Confident You NETWORK with Marion Swingler

FROM BAGGING GROCERIES TO MONEY MOGAL: The Art of Sales Alistair Edwards

• Marion Swingler • Episode 31

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From bagging groceries to coaching some of the sharpest minds in sales, Alistair Edwards' tale is one of true transformation. As we sit down with this powerhouse entrepreneur, he reveals the essential ingredients for customer satisfaction and the alchemy of turning passion into profit. Alistair opened up about his roots in Publix Supermarket, his pivotal venture with Legal Shield, and the creation of his brainchild, Stair Steps LLC. With anecdotes that echo his parents' wisdom and a spirit shaped by his mother's entrepreneurial fire, he imparts lessons in the fine dance of selling what customers truly desire, sprinkled with insights on the impact of net versus gross profit on a business's heartbeat.

Venturing into the world of leveraged income, our conversation with Alistair zigzags through the labyrinth of network marketing, where traditional employment is but a shadow. He spotlights the strength found in a product you believe in, the magnetic pull of passion, and a mission-driven mindset. In a particularly touching recount, Alistair shares an encounter with Sandra Bland's mother that underscores the sheer force of authenticity in sales. With humor as our guide, we switch gears to understand how the right branding—whether for legal services or the humble cookie—can charm the ideal clientele and solidify your market presence.

In our final chords, we harmonize the themes of personal branding, the art of presenting solutions, and the finesse of objection handling with Alistair's seasoned perspective. He showcases how Stair Steps LLC mentors aspiring sales virtuosos, focusing on honing a pitch that sings to the customer's needs. His reflections on the mentorship process are akin to the care of crafting an intricate tapestry, where every thread is a technique, an understanding, a connection to the audience. Whether you're seeking the crescendo in sales mastery or the quiet philanthropy of giving back, Alistair's story on our show is a symphony of strategies and soul.

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Speaker 1:

Hey, hey, welcome to Confident you Podcast. Hey there, Confident you, marian Swingler, here, honored for you to take the time to invest in yourself. Could you just let the people know who you are?

Speaker 2:

Well, most definitely Alistair Edwards. Humble background, right Born in England to Jamaican parents, the name Alistair simply means defender of man. Grew up in Jamaica till I was 14, moved to America. When I was yeah, right, at 14, moved to America and started a career with a grocery store chain public supermarket. Started bagging groceries and worked my way all the way up to management and ended up running some of their flagship stores. Did 27 years with them and then, part-time in 2003, started working with a company called Legal Shield where we do a legal and identity theft protection benefit that we provide as a service to people. And then, about seven years ago, started my own company, Stair Steps LLC, where we do sales training and coaching. And that's the quick version.

Speaker 1:

And that's the quick version. Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, boys and girls, he is very humble. Listen, I am talking to someone who actually has trained over 10,000 people and they have raised $12 million plus. You said humble beginnings. What do those look like for you? You know?

Speaker 2:

I'm blessed. I was blessed to be raised by both parents. My dad was a blue collar work, I would say. He was a general manager with Blue Mountain Coffee in Jamaica. My mom was an entrepreneur. That's where the entrepreneur spirit came from. She ran a variety craft shop in Jamaica. So from the age of I don't know four or five, six, I was behind the counter collecting money and doing customer service there on a daily basis.

Speaker 2:

And then we moved to America you know what I mean and my dad took on a job with the 7-Eleven Corporation and I remember he never had a college degree and so, even though he was very instrumental in making stores profitable, I remember him being broken because he was always held back from a promotion because they said well, you don't have a degree. You know that was their excuse for not promoting him. So they used his knowledge and his wealth to get success out of the stores but never gave him the opportunity to run his own store. And I remember that stuck out with me and it was very adamant for him, for me to get a college degree. He was like you're going to get a college degree. If nothing else, you're going to get a college degree. And so I did what he said. I went and got a college degree and ended up working 27 years with a great company, but as I wanted to move higher up, the college degree didn't help me there either. Right, I didn't know the right people. So, you know, it's just the way it was.

Speaker 2:

And that's when I came across Legal Shield, and it was an opportunity for me to make my own decisions, write my own schedule, and there was no cap as to how much I could make Right decisions. Write my own schedule, and there was no cap as to how much I could make Right, and there was no. It was all based on performance. So getting promoted or making more money was all based on performance. No one could stop me from being good at what it was.

Speaker 2:

If I chose to make a hundred thousand a year, I could. If I chose to make a million a year, I could Right. So it was just based on performance. And so that's why I've enjoyed that. And then seeing people struggle in sales is why I decided you know I definitely that's something I'm very good at I should teach it, I should coach it, and so I've done that, and so I've coached several people to our six figure income and and given them their time, freedom and residual income into their life, and so that's that's that's what I enjoy doing freedom and residual income into their life, and so that's what I enjoy doing, that's what you enjoy doing.

Speaker 1:

You started out at your mom's store, so you said that you were in sales I guess around three decades, but it sounds like it's been much longer than that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, it's just, you's just good. Customer service was what I was always taught. Take care of the customer, manage your books meaning know the difference between net profit and gross profit. People always say I've made X amount of dollars and then when you really take all the expenses about it, you realize they're in the hole. So it sounds good. But if you don't know the difference between net and gross, you know which is something we aren't taught in school. Really it can it can backfire on you. So that's one of the things we make sure people that are in my master class and training classes get is the fundamentals of understanding their what I call their profit and loss statement and how to increase sales to make sure that debt profit is bigger.

Speaker 1:

Okay, if there's one thing you can remember from working that counter as a child, that's carrying you right now. What is that? One piece of advice.

Speaker 2:

Always leave, Always have them leave as a happy customer.

Speaker 1:

How did you do that?

