Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Surviving
Outsidesales podcast hosted by
Mike O'Kelly, presented by SalesBuilder Academy.
The goal is to survive andthrive all phases of outside
sales, whether you're getting in, dominating or getting out.
Surviving Outside Sales.
Now on with the show.
Welcome to the SurvivingOutside Sales podcast and host,
(00:29):
mike O'Kelly.
I hope everybody had afantastic Fourth of July week.
I took the week off from thepodcast.
I had several projects I wasworking on, so I just want to
take a little bit of a break andreally do appreciate everybody
who's been listening, becauseactually last week was one of
the top downloaded weeks, soperhaps people were missing the
podcast coming out and we'recatching up on old episodes.
(00:51):
But I digress.
So today's topic you know we'retalking about the business of
sales and that is what I'm goingto be talking about till the
end of time and also talkingabout your career progression.
So recently I don't know ifyou've been following this, but
Jamie Foxx, the actor, thesuperstar, has been ill.
(01:11):
He was in the hospital.
There were conflicting reportsIf he had a stroke, he got sick,
whatever, and so I guess overthe weekend he was spotted on a
boat waving his hand.
So a lot of the reports werewrong.
But the reason why I bring upJamie Foxx.
He was in the middle of filminga movie and there was only
eight days of shooting left togo, and he is the star of the
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movie.
He had to go to the hospital.
You would think that the moviestudio would wait, but they
didn't.
They used a body double andthey'll figure everything out
with AI and with CGI later.
Jamie Foxx is in a hospital,presumably with reports said,
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struggling and fighting for hislife, and yet it was business as
usual from the movie studio.
I want you to think about that.
As big of a star as Jamie Foxxis, nobody sat around and nobody
waited.
So the question has to be askedwhy do you think companies are
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going to sit around and wait foryou?
Why are we still believing thatcompanies truly are invested in
all of their employees?
Quite frankly, they're not.
The way that business isworking in 2023, it's moving way
too fast.
Companies have to hit theirnumbers, so there's a lot of
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pressure put on executives and,as much as we'd like to think
and as much as they would say atcorporate meetings, we're in
this together.
No, no, we're not, and theydon't treat you like family.
They will get rid of you fasterthan to make your head spin.
This reminds me of when Istarted with a pharmaceutical
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company back in the early 2010s.
The top sales rep of thecompany wanted to get
transferred to New York City.
He said, no, we don't let oursales professionals transfer.
So he quit and my manager, whowas the manager of this number
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one rep, was terrifiedabsolutely terrified to call his
bosses and tell him that thisrep had quit, because anytime a
rep quits, the manager alwaysgets blamed fairly or unfairly
gets blamed.
So he was very nervous to dothis.
The first words out of theregional director's mouth was
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how quickly can you get a bodyin the field?
Folks, you have to look out foryourself.
When you were starting to thinkabout your career progression,
I want you to think of JamieFoxx and I want you to think of
the example that I told youNumber one sales rep at a
company company doesn't care.
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When can you get a body in thefield?
Jamie Foxx, eight days awayfrom rapping a movie that he is
the star in, has to go to thehospital for an emergency.
Studio's like it's costing usmoney.
Let's just keep shooting.
We are replaceable in corporateAmerica.
I don't care who you are.
You're replaceable.
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So the question is now, afteryou've come to the realization
that you're nothing special, andI don't think I'm special.
It's one of the reasons why Idon't want to be in corporate
America.
I was sick and tired of thegames.
I was sick and tired of thepolitics.
I was sick and tired of theshady deals, the handshake deals
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done behind closed doors thatweren't privy to the sales
professionals even if it washappening within my territory, I
wasn't finding out about this.
The negotiations from some ofthe top reps to cherry pick top
accounts that was in myterritory.
I was sick of it, so I madeplans.
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Point of this is you should aswell, you need to take control
of your career and realize itcan be gone at any moment and
you may or may not have doneanything wrong.
