Michael: All right, so tell me, what’s going on?

Carlin: Let’s see. I was kind of introduced to Jay Abraham via the Power Talk.

Michael: Through Anthony Robbins?

Carlin: From Anthony Robbins, correct, and that led me to want to look into furthering my education to marketing. So, I got on Jay Abraham’s website and I called, and they gave me what they feel is the best pathway, if you will, in reference to become a protégé on what he teaches.

So, they gave me, “The first thing you need to do is buy this book, and then you listen to these tapes, and then you read this book, and then you listen to these tapes, and then you listen to these tapes.” Basically, “and then go to these seminars.” They kind of laid it out for me.

I got your website from a friend of mine. He told me to check it out because you could get discounted tapes and materials. So, I went to your website and that’s kind of where we’re at.

I did want to tell you this. I am just now starting – I’ve been going to a professional development program called, “Selling Solutions.” It’s a franchise of Sandler Sales.

Michael: Okay, I’ve heard of Sandler.

Carlin: I’ve been doing that for about four years, and he’s asked me to become a partner with him. So, right now, I’m in outside sales selling technology products, software and hardware to manufacturing companies.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: And, I’m leaving that arena and I’m going to go into business with this other individual who’s doing business development. He’s really only focusing on sales training.

What I want to be able to do is offer my client another column of value added service and that’s in reference to helping them with marketing.

Michael: Oh yeah, that would be great. So, you’re definitely going to do this?

Carlin: Oh, yeah, it’s done.

Michael: It’s done.

Carlin: I’m going to do this.

Michael: So, now, what’s the franchise called?

Carlin: It’s called Selling Solutions.

Michael: So, you’re now part owner of a Selling Solutions franchise.

Carlin: Right, well I’ve got to tell you this also, just in case it changes anything. What I’m doing is tomorrow I’m incorporating my own business, and he is actually instead of me being an employee of Selling Solutions, he’s just going to pay my corporation.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: It’s kind of a partnership program anyway what we worked out.

Michael: And, you feel good about working with this partner?

Carlin: Oh, absolutely.

Michael: And, you trust him and everything.

Carlin: Oh, big time.

Michael: Okay, that sounds exciting. So, are you out there, have you done any of the selling of the training yet?

Carlin: The only thing I’ve done is helped him bring in a few companies. There’s probably five companies that I helped him bring in just from my referrals that I would give him, and then we’d follow up on them. I’d be like his inside sales champion to help him close the order.

Michael: What kind of money is there in selling that?

Carlin: Are you asking in reference to annual income?

Michael: No, just like when you get an account. What do you make on an account? How is it structured? Is everything different?

Carlin: Well, when you say what do you make as far as gross profit, I can tell you a typical sale would be – what you do is your clientele is a small to medium sized business and you really go after talking to the president. That’s who you want to get in front of, and then normally he’ll typically have two or more sales people, and the training is about ten grand per sales person. We also offer assessments of your current sales people, and offer service to where if someone is trying to hire a new salesperson that they take these assessment tests to determine if they’re a good hire for you.

Michael: So, the owner is going to pay you ten grand per salesperson who goes through the training?

Carlin: That’s correct.

Michael: And, how long is the training?

Carlin: It’s a year long.

Michael: Do they train out of their home office or do they go somewhere for the training?

Carlin: If we do a customized training in their office it’s a little bit more than that. The ten grand is for them to come to our training center and spend two hours a week at that training center for a period of one year.

Michael: Two hours a week they have to come to your training center?

Carlin: Right.

Michael: Okay, that sounds pretty good. Who’s doing the training, you and your partner?

Carlin: Right.

Michael: Okay, so you’re doing the training weekly. How many days a week are you doing trainings?

Carlin: Two, I think he just started three days a week as a matter of fact because there’s really two parts to the program. There’s a quick start which is a twelve week program that you could sell as a, what I would call a monkey’s paw. If somebody didn’t want to commit to the entire program, you could sell a lecture program. It’s a getting started program, if you will. That’s a twelve week, but then after that you graduate – if you pass that, you graduate into what they call the President’s Club which then lasts you for the rest of the year.

Michael: How much is the twelve week one?

Carlin: I think it’s six grand.