Speaker 2:

I always say to people never sell them what you want to sell them. Sell them what they want.

Speaker 1:

As a child. How old did you start working there? Six, seven, right. So as a kid, what does that look like? Because by six or seven, to me I don't feel as though you're tainted by the things that you get as you grow older going through the school system and just getting older. As you grow older, going through the school system and just getting older, I don't think you're as tainted so as a six and seven year old what was the thing that you would do.

Speaker 2:

It was more so watching the way my mother interacted with her customers you know what I mean and seeing how she was very careful about making sure that they got exactly what they needed. She was very careful about finalizing the sale making sure hey, so are you sure this is what you needed? Have we did everything correctly? So when they walked out, she knew they were a satisfied customer.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

And then, of course, transfer to working with public supermarkets and in management. You know, I'll never forget my best district manager told me he said Alistair, if the customer walks out unhappy, you might as well just walk out with them, because they're the ones that pay your check. So if we lost a happy customer, just know we lost a person, that's.

Speaker 1:

One second. Let me see what's going on. There you are. If we lost the customer, just know that.

Speaker 2:

We lost you.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So this is at a time where there was no social media, people weren't getting canceled, people weren't going on different sites and and just making comments on your service or the establishment that you worked in, and this was already in place as a mindset that if there's an unsatisfied customer, you might as well go with them. That's how much they valued their customers.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because the customer is the one that pays all the bills. We don't. Your customer pays your bills. It's the income that you receive from your customers that helps you pay for more marketing, more advertising, pays the salary of your employees, pays your light bills, pays your rent. If no one is coming into your store, your employees pays your light bills, pays your rent If no one is coming into your store, your establishment or you're not moving any of your product, your courses, your services, whatever it is you sell, whether it's a product or a service. If you're not constantly finding a happy customer, your business is about to crumble.

Speaker 1:

Your business is about to crumble. So the old saying, the customer is always right. Is that something that you would say that businesses should live by?

Speaker 2:

Most definitely.

Speaker 1:

The customer is to what extreme.

Speaker 2:

I mean as long as they're not coming in and disrespectful to you or being disrespectful to your associates. Other than that, if they're coming in there to make a purchase, you should make sure that they're getting what you promised you were going to deliver.

Speaker 1:

What have you seen in businesses that start and then businesses that are still going on? What do you see is the difference? Because I see a difference when people start a business and then, as people continue to go in business. Do you think that rule is still adhered to?

Speaker 2:

Well, think about it. If you think about, let's, let's name some brands Chick-fil-A, what do you think of?

Speaker 1:

Ah, my pleasure.

Speaker 2:

Public supermarkets Same thing Customer service Right. Public supermarkets Same thing Customer service Right. They're all customer service. All the companies that have been around for years, that have God knows how many franchises or locations across the country, why are they being able to open so many successful locations? Because in every single location there's a set system, there's a set standard of customer satisfaction. So, even if you're a small business, you can go into any city and most people will say, hey, you got to go eat here. Nine times out of 10, there's some great customer service going on there, unless the food is just that good that they can ignore customer service right. Most times out of 10, there's a customer service level there also, or an experience. There's an experience that the customer has to, where they are bold enough or excited enough to share that information with somebody else.

Speaker 1:

Bold enough and excited enough? Is that what you should want to leave your customer with?

Speaker 2:

I want my customer to talk about their experience with me. There's nothing better you can't. No advertising dollar is going to get you a return more than a customer that's satisfied. Even if I advertise my business, I still got the person here in the commercial has to think is this really as good as he says it is, or is he just saying this for the commercial? A satisfied customer knows it was good.

Speaker 1:

They've had the experience.

Speaker 2:

So wait? The goal is to make sure anyone that interacts with you has an experience to where they say you should work with alice there. You definitely want to work with this wiggler right, you definitely have to talk to her, get on her podcast. The experience has to be so good that the person that is experiencing it is actually experiencing it, wants to talk about it in a good manner the experience has to be so good that the person that's experiencing it wants to talk about it.

Speaker 1:

So would you say that this, this is amazing because we're in a digital age, we're in social media and just and that's how advertisement is kind of changing, is kind of changing. Everything is morphing into being more into the individual's hand, into those small business owners. They can buy for more eyes to see their business. But what you're saying reminds me of way back in the day. Word of mouth was how everyone I mean everyone found out about Jesus through word of mouth. It was word of mouth and people are still talking about him and it's for the most part. Most people are finding it to be a positive experience and have not been with him. So you're saying it should be infectious, where people are just constantly speaking highly of you.

Speaker 2:

Well, even in the social media work, the people that have the big followings are the people that had somebody who experienced or like that said that shared it. Yeah Right, that shared it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Right, you had a. It's so, for example, the multi-level marketing module, right? So, for example, with LegalShield, there's a network marketing model. It's a business that I'm a part of. I always say to people if you're working by yourself, right, year one of you working by yourself, the only person getting paid is you, meaning you have to go and do the work and when you punch in you get paid. When you punch out, you stop getting paid. Year two guess what? It's the same thing. It's you. Year three, year four, year five is the same thing.

Speaker 2:

On a W-2, on a job In network marketing, they're saying look, you learned the business. And year one, teach two other people to do the same thing. Year two, you now have three of you, you and the two people that are now each teaching two other people to do the same thing that are now each teaching two other people to do the same thing. So, year two, you're working with three plus six, that's nine people. Year three, you're saying to nine people, we each are going to get what? Two by year five, you're in the hundreds, if not the thousands, that you have working on your behalf, leveraged income. But it all started with the one person that had the good experience that was told to get two people and help those two people have a good experience.

