property. Spent the bulk of my
career up in the Lake Arrowheadarea, the San Bernardino
Mountains, and up there was thehigh hazard removal contractor.
The San Bernardino Mountains isthe most urbanized forest in the
nation, meaning there are morehouses congested in National

(06:43):
Forest than anywhere else in thecountry. So there's a lot of
conflict between big trees andhigh value property.
Well, trees don't respectproperty lines. They just grow
where they grow. So there's alot of issues sometimes between
2 neighbors and a tree that's onthe property line or even a tree
that's on one property creatingproblems on the other. And I
always counsel that both partiescommunicate with each other and

(07:04):
cooperate. That tree bringsaesthetic value to both
properties.
It's big. It's green. It'spretty. It's shady, etcetera. It
brings liabilities to bothproperties.
Let's say, for example, Crystal,you own the tree and there's a
fence between you and Eric. Yourtree, the fence or excuse me,
the roots are encroaching ontoEric's property, and those roots
are causing damage to thehardscape maybe as a pool deck

(07:25):
or something like that. Well,your tree is damaging his
property. He's all up in arms.Sue her or whatever.
I wanna chop these roots down.Oh, well, yeah. You can. You
have the legal right to cutthose roots or to cut the canopy
that encroaches over yourproperty line, Eric. But at the
end of the day, if you do that,if you hire me as a contractor
to cut those roots or cut thatcanopy, that tree is now

(07:48):
asymmetrically balanced and nolonger stable in a big wind and
potentially goes into declinebecause you've cut a bunch of
its roots.
So, therefore, you've damagedher tree. What if it dies? Now
she has action against you.You've killed her tree. Right?
So it's always best that you 2cooperate with one another. And
as the arborist, I'll give yougood counsel on what's best to

(08:09):
solve the problem. You bothbenefit. You both have
liability. The tree just grewthere, and nobody planted it.
It's just part of nature. Solet's work together. It's always
best. And then as thecontractor, I can't really work
on your tree crystal without hispermission because I can't
levitate. I wish I could, but Ican't.
And my guys need to climb thattree, so I need your permission
to climb the tree, and I need towork on your property because a

(08:31):
lot of that debris is comingdown in your yard. So I need
your cooperate cooperationanyway to do the job. So it is
always best that you guyscooperate. And as the
contractor, I'm I'm there to doit so long as you're, on the
same page with one another. Andto be perfectly frank with you,
if you're not, I don't want anypart of it.
See you later.

Eric Beels (08:49):
So I I okay. So this this actually brings up a very
interesting question.

Yeah.

Eric Beels (08:54):
Because I'm I imagine other people might have
similar situations out therewhere there's, like, multiple
parties involved. Right? How doyou, if at all, may you know,
how do you do you have any,like, methods that you help kind
of facilitate that where youkinda try to get both parties on

(09:16):
the same page? Do you haveanything that you do

The about as far into that as I'll go, Eric,
because at the end of the day,I'm a nice guy, but I'm not a
nonprofit. When occasionally,I'm a nonprofit, it's not on
purpose. I'm a nonprofit when Imake a bad bid. But besides
that, my goal is to actuallymake a living at this. And so,
I'm not really gonna get in anarbitration between the 2, but I
will give, counsel for you toboth cooperate.

(09:41):
Sometimes I get I get brought inas an arborist where we have 2
neighbors that are warring withone another over some issue
regarding a tree. And I willjust simply tell them, you need
to cooperate because there's nowinners here. You know, you can
hire counsel. You can hirecounsel. You can fight.
You can both pay each other'sattorneys. At the end of the
day, you both need each other'scooperation anyway because
there's issues on both sides. Socooperate. Figure out a

(10:02):
solution. Whether that meanspruning the tree, reducing the
tree, removing the tree, be onthe same page.
There is no benefit to going towar with each other ever. It
doesn't help either one of you.So as the arborist or the
contractor, I'm gonna givecounsel that direction. And when
I see that you're on the samepage with what you wanna do,
I'll give you a bid to do it. Ican do virtually anything that

(10:22):
needs to be done to a tree, butI don't wanna get in the middle
between 2 neighbors.
There's just no there's nobenefit to me, and I'm not
being, frankly, paid toarbitrate arguments. That's not
what I do for a living.

Eric Beels (10:34):
Right. Yep. Okay. So when it come so when when you
sit down with with with withsomebody, I know you mentioned
that you are you you basicallytry to be straight with with
with people. Communication andcooperation.
Communication and cooperation.And so what, I so for me, I'm

(10:58):
not a salesman. I'm the oppositeof you. I'm the back I'm the I'm
the person in the back. I'm theengineer.
I'm the

You're the technician.

Eric Beels (11:05):
I'm the technician. Exactly. I I would be in your
case, I would be the tree guy.I'd be the one kind of, like,
cutting the trees or somethinglike that.

He'd be in the bucket. I'd be

Eric Beels (11:14):
in the bucket. Exactly. And so so this is this
is from this is this area iskind of, like, you know, for me,
it's like something I I'm more Idon't I'm not a fan of sales.

He wants you to share his nuggets of wisdom with
you.

Eric Beels (11:31):
Yes, exactly. And so when you sit down with with
somebody who is is, you know, Iguess in your case, looking to
get their their habit tree trimdone, what does that initially
kind of look like and what dowhat kind of what's your like
first I guess what's your firstquestions that you kind of ask

(11:53):
somebody that kinda, like,easing down the road? They're
not a sale yet.

Yeah. First of all, when I show up on our
property, I typically will ask,and I'll tell the client this,
what I usually say when I firstarrive. I literally tell them
those words or something likethat is why am I here? Why have
you called me out? Because Iwanna identify the issue.
It's your property. These areyour trees. I'm not here to tell
you what to do, but to give youcounsel with whatever your issue

(12:17):
is. Now I make a living myselfin 2 ways. 1, I make a living as
a contractor giving a bid andaccomplishing a task that you
want done.
For example, you have a deadtree. What's it gonna cost to
bring down? I'm I'm there. Giveyou a price. We're done.
Write you a contract. We'll dothe job. But I also make a
living as an arborist, acertified arborist, where I'm
being paid for my opinions andmy observations. And whether the

(12:38):
report is giving verbal orwhether the report is given in a
written format with photography,I'm being paid for information
and for my opinions, 30 years ofexperience behind those
opinions. So I will ask you, whyam I here?
You know, what is you well, youknow, I can't see the forest
through the trees, you know,that sort of thing. Well, I we
can walk the property, and youcan point out the things that

