August 24, 2023 • 20 mins
What if the key to success in sales was understanding the power of sacrifice?
Brace yourself for a reality check in this episode as Mike O'Kelly, seasoned sales veteran, takes you through the complex landscape of the sales world. He emphasizes why staying up-to-date, taking risks and nurturing curiosity are paramount in this ever-evolving arena, and reveals how the buyer-seller relationship has transformed in the age of technology. Prepare for a deep dive into Mike's own career journey, his trials, and triumphs, offering invaluable insights into the challenges one must be ready to face.
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Connect with Mike:
Website: Mike O'Kelly
Mike@survivingoutsidesales.com
LinkedIn: Mike O'Kelly | LinkedIn
IG: Mike O'Kelly - Sales Builder
______________________________________________________________________
If you are in outside sales and have had any of the following:
- New to Outside Sales
- New to an industry, new product, new territory - any type of change
- Experienced, but have lacked training and business development
- Seasoned but feel like you have hit your ceiling and need a reboot
If any of those descriptions sound like you or someone you know,
If you want to have a conversation about:
- Scheduling a strategy call for your next move
- Help building your business or territory
Reach out to me:
Schedule a FREE consultation
or https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-o-kelly-44ba352b/
mike@survivingoutsidesales.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Surviving Outside Sales 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.
This podcast is brought to youby Sales Builder Academy.
(00:28):
Sales Builder Academy is youronline sales training resource
for all things outside sales,from training, recommended
products and sales coaching.
Sales Builder Academy is yourone-stop shop for everything in
all phases of your sales career.
Learn how to build and scale asales business.
Learn how to build a networkthat sells for you.
(00:49):
Learn how to start your salespodcast and, if you're ready to
make that move, learn how youcan build your sales escape plan
to build the life that you'vealways dreamed of.
If this sounds like you andyou're interested, click in the
show notes in this podcast ortext the letters SOS to the
phone number 980-689-6989.
(01:09):
Again, that's the letters SOSto the phone number 980-689-6989
.
Now back to the show, to theSurviving Outside Sales podcast.
I'm your host, mike O'Kelly.
What are you willing tosacrifice for success?
(01:30):
It's probably a question as oldas time.
What are you willing to give upto go after and achieve your
dreams?
It's a very important questionyou need to ask yourself in the
sales world because, I hate tobreak it to you Just working 8
(01:51):
to 5 or 9 to 5 in a W2 job, youare never going to reach your
goals, trust me.
The reason why is the sand ismoving beneath your feet.
Some people know that the sandis moving, but others don't not
(02:12):
until it's too late.
And the reason why is becausewhen I first started in the
sales world, it was completelydifferent.
There were no cell phones.
I'll take that back.
There were some cell phones,but there was not the cell phone
usage as there is today.
They definitely were notsmartphones.
There were no laptops.
(02:33):
You didn't have the element ofvideo.
You didn't have things thatwere on demand.
So everybody had patience.
Everybody waited.
The buyers did the exact samething.
You also waited with yourcompany.
Companies wouldn't be so quickto hire and fire, and companies
wouldn't be so quick to dumptheir executive team, start all
(02:54):
over from scratch or cut theirentire sales division, because
they need to ramp up for aproduct launch in 9 months and
they need the runway and thecapital in order to do so.
The sand is moving underneathyour feet every single day.
You just don't know it, and theprofessionals that have
(03:16):
insulated themselves from this.
It's almost as if they're likeMichael Jordan and they're just
floating in air.
They're not bothered by thesand moving underneath their
feet.
But for most people who arelistening right now, if you are
a W2 sales employee, you're notgoing to get the level of
(03:36):
success that you want throughyour daily job, not at the
levels that you're putting outright now.
Now, if you happen to belistening to me right now and
you're using your spare time, ifyou're role playing in between
calls, if you are elevating yoursales, if you've hired a coach,
you've bought a course, you'vefound a mentor, you've started a
(03:57):
study group, you are partneringwith other people in other
industries to get better, ifyou're ferociously reading, if
you're listening to audiobooks,if you are watching YouTube
videos on the subject, then thisdoesn't apply to you.
