What If Your Next Breakthrough Starts With One Call, with Jaclyn Strominger

Plateaus are sneaky. One day the business feels like it is climbing, and the next day it feels like you are repeating the same week on loop with the same revenue, the same bottlenecks, and the same “busy” calendar. We sit down with Jaclyn Strominger to talk about how leaders and business owners break that pattern with clarity, courage, and a simple discipline that keeps you moving forward.

We dig into her “Measure Monitor And Adjust” framework for business growth: revisit your vision and mission, check whether your “why” has changed, and then test small shifts instead of blowing everything up. We also get practical about career development and leadership coaching, including why you should tell your leaders where you want to go and how to use informational interviews to learn the real path to the role you want. If you are tired of sending applications into the void, this part will hit home.

Then we get into relationship capital and networking strategy. We talk about choosing the right rooms, building trust the long way, and why authentic selling always beats clever scripts. Jaclyn also shares her Relationship Capital ROI Challenge and how it helps you identify who to connect with and what to connect around so relationships actually produce results. If you want better sales, better opportunities, and a calendar that matches your priorities, you will leave with a plan.

Subscribe to the Commission Code Podcast, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review so more business owners can find it. What is the one relationship or room you need to change next?

Transcript

sk For What You Want

SPEAKER_02 0:42

One of the things that we need to always be doing with the people that are above that are leading us, we need to share with them where we want to go. Go pick up the phone. And yeah, I know we all have these cell phones. Use it. Right? Pick, make a phone call. Send a handwritten letter to somebody who has the position you want, maybe at another company, and say, Can I get an informational interview? I would love to talk to you. I'd like to have your job one day. Maybe not at your company, but I'd like to know how you got there. But be honest.

eet Jaclyn Strominger

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Welcome again to the Commission Code Podcast. We appreciate you taking the time to listen and join us here today. We're here to help you increase your business revenue and have time to enjoy it. I'm your host, Maurice Sims, and I've been consulting and training business people for, well, let's just say over 40 years. We're focused on increasing revenue and having time to enjoy it. After years as a professional salesperson, I spent 32 years in the corporate world. I retired as Vice President and Chief Learning Officer of the Sales Department of a large insurance company where we designed and built and delivered training for over 12,000 professional salespeople. Now I get to consult one-on-one, helping people grow their business and organize themselves to make the most of the time they have. We also build online courses to support business owners in their work as they strive to build the business that they've always wanted. Our objective is really very simple. It's this we're here to help you get what you want from your business and your life. So right now, let's get on with this episode. No, we're not, but we could go for two or three hours, I think, just looking at uh looking at Jacqueline's uh list of what she does and what she believes in. And I can't wait for her to share that with you. Jaclyn, thanks for being here. Tell us a little about you.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Well, first of all, thank you, Morris, for having me on on the podcast. Um, so a little bit about me. So um I am a native East Coaster uh and I live in Reno, Nevada. That might tell you a little bit. And I have spent uh my early part of my career in magazine publishing, and then I got into entrepreneurship and building businesses, and I just love it. But some of the things that I have learned along the way, I love to share. So I love um talking about leadership because when I was in magazine publishing, I had some of the worst leaders there were known to mankind. That means you learned a lot. I learned a ton. I learned about all the things you should never do and all the things that would be right to do. And it's funny because I want to tell you, I worked on two different, I worked in, you know, magazine publishing. Think about this. Success magazine was one of them. Funny, because they obviously didn't read it. And the other was Fast Company. Again, not red. I mean, they didn't, you know, I was on the business side, not on the magazine, not on the editorial side. So the business side was one thing. Editorial is very different. Um, I'm a very big believer in church and state when it comes to magazine publishing. So I some again, no offense to anybody that is in any of these uh local publications now, but I truly believe advertising is advertising, editorial is editorial, and the two do not cross over. That is just church and state for me. But uh leadership is a big part of my core and having great leaders. I really feel like if we could, if the world was made of amazing leaders or their leadership in learned, it's a learned thing. If we had great leaders in all these amazing companies, people would not be running out of the buildings and screaming, I gotta get out. They would actually want to be going into companies. And being an entrepreneur and having different businesses, I have learned a lot of great things about everything from sales to what I call relationship capital, building the right relationships, you know, to authentic leadership. So my whole life, everything is, you know, is that building block on each other. And I just love being able to offer my experience to others so that they can create great leaps.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Okay. Now I I have to divert away from from our purpose here and just ask a couple of personal questions.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

While you were at Success, did you meet Darren Hardy? Was he the editor and publisher at that point?

