Welcome to episode 182 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly KennedyAnd on today's expert guest interview we are chatting with the great Brian Hayes.
Kelly KennedyWe are chatting all about sales, life and mental health.
Kelly KennedyAnd my gosh, did this episode not go how I thought it would?
Kelly KennedyTrigger warning everybody.
Kelly KennedyWe do talk about suicide in today's episode and if you are struggling with any mental health challenges, the suicide hotline in Canada is 988.
Kelly KennedyYou can text or call 24 hours a day.
Kelly KennedyYou are worth it.
Kelly KennedyYou are valuable.
Kelly KennedyThere is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Kelly KennedyStick with us.
Kelly KennedyYou are not going to want to miss this episode.
Mark CubanThe great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years.
Mark CubanValue is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.
Mark CubanAnd we couldn't agree more.
Mark CubanThis is the Business Development Podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Mark CubanIn broad broadcasting to the world.
Mark CubanYou'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps.
Mark CubanYou'll get actionable advice on how to grow business brought to you by Capital Business Development capitalbd ca.
Mark CubanLet's do it.
Mark CubanWelcome to the Business Development Podcast.
Mark CubanAnd now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.
Kelly KennedyHello.
Kelly KennedyWelcome to episode 182 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly KennedyAnd today we bring an absolute rockstar expert for you, Brian Hayes.
Kelly KennedyBrian is a seasoned sales and business development professional with over 15 years of diverse experience across various industries including sales consulting, real estate and fitness.
Kelly KennedyAs the founder and president of Elevate X Sales Inc.
Kelly KennedyBased in Dallas, Texas, Brian is pioneering the future of sales consulting by integrating AI driven insights with innovative strategies.
Kelly KennedyHis extensive career journey reflects a commitment to excellence from his role as marketing director at NAI Robert Lin, where he facilitated over 50 commercial transactions, to his impactful tenure at Innovative Recovery RAB Inc.
Kelly KennedyAnd the Waller Group where he drove national growth and sourced multimillion dollar investment opportunities.
Kelly KennedyBrian's passion for sales and client success is matched by his dedication to continuous learning and leadership.
Kelly KennedyHis entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish Elevate X Sales Inc.
Kelly KennedyA company dedicated to redefining sales excellence through a holistic client centric approach.
Kelly KennedyWhether it's transforming sales teams with cutting edge elearning programs or preparing companies for the future.
Kelly KennedyWith the upcoming AI sales companion ti, Brian is set in helping businesses achieve unparalleled success and thrive in a competitive landscape.
Kelly KennedyBrian, it's an honor to have you join us today.
Brian HayesThank you.
Brian HayesThat was.
Brian HayesThat was quite an introduction I was.
Brian HayesI couldn't have said it better myself, but you said it way better.
Kelly KennedyWell, thank you.
Brian HayesWas that chatgpt?
Brian HayesThat's what that was.
Kelly KennedyWe do use a little bit of help, but, you know, we love a rock star entrance.
Kelly KennedyWe really do.
Kelly KennedyOn the show.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesThank you.
Brian HayesThank you.
Brian HayesNo, I love it.
Brian HayesI love it.
Brian HayesWhoever wrote it, it was great.
Kelly KennedyThere you go.
Kelly KennedyThere you go.
Kelly KennedyI'm going to take credit.
Brian HayesGood.
Brian HayesBetter.
Kelly KennedyYour show, Brian.
Kelly KennedyIt's an absolute honor to have you on the show.
Kelly KennedyYou know, we connected on LinkedIn a while ago, and we've kind of been chatting back and forth.
Kelly KennedyYou know, I've had the pleasure to meet quite a few people from Texas, and, you know, I think I've liked every one of them.
Kelly KennedySo it's an honor to have you join us today.
Kelly KennedyI'm really looking forward to our convers on sales.
Kelly KennedyThere's a lot to chat about here and there's a lot of new things.
Kelly KennedyAnd I know we talked kind of before the show, but I said, you know, there's a lot of new sales ideas coming up.
Kelly KennedyThere's a lot of people getting, like, swamped every day from a whole bunch of people saying they can generate a thousand leads a day or whatever.
Kelly KennedyYou know what I'm talking about.
Kelly KennedyYou got.
Kelly KennedyYour inbox is full of these things, too.
Brian HayesYes.
Kelly KennedyAnd so I think sales is starting to get this, like, weird place where nobody knows what to trust, especially with the advent of AI especially with the advent of now these virtual assistants that seem to be popping up left, right and center, right.
Kelly KennedySo, you know, I want to dive deep into that today, but I want to chat a lot with you.
Kelly KennedyYou know, you have a very, very broad marketing experience, sales experience, business development experience.
Kelly KennedyYou've been around the block.
Kelly KennedyYou know what you're talking about.
Kelly KennedySo we're going to, you know, chat.
Kelly KennedyAnd my goal today with this show is really just to help entrepreneurs make good decisions, be able to invest their money safely and in something that is actually going to lead to sales and revenue for their companies because, you know, nobody wants to get screwed, and I don't want anybody to get screwed.
Kelly KennedyAnd if we can help even one company today, you know, we've done our job.
Brian HayesYes, one company.
Brian HayesThat's.
Brian HayesThat's our goal today.
Kelly KennedyIt, you know, it's a really simple, simple metric.
Kelly KennedyI feel like.
Kelly KennedyI feel like one.
Kelly KennedyI'll be happy.
Brian HayesYep, yep.
Brian HayesI do that one.
Brian HayesClock out, go home.
Kelly KennedyBut before we do this, dude, bring us back to the beginning.
Kelly KennedyWho is Brian Hayes?
Kelly KennedyHow did you end up on this journey?
Brian HayesOh my.
Brian HayesWell, this journey.
Brian HayesJourney has been an interesting journey.
Brian HayesI will start off by saying, you know, the, the hard part first, which is I'm actually.
Brian HayesMy mother was 16 when she had had me and teen pregnancy in Salt Lake City, Utah, a very religious area.
Brian HayesI don't know if you're familiar with Salt Lake City, but that's where the Mormons, the LDS Church is.
Brian HayesAnd it was difficult growing up.
Brian HayesI was, she was the youngest of four and so I was the oldest.
Brian HayesThe her children, of course, and I've got one other sister.
Brian HayesAnd it was interesting growing up and kind of being.
Brian HayesI was the oddball, honestly.
Brian HayesYou know, some people say, oh, I was a black sheep.
Brian HayesI was this, I was that.
Brian HayesNo, I was the oddball.
Brian HayesYou know, no one wanted to be my friend of sorts.
Brian HayesYou know, I had several friends, but it was just different.
Brian HayesI just never fit in.
Brian HayesI really didn't feel like I fit in.
Brian HayesSo when I was a kid, I didn't even like the snow.
Brian HayesAnd I Salt Lake City, Utah snows.
Brian HayesAnd so I knew I had to leave when I could.
Brian HayesAnd then I took the first opportunity, took a job with.
Brian HayesAnd this was 2008 and I had started in home remodeling, construction.
Brian HayesAnd then 2008, housing market and recession happened.
Brian HayesSo I was like, well, false start, let's try again.
Brian HayesAnd then I transferred over to a smaller distribution company.
Brian HayesThey sold specialty art supplies to schools, churches, marketing agencies and sold the actual products that they would use.
Brian HayesAnd their biggest customer was in Mexico City.
Brian HayesAnd so they said, brian, we want you to move to Texas.
Brian HayesI was like, well, when are we going?
Brian HayesLike, I'm ready to go and I've been waiting.
Brian HayesAnd I was 20 at the time.
Brian HayesI had a thousand dollars in my bank account and I was like, I packed up everything in my car and I was like, we're going.
Brian HayesLike, I have to leave.
Brian HayesThere's like something's calling me.
Brian HayesAnd they gave me a choice whether I wanted to go to Dallas, Houston, Austin or San Antonio.
Brian HayesAnd at the time, 2008, we had Google Maps, but it wasn't as great as it is now.
Brian HayesSo it has some street views.
Brian HayesAnd so I actually went through and went through some of the street views and I was like, yes, I like this.
Brian HayesAnd moved here, Drove actually straight away non stop.
Brian HayesI was so excited to get here, Worked for the company for a year.
Brian HayesAnd then they closed down.
Brian HayesThe two owners got in a fight, they closed down.
Brian HayesSo I'm like in 1400 miles away from home, going, okay, well, I guess I'm staying here because I like it.
Brian HayesAnd I started leasing apartments and that wasn't typically for me, you know, it was in real estate.
Brian HayesI knew I always wanted to be in real estate, but that was the first entry and I didn't have a license at the time.
Brian HayesDidn't really know what to do and how to get into the industry.
Brian HayesSo I sold our lease apartments.
Brian HayesAfter I decided that wasn't for me, I went to a company called U.S.
Brian Hayestrade Finance Corp.
Brian HayesAnd they did consignment sales for heavy construction equipment.
