50:16
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
damon, people, meet, peyton, business, years, work, serve, network, building, steve, referral, transactional, sell, podcast, months, love, linkedin, call, listening
SPEAKERS
Steve Ramona, Damon Pistulka
Damon Pistulka 00:00
Damon pistulka, Alright, everyone. Welcome once again, the faces of business. I am your host. Damon pistulka, and I am excited for our guest today, because we have none other than Steve Ramona here today with doing business with a servant’s heart podcast. We’re going to be talking about the power of serving before selling. Steve, thanks for being here today.
Steve Ramona 00:25
Thank you for having me on now, I know how to say your last name. Oh, we’ve been trying to figure it out. Now, I’ve heard you say it because you never meet somebody and go, Hey, What’s your last name? You know, it’s Damon. It Damon. So see, I learned something already. Great podcast, a great live.
Damon Pistulka 00:38
There we go. There we go. Well, it’s, yeah, it’s a challenge, challenge for some that’s for sure. Well, Steve, it’s awesome, awesome to have you today. I mean, you are a self named Super connector. So tell me a bit about that. I mean, how, how does one become a super connector
Steve Ramona 01:02
mindset, the mindset of serving before selling, which is the title of this show, you know, and people, and I thought people were always doing it. Once I delved into this with my podcast and had that doing business with a servant’s heart, people know how to do it. It’s like, I meet somebody, and how do I serve them? Well, I said, before the show, shut up and listen, and then ask, ask a question, ask for a referral, ask for help, ask for resources, but you’ve got to listen. And I always use the Brady Bunch zoom rooms and business meetings or networking meetings, and some of the screens go black. Now maybe they’re going to get a drink or whatever, and that’s okay, but are they really listening when they’re going to get a drink, or are they shutting it off because they’re going to talk to their wife? But they may miss the 30 seconds to a minute of great, great subjects that they can respond to and learn from or explore, especially in the one on one means everybody listening me and you, Dana talk. We all have them. That’s how we met. Yes, yes. So you shut up, you listen. And I did it with you. It was like, Hey, you said something. I’ve got this company that wants to exit. Let me introduce you to them. Now if I wouldn’t have listened and heard what you do, and not just here, exit your way, but learn the details, but more importantly, your passion for what you do, the uniqueness of what you do. That allows me to go to that referral, that introduction, go, Hey, you got to talk to Damon. He’s passionate about this. Would you like that referral? Or would you like, hey, gotta be damn cool dude. Check it out. I can help you access it. Quite a different energy and serving and value that you’re giving them those introductions. It
Damon Pistulka 02:49
really is about getting to know who you’re talking with.
Steve Ramona 02:53
Yep. And you know, the thing is, you don’t have to know everything. And introverts ask me this all the time. I just working with a guy on a month yesterday. Well, an introvert on one do one on ones. Well, you guys are the best because introverts are best to asking questions like Helen, do what you’re doing Damon, and just shut it up and listening. And once they get that, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, they’re like, Oh my god. You don’t have to respond with this big response like, okay, so I heard Damon that this is what you’re looking for. I’ve got a couple people I can help you with. We’ll use my value to Damon or to Joe or to Tony. Now, what value looks like to me, and let’s imagine this audience. When you’re six years old, it’s Christmas morning. What did you do? You ran to that Christmas tree, found the first gift. You opened it up. You were super excited, but you also gave a gift to your mom, to your dad, to your brother, to your sister. So you exchanged Christmas gifts. Have that feeling every day when you meet somebody by bringing them a resource, a tip, introduction, referral, whatever that may be, edify them. You could always find somebody edify and this is should be known be authentic, but, you know, just say, Hey Steve, that’s a beautiful plan above you. Even though it’s virtual, it’s not real. But you know, if it’s not but you can always find something of value for somebody, something to give them credit positive energy. And here’s the power of that, the unseen value is the universe. It loves that big my universe changed last year, biggest year ever my life, because I was out serving like crazy. I did a 1800 to 2000 referrals last year. So that’s about what? 200 a month? Yeah, yeah. 250 200 a month. But here’s the cool thing, when it comes to the universe, as I’m giving gifts, I also asked which I haven’t done before, so I give you a couple of I even asked you Damon. Hey, we went through all this and you gave me a referral, or somebody to connect with. You asked me to be on your show. It’s so fluid and so easy, but you’ve got to take the action to do. I say, No, I’m not going to say anything. Okay, here’s what I do. Hey, thanks for me, and move on. Because what’s the worst thing I know? We’ve heard this a million times as kids, as business people, what’s what is? No, well, I don’t have anybody. Happened yesterday? They AMA. He said, that’s no problem. Are you sure you’ve just given me so many gifts? It’s okay if you don’t have any, but do me a favor. Keep it in your mind. If you meet a professional athlete that’s retired, or a top business person, I’ll do that. I’ll definitely do that. Guess what? Today I got a referral. Nice, didn’t think about it, but I gave them value. They were super excited to meet with me and audience. Think about this. I had this happens to me a lot. That’s one of the best meetings I’ve ever had. Think about when you meet with somebody, I’ve made no transactions. In any of these comments that I get back. I’ve made no money, but I made universe currency. I call God’s currency, or I’ve taken care of them, and it comes back.