(12:58):
you're concerned about, or wecan walk, and I just began to
pontificate on things that I seeand observe for your benefit. In
my case, if you want me to takephotography and take notes, it
goes slower, obviously, becauseI gotta write and take photos
and all that. If you wanna takeyour own notes and take your own
pictures and just have me speakand ask me questions, the job
will it'll go faster, andtherefore, your bill will be

(13:20):
smaller, but you get the sameinformation. If you want me to
make a report that will end upgoing into escrow, for example,
if you're buying a property orperhaps we wanna dig in deeper
and take samples and send themto an analytical laboratory, All
of that is possible, but that'sdriven by you.
What is it that you want? Whatwhat need am I here to fulfill?
Mhmm. And as a salesman, I tryto become as authentic and

(13:43):
genuine as I possibly can be. Ilook for ways of connection, not
not in a suck up artificial way.
I mean, genuine connection. WhenI meet somebody and they have
children, I don't oh, I lovekids. I really genuinely do. I
have 3 kids, and I might lookfor opportunity to draw
parallels with my experience asa father and a young guy's
experience as a father teach youknow, coaching Little League. I

(14:05):
coached Little League for a longtime.
So sometimes I'll connect there.Or perhaps somebody is my in my
age group, and and they'vethey've gone through a death in
the family recently. Well, Ihave 2, and I don't I don't use
it for sales. I use it forconnection because I genuinely
do care and empathize with thepain that they're feeling. I
know what that feels like.

(14:26):
It doesn't matter whether I sellthem a job or not. I don't care.
But the purpose is to makeconnections so they know me and
they trust me. And then I try tohelp. I genuinely try to help.
If that means my services areare helpful, great. If my
services are not, then I I say,you know, this is not something
that I'm well equipped to do. Ican help refer you to somebody

(14:46):
that can. And that's where BNIusually comes in. I know
somebody that is properly vettedand licensed.
They're a friend of mine ifthey're my own chapter. But even
if they're not, I belong to abig organization that I can find
qualified people virtuallyanywhere in virtually any trade,
and I'd be willing to help you.I like to be a source for you
for information. There's nomoney you're not paying me. I

(15:07):
just wanna be helpful to.
And BNI is very useful in thatrespect. I have a brief story
that I can tell if you like. CanI tell a quick story?

Eric Beels (15:14):
Go ahead. Do it.

A good friend of mine, he and his wife moved back
to Tennessee, and Dave, is aformer general contractor. He
happened to have also been thepastor of a little church that I
used to go to. Dave is a I mean,the guy has forgotten more about
building things than I'll everknow. He's a really good guy
with his hands. Well, he's losta step or 2.
And, Dave, if you ever listen tothis anyway We love you, Dave.
Yeah. Exactly. But I went backto visiting my wife and I did,

(15:38):
and he's lost a step or 2. Andhis wife, Dwan, was, you know,
saying, you know, hey.
I don't want him on the roofanymore, that kind of stuff. So
I was telling him about BNI.This is back in Tennessee. I
don't know a soul in Tennesseeexcept for Dave and Dwan. And,
anyway and I said, well, youknow what?
I have a resource for you. Ilooked up the local chapter of
BNI closest to where they lived,called up the president, the

(16:00):
reason to be president, by theway, Crystal, called up the
president and introduced myself.I said I'm the president of the
chapter in Escondido. I was, bythe way, at the time, but not
now. And, anyway, I called himup, and I said, look.
I'm here in Tennessee visiting agood friend. He doesn't have any
local contacts and referrals.He's a former general
contractor, knows how to dothings, but he really can't so
much anymore. I would like alist of your members or people

(16:23):
that you know and trust in avariety of trades so that I can
listen for him. And when heneeds a plumber, an electrician,
a roofer, an asphalt guy,whatever, he has a name to call.
And I explained to Dave, theseare people you're still gonna
need to interview yourself Mhmm.Decide if they're if the price
point is right, all that, butthey are vetted. We know they're
licensed. We know they'rethey're, have background checks

(16:45):
on them. We know they'reinsured, and we know their
quality because there's aquality control aspect to BNI
that you just simply don't haveif you look somebody up on
Google.
True. That is a shot in thedark. Might get a good guy. You
might not. But BNI, 9 out of 10,you're gonna get a qualified
resource.
And so I gave that to Dave, andI'm I know he's used it a couple
of times. So that's a goodthing.

Nice. Yeah.

Eric Beels (17:05):
That's a great story. Yeah. I I I have a
similar one, actually. So, like,my, my, grandparents are in,
Texas, and they're specificallyin in, Lubbock, Texas. And, they
had issues with some contractorsand, and, and also my aunt and

(17:28):
uncle over there too.
They had issues with contractorsjust in the in the area. And I
was like, you know, I bet Icould find a BNI chapter in the
area. And so I I actually so, Iactually put them in contact
with them, and they found somepeople, and they love them now.
And so, like, that's kind oflike a good a really interesting
power of BNI that we don'treally talk about too often is

(17:48):
the fact that, like, hey. Youcan get, you know, if you're in
a BNI chapter, you can getpeople like myself.
In my case, I didn't even, like,call up the the president. I
just feel like, hey. Just look.Here's a list. I found the
website, and I was like, here'sa list.
Like, whatever you need, like,look at these people on your on
on on list. Can't guarantee thatthat that that they'll be

(18:12):
perfect, but

At least they're somewhat vetted.

It's a step in the right direction. It's a

Eric Beels (18:16):
step in the right direction. Yeah. And so, I I and
I I found that to be what when Ihad had done that, I was like,
man, this is a pretty, like,cool aspect of BNI that no one
really talks about, that thatthat can happen.

Yeah.

Eric Beels (18:29):
And where it's like just the fact that you have the
BNI badge, just that alone, eveneven for people that maybe don't
even know what BNI is, butbecause, like, my current they
didn't know what what BNI is.

It's a very BNI is a very powerful organization.
I mean, I tip my hat to doctorMeissner for kept coming up with
a concept, and I admire thebusiness end of owning BNI. It's
like, wow. But I ran intosomething a month or 2 ago that
was a little bit surprising, butit doesn't surprise me now that
I think about it. I belong, as Imentioned earlier, I'm a man of
faith, and I belong to somethingcalled a small group through my

(19:05):
church, which is essentially agroup of people that are
friends.
We do bible study, other stufflike that. Anyway, there's,
like, 12 of us, 6 couples inthis group. And we're talking,
and one of the guys, Ken, andhis wife, Susie, you know, were
talking about this. I've I'vetaken Ken Fishin before.
Somehow, out of the blue, thesubject of BNI came up, and
turns out Ken and Susie are bothmembers of BNI.
Never even knew. It's like, oh,man. We've had, like, 5 BNI or

(19:27):
one to ones, and I didn't evenknow it. You know? It's like

It's pretty cool who

he is.