Brian HayesThat definitely wasn't for me.
Brian HayesJust not rough around the edges.
Brian HayesAnd you're speaking to people that are rough around the edges, so they're going to tell you exactly how it is when you're cold.
Brian HayesCalling construction guy, he owns a crane or excavator, front end loader.
Brian HayesHe's going to tell you how it is.
Brian HayesHe'd be like, get the F off the phone.
Brian HayesLike, what are you doing?
Brian HayesIt's.
Brian HayesAnd so I just.
Brian HayesI have thick skin, but, yeah, I don't want to get beat up.
Kelly KennedyA little harsh.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyYeah, that's fair.
Brian HayesSo the owner's wife actually came to me and she said, brian, you need to go somewhere where you can talk to somebody in person all day, every day.
Brian HayesI was like, okay.
Brian HayesIn high school, I was a swimmer, and so I thought, okay, I'll do something athletics.
Brian HayesAnd so I went and sold memberships for Lifetime Fitness.
Brian HayesA gym.
Kelly KennedyYeah, if you're familiar with Lifetime, we have them here.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesBeautiful, aren't they?
Kelly KennedyThey are.
Brian HayesAnd sold memberships as I was getting some certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
Brian HayesSo I didn't.
Brian HayesI obviously skipped over this part, but I didn't attend college.
Brian HayesAnd so this was my formal education of sorts.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesTo kind of come with the trade.
Brian HayesAnd once I got my certification, I applied for a personal training job at the location I was at.
Brian HayesAnd they said, no, I don't have any experience.
Brian HayesThey wanted me to stay in membership sales.
Brian HayesSo I was like, okay, well, I'm leaving.
Brian HayesAnd I went to 24 Hour Fitness.
Brian HayesIt's a larger chain at the time.
Brian HayesThey have more locations.
Brian HayesMaybe not now, but worked there for a year.
Brian HayesGot four other certifications.
Brian HayesCorrective exercise performance enhancement, fitness, nutrition and mixed martial arts conditioning.
Brian HayesTrained clients from all walks of life, from attorneys all the way down to single moms and kids in college and just paying with their.
Brian HayesThere was one client that paid with her student.
Brian HayesStudent loan card, I think it is.
Kelly KennedyOh, wow.
Brian HayesI was like, you sure?
Brian HayesAnd she's like, yes.
Brian HayesI was like, okay.
Brian HayesIt's education.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyThose student loan cards, man.
Kelly KennedyLike, you can't.
Kelly KennedyYou can't escape that debt.
Brian HayesNo.
Brian HayesAnd that's what I told her.
Brian HayesAnd I was like, okay, if that's what you want.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesI was honored.
Kelly KennedyOh, to be young and dumb again.
Brian HayesThere should be money on this card.
Brian HayesGolly.
Brian HayesBut so trained at 24 Hour Fitness.
Brian HayesAnd then I just.
Brian HayesI wanted to have a better gym, so I went back to the original gym that I sold memberships for.
Brian HayesIt's a big, large one.
Brian HayesIt's a platinum diamond location.
Brian HayesAnd I applied again.
Brian HayesThey were like, okay, now you have experience.
Brian HayesI'm like, oh, now I'm good enough.
Brian HayesSo trained there.
Brian HayesTrained lots of executive C suite.
Brian HayesIt's next to Toyota's headquarters.
Brian HayesSo I trained several of the C suites, some Chief Technical Officers, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and really got to have a conversation about business.
Brian HayesThat was the interesting part, because you.
Brian HayesI have to keep them entertained while they're going through pain.
Brian HayesSo I was the comedian for the hour.
Brian HayesBut that's where I learned the empathy in sales is you need to see it from their eyes.
Brian HayesLike, how would they want to be treated?
Brian HayesAnd so I always treated my clients.
Brian HayesYou know, every client was different.
Brian HayesSo I would be different with one than the other.
Brian HayesI'd have more jokes for another.
Brian HayesI'd have less clean jokes for another.
Brian HayesAnd honed that.
Brian HayesDidn't know empathy, you know, that wasn't a word in my vocabulary at the time, but I knew it was like, I'm seeing it from your eyes.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesAnd that's when I kind of found the superpower.
Brian HayesAnd one of my clients looked at me and said, brian, you're too smart to be counting to 10.
Brian HayesAnd it blew my mind.
Brian HayesChanged the whole trajectory of my life.
Brian HayesI went to.
Brian HayesI started being a private personal trainer and trying to do, you know, some sort of business.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesAnd it then came to apparent where I needed to figure out how I can make money without having to not train somebody, but having to actually work that hour.
Brian HayesSo I needed to maximize my time.
Brian HayesSo I thought, okay, well, where.
Brian HayesWhere can I go and get some.
Brian HayesSomething professional?
Brian HayesEven without a degree?
Brian HayesAnd real estate has a.
Brian HayesNot a low barrier of entry, but you need a license and you can practice, and it has education.
Brian HayesSo I got my real estate license, and I didn't want to do residential.
Brian HayesI wanted to do commercial.
Brian HayesI think, you know, when you sell residential, it's more of how you Feel.
Brian HayesHow does this house make you feel?
Brian HayesYou see your family here with things different sales process.
Brian HayesWith commercial, it's more of, here's the numbers, here's what it is.
Brian HayesDo you like it?
Brian HayesDoes it work?
Brian HayesDoes it make sense for your business future?
Brian HayesYou know, it's less emotional, it's more logical.
Brian HayesEven though I have empathy based sales, I thought that was a good mix.
Kelly KennedySure.
Brian HayesSo I worked for a small boutique brokerage firm that did investment sales for multifamily.
Brian HayesWas there for less, less than a year.
Brian HayesAnd I was like, I gotta go.
Brian HayesSourced lots of deals, but they just never executed on any of them.
Brian HayesAnd I was like, I'm not gonna see the commission that I want to see.
Brian HayesSo this is not the commercial I'm thinking of.
Brian HayesSo I did research and I looked at the top five firms in Dallas, including cbre, JLL and Nai.
Brian HayesRobert Lynn is the local firm.
Brian HayesAnd I applied to all of them.
Brian HayesThey all turned me down.
Brian HayesAnd Nai at least gave me a shot.
Brian HayesThey, they took a meeting, they took an interview and passed the interview.
Brian HayesThen went to the gauntlet, is what I call it.
Brian HayesIt was six interviews in one day and they were all an hour plus long.
Brian HayesAnd it was just one after the other.
Brian HayesMet with CEO, principal, principal, principal, CEO.
Brian HayesIt was, it was interesting and passed the gauntlet.
Brian HayesAnd after passing the gauntlet, they provided me with.
Brian HayesBecause you, they give you a market so you've got like a franchise almost.
Brian HayesSo they give you a market of specialty.
Brian HayesAnd that was the urban market for retail.
Brian HayesSo I was downtown, uptown, deep Ellum.
Brian HayesI don't know if you're familiar with Dallas.
Brian HayesIt's kind of a trendy restaurant area, party area.
Brian HayesThat was my market of focus.
Brian HayesThey were like, dive in.
Brian HayesWe've never done it.
Brian HayesWe don't even know what's out there.
Brian HayesI had to do research on the market to find out what retail properties were there.
Brian HayesAnd they were like, yeah, that's yours and you're off.
Brian HayesAnd there's no salary.
Brian HayesIt's 100% commission.
Brian HayesThere's a draw, but it's 30,000 a year.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesSo it doesn't cover.
Brian HayesIt keeps your covers.
Kelly KennedyNothing.
Kelly KennedyNo.
Brian HayesSo for the first, you know, year, it was struggle learning a new market.
Brian HayesAnd it's the most competitive market in Dallas because everyone wants a listing in uptown, in downtown.
Brian HayesAnd so I was competing with a lot of the hot shots.
Brian HayesAnd so when someone says that is that reference 30K Millionaire?
Brian HayesLike, I totally get it.
Brian HayesBecause I had to pretend like I was successful in order to get some of those opportunities, but got several listings.
Brian HayesI leased for some several high rise buildings in downtown Dallas and had a Mid America apartments.
Brian HayesThey're a pretty large ownership group nationally.
Brian HayesAnd this is right before COVID We signed an agreement where we took over the leasing for 10 different properties.
Brian HayesAnd not two weeks later, Covid happened.
Brian HayesCompletely changed the game.
Brian HayesAnd mine being the urban market, the most dense, the most highly populated, everyone ran away.
Brian HayesSo nothing.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesSo I did zero deals.
Brian HayesSo I get out of this training program and then go in and here comes Covet.
Brian HayesI also had brain surgery that year.
Kelly KennedyOh, wow.
Brian HayesDuring.
Brian HayesYeah, during COVID believe it or not.
Brian HayesAnd crazy experience was benign.
Brian HayesSo it's fine.
Brian HayesI'm fine now.
Brian HayesBut it was still a rough year.