But for everybody else thatisn't doing any of those things,
your career is a way to walk ontime bomb, and this is not a
(04:22):
threat, it's more of a warning.
Don't allow it to go off andnot have a plan and not be
prepared.
The amount of people that Ispeak with there's a wide swath
of people that I speak with andsome I speak with have recently
lost their jobs and there is alevel of fear in their voice
(04:46):
that is palpable, that'snoticeable, and I've been there
before.
I've worked for three companiesthat went out of business while
I was a sales professional there.
I know you could be saying, ohmy gosh, you're bad luck.
In fact one of my formercoworkers was like oh my gosh, I
better put my resume in nowbecause you're working at the
same company as me.
But I've been through it.
(05:07):
I've gotten those phone calls.
Hey, we got a nationalconference call today.
Hey, we got a national meeting.
Hey, I've gotten the phone call.
And there was a company Iworked for.
I was the last full-time rep.
Now I knew the writing was onthe wall about three months
prior when we got down to aboutsix or seven reps and then the
last three months every rep waslet go and then I was the last
(05:28):
one, and I was the last onebecause I was producing.
But I remember getting thatphone call and it was right
before my first daughter wasbeing born and the VP of sales
called me and said Mike, I havebad news.
And I said what is it?
He goes, I can't pay yoursalary anymore.
And I was like what do you mean?
You can't pay my salary, Ican't pay your salary, I can't
(05:54):
keep you on.
He's like I can pay you as a1099.
I can keep you on there and youcan still make money from sales
.
I just can't give you a basesalary.
Now in the moment, a lot ofpeople can freak out.
A lot of people will just lettheir minds race to some pretty
(06:18):
negative places.
But some of the first wordsthat came out of my mouth were
what's my commission percentage?
And I don't remember exactlywhat it was.
It was in the 20s and I thoughtit was a very fair commission
percentage.
And I get it.
The company was struggling.
It was highly leveraged and thereason why this did not become
(06:39):
a shock to me of what was goingon was because I understood the
business of sales.
The writing was on the wall.
This did not blindside me.
It's just I couldn't findanything to leave that I really
saw myself doing, that I waspassionate about.
I was far enough along in mycareer.
(06:59):
I wasn't going to just jump toanother company for the sake of
jumping.
That's not what I suggest youdo either, but it happens all
the time and I get it.
There's a lot of pressure, butwhat are you willing to
sacrifice?
This entire episode is aboutsacrifice.
(07:20):
Are you willing to sacrifice alittle bit of security to find
something that's going to giveyou true meaning that you are
fit for?
Remember, there's a lot ofdifferent fits.
There's a product market fit.
There's also a employee companyfit and not.
A lot of people talk about theemployee company fit, the
(07:41):
employee culture fit.
One time in my career I did notlisten.
I just took a job and it got meinto an industry that was not a
fit for me and I did not likeit.
I did not like it at all.
I had been struggling to findwork for several months.
This was during thebloodletting of 2011.
(08:01):
If you were in thepharmaceutical and medical space
in 2011, you know what I'mtalking about.
Tons of I mean thousands ofreps for Let Go.
A lot of products were beingpulled by the FDA and thousands
of reps were being Let Go.
I at the time was managing some1099 reps with an allergy
company and I was making decentmoney, but the writing was on
(08:23):
the wall there that it wasn'tgoing to be something that was
going to last forever and we hadsome internal issues, and so I
just jumped to the firstopportunity that I got, and it
was selling pain managementproducts.
I didn't have any passion forpain management zero.
So when I woke up in themorning, it was a job.
That's all it was.
It was a job to me and with thecircumstances that I walked
(08:45):
into, I did really well.
However, it just wasn't for me.
Now, fortunately enough for me,I was working for a company
Well, unfortunately that company.
When I got into training, Ifound out the company was for
sale.
My timing was impeccable in 2011.
And I luckily I had foundsomething, because I immediately
(09:10):
started looking and I foundsomething in my wheelhouse,
which was dermatology sales, andI had an opportunity to join
that organization.
But it was just absolutely wildwhat happened, and from that
moment forward, I told myself itdoesn't matter how long it
takes.
I'm going to align myself withan industry or an organization
(09:32):
or both.