Over the place. I just did a I just did a
director training in Temecula,and one of the other directors
is from my little teeny tinyhometown in Colorado. And we're
both in the San Diegodirector's, chapter. So my
graduating class had, like, 80people. And the fact that most
people out in Colorado don'teven know this small town, but

(19:53):
the fact that we were broughttogether by BNI, it's so neat to
have those connections.
Yeah.

Eric Beels (19:59):
Yeah. It gets it becomes very kind of kind of
becomes tight knit in thatsense.

Yeah. Yeah. Like a the family that you
choose, not the you can expandyour network.

Eric Beels (20:09):
Right. Right.

Mhmm.

Eric Beels (20:10):
Yeah. So when when, so when let's say you, are
you're meeting with a a clientthen or actually not a client,
but a prospect, I guess. Andwhen you let's say somebody is

(20:32):
is I know you're kind of givingthem you're being straight with
them with with how they how theyshould should, you know, what
they should do or shouldn't doand whatnot. If somebody's kinda
giving you some some somepushback, let's say the the the
pushback, oh, something's, like,too expensive or something like
that. How do you how do youhandle something like that?

Well, my bid process first of all, part of
connecting with a client, I Igot started and then I we were
sidetracked on something else.Something else is important is
to is to show or demonstrate tothe potential, to use your word
prospect, your credentials. Inother words, in my industry, and
I'm sure this is true acrossmany industries, but in my
industries, there's basically 3niches of the tree service

(21:13):
industry. They're the largecompanies, the Davey Trees of
this world, etcetera. They'rebig.
They're legitimate all the wayalong. I know several owners and
all that, but their margins arereally or excuse me. Their their
overhead is very high becausethey have a lot of trucks, big
crews, expensive trailers. Theycan do big projects and come
into an HOA with 300 trees andknock it out in a couple weeks.

(21:34):
I could do the work, but I'dstill be there 2 years from now.
In other words, I'm really notsuited because I'm a small
contractor for those bigprojects. On the other hand, on
the other end of the spectrum,there's the guys that I call
Hack A Wax. They're aroundcutting trees. You know, hey.
Cut trees, chop trees cheap.
You know, that kind of thing.And there's a zillion of them in
this industry, and I won't evendeny that some of them, even

(21:55):
arguably most of them, do decentwork. They may not cut
everything properly as as Iwould want them to as an
arborist, but they get the jobdone. But the fact is when
they're on-site, they present aliability to the property owner
that the owner may be ignorantof. If there's an injury, I got
a news flash for you.
Chainsaw accidents are notalways. Chainsaw accidents are 6
figure problems or worse.They're serious, very serious.

(22:18):
And if something happens likethat, a guy that's working out
of the table has very shallowpockets, he does by definition,
or he wouldn't be cheatingbecause he's breaking the law.
So, therefore, that big bill isgonna go to the property address
of record.
Paramedics are gonna take thatinjured employee to the
hospital. Paramedics are coming,and the first thing they ask the
admitting admission is gonna askis, oh, is this a worksite

(22:38):
accent? Clearly, he's sweaty,bloody, and it's the middle of
the day. And then they're gonnasay, what's the job site
address? Because if there's noworkers' comp policy to take the
bills, that bill is going to theproperty owner.
So when a hack a wacker gives acheap price, but he's not
telling the the client, showingthem a workers' comp policy,
he's actually exposing theclient to a lot of liability.

(22:59):
You can lose your home over it.I mean, it's a big deal. It
really is. You might carryinsurance on your trucks, but
you might carry just privateauto when in reality commercial
auto is needed because this is acommercial operation.
Oh, it's cheaper because theyget a discount with their wife's
car or whatever. But in reality,what they've done is expose to
the client a liability becauseif something happens with one of
those trucks on-site, thatclient is gonna get drawn into a

(23:21):
lawsuit also. So a legitimatecontractor explains all these
things, and that's part of whatI mean by connection before I
answer your question. First ofall, I wanna find out why I'm
here. And then secondly, I'mgoing to connect with you in a
personal way so that we have asense of trust between us.
And then thirdly, I'm gonna showyou credentials not to be a
braggart, but to give you apeace of mind that I have the

(23:42):
right expertise to address theissue that you have or the
concern that you have. I'lloften present them by saying
this is why I answer thequestions that I do. I want you
to know my background. I'm notjust shooting from the hip. This
is what I do for a living.
This is my career. I'm not justa guy making bucks on the side.
Okay? And then we give a price.Now directly answer your
question.
Let's say, oh, it's cheaper orwhatever. I will explain to

(24:04):
people. Yes. The overheadassociated with this kind of
work is expensive. It's a partof the bid.
But when you purchase it, you'rebuying the work, but you're also
buying the protection of thisoverhead. For example or a
similar thing. When you go outto eat, for example, with your
girlfriend or your wife, if youjust wanna go fill your belly,
you might go to fast food. Butif you wanna go out to dinner,

(24:26):
you go to a place with airconditioning, a booth, maybe
some live music, which is moreexpensive because you're
purchasing the overhead of arestaurant and the other things
that come with it. You're notjust getting a meal.
The meal arguably is betterprepared in the restaurant than
in the fast food place, maybe alittle bit healthier. It's a
similar parallel. You could gofeed yourself at the fast food

(24:46):
joint, but if you want qualitymeal, you're gonna go to that
restaurant. Right? Same thing inthe contract world.
Yes. You can get a cheaper pricetypically, but you expose
yourself to a lot of problemspotentially if you do. Or you go
with a middle line contractorlike me where I bring the same
level of expertise to the jobsite that a big company does. I
just I can make a margin on aresidential job where they

(25:08):
can't. And if you're the clientthat represent an HOA with 300
trees, I will thank you for theopportunity, offer my services
as an arborist to oversee, butI'm not gonna offer you a bid
because I'm not a good fit, andI'll tell you so.
And I've told HOA managersmyself, I'd love to do the work
for you and but if you need itdone in a month, I'm not a good
fit for you. If you can spreadthis out over a year, and some

(25:30):
do that, by the way. They'llthey'll say, yeah. We have a
budget. We can spend x amountper month.
Hey. I'm your man. I can put acrew on this for 2 or 3 days a
month and knock this thing outover the course of a year. I'd
love that. That's great, butwe're gonna clearly understand
one another before we set up acontract that way.

