The Introvert’s Edge With Matthew Pollard

Rapid Growth Speaker & Coach. Executive Director of Small Business Festival, Internationally Award Winning Blogger and Host of Better Business Coach Podcast – Matthew Pollard

Here’s what you’ll learn from Matthew about The Introvert’s Edge:

– How to strike up a conversation with your lead without feeling uncomfortable.
– Introverts aren’t good at sales, right? Wrong! Discover why you DON’T have to be a natural-born extrovert to start killing it in sales.
– How to “manufacture momentum” and use it to move the sale forward. (No shady tactics involved!)
– The reason why you should use a sales script – yes, a script! – and how to avoid sounding like a robot.
– The one sentence that will instantly turn you into an authority.

Tune in and listen: The Introvert’s Edge With Matthew Pollard

Get Your Copy of The Introvert’s Edge Today

Matthew’s Website:

IntrovertsEdge.com – Finding A Business Niche & Creating A Sales System

Check out Networking for Introverts – 7 Simple Steps for Success by Money Crashers!

Transcript: Download

Video Transcription provided by GMR Transcription Services.

Jaime:	Welcome to Eventual Millionaire. I'm Jaime Masters, and I have my amazing, wonderful friend, where we talked way too long before this interview actually started, Matthew Pollard. And, he's actually coming out with a brand new book, which you must pick up - did I do a good job? Must pick up. It's called The Introvert's Edge and it's all about getting them to sell better than anybody, which is really, really impressive. Go to introvertsedge.com to check it out, whole bunch of bonuses, but stay tuned for all of that.

	Thanks so much for inviting me to this studio.

Matthew:	It's called The Introvert's Edge and it'sI'm excited to be here. You haven't seen the new set, so - if people check out the interview we had last time, it was very different.

Jaime:	See, he, like, brings his own set. It's very impressive and it shows me up a lot. But, I'm okay with that because you're amazing.

	So, give us the premise, in general, of the book. 

Matthew:	So, the idea is that introverts know that they can't sell, and they believe they have to have this gift of the gab to be a salesperson, and they just know they don't have that. So, we kind of - and this is not actually true, just this is what introverts tell themselves continuously, and it's what I was told when I tried to move into sales. 

	And, what I learned is that sales was just a process. It's a process like any other, but because we've heard that we can't learn it, we don't try. And, so, the goal of this book is really to make sure that introverts understand it is just a process; it's a step-by-step process, and if you follow that, you don't have to be inauthentic; you don't have to do all those bulldog techniques with the hard closings. And, the book's written like a novel. So, the whole idea is that you laugh out loud, you enjoy the stories in the book, and you just happen to learn sales as you do it.

Jaime:	That's really impressive because I hated, hated, hated, hated sales because I thought I was bad, and I turned bright red and [inaudible] [00:01:39] So, I look awkward and crazy and weird, and I'd self-talk, and then not close a sale, and be like, wow, I suck really, really bad. So, that would've helped me way back when.

Matthew:	Well, most people don't know you're introverted, right' I didn't know you were introverted. So, I mean, you're coming on my show, The Introvert's Edge, and I remember telling you about all these surprising introverts that I was finding, and you're like, "You know I'm an introvert too, right?" You blew me away.

	And, I think that a lot of introverts - it's kind of one of those things that we do, right? We see all these successful people and we're like, "Oh, it's easy for them. They're just natural extroverts. They can do it." But that's a stigma of introversion, right? We suffer from it ourselves.

	And, funny story, we actually - Brian Smith, the founder of UGG Boots, he actually picked up this book because I sent it to him to write an endorsement. And, he said to me, "You know, Matt, I have to admit; I have not read a sales book more than two chapters in without throwing it away and just feeling icky. So, I don't like your chances about me endorsing it, but I will give it a go because we're mates." Another Australian, right? We do a lot for each other.

Jaime:	I was gonna say, oh, name dropping. Okay, go ahead.

Matthew:	Well, he read it in three sittings because he just enjoyed the stories. And, he actually is quite successful at sales himself, but he realized all the things that he was doing naturally that he kinda picked up along the way. I mean, for him, he hated sales at the start, and now he's good at it. But, for him, it always has to come from a point of authenticity. Because if it doesn't, he just feels disgusted by himself.

	And, so, when he looked at how he learned, he's like, "That's what I'm doing now," but just like me, like when I started off in sales, you know, I was in a commission-only job because I had lost my last job just before Christmas, and, you know, I had no idea what I was doing; I had 93 doors before my first sale. And, you know, I had bad acne; I had braces; I wasn't exactly the person you would see as that extroverted person that would just run in a door and have that charismatic personality.

	But, I learned through understanding there's a process, focusing on each step, and just gradually getting better at it. And, I think that's really important for an introvert. Like, we tend to take every sale so personally. And, when a sale doesn't go well, they're like, "Why don't they like me?" And, that's not really the answer; the answer is to look at the system and say, okay, they didn't say no to me personally, they said no to the system. 

And, as a scientist wouldn't say, "Well, I'm not meant to be a scientist because the experiment didn't work," we don't say we weren't meant to be a salesperson; we just need to look at the steps in the process and what we can perfect to make it better and deliver a much more predictable result.

 Jaime:	I love this because everybody that's listening right now, especially introverted ones, but, usually, you kinda suck at sales. And, it's like, oh, you have to bang your head against the wall a thousand times, and then you kinda learn it. Awesome. 

