Triumphs of a Sales Warrior

Elevate your game with the wisdom of Jon Sansone, a sales maestro who knows a thing or two about turning rejections into triumphs. Our conversation peels back the layers of sales strategies and personal development, providing a roadmap to success for anyone with the courage to take it. Jon's story isn't just about selling homes; it's a masterclass in nurturing resilience, honing people skills, and understanding the critical role of personal branding – the kind that made John Lennon an icon and can make you unforgettable in your field.

This episode isn't just talk; it's a treasure trove of actionable insights. We navigate the emotional battleground of sales, equipped with Jon's 'warrior mindset' and my own brush with tragedy that led to a 'seize the day' approach in sales. It's about learning to celebrate your wins as your armor and taking inspiration from giants like Tony Robbins to keep the fire in your belly alive. We'll even let you in on a little secret: showing your imperfections might just be the best way to showcase your authenticity.

Finally, we wrap up with a nod to the unsung heroes of any career: mentors. Drawing on our own experiences, we explore the parallels between the finesse of courtship and the art of the sale, emphasizing the need for preparation, research, and the creation of mutual value. Jon leaves us with an open invitation to continue the dialogue on LinkedIn, where he battles on as the formidable Jon Saleswarrior. So, if you're looking to craft a legacy or simply crush your next sales target, let this episode be the catalyst that propels you forward.

Connect with Dionne Malush

• Instagram: @dionnerealtyonepgh
• LinkedIN: /in/dionnemalush
• Website: www.dionnemalush.com
• Facebook: /dmalush
• LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dionnemalush

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Sales Success Journey

Dionne Malush 0:01

Have you ever wondered what it truly takes to turn zero into hero in the world of sales and personal success ? I'm Dionne Malush , your host , and today , on the Shine On Success podcast , we have the pleasure of introducing Jon Sansone , a man who's journey from a country boy in Missouri to a sales powerhouse and a sought-after professional consultant , embodying the essence of persistence , resilience and strategic growth . Jon's story is not just about achieving financial freedom . It's about pushing through adversity with determination and grit . Stay tuned as we explore the secrets behind Jon's remarkable career transformation and remember to connect with us on social media to share your thoughts and questions . Hello , Jon , welcome . I'm so excited to have you on my show today . How are you ?

Jon Sansone 0:45

I am too . I want to meet whoever you're interviewing that has that amazing bio . That is awesome .

Dionne Malush 0:50

I'm good at faking people out . No , seriously , I was so impressed . I was excited to meet you because I thought I'm sure I'll learn something from you today in this quick 30-minute call . I'm sure I'll learn something from you .

Jon Sansone 1:02

Absolutely , Jon . It's wild because how I used to live and how I live now are , conversely , different .

Dionne Malush 1:10

I'm sure Sales is the greatest opportunity on the earth . There is so many millionaires made from sales . I hope to be one of them and I know I'm working on building this brokerage . I don't know what you know about me , but I own a 200 people real estate brokerage in Pittsburgh . We have a lot of sales people in this company . One thing they don't teach in real estate is sales strategies .

Jon Sansone 1:35

They teach you everything else , really yes , you have 200 real estate professionals working for you .

Dionne Malush 1:42

We do . We have five offices in Pittsburgh . We own a partnership in a mortgage company and an insurance agency as well . I own some investment properties here in the area . We're pretty busy Wow .

Jon Sansone 1:53

Good for you , For me it's not enough .

Dionne Malush 1:56

I'm learning and trying to build myself to be the best version of me .

Jon Sansone 2:00

Yeah , I like it .

Dionne Malush 2:02

Thank you . Doing this podcast gives me that opportunity .

Jon Sansone 2:05

Heck , yeah , it does , that's awesome .

Dionne Malush 2:08

Let's talk about you , because it's not about me , it's definitely about you I wonder if you can share something with me .

Jon Sansone 2:15

Sure .

Dionne Malush 2:16

The moment that you realized sales was you're calling . How did you harness the power of connecting with prospects ? How did you do that , connecting to achieve remarkable success ?

Jon Sansone 2:27

Great question . You have to lean on what I would call your gifts . Two , it's one thing to have a gift . It's another thing to develop a gift . I think there are a lot of people that have amazing gifts out there . Some people develop them and some people don't develop them Like . I'll give you an example . Well , I apologize for some of that barking you might have to edit out .

Dionne Malush 2:55

I lied .

Jon Sansone 2:57

Yeah . So there are people out there that have really good abilities to be a great salesperson , but there's some things blocking them from being a great salesperson . In my drive to be a great salesperson was much bigger than anything that could block me from being a great salesperson . Something that was blocking me . I would just fight through it . The daily rejection is an example . I came up with ways to manage those rejections a way to pick myself back up when somebody knocked me down or was mean to me in a business situation , which happens all the time . And then two , when you focus on what somebody wants and you show up with a solid view of yourself and your company and then your product , like .