So your authenticity helps you with your
sales.

And and if if and it's a it's a matter of
matching. If you as the clientwant strictly lowest price,
we're not a good fit. Yep. Youknow, I I once a long time ago,
we won't say how long becausethat says how old I am. Right?
But I went to went to a businessseminar myself, where frankly,
the guy that was teaching theseminar, it was, you know,
Snoozville. I I everything thathe said, I could have taught

(26:11):
myself. But he said one colonel,one thing that really stuck out
to me, and I've remembered it tothis very day.

Let's hear it.

And I here it is. He classifies a potential client
in 1 of 5 categories, a's, b's,c's, d's, and f's. Okay? The a
the a client is the is theperfect client. Nice job.
Pays right away. No complaints.Gives you all sorts of great
reviews. Signs you up with hismother, you know, whatever. You
want tons of those.

(26:37):
The b client, good job. Maybetakes 10 or 15 days to pay the
bill, but really isn't aproblem. It's just kinda
standard. C, you do the job, butthere's complaints, and it takes
30 days to get paid, and theymaybe have to do payments
because they don't have themoney anymore, you know, these
kind of things. D is a problem.
D is full of complaints, slow toplease, won't pay. You gotta

(27:01):
threaten them with collection,you know, all sorts of issues.
And f's are, of course, won'tpay the bill. Nothing
disappears, won't communicate.They're just gone.
Well, as a business owner, smallbusiness, too many of us spend a
lot of our energy chasing thed's and f's with all that bills,
trying to collect those billsMhmm. Those invoices that
haven't been paid, trying toinvest all this energy into

(27:22):
pleasing the c. In reality, ifyou decide when you first meet
them, and my antenna are prettypretty tuned. If I run into a d
or an f, I'm polite. You know, II won't be rude or anything, but
I simply declined a bit.
I don't wanna do business withthis person. If I run into a c,
honestly, it's my judgment call,frankly, how busy am I? If I'm

(27:44):
starving, I have no work, thenI'll deal with it. But I know
it's gonna take some specialhandling, but I spend most of my
energy looking for a's and b's.If I spend more emotional
energy, more promotional dollarbills chasing the a's and b's,
ultimately, I'll make more moneywith less effort, and I'll sleep
at night.
Whereas the d's and f's leave,you know, leave me twisting and

(28:05):
turning, you know, chewing onmyself. I don't like it. It's
not fun.

Eric Beels (28:09):
I love that analogy. So, yeah, So I can definitely
relate to on on the on on the

The spectrum.

Eric Beels (28:17):
On that spectrum. Yeah. Because I and where
because I found, you know, somesome clients were actually very,
very, very nice. And theyactually maintained being very
nice, but they were kind of apain in the butt because they
wanted a lot of things. Theywere nice about it, but they
were it's just one of, like, alot a lot of things.
I ended up just kind of, like,letting them letting them go in
the nicest way possible and suchjust because it was, like, and

(28:39):
and it being not really theroute that I wanted to to go
down. They were just asking fortoo much and things like that.
How so when you're on the whenyou're kind of grading people,
how do you grade how do you doyou do that real time, like,
when you're talking so how doyou go about, like, figuring out
whether they're an a, b, c, or

Unfortunately, Eric, there is not a hard and
fast. It's called doing it for30 years.

Eric Beels (29:03):
Tuition.

Yeah. And I've made a lot of mistakes. I wish I
could say that I don't makemistakes anymore, but I do. I
make a lot of mistakes. I have aclient right now that owes me a
stack of money, and she'sdisappeared on me.
She won't pay the bills, won'treturn calls, won't nothing.
And, eventually, the theemotional energy vested trying
to collect the money that I'mrightfully due, it just it just

(29:25):
caused me to just chews me up.And so, ultimately, I've hired a
collection company, attorney incollection. She's gone. She's
off the books.
I I just don't worry about itanymore.

BNI has a bounty hunter. I don't think it
I don't think that counts,though.

Right? Yeah. I know. But, you do that. But as a
rule, my antennae are prettyaccurate.
And when I get there, I get asense of, and it it it mean,
obviously, a home with wealthand just the sense that you you
know, the how they present andall that, it gives you
confidence that that they'llmove forward. Pragmatically,
somebody with a lot of assetswanna protect those assets. And

(29:57):
if and I only will work with asigned contract. As a
contractor, I have the abilityto lien their home. They don't
want that.
That's not a good thing to me,so I know they're gonna pay as
long as I perform my duties. Soa property with assets is safer
to work on. But let's be real.Most properties aren't that way.
And so my antenna, like, is thisperson good for it or not, I'm

(30:17):
far more willing to give,installment payments, for
example, to somebody whosecharacter I connect with.
That's part of what I'm learningwhen we're talking. I wanna
expose my character to them, butI'm also measuring theirs. You
know what? If I get just ageneral sense of I'm not liking
this too much, either A, I won'twork for them, or B, I protect
myself with terms that are thatprotect, right, like that. But

(30:41):
it's it's really just boils downto experience.
There's really not a a magicformula, and I still make
mistakes today.

Eric Beels (30:46):
You mentioned, like, with it, they have money, but, I
mean, I've had I've worked withsome people where the the
chintziest people were the onesthat, like, had a lot of money.
And I was like, bro, like, whyare you I don't understand it.

But the thing is, I'm the nicest guy in the world
I am. But truthfully, underneaththis pill berry Pillsbury
Doughboy exterior and sway tothe wind, all that, I got a
backbone made of steel. I reallydo. I fired a guy on Christmas
Eve one time. Okay?
You know, really, I'm I'mcompletely serious. At the end
of the day, that's one way thatas a contractor and I will

(31:18):
often, not always, but I willoften in the process of
negotiation with a job, makesure that a homeowner
understands this. As a licensedcontractor, mainly the law is in
your benefit as the client, butthe one place that it really is
in mind is I have a legal rightto lien your home when I've
worked for you if you've signedmy contract. And if you don't
pay the bill, I get a news flashfor you. I will.

(31:41):
Okay? So you're gonna pay mybill. Now as a different type of
service where you're not workingas a contractor, you may not
have those protections. Youmight have to go to small claims
court and argue before a judgeto get your invoice paid and all
that, but it's a big giant painin the neck. And, you know, he
said, she said, and this, that,whatever.
I don't know your business. Butas a contractor, I'm I'm locked
solid if I've have a signedcontract and I've done my job

(32:03):
properly. I have been myself inmy career, been to small claims.
Most of my jobs, by the way, area few $1,000. I don't typically
do big ticket jobs.
I mean, I've done a few, butmost are 2, 3, 4, 5 grand, maybe
10, something like that are inthat neck of the woods. So most
of my jobs

Eric Beels (32:20):
Neck of the woods, I heard.