SPEAKER_02 5:38

No, Darren Hardy was not the editor in chief at the time. I was there before him at the time. Um, so I actually I'm gonna date myself here, so please people don't do the math. My that was Success Magazine was my first publication that I ever worked on when I got out of college in 1990. Scott DeGarmo was the publisher, was the editor in chief. I don't actually remember who the publisher was. Somebody, well, I think it was Dale Lang or Dave Lang, or but it was Lang Communication was the m was the publication company. But it was Scott DeGarmo was the editor-in-chief, and he did a great job. I was like the beginning of it.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Well, you're too you're too young to have met Og Mandino then.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Yeah, I was not there.

reaking The Business Plateau

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I got to meet Og when I was uh working in Little Rock. He spoke at uh a college, uh Harding College, not too far out of Little Rock, and I got to actually meet him, and he was able to sign my copy of uh The Greatest Salesman. So that's my claim to fame. That's the one claim to fame I've got. That's a good claim. Yeah, yeah, that'll work. That'll work. Yeah, Success and Fast Company are two of my favorites. So uh so those are those are good publications for sure. I I like to say that Darren was the guy that brought Success Magazine from Failure Back to Success. Um, because it wasn't doing so hot until he came in and then it seems to be doing pretty well now. Anyway, back to the real world.

unknown 7:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

When you're working with business owners, Jacqueline, do you find that sometimes many of us wind up on a plateau and we can't seem to get off of it? And it seems like the same old thing all the time.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Yeah, I would totally agree with you. There is and I think that's it's it's an it's the it's par for the course. You know, we we're going along in our business and we're always we're we have this trajectory. And again, the trajectory is never a straight line. So don't ever think that the straight that it's it's this, it's never that straight line. If you know, it's a roller coaster, it's it's uh ups and downs, you know, it's the spinning wheel, you know, depending upon which way you go, it could be spinning, it could be up and down. But as as business owners and as leaders, we reach this point where where we get to we think where we want to go. And we've kind of hit this flat plateau. And that's where we need to take a step back and do what I love to say, MMA. We need to measure, monitor, and adjust. We need to look at our our values, we look at need to look at our vision and our mission. And we need to re rewrite it. You know, I had a uh a client on uh call the other day and super excited because he set his goal for, you know, he met his 2030 goal. So he said, Yep, I might met my 2030 goal, I'm super excited. And I looked at him, I go, so that's not your 2030 goal. He looked at me and he goes, What? I go, Well, that's not your 2030 goal. We need to measure, monitor, and adjust. So if you hit X, you don't want to just stay where you are until 2020 2030. Right? If you're making, let's say, 200, you don't want do you want to stay making 200 until 2030? I don't think so. So what's that new goal gonna be? And if you hit it faster, okay, then we need to do the multiplication on what that growth was. And let's say your growth was 10%. Well, I'm gonna say go 20. Yeah, go big. What's the biggest goal that you can go after? Right. So we we are always looking, and it's it's funny. And I'm gonna tell you one of the biggest things. I did this myself, I hit this myself. You know, you get out of college or you get that first job and you get you hit that X number, whatever, or title, whatever it is, and you're like, yes, I've gotten there. And then you forget to go, what's next? So you always have to be thinking about the what's next. Where do you want to keep going? Because if we're not thinking about what's next, guess what? Again, you're gonna get stagnant, you're not gonna be learning. Where do you want to challenge yourself? What is the what is that one or two things that you want to do to push the needle a little bit more?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Oh yeah, yeah. I I can oh, I can relate to that. And all throughout my career, it's always been okay, I'm doing really well here. Now, what if I were to get this position or that position? And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I wanted one real bad in our our regional office, and uh finally a few months later, the one of the cooks and bottle washers came in and I said, you know, I know you guys hired so-and-so. Could you just tell me so that I can learn something? Why wasn't I considered? And the guy said, Marsh, you're too good at what you do, and you wouldn't want to take a cut and pay. Okay, good reason. Right, right, right. And within and within a year, I was there in an officer position doing uh doing what I really love to do. So sometimes I I just have to realize the good Lord puts us in the right place at the right time sometimes. But you got to be thinking about what's coming down the pike for you and what you want it to be, because when you stop, when you think I've arrived, that's when things start going backwards. If you're not growing, you're going backwards. There is no standing still, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:22