	So, please enlighten us on the system that you actually go through, so that way, those people don't have to do the same thing that I did.

Matthew:	Sure. I mean, so, what's interesting about this is every step that I talk about in the book - I mean, this isn't new stuff, right? The whole idea of -

Jaime:	Wait? you're 

Matthew:	So, is that product placement?

Jaime:	Yes, that was beautiful. That was beautiful. I have ADD; you can't do that stuff.

Matthew:	So, everything you learn in the book, it's not about anything new and different, it's just written for introverts. And, what I found is anytime I'd read a book, the premises were good, but they'd always focus on doing those bulldog techniques, and all of a sudden, I'd be like, well, I can't do that.

Jaime:	Yeah, I can't even say those words. Like, I would be like, "I can't literally say that. No, I can't." Yeah.

Matthew:	And, that's a big problem for me as well. Like, when I was learning it, like the first one about just developing rapport, and they'd tell me, you know, how to strike up a conversation, and I'm like, "Oh, no, I can't do that." So, I had to learn very structured processes for having dialogs and having conversations. 

	So, very similar to when I come into a room and I'm having a sales activity, like I'm going and maybe I'm trying to sell you something, naturally, when I walk into your business or your home, you might say something like, "Would you like a cup of coffee or a cup of tea?" And, what I would generally do is I'll say, "You know, it's late in the afternoon; if I had another coffee, I will be bouncing off the walls." And, now, I drink mate tea. 

So, I actually say, "Well, actually, I don't drink coffee anymore, and the reason for that is" and I explain it. And, I'd say, "But, I would love a glass of water, if that's okay," and it allows me to give value. And, a lot of times we end up in that dialog around the fact that they actually struggle with, you know, problems with coffee themselves, or they could never give up coffee, and we have a bit of a laugh and joke.

	Now, this is completely manufactured. However, for me, every single time, it allows me to break that really uncomfortable barrier that I'm just really not okay with otherwise.

	So, you know, originally, I used to show up and I would say something like, "Can you believe the traffic? How long does it take you to get here? I just spent 45 minutes getting here and it should've only taken me 15 minutes." Because that embeds the fact that they should really give me some to listen to me because I've just driven all this way, but it also gets them to talk about the fact that the population's increasing, and how they don't like Austin traffic or Melbourne traffic, and it just gets us to have that little conversation that just takes the edge off.

Jaime:	Mmm. Like the connection point in between, so you're not like, "Okay, now we're ready. Go!" Because that's awkward and crazy.

Matthew:	And, that's exactly it. I see so many people that are introverted and they're like - you know, my father used to say this all the time. He'd go, "I wish people would just stop the small talk. Can we just get to the facts' I just want to get into that conversation." 

And, I think, especially introverted business owners or salespeople, they're like, you can tell that they are angry about the fact that you're having this casual conversation. And, what we need to understand as introverts is it is an important part of the dialog, and you'll get to the opportunity to have the sale, but it's important if they're extroverts or if they're introverts - people like to buy from people they feel like they have a relationship with. So, it's sort of vitally important that we talk to them and socialize.

	Now, that doesn't mean that we spend 45 minutes socializing; I've seen extroverts - and this is where they actually have a disadvantage. I've seen extroverts go into a conversation with a doctor where they've got a 45 minute appointment, and they spend 30 minutes socializing, and the doctor's like, "I'm gonna have to go soon," and they've run out of time. So, I actually think introverts with the process actually have an advantage. And, once they get the sales system right, they'll beat their extroverted counterparts, hands-down.

	But, it's important to follow the steps. So, the first one is really about doing that. The second one is really just to embed some credibility, right? Talk about people that you've worked with in the past like them. Talk about the fact that you focus on people that are in their industry. Tell some stories about people that you've worked with, or say, "Now, my general process is that I do these specific things, because what I find is that most people, they just come and have, like, a custom process. Because I work with people like you and here's some examples I can deliver a better result."

	So, really just set some time talking about some credibility elements. You know, when I come to a meeting, frequently, I will talk about someone that I've worked with that they would love to aspire to be one day. Just something that allows us to create that dialog of, you know, I'm not sitting here hoping to get your business; you'd be lucky to work with me.

Jaime:	Okay, so, what if you don't have those stories? Because I remember at the beginning, I was like, "Soooo," and they're like, "What about this?" I'm like, "I 'mm-hmm, mm-hmm," right? And then, that makes me awkward and weirder, and then of course I can't sell.

Matthew:	So, what's interesting is you're always one conversation away from having a really interesting story. So, one of the things that I love doing is manufacturing momentum. So, if I have a conversation with you, and we talk about the prospect of working together, what I'll then do in that conversation with the next person is talk about the conversation I just had -

Jaime:	Smooth.

Matthew:	- and how excited you were about the prospect of working together -

Jaime:	Even if I didn't say yes?

Matthew:	You don't need to say yes, because as long as you have something where I can grab that piece of information and talk about it, then it's completely fine.

	Now, again, the focus here is really just about bringing some of that credibility element in. Now, if you've written an article for Entrepreneur or been on somebody's podcast - which, if anyone knows how hard it is to get on podcasts - like, getting on your show is actually quite difficult. You're quite selective. But, for a lot of people, they're just looking for really good guests that can give great value. So, you can say something like, "You know, I explained this on a podcast interview recently." And, all of a sudden, now you're an authority, because everybody else they've had in, you know, hasn't done that.