Brian Hayes21 was my comeback year.
Brian HayesI proposed to my fiance at the top of one of the high rise buildings.
Brian HayesI changed the lights on the other high rise building.
Brian HayesYou know, at the top of the world closing.
Brian HayesI started getting pretty close to closing my 50 transactions.
Brian HayesI did a few in 2022, but the bulk of them were in that year.
Brian HayesSo I was just on the top of the world, ready to go.
Brian HayesAnd then 22 happened.
Brian HayesAnd I didn't see the success monetarily that I wanted to.
Brian HayesAnd so I was like, okay, well what else could I do?
Brian HayesAnd there was an opportunity to work with a group called Sonder and they wanted to do office to residential conversions and that is, you know, construction permitting and all of that stuff.
Brian HayesSo it'd be.
Brian HayesMake it a mixed use property where you'd have office, some floors and residential, some floors, hotels, some floors, retail at the bottom.
Brian HayesRight.
Brian HayesAnd they wanted me to introduce them to some of the owners in, in those markets because I knew them all.
Brian HayesI was calling them and talking with them as I was trying to represent them on the retail on the bottom floor.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesAnd so was able to make several introductions.
Brian HayesWe lined up several deals where they would take several hundred contiguous square feet of property of, of the building and do a master lease.
Brian HayesAnd those commissions would have netted me well over a million dollars each of them.
Brian HayesAnd I signed up six.
Kelly KennedyWow.
Kelly KennedyWow.
Brian HayesAnd so I was flying high in 22, ready to go.
Brian HayesInterest rates started to change and one by one, each of them fell.
Brian HayesAnd the owners called me and were like, Brian, like we can't pursue this deal.
Brian HayesI know you've worked hard on it, but interest rates, it just doesn't pencil out.
Brian HayesI'm sorry.
Brian HayesOne after the other, the end of the year, all of them died.
Brian HayesAnd I'm at The end of the year going, okay, well, I can kill myself or I can continue.
Brian HayesSo I decided to continue.
Brian HayesOh, man, it was so bad.
Brian HayesI mean, it was.
Brian HayesWhen you lose that and you work hard and you tell people and everyone in the office knows what is happening, that you're about to make something great happen.
Brian HayesYou know, leasing several hundred contiguous square feet and doing something new in a market, the buzz gets around.
Brian HayesYou know, my nickname was Big Big fees.
Brian HayesI love it.
Brian HayesI was chasing those big fees.
Brian HayesYeah, yeah.
Brian HayesI was not missing big fees.
Brian HayesAnd so it didn't happen.
Brian HayesAnd I was like, look, I gotta go.
Brian HayesLike, I have to leave.
Brian HayesLike, there's just no way.
Brian HayesSo I took the first job that was going to give me a salary.
Brian HayesI never had a salary.
Brian HayesFirst time in my life.
Brian HayesI'm 30 years old.
Brian HayesYeah, 32 or 3 at the time.
Brian HayesNever had a salary, took a job.
Brian HayesBut it was in.
Brian HayesIt was in debt collection.
Brian HayesVery interesting industry.
Brian HayesAnd it was not for me.
Brian HayesNot that it's a bad industry.
Brian HayesIt's just.
Brian HayesIt's different.
Brian HayesYou know, when you have a conversation, they're like, oh, yeah, what do you do for a living?
Brian HayesOh, I'm in debt collection.
Brian HayesYou're like, don't worry, I'm not here for you.
Brian HayesCalm down.
Kelly KennedyOh, my goodness.
Brian HayesI could definitely see that, you know, So I left that company, went to another one to try to figure out maybe it was just that it was real estate focused.
Brian HayesThen it went to business debt collection.
Brian HayesI stayed there three months.
Brian HayesAnd the reason I went there is they wanted me to focus on marketing and do different outreach.
Brian HayesNo, no sales outreach.
Brian HayesNone of.
Brian HayesNothing like that.
Brian HayesAnd then one day they were like, hey, you want to get on the phone to start cold calling?
Brian HayesLike, yeah, I can do that.
Brian HayesBut it's not really what I signed up for.
Brian HayesAnd they started changing what they wanted me to do.
Brian HayesSo I was like, okay, I got to leave.
Brian HayesSo I left, took the commission from my last deal that I did at NI Robert Lynn, and founded Elevate X Sales.
Brian HayesBecause I was like, well, if I can't find a job, I'm going to make a job.
Brian HayesAnd I want to do something that I feel passionate about.
Brian HayesAnd I know I can sell because it's.
Brian HayesSo I'm putting my stamp of approval on it.
Brian HayesI'm sick of doing it for someone else.
Brian HayesNot that it's bad to do that.
Brian HayesIt's just not what I wanted to do.
Kelly KennedySure.
Brian HayesAnd it started as an elearning company, Then I switched to making it more focused towards sales Outreach, third party.
Brian HayesAnd now it's going full circle.
Brian HayesWe're going back to commercial real estate and get back on the saddle, and we're going to do marketing for commercial real estate properties because there's a big gap in the market.
Brian HayesThey don't do social media, they don't do SEO.
Brian HayesThey don't understand that.
Brian HayesAnd I want to bring life to commercial real estate and kind of do what residential does where they have guided walkthroughs of the house, some actual character.
Brian HayesIt's not just, here's the deal.
Brian HayesIt's, yeah, well, here's the deal.
Brian HayesAnd it's all dressed up and nice, and this is how we could look for your business, interviewing tenants, things that nature so long winded, but lots unpacked there.
Brian HayesBut I'm excited to continue to pursue forward with my sales career with Elevate X Sales.
Brian HayesAnd thank you for having me.
Kelly KennedyNo, no.
Kelly KennedyAmazing.
Kelly KennedyAmazing.
Kelly KennedyMan, I can't imagine, like, I was listening to your story where you're talking about, like, you know, the losses of those deals, one after one.
Kelly KennedyAnd, you know, I mean, at that point, you've probably already, like, forecast your future, what you're gonna do with that money, what life is gonna be like.
Kelly KennedyYou know, things are gonna.
Kelly KennedyIt's gonna be that boost that you need for your new marriage, dude.
Kelly KennedyLike, oh, I can't.
Kelly KennedyYou know, I mean, I've had people come on this show who lost their business, lost their investments, everything.
Kelly KennedyAnd I always have to ask when I hear a story like that, dude, how did you come back?
Kelly KennedyWhat did you tell yourself in that moment?
Kelly KennedyBecause I, you know, I mean, I had that conversation with a gentleman who lost, you know, a few million dollars and literally lost his business, lost his investments, lost everything, and then clawed back, became successful again.
Brian HayesYeah, but.
Brian HayesBut I always, like.
Kelly KennedyAnd that's the cool story here.
Kelly KennedyThe cool story here is that a lot of the people I've talked to that had that happen, that is exactly what happened.
Kelly KennedyThey clawed back and they came back because they had the knowledge on how to do it again.
Brian HayesYeah.
Kelly KennedyBut I do have to ask you, you know, just as a human to another human, that must.
Kelly KennedyFirst off, that must have been absolutely horrible, and I'm sorry that that happened to you.
Brian HayesThanks.
Kelly KennedyAnd second off, how were you able to motivate yourself and frankly, keep your mental health?
Kelly KennedyOkay.
Kelly KennedyBecause I can imagine losing by the time you lost that sixth deal, and you're just like, like, why, that building's pretty tall.
Kelly KennedyYeah, no, I know.
Kelly KennedyI can imagine.
Kelly KennedyI can imagine.
Kelly KennedyTalk to me about that moment.
Brian HayesSo it really was one thing, and it's my fiance.
Brian HayesI didn't want to impact her because I knew how it would make her feel.
Brian HayesSo empathy is very strong with me.
Brian HayesAnd I put myself in her shoes and I was like, okay, if I kill myself, what is it?
Brian HayesHow is that going to affect her?
Brian HayesAnd I kind of foresaw her life.
Brian HayesNot that I know what she would do, but just my thought of it and I was like, that's not how I want her to live.
Brian HayesAnd I had to literally decide.
Brian HayesYou have to decide.
Brian HayesIt's either you're going to do it or you're not going to do it.
Brian HayesAnd I was like, I'm not going to do it.
Brian HayesAnd I'm going to find a way.
Brian HayesI'm going to, you know, come lick my wounds, go work at a debt collection agency, chill out for a minute and kind of figure it out.
Brian HayesI thought, you know, I just needed a job and I thought that I would just work there for the rest of my life.
Brian HayesAnd then eight months later, I'm like, no, like, that's not me.
Brian HayesSo you have to figure out who you are.
Brian HayesAnd it takes time.
Brian HayesBut the initial knee jerk reaction of, well, I'm just going to go and off it.
Brian HayesYou just have to decide you're not going to.
Brian HayesBecause I wanted to see how the story ended.
Brian HayesI didn't want it to end like that.
Brian HayesThat was the big thing, honestly.
Brian HayesThat's interesting.
