- Everything you do, you have a moral obligation,
a responsibility, the privilege to help the marketplace,
the client.
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- Hey, welcome to the Tom Ferry Show.
Today I am with a living legend.
Someone in the early 90's I met who had a transformational
impact on my life as a salesperson, as a marketer,
the Strategy of Preeminence, and so much more, the man,
the myth, the legend, Jay Abraham.
Jay, thanks for being on the show.
- My pleasure, my honor.
- So people that maybe have not been exposed to you.
If you were to google Jay, first of all,
you're gonna find more information
than you can possibly imagine.
But you're gonna see things like the only person that's
worked in 500 different industries as a marketing
and strategist consultant.
And has done over 23 billion dollars in sales of products
and services from mattresses to alcohol
to helping real estate agents, and everything under the sun.
But I think what makes you so special Jay,
and why I am so honored to now call you coach
and personally working with me on my own strategies
is people that I've looked up to for years.
People like Tony Robbins say no one
can synthesize strategies and patterns of performance
of sales, of marketing, of business better than Jay
and then articulate it in a way that can impact everybody
in business.
So I'm just, I'm thrilled.
I'm out of my mind.
We just had a 90 minute session and now I'm gonna share
with all of you guys a little Jay Abraham.
But the thing we wanna cover right, just so you're clear,
we wanna talk about Jay, the Strategy of Preeminence,
but specifically how does someone watching
this create trust, create relevancy,
and at the end of the day create a level of respect
that makes them the only option for a prospect
that gets introduced to them?
So that's the starting point.
- Great.
Well first of all thank you for all the,
the awkward laudatory praise.
I've been very blessed in my life to be what I call
business transient.
And I've gotten to travel into all kinds of industries
and when you see how many optional ways you can approach
an opportunity, a problem, a contribution, value, creation,
competitive superiority, you get very frustrated
for people that don't have the ability
to get better yield out of everything they do for everyone,
so that's been my focus on life.
So in response to you, those keys,
empower anybody to elevate and accelerate
their decisive distinction.
In other words, you do it right, you are preemptive.
You are seen first and foremost as the only viable choice.
The go-to source for whatever it is you stand for whether
it's a generality or a very vertical sort
of a product service and it is probably the most liberating
and the most, the most I guess,
exciting way to live your life and it's just really cool.
So just take me into a into,
we're gonna do workshop because--
- Yeah, I'm just gonna go at you with a bunch of stuff.
- And because I do so many things I need to be
a little bit--
- Yeah, I wanna give just some context here
and I've given you credit for decades.
There are a few people in my space
that teach referral strategies.
And I remember looking at the 5,000 hour book that you
were selling at that time.
And one chapter was on how to was on how to work
by referral.
And many of my contemporaries took that one chapter,
this one little sliver, and it became their entire business.
- Yes I know.
- And I'm not dogging 'em.
I'm showing the people that are listening
and paying attention here, the impact of just one chapter
of one of many things that you have published, thousands,
that basically revolutionized a part of the industry.
So there's no one better to talk to you about referrals
and trust and relevancy and authority and respect, than you.
So Jay, let's just, we listed out six things.
- Yes.
- I think we should start high level with the
Strategy of Preeminence so they understand that.
- Okay.
- So just give 'em high level and then they can google
and they can watch eight million videos that, high level.
- And we can give you some material you can put
on your website.
- Perfect, we'll link it up right here on the show.
- And it'd be fine.
And we got a lot of cool things that take it from abstract
to sublime.
So first of all, it is the definitive, philosophical
strategy or strategic philosophy that should guide
everything you do.
Your mindset, your culture, your message, your marketing,
your conduct, and it's, it should do that for two reasons.
One, that you're operating at a much more elevated strata,
a rarefied place than anybody else.
It causes people to see you in almost a mystical way.
And I don't mean that to be metaphysical.
Just really that.
It gives you enormous power and authority and you're not
playing anywhere close to the same game as anyone else.
It's predicated on a couple, it's about 20 key points,
but the most important are everything you do,
you have a moral obligation or responsibility,
the privilege, to help the marketplace, the client,
see what they need to be doing, the criteria.
You can't let them make a bad decision.
You can't let them buy less than they should.
Less quality, quantity, less value, and you gotta
take a stand and not be reactive and let them do whatever
they wanna do, because you know darn well that long term
it's not in their best interest.