Hopefully that fit what I'mtrying to do.
I'm not just going to take ajob for job's sake.
I'm not going to hold my noseand just block out things that I
don't like either about aproduct, a market or management.
And there was some sacrificealong the way.
(09:53):
I let opportunities walk byprobably great opportunities,
but I let them walk by becauseit wasn't going to get me to
where I wanted to go.
And that's the one thing that Iwish more sales pros I talked
to I wish they understood thatyour career is a marathon, it's
(10:15):
not a sprint.
And yet everything in the salesworld is telling us to sprint.
Even the sales world is tellingus to move faster, faster,
faster.
Well, the best thing for us isnot to move faster, it's to move
slower in certain instances.
But going back to the, what areyou willing to sacrifice If you
(10:38):
are truly a sales professional?
Are you going to sacrifice timewith your family?
Are you going to sacrifice timewatching Netflix?
Are you going to sacrificegoing out?
Are you going to sacrificealcohol, any one of your vices,
so that you can be physicallyprepared to work the next day?
(11:03):
Are you going to sacrifice, youknow, anything in your life
that is an escape.
You should not be escaping fromyour world.
You should not be escaping fromyour life.
If you're trying to escape onthe weekends, you got to do
something about your weeks.
Life is not meant to be escapedfrom.
(11:23):
It's to be lived to,experienced, to grow.
It's the exact same thing ifyou're a sales professional.
But what are you willing togive up Because you're going to
have to sacrifice something?
What I sacrificed was my formerself.
I got rid of the former Mike.
The former Mike would party hisass off on the weekends and
(11:48):
sometimes during the week.
Now, mind you, I always rangthe bell in the morning.
I always made it to work.
I never slept in.
I wasn't hungover.
That was back from myenterprise days where the saying
was if you're going to hootwith the owls at night, you
better soar with the eagles inthe morning.
I had plenty of that practiceunder my belt, but I sacrificed
(12:10):
to the parting.
On the weekends, I sacrificedwatching television shows and
programs and sporting events.
I used to watch every bigsporting event you could
possibly think of.
It didn't matter if it was NCAAtournament, it didn't matter if
it was college football, nba,nhl, you name it Tennis matches,
golf, baseball.
I watched it all.
(12:31):
And then I woke up one morningand I said what is that getting
me?
The game is going to happenwhether I watch or not, and it
doesn't matter if I'm up to dateon all the latest shows.
Who cares?
Who cares if I know whathappens in Game of Thrones, or I
(12:54):
can't even think of the showsused to be out about a decade
ago, but who cares?
Who cares about the latestmovies?
Those aren't going to pay mybills, those aren't going to get
me to where I want to go.
So instead, at nights, what Istarted doing was I started
reading, I started researching,I started looking at YouTube, I
(13:16):
started digging into the salesleaders, the people that were
very influential.
I started asking more questions.
I got back to being curious.
Instead of knowing it all, Iacted like I knew nothing.
And if you know nothing, whatdo you do?
You just ask questions, like alittle child.
Little kids ask questions allday long.
Why, why are you doing it thatway?
(13:37):
Do I need to do it that way?
You reach out to people, youbuild networks, you take risks,
you make plans.
I sacrificed my former self,the freedom that I had, and what
evolved was a much strongerversion of myself.
(13:59):
Just so you know, I'm stillevolving every single month,
every single week.
I didn't reverse order, butaccidentally, I think you know
what I mean.
I'm always evolving.
I'm always trying to get better.
I was frustrated by a book I wasreading because the way the
book was formatted it was nothow do I say this?
(14:24):
It wasn't a typical book.
It was a book with a bunch ofimages like cartoon drawings.
It was very popular by RussellBrunson and I was very
frustrated by it.
So what did I do?
I sacrificed.
I bought the audiobook becausethe paper version just, I was
really struggling to stay withthe book and stay interested.
It's just too many graphics.
(14:45):
I know it sounds funny, but Ijust actually preferred read
books that have words in it, nota bunch of books that have
words and pictures and graphicsand all that stuff.
It's very disjointed.
Just give me the words, give methe important stuff.
So I bought the audiobook and Ilistened to the audiobook.
It was a three and a half hours.