And the the one of the things that I think that what you just said is when you asked why you didn't get it, I would also they say, say one of the things that we need to always be doing with the people that are above that are leading us, we need to share with them where we want to go.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Yes, like so. You need to so and I would say to you again, and this is why I always kind of thought that some of the leaders in the companies that I happened to work at initially when I first got out of college never asked. Never asked. And even if I said this is what I wanted, there was a lot back then, at least for for me, people were like I always felt I was being held back because they were like, Oh, we want you here because we don't want to see you leave. Right. I wanted to grow, I wanted bigger, I wanted the corner office with you know, and I wanted to know how to get there. Like, show me how. And so you need to be sharing and asking the people who are in your company or you're leading how you can get there. And if they're not going to show you or help you do it, well, shame on them, but then go pick up the phone. And yeah, I know we all have these cell phones, use it, right? Pick, make a phone call, send a handwritten letter to somebody who has the position you want, maybe at another company, and say, Can I get an informational interview? I would love to talk to you. I'd like to have your job one day, maybe not in your company, but I'd like to know how you got there. But be honest. Honesty is like the best and flatter the person. People are flattered to say, you know what, you have done an amazing job. I've watched your career. I'm excited to see all your moves. And I would love to learn from you. Could we have can I get a little info? You know, can I get half an hour of your time? Couple of questions. Can I buy you a cup of coffee? Right?

SPEAKER_00 13:30

I love it. What a great idea. What an absolutely great idea. Because you gotta you gotta let the folks know because when when I was in that leadership position, yeah, I wanted to keep my team. I wanted to keep my team. But if they told me I really want to go do this, this, and this in my career, then I could focus on trying to help them develop to get to that point. I think it was Warren Bennis that said as a leader, our our number one uh responsibility is to develop the people in our team, develop the people that we lead. Because if we're not doing that, then nothing else matters. So uh I agree with you wholeheartedly there, and I think it's it's vitally important that you let it be known that, hey, I'm not, you know, and it's not I want a promotion. It's I want this additional responsibility.

unknown 14:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

I want this this career, I want this future for myself and my family. Uh, it's not how do I get promoted? That was that was the one question that I would just about jump on a soapbox and spend 10 minutes talking about why that was the wrong question and the wrong focus. Uh, because it's not a it's not about somebody else giving you a promotion, it's about you earning another another set of responsibilities. Yeah, which I think is key.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

I think sorry for interrupting, but there's like here, a cute, a key distinction. It's like J O B versus career.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Right? So and I and if any of the listeners are looking for a new career, take the advice that I just said and go have informational interviews. I'm sorry when I'm I'm gonna get on my soapbox here for a second, but if but if I hear more people complaining about going after positions and companies than they're putting all this sending thousands and thousands and thousands of letters on, you know, and emails and whatever through name your job board place. I want to just gag me with the pitchfork, go after what you want. Use your phone. If you need to send a dozen roses to the hiring person or to the person that you want to work for, or the company that you want to be at, or maybe it's just come up with something that's unique and different that is going to set you apart from everybody else. And if you need help doing it, dude, please do me a favor, give me a phone call. But don't just send everything through the job boards. Find the companies that you like because you like them, you like their values, you like what they do. You would be proud to be part of that company.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Yeah, and it's it it doesn't have to be what you're doing right now. You know, whatever you're doing right now is what where you are, okay? But where do you want to go? Right. Where do you want to go? Well, I don't know that there's an opportunity out there like that. Well, I don't care whether you know it or not, because it's out there, you got to decide what you want first. Call it the clarity principle. I got a name, I got a name for everything, Jacqueline. And you know, if you're not clear about what you want, why you want it, and how you're gonna get there, then you ain't going nowhere. Right. You're gonna sit there for a long time and be very unhappy. So it it really comes back down to what do I want now? Let me see how I can go get it. And it's and what I want is not, oh, I want to make more money. What I want is gotta be this gotta be deeper, it's gotta be here. Yeah, exactly. It's gotta come in. You guys can't see it, but we're both beating our chest. It's gotta come from your heart.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