There used to be a time and aplace where you had to do
something really wrong to getfired.
Now it's just downsizing.
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Now it's just your name on aspreadsheet.
And here's the caveat I want youto know the executives don't
necessarily view you like that.
There are some good companiesout there, but when push comes
to shove.
I'm going to tell you this.
I'm going to tell you thisagain I've never seen a director
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of sales, a VP of sales, die onthe sword.
I've never seen them quit inorder to save sales reps jobs,
the territory manager's jobs.
I have never seen it and Iprobably never will.
I told you weeks ago about thedermatology company that let go
of all their entire 45 or 50sales professionals.
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Everybody was gone.
They all kept her job.
Everybody else lost their job.
Why, well, the CEO has to writethe ship.
They were hemorrhaging cash andthey have a new product coming
out in January.
They're also, I believe,publicly traded and that company
was recently purchased.
I'm sorry, they recentlypurchased a company.
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So I highly recommend you startkeeping your eyes peeled for
other opportunities.
And here's the thing.
I hate the word, but you'regoing to know what I say.
I mean you're going to knowwhat it is when I say it Sales
aside hustle, okay, find a sidehustle.
Find something you'repassionate about or you can make
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money, and who knows, it mightbe something that can replace
your salary.
Find two side hustles that pairtogether.
Find affiliate programs.
I have coaching that talks justabout this, called sales escape
plan.
If you're interested in comingup with your sales escape plan.
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Send me an email, mike atsurviving outside sales, or
shoot me a DM on LinkedIn.
If not, I'm going to haveresources that are going to be
available by the end of themonth, start of August, that are
going to go through your salesescape plan Possible ways that
you can make more money.
There's not many.
There's not many people in thisworld that get rich or get
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wealthy or financially securefrom one income Shoot.
Look at professional athletes.
Nowadays, lebron James makesabout 80% of his money off the
court.
So take control of your career.
The first step is to wake up,and I'm not saying that
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negatively, I'm just saying thefirst step is to wake up and
realize that your job is notsecure.
Your career is not secure.
You are always going to bewalking on eggshells because you
never know when your company isgoing to be sold.
It's going to be bought by acompetitor.
They're going to lay off thesales division.
Trust me, I've been through thisthree times.
It's not fun.
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The amount of anxiety thathappens.
It's not fun and I absolutelyhate it, and so I just wasn't
going to participate anymore.
So reach out to me if you wantto discuss.
I'll do a free strategy callwith you.
If you want to know more aboutthe sales escape plan.
Shoot me a DM on LinkedIn orshoot me an email.
(08:57):
Mike at Surviving Outside Sales, if Jamie Foxx I go back to,
it's so ridiculous that JamieFoxx gets pushed aside.
What do you think they're goingto do to us?
Thank you so much.
I really do appreciate it.
I hope everybody is having agreat start to the week.
(09:17):
Hey, if you didn't catch theepisode with Kent yesterday Kent
Harshbarger please go back andwatch that episode and listen to
that episode.
Kent is one of the best salesprofessionals that I know and he
just keeps getting better andbetter every year like a fine
wine.
And it's really hard to do inhis line of work because his
quota just gets expanded andhe's in one of the most
competitive markets in themedical device world, which is
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lasers.
It's one of the mostcompetitive markets.
It's one of the most cutthroatsyou will have.
I know he has because I'veheard it.
He's had competition talknegatively behind his back to
physicians and he still comesthrough on top.
So go back and listen to thatepisode or catch any other
episodes that you may havemissed.
Again, thank you so much.
Please download the episode,share it with like-minded
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individuals and keep theconversation going.
And find an accountabilitybuddy where you can talk to and
say hey, what are you doing inyour career?
Start brainstorming with eachother.
You never know where that mightlead you.
Thank you so much.
I do appreciate it.
Hope everybody has a great restof your day and we'll see you
tomorrow.
Thanks for watching.