Jon Sansone 3:57

I think people think of it incorrectly when they think about sales . People think about sales . They think about oh , I got a great product . If I just tell them enough stuff about my product , they're going to buy from me . Well , that is incorrect . Most people think whatever you have is generic , and so what separates a great salesperson and a great company from a mediocre result is people and people skills , and that's what I teach . That's your big differentiator . I mean , you look at like I use a lot of word pictures , you look at football , everybody has the same football that they're playing with . We're in the same type of shoes . Everybody pretty much has generic equipment if you're a college or a pro football player .

Jon Sansone 4:47

But , then there are people out there like Patrick Mahomes that are just great at it . What separates him from others that probably have exactly the same physical abilities that he does is he's able to keep his mind straight regardless of the obstacle , and that's what separates great salespeople from mediocre salespeople is being able to keep your mind straight , you know , like when you have one minute left in the Super Bowl and you're able to tie it and take it into overtime . Yes , that's not a physical ability , that's a mental ability .

Dionne Malush 5:20

I agree with you 100% . I am such a football fan so I'm from Pittsburgh and you're from Dallas . I'm not sure we have a connection here or not , but you know I love .

Jon Sansone 5:29

I get it yeah .

Dionne Malush 5:31

And I love this dealer so much and I do think about things that way and I love that you're using that analogy , because I use that too . I talk about coaching . You know I think about Ben Rothlisberger the best quarterback for my lifetime , for me and the coaches that he has . He doesn't just have it throwing coach , he has a mindset coach , a running coach , life coach . He probably has 10 coaches . You know our agents and say you need to have a coach . I've had a coach for 17 of my 20 years of being in real estate . Now I have multiple coaches because I know that I need I need help getting through some of those barriers that you're talking about .

Jon Sansone 6:10

So everybody does like yeah , I mean , you know , because we are not put in a society that supports people . We're put in a society that teaches us to cut each other down , and that's the society we're in .

Dionne Malush 6:24

Yeah , social media and their social media after that , right .

Jon Sansone 6:27

Yeah , there's social media . Like most people when they're in middle school or high school or even in college , there's always going to be people that are naysayers , Like you , come up with a great idea and you know . Case in point , I was on a podcast symposium last week and it was three professionals on the symposium and I gave like a tip for creativity and one of the people in the group said it really wasn't a tip for creativity . I had to like stick up for myself in a , you know , a non-paid uh , our devotion of my time .

Dionne Malush 7:06

Wow , that's nice . Yeah , people just did it . Again , I feel like that a lot you know and people just don't want you to succeed . They want to tell you how to do it , but they don't want to do it themselves right .

Jon Sansone 7:18

Right .

Dionne Malush 7:18

A lot of people that have advice but have never stepped in your shoes . So because let's talk about your shoes $300 . You came to Dallas , was 300 bucks .

Jon Sansone 7:29

I did . Then you had graduation money from college pocket change .

Dionne Malush 7:37

Yeah , how did you survive and that was one of my next questions was reflecting on your early challenges , including the moment you arrived in Dallas was $300 . How , in those moments , did you stay focused and determined to pursue your dreams with $300 ? Because a lot of people spend that in a day .

Jon Sansone 7:52

Oh , I know so well . You know money went farther back then , but so I was living with family , okay , and so you know , I had a strategy when I came to Dallas . So I was living with , actually , grandparents which are amazing cooks , by the way and I actually gained weight when I was unemployed . When I was unemployed and and I just focused on like they say when you're , when you're not employed , to make a full time job out of finding a job , and that's kind of what I did . I mean , I just wrote resume after resume after resume . If appropriate , I would get my car and drop one off .

Jon Sansone 8:27

I realized early on that it was going to take a while to get a professional job , because I graduated in 1989 , which was kind of , I believe , a recessionary area era , so it wasn't like a big booming time yet , we hadn't hit the roaring nineties yet . And so I graduated when , like , if I put a resume in front of a corporation , they had 125 resumes and probably the the resumes that they had had better grades than I did in college , cause I had fun in college .

Dionne Malush 9:00

I'll just be upfront yeah , well , you and some of us , some other people like us too , we had some fun . I went to art school , so I explained . I should explain a lot Art school . Okay , there you go , there you go , and so creative all the time , you push through it and you stayed focused . And then you set numerous sales records , achieved high recognition , and I think that you probably had used one in Napoleon Hill's principle of going the extra mile in your strategies and personal development .

Jon Sansone 9:30

Absolutely . Tell us about that .