Right. I know it's like maybe on the camera, you're like, it's right here. Oh, you can't see it. It's my heart. I'm tapping it. Maybe you can hear that. It's my heart beating. But but but how does how is anybody gonna know you exist? I'm sorry. All the things that you can put down on paper, the things that you can spin, I mean, everything is, I mean, God, you know, and I'm not to bring up the topic, but AI, right? Like so, so much, you know, is AI, AI, I, you know, AI. Go away from the no the what everybody else is doing and do something a little different, but you also have to know that whatever you're doing right this second, whatever that is, it is applicable to so many other places. Oh, yeah. You just have to learn how to take with what you do and share it with different words into a new opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Isn't that the truth? It's it really comes back down to to what you want, why you want it, and how you're gonna get there. And that why, you're right, it's gotta come from your heart. That why has got to be wrapped in passion and fueled with emotion.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Uh it's it's just if it's not, it's it's being authentic, isn't it? You mentioned honesty. It's it's being authentic and being yourself. Uh, because I don't know about you, but I can read right through somebody that's trying to play a game.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Oh, can it's it becomes quite clear when you can when somebody is not speaking from their heart. And the thing is, you know, we don't have to be able, we don't have to offer, you know, just talking about jobs. It's not you don't have to think about a hundred percent of the things that they are putting out on that requirement. The biggest thing is is the match. Are you the right fit for the company? If you're in sales, are you the right fit for that client? Right? No like trust, you're here a thousand and one times, but start building that relationship. Maybe it's the maybe it's with the new person that you want to have a job from. Maybe it's not the job that you're gonna get right this second or the you know, a step into a new career. But if you start building that relationship, same thing with a client when you're in sales, you know, what are those things that you can share so that, you know, think of the long game, not the short game. Yes, each and every one of us will always have a quota, but you have to think, okay, so today is day one and you've got you've got a clean slate, you might not close something for 90 days, but you need to be working on those relationships so that, you know, it's those little bits of time, right? So Darren Hardy talks about it, the compound effect, right? What are those little steps that you can take every single day to move the needle so that you can keep building the relationships so that, you know, in six months, in nine months, in a year, a year and a half, your sales are going to be going in because you've consistently been reaching and connecting.

ow To Measure Monitor Adjust

SPEAKER_00 20:55

And then absolutely, I mean, there's no doubt about it. It it all comes from the beginning. Uh, guest I had just recently talked about being at the top of the funnel. I don't particularly like to talk about funnels, but the the fact is it's the beginning of the relationship. And you gotta have a lot of beginnings of relationships in order for the one that's gonna make a difference to happen. And if you're not out there talking to people and and putting yourself out there to to meet new people, it ain't gonna happen in sales or in trying to build your career. It it all comes back down to relationships, and that's authenticity and sincerity. Right. It's yeah, yeah. I mean, it's just it it really does. It comes right back down to it because without that, yeah, well, nothing else matters, it's just the way it goes. Jacqueline, when you get that person that's on that plateau and they're running a business, you gotta stop and rethink. As you said, you're you gotta measure, monitor, and adjust. I think that's absolutely critical. How do you do that?

SPEAKER_02 22:04

How do you measure, monitor, and adjust? There's a couple different ways you can do that. Well, number one, I always like to say go back to what you want and your vision. Look at that why, right? Look at what you're doing. Let's figure out because we're gonna have to adjust that needle, right? If you're at that plateau, you hit there. Now, where do you want to go? What's that next place? So we want to re cra recreate and craft our vision and our mission. Your why might change too. Your why may have been before that you were doing something for you know to. Get your family to a certain place and to have X or Y. Maybe it's your family, is your family is your biggest Y. Well, maybe now your kids are grown and they're out of and they're off out of the house. Maybe your Y's changed. So we need to rethink the why, look at that vision and our mission. And then we have to look at the daily activities that you are doing. What actions are you taking to move forward in that vision and mission? If you're running a company, where do you want that company to go? If you have a team, where is that team going? When you're running a team, you also need to think about the people that are on your team. Where do they want to go? What's their vision and mission? So we want to be measuring what our actions are, monitoring them, you know, so if I if I have X number of meetings, what am I getting out of it? Have I had some results? Have I not had results? What's my message? What am I saying? What might I need to change or tweak so that I can move the needle and adjust, right? So, you know, I think about it from the standpoint of, you know, I spent years in consumer marketing and magazine publishing. So think of it as what's my control? I got a control package. It has been doing great for years. And then it hits a plateau. It stops working. So what do I need to do? Well, I need to change something. Well, I can't change everything all at once. I need to test a couple of things first. So maybe I'm changing the headline.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