Speaker 1:

Get two people and help those two people have a good experience, because that good experience keeps the people coming back and telling other people to come back. I love it. I want to know now, that was the customer's experience. You just went into the actual person that's doing the sell. That's who you just went into To be a good salesperson. What would you say are the top three characteristics and why?

Speaker 2:

Faith Right. And here's why you have to believe that you will be successful in what it is that you're selling. Two passion you have to have a passion for what it is you're selling, meaning you have to believe that what you're selling is actually going to be a benefit to your customer and you're excited to know that they're going to have that benefit. And I say mission driven and that could be different for each person. It all depends on what your mission is right. Like I know, the reason I'm always talking about Legal Shield is because I know it gives people access to attorneys 24 hours a day. So I'll never forget. I did a presentation one and there was a lady in the back of the room with some tears in her eyes and she came up to me and she said Mr Edwards, I only wish my daughter had had that membership when she was pulled over by the police. It was Sandra Bland's mother.

Speaker 1:

It was who.

Speaker 2:

Sandra Bland's mother. So I don't know if you're familiar with Sandra Bland. It was the young lady that was pulled over in Texas and officer ended up taking her to jail and three days later she was dead. For a simple traffic stop. Yes, right, had she had an attorney because she could have spoke to during that traffic spot, she probably wouldn't have been arrested that day. You know what I mean. It's just different situations, and so knowing that you have something that brings that type of value and knowing that there are people out there that don't know it exists, right, that's something I'm passionate about. Somebody else may be passionate about cookies. My cookies are so good that I, when I see somebody eat my cookies, their face lights up. I don't care what it is, but if you're selling it, you have to be passionate about it.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Because if you're just doing it for the money, there's going to be days where you don't make the sale, and the lack of the sales will make you think, ok, this, I need to go sell something else. When you're passionate about it or mission driven about it, it doesn't matter what the outcome is, because your goal is to find the person that needs it, that's going to be excited by it, or or or get the results you want them to get from it. So it's more about finding the person that it is about making the money. The good news is, if you're passionate about it, you'll find more people that need it and you'll end up making a lot of money in the process.

Speaker 1:

Right. Because you're providing a need.

Speaker 2:

You're providing the need, yeah.

Speaker 1:

OK, so I'm not going to lie. You brought up cookies. I like cookies. Why would you do that? But it's a great segue because I'm eating fruits and vegetables right now. Why would you do that?

Speaker 2:

Why would I do that to you?

Speaker 1:

Yes, we're going to make a great segue into branding. We're going to make a great segue into branding Because, if you have that product you were mentioning that passion, that passion for what you're doing, that passion for what you have as a service to people, as a product to people what would you, how would you say that should, how important is that to your branding, for your business?

Speaker 2:

Well, you, you want to be known for whatever it is you do Right. So you build your brand around what it is you do or what you inspire others to do, so that way, people know that you are known for that Right. So you name certain things and you think of certain people because they're branded to that Right. You think of basketball, you think Michael Jordan, lebron James Right, because they're they're they're branded towards that Right. So it's all about making sure that people understand what it is you do and that you're very clear on who you serve.

Speaker 1:

What it is you do and who you serve is how you do your branding. How do you then take that branding? And when you walk in the room, how do you then approach people or let people know that's what you do?

Speaker 2:

So I always say to people I said first thing you need to understand is what is my product or service? Right, that's a question every business owner needs to ask themselves what is my product or service?

Speaker 1:

OK.

Speaker 2:

What problem does it solve? What problem does my product or service solve? And then the last question you need to ask yourself is who has that problem? And then the last question you need to ask yourself is who has that problem? And then your objective is to find the person that has the problem and connect them with your product or service, because your product or service is the solution to the problem that they have.

Speaker 1:

So you're telling me anybody who has cookies right now and call me and I can help them solve that problem.

Speaker 2:

Oh, they've been solving your problem because you have cookies, right, yes, so you'd be helping them and they would just have an automatic customer. So if I was selling cookies, I would find out where all the cookie lovers are or who. Right, right, right, I'd be posting about cookies. What's your favorite Oatmeal, raisin or chocolate chip? That would be a simple post. Do a survey what's your favorite Oatmeal, raisin or chocolate chip?

Speaker 2:

The people that like cookies will start answering the question. The minute someone answers the question, you can now go in there. Dm. Hey, I heard you like chocolate chip. I got two for one. Right now I got a double. I got whatever. It is right where. Would you like me to ship that to you? They're the best in the country. Now you have a customer you just had. A simple survey would be a great lead magnet, because anyone that picks either or is saying I like cookies, someone who doesn't like cookies is going to be like I don't like either one, I'm not going to touch it. So you've just narrowed down your funnel as to who you need to go after, because the people that want your product or service have let you know that.

Speaker 1:

The people that want your product or service, because the last thing you said is you need to know who wants your service. How do you determine that?

Speaker 2:

Well, it all depends on what your product or service is right, and then that's why you figure out what problem does it solve? And then you find the person that has the problem. So, for example, and depending on the product or service, it could be a variety of customers. So, because I'll just use LegalSheel as an example, so that's the product that I personally market and have done quite well with, but it's because it solves a lot of problems, if you are elderly or dealing with elderly parents, you're going to need a will, right? So I know that I can speak to people who haven't updated their will yet or that are dealing with an elderly parent and don't want to pay $500 to $2,000. They would much rather pay 30 bucks a month and have that thing done for them for free. That's a nice customer. I also know that one of my targets is parents who have kids that are getting ready to go off to college.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Because I always say look, if your child was away at school and they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people and they were to get pulled over, questioned or detained, who's the law firm that you have on retainer for them to call Nine times out of 10, if they don't have a LegalShield member? The answer is we don't have one.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Right. So I always ask what is it that you have in place to protect them when you're not there to protect them? Wouldn't it just make sense to get a LegalShield membership for $29.95 a month, which will cover you, your spouse or significant other and your children, even while they're away at school, to where, if an emergency situation comes up, they can have an attorney on the line immediately?