Dionne Malush 9:32

How did you go from $300 in your pocket to now winning awards and achieving these ? What did you do ? What was the one thing that set you apart ?

Jon Sansone 9:41

So they say you can't out earn your self-esteem . So I really worked on my own self-esteem , Like before I made $100,000 a year or whatever . I had to work on my self-esteem so I could handle that and you constantly gotta grow as a learner to be an earner . I like that term .

Dionne Malush 10:05

That's good .

Jon Sansone 10:06

Yeah , and you do , like most people , and if you look at research , these people that inherit money or people that win the lottery , they don't know how to have money and so money goes through them Like they don't know how to manage , like not manage money like you think of managing money . They don't know how to manage spending and delayed gratification and if they get a whole bunch of money it's just gonna go to like everyday stuff and they're not gonna realize like how to be wealthy . Like they understand how to be broke and they understand , okay , now you just gotta broke person with money . Well , broke person with money is not wealthy , they're just a broke person with money . You gotta have a wealthy mindset to be wealthy and you can be have a wealth mindset without having wealth . It's a difference of thinking as much as it's a difference of the dollars in your pocketbook .

Dionne Malush 11:06

I think , from sometimes for my own self , I've had that desirability , that imposter syndrome , right , you know ?

Jon Sansone 11:12

so .

Dionne Malush 11:12

I own a company . It looks good on the outside , everything's wow , you have 200 people , it's a big company , but I still go through moments of that self-esteem , what you just said .

Jon Sansone 11:22

you can't out-earn your self-esteem where I have very low self-esteem and I think that's everybody , though you know Everybody in different situations , are gonna have low self-esteem . I mean , I don't know if you can tell , but I'm almost 60 . And so now I gotta develop like , okay , what's my , you know what's my self-esteem be at almost 60 ? I knew what it was like when I was turning 50 . I knew what it was like . You know it changes like .

Dionne Malush 11:47

That does change .

Jon Sansone 11:48

You know it's intriguing to me just the whole thing , but it's all about probably in college . You remember this . Do you remember Maslow's hierarchy of names ?

Dionne Malush 11:57

I do yes .

Jon Sansone 11:58

Okay , so self-actualization , that's how you met your basic needs and now you're growing as a person . And part of growing as a person and I teach this in my book and in my professional sales course is take inventory about what's good about you . Look at yourself as a product Like I can give you like two things about me , and then immediately you're gonna know more about me than any question you can ask . So here's the first thing about me . I want you to think of me as 50% Steve Jobs and 50% John Lennon .

Dionne Malush 12:38

Oh , I love that .

Importance of Personal Branding in Sales

Jon Sansone 12:39

So , like , I'm a creative capitalist and I reality , if you drill down on John Lennon , he was actually a capitalist too . He just wanted to take credit for it after he married Yoko Ono , but anyway , he basically publicized himself as being , like you know , an anchor for peace and all that . But he was also in many ways , the brains behind the Beatles and he set the mindset for the Beatles , like before the Beatles actually like , really made it , he would constantly say to him , because he was the oldest of the Beatles . I don't know if you knew that or not .

Dionne Malush 13:13

I didn't know that . No , I didn't know that .

Jon Sansone 13:14

Okay , I'm kind of a rock and roll fanatic too . He would say boys , what are we gonna be ? We're gonna be to the top , johnny . Like you know , he was constantly saying you know , what are we gonna do ? We're gonna be at the top . Like that was like a word picture we're gonna be at the top . What's that mean ? We're gonna be at the top .

Jon Sansone 13:32

And so , like it was so important in , it's so important for everybody to take inventory about what's good about you . Like what do you bring to the table ? Like I teach people , when you're interviewing for a job and possibly , too , trying to gain a big client , before you do that you need to look at like 10 accomplishments that you've made on a piece of paper or electronically . And so when you go into that tough meeting or when you go into that interview for another position , depending upon what you're doing in life you know mentally who you are . Like you're not walking in there as a baby , like you weren't born yesterday and you're walking in there with no experiences and no skill sets . You're walking in there as a grown up adult . You know I like to say warrior , like all my stuff is warrior , but you're a warrior . You're going in there and you've had multiple battles physically , mentally , emotionally . We all have and obviously , since you're still standing to this day , you've won .

Dionne Malush 14:40

You've won .

Jon Sansone 14:42

I have won that job . Like you see these people and you know maybe this is pragmatic , but you see these people that just shoot themselves in the head or drive off the road , just end it all Like they haven't won , they lost , like they did not stay in the game . It's easy to drive off the road , it's easy to shoot yourself and I know this is pretty hardcore for a lot of people here . But that's why , like , having the warrior mindset is so strong , like you're not going into these meetings as a blank sheet of paper and the more you define who you are , the more people will have respect for you in the meeting and the more too . Like it's a posturing thing , kind of back and forth too . Like when you're working with people it's kind of like it's a give and take . It's a little bit of a like . If you ever see two dogs when they first meet each other they growl at each other . You know it's a bunch of testing that goes on . The human animal is similar .