And maybe I change the price. Test two things against your control.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

It it makes all the sense in the world. I mean, it's the same thing you uh we used to do in engineering, running a chemical plant. You it ain't coming out right, so we're gonna tweak this one over here and see what changes, then we're gonna tweak that one and see what changes, and eventually you're gonna narrow down by progressive uh estimation, you're gonna narrow it down to uh what you need to have happen. And it it's it comes back to running a business in the same way. But you can't do this while you're working in the business, can you? I mean, you gotta stop and take some time to really give this some thought and and you dig into it, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Well, you can be in the business, but you have to step away and take take yourself out of it. You know, you could be, you have to literally say to yourself, you know, this is my day-to-day, but uh you can't do the work while you're in the office, so to speak, while you're in the throws. You do need to take a step out and go and say, you know what, I'm gonna take a day. I want to take a day to, for lack of better word, recalibrate. And please don't do this on vacation.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

No, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Like vacations for vacation, but this is a day that you need to take for yourself gut outside of your office, change your surroundings, go to a different scenario, go just change your environment. It is so crucial.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Oh, I think so too. It did even if that's even if that's okay, I'm gonna take a personal day tomorrow, and you know, family, everybody else, y'all do your thing. But from X to Y, I'm gonna go to the library and find me a corner somewhere and a bunch of paper and a pen and start brainstorming and thinking through what I where I am, where I want to go, and how I'm gonna get there.

e The CEO Of Yourself

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Yep. And and so we need to, you know, I love I love, you know, when companies have, you know, off sites, right? And they can do things as a team and think about where they want to go. But each and every one of us also needs to take the time to do that for ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

So you, you know, and it's you don't have to make your vision board, you know, in December or January. You can make a vision board anytime you want, right? So it doesn't have to just be at that one set time of the year. You know, depending upon your faith, sometimes there's times of rebirth. So, right, so depending upon that is, maybe it's then. I tend to do a lot of that in the in September. But one of the big things it is, it's removing yourself from that situation and removing yourself from where you are right now. And actually, I love taking the time to get into nature. Like, even if you decide to take a walk, like go for a hike, go to the beach, be in nature, have your, you know, get your feet or your hands in the sand on the earth, and it's amazing what that will do. And then go sit and figure out where you want to go. Where what's next for you? Think about the places you want to travel. You know, whether you are somebody who likes to go to different countries, maybe you want to go to every single different state, which in some places like going to different countries.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Just saying. Hey, now wait a minute there. I was born and raised in Alabama, and I'm telling you, we are a different country. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I love Alabama. We grew up here and loved it. Anyway.

SPEAKER_02 28:32

But it's but figure out what you know, it's not just your it's not just where you are in business, where do you want to be in life, right? Right. And I and I always like to say, you know, each and every one of us, and I've used this phrase quite a bit, needs to be the CEO of ourselves. You need to be the CEO of you, right? So how do you do that? You have to think about where do you want to be five years, ten years, where do you want to travel? What's on your list of things that you want to see in this world? Make that list. What are the things that you want to do that maybe to make an impact? Maybe you want to go do some charity event or do something in I don't know, Peru. I don't know. Maybe it's maybe it's a charity event. I'm a cyclist and I like to ride. So I sometimes I like to think about okay, well, what charity ride can I do that can raise money for a cause that's near and dear to my heart? You know, yeah, and bonus, I get to exercise, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:47