Brian HayesNerv said that out loud.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyAnd thank you for that.
Kelly KennedyThank you for being so candid.
Kelly KennedyBecause I can imagine, I don't know how you felt in that moment.
Kelly KennedyWhat I can say is I can imagine what that must be like.
Kelly KennedyAnd it's not your fault.
Kelly KennedyAnd I think that that's like the worst part about the whole thing.
Kelly KennedyThere's like, there's nothing.
Kelly KennedyThere are just circumstances sometimes, Right.
Kelly KennedyLike Covid is a perfect example.
Kelly KennedyThere are circumstances that are completely out of your control.
Kelly KennedyThat no matter how amazing you are, no matter how great of an entrepreneur, how great of an idea, how great of a business person, how great of a salesperson, business development, you name it, it doesn't matter.
Kelly KennedyBecause it's not about you.
Kelly KennedyIt's a circumstance outside of your control.
Kelly KennedyAnd I think as high performance individuals, like, I know you are, I know I am.
Kelly KennedyI know a lot of my, my peers are.
Kelly KennedyYeah, we can, we can internalize that and say, it's our fault.
Kelly KennedyWe did it.
Kelly KennedyWe could have done something different and done it different.
Kelly KennedyLike, it's Funny, because it's really a high performance.
Kelly KennedyI just did a show, you know, on, on specifically on imposter syndrome.
Kelly KennedyAnd imposter syndrome happens to 70% of people on earth and typically it actually happens to the highest performing individuals.
Kelly KennedyMost of the time it's high performance individuals who experience imposter syndrome.
Kelly KennedyIt's not, it's not typically the people who just start in a position.
Kelly KennedyIt's usually people who already know exactly what they're doing and are taking that next big step that feel like the biggest frauds and imposters.
Kelly KennedySo it really is a challenge for high performance individuals.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesAnd it's funny, you, you know, mental health, I mean, we're, we just exited May.
Brian HayesI think that's Mental health month.
Brian HayesThat is a big thing.
Brian HayesAnd I think just the message that I want to get across to everyone, if you, if you're struggling with something like that, it's best to tell someone and look for help.
Brian HayesBut you also have to look for your own help for yourself.
Brian HayesLike, you have to internalize it and go, okay, you've got two choices.
Brian HayesChoose.
Brian HayesAnd choose well, because the story doesn't have to end that way.
Brian HayesThat's really what it was.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyAnd you know, like, what were some of the techniques you used?
Kelly KennedyObviously you came from, you know, a fitness background.
Kelly KennedyWhat were some of the stress relieving techniques that you, that you utilized in that time to try to build yourself back?
Brian HayesDavid Goggins is a man that I will, I look forward to meeting him.
Brian HayesHe got me out of a very dark place.
Brian HayesHe has some content that he posts on YouTube and not a lot of people know this, but I would.
Brian HayesI have a little headset here that I put on.
Brian HayesI downloaded just all of his motivational content, put it in my head and just listen to that on repeat.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesOver and over and over and over and over again until I can motivate myself again.
Brian HayesBecause I was a trainer, I used to motivate people and that was the hardest thing.
Brian HayesWhen you're so low, you're like, you don't realize who you are.
Brian HayesLike, you almost forget and you have to remind yourself who you are, what you've done, how you've overcome stuff.
Brian HayesSo you have to find something to kind of grease the wheels.
Brian HayesAnd David Goggins was a great example of overcoming adversity and having that mindset of it's possible.
Brian HayesLike, what if instead of, you know, well, that happened?
Brian HayesThat was sad.
Brian HayesIt's like, well, what if it changes?
Brian HayesHow beautiful is that story going to be?
Brian HayesYeah, it's going to be much better.
Brian HayesSo it's like, what if?
Brian HayesThat's what I always think.
Brian HayesAnd I think that's a really good thing in business.
Brian HayesIt's like, what if I do this business venture and it fails, but what if it doesn't?
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesSo you want to try and remain as positive as you can, as cliche as that sounds.
Brian HayesBut you just want to really find out what's going to get you out of the muck.
Brian HayesAnd that's what did on repeat in the shower.
Brian HayesI would reap.
Brian HayesI can.
Brian HayesThere's some of his motivational content that's 30 minutes long.
Brian HayesI could say it word for word.
Kelly KennedyWow.
Brian HayesYeah.
Kelly KennedyWow.
Brian HayesThat's how much he was listening to it.
Brian HayesThat was the only way.
Brian HayesIt was the only thing I could think of.
Brian HayesIt was like, I need to find someone motivating me.
Kelly KennedyAmazing, amazing dude.
Kelly KennedyAnd, you know, I relate to that so much.
Kelly KennedyAnd what I always kind of recommend to people that are stuck, like, if you're feeling like your business is stagnant, you're stagnant, you're struggling with motivation.
Kelly KennedyI always recommend people to listen to, like a new audio book.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyJust something to kind of take them out of their frame of mind or their way of thinking and think just a little bit differently.
Kelly KennedyBecause most of the solutions, they're not.
Kelly KennedyThey're not 100 miles away.
Kelly KennedyThey're most of the time one or two books away.
Brian HayesYeah.
Kelly KennedyAnd, you know, it's no different than that inspiring motivational content from David Goggins.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyLike, it's the same idea.
Kelly KennedyIt's like there is help out there.
Kelly KennedyIt's usually not that far away.
Kelly KennedyAnd I find myself where I get into a pickle, where I'm just like, I need to.
Kelly KennedyI need to think differently.
Kelly KennedyI need a new idea.
Kelly KennedyAnd when I have that moment, that's when I'm looking for a new book or some.
Kelly KennedySome type of content to just give me a slightly different direction or frame of mind that I didn't have before.
Kelly KennedyBecause most of the time the good idea, it's not far away.
Kelly KennedyIt's right there.
Brian HayesYeah, it is.
Brian HayesAnd you just have to reach out and use the tools that you have.
Brian HayesSo that's really what Elevate X Sales was built on, is just, well, I could only think of a few things that I could bring to the world that's a value and that's my experience and what I've done and what I could do.
Brian HayesNot so much what I've done.
Brian HayesIt's what I could do if given the opportunity.
Brian HayesAnd so you just have to create the environment for your opportunity is really what it is.
Kelly KennedyTotally, Totally.
Kelly KennedyMan.
Kelly KennedyThis took a different direction than thought it was going to go.
Kelly KennedyThat's the funny thing, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, people think that these podcasts are just, like, completely scripted and we know.
Kelly KennedyBut no, not at all.
Kelly KennedyLike, I am surprised more often than not at the direction that their show goes.
Kelly KennedyIt's most of the time quite a bit different than the initial plan that I had.
Kelly KennedyBut, dude, I am so.
Kelly KennedyI'm so thankful that you joined me today and that you were so vulnerable.
Kelly KennedyI think it's so.
Kelly KennedyAnd first off, you know, just let me say, like, I'm terribly sorry that that happened to you.
Kelly KennedyI am happy that you are still with us.
Kelly KennedyI'm happy that you're here on the show with me today, sharing your knowledge, helping the world.
Kelly KennedyYou know, the world needs more help.
Kelly KennedyBusiness people need to be more helpful.
Kelly KennedyWe're all in it together.
Kelly KennedyIt's not a competition.
Kelly KennedyWe're all in it together.
Kelly KennedyIt's a big world.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesOh, yes.
Brian HayesOh, yes.
Brian HayesYou're in Canada.
Brian HayesI'm in Dallas, Texas.
Brian HayesI was speaking to someone from Croatia earlier today.
Brian HayesYou know, I have.
Brian HayesSomeone just messaged me.
Brian HayesIt's why you probably heard ding or something.
Brian HayesIt was India.
Brian HayesI'm like this ever since I got out of my little circle and I looked out for other ideas and other avenues and other possibilities.
Brian HayesThat's really what it is.
Brian HayesLike you said, look for.
Brian HayesIt's just one.
Brian HayesFind a way.
Brian HayesYou just have to not put yourself out there, but try to do something different.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyI could have never.
Kelly KennedyYou know, I mean, and this is like a really good example.
Kelly KennedyWhen I started this show, I started it in my basement talking to Bob's basement, thinking, like, oh, my gosh.
Kelly KennedyLike, who's going to listen to my business development show?
Kelly KennedyRight?
Kelly KennedyWe got great knowledge.
Kelly KennedyI know what I'm talking about.
Kelly KennedyBut, like, who in the world is going to listen to this dude?
Kelly KennedyOver 130 countries so far listen to this show.
Brian HayesI know.
Brian HayesThanks for reminding me.
Brian HayesSo I'm nervous again.
Kelly KennedyIt's absolutely bonkers.
Kelly KennedyIt, like, blows my mind sometimes.
Kelly KennedyThe impact of the Internet age.
Kelly KennedyThe impact and reach that some good advice, some helpful people can have on the world.
Kelly KennedyYou know, I never thought we're so similar, too.