Dionne Malush 15:46

And I was just thinking about that for the real estate agents . You know they walked in with that , that I'm trying to say the 10 accomplishments that they have done in their life , because they , even if they haven't sold hundreds or thousands of homes , they've accomplished a lot and if they give themselves that credit before they walk in , it's like having a Shield in front of them , right , yes , you know to the warrior , walk in there with that shield and know .

Jon Sansone 16:12

I like it .

Dionne Malush 16:13

Yeah , I'd love that too and I think that's a great thing for me to share with my agents to say , hey , you know , like there's some agents been in the business 20 years there's , it's been rocky the last couple of years .

Dionne Malush 16:22

It's been really bad as and then it's not great , and then it's really great and you can walk in and solicit the house and it's down in three hours with 75 offers . But then this year things are different and so they're going from this massive roller coaster ride and it's it's really difficult . But if they stand strong and realize who they are and what they have done , it's gonna make a world of difference in them , with their clients , their clients . They're right in them differently .

Jon Sansone 16:49

I love that you gotta constantly encourage yourself to , like I've been in sales 34 years and you wouldn't think I'd have to encourage myself and you wouldn't think that , like the term burnout , like that'd be easy for me to be burned out because I've been doing it 34 years . I mean , sometimes my wife will walk through . You know , listen to a meeting that I'm having and it's like I'm pretty sure that's what you just said like two days ago . Like it doesn't change that much , you know , when you get your Whatever down , yeah , so so , yeah , I mean it's so important to like re Re-energize yourself . I think is a good way to say it . Like me personally , I listened to Tony Robbins , I listened to Zig Ziglar . I Also listen to myself Like the stuff that I teach . Like jazz is me too , because it's just like reiterating what I already know . But hearing me say it like you hear your own voice in your head . Well , I've done enough of these podcasts and interviews over the years where , like , I can actually listen to myself .

Dionne Malush 18:01

Right now I'm not listening at all , like I don't want to hear it , I just gonna if I mess up , I mess up , I don't care , because I am who I am , you know and one of my he said to me you know , when you're on a podcast and you make a mistake , with the dog barks or something happens , it's okay , because if I was sitting in front of you you'd be the same way .

Dionne Malush 18:16

You don't have to edit and be someone you're not . And they just I thought , okay , from that minute I am who I am and that's being 55 and just feeling like , you know , I don't care if what people think about me anymore , like I am who I am .

Dionne Malush 18:30

That's good when they love me and it makes me Feel great . I love it . But the other people that are out there critiquing me , I don't . It's none of my business , you're gonna do it . Just keep doing it and I love what you're saying you . I relate to you so much and oh , awesome . Tell us what people tell everyone exactly what you do , because we haven't got there yet .

Jon Sansone 18:50

So let's talk about what this yeah , I mean I'm in professional cells . I've been doing professional cells 34 years I I started off in industrial chemical cells . Okay , literally calling on hospitals , nursing homes and kennels In clinics to sell my disinfectant . The disinfectant I was selling them in a bottle looked exactly like any disinfectant they could buy like At sam's okay and I was successful doing it .

Jon Sansone 19:18

And the difference was is that I was able to give them word pictures that differentiated me in the marketplace and they liked me . And I provided convenience Because they didn't have to go to sam's to buy it , you know , if they're in it like a moving shaking place or whatever . And then to like in industrial chemicals , you know there's osha rules , right ? Well , my stuff abided by all the osha rules . And then to like , you can get fined by the epa big time If you don't have like the correct I can't remember exactly what they're called because it's been years , but you have to have these white papers in a file that says , like what's wrong if somebody spills this on their hand and if you don't , you can get fine .

Jon Sansone 20:04

I've got and and and like one of them is whiteout . So anybody that has , uh , you know , an office and you have whiteout , you need to keep these Government things on file for osha reasons and everything we had . You had to keep osha stuff so . So that's another reason . Like people did business with us is because we were professional . But I would say the main reason I was able to gain customers was people skills . Like I was focused on them and not on the sale , and the sale just had to be a lot of people . The sale just happened because I was focused on them and then , as we were talking , I would turn our relationship into the product . Like I would get them to understand why my product was so much better than what they could get at sam's . But first they got to like you before they're going to like your product .

Dionne Malush 20:53

Know like and trust right .

Jon Sansone 20:55

Yes , it's amazing , but but most people don't even work on it . Like if you and I right now got in a car in pittsburgh and we went out to whatever the big furniture store is there and you and I acted like we needed to buy five couches .