I read it, or listened to it,on one and a half speed and I
(15:06):
finished it in what?
Two and a half hours, two hoursand 40 minutes, something like
that, very easy.
I got all the same information.
I still have the book, butpoint being is, I sacrificed.
I didn't have to do that, butdo I want to retain the
information in that book?
I saw a value in it.
I believe the person who wroteit.
It's little things like that.
(15:27):
What are you willing to give up?
Are you willing to do somethingthat's free?
You're not gonna get paid forit, but you're gonna earn
goodwill, you're gonna getsmarter, you're gonna practice
your craft.
I've now done five speakingevents and I have not gotten
paid at any of those events.
But that's okay.
I'm not expecting to get paid.
In fact, what people say is youwon't get.
(15:50):
You won't get paid in speakingevents until you either are a
big-time author or but whatyou're getting is you're getting
experience, you're building anetwork, you're gaining
authority.
I'm getting practice, andthat's the point.
I'm sacrificing my time topractice a skill, live in front
of people that are my audience,and I learned something along
(16:11):
the way.
I do a lot of free strategycalls with people and some
people say well, that's a wasteof time.
I was like it is not a waste oftime.
You don't understand what Ihave learned about this industry
.
I could probably write a bookon just the things that I have
learned from my 75 ish Strategycalls that I have done in the
(16:35):
last six months, just by tellingpeople on this podcast hey, if
you want to have a strategy callreach out to me about 75.
Yeah, it's been about 75 hoursof my life, so about three days
I've spent.
But you understand what I havegained from that.
I believe I have helped everyindividual that has reached out
(16:56):
to me, but do you realize what Ihave gained?
I've gained knowledge, insight,data.
They say data is king.
It's a hundred percent true.
What are you willing tosacrifice?
We're heading into a weekendright now.
Are you gonna Clock off at fouro'clock, not think of anything
(17:16):
for the weekend?
That's fine.
This is not a hustle culturetype of conversation.
But what are you willing togive up?
This is a question for you thatI pose to you, the listener.
What are you willing to give upTo get what you want?
Is it time with your loved onein the short term?
(17:39):
Is it money?
Are you gonna go all in onsomething?
I've done it, done it multipletimes?
I'm doing it right now.
Are you gonna do somethingthat's uncomfortable?
That Is the pathway to success.
(18:00):
That is the key to success.
Are you going to be willing tosacrifice?
Are you gonna meet with thatprospect and you don't even know
if you're gonna get anythingfor it?
Just go book the meeting.
(18:24):
There's a lot of things you cansacrifice.
You can sacrifice your effort,you can sacrifice your time, you
can sacrifice your money.
There's a lot of things you cansacrifice, but if you are
content to where you are today,you have already failed.
The sand is moving beneath yourfeet.
You just don't know it yet.
(18:45):
Thank you so much.
I really do appreciate it, man.
It has been quite the week.
I hope everybody has a greatchance to recharge over the
weekend or whenever you arelistening to this episode.
I hope you're having afantastic month of June.
We're getting close to Q3.
Halfway through the year, 2023is absolutely flown by.
(19:06):
If you've got kiddos like I, doyou understand why they say
it's the days are long, but theyears are short.
That is one of the trueststatements.
I can't believe that mylittlest one is going to be two
next month.
I just remember when she wasborn.
It's already been two years.
Absolutely wild.
If you want to reach out to me,mike is surviving outside sales
(19:26):
I absolutely love.
I do a free strategy call withanybody who wants to chat.
If you want to talk about whereyou want to go in your career,
if you want to talk about how toget started.
Some advice what you want to doIf you're thinking about buying
a business.
I'm going through that rightnow.
My wife and I were opening ourfirst franchise this fall.
We have two purchased and we'regoing to be opening two in the
(19:47):
next three years, but this onein the fall and Rock Hill, south
Carolina, with Restore HyperWellness.
I've also started a podcastco-founded sales technology
company and sales trainingcompany.
There's a lot I could talk toyou about.
You want to just chat?
Chat it up.
Let me know.
Mike is surviving outside sales.
You can shoot me a DM onLinkedIn it's the easiest thing
(20:08):
to do.