	Then, what you wanna do is you wanna move into an agenda. Now, this sounds ridiculous, but have you ever - you say you have ADD and you joke about that all the time.

Jaime:	I do, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Matthew:	So, when you have ADD, you've probably been in classrooms and you're like, "Where is that? Where are they going with this?" Well, sales is exactly the same. Like, when you're in a sale, and you're listening to someone go through their pitch, and you're like, "Where are they going with this? Is this ever going to end?"

Jaime:	Exactly. What's in it for me? Come on, hurry up.

Matthew:	Exactly. Exactly right. So, for me, there are two reasons why I like to set an agenda. One is like to make sure they understand that there's going to be a process and that we're going to get to the part where I'm gonna talk about price, so don't ask me right now. And, if they ask me right now, I'm going to say, "As I just explained, we're gonna get there, but at the moment, I need to ask you questions before I know exactly what I can do for you." 

	So, it really just - introverts really hate being confronted with "What's the price?" and it happens so quickly. But, they're kinda setting themselves up for that, because they don't set an agenda, and you want to take control. People respect the person that says, "Hey, I have an agenda. We're gonna follow it. I have a process." Because the last thing you wanna do - I mean, even coming into a production studio like this, you wanna know the person running the camera has a process. And, if sales is the first opportunity they get to see whether or not you have a process or not, you don't wanna just wing it. 

	Like Brian Tracy talks about the fact that the top 10 percent of all salespeople have a planned presentation. And, that's extroverts and introverts. Because you wanna show that you have systems in everything that you do. So, talking about the fact that you have a process will allow them to feel comfortable and go, "Okay, this person's got control. I'm not gonna be in this two-hour meeting where I'm gonna have to say, "Look, let me think about it," or "I wanna move forward." I can relax." 

	But, secondly, I've been in those sales events where people just start hammering me with questions, and I'm like, "Is this an interrogation?' You're asking me questions I wouldn't want my competition to know, and I don't want to tell you about it." So, just saying something as simple as "Look, what I'm gonna need to do now is I'm gonna need to ask you a few questions so I get a better understanding of your business and your unique needs so that I can tailor a solution specifically to what you're looking for. Is that okay?" And, as soon as you ask if it's okay, the pressure just disappears.

Jaime:	Number one, you said at the beginning - you name dropped also. You already added credibility, besides my introduction, you've been doing a lot of this, even in this interview. 

Matthew:	Mm-hmm.

Jaime:	Which is really impressive - slow golf clap, you know. But, what's impressive is that because it seems so natural because you've done it so often, it's not a big deal anymore. And so, when we do it over and over and over again, you can come up with these things. Because I know the people that are listening are like, "Well, what do I see? He's been doing it. He wrote a book about it. He's way better." Right? 

	And so, writing it down, one that worked really well, or tweaking it - do you have scripts in the book or some, like, little things that we can start right away with?

Matthew:	Yeah, definitely. So, the way the book's designed is we actually use scripts of other people so that you can actually see the exact things that they say. The point of this book is not that you grab at their scripts and make them yours; it's really you've gotta find a process that's authentic for you. So, the book really helps you create your own authentic process, right? Because the goal of being an introvert is that you need to be you. 

	And, a good example of that - so, this studio is obviously - it's a great studio. It's not mine. The owner of this is a company called Golden Arm Media. Alex Murphy is a client of mine, right?

Jaime:	Placement, that was good. Good. Okay -

[Crosstalk]

Jaime:	- smooth too. Go ahead.

Matthew:	But, the thing is that Alex had a chronic stutter when he started this business. And, if people look back to the original interview that you and I did, you know, we were in pretty much a white background and you and I were almost touching knees at the same time. And, the studio was smaller than the room we're in right now. 

	And, when I started working with him, I started talking to him about this, and he's like, "Matt, I don't wanna sound like a robot; what you're talking about sounds like sales scripting. And, you know, I've seen those telemarketers that call up and they're like, "Hello, my name is-" I don't wanna be one of those people."

Jaime:	I used to be one of those people. Yeah, I know. I can't say anything else but the script because I don't know. I used to have them printed out in front of me. It was horrible.

Matthew:	And, that's the thing. People think when they have to gravitate to a sales system, if they don't have that natural personality, that's their only option. And, the sales process is actually about understanding the steps in the process. And, if all you do is know the steps and follow the steps in order, you'll double your sales, right?

	Now, you know, I've got a client -

Jaime:	Guaranteed! No, sorry.

Matthew:	Thank you. Guaranteed!

	Well, I've got a client, Derek Lewis, in the book, who actually was the guy that coauthored my book with me and he's one of my clients. And, he says in the book that he didn't follow all of the elements of the book, yet he went from struggling to make $27,000.00 to having a strong six-figure income within less than four months of just working with me through these steps because it gave him the steps. And, for him - and just like Alex. I mean, Alex, again, had a stutter, and he learned these steps because - but he did have a big barrier with it. He thought, like, "I'm gonna sound robotic. I'm really uncomfortable." So, he was hesitant.

	But, what he found is when he went into the sale armed with these processes, he could actually be more authentic, because rather than worrying about what he was going to say next, he could actually be in the room. And, he actually found that his stutter subsided a lot, because when he's being natural and comfortable, he doesn't stutter as much. When he's uncomfortable, of course he's going to stutter more. So, it really just fixed the problem in a lot of ways.

