In this, The Faces of Business, Bob Burg, Founder, Burg Communications Inc., talks about living the go-giver life, a life that is fulfilling, financially stable, and creates value for others.
Bob has written several best-selling books on sales, marketing, and persuasion, including the business bible, The Go-Giver (collaborated with John David Mann). Bob’s total book sales are close to two million, with the Go-Giver having sold over a million copies alone.
Bob, a seasoned keynote speaker, is a proponent of laissez-faire—free enterprise. He believes that people’s income equates to the number of people they have helped. In his extensive 33+ year entrepreneurial career, he has helped many business owners expand their referral-based customer base, increasing their average sale amount and communicating clearly and effectively.
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Damon opens his show with matchless energy and is pleased to have Bob on board. The host is personally interested in go-getter life, so he gives Bob a hero’s welcome. Damon lists Bob’s remarkable achievements. The guest is a keynote speaker, has written a series of books, and put people on the track of go-getter life.
Referring to Endless Referrals, Damon invites Bob’s thoughts on referrals and networking.
Bob explains that after “a very mediocre couple of years in broadcasting,” he graduated into sales and realized “I knew nothing about sales.” He decided to re-educate him on the subject. He came across two books. One was by Zig Ziglar, while the other was by Tom Hopkins, “two of the true icons in the sales.”
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Based on creating immense value for others, he learned a methodology for selling. Moreover, Bob shares his keen understanding of sales and systems. He defines “a system as the process of predictably achieving a goal based on a logical and specific set.” He believes sales can be systemized through consistency to achieve desired results.
Bob believes learning about sales gave him an opportunity for personal development, “such as how to win friends and influence people.” Similarly, he learned that “You have to build yourself on the inside. Success would manifest outwardly.”
Bob’s learning to create relationships turned into studying networking. He clears up a misunderstanding about networking. The guest believes introducing yourself to a bunch of people and “hitting them up” for business is not networking at all. He defines a “Networking as “the cultivating of mutually beneficial, give-and-receive, win-win relationships.” The focus being on the giving (of value) to others.”
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Damon loves Bob’s approach and philosophy.
He asks Bob about the latter’s inspiration to write books.
Bob responds that he wrote Endless Referrals for entrepreneurs and salespeople who knew they had a great product or service but that they didn’t feel comfortable or confident going out into their communicates developing relationships that would cause people to want to do business with them directly and/or refer them to others.
The guest reveals that he has been in this business for close to 35 years. The most well-known saying over that time is that, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.” Bob is certain to have “read hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of How-to books.” Reading business parables and stories “connect on a much deeper level.” Stories, as Bob believes, relate and connect on a heart-to-heart level.
Bob partnered with John David Mann, the editor-in-chief and “a brilliant, magnificent writer and storyteller.” He shared with John his idea to write a book. It took them about three months to write the book.
While talking about Go-Giver Life, Bob says that apart from big leaders and huge sales producers, many unexpected readers appreciated his books. The guest hopes that he and John have helped in moving people’s perspective from “ruthless” and “horrible” to “adopters” in business transactions.
Another thing that changed the redundant mindset is “the fifth law,” or “the law of receptivity.” It encourages people “to see receiving as something good, not as something you have to try to deny.” They must accept it as “the result of providing immense value to others.” For this reason, Bob maintains that “money is simply an echo of value.”
Bob disapproves of the negative messages, discouraging humans from making “prosperity and abundance and money and business.”
He quotes his friend Randy Gage who believes that false anti-prosperity propaganda is being floated through movies. In blockbusters, kind, honest, and happy people are always portrayed as poor. However, “the rich are always portrayed as evil and heartless, and ruthless and horrible, and they have no soul.” Bob defends his stance by saying that our wealth is directly proportional to the number of people we have served. Damon agrees that people who “are creating that kind of value” deserve a reward.
The messages that we receive program us to believe that way. We unconsciously start believing it. He believes that it is unrealistic. He refers to the law of influence “about placing the other person’s interests first, “which he says is absolutely not self-sacrificial but simply honors the fact that people will work with you for their reasons, not your reasons. Bob asserts that “free markets based economy where no one is forced.” It is purely ethical to build wealth.
Before concluding, Bob invites the viewers to visit his website. Burg.com
The conversation comes to an end with Damon thanking Bob for his time.