Or you can go to mikeokellycomM-I-K-E-O-K-E-L-L-Ycom.
Connect, slash, connect andreach out to me.
I'm Mike, I'm Mike, I'm Mike,I'm Mike, I'm Mike, I'm Mike,
I'm Mike.
Reach out to me.
That way, there's a lot of waysthat are going to make it as
easy as possible.
If you want to know more aboutthe business of sales or have
any questions, or if you want tobe a podcast guest, let me know
.
I am accepting new podcastguests right now.
If you have something you wantto share with the world of sales
(20:30):
and you'd be interested indoing it, reach out to me as
well, hope you all have a greatweekend.
See you next time.
Bye.
The Surviving Outside Sales 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.
This podcast is brought to youby Sales Builder Academy.
(00:28):
Sales Builder Academy is youronline sales training resource
for all things outside sales,from training, recommended
products and sales coaching.
Sales Builder Academy is yourone-stop shop for everything in
all phases of your sales career.
Learn how to build and scale asales business.
Learn how to build a networkthat sells for you.
(00:49):
Learn how to start your salespodcast and, if you're ready to
make that move, learn how youcan build your sales escape plan
to build the life that you'vealways dreamed of.
If this sounds like you andyou're interested, click in the
show notes in this podcast ortext the letters SOS to the
phone number 980-689-6989.
(01:09):
Again, that's the letters SOSto the phone number 980-689-6989
.
Now back to the show, to theSurviving Outside Sales podcast.
I'm your host, mike O'Kelly.
What are you willing tosacrifice for success?
(01:30):
It's probably a question as oldas time.
What are you willing to give upto go after and achieve your
dreams?
It's a very important questionyou need to ask yourself in the
sales world because, I hate tobreak it to you Just working 8
(01:51):
to 5 or 9 to 5 in a W2 job, youare never going to reach your
goals, trust me.
The reason why is the sand ismoving beneath your feet.
Some people know that the sandis moving, but others don't not
(02:12):
until it's too late.
And the reason why is becausewhen I first started in the
sales world, it was completelydifferent.
There were no cell phones.
I'll take that back.
There were some cell phones,but there was not the cell phone
usage as there is today.
They definitely were notsmartphones.
There were no laptops.
(02:33):
You didn't have the element ofvideo.
You didn't have things thatwere on demand.
So everybody had patience.
Everybody waited.
The buyers did the exact samething.
You also waited with yourcompany.
Companies wouldn't be so quickto hire and fire, and companies
wouldn't be so quick to dumptheir executive team, start all
(02:54):
over from scratch or cut theirentire sales division, because
they need to ramp up for aproduct launch in 9 months and
they need the runway and thecapital in order to do so.
The sand is moving underneathyour feet every single day.
You just don't know it, and theprofessionals that have
(03:16):
insulated themselves from this.
It's almost as if they're likeMichael Jordan and they're just
floating in air.
They're not bothered by thesand moving underneath their
feet.
But for most people who arelistening right now, if you are
a W2 sales employee, you're notgoing to get the level of
(03:36):
success that you want throughyour daily job, not at the
levels that you're putting outright now.
Now, if you happen to belistening to me right now and
you're using your spare time, ifyou're role playing in between
calls, if you are elevating yoursales, if you've hired a coach,
you've bought a course, you'vefound a mentor, you've started a
(03:57):
study group, you are partneringwith other people in other
industries to get better, ifyou're ferociously reading, if
you're listening to audiobooks,if you are watching YouTube
videos on the subject, then thisdoesn't apply to you.
But for everybody else thatisn't doing any of those things,
your career is a way to walk ontime bomb, and this is not a
(04:22):
threat, it's more of a warning.
Don't allow it to go off andnot have a plan and not be
prepared.
The amount of people that Ispeak with there's a wide swath
of people that I speak with andsome I speak with have recently
lost their jobs and there is alevel of fear in their voice
(04:46):
that is palpable, that'snoticeable, and I've been there
before.
I've worked for three companiesthat went out of business while
I was a sales professional there.
I know you could be saying, ohmy gosh, you're bad luck.
In fact one of my formercoworkers was like oh my gosh, I
better put my resume in nowbecause you're working at the
same company as me.