Yes. It's very funny, I think, too. Very funny.
Yeah. Anyway, most of my jobswould fall under the
jurisdiction of this of smallclaims court.
And I have been to small claimscourt, I don't know, 6 or 7
times. I've never lost. Notonce, not a single time because
I'm documented.

You you're yeah. You're really great at
this.

Yeah. And so I don't wanna go there. It's a
giant waste of my time too. I'drather you pay the bill. And on
a few occasions, rather than gothat route, I've made a
compromise even though I'm owedx amount.
If you'll pay it off to here at79%, I'll write off the balance,
and we'll just move on. Theiraccount's flagged. They'll never
work for them again, but it's itit's very pragmatic. I'm not
gonna waste my time, chasingsomething. But going back to

(33:06):
your original question, it'sreally just experience.

Eric Beels (33:09):
So, well, I guess I'm wondering, like, have you
found other, like, certain, likelike like, maybe they say people
will say certain certain wordsor certain things that you've
that that maybe you've heardbefore where it's like, oh,
that's a red flag for me orsomething like that. May it
might be it'll probably be foryour business, but I don't know.

(33:29):
Yeah.

I I don't know. I I am of the opinion that most
businesses are the same 90%. Thelast 10 is what's different
between any business, but mostof it's keeping the lights on,
so to speak. I don't know thatthere's something I can answer
to that gives me a flag. It'sreally just a general feeling in
the conversation when Iinitially meet them and all
that, how they carry themselves,how they answer questions, how

(33:51):
they ask questions, etcetera.
And it really has nothing to dowith their their economic
status. I'll tell you anotherpersonal story where I worked
for a lady one time. We'll callher Judy because her name really
was Judy. But, anyway, I did ajob for her, and she happened to
be a waitress at the restaurantthat I used to go get coffee
every morning at. Right?
Did a job for can't remember nowwhat it was. It was years ago.

(34:13):
Everything went well. Job waswell done. Everything's good.
And a couple weeks afterwards,I'd given her terms. And
afterwards, 2 weeks later, shelost her job, and she had no
income. And she, communicatedwith me by phone call or letter
or something and said, Wes, Idon't have any income. I can't
keep the payment plan that weset. Well, she was good to her
word.
Every month, she sent me acheck. It might have been for

(34:35):
$25, and she owed me a couplegrand. $25, $50, 100, or she'd
send a note. I'm so sorry. Idon't have anything this month.
Nothing. And I'll tell you what.She paid that that thing off all
the way down to the final penny,and I would give her credit
today. It has nothing to do withyour financial or economic
status. It has to do with yourcharacter, and she's an example

(34:55):
of someone whose character isright.
She knew what was right. I didthe job she hired me to do. We
did it well. There were nomistakes. She owed the money,
and she was good to her word topay it.
It took a long time, but I don'tcare. I mean, yes, I'd rather be
paid right away, but I'm a manof compassion and empathy as I
think you should be. I wannatreat her as I would like her to
treat me, and I gave her termswithout any hassles and it

(35:17):
worked out well. And I I wouldwork for her today if she called
me up.

Eric Beels (35:20):
Yeah. Well, you know, it sounds like someone
someone like that might even,you know, refer refer you now to
you.

That's a golden that's a golden thing. I mean,
that that's not my motivation.Sure. But that's a golden thing,
especially in this world ofonline reviews and such. This
was back when you were, like,wearing diapers and stuff.
This was when there was noInternet. Okay? But, anyway,
there wasn't the possibility,but that's a good example in
today's world. That person mightvery well do a bunch of reviews

(35:47):
for you because you don't do itfor this reason, but they feel
indebted to you a little bitperhaps. And so they wanna
compensate for their lack ofbeing able to make payment right
away by just going to town andwriting a bunch of reviews and
trying to help you.
You know, that might happen. Youcertainly don't ask for it. You
know, if I do this, do that. No.That's wrong.
Just let it happen organically.If it happens, that's that's

(36:07):
just a benefit.

Our topic is sales and authenticity, but I
keep hearing you say connectionand communication, which is
interesting.

It's a part of sales. Yeah. Crystal, it
absolutely is. It has to be.

Eric Beels (36:18):
It sounds like it's like kind of like the core part

of Mhmm. Yeah.

Eric Beels (36:21):
Of of your sales.

It's it's the foundation of it. In sales,
though, I mean, initially, wewere talking about I I thought
of a concept that I'll bring upnow now that we're varying that
direction. I I also when I'mdoing sales, I wanna target a
proper market. And up where Iused to live, a small community
up in the San BernardinoMountains, I remember this
building, and it used to be areal estate office. It's a small

(36:44):
town.
I drove past it virtually everyday. In fact, I was in this real
estate office,

Eric Beels (36:48):
you

know, getting a job one time, whatever. Anyway,
the office closed, and somewoman named Candy, opened up a
candy store there. And I have nodoubt that Candy made the best
candy in the world. She probablydid. She probably had great
passion for the candies that shemakes.
Named

Eric Beels (37:05):
well for the job.

Exactly. I'm

sure she was sweet too.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very sweet woman.
That's right. The name of thebusiness was literally Candy's
Candy, name of the business. AndI used to say as I pontificated
on business concepts to myemployees that were a trapped
audience in my crew cab truck.They had no choice but to
listen. They were on clock andon the bus, so they had to
listen.
Anyway, we drive by andoccasionally and say, you know
what? That's example. It makesme really sad because I have no

(37:30):
doubt that candy is dumping herlife savings, her resources, the
equity in her home, whatever,into building this business
because she has passion for it.She's probably the best candy
maker ever. I have no doubtabout that.
It's not a matter of can shemake quality candy, but I
predict that business will failin 6 months because she put it
in a bad place. The town inwhich I lived, I was a very

(37:53):
unique guy in that I lived andworked in this community, but
the vast majority of the homeshad people that commuted down
the hill to the city for theirjobs, you know, as brokers or,
you know, whatever they do. Mostpeople commuted up and down the
grade every day every day. Anddown there, easy access to See's
Candy, easy access to thevarious other things. So at the

(38:13):
end of the day, the clientelethat she needed were gonna be
getting their candy cheaper andmore convenient down the hill.
And so even though she probablyhad a great product, she had
made a mistake in identifying abad market.