Speaker 1:

Yes, that is. The response to your question is definitely yes.

Speaker 2:

Yet to meet a parent who says, no, I don't care about my kid. Right, if you've, if you're invested enough for them to go away to college, you're going to invest 30 bucks to make sure they're protected while they're at college. Right, right, right. So for the college student who can't get their security deposit back, they can call the law firm. The law firm write a letter on their, on their behalf, and demand double the payment. Right, because that's what happened to one of my clients. Right, they held their security deposit past 30 days. Law firm made him pay double the amount for holding it that long.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Right, a simple letter from a law firm that didn't cost them anything extra, right? So if I know someone has teenage drivers in the house or drives like teenagers, I can say hey, I know you. I'm sure you agree that we pay too much for car insurance, would you not? So if you were to get a move-in violation, that means you get points on your license, which means your insurance would go. What wouldn't it be, wouldn't it be good to have a service that, if any move-in violation was to come to you or anyone in your family, you simply just take a picture of that move-in violation with the app on your phone. Hit, it'll go to the law firm and they'll have an attorney go to court on your behalf, and their main objective is to make sure there are no points on your license. And it's not going to cost you anything extra. That's what we provide. So it's talking to the need of the people that your product or service solves. Okay, I'm not going to go talk to people who don't have a car about speeding tickets.

Speaker 1:

That's not the right person. Right, that's interesting. I'm only taken aback because Insurance is talked about, real estate is talked about. Real estate is talked about, but protection of life outside of health insurance, that's not talked about. That sign what you're speaking of is protection of your life, essentially.

Speaker 2:

It's everyday things that happen and here's why it's not talked about. The average attorney right now is three or $400 an hour very minimal. If you're in New York you're talking $500, $600 to $1,000 an hour. There are very few people in America that make that kind of income. An hourly rate of $100, $500 an hour. Hourly rate of $100, $500 an hour. So if I get a $300 speeding ticket, very rarely am I going to go through the Yellow Pages trying to hire a $500 an hour attorney to go to court for me where nine times out of 10, they're going to be in court for at least two hours. It's not worth it. We just pay the ticket and then let the points go on our license and then we pay the insurance, the high insurance rate on the back end.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

But when you have a life events legal plan, you don't have to worry about the cost because your monthly cost covers that for you. It's collective buying power. What I mean by collective buying power how do we get top ranked law firms to do that? How do we get top ranked law firms to do that? Because in every state we have one set provider law firm that agrees to be the provider attorney for every member in that state.

Speaker 2:

I live in Georgia. In Georgia we probably have about 85,000 people that have a LegalShield membership that pay anywhere between 14 bucks a month, depending on how long they've had the membership and, if they got a business plan, up to $199 per month. The law firm is getting a third of every payment on the 15th of every month, so they're being paid millions every month to be the provider law firm. So when you call in, it's okay for you to just pay $30 because you and everybody else in the state are paying them millions. So now we don't have a problem. The law firm doesn't have a problem providing you the services that you need and there's no need for them to charge you three, four or five hundred dollars an hour because they've been paid by the collective.

Speaker 1:

They've been paid by the collective. What about if you have a business? How does that benefit you as a business owner?

Speaker 2:

Same thing. The business plans will cover you with contract and document review. It will write debt collection letters for you. So if you have people that owe you money, right, I always tell people, if you have a client, that you are having a vendor that you're having an issue with. If you write a demand letter on your, your yellow pad and send it to them, right, that letter goes to customer service. That same verbiage on a law firm letterhead coming from an attorney goes to their legal department. It's a different response. I can tear up your letter. It'd be very stupid for me to tear up the law firm's letter because now I have a legal situation. So if that business is already in the wrong, they're more likely to do what's right and pay you what they owe you or resolve the issue than to have to deal with the legal expenses Because, remember, for them to defend that situation they have to pay $500, $300, $600 an hour. Your membership is paid with your expenses.

Speaker 1:

Very good. That is a business protection, a personal protection, a family protection is all the things that you just spoke of. You just you were speaking earlier about. If you care about your child going to college, how young can you be to actually be a party, a participant in signing people up to become in?

Speaker 2:

signing people up to become so. To do the business to provide people with LegalShield, you must be 18 years of age. So as soon as you turn 18, you can be what they call an independent associate. Now the membership covers a member, a member's spouse or significant other and any dependents up until the age of 26. So the entire family is covered. For that $30 a month, Under the $130 a month. Under the $130 a month, $29.99.

Speaker 1:

Let's say I went out here and things happened, or at least they said they did. It's alleged that I did something. Can I call then and get help?

Speaker 2:

Yes, you can, and especially if you're being sued civilly, our family plan gives you 60 hours of trial defense for any civil lawsuit. So your legal expenses for a civil lawsuit is already covered. And if you've had it past 12 months, every year that you have it, they add an additional 60 hours. So year two, you're working with 120 hours of an attorney's time to defend you in a civil lawsuit.

Speaker 1:

To defend you in a civil lawsuit. What's the average amount of hours that something like that takes?

Speaker 2:

You said 60, the first, and you said it can't last, a lawsuit will probably in court and consultation and everything. It could be an easy 20, 30, 40 hours.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay, okay. So that still leaves wiggle room for anything else. Leaves wiggle room for anything else. You also said that you have your business that you're a CEO of, and that is Stair Steps LLC. What do you do there?