Michael: Six thousand?

Carlin: Yes, it’s a lot.

Michael: Let me ask you this, the franchise – how limited are you as far as your marketing and stuff? Does the franchise control everything you do? Do you have to get everything approved by them?

Carlin: That’s a really good question, and I think if you’re going to use Sandler in anywhere in it, or you’re going to draw a picture of any aspect of the Sandler franchise, you do need to work through them on it. I think, but I’m not positive. That’s a very good question. I’m just assuming that it would be like that.

Michael: Are you all operating under the name Sandler, or your name?

Carlin: Selling Solutions.

Michael: Selling Solutions, but it is a Sandler franchise.

Carlin: That is correct.

Michael: Do you pay a royalty to Sandler?

Carlin: Yes.

Michael: Okay, you pay a monthly franchise fee?

Carlin: Yes.

Michael: Can I ask how much that is?

Carlin: I’d have to look that up. I’m not sure.

Michael: Is it high?

Carlin: Not a lot.

Michael: It isn’t a lot?

Carlin: No.

Michael: What kind of percentage do you have to pay to them every month?

Carlin: I think it’s only $300 a month.

Michael: Okay, insignificant, not much.

Carlin: Pretty insignificant. Right, it’s like $50,000 for the franchise, and then they make money off of all the materials and things like that, but it’s pretty insignificant.

Michael: And, they provide all the sales and training materials.

Carlin: Correct.

Michael: And, you guys just follow their curriculum.

Carlin: Right. There’s also two partners in the business. There’s one called Sandler and there’s another one called objective management and that’s the one that’s all the web based sales assessments to where what they do is they take a – we match up a company let’s say an owner of a business, we ask the owner of the business to visit this website and answer these questions, and what he’s doing is creating a profile of his business and the ideal salesperson.

Then, when he gets a potential higher, he will ask the potential higher to go to the website and take this assessment test.

Michael: It’s like a personality type profile.

Carlin: Kind of, right, yes. It asks basic sales questions to see where the strengths and the weaknesses are, and then he gets a detailed report showing him strengths and weaknesses and whether he is a good hire or not.

Michael: Okay, this is this product that you can sell, correct?

Carlin: Correct.

Michael: What do you sell that for per person?

Carlin: That right there is $250 to take the test, and I think it’s $500. I haven’t started.

Michael: That’s okay, ballpark.

Carlin: It’s $500 for the owner to go online and create his personality profile.

Michael: Okay, I got you. That’s a nice back end. So, what does Abraham recommend you guys study?

Carlin: The path that they gave me was first read the “Getting Everything You Can” book which I’ve done that. Then, the said to get tapes on “How to Get From Where You are to Where You Want to Be”.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: Are you familiar with that?

Michael: Sure.

Carlin: And, then there’s I think there’s a book or a tape. There’s something Called, Mister X”.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: And, then “Marketing Edge Volume One”, and then “Mastermind of Marketing”.

Michael: And, then “Mastermind Marketing.” Those are all great products, and it’s a good recommendation. It will teach you how to think like Jay Abraham. There’s no doubt. I don’t know if you need all of it at once, but definitely – how do you like to learn? Are you a reader or an audio person or what?

Carlin: Probably audio more than read.

Michael: Do you have a tape player in your car?

Carlin: Yes, a CD player and a tape player in my car.

Michael: Is your partner interested in learning this too or just more you?

Carlin: He’s interested, but it’s definitely me driving it.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: Big time me, and that’s another reason why I kind of set up my own corporation so if he feels like that this is something he doesn’t want to do, that’s okay with me.

Michael: Now, does Sandler have a problem with you – this may be something you want to just check into just for your own sake – is Sandler, the franchise, going to restrict you from doing anything with your customers that you generate through their system? Do you have any idea?

Carlin: I don’t think so because – I can tell you the Objective Management is not part of Sandler, and I don’t see any restrictions for that.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: But, maybe – can I get you to elaborate a little bit on what you mean by restrict?

Michael: I’m just wondering. You really ought to read the small print in all these franchise agreements, and you’ve got to get that original franchise agreement. Just find out, is there anything in there restricting you from doing anything with a client that you generate through the Sandler system? Just to cover your butt. You just want to make sure.