And you gotta be willing to be their most trusted advisor
and as an advisor, you gotta tell 'em what you believe.
And you gotta tell 'em the reasons why.
- Okay, hold on, I gotta back up just for a second.
'Cause you're nailing it, but you're giving them so much
to think about right up front.
The overarching value of how you operate is the
Strategy of Preeminence.
- For me, yes.
- No, for everyone.
- Yeah.
- And then I think of people like Michael Ovitz,
who started CAA.
Michael Ovitz, was in his time, he was the only person
you would turn to if you were a writer, producer, director,
and you wanted to be a part of something special.
They can get that.
Think about the agent in your market place that is the,
that is the most dominant.
They've elevated their status.
- Yep.
- So go back into now, I wanted them to get that,
in just layman's terms, how do they get to that?
- It's really, it's really,
you could do it almost instantaneously when you decide
not to be mediocre, average, reactive,
and I guess the best word is you wanna be a leader.
It's all about leadership in the best interests
of the client.
And what it entails is this.
It entails, and there's a lot of points to it.
But it entails first of all, being able to express
to a client, what they really want,
but they've never heard verbalized from anyone else.
In a way, they go, that's exactly what I want.
That's exactly why I want it.
It's helping them develop their buying criteria.
And I'm not talking about price or loan interest.
I'm talking about what their trying to buy and why.
And what they want for the future.
It's transcended.
It's saying this house, is not just a house.
This house is your, your,
what could I call it,
your mecca for
for joy, fulfillment.
It's the environment you're children are gonna be
in associative with other quality kids.
It's where you and your family are gonna get
the greatest joy.
It's what's gonna give you the sense of purpose.
It's going to be the greatest appreciating asset.
It's, I mean, you gotta help them understand what they
really want and why and even if they want to buy something
that will disserve them in the long run and you allow it
without first making sure they understand that they have
better options, the consequences,
then you're not preeminent.
- Yeah.
- You're selfish.
- So all of that, there's a part--
- Does that make sense?
- A hundred percent.
This exact strategy is what we used to
build our business, right?
Creating a clear and measurable degree of separation
between ourselves and the competition.
Elevating who we are.
And when I did it, I was starting brand new as a startup.
I just declared this is where I was going to be,
and then everything we built was around serving the customer
better, faster, more efficiently, differently,
but in their model of the world.
So when they google the Strategy of Preeminence,
one of the things you're gonna find is there's six questions
that you can ask.
As the consumer, right, how would I like this done?
Like if I'm buying a house, if I'm selling a,
how do I want this done?
What matters to me most?
And so there's all of that.
Which they can, again they can Google.
- Yeah, but let me make a point that's really interesting,
'cause it is a part of it.
Very few people that I meet in business and in real estate,
understand a couple of things.
First of all, how to ask great questions.
Second of all, how to listen to the answers.
Third of all, that if you want to be interesting,
the easiest way to do it is to be interested.
Third of all, is to take the time to examine, explore,
understand, appreciate, respect,
how the other side sees life,
because the reality that they have is not necessarily
the reality that you have, the values they have,
their goals they have,
and you have two different objectives.
One is to start with where they're at,
because if you start where you're at,
you've already disconnected if that makes sense.
- [Tom] Of course.
- You can't get them to trust you until you show the respect
for them.
And that means acknowledging whatever their realities are.
And I was thinking that a lot of agents probably let their
clients and prospects sort of conduct themselves
the way they are.
They can be, they can be either too excited,
not excited, not--
- [Tom] Unresponsive, responsive.
- And if you allow that, then you're disserving them.
- [Tom] Yes.
- Because letting them do what they're doing.
Unless they've bought hundreds of houses,
and know all the implications,
is allowing them to under achieve,
under perform the optimal outcome.
If you don't get great feedback.
If you don't give them direction.
If they over enthuse somewhere in front of another agent,
and you're job is to get them the best outcome,
they have, so it's gotta be collaborative.
And if you can't be strong enough and committed enough
to be the leader, then you've already lost.
You can't be the follower in this kind of transaction.
- I'm gonna paraphrase-- - If that makes sense.
- A hundred percent, you said something to me a decade ago.
Which was, the problem that a lot of high producing real
estate agents get into is they become so transactional.
The business is transactional,
but the people aren't transactional.
That to go deep with that person and really understand
their values, who they are, why they're doing it,
why they're really doing,
why are you really making this move?