But I've been through it.
(05:07):
I've gotten those phone calls.
Hey, we got a nationalconference call today.
Hey, we got a national meeting.
Hey, I've gotten the phone call.
And there was a company Iworked for.
I was the last full-time rep.
Now I knew the writing was onthe wall about three months
prior when we got down to aboutsix or seven reps and then the
last three months every rep waslet go and then I was the last
(05:28):
one, and I was the last onebecause I was producing.
But I remember getting thatphone call and it was right
before my first daughter wasbeing born and the VP of sales
called me and said Mike, I havebad news.
And I said what is it?
He goes, I can't pay yoursalary anymore.
And I was like what do you mean?
You can't pay my salary, Ican't pay your salary, I can't
(05:54):
keep you on.
He's like I can pay you as a1099.
I can keep you on there and youcan still make money from sales
.
I just can't give you a basesalary.
Now in the moment, a lot ofpeople can freak out.
A lot of people will just lettheir minds race to some pretty
(06:18):
negative places.
But some of the first wordsthat came out of my mouth were
what's my commission percentage?
And I don't remember exactlywhat it was.
It was in the 20s and I thoughtit was a very fair commission
percentage.
And I get it.
The company was struggling.
It was highly leveraged and thereason why this did not become
(06:39):
a shock to me of what was goingon was because I understood the
business of sales.
The writing was on the wall.
This did not blindside me.
It's just I couldn't findanything to leave that I really
saw myself doing, that I waspassionate about.
I was far enough along in mycareer.
(06:59):
I wasn't going to just jump toanother company for the sake of
jumping.
That's not what I suggest youdo either, but it happens all
the time and I get it.
There's a lot of pressure, butwhat are you willing to
sacrifice?
This entire episode is aboutsacrifice.
(07:20):
Are you willing to sacrifice alittle bit of security to find
something that's going to giveyou true meaning that you are
fit for?
Remember, there's a lot ofdifferent fits.
There's a product market fit.
There's also a employee companyfit and not.
A lot of people talk about theemployee company fit, the
(07:41):
employee culture fit.
One time in my career I did notlisten.
I just took a job and it got meinto an industry that was not a
fit for me and I did not likeit.
I did not like it at all.
I had been struggling to findwork for several months.
This was during thebloodletting of 2011.
(08:01):
If you were in thepharmaceutical and medical space
in 2011, you know what I'mtalking about.
Tons of I mean thousands ofreps for Let Go.
A lot of products were beingpulled by the FDA and thousands
of reps were being Let Go.
I at the time was managing some1099 reps with an allergy
company and I was making decentmoney, but the writing was on
(08:23):
the wall there that it wasn'tgoing to be something that was
going to last forever and we hadsome internal issues, and so I
just jumped to the firstopportunity that I got, and it
was selling pain managementproducts.
I didn't have any passion forpain management zero.
So when I woke up in themorning, it was a job.
That's all it was.
It was a job to me and with thecircumstances that I walked
(08:45):
into, I did really well.
However, it just wasn't for me.
Now, fortunately enough for me,I was working for a company
Well, unfortunately that company.
When I got into training, Ifound out the company was for
sale.
My timing was impeccable in 2011.
And I luckily I had foundsomething, because I immediately
(09:10):
started looking and I foundsomething in my wheelhouse,
which was dermatology sales, andI had an opportunity to join
that organization.
But it was just absolutely wildwhat happened, and from that
moment forward, I told myself itdoesn't matter how long it
takes.
I'm going to align myself withan industry or an organization
(09:32):
or both.
Hopefully that fit what I'mtrying to do.
I'm not just going to take ajob for job's sake.
I'm not going to hold my noseand just block out things that I
don't like either about aproduct, a market or management.
And there was some sacrificealong the way.
(09:53):
I let opportunities walk byprobably great opportunities,
but I let them walk by becauseit wasn't going to get me to
where I wanted to go.
And that's the one thing that Iwish more sales pros I talked
to I wish they understood thatyour career is a marathon, it's
(10:15):
not a sprint.
And yet everything in the salesworld is telling us to sprint.
Even the sales world is tellingus to move faster, faster,
faster.
Well, the best thing for us isnot to move faster, it's to move
slower in certain instances.