Well, it's it one of my athletic heroes is Bo Jackson, because I'm an Auburn man and Bo turned us around. But the the the thing that Bo has done has become a bazillionaire being a professional athlete, but he's also become a businessman. And when there were terrible, terrible tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, which is where that other university is, uh he started a bike ride called Bo Bikes Bama. And to this day, they still run that bike ride, and he rides in it every time, and he does it solely for charity to raise money for people who need help for whatever disaster or whatever thing is coming along. And golly gee, whiz the group of the the huge group of people on bicycles riding across Alabama for Bow Bikes, Bama is is uh just incredible. Just absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

I love that. I love being able to do something, like think about how you want to give back and the impact that you want to you want to make, you know, both for you know, in your in the team that you're running, your family, how they see you. It really matters how you show up every day matters when people see you.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

And how do you, you know, so funny. I actually um shared something the other day or posed the question, how do you show up when you're under stress and or making decisions? Right? So how are you when you're doing that? Are you anxious? Are you the angry kind, or do you just do you get consensus and ask people around you? You know, are you the it's my my way or the highway, or you're gonna look at your team and or the people that are around you, like who's who's in that circle and say, hey, I've got this decision to make. I need some input.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

And you and you have to do that sincerely, yes. Uh, and and it has to come from an authentic kind of a place. I had a guy who worked with me for a while, and we'd be in a meeting, and uh, some question would come up and he'd say, Well, I don't want to tell you what I'm thinking because I don't want to influence you. So you guys do your thing and then I'll tell you what I think. And it was all about him, it had nothing to do with trying to make the the decision better or make the team better. Pardon me. It was all about I'm so good, I've got the answer, but I'm not gonna tell you what it is because I want to hear what you think.

ime Control Through Calendar Decisions

SPEAKER_02 32:20

And I will tell you, I yeah, that right. It makes you it makes you kind of be like, oh my god, that's like it's it's like the nails on the chalkboard. You want to like smack it, right? Yes, and that's something that can be learned. And I'm you know, right? Like you can somebody needs to call it out and say, you know, it could be like somebody saying, Hey Morris, you know, guess what? Uh you know, thank you so much, but that's not really authentic. Or you kind of like, hey, you know, Morris, you're full of it because you don't really care what our opinions are, so why you even bother asking?

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Like, but how again, and it takes courage to do that, but the person who can do that, it's all the better. And if it got it, if you ever lose your job because of it, be thankful, right? Because you don't want to be part of a team where that is in play.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Totally, totally, it's just incredible. Jacqueline, I want to ask you this before we run out of out of time here. When it comes to managing yourself, to being the CEO of yourself, it also comes down to what are you going to do to spend your time? How do you help folks get a con get get some control over themselves so that they can spend their time more effectively and efficiently?

SPEAKER_02 33:35

I put them in a straitjacket. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

That's a good idea. No, I like that idea. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

You know, um, one of the biggest things that we that I do with my clients, I do a couple things. Number one is we we do the matrix. Um, lots of people have called it different things, but look at your calendar and we need to look at your values and your vision and what you're where you're going and what your goals are, and not again goals. We're not talking um, you know, New Year's resolutions, but we're talking goals, and and you can't have too many. Each year you have to kind of set out a cut like two, pick two big ones.

SPEAKER_03 34:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Because two, you can't change everything. Look at your calendar, and we need to decide is what is on your calendar actually moving you towards the things that matter, or are they busy work? Is it just is it an income producing, goal producing activity, or are you just cleaning your office? Right? So we need to we need to take a hard look at that. You have to and and you have to evaluate those things with yes, this is something that is going to help me move the needle. This is something that I can delay, this is something that I could delegate, this is something that just does not belong at all, and I'm just gonna ditch it. So do delegate, delay, or ditch, right? So I love those that whole, you know, the four D's. The other thing is is is we also have to look, and and this, and we talked a little bit about this before we were we before we started recording, is is networking, because networking and the rooms that you're in can be a humongous, huge, huge access to greatness or it can be access to time suck.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