Brian HayesIt's so weird.
Brian HayesI didn't know that.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesLike, that we're like, dude, we're all just trying to make it, like, we're all just trying to be good people.
Brian HayesAnd win win scenarios.
Brian HayesAnd I mean not everyone, but most of them, most of the people here are just like, hey, help me help you.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyI got a, I got a message from Australia this week actually and gentlemen reached out.
Kelly KennedySuper kind was like, dude, like I'm, you know, I was working in business, like in, in his industry for quite some time and then he ended up in a business development role.
Kelly KennedyAnd just like, thank God you put out this information because there was just nothing out there specific to business development people, right?
Kelly KennedyAnd it's like the whole reason I started this show was when I, when I started my business development career because I always say business development chooses you.
Kelly KennedyNobody goes to school thinking they're going to end up in business development.
Kelly KennedyYou get chosen.
Kelly KennedyIt's.
Kelly KennedyI, I'm gonna, it's like a badge of honor.
Kelly KennedyBut I always say like, I, I had to learn, I had to learn everything on my own scramble, put together my own procedures, my own process.
Kelly KennedyJust like you have done with Elevate X.
Kelly KennedyLike, there's not a lot of help out there.
Kelly KennedyAnd so my goal was really like, we need to stop safeguarding this information.
Kelly KennedyIf you have something that works, share it with the world.
Kelly KennedyBecause how many companies fail simply because they didn't know how to market or sell their products?
Brian HayesAnd how much cooler we would be if we all lift each other up instead of like, oh, you're trying to do a business that's gonna fail, you know, instead of doubting.
Brian HayesBut that brings up a really good point, is the information is not locked, locked up tight anymore.
Brian HayesYou know, and that comes with AI and the interesting thing that that's brought to the industry.
Brian HayesSo I know you wanted to talk a little bit about that as well.
Kelly KennedyAbsolutely.
Brian HayesInteresting how the information is not locked up tight in the universities anymore.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyWell, let's just get into it.
Kelly KennedyYou know, one of the things that you're working on is called ti what is ti?
Brian HayesTy is a sales companion that I'm in the process of getting developed.
Brian HayesIt's a, it's taken longer than I thought and it's quite expensive, so that's why it's taking a little longer.
Brian HayesBut Sales companion.
Brian HayesThink of it as your Jiminy Cricket, you know, your little guy on your shoulder, kind of your conscience and he's, you know, prompting you, telling you, hey, this has happened.
Brian HayesYou should try this.
Brian HayesSo if you go to a virtual meeting and they say, no, I don't want your product because X or I don't want your product because the price point, it'll actually flash on your screen a prompt saying, try this.
Brian HayesSo it's kind of coaching you.
Brian HayesLive action.
Brian HayesIt's grading you.
Brian HayesIt's not only is it watching what you're doing, but it'll be watching the client.
Brian HayesSo if they kind of sit back, it could say something like, oh, get more engaged because they, they need to lean forward and lean in.
Brian HayesSo body language and gestures are very important in sales.
Brian HayesVery important.
Brian HayesLike you need to be able to read the room and some people can't.
Brian HayesAnd it's really hard to learn that.
Brian HayesSo it's really was developed because.
Brian HayesOr it's going to be developed because that's what I would like.
Brian HayesYou know, as a salesperson, it was hard to practice your sales.
Brian HayesThe only way to practice was to do it.
Brian HayesCall and burn leads.
Brian HayesLike, you could totally mess up and then never be able to call that person again because they'll be like, oh, you're that guy, that girl, that person.
Brian HayesSo it allows you to role play, but it'll take from your previous interactions with clients and say, hey, we need to work on this.
Brian HayesHey, we need to work on that.
Brian HayesSo as a true companion.
Brian HayesAnd it's kind of like the note takers where you invite them to the, to the zoom meeting where it'll take the notes, but instead of taking notes, it's doing different things.
Kelly KennedyWow, dude, that's actually really cool.
Kelly KennedyLike, really cool.
Brian HayesThank you.
Kelly KennedyThat's a great idea.
Brian HayesThank you.
Kelly KennedyI've never.
Kelly KennedyI wasn't sure what it was before we had this conversation, but that's.
Kelly KennedyThat is actually super, super useful.
Kelly KennedyBecause some of the challenges that we see with our clients at Capital when we have meetings is simply that it's.
Kelly KennedyWe.
Kelly KennedyWe tend to attend the meetings with them to help take it to the next level.
Kelly KennedyBecause like you said, a lot of them struggle with that meeting dynamic.
Kelly KennedyThey're not really sure when to say what they need to say or how to ask for next steps or when to get more engaged.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedySo a little prompt like that sounds really, really useful, especially for a lot of these business owners doing their own sales.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesAnd it's not.
Brian HayesIt's the companion part I think is the most important.
Brian HayesLike you were saying, it's, we need someone there because your sales manager or the business owner can't be at every single meeting or he has other things he needs to attend to.
Brian HayesSo it'll allow for him to know that, hey, it's being taken care of and I'll get a report later that they're all great.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyNo, that's.
Kelly KennedyI can.
Kelly KennedyI can see this two ways.
Kelly KennedyI can already see some salespeople being like, oh, shit, they're gonna send a report on how good I handled each meeting.
Brian HayesYep.
Brian HayesAnd then there's some like, oh, no, they're recording it.
Brian HayesYou don't want to record my meetings.
Brian HayesYeah, yeah.
Brian HayesWell, yeah.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesYou're different when the camera's on and it's being recorded.
Brian HayesLike, you act different.
Brian HayesIt's just like putting on a suit.
Brian HayesYou're like, we're gonna get a sale today.
Brian HayesYou know, it's like we're watching time to perform.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyAnd.
Kelly KennedyOh, man.
Kelly KennedyAnd, you know, we can talk about that because I think that business development and sales, like, we live in a time when everybody's saying, like, we need to be more authentic.
Kelly KennedyI actually completely agree with this.
Kelly KennedyI think we need to be more authentic.
Kelly KennedyWe need to be more recognizing of people and when they're not doing okay.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyBut I faked a lot of meetings when I was feeling very, very shitty about whatever my current situation was.
Kelly KennedyBut I had to put on a brave face, put on the act, and be Kelly.
Kelly KennedyKelly Kennedy, the awesome business development guy who's super fun.
Kelly KennedyI had to be that guy, even though I was not feeling congruent with that.
Kelly KennedyAnd my advice now to business development people is when you're having an off day, don't be afraid to kind of say it.
Kelly KennedyDon't be afraid to reschedule those meetings.
Kelly KennedyLike, I'm.
Kelly KennedyI'm of the opinion now that that was probably the wrong way to handle that situation.
Kelly KennedyBut at the time, I needed my paycheck, I needed to move forward, and I just put on the brave face and did it.
Kelly KennedyBut my gosh, dude, I've done a lot of meetings, feeling like a pile of crap inside.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesAnd there's.
Brian HayesI do the very same thing.
Brian HayesI never made a decision to do it.
Brian HayesI just started doing it.
Brian HayesYou know, having your own company, you can kind of do that.
Brian HayesYou're the own.
Brian HayesYou're the boss, so I think he'll forgive you.
Brian HayesBut I would reschedule.
Brian HayesAnd they're like, oh, you know what?
Brian HayesI'm actually feeling bad too.
Brian HayesLike, what's going on?
Brian HayesAnd then we get into a relationship building conversation because we have something in common.
Brian HayesLike, we both had a bad day.
Brian HayesIt's just odd timing.
Brian HayesAnd then they become client, you know?
Brian HayesSo you never want to know.
Brian HayesYou never know how someone wants to purchase, and you never know how someone's going to connect with you.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesYeah.
Kelly KennedyAnd I Think we've just spent so long pretending we're just.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyI love it.
Kelly KennedyThere is something really special about this time that we're heading into.
Kelly KennedyI'm going to call it the post Covid era, because really, that's what.
Kelly KennedyThat's what seemed to have changed at all.
Brian HayesYep, absolutely.
Kelly KennedyThere is something about being real and authentic.
Kelly KennedyAnd I just want to say, actually, I've watched a lot of your videos on LinkedIn.
Brian HayesYeah, thanks.
Kelly KennedyYou do a really great job of just being Brian Hayes showing up.
Kelly KennedyAnd, you know, I imagine, too, that that's probably a post Covid thing, because we're all kind of playing with this.
Kelly KennedyHow can we be more human in the world on the Internet?
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyInstead of just being, you know, a business development person or a salesperson.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyLike, there's people.
Kelly KennedyThere's people behind those titles.
Kelly KennedyYeah, we care.
Kelly KennedyWe want to know who they are.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Brian HayesYes.
Kelly KennedyAnd I just want to say you're doing a great job with your social stuff.
Kelly KennedyYou want to maybe chat a little bit about how you.
Kelly KennedyHow you approach your social media.
Brian HayesYou know, I want to say that there's a plan, but it's really, there's.