But going back to the, what areyou willing to sacrifice If you
(10:38):
are truly a sales professional?
Are you going to sacrifice timewith your family?
Are you going to sacrifice timewatching Netflix?
Are you going to sacrificegoing out?
Are you going to sacrificealcohol, any one of your vices,
so that you can be physicallyprepared to work the next day?
(11:03):
Are you going to sacrifice, youknow, anything in your life
that is an escape.
You should not be escaping fromyour world.
You should not be escaping fromyour life.
If you're trying to escape onthe weekends, you got to do
something about your weeks.
Life is not meant to be escapedfrom.
(11:23):
It's to be lived to,experienced, to grow.
It's the exact same thing ifyou're a sales professional.
But what are you willing togive up Because you're going to
have to sacrifice something?
What I sacrificed was my formerself.
I got rid of the former Mike.
The former Mike would party hisass off on the weekends and
(11:48):
sometimes during the week.
Now, mind you, I always rangthe bell in the morning.
I always made it to work.
I never slept in.
I wasn't hungover.
That was back from myenterprise days where the saying
was if you're going to hootwith the owls at night, you
better soar with the eagles inthe morning.
I had plenty of that practiceunder my belt, but I sacrificed
(12:10):
to the parting.
On the weekends, I sacrificedwatching television shows and
programs and sporting events.
I used to watch every bigsporting event you could
possibly think of.
It didn't matter if it was NCAAtournament, it didn't matter if
it was college football, nba,nhl, you name it Tennis matches,
golf, baseball.
I watched it all.
(12:31):
And then I woke up one morningand I said what is that getting
me?
The game is going to happenwhether I watch or not, and it
doesn't matter if I'm up to dateon all the latest shows.
Who cares?
Who cares if I know whathappens in Game of Thrones, or I
(12:54):
can't even think of the showsused to be out about a decade
ago, but who cares?
Who cares about the latestmovies?
Those aren't going to pay mybills, those aren't going to get
me to where I want to go.
So instead, at nights, what Istarted doing was I started
reading, I started researching,I started looking at YouTube, I
(13:16):
started digging into the salesleaders, the people that were
very influential.
I started asking more questions.
I got back to being curious.
Instead of knowing it all, Iacted like I knew nothing.
And if you know nothing, whatdo you do?
You just ask questions, like alittle child.
Little kids ask questions allday long.
Why, why are you doing it thatway?
(13:37):
Do I need to do it that way?
You reach out to people, youbuild networks, you take risks,
you make plans.
I sacrificed my former self,the freedom that I had, and what
evolved was a much strongerversion of myself.
(13:59):
Just so you know, I'm stillevolving every single month,
every single week.
I didn't reverse order, butaccidentally, I think you know
what I mean.
I'm always evolving.
I'm always trying to get better.
I was frustrated by a book I wasreading because the way the
book was formatted it was nothow do I say this?
(14:24):
It wasn't a typical book.
It was a book with a bunch ofimages like cartoon drawings.
It was very popular by RussellBrunson and I was very
frustrated by it.
So what did I do?
I sacrificed.
I bought the audiobook becausethe paper version just, I was
really struggling to stay withthe book and stay interested.
It's just too many graphics.
(14:45):
I know it sounds funny, but Ijust actually preferred read
books that have words in it, nota bunch of books that have
words and pictures and graphicsand all that stuff.
It's very disjointed.
Just give me the words, give methe important stuff.
So I bought the audiobook and Ilistened to the audiobook.
It was a three and a half hours.
I read it, or listened to it,on one and a half speed and I
(15:06):
finished it in what?
Two and a half hours, two hoursand 40 minutes, something like
that, very easy.
I got all the same information.
I still have the book, butpoint being is, I sacrificed.
I didn't have to do that, butdo I want to retain the
information in that book?
I saw a value in it.
I believe the person who wroteit.
It's little things like that.
(15:27):
What are you willing to give up?
Are you willing to do somethingthat's free?
You're not gonna get paid forit, but you're gonna earn
goodwill, you're gonna getsmarter, you're gonna practice
your craft.
I've now done five speakingevents and I have not gotten
paid at any of those events.