Carlin: That’s very good advice.

Michael: Well, I think your idea is great because if you’re out there generating clients, sales training is definitely important. You can make some nice money on that, and the personality profiling and matching. I think that’s a good back-end also, but you’re smart into learning and trying to study and understand marketing because once you’ve got these business owners, and you’ve got them committing to sales training, once you start to understand this marketing stuff, you’ll be able to see hidden opportunities in their business that they have no idea exist that can make you ten, twenty, thirty times what you’re going to make off the training.

Carlin: That is exactly what I was thinking. When I was listening to the CDs and the tape, that is exactly what I was thinking. But, the biggest problem with the Sandler modler, the Sandler franchise model is the back-end is extremely weak.

With the marketing, once I get – not if – once I get where I want to be in the marketing, the back-end is just phenomenal.

Michael: It’s endless. You do one or two of these deals, you’re probably not even going to want to screw with the Sandler thing, and then you have your own corporation set up, and it will probably turn into – you can be a marketing consultant for them, and sales training. It doesn’t matter. You could offer both.

Carlin: I like the sales training and it’s nice and you get to work with people and work with them on an annual basis and help them achieve their goals professionally and personal. It’s kind of you get a little bit of life coaching in there with it, but I’ve got to figure out how to charge for that. I get a lot of fulfillment out of that.

Michael: Well, I can start you off slow. You don’t need to get all that stuff at once. You said you read the book. I think I’ve got even maybe some better recommendations for audio tapes to start out with. Do you have any idea of what kind of investment you’re looking at that you want to put into some educational materials to start you? You want to start off slow, $300, $400, $500, $1,000? If I can put together a very complete package for a thousand bucks worth of material. You’re going to save tons off of what you’re going to pay from Jay Abraham.

Carlin: No problem at all.

Michael: If you want me to put together a package for a thousand bucks, I’ll put you a package so complete you’ll never have to buy another piece of information on Jay Abraham marketing. You’ll have an encyclopedia of ideas written and audio and video.

Carlin: Great. That would be awesome. Let me ask you another question just thinking off the top of my head here. What if I’m in front of these clients? I’m green. I’ve listened to this tapes and stuff, but I’m green. It really takes experience. Is there anything that you can do, that you and I can work out in reference to saying, “You know, let me get this client to fill out this on this questionnaire if you will, how they go about the business?” Send, it up to you, and for some fee you look at it, and you and I get on the phone and you say, “Okay, Carlin, tell me what you think.” And, you and I bounce things off and obviously you need to get paid for all this.

Michael: I don’t mind that, but you’re going to be able to do it all yourself. I promise you. I’m going to give you in this package I’ve got two different products which will give you every single question that you need to ask. All you’ve got to do is take these questions, this series of questions which are the same questions which Jay Abraham would ask a potential client and you’re going to have the client do all the work.

I’m going to also provide you with some audio content that will blow you away. This is some interviews that I’ve done with marketing consultants, and I’ve got one in particular that will just – you will be drooling after you hear it. I promise you because you’re going to see how to be marketing consultant. I have an hour and a half conversation with a gentleman by the name of Richard I’ll hook you up with that a little later. I’ll put you in touch with the exact information, the step by step how to do it.

So, there’s two different things I’ll put in your package which will give you a detail questionnaire, that you’ll have the client fill out on their time, and it’s a process where you’re not going to be wasting your time in front of these clients. If the client wants to improve his marketing, he’s going to be doing all the work and I’m going to show you in this audio recording that will show you exactly how to qualify and have them qualify themselves step by step in doing this.

Once you see the answers to the questions that they fill out on their time, you’re going to know if it’s what we call a set-up. A set-up is a business you want to work with. The bottom line is you want to work with businesses that have a lot of customers, that have goodwill with their customers, that have poor advertising and marketing.

So, where you can step in and be able to see what they’re doing wrong and just change a couple little things that they’re not doing, that are almost effortless on your part, but once you get an agreement with them that you’re going to improve their sales through some of your marketing consulting, you just make those little tiny changes which could mean the world to their business and to your commissions for doing that for them.

Carlin: Heck, yeah.