Right. So I actually have uh a room matrix that we that we work through that helps people look at what the rooms they're walking into to analyze if it's a great of it's a great place to be or not a great place to be. Because time is as as we have shared, we all have the same amount of time. Last time I checked, there's only 24 hours in the day. The only time you can actually get time back is if you fly from the East Coast, West Coast, just letting you know. That's the only time you can get time back. Right? But you lose it on the way, so you kind of it's not really it's not really gained, it's just um you're not always moving. I guess if you always kept taking planes going west, right? But we don't get we all have the same 24 hours in a day. So the question is, how are you going to use that time? And if you're going to a networking event or an association, or you've paid money to attend something, whatever it is that you're spending your time on, we need to look at the matrix and say, I mean, is this the right place for me to be? Is it the place where I'm going to meet the right people? And what are those right people? They're potential clients, their potential partners, or their potential advisors. And when I say advisors, I mean people that you can mastermind with, the people that you could have, you know, at the seat of the table, your board of advisors, you know, because you do need to have a few people that you can pick up the phone and say, hey, Morris, I'm doing this. What do you think about it? Right? So you need those people too. So, you know, and if it's for fun, great. That's a place too. But if we're talking business, you need to ask those questions and if it's the right place. And if it's not, and you've got five business colleagues that are going there, or five people that you know that are that you're friends with that are going to that event, and you're like, oh, I should go, I'm gonna miss out. Well, what are you missing out on? Are you missing out on the social part of it, or are you missing out on the business part of it? Is it the fear of missing out on the being in the room with your friends and having cocktails? Or could you be spending that time at home picking up a book and reading something that you need to that's going to actually help you move the needle? Or maybe you're gonna get a better night's sleep because you know that you're gonna get up super early to do X, Y, or Z. So you really need to weigh the time that you are spending.

elationship Capital And Authentic Selling

SPEAKER_00 38:19

Isn't that the truth? I mean, it just it really boils down to that. And it also boils down, I think, to pardon me, building the relationships and and building that relationship capital. I think that's a phrase you you use, and I have to agree with it wholeheartedly. If if in sales, in in corporate business, in whatever business you're in, it's gonna boil down to authentic, true, sincere relationships, not just I'm gonna go say the right things, and I've got these techniques I'm gonna use, and I'm gonna, yeah, no, it comes down to being able to know, like, and trust. And you need to be able to know, like, and trust the people that you're talking with, and they need to know, like, and trust you. So it it really comes down to building those relationships. And I know you've got a challenge coming up on that, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Yes, I do. It is called the Relationship Capital ROI Challenge, and it is seven days, and it is going to take you from where you are right now to really building out that relationships, making sure you're in the right rooms. We're gonna even look at a little bit of messaging. But when you're done with those seven days, you're gonna know where you need to go, who you need to connect with, what you need to be connecting on, and you're gonna be off and running.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

I love it. I love it. It is like a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_02 39:49

It's right, it's all about the ROI. We need to make sure that where we are going is going to generate, and ROI is not just I always have to say this ROI is not always about the the sales you're gonna get, it's about the connections that you're making. And I actually came up with this relationship capital equation. So relationship capital equals the contacts in the in the room times you know the number of people into the sixth degree. So if you think of it like this, if you walk into a room, a lot of people think if I walk into a room, there's 200 people in the room, that's 200 opportunities. Nope.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

A lot more than that.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

It's a lot more than that. It's 200 times the sixth degree. Because each and every one of those people, I mean, think about it, every single person, you know, has about 500 connections, probably 240 are that are really good, that they really can pick up the phone. So it's that one person times the 240 to the sixth degree, because those 240 people know 240 people, right? Know that. So don't do all to 240 because then you're gonna be like, oh my god, I know the whole world. But if you take it to the sixth degree, so that you know, it's the person times their connections to the sixth degree, and you never know how many, you know, you never know what connection is going to be the connection that's gonna change your business, right? Yeah, but it also needs to be that you need to get into the right room.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Absolutely. Pardon me, and that could come from being involved in uh in church, could be come from being involved in business, could be involved in your kids' school, you know, or or whatever community activity you're in, those can all be those rooms where you can meet people and build some relationship capital. Seems to me at least. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_02 41:58

I would agree. The biggest thing is how you treat the relationship when you're in the room, right? You don't want to go to your kids' soccer match trying to sell your other parent on your insurance policy. Uh you know, like hey, by the way, your son just fell. I got I could have given you some insurance, so he would you wouldn't have to pay for the hospital bill, whatever it is, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:21

And we got a duck over here that'll talk to you as well. Yeah, right. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

So you don't want to be you don't want to be quote unquote selling, but you want to be built building relationships. So you have to be able to think about the questions that I know this sounds kind of funny because people like people think, well, you know, it's like making friends. It is making friends. It is it is you also have to be interested, you have to ask questions, you know, you have to ask questions. It's not just about like, hi, hi, my name is Jacqueline. Hi, Morris, what do you do for a living? No, like, hey Morris, you look, you know, you're you're in Texas. How do you deal with the hail?