Dionne Malush 21:09

Yes .

Jon Sansone 21:10

Nobody would ask us the right questions . Like they would take us around and show us and hey , we could sit on this one and sit on that one , but they really wouldn't ask us the right questions . Like the reason we're buying these is because we just bought an office building and we want to put a couch in each one of the floors for people to relax on , you know , but they don't get to have to do that , but what I'm ? Saying is like they could have found so much more business had they asked questions .

Dionne Malush 21:39

They just don't teach that . I mean , if people , companies , just don't always teach that .

Jon Sansone 21:44

I know that's the problem . That's why I wrote my book and my course , because I feel like the people part of business has gone away and people are more focused on generating leads . How can I get more leads , how can I get more referrals and how ?

Dionne Malush 21:58

can I pay for leads , and how can I pay to do it instead of building relationships ? Yeah , I go to my career on relationships and you know , and I had like 72% every year of my business came from past client sphere of influence . It was important to me that I build those relationships and worked and so yeah you understand that because you're in sales and you get it , and I know that you . You also have a podcast called Schools Out 80s Comedy Channel . Yeah , I do .

Jon Sansone 22:28

I have an international comedy podcast . It's called Schools Out 80s Comedy Storytime .

Dionne Malush 22:35

Okay .

Jon Sansone 22:35

Tell me all about it . And we're on year three . What's that ?

Dionne Malush 22:38

Tell me all about it .

Jon Sansone 22:40

Well , you know , it's kind of intriguing . So during COVID I was taking a Brendan Bouchard course .

Dionne Malush 22:46

Okay , Brendan , he's big big , big .

Jon Sansone 22:49

He's like the , he's like the zig-ziggler of today . And in it he said you need to , you need to write a book , you need to put together a professional course and you need to have a way to grow your audience . And he suggested podcasting is a good way to grow your audience . Okay , and so I'm like , well , I wrote a book . I like listen to him , I took his class and then I did it . So I wrote a book and then I wrote a course .

Jon Sansone 23:13

And then I'm like the podcast thing was kind of a stumbling block because I didn't want to do a podcast about how to professionally sell . I'm like , I feel like I'm more than that . And then you do a gut check . Like you talk about imposter syndrome . I was trying to think am I really a comedian ? Like , am I really funny ? Like many clients of mine over the years do laugh at my jokes , but at the end of the day , with the worldwide audience , I think I was funny . So that was kind of a gut check and the reason I decided to move forward with it was because as a comedy channel , because I said to myself well , maybe I am funny , maybe I'm not funny , that's , you know , that's out for the peanut gallery to decide . However , I do know I have a ton of funny stories from middle school , high school and college and I think I can interview people who have funny stories from middle school , high school and college and so even if I'm not funny , we can tell funny stories , and that's kind of how it was born .

Dionne Malush 24:15

Wow , it's so cool and I think that everyone needs a laugh . It is so important .

Jon Sansone 24:21

Yes .

Dionne Malush 24:22

And I am like I don't know if my dad passed away and tomorrow will be six months and I have been oh , no , I'm sorry . But I know that happiness and kindness and , you know , constantly feeding my mind with positivity is helping me get through the worst time of my life .

Jon Sansone 24:39

And I know that it seems weird like you're laughing , but it's so good for our soul , so you know it's , you know , and that's another reason that I did it , because my feeling was that we're going through like this was the I believe it was the election year when I did this back in 2020,

Overcoming Adversity and Finding Success

Jon Sansone 25:03

.

Jon Sansone 25:03

I did all this . Okay , and maybe I'm going on . Maybe I finished the podcast in 2020 and launched it in 2021 . I don't know . I did so much that year . I did a book , I did a course and I did the podcast . And I was saying I took a course on how to create a podcast too , so I didn't go into it blindly .

Dionne Malush 25:21

Thank you , I'm excited .

Jon Sansone 25:23

Yeah , I took a course on it . But , but in terms of , you know , giving back to the world with comedy , I think it's so important because people are so like uptight they are .

Dionne Malush 25:39

We got reasons to be uptight .

Jon Sansone 25:40

We got reasons to be sad .

Dionne Malush 25:44

But but too , like you can laugh about you know whatever , and it's just so it's , it's , it's like the best medicine it definitely is healing , and so what I did this show for is for people that go through adversity , come out on the other side and become successful , and I want to ask you can you share a time when you face significant adversity and what steps you took to overcome it ?

Jon Sansone 26:09

Oh yeah , absolutely so . So you're talking about your dad dying , my father ? Well , actually , first my brother died , and this was like 30 years ago my brother died , and then , three months later , my dad died .