Michael: You’re not going to be building companies. You’re not going to be working with start-ups. You only want to look for companies that have customers, that are generating sales, that have ongoing marketing, but you can identify some small things that they’re doing wrong or not doing at all that can make a big difference. Do you know what I’m saying?

I’ll have that questionnaire for you within the package that you can provide to them that will let them fill it out so you can identify if this is a business that you want to work with.

Carlin: That’s awesome.

Michael: But, I’m also, if you come to me and say, “Mike, here’s an interesting situation. We just sold some sales training to these guys. They’ve got X number of customers.” I would be glad – you can become my client. I’m here. You can call me. I’ll talk to you over the phone. I’ll give you my two cents worth and what I think about it, and I’ll do that for free. You can just tell me what’s going on and I’ll give you my advice.

Carlin: I’m like a self-improvement junkie from Tony Robbins to you name it so I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff not just in marketing that you can show me. Lead my way.

Michael: I’m the same way – Zig Zigler and Secrets of Closing the Sale and Brian Tracey and all that stuff.

Carlin: Anything and everything. I get up and run everyday. I have my CD player strapped to my waist as I go, and listen to the whole CD.

Michael: Let me tell you, this is the best stuff. When I was starting I thought sales was it, knowing how to sell, knowing how to be a professional salesman was where the power was. I didn’t really know marketing. I had never been exposed to it, but once I saw marketing you understand that you’re selling skills – it’s very vital. It’s the most important thing, but once you understand marketing that takes those selling skills and all the stuff you’ve learned how to sell and how to be a good salesman, how to close the sale, and how to establish rapport and all that. It shows you how to geometrically just multiply yourself.

You see, sales is the most important thing. You’ve got to know how to be a good salesman and if you can do that yourself and selling whatever product and service you have now that you have marketing, marketing is going to show you how to take that sales and leverage yourself and be able to duplicate yourself.

That’s all marketing is is getting your sales message, which you need that skill, multiplied out to as many people as possible with the least amount of effort for the lowest amount of cost. That’s whether you’re selling a product, a service, an idea or whatever.

That’s the most powerful stuff. That’s why I just focused and stayed with this marketing because there’s so much power with it compared to sales or NLP and all that stuff.

Carlin: Right, I’m definitely turned on by it, believe me, big time. I’m turned on by this stuff. I’m energized and ready to learn and ready to do whatever I’ve go to do. I mean, I’m at the point, I might as well say, “Hey you know of a good seminar or something” put that in there Carlin. Go through this material and I highly recommend you do this. There’s a seminar in Denver and it costs two grand, go to it.

Michael: Any idea is worth something. Now, I want you to understand your time is so valuable, and how old are you now?

Carlin: 37.

Michael: Are you married?

Carlin: Yes, sir.

Michael: Kids?

Carlin: No, kids, but that time clocks ticking.

Michael: Well, you’ll see, once you have kids you’re going to realize how valuable your time is, and you’re not going to want to be schlepping to seminars across the country, or flying and sitting in hotel rooms on uncomfortable chairs. You’re going to just want study on your own time.

Carlin: I have one more thing to ask. You might want to include some information on this if it’s not already in there. Another idea I’ve had for creating a website, something that I’ve been really good with, been doing for a lot of years that – especially my wife, but most of my friends also, they’re actually just bringing people to me. I’ve been doing it for free. It’s consulting people on how to interview and how to get the right mindset.

I’ve been really working with people – not the people that are making the six figures because they pretty well already know it. The people who are going for the $40,000 jobs that have never been taught – they’re not the type to listen to motivational tapes everyday. Do you know what I’m saying? Just helping them do interviews, and helping them do interviews at companies that’s interviewing them.

Let’s say my wife has a friend and she has an opportunity for a job.

Michael: You teach her how to interview when she goes on an interview.

Carlin: Exactly.

Michael: Okay.

Carlin: And, I’ve got a knack for doing that, and I’m like, “You know, I should figure out how to do a website, and capitalize on that.”

Michael: What you’re going to learn and what I teach a lot on my website and to my students is how to take your talents, like your knack of interviewing and how to create an information product that you can sell.