	You know, one of the jokes that I used to always say to my sales team - because, you know, when people started to work with me at my old educational facility, my sales team had to learn a twelve-page sales script. Like, I was crazy about making sure that people knew every single word.

Jaime:	Really' Twelve pages!

Matthew:	Now, they had to learn every single word. And I said - they're like, "Matt, this is a lot of work. I could go and work at another job and not have to deal with this." I said, "Yeah, cool, but let me ask you a question. You know those people that do Shakespeare off-off-off Broadway? They're probably making no more than the guy or girl that's working at Chuck E. Cheese. Doing this process, you can make a strong six-figure income, guaranteed, by following this process. All you've gotta do is learn the word."

	Now, that was my process. Now, if they learned the words, then they could make it their own. But, they had to learn the words first, because then they've got that systematic process. So, for people that are watching that have a sales team, what I did is I always created the script, then I got them to learn it, then make it their own. 

And, by doing it that way - because the sales team was like, "Can I make it my own first?" That's them saying, "I don't wanna do the work." And, you can't quarantine whether what they're doing is working or not if they didn't start from a baseline. Remember, if you create a new factory; if you do the factory different every time, you're not gonna be able to tell what's different. 

	So, I got people to learn the script, and then make it their own. And, their objection was "I'm gonna sound robotic." And, I said, "Tell me about your favorite movie." And, they'd tell me their favorite movie. I said, "So, all the actors in there, were they pretty natural?" And, they were like, "Well, yeah." And, I said, "Well, they're reading from a script though, right?" And, they'd be like, "Well, yeah, but they're actors." And, I said, "Okay, so here's what I want you to do. I want you to understand that an actor learns a script; then they practice it; they embody it; they embrace it; it becomes themselves." 

	Like, if you look at someone like Leonardo DiCaprio, I mean, I have seen that actor, and he is that person. And, that's the thing that people miss with sales. They think that they have to be robotic, and they don't see it as the same thing. So, what I always suggest to people is they need to look at what they currently say. They need to write it down. Then, when they're going through the book, they might just need - what they'll find is some of the things they say are just out of order. And, because they're out of order, it makes a profound difference.

	For Judy Robinett, who wrote the foreword for this book, it was one thing; when somebody asked her about price, she didn't know what to say. And, she found that she always went low, and then they'd be like, "Oh, well, we want to think about it." Well, she was the number one business book author of 2014, and when they called her to ask how much she was to speak, her fee was too low, and it freaked her out. They were like, "Well, maybe she's not a good speaker."

	So, instead, I just told her what specifically to say when they ask that question to get them to tell her their number. So, Judy used to say, in the past, she'd be like, "Uh, uh, uh," and this number. Now, all she says, is she says, "Well, when you pick up the phone to call me, knowing my credibility and knowing the kind of person that I am, you probably had a bit of an idea about what working with me would cost. What sort of idea of price did you have in mind?" And, the customer would -

[Crosstalk]

Jaime:	- throw it out first. Smart. Okay. Mm-hmm.

Matthew:	Exactly. Well, what happened was the customer would say, "Well, look. I know you probably charge more than this, but we really have a budget of about $20,000.00, and we really couldn't pay more than that."

Jaime:	And, she's going like this.

Matthew:	It's four times what she was charging.

Jaime:	Four times.

Matthew:	Four times what she was charging at the time.

Jaime:	She's like, "I love you Matthew Pollard. Thank you so much."

Matthew:	Well, now she charges a lot more. But, she also had questions, and that's why it's important to understand the process. She's like, "Well, what if they don't do that." I said, "Well, what other options do you think they would say?" Well, you're gonna have two other groups of people: one group that says, "I don't know." 

	Now, that's a very different statement. Saying "I don't know? I means I'm not the decision-maker." So, you then need to understand what the process of them buying is. So, you now ask more detailed questions and you coach them around finding out what the budget is. Because you can say something like, "Well, I have different services that I do depending on your budget, so it's important, before we get to the point of making a proposal, that we're making the right proposal. So, tell me a little bit about the steps about how you would go through the approval process." And, generally, that leads to actually speaking to the decision-maker instead of the secretary that's probably made the phone call.

	And then, you've got the third group of people that's like, "No, I really just need to know the price." And, that's the group that you tell. But, that's such a small group of the overall population. You know, I think every time I've tried it, I may have had that come up maybe twice. Because if you've done the first steps right, then you're fine. 

And, I think that that's one of the things that people miss with the sales process, right? Anytime we read a book, and you'll find that, you know, I've read a huge number of sales books, and it's always like, "Here's a strategy; here's a strategy." And, you go and apply one of them, and you're like, "Oh, that didn't work." Well, in isolation, no sales strategy will work guaranteed. And, even when you follow a sales process - I mean, if you were a sales person that never gets a no, you're the best salesperson on the planet. 

But, if you focus on every single step, as you get to the point where they talk about price and you then say it that way, they've already developed such a strong relationship with you, then, you know, they're going to tell you because they have that rapport with you. You clearly have a process, and now, they're like, "Wow, I really hope I can afford this person." So, they're now hoping that if they mention a number, you'll do something nice for them and come to the party. And, that's what Judy found every time. 