Speaker 2:

So I do sales training and coaching and, of course, there's an element of keynote speaking in there also. So if companies want a keynote speaker, I'll come keynote speak and do sales. But my main focus is sales training and coaching. So we teach sales. So any company or any individual that wants to increase their knowledge of how to better sell their insurance agents, about how they increase their sales we do the same thing for car dealerships, we do the same thing for real estate agents, and then individuals who just want to grow their business have signed up for our services.

Speaker 2:

I do have an online course that is 13 modules of training from beginning to end. As a matter of fact, you can drop. When they go to my website, you'll see a free link there for a free download, right. So you'll have the module where I talk about your elevator pitch. You ask the question about what do you say when you walk into a room to let people know what you do. Well, that module is about creating the perfect elevator pitch to where, if you only have a minute to convey to somebody what it is you do, you can do that.

Speaker 1:

You only have a minute to convey what you do. How do you help people to be able to read the room? That's something that people I have taken courses and that's something. It's like they're not speaking about reading. When it's like a double dutch. You're like waiting when is the right time? What should I? How should I? It's just this very uncomfortable barrier that's there. How do you get people to break through that?

Speaker 2:

Well, one of the things we talk about and and this is in the course also we talk about just making sure that you understand that most people like more talking about themselves than they like hearing about what you do, right? So if you can get someone to talk a little bit about themselves and then kind of figure out what it is and what that also does, it also allows you to figure out is this someone I even need to talk to about my business? By learning about what they do, you're, in your mind, evaluating is my product or service something that could help them? Right, it would be much better for it. I would much better. It would be much easier for someone to accept me in my business if I was saying that me and my service could help you in your business.

Speaker 2:

Most people just say, hey, you should get my services. Well, why? What do you do? I sell legal plans, right? That's not interesting. But if I'm hearing you say, yeah, I have a clothing store and I have a storefront and all that, and I can simply ask well, let me ask you something Is it fair to say that if there was a slip and fall or someone was to have an accident in your store that a legal liability could probably take you out of business. I help small businesses like yours protect themselves from such situations. I help small businesses like yours protect themselves from such situations. Right, I'm speaking to their need, not to my need to make a sale.

Speaker 1:

I'm thinking to their need to protect their business. You're speaking to their need to protect their business. There it is again that defender of men, All right. So, Mr Alistair, when was the first time that you realized you had something with sales? When did you realize it when someone else like what was the thing?

Speaker 2:

what was the moment that you said wait, I'm on to something um, when I really got it good is is my sophomore year of college. I took an internship, uh, with a company called the southwestern book company. So I'm a little old, I'm older than most people, right? So that's when we used to sell encyclopedias door to door.

Speaker 1:

Encyclopedias, as if I don't know.

Speaker 2:

So my first summer, that first summer I had, they gave us a little. You go to Nashville, tennessee, to the Southwestern Book Company and they give you two days of intense sales training, telling you how to prospect, how to do your flipbook presentation, how to stand in front of the person and hold the book up and open the pages. Would you look at the pages upside down so the customer could see right side up what to point to highlight the bold letters? You know what I mean. They taught you all of that. And then on day three, the very last day, they say to you okay, alistair, you're going to be in Baltimore. So, even though you're in.

Speaker 2:

So imagine calling your mom when college and be like, hey, mom, I got an internship. And she's like, oh great, where are you going? I was like I don't know. I just know I'm going to Nashville for three days for sales training. But where are you going to be this summer? I don't know. I'll know after my sales training. And then on the last day they say okay, alistair, you're going to be in Baltimore.

Speaker 2:

And on the last day they teach you your really first script, which is hey, my name's Alistair Edwards, I'm a college student from Florida A&M. I'm going to be working in your area this summer trying to earn some additional income to pay for my college tuition and I was wondering do you know of anyone that would rent a room to a college student for a small monthly rate for the next two and a half months? No Next door. Hey, my name is Alistair Edwards. I'm a college student from. No Next door. Hey, my name is Al. No Next. That's your first day in your territory. So when you get to your territory, you don't have anywhere to stay. So your first day is just convincing someone to let a college student stay with them for a small monthly fee. That's your first sales pitch. So now, once you got that knocked out of the way, once, you got that knocked out of the way.

Speaker 1:

So wait, hold pause, you're not going to get by that. Your first sales pitch was selling you staying in someone's home.

Speaker 2:

In a stranger's home. Now here's the crazy thing. You're thinking that's crazy. Southwestern Book Company has been doing this, and still do it today, because I had kids come stay with me this summer as an alumni, I let some kids stay in my basement this summer To this day. Every summer they have hundreds of kids from hundreds of colleges bring their teams that go through this three-day sales training. On the last day they get told where they're going and they ship them out.

Speaker 1:

What made you choose? See, now I'm stuck. What made you choose a sales? Now I'm stuck. What made you choose a sales and what was your major?

Speaker 2:

Business, economics and political science.

Speaker 1:

Because I was. I just I was confused, Okay, so okay, Business being your major, and then you were going. Did you know what you were signing up for? Not that first speech? Did you know about the books and the door?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, cause the person that recruited me was actually one of my best friends from high school, a guy named Dwayne Rainer. He and I had been close friends in school and he was at Florida state, across from Florida A&M. He had done it this summer before, and now he was coming back and bringing a team, and so he invited me to be a part of his team. He told me up front what it was, but he also told me how much he made selling books, and what impressed me most was what he made. I didn't know how hard it was going to be, but he told me what he made that summer and I was like I can do that, and sure enough I did. Now here's the funny part I would say Is there?

Speaker 1:

something to laugh at in this, Besides you going up to people's door knocking 60% of the kids that come out, that start never finish.

Speaker 2:

Because again it goes back to what I talked about earlier, that faith, that perseverance, yeah Right, but those that make it, I mean think about it. You're knocking on. I probably knocked on 3000 doors that summer.