She didn't know her audience.

Exactly. And I have made mistakes in the tree
business, identifying a marketincorrectly with tools that I
bought. I I remember one time, II used to own a skid steer, if
you know what that is. It'sessentially an engine on tracks,
and you put a variety ofimplements on the front, you
know, a stump grinder or bucketor grapple, you know, various
tools on there. Anyway, I gotthis wild idea to put a to

(38:52):
purchase a mower because one ofthe things that we did as a side
venture is we we did weedabatement on large properties.
So I bought this mower. Cost me,I don't know, several $1,000. It
came all brand spanking new.Perfect. Worked great.
But what it didn't occur to meis that most of the properties
that we weed whacked were veryuneven and and lumpy bumpy and

(39:13):
on-site soap and all that. Thistractor was a giant pain in the
neck and did a lousy job. That'swhy I never used it. I used it,
like, twice. Well, Wes did asuper bad job of identifying his
market.
It was much more efficient topay one of the guys to use a
weed whacker. That's whatthey're made for. Go wax and
weeds. And, so I did a bad job,but you learn by experience.

Eric Beels (39:34):
Mhmm. Yeah. So, like like, identifying that market,
especially in in situation, likein in in in sounds like in
Candy's case. Yeah. Like, itcould be, you know, detrimental,
but I think it sounds like,tying this back into the the
sales aspect is is kind of,like, really kind of niching
down and identifying thespecific person as well.

(39:56):
Like, in your case, you youwanna make that connection with
that person, because that kindahelps them, like, relate to you
more. So you're kinda buildingthat relationship with them in
whatever whatever way waypossible. And I imagine that
probably, that probably makes iteasier for for you to identify
whether they're an area

fishing in the right pool.

Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way to look at it.
And I I also this I don't intendthis to sound arrogant in any
way, but, I it's not it's notuncommon for me to get a phone
call or a text or something froman old client, that maybe I
worked for 2 years ago or 3years ago, whatever. And they
just text me assuming that Iknow who they are because I
connected with them.

(40:39):
You know? Oh, I have I need youto come back and trim my trees
again. And I had to text backand say, please identify
yourself because Please identifyyourself. Because they know who
I am. They connected, and theirtree's a big deal to them.
But no offense to them, butthey're one of a few thousand to
me. I remember the tree once Isee the property, but I may not

(40:59):
remember them. Right? But I needlike that. But I successfully
connected with that client, andso they don't feel the need to
introduce themselves.
Mhmm. It just doesn't occur tothem that they're just one of
many, you know, to me. But butI'm unique to them, and they
remembered. I I find it a littlebit frustrating, but I also take
it as a compliment.

Eric Beels (41:17):
Yeah. No. That's I think that that sounds like a a
huge compliment. I like, if ifsomeone's you left such an
impression on them that they'vethey, you know, feel like that
they just know you as a friend,basically. Right?
Even though they didn't reallyhave that kind of working
relationship.

And and I strive for that connection. I mean it
honestly and true whetherwhether I successfully sell a
contract or not. I I want thatconnection regardless of whether
we're gonna end up doingbusiness together. There is
nothing to be lost by beinghonest and helpful to somebody.
It pays dividends today or Maynext week or a year or 2 years
from now.
You never know. It never hurtsyou. It is always best. And so

(41:58):
that is what I intend to doright out of the gates
regardless. And sometimes, like,I even did a bid today or I went
to a bid.
I spent some money. First ofall, I bought the lead to get
the people's information. Idrove 45 minutes to the lady's
house and then 45 back toactually to come here. And when
I got there, I was not a goodmatch for the, for the job. It
what she wanted done really isbetter performed by a landscaper

(42:20):
or gardener, and I explained toher.
I I did the same. It was anelderly lady. I I walked her
out, made sure she didn'tstumble on the on the walkway,
you know, this kind of stuff. Iknew instantly driving up, this
was not a good match for me. ButI had spent the time with her.
She was expecting me to come,and I spent some time. And then
I pretty gently explained why Iwasn't a good match. I said, we
can do the work. We can. It'snot that my guys won't do it.

(42:42):
We will. But understand that theoverhead of my business is
pretty expensive because what wetypically will do is take down a
big tree like that big palm treeover there, and the overhead
necessary to do that treeproperly is expensive. Well,
that same labor expense is gonnabe applied to your job too, but
you don't need that kind ofcoverage. You need a gardener.
He can do the same job as wecan, and my bid is gonna be

(43:05):
double or maybe triple of whathis.
So I'm not a good match. I'dlove to help you, but you don't
want me. You really don't. Andthen I walked her back to her
front door, and, you know, thatwas the end of it. She thanked
me for coming.
You never know. She may verywell give my name and number to
her daughter or grandkid orsomething. I get a job from
somebody else, but there's noharm in treating people with

(43:25):
respect and genuine empathy andcompassion for their situation.
It's always a good thing.Authenticity really came into
play.
Situation. It it's always a goodthing.

Authenticity really came into play. So I have
to say, Wes, I am the daughterof an arborist. My my stepdad
mention the arborist. Is anarborist still in Colorado, and
my mom works with them. I haveto say, though, knowing you, you
are a little bit more unique onthe arborist side because you
document everything and thelevel of documentation that you

(43:53):
have with the specifics of thetree and the photos.
Can you tell the audience just alittle bit about what makes you
slightly different in that areaof, like, the photos and how you
do

Well, I can tell you I can tell you my process. I
don't know that I agree with youthat I'm that terribly different
because I think a lot of guys doprocesses similar to mine.

You're very thorough, though.

I do try to be that. So when I arrive to a job
site, I go through mycredentials. I show them my
contractor's license, and I showthem my certificates as an
arborist. I'm also additionallytrained as a tree risk assessor.
We can go into that if you wishif we have time with ISA as
well, and I show them mycertificates of insurance.
But then when I prepare the bid,I have you lead me about your
property, show me the areas ofconcern, or if I've identified

(44:38):
them for you as an arborist,either way, I go around the
property and I document eacheach issue, whether it's each
individual tree or generic area,say, the slope, you know,
whatever, and I document withphotographs and a description of
my notes. Those notes are frommy eyes only. You would not want
to try to decipher my writing.It's it has no value.

Nor would we be able to.