And, you know, I get the same thing. I get people who will say to me, "I wasn't expecting any change from X number." And, a lot of times, it's a lot more money than I actually do charge. Because people think of a value of this high and, you know, for me, I know that I'm worth the money that they're saying, but again, I also am very, very focused on making sure that when I deliver something, you know, they don't have to, you know, leverage all their credit cards to work with me.

Now, I think that a lot of people, a lot of introverts, are always sitting there going, "I wish people would pay me what I'm worth." And, by mentioning a price, what actually happens is they devalue themselves.

Jaime:	So, what happens, though, if they say something way lower, and you're like, "Oh!" right?

Matthew:	If you get to the price element and they mention a lot lower price, well, that would mean that you haven't done your job well enough. So, what I would suggest is say, "You know, I've had a client just like you that actually said that once. And, what happened is I ended up helping them find a service provider that would deliver it for that price, because getting something for that price, here's what you're noticing." 

And, to use a public speaking example, you say, "When you go to an event, you can always tell a speaker that's spoken at maybe ten events, and are using this as an opportunity. And then, you've got this other person, you know, they've spoken on so many stages. And, that's the person you need at your conference. A lot of times, that person that's using it for experience can choke. You want a couple of people of super high caliber because then if something goes wrong, that person can say, "Oh, yeah, I'll just do a workshop in the middle of that." And so, if you've already got a couple of premium speakers like that, then you definitely don't need me, and that budget's completely fine, and I'll recommend a few people to you. But if you haven't got someone of that caliber, my suggestion would be at every conference, you need someone like that." Right?

	So, now, I'm trying to consult with you, and I think that's one of the biggest mistakes that a lot of people make in sales, is they're trying to sell. Jaime, I've seen the way you work with people; you're a consultant. You sit down and you're like, "How do I fix your problem without using me?"

Jaime:	Yes.

Matthew:	And, then, if they have to use you, it's like, okay. And, if they're like, "Well, I don't have a budget to work with you," you're like, "Okay, so here are some other people, but here are the pitfalls with these people, so go into that knowing that." But, it's all about being a consultant, because if you - you know, you think about going to your accountant or your lawyer; when they give you advice, you take it. When you go and hear a salesperson, you're like, "Well, hang on a second; back off. I'll make my own decision."

Jaime:	That's exactly how - whenever I do any sales calls, I go, "I'm gonna put myself in your position, and I'm gonna tell you what I would do if I were you. And, if that means going to hire somebody else and not me, totally cool; or if it's nothing to do with any of this stuff and you should totally do something else different, that matters too, because what I care about is you as a human and what's best for you, because I've been in the game a long time," And, everyone's like, "Oh, my gosh. Phew."

Matthew:	And, how authentic is that?

Jaime:	Yeah.

Matthew:	That's the difference. I mean, introverts don't want to be salespeople. And, you'll notice a lot of the stories in this book, one of the biggest objections they had with working with me was they didn't want me to make them become a salesperson. And, that's not the answer. I mean, for introverts - again, there's this story in the book about ' I had an introvert real estate agent that asked me to come and help him. One of his two ICs was, like, a bulldog salesperson. You're talking to this guy, fist pressed on the desk, standing up, yelling at the phone, hyped up on coffee. I can't imagine a worse way to live.

Jaime:	Coffee's for closers. No.

Matthew:	No, it's not; it's for people that wanna stay awake when you've done back-to-back 12-hour shoots, like I have; I will give you that. But, to have to get hyped up on coffee just to do something because it's so horrible to do every day, that's not a way to live.

	Now, he said that he enjoyed it, but now, he understands the process of a sale, and he just waltzes in and tells stories. And, it makes such a difference, especially for introverts. We don't wanna be inauthentic. We don't wanna feel like we're hounding someone and pressuring someone.

	So, the next part of the process is storytelling. And, for me, what I find is I can tell you all of the reasons for why my product and service is great for you. I can listen to a lot of the sales books and talk about the benefits of the product, rather than the features. 

	But, again, I'm still telling you, and your logical mind, making that decision, whether "Do I really believe this guy? Do I believe it'll fit my unique situation?" And, that's a really hard thing to get people to buy into. And, again, it feels really sales-y.

	But, instead, if I say, "You know, Jaime, I understand where you're at, and as a matter of fact, I had a client just like you who had a similar problem," and now I tell you a story of how we identified the elements in their business that needed improvement and how we created the implementation, and then the outcome. And, then, I bring it back to a moral of, you know, they were a little bit worried at the start, but now they're so glad they worked with me, and here's the return on investment, or here is the change in their mindset, or the relief that they had, and I bring it back to both a logical and an emotional reason why they're so happy they worked with me.

	Now, you can't disagree with that person's experience. And, here's the other cool thing: When I tell you the logical reasons, your logical mind is literally gonna swat them away. You're gonna think of objections, reasons why that doesn't apply to you.

Jaime:	I've heard that before, blah blah blah, blah blah blah.

Matthew:	Exactly. It happens all the time. But, when I tell you a story, basically it'll short-circuit your logical mind. And, your brain goes, "Oh, story time!" and you're listening. And, you'll listen to the entire story. And, I've done this cold-calling, just to test it. And, I've tried using logical-based objection handling, and I get maybe eight to nine seconds to get - they're either interested or they're not. And, I got Alex to do the exact same thing, this real estate agent, the bulldog. And, he's like, "They're gonna give me eight seconds and they're gonna hang up on me. They're not gonna listen to a one-minute story.' 