Speaker 1:

And sold how many?

Speaker 2:

My first summer I made one hundred and seventy six sales.

Speaker 1:

I'm sorry, one hundred made 176 sales. I'm sorry, 176 sales. Okay, so I thought you said cents and I was just adding that up Like that's a lot of money.

Speaker 2:

I made some good money, but think about it Over 3,000 doors to only make 176 sales. That means in. If it was, if it was graded on the school system grade I was a failure right but based on the sales industry I was one of their top producers school system that that.

Speaker 2:

So we would sell an encyclopedia set which was about 400 bucks. Yeah, there was a black history book set. It's a three book set on black history. That was another 200 bucks. And then there was a two. There was a children's book set that was another $300.

Speaker 2:

So we would call it the brick. The brick says that you've sold the encyclopedias, the black history books and the children's books, meaning you got the person to buy everything. Now, when I knock on your door and I tell you about these products that I have, these books that I have, if you decide, yes, I want those encyclopedias for my kid, you have to write me a check for 50% of whatever the total cost is of your package. And I'm going to take that check and I'm going to tell you I'll be back at the end of the summer to deliver your books. Think about that. You're handing a check of about $400, five hundred dollars, to a strange kid you just met, from wherever he said he's from. She said she's from hoping that they're going to bring a book back, their book, those books, back to you at the end of the summer.

Speaker 2:

That's where I learned sales yeah they tell you to wake up at 7 am, take a cold shower, because when you take a cold shower it opens your pores up, keeps you alert longer through the day. You're supposed to be knocking on your first door by 8 am. Now you're knocking already, knowing that you probably are not going to see a lot of people until 5 pm. But the reason you keep knocking is because you want to find the person that's at home, not really to sell them anything, but to find out the information of everybody else in the neighborhood. To sell them anything, but to find out the information of everybody else in the neighborhood. So if I sit on the porch with Ms Swigler and she's home, I was like, hey, ma'am, I'm a college student, by the way. Who lives across the street? Oh, that's the Edwardses. They got three kids. What age group? High schoolers, okay, in my mind I'm thinking encyclopedias. Oh, yeah, that's a black family over there. Oh, black history books. Oh, they have three little kids children's book.

Speaker 2:

So by five o'clock I have a map of the entire street drawn out in my little notepad. I know the name of everybody that lives in every house. I know who has teenagers. I know who has kids going off to college I know who has little kids and then you're supposed to take a 30 minute break, eat your sandwich or whatever it is for the day, because you know five o'clock is what we call gravy hour and then from five to nine thirty, sometimes ten o'clock at night, that's when you bust your tail. Every time you see a car pull into the driveway, you walk up to the driveway and you catch them before they go in the house.

Speaker 2:

Hey, miss Wiggler, how you doing? I'm Alistair Edwards. I'm a college student from Florida, a&m, and I'm the one that's really wanted to share with you some information that could probably help your kids exceed their educational level when they go away to college. You have a minute. I just wanted to share with you these up-to-date encyclopedias that would really make a difference in their education You're trying to figure out. How do I know about your kids going off to college? It's because I sat down with a little old lady at one o'clock and got the intel.

Speaker 1:

You sat down with me and now you're going back around the neighborhood. Did I get? Did I? At least did you come back and give me a cookie? Can I get a cookie?

Speaker 2:

Well, here's the funny part we people felt sorry for you. We would get cookies, we would get invited to dinner. I mean it wasn't as bad as people were thinking. But as long as you stay persistent and I think what that taught me is and think about it that entire day you're by yourself. Talk about mind games. There are days you're like well, I can just go sit at McDonald's until they pick me back up at 6 and act like I was selling and just told them I didn't have any sales. And people have done that. But after two, three or four, we would know who was really doing the work and who wasn't, because who was really doing the work had sales, who wasn. Who was really doing the work had sales, who wasn't had no sales and they had to go home because they couldn't afford it.

Speaker 1:

You've sent them home.

Speaker 2:

They were sent home they would send themselves home. If you don't collect any money, how are you going to pay for the room that you're renting from whoever you're renting it from, they don't give you a stipend. I thought they gave something. Your money's coming out of your deposit money that's your living expenses. Just knowing that it's coming out of your profit of whatever it is you sell, it's the best sales training I've had in the world.

Speaker 1:

Why would you say that?

Speaker 2:

Because the mind. Imagine still knocking doors when it's raining. Imagine still knocking doors when people open the door and call you nigger. Imagine still knocking on doors when someone pulls a gun. I've been through it all when they pulled a gun on you. Imagine, I mean I could tell you story after story and still remember that. Next, I was always taught. Next, nevermind what happened at the last door. Next, you sold a brick at the last one and made $500. Next, act like it never happened. You went to that house and no one bought. Next, because the next customer is at the next door.

Speaker 1:

Next, Is that how you at StairStep LLC? Is that how you? What from that experience are you now instilling in the people that you?

Speaker 2:

help. So what we do is we develop their, first of all, their prospecting script. How do I show my encyclopedia? So if you come to me, you say my business is this, I provide cookies. Well, I'm going to come up with, we're going to sit down and we're going to really break down how should I display my cookies, how should I market my cookies Right?

Speaker 2:

So if you're getting an individual coaching session with me, we're talking about what is your product and service, who has the problem and how do we connect the two? And when I meet this person, how do I convey to them that I have the solution to their problem? How do I convey to them that my cookies are the best? So we develop all of that for you. So when you walk out of there, you're more like your closing ratio is pretty much going to be a way higher closing percentage than what it was when you walked in. Because we're going to talk to you about handling objections, how to talk about the objection before you get asked the objection. See, most people wait till they get an objection. We talk about what are the top three objections you find yourself always getting. Well, why don't we answer those objections in the presentation to where they're no longer an objection.