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

I mean, you know, or I just heard that there was blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

Right. So start exactly. It's about being authentic and sincere and sincerely caring about what what that other person wants, needs, and desires. And that's uh that's where it comes back in sales and in business and in leadership. You've got to care about what that other person has in sales. I'm here to help you get what you want. I'm uh if I walk in with any other mindset, if I walk in with the mindset that uh the mortgage is due, and I'm not sure how we're gonna be able to cover it this month because I got to make some more sales here. I hope this one's gonna come through. Let me see what I can do. Well, it ain't gonna work. You've got to be there for that other person. You're there to add value, they're to there to provide a service and to serve that other person to help them get what they want. And if you if your mindset's anything else when you walk in the door, they're gonna see it, and chances are you're not gonna walk out of there with a relationship where they've chosen to buy your product or service.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

Yeah. So what you just said about a mortgage, okay. So I I would pardon me if my made a face, think you know, maybe y'all can't see it. But one of my very first when I went from uh consumer marketing, I moved moved into sales. And I'm gonna cringe. This is so cringy. I worked for a gentleman. Um, he was the Senior VP, I don't even know, whatever his title is, doesn't really matter. And I'm VP of sales for this company, and we're at this, we walk in, and he said this so many times. I just I cringed every time I try to tell him to zip it and not say this. He would say, So we're, you know, he ended up saying, you know, so what's what's next for us, you know, because you know, I do have a mortgage to pay for. I obviously like, oh, you didn't just say that.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

It's not all about you, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

Right. He's like, I'm like, no, you won't. Oh, if it's and if you imagine we we didn't get those deals. Imagine that.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

Yeah. And I I had a uh friend of mine that was a manager of salespeople, and he would he would tell him, he said, Look, I get paid this way, and if you're not doing this, that, and the other, I'm not gonna get paid. And I finally took him off to the side and and I said, dude, stop. They don't care whether you're getting paid, they care about they're getting paid, and they care about taking care of their family. You need to get interested in them and their family and not in whether or not they've made a sale. You need to be there to help them learn how to create an environment so that people will buy.

unknown 45:58

Right.

elationship Capital ROI Challenge Invite

SPEAKER_00 45:59

Because last time I checked, Jacqueline, I can't make you buy anything. All I can do is create an environment and help you solve a problem. And if I can do that, then chances are really good that you're going to choose to purchase whatever it is I'm selling.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

Right. Right. It's about, you know, if I can help make your life a little easier because of what I offer I'm offering, or maybe it's a great something for your customers that they're gonna look at your business and be like, oh my god, I love their business. And we helped do that.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

Nothing better.

SPEAKER_02 46:41

I'm smiling. Yeah, smiling not because I'm going to the bank, I'm smiling because I made you look good. I made your customers happy.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Absolutely. No doubt about it. No doubt about it. Jacqueline, how do we find out about your challenge and become a part of that?

inal Takeaways And Closing

SPEAKER_02 46:58

So if you are interested in learning about that challenge, you can go to my website, go to Jacquelynstrominger.com. And I know I'm gonna spell it for you because my name is not easy. It's J-A-C-L-Y-N. S isn't Sam, T is in Tom, R-O-M-I-N-G-E-R, Jacquelynstrominger.com, and click on contact and then in the message say challenge. Or you can just go to LinkedIn and find me there too, and just say challenge.

SPEAKER_00 47:31

Jacquelynstrominger.com challenge. That sounds great. Jacqueline, this has been fun. Thank you so much for being on the commission code today.

SPEAKER_02 47:39

Thank you, Morris, for having me. This has been a ton of fun.

SPEAKER_00 47:48

Well, that does it for this episode of the Commission Code Podcast. This is the place where we want to help you find the commission code to success in your business. Remember, go to Morris Sims.com for more information. And in the meantime, hey, have a great week. Get out there and meet somebody new, and we'll see you again next time right here on the Commission Code. Best wishes, I'm Morris Sims.