But that's okay.
I'm not expecting to get paid.
In fact, what people say is youwon't get.
(15:50):
You won't get paid in speakingevents until you either are a
big-time author or but whatyou're getting is you're getting
experience, you're building anetwork, you're gaining
authority.
I'm getting practice, andthat's the point.
I'm sacrificing my time topractice a skill, live in front
of people that are my audience,and I learned something along
(16:11):
the way.
I do a lot of free strategycalls with people and some
people say well, that's a wasteof time.
I was like it is not a waste oftime.
You don't understand what Ihave learned about this industry
.
I could probably write a bookon just the things that I have
learned from my 75 ish Strategycalls that I have done in the
(16:35):
last six months, just by tellingpeople on this podcast hey, if
you want to have a strategy callreach out to me about 75.
Yeah, it's been about 75 hoursof my life, so about three days
I've spent.
But you understand what I havegained from that.
I believe I have helped everyindividual that has reached out
(16:56):
to me, but do you realize what Ihave gained?
I've gained knowledge, insight,data.
They say data is king.
It's a hundred percent true.
What are you willing tosacrifice?
We're heading into a weekendright now.
Are you gonna Clock off at fouro'clock, not think of anything
(17:16):
for the weekend?
That's fine.
This is not a hustle culturetype of conversation.
But what are you willing togive up?
This is a question for you thatI pose to you, the listener.
What are you willing to give upTo get what you want?
Is it time with your loved onein the short term?
(17:39):
Is it money?
Are you gonna go all in onsomething?
I've done it, done it multipletimes?
I'm doing it right now.
Are you gonna do somethingthat's uncomfortable?
That Is the pathway to success.
(18:00):
That is the key to success.
Are you going to be willing tosacrifice?
Are you gonna meet with thatprospect and you don't even know
if you're gonna get anythingfor it?
Just go book the meeting.
(18:24):
There's a lot of things you cansacrifice.
You can sacrifice your effort,you can sacrifice your time, you
can sacrifice your money.
There's a lot of things you cansacrifice, but if you are
content to where you are today,you have already failed.
The sand is moving beneath yourfeet.
You just don't know it yet.
(18:45):
Thank you so much.
I really do appreciate it, man.
It has been quite the week.
I hope everybody has a greatchance to recharge over the
weekend or whenever you arelistening to this episode.
I hope you're having afantastic month of June.
We're getting close to Q3.
Halfway through the year, 2023is absolutely flown by.
(19:06):
If you've got kiddos like I, doyou understand why they say
it's the days are long, but theyears are short.
That is one of the trueststatements.
I can't believe that mylittlest one is going to be two
next month.
I just remember when she wasborn.
It's already been two years.
Absolutely wild.
If you want to reach out to me,mike is surviving outside sales
(19:26):
I absolutely love.
I do a free strategy call withanybody who wants to chat.
If you want to talk about whereyou want to go in your career,
if you want to talk about how toget started.
Some advice what you want to doIf you're thinking about buying
a business.
I'm going through that rightnow.
My wife and I were opening ourfirst franchise this fall.
We have two purchased and we'regoing to be opening two in the
(19:47):
next three years, but this onein the fall and Rock Hill, south
Carolina, with Restore HyperWellness.
I've also started a podcastco-founded sales technology
company and sales trainingcompany.
There's a lot I could talk toyou about.
You want to just chat?
Chat it up.
Let me know.
Mike is surviving outside sales.
You can shoot me a DM onLinkedIn it's the easiest thing
(20:08):
to do.
Or you can go to mikeokellycomM-I-K-E-O-K-E-L-L-Ycom.
Connect, slash, connect andreach out to me.
I'm Mike, I'm Mike, I'm Mike,I'm Mike, I'm Mike, I'm Mike,
I'm Mike.
Reach out to me.
That way, there's a lot of waysthat are going to make it as
easy as possible.
If you want to know more aboutthe business of sales or have
any questions, or if you want tobe a podcast guest, let me know
.
I am accepting new podcastguests right now.
If you have something you wantto share with the world of sales
(20:30):
and you'd be interested indoing it, reach out to me as
well, hope you all have a greatweekend.
See you next time.
Bye.
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