Speaker 1:

Hmm.

Speaker 2:

Why wait for an objection? Why don't you just give a presentation that doesn't allow for objections? By the time I finish presenting to you, you should know. You should know this is for me. I want that me, I want that.

Speaker 1:

And you teach that to people just for LegalShield or for their business.

Speaker 2:

That's for their business, that's their steps. Llc is for any business. We mentor people in their sales pro and that sales training, so we give them all the elements and everything they need. I'm actually doing getting ready to do a one day sales conference, an intense sales conference, where it's a hands on working conference. So meaning most people go to a conference and you listen to all the speakers, you write your notes down, the way you interpret it and then you leave. Now this conference is we're going to be, we're going to put you in. Give me one second.

Speaker 1:

We're going to put you in tail. Give me one second. You just said you write the note. I thought it was just me. You said you just said something that just gave word to something I have been battling in my mind. You write notes that are your interpretation. I have asked people for their notes and compare them to what. That's not what I heard. I'm sorry. You just that just threw me for a loop. It's your interpretation. What do you do when you have clients like that, when you have people that you're teaching and it's like, OK, that's not the intent of what I said?

Speaker 2:

Well, that's why we're doing a. Even though it's a sales conference, it's really a workshop. We're going to break down everything. You're going to be interacting. You're going to, we're going to, we're going to flip the room to where you're going to talk to someone else at a different table and pitch them on your product and your service and then we're going to evaluate it. We're going I mean it's going to be. I mean I've gotten some of the best of the best in the industry coming in to help me with that. You know Melissa Wilder, the long lady that I'm going to have trained on handling objections. She's the one that taught me everything when it comes to handling objections.

Speaker 2:

Right, I used to say things like this you know, the good news with legal shield is, if you ever get a speeding ticket with LegalShield is, if you ever get a speeding ticket right, we'll have an attorney go to court for you and they'll help remove the points on your file, right. And she said to me she said, alistair, you're losing half your customers. I said, why is that? She said what if someone doesn't believe that you should be speeding? Or, worse yet, what if you had someone that has a family member that died because somebody was speeding. If everyone in the room knows that person had that experience, you just lost everybody in the room.

Speaker 2:

She says what you should be saying is let me ask you this how many of you agree that we pay too much for car insurance? She said who does qualify for that in the room for car insurance? She said who does qualify for that in the room? Everybody. She just took my presentation from a few people that saw value in it the young kid that likes the speed to not everybody that believes we pay too much for car insurance.

Speaker 1:

Why did you say the young kid that likes it?

Speaker 2:

Because it's usually the person you like the speed. Why did you say the young kid that likes to speak? Because that's usually the person, okay, or?

Speaker 1:

you like to speak? I just asked the question.

Speaker 2:

Or the person that likes to speak. You know what I mean, but I'm just saying now. You see what I'm saying. But she expanded the receptiveness of the people in the room. The receptiveness of the people in the room. I had more people that were still listening because everybody would like to pay less for their car insurance yeah, right, yes. So we don't justify you speeding, we just justify that If you do get a moving violation, you should have someone make sure there are no points on your license.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

It's a difference, right? So she's going to be teaching on how to handle objections. She's going to get your top three questions of what you've already been getting objections and if you've already been in the business, whatever business that is and she's going to restructure that for you. I got Valen Cole Lyons coming and she is one of the largest less than 1% of all real estate. They're less than 1% black brokers in the real estate industry.

Speaker 1:

Less than 1% of the brokers.

Speaker 2:

The real estate brokers in the US are black. Alan Coles is one of them and she has real estate not only in the US but she has it in Spain, portugal, manchester, england, and she's going to be training on her philosophy and how she does sales. I got a gentleman by the name of Darnell Self one of my personal mentors in the business. He's the only person to this day ever to be named Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Black Chamber of Commerce twice. By the age of 40, it helped 40 individuals on his team earn six figures. So 40 by 40 is what we call it right, because by the age of 40, it already helped 40 people make six figures. That number is triple now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I also have a gentleman by the name of Anthony Tuggle who at one point in time had 30,000 sales reps that reported to him as he ran AT&T International Sales. So he had call centers in over 150 companies that he was responsible for that was responsible for multi-billions in sales, right. So he's going to be there training also. So I've gotten the best of the best the people that I've learned for the people that I work with, people that I trust, that I know can move the needle in your business and we're going to do a one day intense conference helping people understand how to 10X their sales.

Speaker 1:

You said helping people, men's defender, how, how, why is that such? I found that that to be a common thread through the things that you, I think even at Legal Shield, the reason why you have faith in it, the reason why you're passionate about it, the reason why your mission driven about it, has to do something with your character, your desire to help. Where does that come from?

Speaker 2:

My dad and my mom. I mean they've always been. You know, my dad has always been someone that always just wanted to help people, and I think I got that from him. My mom too. I mean we always. I don't know how she did it, but we always had food for more kids. You know what I mean. When I was a child there was anyone could come and get a meal. My dad was always the one that if something got called up, something was happening to someone, he's the one that would go check on them. So it's just the culture I was brought up in.

Speaker 1:

It's just the culture I was brought up in. It would be a great day if I could say that that was more people's story story. Unfortunately, I feel as though people have been traumatized by experiences with people. How do you feel about when you're teaching people things and it doesn't?

Speaker 2:

seem to go according to your intent. So I think where people make the mistake is they help with the intention of. How is it going to benefit me by helping?