Brian HayesI'm just looking for something that I think is going to resonate with others that show what I'm trying to do.
Brian HayesSo I'm.
Brian HayesI'm not trying to show off.
Brian HayesI'm just trying to show progress.
Brian HayesI'm trying to show movement.
Brian HayesI'm trying to show, hey, I'm doing something.
Brian HayesYou know, it's almost like that's my boss is my clients or potential clients, that's your boss.
Brian HayesSo you got to show them that you're moving, that you're doing something.
Brian HayesYou're not just stagnant and doing nothing.
Brian HayesAnd, you know, when I look at someone's LinkedIn and they haven't posted, like, for months, it's not that I think bad about them.
Brian HayesI just think, man, you could do more.
Brian HayesYeah, there's a little bit more than you could do, you know, like, provide something.
Brian HayesSo I'm just trying to put as much information out there that about myself and what I'm doing to show that to prospective clients.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesSo there's no run or reason.
Brian HayesI mean, there's like, I want to celebrate holidays, I want to celebrate things.
Brian HayesBut this whole podcast thing, this is all new.
Brian HayesI have 12 of them lined up.
Kelly KennedyWow.
Brian HayesYeah, I was surprised about that, too.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesYou're number four.
Kelly KennedyOkay.
Kelly KennedyAmazing.
Kelly KennedyI love to be near the beginning.
Brian HayesI wish you were number one, but I got some Practice out of the way.
Brian HayesHow about that?
Brian HayesYeah, yeah, but it's.
Brian HayesThere's no rhyme or reason.
Brian HayesI'm just trying to show movement.
Brian HayesAnd I think that's what we have to do in sales is you just have to show, hey, I'm doing something.
Brian HayesBecause you're showing investment time and energy and focus.
Kelly KennedyYou're also putting yourself out there, right?
Kelly KennedyAnd I think that that is currency in 2024 and beyond.
Kelly KennedyThere's something that happened.
Kelly KennedyI don't know when it happened.
Kelly KennedyI wanna say, like 2023.
Kelly KennedyI like to say that.
Kelly KennedyCause that's when I started this show.
Kelly KennedyBut I feel like a switch flipped, right?
Kelly KennedyAnd it was like, look, you know companies, it's time to stop hiding behind your companies.
Kelly KennedyPeople wanna know the owners of companies.
Kelly KennedyThey wanna know the CEOs, the executives, what they're doing, why they care, why what they're doing matters, how they're helping the world.
Kelly KennedyAnd they don't just wanna hear about it.
Kelly KennedyThey wanna see you.
Kelly KennedyAnd so it really is like getting out there and being front and center and basically taking ownership of who you are and sharing that with the world is currency.
Kelly KennedyIt really is.
Kelly KennedyIt's a currency in 2024.
Kelly KennedyAnd so I'm always kind of recommending people.
Kelly KennedyI know it's scary.
Kelly KennedyLike, take it from me, dude, we talked about this before the show.
Kelly KennedyYou were nervous and I was telling you, dude, I still get nervous.
Kelly KennedyThere's still plenty of times where I get nervous crap.
Kelly KennedyLike, but.
Kelly KennedyBut it goes away, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, I've interviewed people that scared the bejesus out of me.
Kelly KennedyBut within two minutes of that interview, I was feeling great.
Kelly KennedyI was feeling fine.
Kelly KennedyThey were feeling fine.
Kelly KennedyAnd you realize that it passes, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, that fear, that, like fear you have, it's like it's.
Kelly KennedyIt's animal in nature.
Kelly KennedyIt really is.
Kelly KennedyIt, like, probably goes back to our caveman days.
Kelly KennedyWe're running from saber tooth tigers, right?
Kelly KennedyBut we're not running from saber tooth tigers anymore, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, nothing in business is going to kill you, right?
Kelly KennedyLike a bad phone call ain't going to kill you.
Kelly KennedyA bad meeting ain't going to kill you.
Kelly KennedyA speech ain't going to kill you, but we still internalize it.
Kelly KennedyLike it's going to kill us and we get afraid.
Kelly KennedyBut what I've found, and, you know, don't get me wrong, like, I still have plenty of scary moments.
Kelly KennedyI've had plenty of meetings where I get anxiety.
Kelly KennedyAnd I'm probably in that for a minute or two at least in that time.
Kelly KennedyBut in my experience, it always passes.
Kelly KennedyAnd maybe I'll find the day it doesn't.
Kelly KennedyBut I haven't found that day yet.
Brian HayesLike, oh, it hasn't left.
Brian HayesI'm still.
Brian HayesButterflies are still there.
Kelly KennedyIt's been three days.
Brian HayesI'll let you know and then go away.
Brian HayesNo, that's right.
Kelly KennedyBut you mean I'm always here encouraging people to just take the jump.
Brian HayesWell, we don't want to be judged.
Brian HayesWe don't want to be judged.
Brian HayesAnd we.
Brian HayesAnd if we are judged, we want to be judged.
Brian HayesWell, and that's the hard part is.
Brian HayesAnd I tell this to.
Brian HayesI have a young man working with me.
Brian HayesHis name's Linus Mueller out of Switzerland.
Brian HayesIt was so crazy, so much fun.
Brian HayesI always tell him, don't put your words in their mouth.
Brian HayesDon't take their.
Brian HayesYour perspective and assume that's their perspective.
Brian HayesSo don't assume anything.
Brian HayesManage your expectations.
Brian HayesUnderstand that there could be another possibility.
Brian HayesLike, what if they're judging me?
Brian HayesWell, what if it's good?
Kelly KennedySure.
Brian HayesSo it's just that.
Kelly KennedyWell, and I think we're our biggest judges.
Brian HayesYeah.
Kelly KennedyLike, I'm judging me all the time.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyLike, oh, I've.
Kelly KennedyI've had plenty of shows where I listen to it.
Kelly KennedyLike, I'll tell you straight up, episode three of the business development podcast.
Kelly KennedyI didn't want to release it.
Kelly KennedyI didn't want to release it.
Kelly KennedyI didn't like the show.
Kelly KennedyNobody noticed.
Kelly KennedyNobody noticed.
Kelly KennedyI made mistakes.
Kelly KennedyWhatever else, nobody noticed anything.
Kelly KennedyI have no fear now saying, like, if you guys want to hear the episode that I hated, it was episode.
Kelly KennedyThere was really nothing wrong with it.
Kelly KennedyI was judging myself.
Kelly KennedyAnd I like.
Kelly KennedyAnd we all do it.
Kelly KennedyWe all do it.
Kelly KennedyBut, like, what I'm kind of getting at here is I released episode three anyway.
Kelly KennedyNever got one negative comment from.
Brian HayesIsn't that funny?
Brian HayesRight?
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesI always say, don't put your perspective in their mouth.
Brian HayesAnd that's a big thing when you're in sales, because you're going to think, oh, they probably don't like my product, or, oh, maybe the price is too high and they're not going to like the price.
Brian HayesAnd so you're going to deliver it with that in mind.
Brian HayesPeople vibe on that.
Brian HayesLike, yeah, like, even though we're states and miles apart, like, I got you.
Brian HayesI can hear your wavelength.
Brian HayesAnd so people will pick up on that how you register.
Brian HayesAnd this is our price, you know, so they're gonna.
Brian HayesThey're gonna push back on that totally.
Brian HayesSo you just don't.
Brian HayesDon't put your perspective out there.
Brian HayesThe negative ones, you know well, and.
Kelly KennedyWhat you kind of touched on right there in.
Kelly KennedyIn literally the way that you said, this is our price.
Kelly KennedyThere was a massive lack of confidence.
Kelly KennedyYeah, a massive lack of confidence.
Kelly KennedyAnd I will tell you the difference between closing that deal is saying this is our price versus this is our price.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesThis is.
Kelly KennedyLike you said, body language.
Kelly KennedyRight?
Kelly KennedyBody language.
Kelly KennedyThe way you say things really matters.
Kelly KennedyIt was funny.
Kelly KennedyI was actually coaching a guy not that long ago and he's like, I'm sending so many of these emails.
Kelly KennedyI'm making all these phone calls.
Kelly KennedyI said, you know, from the email, it kind of sounds okay, but there's a couple things you're saying here that aren't conveying your confidence.
Kelly KennedyIt's coming across with an unsureness and talking to him on the phone and he kind of went through the pitch with me and literally the correction was so minor, but it was primarily to do with the way that he sounded on the phone.
Kelly KennedyI really need you to come through confident in your product and service.
Kelly KennedyLike it's something they actually want.
Kelly KennedyLike they're really going to want to meet with you.
Kelly KennedyAnd even in the email, it was like, I need you to stop asking them and let them know that you're available at these times.
Brian HayesNext time.
Kelly KennedyYou'd love to meet with me.
Brian HayesYeah.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Brian HayesRule number one, everyone has.
Kelly KennedySo stupid.