Dionne Malush 26:23

Oh no , in the same three months .

Jon Sansone 26:27

Yeah , three months later . So my brother died . My brother was 32 . He kind of had compromised health his whole life actually . And then my dad was just an avid smoker . I mean , when I say he was an avid smoker like that is an understatement Like he and I would play golf and he and he would just be smoking constantly and he got emphysema like really early into you know his 40s and it just progressed and progressed and progressed . So he died at like 55 . And so my brother died at 32 . My dad died at 55 .

Jon Sansone 27:05

And so here's what's like really interesting about this and like , when this kind of thing happens to you , it's like what does this mean ? Like I know it's a bad thing , right , like you like , for me here's what it meant . I was the youngest in a family of five . I went from the youngest I was the youngest male in a family of five . I went from the youngest male in the family of five to the oldest male in the family of five . And really too , I went from being like pretty free spirited , still kind of free spirited , but I was kind of thrown into a situation where I needed to be much more serious , specifically in like working with my mother , because my mother had lost her best friend .

Dionne Malush 27:59

Nine two , oh my God .

Jon Sansone 28:02

Oh , yeah , so it's very , very difficult , very , very , very difficult . But we worked through it and ultimately what it ended up meaning for me , I didn't realize it at the time . But like we all hear the term Carpe Diem yeah , you know , like live for the day and some people it's just kind of lost on them . Like you hear Carpe Diem , like like truly , when you lose two family members in a period of three months , it really doesn't matter to you whether you meet quota or not . No , like you know , like sales are not that important when you lose major family members in a very short period of time . But what it meant to me was like I would , you know , I'm like game on , like I've lost both of my family members .

Jon Sansone 28:44

I just went out and just sold as much stuff as I could possibly sell and at the time I was doing industrial chemicals .

Jon Sansone 28:53

And then I , and then I kind of got frustrated in industrial chemicals . After I kind of got out of that , you know that first year of really being down because I lost major family in a short period of time , I jumped to technology sales and I went into software and IT implementations . Okay , so big learning curve for me there in some ways , and in some ways I was head of the pack because I also kind of had a background in computer programming In college and in high school , so so it's technical working in kind of a non technical field but it was . It was kind of hard to kind of switch from being an industrial chemicals selling like they just think you're selling to blue collar people and some instances you are in some inches you're selling to very intelligent blue collar people . And that's what I found and I was able to kind of leverage kind of the word pictures and such that I had in my industrial chemical business to the word pictures that I developed in my business .

Dionne Malush 29:59

I love that idea of word pictures .

Jon Sansone 30:01

that's really unique and I don't think I'm You're real estate folks need to really work on their word pictures because if you come up with a good word picture for every obstacle you run into in sales , it will alleviate a long conversation .

Dionne Malush 30:16

I agree that's so good . I think I do it without knowing what it is , but I know I'm really gonna think through it and talk about trying to think of some of the ones that I've had in the past .

Jon Sansone 30:26

But Like I used to sell data security analysis tools and here's the technical term so I used to sell protocol analysis tools for for lands and wands sounds quite , you know

Sales Warrior

Jon Sansone 30:41

. You know , mind expanding , yes , and I basically say you know , we could put together you know , just a fire extinguisher for you that we could put on your laptop and when the computer network goes down you got to run around five buildings and plug in to see you know what's going on . Or we can install more of what would be like a sprinkler system with the big brain attached to the sprinkler system , where you just get to sit in front of your screen and look at what the big brain is seeing and when something's going wrong you immediately know what's going on . You can send your staff there . She'd be amazed . Like what'll bring down a computer system .

Jon Sansone 31:20

Like , like back in the day , people buy these he'll it packered printers and they , what they didn't know is if you take a he'll it packer printer that you buy , it Best buy and you put it on a large local area network , it's set up to go out and just have a conversation with everybody and their brother and it can really bring the computer network to its knees . So actually , like you need to buy , you need to have somebody that sets it up before you install it on the computer network . But but it would happen all the time in my IT guys , with the stuff we sold them , that they bought from us , were able to put a kibosh on all that craziness that was going on on their computer network . Because what happens when somebody does that ? It seems real minor , but when the CEO can't get to a batch file that he has to be able to get to to to report to the board of directors .

Dionne Malush 32:17

Yeah , that's a problem , for sure .

Jon Sansone 32:19

And it all started because of a , somebody installed a printer that shouldn't have been installed .

Dionne Malush 32:26

Well , it's been an interesting career , it sounds like , and I wonder this what is one piece of advice you would give to our listeners , based on your own experiences and the success principles you've lived by , as they are aspiring to reach new heights in their career , personal lives ? So one piece of advice Well , here's the easiest way to get better in sales .