Speaker 1:

them.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to help them. But now I get to say you owe me one. Now when you don't pay what you owe me now I'm upset because now when I call for a favor and you don't do it, now I got an issue Right. So here's what I've learned I don't lend money. But if the ever rare occasion comes where someone says to me, Alistair, I need to borrow some money, and I decide to lend them money, I'm going to lend it to them. But I'm also telling myself I'm giving it to them, Meaning whether they return it or not. So I never lend money that I don't have a problem losing.

Speaker 2:

We get upset because we lend money to people we know not going to pay. Let me say this to people. Let me just say this. Let me be very clear. If your friend calls you and says, hey, I need to borrow $500, $600, $900 to pay my rent, I will pay you back next month. I want you to think about the logic of that. I couldn't pay my rent this month. It's going to be due again next month and you're thinking I'm going to find enough to pay my rent next month and pay you back for what you lent me to pay last month it's not going to happen. So when you give them that money, just know that it's not a loan, it's a gift. Now, if something happens to where they can pay you back, that is good Never go in there expecting that you're going to get that money back.

Speaker 2:

If you are intending on getting your money back, then it shouldn't be just the. It needs to be a written contract.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

So that way I can take you to court to get my money back. But if you're lending a friend some money, just know, do yourself nine times out of ten. You're giving it to him.

Speaker 1:

Just know nine times out of ten you giving it to them. Just know, nine times out of 10, you giving it to them. See, I got a limit on mine. Certain people are in certain groups and those groups have limits. There is a large group, a pool of nah, I'm not doing that.

Speaker 2:

But you should know that. The problem is we tend to psych ourselves out to believe that we're going to get that money back. You can't blame that person when you knew giving it to them that wasn't the person you should be giving money to, Not if you want the money back hence it is a gift.

Speaker 1:

It has been a gift having you here with us on confident you podcast. Sir, I want you to share with everyone how they can connect with you, how they can reap the benefits of working with you through the many ways that you offer.

Speaker 2:

Well, they can go to my website, alistairedwardscom, right, so you can just simply click on that website. All my contact information there is how to get in touch with me. I also have a free download on there. So, for those of you that want to learn how to craft your elevator pitch, that is on there. And then, of course, there's my sales course. That's available also. So Stair Steps to Sales Masterclass that sales course is available also.

Speaker 2:

And so I just got back from Guatemala working with 70 children 70 kids, all orphans and every story is amazing. Each story is different, but each story is extremely amazing to see that kids can bounce back from anything, right, and I don't care how hard you think your life is right now, go to Guatemala and see how some other people are living, right, but we have a orphanage there where we take kids that have been orphaned and we give them a proper education all the way up to sixth grade right now. And we are actually working on funding to build classrooms to take them up to eighth grade, because they say, if you can get a kid in eighth grade education in that country, they will nine times out of 10 be successful from there. Right, but they have to get to that eighth grade level, and so that's what we're working on making sure we get everyone done.

Speaker 2:

The organization is called Work, play, love and if you want to donate, it's simply Work, play, love dot org and that's it. So you can go on my Instagram and see some some video. The last two or three posts I post were from Guatemala, but yeah, it was a. It's an experience, man, to have kids that just love unconditionally. To think that kids who were not loved can love so much, it's crazy. Not loved can love so much is crazy. Just the way that they gravitate to with you and hug on you and want to play games with you and are so appreciative that you're there spending time with them. It's a life-changing experience and I'll continue to support that.

Speaker 2:

Well, I'm definitely signing up to be a hero. And when I saw that about you I was like, ok, wait, do we really have to keep going with the man's defenders? Your name, your name, who are you named after? So there was a British author called Mac Alistair Cook. My dad didn't like Mac Right, so it's just Alistair. But the name Alistair is a Scottish name which means defender of man.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, well, you have lived up to your name. So it's Scottish or not? You have definitely done that. I want to thank you for being here. Before you leave, I would love for you to take the opportunity to share three confident tips with business owners about sales.

Speaker 2:

Three confident tips.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

All right. Believe that your product or service is the solution. That's tip number one. So make sure that you fully understand and believe that your product or service is the solution for whoever your potential customer is. If you're selling clothes, your outfit is the outfit that will make them look extremely special when they go to that special event. I don't care what it is your product or service is the solution. Two, have the faith in knowing that the right customer will find you, as long as you know that you're there to serve people with your product or service. And three, give back.

Speaker 2:

It's always been a philosophy of mine to give back in some way, whether that's to a nonprofit or some type of charity, because it always comes back to you tenfold. There should be a percentage of your income that I think goes. Be a percentage of your income that I think goes and it's just my personal opinion that should go to some type of nonprofit or some charity or some type of donation where you're actually helping someone else, and you'll see how much your business will grow. And those are the three tips I have for you. And there's an extra tip Come to our sales conference, right? It's going to be streamed online If you can't make it to Atlanta, you can actually stream it ProperSalesConcom and forward slash early bird. We'll get you the early bird tickets to that ProperSalesConcom, forward slash early bird and get your early bird tickets. Like I said, I bought the best of the best in the industry to come and help you 10x your business, so definitely would love to see you all there.

Speaker 1:

All right, Alistair. Thank you so much for taking the time to come and share all the great wisdom and insight with the Confident you family and audience. I appreciate you for doing that. Give me just a moment, All right, everyone. Please make sure that you share this information like share, subscribe. You know what Myron Golden says do all the YouTube-y things. Thank you so much. If you or someone you know have or are suffering from the hands at the hands of domestic violence, please contact Bethany House, 1-888-80-HELPS, that's 43577, or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE, that's 7233. Thank you so much for taking the time to invest in yourself. Listen, he talked about giving. He talked about serving, and that is the key to sales serving and that is the key to sales that giving and serving can go in a successful way in every area of life. See you next time.