Moving is not fun,
Everyone that, moving is not a fun experience.
I moved four times in the last five years.
There's nothing about it that's fun.
So is it aspirational?
Is it out of necessity?
Is it because something is falling apart?
- Life change right?
- And digging into that, and being that fiduciary
response, responsive, or responsible--
- That's fabulous.
- Human being who's really gonna serve them the right way.
- Well you hit on it.
The next element, which you stole my thunder,
is empathy.
Not sympathy, but empathy.
Appreciating the circumstance.
I mean are they celebrating a raise?
Are they reacting to a set back?
Is it a crisis?
Somebody died?
Divorce?
Your children left home.
I mean there's so many different scenarios and failure to
really allow yourself to be part
of their process is a, it's a disservice to both sides.
Your gonna get a lesser outcome,
they're gonna get a lesser outcome,
you're not gonna get any referrals.
Because the more connected you are,
the more mind share you will retain for years.
The less connected you are and the more transactional,
the far less number of referrals or repurchases you'll ever
get in the cycle of life.
So I mean it's actually the most self-serving thing
you can do is practice this because it comes back to you
in such a multitude of ways.
But a couple of other key points, you have to think about
the relationship with them literally as a client.
Which they use in real estate, but I don't think people
really understand the true meaning of a client.
In all my other dealings with business owners,
most of 'em refer as customers.
It's tragic 'cause we're in a world where there's three
factions wanting to reduce you down to commodity status.
One is the competition.
Two is the consumer.
And third are the alternative means.
And if you allow it, you've already lost.
And again, the word customer means somebody who buys
a commodity or service.
You're a commodity.
If you really understand the meaning of a client,
pardon me, and you tie it back to the concept of being
the most trusted advisor they have for life.
Not for a transaction, because life is an enduring process
with changes and circumstances, growing, receding,
kids buying houses, investment houses, referrals,
but and this is very important.
A client definition is someone who's under the care,
the protection, the well-being.
That's why you can not, if you wanna be preeminent,
you can do anything you want.
If you wanna be self serving, average, short sided,
tactical, and play a very static game,
but if you want a perpetual game
of constant compounding growth and prosperity,
you have to be willing to tell them
what you really believe is in their best interest and why.
And sometimes I wouldn't buy that,
even though it's a good value.
And if you can't do that and you only want the commission,
you're not going to be building a real enduring
and sustainable business.
You're gonna be creating a short term job.
- And they all know that.
They experienced that from the amount of referrals they
get or the amount of referrals they don't get.
- Total correlation.
- Right, it's always.
- If I may say this, it's a sight diversion.
But if you look at your professional and your business life,
there's about 2% of what happens to us,
that are acts of God, we can't control.
- Yeah.
- And I won't go through--
- Hurricanes, and life. - Or birth defects.
Things like that.
98% of what happens to us in our professional
or our personal life are the direct results
of either actions we take or don't take.
Decisions we make or don't make.
Forces, factors, that are immutable that we either
don't recognize or recognize and either refuse to harness
or harness, because if we don't make them our prisoners
and harness them, then they basically,
it's like the difference between flying into a headwind
or with the jet stream.
- Absolutely.
- Does that make sense?
- Absolutely.
By the way, your overall vocabulary is expanding just
hanging out with Jay Abraham.
(laughing)
- But anyhow, there's a lot more.
- [Tom] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Does that help?
- Always.
- Thank you.
- My friend.
So listen, a lot to digest.
You'll probably wanna watch this show
two, three, four times.
You'll probably wanna have a dictionary next to you so you
can say what does he mean by that.
But Jay, you've had such an insane impact on my life,
my career, both in my former business, in this business,
and all the businesses I get to touch, so as always,
thank you.
Thank you just for being here.
- Well, I have to reciprocate.
I'm grateful always for the privilege of contributing
even greater contribution to somebody whose doing something
preeminent, and I think you are, so hopefully,
this helps people realign their thinking.
Not about what's possible, but about the fact that being,
I'd like this, preeminent people see the world as a 3D movie
and they alone have the only pair of glasses.
- Yeah, oh I love that.
- It's pretty fun.
- I love it.
Alright, guys we're out.
Thank you so much for watching.
Can't wait to see the comments, and we'll talk to you soon.
Hey it's Coach Tom Ferry.
Have you been considering hiring a coach?
If so, click the link below, and check out what we do.
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