Jon Sansone 32:43

I'd like to say it's by buying my book and buying my course . But this is a better way to get better in sales . Take whoever the top person is in your sales organization and you buy their lunch .

Dionne Malush 32:55

Oh you're preaching to me . I have that for agents . Take his top sales person to lunch , interview them . Have a conversation Like why don't you want to learn from the best ? I want to learn from the best that's why I'm doing this . That's what . I've done in every organization I've ever worked at .

Jon Sansone 33:11

I've just gotten out like the first thing the sales manager says to me when he hires me is what would you like to do today ? I don't have your system set up yet . You sound familiar . I'm like , yeah , well , I want to be introduced to the top person in the organization and that's what I say . I go , take me over to the top person in the organization and I want to be introduced to him and I'm humble . I don't tell him like I'm going to outsell you it might happen but I don't tell him that . I tell him that you know , I just introduce myself and I say , hey , you know I'm giving them accolades . I understand you're just tearing it up . You're obviously doing great things for your customers and your clients .

Jon Sansone 33:54

I would love to get a little bit of your time to pick your brain . I got a yellow pad right here in a pen and I just really want to like , really understand , like what your mindset is and everything that you're doing , every single detail that you can share with me , and then I'm just voraciously writing it . I did that at major software companies I went to work at . I did that at the company . I did that at professional services companies I went to work at and I just took note after note , after note .

Jon Sansone 34:20

And the other thing is that when I'm working , if there's somebody that's brand spanking new I mean brand new and I hear something that they say that I think is good Don't ever let your ego get in the way of making money . I agree , like that is key . Like most people's ego is bigger than their , than their bank account , and if you want your your bank account to be as big as your ego , don't let your ego get in the way of making money . Be humble . If I hated doing it , I would hire guys that would say stuff and I'd be like that's amazing . I gotta like teach my team that Like I'm really gonna thought to have said that to anybody and I would just like write it down or have somebody that is like 20 years younger than me say something that I thought was amazing . I would just be sitting there just writing it down and constantly being learning mode . I mean , if you want to really enjoy business and sales and marketing , always being learning mode because things are constantly changing .

Jon Sansone 35:26

And associate with winners , like that's so important . Like , make sure that your sphere of influence is people that are successful , because if your sphere of influence is people that are successful , it's gonna be hard for you not to be successful .

Dionne Malush 35:42

I 100% agree . And Napoleon Hill and his book says seek expert counsel and I've spent many years doing that and I look at someone like Napoleon Hill who interviewed the top 500 business leaders in America . So my goal is to interview 500 business sales people in America that can teach us how to go from adversity to winning .

Jon Sansone 36:03

So there you go . Yeah , I love it .

Dionne Malush 36:06

It's so fun and I get to meet amazing people like you , and I'm so glad Thank you and I look forward to it . So thank you for joining me today , oh yeah , absolutely , I love that and your experience is a testament to what one can achieve with hard work at Clear Vision and unwavering perseverance . If John's story sparked a fire and you reach out to him on social media and let us know your takeaway , john , how can they connect with you on social media so easy ?

Jon Sansone 36:30

Hit me up on LinkedIn . It's just John Sales Warrior on LinkedIn . One word John Jo in Sales Warrior , you can't miss me . I'm in a tuxedo and then with bright lights behind me , because I'm at a charity event , I thought what a cool picture .

Jon Sansone 36:47

And then and then , to reach me out on LinkedIn , reach me out on my website , sales warrior , inspirecom . It has all my social media links right there . You know , feel free to Google my name either Jon Saleswarrior Sansone or Jon Sansone ? You're going to see a lot of stuff out there by me and , and yeah , I mean definitely take the step and get my course . It's 29 95 , which is ridiculous .

Jon Sansone 37:17

I paid a guy a lot of money to tell me to sell my course for 29 95 . But he's like John . He's like do you want to make ? What do you say , Do you want to make $10,000 or do you want to make several millions of dollars ? And I'm like well , you know , that's pretty easy question to answer . But , more importantly , I think the main reason that I lower the price of it is because I want it to be affordable to everybody , and they're everybody out there . I don't want price to be a reason why you don't learn these things and and honestly , I'm not going to do a sales warrior module to . I have a sales warrior module one . What I've been doing year after year is , as I get more information for my course , I just add it to my course .

Dionne Malush 37:59

Oh , that's awesome when .

Jon Sansone 38:00

I started my course it was 400 bucks and now it's 29 95 because I paid a guy a lot of money to tell me to sell it for 29 95 . So if somebody tells me to do something and and they have a track record , I listen to him because like .

Jon Sansone 38:14

I don't have such a big ego that I won't listen to others that have done things at high levels that I have not yet done . But but with my course a person , you get my book for free , which is crazy that I'm doing that too , but I am and and the course for $29 .

