Bob Burg is the co-author of The Go-Giver (along with several other books), a former Gold Gloves champion, and so much more. Bob started off with a book called Endless Referrals.
Bob notes that people connect with “stories” more than instructions. Bob wanted to take the premise of his first book– Endless Referrals, which was that all things being equal, people want to refer people they know, like, and trust, and turn it into a story or parable. Bob, in his modest way, says that the best thing he did for that book was get John David Mann as the co-author to make it more of a story.
After boxing and college, he was a broadcaster on a TV show, but knew that wasn’t for him, so he got into sales. He floundered because he didn’t have any real training. Found some books in the book store, which was harder to do back then, and his sales results started to improve.
Bob believes that you can achieve anything (within reason), if you have a predictable, improvable system.
People who say they don’t like “selling”, don’t like what they thinking selling is.
“Selling is discovering what the other person does need, want, and desire, and helping them get it.”
Bob Burg
“The old English root is sellen, which means “to give” (or “to give for money”, see more on the etymology here).
Bob believes that sales people are needed more than ever, they’re just not needed as information dispensers.
The Trade Secret is giving… being a go-getter– a person of action, is great, just don’t be a go-taker.
Shifting your focus from getting to giving– constantly and consistently providing immense value to others– will give you great results. Nobody is going to buy from you because you have a quota, or even because you’re a nice person– they buy from you if it is in their interest.
In the book, Bob and John introduce the 5 laws…
- The Law of Value– give so much more in value that you price. The buyer and the seller both profit from the exchange.
- The Law of Compensation– your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
- The Law of Influence– your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
- The Law of Authenticity– the most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. Hard to show up as ourselves if we can’t identify and embrace your strengths. 3 weaknesses (ignore, mitigate, changed)
- The Law of Receptivity– the key to effective giving means staying open to receiving. Horrendous messages… Giving and receiving are two sides of the same coin (not giving and taking– that’s different). Have to be willing to price appropriately.
Bob notes that all 5 laws are congruent with human nature– you’re not trying to make yourself or someone else someone beyond human capabilities.
Bob thinks we absorb a lot of unhealthy messages about prosperity, that the way to achieve wealth is to be dishonest and/or mistreat people. He recommends some other folks to counteract this, like Randy Gage, Bob Proctor, Sharon Lector (Rich Dad, Poor Dad), Ken Honda (Happy Money).
A lot of people feel they aren’t good at sales because they’re not big talkers– but selling from listening, not talking.
To get started being a go-giver, build on your successes. Ask “how can I add value to other human beings?”
And again– we’ve actually got video for this episode. See below…
The Wine
Reuben had some 2106 Chateaux Chemin Royale from Bordeaux.
Bob had water.
Books and More
The Go-Giver: A little story about a powerful business idea, by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
Endless Referrals: network your everyday contacts into sales, by Bob Burg.
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.
Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.
Psychocybernetics, by Maxwell Maltz.
The Magic of Thinking Big, by David Schwartz.
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams.
Where to find Bob
- Burg.com. Read the first chapter of any of Bob’s books. Also check out the podcast, a blog, social links, and a free mini course on “selling the go-giver way”.
Where you can find Reuben: @Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com, the easy CRM for people who are awesome at serving clients and would love some help getting more, but hate “selling”, (Mimiran also makes it easy to track and grow referrals). You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.
Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”.
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