Kelly KennedyIt's dumb because you look at those two things and you think, well, yeah, but honestly, it's the small intricacies that are hanging you up.
Kelly KennedyIt's probably.
Kelly KennedyIt's probably something pretty minor.
Brian HayesYes, yes.
Brian HayesAnd that's the hardest part is to pick it out and kind of going back to what we were saying before.
Brian HayesLook for help, ask people for help.
Brian HayesI had to go outside of my home state, Dallas, Texas or my.
Brian HayesMy home town.
Brian HayesYeah.
Brian HayesOut of the town I live in to find help for elevate X sales.
Brian HayesBecause the.
Brian HayesMy network, that's your net worth.
Brian HayesNot that they wouldn't help me.
Brian HayesThey all said, don't do it.
Brian HayesGo back and get a job.
Brian HayesLike, you already tried, man.
Brian HayesYou didn't get it.
Brian HayesIt's okay.
Brian HayesJust be a normal guy.
Brian HayesGo work a job and do your thing.
Brian HayesAnd I had to look outside of country to find help.
Brian HayesAnd that's just the craziest part.
Brian HayesSo you just have to look for.
Brian HayesLook for a tool and then put it together.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyNo, it really is.
Kelly KennedyAnd you know, you touched on something that to me seems very, like, obvious, but is really not Obvious.
Kelly KennedyCan you maybe elaborate?
Kelly KennedyYou talked about empathy.
Kelly KennedyThat's something that is like one of your key traits, empathy in sales.
Kelly KennedyYou hear a lot about people being empathetic.
Kelly KennedyEmpathetic or being.
Kelly KennedyWhat is it?
Kelly KennedyEmotionally intelligent is the other word.
Kelly KennedyBut can we maybe go into depth about how companies can better utilize empathy in their sales process?
Brian HayesEmpathy, if you don't know what empathy is, is.
Brian HayesYou're.
Brian HayesYou're looking outside their eyes and experiencing their life.
Brian HayesNot with your knowledge, not with your opinions.
Brian HayesYou need to get to know who they are and pretend for a moment that you were them.
Brian HayesAnd how would they want to be treated if.
Brian HayesOr how would you want to be treated if you were in their shoes?
Brian HayesAnd that is the hardest part because we put our opinions in there.
Brian HayesAnd I'm like, no, no.
Brian HayesNo opinions, no knowledge.
Brian HayesYou are that person.
Brian HayesHow would you feel?
Brian HayesAnd I think that companies can really benefit from this, especially when they do mass layoffs.
Brian HayesLike, come on, like, I know you want to save some money, but is there another way?
Brian HayesAnd there probably is, and maybe there isn't, you know, so you have to make that understanding of, well, how would it feel if I got fired?
Brian HayesIf I was in their shoes with their life, with their kids, with their responsibilities, not my own responsibility.
Brian HayesAnd I think people, in order to really do empathy, you have to drop what you have and pretend that you're them.
Brian HayesAnd that's hard.
Kelly KennedyIt is.
Brian HayesAnd I had to do that as a personal trainer.
Brian HayesI had to really do that.
Brian HayesAnd that was the only way I learned empathy.
Brian HayesAnd how to do it was, you know, envisioning if I was that person doing that exercise, that movement, how would that make me feel if I was self conscious about being in the gym?
Brian HayesBecause I know that person.
Brian HayesThat's what that person told me.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesSo, like, why would I put them in that obvious of a uncomfortable situation?
Brian HayesYeah, it's something you gotta practice.
Brian HayesIt's a perspective in life that's really tough.
Brian HayesMy poor fiance is like, why don't you do empathy with me?
Brian HayesI was like, honey, I already know what you're saying.
Brian HayesLike, quiet down.
Brian HayesBut it's something you need to continue to practice and, like, think about, like, how would it really be to be them.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesNot me, them.
Kelly KennedyAnd I think you have to ask.
Kelly KennedyRight?
Kelly KennedyI think the other side of it is, like you said, you can't think like Kelly Kennedy and I can't think like Brian Hayes because I don't live in your mind every day.
Kelly KennedyI don't live in your world or your experience.
Kelly KennedyAnd so my advice, and I don't know how you feel about this, might simply be to ask.
Kelly KennedyIf you have questions about how they feel about something, don't be afraid to ask because like you said before, you don't know what people are thinking and you can't assume or you'll make an ass out of you and me.
Brian HayesYes, it's true.
Brian HayesOpen ended questions.
Brian HayesAnd if you actually are curious, like that's another thing with empathy is like, I actually want to know.
Brian HayesI'm not just checking something off my list, like, I want to know because I'm trying to understand you, like, tell me about that, like why and really ask those open ended questions to try to figure it out and just be genuinely like, I just want to know.
Brian HayesYeah, I'm not just trying to make a sale.
Kelly KennedyOne of the things that I really wanted to chat with you about, Brian, is I wanted to better understand some of the challenges that you're seeing in the sales field.
Kelly KennedyYou know, you've been, you've had elevate X, you're out there working with companies.
Kelly KennedyWhat are some of the challenges that you're running into fairly consistently?
Kelly KennedyWhat are you seeing on a consistent basis with these companies you're working with?
Kelly KennedyAre there like a handful of challenges that seem to be coming up pretty consistently?
Brian HayesYes.
Brian HayesSourcing contact information for a prospect and then trying to like find a database.
Brian HayesEveryone uses the same database right now.
Brian HayesIt's called Apollo I.O.
Brian Hayesand everyone's calling the same people, the same type, but it's trying to find, not trying to narrow it down.
Brian HayesIt's like, when should I call them and who should I call?
Brian HayesAnd finding it specifically.
Brian HayesThey don't know their data.
Brian HayesThey're like, yeah, we want someone that is male between the age of 25 and 45.
Brian HayesI'm like, no, that's not even close.
Brian HayesLike, what are, who are they?
Brian HayesYeah, like really get into who they are and who is your customer.
Brian HayesThat's the biggest, I think the number one biggest struggle.
Brian HayesThey don't know their target audience, they don't know how to sell to them and they also don't know how to buy, how they want to buy.
Brian HayesBecause some people want to communicate through WhatsApp, some people want to communicate through LinkedIn, some people are texting, hey, give me a call, leave me a voicemail, I'll call you back.
Brian HayesYou know, some.
Brian HayesSo you just have to figure out how they want to buy and how they want to communicate.
Brian HayesThose are the two biggest ones.
Brian HayesThe other one, I think it's less Important, but it's still pretty important, is retaining salespeople like good salespeople.
Brian HayesYes, that's a big one.
Brian HayesAnd so they, they're even.
Brian HayesEven if they hired me, they're like, are you gonna leave?
Brian HayesLike, probably.
Brian HayesYou say that.
Kelly KennedyYou'Re already priming me.
Brian HayesMan, I'm already gone, man.
Brian HayesYou signed that already.
Brian HayesYeah, but it's, it's capturing someone's attention and keeping it.
Brian HayesYeah, and that's hard in sales, I think, because everyone's looking for the grab greener grass on the other side.
Brian HayesSometimes it is greener and sometimes it's not.
Brian HayesSometimes it's worse.
Brian HayesYou just don't see it because you want to see it a different way.
Brian HayesPutting your perspective.
Brian HayesYou're putting your, your opinion out there again.
Kelly KennedyYeah, yeah.
Kelly KennedyWell, I think one of the biggest challenges we have now, and you know, we talked about this ahead of the show, is that people are getting bombarded with so much stuff that's promising them things that I think me and, you know, are probably not going to happen.
Kelly KennedyYeah, but they don't know that, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, they don't know if they get, if they get someone coming up to them and saying, like, hey, I got this virtual assistant that can get you 50 leads in the next week.
Kelly KennedyThey don't know what to believe and what not to believe.
Kelly KennedyDo you have any, like, guidelines or rules that you would maybe give to companies to better screen out what is an authentically good move versus what is, you know, a high risk move?
Kelly KennedyAnd I think the reason they're so confused is because like you said, with the advent of AI, nobody knows what's really possible and what's not possible.
Brian HayesYep, yep.
Brian HayesI am looking at my spam box and I deleted, like, at least every day.
Brian HayesI got.
Brian HayesI have received 66 different email, probably AI, most of them AI.
Brian HayesMy opinion and my advice is ask them to do it for free.
Brian HayesLike, okay, show me, show me the money.
Brian HayesShow me the real stuff.
Brian HayesLike, make them prove it.
Brian HayesAnd I don't know how that is for anyone's business, but make them prove it.
Brian HayesAnd not testimonials.
Brian HayesOh, well, this person said this about me.
Brian HayesWell, that's, that's great.
Brian HayesIt's not me.
Brian HayesLike, prove it for me.
Brian HayesSo bring me value and I'll provide you value, which is my time and your ability to represent or maybe your client.
Brian HayesSo you have to always bring value.
Brian HayesSo when I call somebody, I'm like, hey, I thought that this would benefit you.