	Yeah, they did. They listened to the entire story, and more than that, instead of cold-calling and getting, like, the small companies, they were getting C-level executives. Look, their number of appointments quadrupled in the space of two months, and they put an extra $1 million on their bottom line within that period, and it was just by telling stories. 

	Now, I've tested this. I've told, like, these ridiculously large stories that just seem to go on forever, and people still listen on cold calls. So, if you can do this in appointments, then it gives you a huge power, but right through - you think of all the stories I've said so far, the goal of it is to educate, inspire, and motivate people to take action, but also embed that I'm incredibly valuable. And, everybody that is selling a product or service, if their product and service doesn't offer value, they're going to find stories really difficult. But, if you're an authentic introvert that is trying to help somebody, these stories are gonna pack a punch. 

	The other really cool thing about stories is it's scientifically proven that when I tell you a story, you remember 22 times as much of the information when embedded into the story as the rest of the time. So, if I told you to remember chairs, beds, and porridge, and a year from now, I'm going to say, "Tell me what those three items are." What do you reckon my chances that you'll remember those are?

Jaime:	I'm really smart Matthew - no, probably not very many.

Matthew:	Pretty unlikely, right?

Jaime:	Yes.

Matthew:	But, if I told you a story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, not only would you remember the three items, you'd also remember the order. So, when I tell you a story, it has that effect of allowing people to remember everything.

	So, when I go into a sales event, I love it when they've already met with five salespeople, because, you know, for me, that's a good challenge, and I already know they've already done their due diligence. When I meet with somebody for the first time, if I tell them my stories, I still know that they'll remember more about what I told them from the story than the salesperson that's sitting in the room right now. So, if I get 15 minutes and they get 15 minutes, I'm gonna beat them hands down. And, that's the real power of telling a story. 

	And, one other really nice side effect is, from kids growing up, for decades, story has been a way of developing rapport. So, for people like me who are kind of uncomfortable developing relationships with new people, when I sit down and have a conversation with them, if I tell them a story, it develops this natural resonance between the teller and the receiver of the story. It creates this instant rapport and it makes you see me as like you, and we all of a sudden have a relationship that you can't foster through just telling people facts. 

That's a step that most introverts don't have. They generally walk out of any sales activity going, "I don't think he likes me," or "I don't think I have that relationship with her.' If you tell a few stories, especially stories of people that are just like them - now, if you're working in commercial real estate, you're gonna have an example for them. If you're working as a videographer, you're probably going to have a story. And, if you don't, go away and write a few more stories and practice them. And then, when you tell that story - 

The reason why I always say write them down is once you articulate it on a page in a razor-sharp format, it just comes off the tongue so well, and while you're telling the story, you can actually pay attention to what's going on, as opposed to what you're saying. 

	But then, at the end of that, they listen to the moral, and you know you've got them on the hook because they're like, "Oh, I am like that person. I can see how you helped them; yes, I can see how you'll help me." And, you'll see them do this processing where they grab all of the elements out of that story and they see themselves in it, and now they know you're the only right service provider for them.

	And, that's a real superpower for introverts because it gets them to share their true essence rather than feeling like they're trying to be that hardcore salesperson.

Jaime:	I love all of this. What happens if you're not great at storytelling or writing or whatever? Does your book have tips on that piece too? Because I'm going, like, how do we do a moral? What should the moral be, and how do we relate it back to - right? So, a thousand other questions come up, and I'm assuming you can get better and better and better at it as you go.

Matthew:	So, the book actually gives you the exact steps on how to create a story, right, because for me, stories are the most important part of the book. I mean, question process to make sure you actually know what questions to ask that lead to a sale, and not "Oh, do you like blue? I heard blue's great,? right? Actually ask questions that lead towards a sale.

	But then, telling stories is probably the most important part of the sales process. So, when you tell a story, it has to follow a format, and it gives you the format in the book. But, also, one of the other things for people that aren't natural at telling stories, for me, I wasn't either, but what happens is once you've written your first three or four stories, you start to get the format.

	Like, anyone that is doing their functional skill - I mean, let's say I was a builder. I probably sucked at building when I first started. Like, if I decide I'm gonna be a builder today, and I'm gonna build a house, it probably wouldn't look like a house when I was done. But, once I'd, you know, learned and done my apprenticeship, I'd be fine. If I was an accountant, I probably sucked at finance, and now I don't. 

	We spend a lot of time learning our functional skills, sometimes three, five, seven years, and then decades perfecting it. And then, we go out into business for ourselves and we put all this work in. Sales is actually pretty simple. Like, for me, I went from terrified to sell to the number one sales person in the largest sales and marketing company in the southern hemisphere in six weeks. 

Jaime:	In six weeks?

Matthew:	Like, it took - six weeks. It was just focusing every day. And, I have to admit, I worked my ass off for six weeks. Every day, I would go out, and I would sell, and I'd work out what didn't work, and then I would go out and I would watch all videos just about that one step in the sale where I got stuck, and then I would do the next one. And, every day, I would spend eight hours in the field, then eight hours learning, right? I was completely entrenched in learning the exercise.

	But, six weeks later, I was outperforming the extroverted people that thought I was a joke when I first started, and then they were asking me for advice. And, when I told them what I did, they were kinda like, "Well, too hard, I'm not doing that." But, for an introvert, they gravitated to it. So, I ended up teaching all of the introverts, and then they ended up forcing the extroverts to learn my system because we were just - you know, introverts that had no right being in the sales field were killing the extroverted people. And, it was all because we just followed this process.