Jon Sansone 38:32

Yeah , you get my book , which is $10 on Amazon , and you get my course it's only 29 95 . But it's like three days of instruction , inspiration worksheets . I mean , it's a lifetime of wisdom of mine that I'm kind of sharing with the world Cause , you know , I want the world to be a better place for salespeople . That's why I came up with the terminology sales warrior . It's not saleswimp , you know , it's sales warrior . And it's because you're in a mental battle every day .

Dionne Malush 39:13

Every single day .

Jon Sansone 39:14

Every single day , even if you have meetings all day long , which is kind of how my day is with having three admins . I have meetings from when I wake up at nine until my last meeting is over every day . And even when you're in those meetings and you know it's productive cause , when you're having meetings like that , it's hard not to be productive You're still thinking who could I , you know who should I be on a call with ?

Dionne Malush 39:40

You know like am I at the you know it's good , it's so .

Jon Sansone 39:44

That brings up a really good point and this can help people out too . Be in the moment when you're with the prospect . That prospect you're with at that point in time is the most important person in the world , because that is the person you're with at that time . It kind of goes back to the 70s song love the one you're with .

Dionne Malush 40:03

Yes .

Jon Sansone 40:04

Love the one you're with . Don't be so focused on . Oh well , I got that meeting at three o'clock on Wednesday . I'm really looking forward to that . I don't even really hear what this person is saying . That's how most people do business , and then you miss the nuances . You miss these tiny little things that people say that you're going to miss . That is going to help you thread the needle , and I teach that a lot Like it's that little nuance . Like in real estate there's got to be something Like when I go out and look at a house , I'm looking for something specific . I just bought a lake house just as a second home and I had in my mind exactly what I wanted . Like I didn't go out there wondering what was out there . I kind of knew what was out there and then I knew , like what I wanted , and that's how we all got to work with our prospects . They already know what they want . And that's a great question to ask somebody . Tell me the research you've done already and tell me what , like , you're really looking for .

Jon Sansone 41:06

Tell me what is the , what are the accolades that you need on a piece of property that is like that ? You got to have the must-haves . You know you're not going to get everything you want . Nobody can't .

Jon Sansone 41:23

Nobody can , but there's things that you got to have , like maybe you got to have high ceilings , maybe you got to have big closets , maybe you got to have like hookups on the first floor for your washer and dryer . There's some things that , like are non-negotiables , and you got to know what the non-negotiables are . The reason , deon , I know that there's so many poor sales people out there Cause every day in Facebook I get hit up by people to buy their whatever . I don't even know what they're selling . And then they send me a text and they're like Well , tell me what you do . And I'm like tell me why you're wasting my time .

Jon Sansone 42:01

You know , I had one guy the other day and he was so bad , and so I told him To like research me , like Google my name , you know , go out and research me , find out about me . Like I'm coaching him for free . And . And then I told him to go look me up on LinkedIn to learn more about me . And and he's like oh , I don't use LinkedIn . I'm like . I'm like . And then he's like . He's like I don't use LinkedIn . And I'm like you don't use LinkedIn .

Importance of Mentors in Professional Development

Jon Sansone 42:33

I'm like well , have your mentor help you with LinkedIn . And he's like how do you know I have a mentor . I'm like it's obvious you have a mentor . Unfortunately , you're not the most developed shovel in the in the garage right now , so you got to have a mentor . I hope I mean you got to hope 10 years from now You're gonna do things better than you're doing them with me today , because you're telling me . You're telling me like you know it's like dating , like you don't go into like meeting somebody for the first time and have no idea about them and I Don't know . It's just . It blows my ever-living mind that like somebody would expect me to tell them about me . You know what I'm saying . Like or or like if they were trying to sell my company . Like tell me about your company , you can research my company .

Dionne Malush 43:25

You can ask me . There's so much availability to research online .

Jon Sansone 43:29

Yeah , and going into it blindly , just like I teach professional Cells , I don't . I don't teach like shoot from the hip sales . I teach professional sales like how can you sell Thread the needle the quickest at the highest profit , where it's a win-win for both parties ? That's what I teach . I don't teach shoot from the hip , throw it up against the wall , maybe it'll sick , maybe it won't . Let's generate some more leads because we're so bad at this . That's not what I teach , you know .

Dionne Malush 44:01

I'm anxious to share your information with everybody and I also yeah , I appreciate you so much for being on here and I want to make sure to tell everyone that that , no matter what , in the face of adversity , you want to keep shining , keep striving and keep building your legacy and follow Jon , because he has Some great stories to share with us . And , Jon , thank you for being on today .

Jon Sansone 44:22

Oh , absolutely , Dionne , Absolutely , you got it .