Jay Abraham’s marketing is nothing but information products. What are information products? There are information products on video. There are information products on audio, and there are information products packaged in all different ways, but it’s all information. You’re just getting in different methods because some people are more privy to reading. Some people like audio. Some people like video because everyone’s different, right?

So, that’s what he’s doing. He’s in the information products business. I teach people and what you’re talking about right now is and what you’re doing right now with your sales training is an information products business.

Now, you’re bringing these people every week to your training, right?

Carlin: Right.

Michael: Here’s one small thing you can do. You hire someone or get somebody in there with a video camera, and videotape your training, and then after a year you’ll have 52 videotapes of your trainings. Now, if you’re allowed to do this with Sandler, you’ve got an information product that you can sell to all those people that don’t want to show up to these classes on video.

Carlin: Right.

Michael: And, you can sell it on a website. You can sell it through direct mail. You can sell it anyway you want. You could also take the audio from the video and have it on audiotape. Then, you can take the transcript of everyone of the audiotapes in your training and have your written materials, just like Jay Abraham does, because it’s no different.

Now, you can sell it to anybody, anywhere in the world and you’re not limited by your geographical area of your franchise.

Carlin: That’s a very good point because I do remember thinking to myself when Jay Abraham actually said on the tape that he tapes a session with clients and then puts it on his website. He actually said that.

Michael: Well, I’m recording you, and this is going to become a product somewhere down the road. I’m capturing it forever, okay? If I choose to put this up on my website, if someone calls med own the road looking for advice on how to be a consultant, I can point them to this, and I’ve already spent the time on the phone with you, but I won’t ever have to do it again because I can direct them to our audio recording that lives on forever.

Carlin: That’s beautiful.

Michael: I’ll take the audio recording, I’ll send it to my typist, and I’ll have it transcribed, and then there’s downloadable transcripts. Now, I can take all my audio recordings where I’ve talked about joint ventures, yours and the one with Martin Howey that I’m going to send you soon, and the one with Bianca on joint venturing and the other three or four, and now I’ve got a tape set on joint ventures.

It’s just mixing and matching and creating products. You’re the boss. You just use your creativity and no matter what you do in your business, you should be capturing it on tape or on video. Then, you have just taken away your geographical restrictions of the franchise because you can sell now anywhere in the world. You just put them up, and what does it cost you to put it on audiotape, a dollar, video $1.50. It’s information.

People don’t have to show up to the class every week. When I hear that, that’s a big turn-off. Who’s got time? That’s like 52 weeks out of the year; they’ve got to go to class. That’s just painful. That’s like going to school again. Do you know what I’m saying?

Carlin: I hear you.

Michael: I’m sure most people don’t make it through the whole year.

Carlin: Oh, no.

Michael: They drop out, don’t they?

Carlin: Yes.

Michael: So, make it easy on them. Say, “Look, if you’ve got a family and busy and you’re working nights and you can’t make it.” You could say, “If you don’t make it one week.” As part of the service, you can offer the video tape of the training for an extra fee. That can be an upsell. Or they can have the whole class, the whole year’s training on video or audio or whatever they choose and you can sell that for five grand because that’s all Jay’s doing. He’s selling a seminar that’s already been, but he’s giving you the home study version, which is nothing but the audio and videotapes from the seminar.

Carlin: Right.

Michael: So, that’s how you leverage yourself.

Carlin: Well, fantastic. So, what’s the next step?

Michael: If you’ll trust me to put together a package for you for a thousand bucks, I will do. What I’ll do is I’ll give it a little thought and I’ll put together an email with a description of what you’ll be getting. I’m thinking of combining several seminars, videotape information, and if you like Tony Robbins, I’ve got these two videos called Optimization. It’s when Jay Abraham was at Tony Robbins’ Life Mastery Seminar, and he did this two and a half hour presentation to all his Life Mastery things on marketing. It’s a great primer. It’s a great thing to see how Jay thinks and you can see him talking. It was just one of those presentations that he captured when he was just at his best. He was like mobbed for hours after the presentation.

I’ll put together all the Jay Abraham you need.

Carlin: Cool.

Michael: Okay?

Carlin: And, anybody else. I totally trust you. Just send me an email, and I’m ready whenever.