	So, you know, it took six weeks. People spend a lot of time learning everything else. If it takes them three months of slowly perfecting it - so, Alex, again, the guy with the stutter, horribly introverted, really uncomfortable, started just embedding a little few steps along the way and told a couple of great stories, and instantly saw the outcomes in sales. Then, he took that as motivation, and perfected the process.

Jaime:	Well, because what we have a tendency to do also, especially when we're introverted, we're like, "I don't like it at all, so I'm going to avoid it, and not look at it, and every time it comes up, it's just gonna be painful, and I'm okay with that," right? But now, knowing that there can be ways that - especially in six weeks, not that we need to do that, in general. We have a book now, thankfully.

Matthew:	Exactly. Well, I made a lot of mistakes, and what I found is as an introvert, there's nothing really out there telling you how to sell. I mean, you look at every book out there; it's written for an extrovert. I mean, that's why Brian Smith throws them on the floor, because he can't be that person.

	I think, me, I had to learn by doing, and look at different parts - you learn by doing.

Jaime:	Yeah.

Matthew:	And, it's painful.

Jaime:	It is! It sucks!

Matthew:	And, it takes a long time. And, as introverts, we take it all too personally. 

Jaime:	Yep.

Matthew:	And, by just understanding that it's a system, and understanding that you're going to make mistakes, and you're going to say things wrong, you're going to say things out of order - don't beat yourself up about it. I mean, when you studied accounting or studied legal or learned to be a builder, you made mistakes. But, over time, you perfected it. And, with sales, it's the same. 

	But, just by following the steps, even if you do all of the steps horribly, just following the stepping stone process that leads to a sale, you'll double your sales. But, once you start to realize how to perfect that and come up with your core stories, then all of a sudden, you'll see your sales skyrocket. And, let's face it; for introverts, we kinda just wing it when we go in, and we walk out going, "Did they like me?" We start to replay everything back in our head. The amount of energy that takes, it's just easier to read the book and come up with a process.

Jaime:	That's exactly what I was gonna say, though. Because it was one of those things where I would think so much about it, and I would get so frustrated. And, spending some time that actually made it enjoyable - like, I actually love sales now. And, I hated it, hated it, hated it, and was probably not gonna make any money whatsoever, because that's where we make the money, people. Like, the number one skill that you actually need is sales, and the fact that we sort of avoid it like this, because we don't think we can be good at it, sucks. So, I'm so thankful that you're here to tell everybody that they actually can be good at it, even as an introvert, and crazy.

	But, I know we have to start wrapping up, also. And, I didn't even prep you for this because you've been on the show before. But, I ask one question; do you remember the last question at all?

Matthew:	Not at all.

Jaime:	I told the story and everything; he doesn't remember it from last year. Come on! Ha-ha. Well, good, we're gonna put Matthew on the spot; we'll see how well he goes. 

	Number one, okay, last question: What's one action, besides buying your book - everybody go buy his book - besides buying your book, that people can take this week to help move them forward towards their goal of a million?

Matthew:	Get their goal of a million. I think if I was going to take one step, it would be actually blocking out time to learn sales. I think one of the things that a lot of people do, is they focus on doing the functional elements of their job. I mean, for me, I think sales is, as you say, it's one of the most important things; it's why the lawyers that get paid the most are the rainmakers. They're the ones that bring in the clients. Yet, we don't block out any time to learn it.

	So, I think that there's one action we can do right now, which is just admit to ourselves that sales is a learnable skill, and commit ourselves to learning it. And then, just block out four hours a week where you'll actually focus on learning those processes.

	Now, my book's not the only answer. I mean, you can watch YouTube videos; that's what I did. And, you know, I mean, YouTube's got some unbelievable information. I still put a huge amount of information on it because it's where I learned. And, you know, there's a lot more there than just cat videos; like, there's a lot of stuff on there.

	So, for me, if people are like, "Well, I wanna learn the process, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit to a book." Well, you can download the first chapter on the website at introvertsedge.com, but go to YouTube and just learn the process of telling a story. I mean, I'm not sure if you've ever seen a comedian and spoken to them afterwards, but some comedians are really not funny in the real world. And, they've got this process for how they're funny on the stage.

	And so, for me, if I was an introvert and I was struggling in business, or I was succeeding now but I need to hire a sales team and I'm not sure how to train them - maybe you've learned through the school of hard knocks, like you did, to be a salesperson, but you don't know how to impart that onto, especially, other extroverted salespeople.

	What I would suggest you do is you block out time and learn the steps to the sale, and you might find that there are a lot of steps you're actually doing, and they're just out of order, and you just need to reallocate that. And then, I would write down - I would go to a meeting and - maybe you just sit down with a friend and say, "I'm gonna pretend to sell to you," and record everything you do, get it transcribed, and then read it, and go, "Oh, that should actually be there, and that should be there," once you learn the process. That'll improve your sales astronomically. 

And, you don't have to buy a book for that; you don't have to read a book for that. Just learning the steps of the sale and then actually taking action on that - I reckon four hours a week, if people just allocate four hours a week, within the space of just a few months, their business will look very, very different.