That's correct. Yeah. I people ask me for copies
occasionally, and I'll say, youknow what? A symbol to me means
a paragraph. To you, it willmean nothing.
These notes won't help you. I'vebeen known this a long time, and
I I use my own form of shorthandevery single day. But when I get
back to the office, I use thosenotes. I I first of all, I scan
them so I have a permanent copyin my in my database of my field

(45:19):
notes so I don't forget stuff.But then I write up the
description, and I use asoftware package designed for
tree work.
I like to tell people that, I Ipay the licensing use of, but I
didn't write it. It's gonna cometo you as, hello, Eric. Thank
you for the opportunity, then Icut it off and say, well, a
bunch of flowery language that Ididn't write because it's a
template. You know, thank youfor the opportunity to service

(45:40):
your trees, blah blah blah. It'sshortcuts being too wordy
because I tend to talk too muchanyway.
And there's the link. At thebottom of the of that paragraph,
there's a link. Please open thelink. Don't be afraid of it. So
I'm gonna take you to some spamfilled thing because a lot of
people that I'm working with areelderly or close to it, and
they're afraid of things on theInternet that they're they don't
know.
You know? So So it say, pleasedon't be afraid of it. I put it

(46:02):
there. Right? So now they knowwhere it came from.
Open the link, and it's gonnashow your house on Google Maps.
You're gonna see a satelliteview of your house. Creepy, but
it's there. Okay? And then ontop of that, I'm gonna put a
pin, a mark on the map on top ofthe canopy of each of the trees
we've discussed, and then I'mgoing to attach to those pins a
photograph or maybe 2 or 3photographs that I've taken

(46:25):
today of that tree.
And then there's gonna be adescription, species, what we're
gonna do to the tree, specifics,how high, the DBH, where it's
located, particular issues, theprice, all that stuff is gonna
be attached to that tree. Andthen the software will move it
all into a proposal that whenyou look at it, when you open
your link, you're gonna see yourhouse and all these trees with

(46:46):
pictures and what it's gonna bedone. It's super user friendly.
All you gotta do is clickapprove, and you'll have a
DocuSign arrangement that you gothrough and sign. I get told
that I've got a signed contract,and then we communicate on when
the job's gonna be done.
Now if you're excuse me. Ifyou've hired me as an arborist,
I'm gonna create my own report.It's similar in a way, but I

(47:08):
identify each tree, and I takephotographs, And then I identify
the issue of concern, what myrecommendations are
observations, and what myrecommendations for mitigation
are. But I document it all withpictures, and I keep records of
everything. You could call me 4years later.
And if you tell me when I wasthere, I'll look it up, find
your name, and find the report I

made for you.

Remember me, but you'll be able to find out.
Chris, so

Eric Beels (47:31):
I will remember you always. Well, so hearing hearing
you you you you talk, what'sinteresting is I kinda thought
this would kind of go alonglike, in my head, I was
initially kind of thinking thiswould kind of go down the lines
of, like, oh, you know, sayingthese things or saying this,
that. We haven't talkedanything, about that. So what
I'm kind of hearing is that,like, like, what what makes you

(47:52):
an effective salesperson isactually, I guess, to summarize
in a single word, I think, wouldbe, to to create as much
confidence in that in your inyour your prospect as possible.
And and and I'm hearing thatfrom, like, 1, you're you're
building a relationship withthem.
So now they they now they theylike you.

Yep.

Eric Beels (48:13):
And then but 2, now you're you're providing, like,
hey. These are all these are allmy my my credentials that that
that I have. Whatever that mightthat might be. I'm insured on
all these different all theseYeah. Different aspects.
And then also, like, you'reyou're you have all these these
these, sounds like you havethese systems and processes.
That's my

question there.

Eric Beels (48:35):
And, in place to and and them seeing that and said,
well, I'm I haven't seen youryour report, but I would assume
that it looks it looks reallyprofessional like with the yeah.
With the the what you mentioned,the satellite view of it. And so
all these things are are workingtowards building that confidence

Correct.

Eric Beels (48:55):
For the person. Do you get that report before is
that like there's do you do thatreport, like, before they've
they've they've paid you? Isthat

part of the process? Before we work.

Eric Beels (49:02):
So yeah. So you're so you're providing all that to
kind of, like so then someonegoes, okay. I trust this guy.
Maybe I you know, maybe it'smaybe they're thinking, I know
he's more expensive, but he'sgonna do

it fast. Building confidence has benefits in lots
of ways. First of all, I Isometimes and like you were
searching a minute ago, I thinkyou were at least, you know, for
a phrase or words or things thatI say to build a confidence.
There there are none. And thisis where experience as a sales
guy comes in, I guess, because Ilook for when I come to the job
site, I look for ways toconnect, and it may be different

(49:36):
with Crystal than it would befor you.
It it's it's unique. It'sactually genuine. It's not, you
know, pull out Yeah.

Eric Beels (49:43):
That's the

main menu. Yeah. Number 3. It's Yeah. Actually
what really works.
And then in the process ofconnection, by presenting
credentials and explaining themto a degree in a customized way,
but basically, I say similarthings almost every time. And
sometimes I'll off put that thefact that I say this all the
time with a little bit of humor.I'll say, you know what? Please
excuse me because I say if itsounds like a speech, because it

(50:06):
basically is. I've been doingthis for 30 years, and so it
gets a touch repetitive.
I say that on purpose because Idon't want them to get the sense
that they're just one of azillion. I want them to feel
like this conversation is atleast in part very unique, and
it genuinely is. I'm there tohelp them. Let's identify the
issues. Here are the credentialsso that you have confidence in

(50:26):
what I say.
I try to present as good ofprofessional image as possible,
but at the same time, just atouch of local yokel, good old
boy, you know, charm sort ofstuff, and hopefully it sells
the job. I landed a project justa few days ago. As a matter of
fact, she's not signed yet, butshe gave me a verbal yes. And we
went through the whole thing.It's a little bit of an older

(50:48):
lady, and she has a lot ofissues to take with.
It's a big project, and sheultimately, at the end of my
presentation, said, okay. Iwanna go with you. And I told
her how to make 4. And I said,if you don't mind me saying
asking. I don't want any names.
I don't need it. Nothing. It'snot my business. But what was
the other bid that you hadgotten? And it was 1 third of my
bid.
1 third. We're talking a tripleprice, and my price was fair. I

(51:10):
think the other guy know whathe's talking about. He would've
got burned or he left herhanging. But, nevertheless, my
bid was triple the other bid,and she went with me because I
had established rapport withher, and I built trust and
confidence because ofpresentation and the various
things that I've explained toyou.

But I think the underlying, like, true
superpower, but beneath all ofyour connection is you secretly
care.

I do. Yep. Yeah. I don't even try to make a
secret. I really do.
I really do.