Brian HayesDo you have a moment to talk about something that benefits me?
Brian HayesSo you're asking for their time, but you're paying for it.
Brian HayesAt least that's how it is in Real Estate City.
Kelly KennedyOkay.
Kelly KennedyYeah, I know, man.
Kelly KennedyLike I.
Kelly KennedyLike you said, like, my inbox too, is full of it.
Kelly KennedyAnd the funny thing is, it's like, obviously I have a business development firm where we focus on active marketing.
Kelly KennedySo we're not really using AI, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, we're using old school, real phone calls, real people doing real work.
Kelly KennedyLike, that's, that's what I've always found.
Kelly KennedyJust worked and.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyIs it, Is it, Does it, does it take a minute?
Kelly KennedyYeah, it takes a minute.
Kelly KennedyThere's nothing that's fast.
Kelly KennedyThere's nothing that's going to happen overnight.
Kelly KennedyBusiness development is not a race, right?
Kelly KennedyNo, good business development takes time.
Kelly KennedyI've said that since the very beginning.
Kelly KennedyBut it's effective, very effective, especially with active marketing.
Kelly KennedyBut you know, I use AI tools, right?
Kelly KennedyLike we use ChatGPT to help us with some copy.
Kelly KennedyI still throw myself back into it and I always tell people, stop completely copying and pasting because you sound like a robot.
Brian HayesOr you use a word that you're not normally using.
Kelly KennedyThat's right.
Kelly KennedyThat's right.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyIf there's a word that you're like, I'd never use that.
Kelly KennedyPut your word in there.
Brian HayesYes.
Kelly KennedyBut you know, not just that, not just ChatGPT, right?
Kelly KennedyLike, obviously, running this podcast, I use AI tools.
Kelly KennedyWe use stuff like Riverside, which we're in right now recording this show.
Kelly KennedyWe use opus clips to help us with the clips.
Kelly KennedyWe use other things to help us with the transcripts and our audiograms and other things that we like to put out with our shows.
Kelly KennedySo there's a lot of tools being used and some of them are very redundant because they have maybe one thing that the other one doesn't have.
Kelly KennedySo I need to keep the stupid tool even though I'm paying stupid amounts of money for all of these monthly subscriptions.
Kelly KennedyRight.
Kelly KennedyAnd it's driving me bonkers.
Kelly KennedyAnd.
Kelly KennedyOh, man, Like, I just, I know people are being inundated with these crazy AI tools and they don't know what to go with or what's effective.
Kelly KennedyAnd like I said, we're using redundant ones that can maybe do something that other people do.
Kelly KennedyYou have any advice for people that are.
Kelly KennedyThat are using these tools?
Brian HayesIt's AI is never going to replace you.
Brian HayesAs much as someone says they're going to, it's not going to.
Brian HayesAnd the reason for that is people buy from people and that's always going to be because they want to hold someone accountable.
Brian HayesSo if they're reaching out and saying, oh, we'll reach out and we'll set all these appointments for you, we'll.
Brian HayesThey're not going to be quality.
Brian HayesThey're not going to be there.
Brian HayesJust probably someone's like, yeah, just messing around because he knows it's the AI.
Brian HayesSo use what is not time tested, but use what is authentic and real and it's never going to replace you.
Brian HayesAnd just use it as a tool.
Brian HayesThat's all it is.
Brian HayesIt's supposed to help you be a better you, not replace anything.
Kelly KennedyAnd that's why I think I really love the idea of your tool, Ty, because that's going to be so cool.
Kelly KennedyBecause that's the problem.
Kelly KennedyThat is a real life problem.
Kelly KennedyWe're doing lots of meetings.
Kelly KennedyBusiness owners are meeting with people all the time.
Kelly KennedyIf they had a tool that could be live action with them, giving them ideas on how to better execute a meeting.
Kelly KennedyMy gosh, how powerful.
Kelly KennedyThat's a really great idea.
Brian HayesThank you.
Brian HayesThank you.
Brian HayesI need to hurry up because someone's going to take this idea.
Brian HayesLet's open this podcast while you have.
Kelly KennedyA little bit of time.
Kelly KennedyThis show is probably releasing about four months from now, so you just got to be faster than that.
Brian HayesYes.
Kelly KennedyNo pressure.
Brian HayesClock starts today.
Kelly KennedyOh, Brian, it's been an honor, dude.
Kelly KennedyThank you for coming on and sharing this with us.
Kelly KennedyYou know, I would love it if you would chat a little bit about Elevate X, though.
Kelly KennedyCan you tell us a little bit about what services you offer, what areas you serve, and then we'll go from there?
Brian HayesAbsolutely.
Brian HayesElevate X Sales is a marketing agency for commercial real estate professionals and commercial real estate owners.
Brian HayesAnd we're offering a suite of services from just regular social media marketing to doing it for you and setting tours and reaching out to specific tenants in a geographic area that might be interested in a vacant space that you have at your building or then we'll actually do it for you, which is we're actually going to take the deal from the initial online presence, the lead to tour, to closing the deal and facilitating the transaction.
Brian HayesAnd it's.
Brian HayesWe're trying to bring life to commercial real estate.
Brian HayesBring some not authenticity, but bring some entertainment to it.
Brian HayesBoring.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Brian HayesAnd everyone knows, everyone thinks it's just about the numbers.
Brian HayesAnd so we need to add some color to it and really paint a better picture of what it's going to be for your business.
Brian HayesSo we're putting out specific content, property tours, kind of like, I don't know if you've ever seen the Property Brothers.
Kelly KennedyYep.
Brian HayesWhere they actually will go in with their camera and then all of a sudden they're like, oh, and it can do this.
Brian HayesAnd all this stuff turns and all the walls come down.
Brian HayesI want to do that for commercial real estate.
Kelly KennedyVery cool, Very cool.
Kelly KennedyAnd, you know, obviously you're in Dallas.
Kelly KennedyWe've talked about that.
Kelly KennedyBut is this, like, North America wide?
Kelly KennedyLike, is there anywhere you wouldn't service?
Brian HayesWell, the only difference, I can practice real estate, and so it depends on which package you decide, but it can be anywhere because the rules and regulations will be upheld when it comes to the advertising portion of it.
Brian HayesBut when it comes to the actual execution of the transaction, I can do stuff in Texas, I can do stuff outside of Texas, but I have to have.
Brian HayesI have to facilitate with a broker in that area to do it legally.
Brian HayesSo then that becomes sticky.
Brian HayesSo we can do it all in the United States, North America.
Brian HayesIt depends on what your real estate regulations are.
Brian HayesAnd we would have to talk about that on a.
Brian HayesOn a separate one.
Brian HayesBut the other services, SEO Management Online.
Brian HayesThink of it as your online listing in your online presence of your property.
Brian HayesDoes it have a social media presence?
Brian HayesDoes it even have a following?
Brian HayesOr is it gaining cobwebs?
Brian HayesLike, tell me about it.
Brian HayesYou know, let's.
Brian HayesLet's put out as much information to reach as many people because someone might use Facebook, someone might use YouTube, someone might use LinkedIn, but they're all going to be a target tenant for you, so you might as well try them all.
Brian HayesAnd that's what we're doing, as well as email and cold call outreach and things of that nature.
Kelly KennedyYeah.
Kelly KennedyThe reason I asked is that, you know, obviously we have a large North American audience, we have a big Canadian audience and a big U.S.
Kelly Kennedyaudience.
Kelly KennedyAnd I did just want to know, can you service Canada?
Kelly KennedyIs that on the table for you?
Brian HayesI would love to.
Brian HayesInternational.
Brian HayesThat is definitely in the plans.
Brian HayesDefinitely in the plans.
Brian HayesWhen it comes to execution of a transaction, I would probably refer that to a local real estate professional there to do the negotiations and the transaction.
Brian HayesBut the online presence of it.
Brian HayesAbsolutely.
Brian HayesI would fly to Canada just to make some content.
Brian HayesThat would be so much fun.
Brian HayesJust not in the winter.
Kelly KennedyI was going to say we got some nice mountains, but yeah, I would say keep it to spring and summer.
Brian HayesBecause it's better for the lighting of the video.
Kelly KennedyAbsolutely, Absolutely.
Kelly KennedyBrian, thank you so much.
Kelly KennedyWe've been graced today by Brian Hayes of Elevate X Sales.
Kelly KennedyAnd thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
Kelly KennedyYour vulnerability.
Kelly KennedyI think, I think we probably helped that one or two businesses today.
Kelly KennedySo I think we did what we set out to do.
Brian HayesYes.
Kelly KennedyUntil next time, this has been episode 182 of the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.
Brian HayesBye everyone.
Mark CubanThis has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kelly Kennedy.
Mark CubanKelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.
Mark CubanHis passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.
Mark CubanThe show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.
Mark CubanFor more, we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.
Mark Cubansee you next time on the Business Development Podcast.