Jaime:	Okay, so, right now, if you're not driving or anything like that, then take out your calendar and take out four hours in one week. Four hours is a lot, so they can do two hours if they need to, but long term, we wanna do at least four, that way you can actually make a lot more money. And, do it now, because otherwise I know you won't.

	So, tell us where we can get the book. I know you have extra bonuses. We're actually gonna do ' you decided to give away two or three books for commenters, so make sure you go comment, so that way we can give you a free book so you can do all this and double your sales. But, tell us where, if they aren't lucky enough to win, they should go get the book right now.

Matthew:	Yeah, definitely. So, firstly, for people that are worried about it taking a lot of time, they'll save more time within the space of a few weeks. Because for people that I've seen that start to develop a sales process, of all of a sudden, they don't have to write these in depth, waste of time proposals, and people buy in the room, so it makes a huge difference. And, you know, we haven't even discussed how to close a sale without asking for it, which is horrible. So, you don't have to do it.

Jaime:	Darn it! You're gonna have to come back on the show again. Now everybody's like, "Great, thanks."

Matthew:	So, now, they have the hook, right, but -

Jaime:	Go buy the book. Go buy the book.

Matthew:	For people that buy the book, though, yeah, we do have a lot of bonuses. So, I'm a reader - well, I listen to books, because I have a reading speed of a sixth grader.

Jaime:	You have dyslexia, yeah. 

Matthew:	So, I listen, and also, for me, one of the biggest things when I published this book is I wanted it to be available on audiobook, and it is. So, people can listen to it just like I listen to all the books where, you know, I develop most of my knowledge.

	But, on top of that, you know, the bonuses, all people have got to do is come to the website and there'll be a link to click on to claim bonuses, and there, they'll get video training from me, actually explaining how to implement this stuff. 

	And then, on top of that, I didn't wanna just be a talking head, so I flew in a lot of my successful customers into Austin, and I interviewed them like this, so they talked about what worked, what didn't work, what barriers they faced, and how they overcame them. So, not only is it ram-packed full of additional value; you'll also see yourself in these people and know it's possible for you.

	I mean, I know what it's like seeing someone like me on an interview like this. And, you know, for me, this was - it's still uncomfortable to sit and do an interview like this. I have to remind myself to breathe. But-

Jaime:	Me too. I turn red. I totally understand. We're all like - and, we're into it now. That rapport part we had to do also, at the beginning. Same thing.

Matthew:	Well, that's it. And, I think, for a lot of people though, they need to see other people that were like them, that struggled, and sharing their real stories. So, you know, there's video of Alex, and Derek Lewis, and all these people that are real people, and the stories in the book. They get to hear from those people and actually see themselves in those people, and I think that's really valuable.

	And then, there's the online stuff. So, for me, I think one of the hardest things about learning how to sell like this is you've got no one really to bounce ideas off because everywhere you go to ask for advice as a salesperson, tends to be an extroverted person that goes, "It's easy; you just do this." And, that doesn't work for us, because they're telling us how to do it in an extroverted way. And, as salespeople that are introverted, we have to learn to do it our way.

	So, what I've created is an online Facebook group where, for everybody that buys the book, they can actually share their successes, share their fears, share some of their scripts, and share feedback. It's a really supportive group, and just some of the people that are involved already, I've seen some great value in that because people are critiquing each other's stories; I'm critiquing stories. 

And then, to give people a little bit of access to me, for an entire year, I have agreed to do a weekly live stream for an hour where I will actually go through, critique some people's work. So, if they put their scripts in, their stories, I will actually critique a load of them; I will answer questions and answer follow-up questions, because for me, introverts need to learn how to sell. They want to create businesses that revolve around them, their families, their life; they want to earn that exceptional income, and it sucks that they can't. 

And, I was lucky enough to get laid off just before Christmas and found my way into sales, and it's made me who I am today. And, I feel horrible for the fact that so many people shy away from this. So, for a year it's a long time I'm gonna do it.

Jaime:	I was like, that's crazy. Like, you - that's a whole - you know, that's nuts. And he's like, "Yeah, I know." But, it's good. It's gonna help a lot of people out. I was like, go you. So, everybody make sure that you understand how valuable this ' a lot of people are like, well, if they don't pay for it, they're not gonna value it. Like, if it's the only thing you do is go talk to him every single week and be like, Matt, keep doing this. I send my clients to you too, right?

	So, yes, go get on that. And, all you have to do is buy a book; it's ridiculous. Anyway, there's your pitch for you.

Matthew:	Well, I appreciate it. You've done my job for me. I have nothing more to say. 

Jaime:	Buy it; buy it; buy it. Okay. So, it's introvertsedge.com. Thank you so much. Everybody, go check it out; let us know what you think, a.) in the comments. If they can tell, like, a story, or how much you hated sales before and how you're better, or if you do still hate sales, go ahead and comment so that way we can pick those three winners. 

	Thank you so much for coming on the show today. I really appreciate it.

Matthew:	I'm happy to be back.

Tags: Business Owner, can an introvert be successful at sales, entrepreneur podcast, eventual millionaire, introvert, jaime masters, Matthew Pollard, millionaire entrepreneurs, podcast, prospecting tips for introverts, sales for introverts, start-ups / startups, startup entrepreneur, successful selling for introverts, top entrepreneurs

Categories: All, Featured Millionaire Interview, Millionaire Interviews, Sales

Hi I’m Jaime. Each and every week I bring you the top business advice from the people who know best.

Learn More