Eric Beels (51:38):
So caring is is is kinda like like really what's
gonna because people I thinkpeople will pick up on that too.

If they

if they sense that You're transactional versus

Eric Beels (51:49):
inflation. Looking to get the the sale.

It's it's a it's a different application, and I
won't say that I learned to doit, but I was definitely
impressed by one of our friends,mutual friends as part of our
chapter, and that's Kwa. He's afinancial adviser. And when I
first joined our chapter, I wasnew to it and still sort of my
feeling feeling my way and beingan advocate.

Eric Beels (52:08):
Shout out to Kwa.

Yeah. Hey, Kwa. He's the best financial adviser.
Anyway, he's a lousy fisherman,but besides that. Anyway, he
invited me to go to one of hisclients' house to play a poker
game.
It was like an in house pokergame. I like to play poker.
Anyway, we went to this house,and it was one of his his
clients. The the woman of thefamily, the mother of the family
had recently been diagnosed withcancer. It was a young family,

(52:32):
father, mother, and 2 littlekids.
And Qua said, we're gonna hold alittle tourney. Half the pot
goes to this family. Not thatit's gonna pay their medical
bills. It's not. It's a, youknow, 3, 4, $500 or something to
buy some groceries, but the realthing was to give them some
encouragement.

Yeah.

And that just impressed the tar out of me. Qua
got nothing from it. I mean, 0,but he did it to be helpful
because the man genuinely caresabout people. He he makes a
living at it, a good living. Youknow, I wanna apply for
adoption, to be honest with you.
I mean, he he does really well.I don't eat that much, Quah.
Anyway, but the fact is hegenuinely cares, and that

(53:07):
impressed me a lot. It's like,number 1, the character that
that Quah has, and number 2,what a good example. And so I
try to do similar things, not aswell as he does, but I try to
help people genuinely.

Gain.

Yeah. And and I was a newbie, and I didn't even
know that phrase yet. You know?But, yeah, that's what it is.

Eric Beels (53:24):
So what other, like, secrets do you know about Kwa?
You wanna

share? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. You can't fish worth
the you know, anyway.

Eric Beels (53:32):
Wow. So, yeah, this this episode kinda definitely
took a turn than what I wasinitially thinking, but it, like
I mean, again, I don't like

It was authenticity. Right?

Right. It's it's like a box of chocolates. You
never know what you're gonnaget. I go walk in tomorrow.
We'll talk about somethingcompletely different.
I can I can pontificate onvirtually anything? Been doing
this a long time. I did. And I'mshy. I, you know, I don't have
any opinions.

Yeah. He can't hold a conversation. Yeah.

Eric Beels (53:56):
Yeah. So, so, Wes, I almost called you Faa. We're
talking about FaaS too much.

I could you could call me worse than that. It's
alright.

Eric Beels (54:04):
So, if somebody wanted to get in in contact you
with with you either for, like,maybe either tree services or
for, maybe they wanna go outfishing with you. 1 on 1 with
you fishing.

Yeah. Yeah.

Eric Beels (54:17):
The better fishermen. Yeah. What's, how how
would they contact you?

I'm giving fishing lessons including to
qua. Oh, no. Anyway, yeah. Youcan reach out to me. I'm the
owner and arborist for NorthCounty Tree.
I guess I should talk to thecamera now probably. Anyway, I'm
the arborist and owner for NorthCounty Tree, and you can reach
me best by telephone, which is760-688-9472. I also have a
website, northcountytree.com.That'll take you to the website.

(54:46):
You'll see a lot of what we cando.
And if you scroll down on thefirst page, you'll see a little
video that one of our other BNImembers made for me, Rich Hawk,
some time ago, and you'll see mebeing interviewed so you'll know
who you're talking to. Butthat's the best way. I prefer a
phone call, leave a voice mailif I don't answer, and I'd be
happy to return the call.Conversation is always for even
consultations about trees on thephone. Hidden Laws is not, you

(55:06):
know, really involved.
But if it's just basicquestions, I answer questions
for people all the time.

Any last minute advice or anything you'd like to
tell us?

Well, I

Eric Beels (55:15):
I wanted to kinda just summarize, like, what I
what I, you know, to kinda likesummarize all this is is, again,
back, like, built like, whateverwhat I kind of got out of this
is that from sales is doingeverything you can to kind of
build that confidence. But froman authentic perspective, like

(55:36):
you're not doing it out of outof like maliciousness

or

Eric Beels (55:39):
or just to get the sale. You're doing it
authentically.

You're not doing it for your own financial gain.
Yeah. Honestly, you're not.

Eric Beels (55:45):
That's a that that that that the financial gain is
a side effect

of that. Correct. It's benefit of, but it is not
the primary purpose. Yep. Ifit's your primary purpose,
you'll get jobs, but but peoplewill sniff that out, and that's
not a good motivator.

Your intention.

Yeah. My intention genuinely is to help
you. It really is. If my adviceis best for you to move on,
whether it's a different sizetree company, for example, or a
different type of service that'sbetter fit to your needs, I'm
gonna tell you. That's what Iwanna do because I've
experienced.
I know tons of people, and I canhelp you find somebody for that
need. I will sometimes use in mysales presentation, for example.

(56:22):
I know all the contractors. Iknow enough about electricity to
burn your house down. Don't hireme.
I'm not your electrician, but Ican hook you up with somebody
that is. You know? So I'm Iwould love to be a point of
contact for virtually any need,but, that doesn't mean you're
gonna pay me anything becauseyou're not. It's, just something
that I do. So it'd be helpful toyou.

Eric Beels (56:41):
Alright. Well, thanks so much, Wes. So if you
liked this episode and, like,this episode, if you're if
you're honestly like like likemyself and you know somebody,
who maybe needs to work on theirsales, maybe is is, has heard
traditional sales, like likeHitches. Hitches or whatever it

(57:04):
is. And once, another, like,methodology of, sales, this
would be a great episode toshare with them.
So this is how the the showgrows. This is how how we we
grow and and get this podcast inin front of other people. And
it's all about just providingvalue and givers gain. So, share

(57:25):
this episode with them and, thatwould help the show. We we
appreciate that.

Alright. Alright.

Eric Beels (57:31):
Thanks so much for listening.

Don't forget to document your CEU. Thank you for
joining us for the BusinessBoost Hour. My name is Crystal
Pravette, and this is EricBuells. Thank you for joining
us, and don't forget to documentyour single CEU. See you next
time.

Eric Beels (57:47):
See you in the next episode.

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