Damon Pistulka 06:12
I love that. I love that. Because, you know it is, it is interesting how that comes around and how you just keep building and and you look at, you know, you can look at a lot of people that are famous and and not necessarily for the reasons that we think. You look at a Mother Teresa, you look at some of these other people, there’s a reason why they did what they did, and it was because the fills your heart and it and it fills your fills your life and and there. The rest of it takes care of itself, if we really, really do that. You know,
Steve Ramona 06:49
this is so great, damn. You’re such a great host. It’s where people are thinking so transactional right away, and then I think transformational every call, every show I come on. How can I be the best? Transactional is your short road to success, meaning I sell you today. Damon, we met today for the first time. We have not built a relationship. Now maybe we do is you become a client, but a lot of times you don’t, especially if you’re selling a product or service that’s a CRM or an AI tool, whatever you have hundreds, you know, 1000s of of clients that’s going to last months. So give me 10 people that are short road, transactional. I keep them for six months. Give me five people, I built a relationship before they purchased. For me, we’ve transacted. We have to transact. We talk about we have to. That’s just part of the life. But how do you get there? Yeah, they stay for two to three years, 10 for six months, five for two to three years. And how many referrals you’re going to get from the 10 and how many referrals you’re going to get from the five that you’ve built a relationship? Yes, now let’s flip this too. When you build a relationship, they may not like you. Next, I don’t mean that with not a heart next, meaning it wasn’t a fit. Yes, I’m not going to worry about Tony Smith. He wasn’t a fit for me. So I’m out and about meeting more people to see who’s my next person that is going to want to work with me, pay me. I can bring value to we have to keep that in mind. That goes with the No. It’s just, you know, there’s a book out there. Go for the nose. I’m a very public I shouldn’t, but I am. I’m not a fan of that. I know it’s a lot of MLM book, but go for the no is so negative. Oh. Damon to be no. Tony be No. Jody be No, no, no. I want to go for the yeses. It may not be Yes buying from me. It may mean that’s joining my mastermind, but it’s a yes of we’re going to build a relationship together, and I’ll tell you a story Friday. Get an email, Thomas, I’ve talked to him in 20 weeks, 24 weeks. Hey, I got a referral for you. This girl will be great for you to meet. I think you guys have a great time. Think about that. 24 weeks, and I got a referral. So was I top of mind? I’m sure maybe saw me on LinkedIn. Maybe it’s something that, whatever. And here’s the greatest thing I love about this. I’m nothing special, but I’m special because I take action anybody can do this. Mm, hmm. But it’s up in the noggin. It’s, it’s that mindset of, do I want to bring value, or do I need to sell this person today because I gotta pay my water bill tomorrow?
Damon Pistulka 09:33
Yeah, it’s well, and it’s hard not to be transactional in the beginning for some people, right? I mean, especially if you’re working for somebody, you know, there’s, there definitely some pressures there, but you can, I think you can work in the relationship building along with the transactional part of the beginning, and move more into the relationships as you, as you go on. But when you move to that transformational and. Really the service serving aspect, as you say, you really don’t have to sell at that point, it’s really about, What can I help you with today? Is there anything that that you could really help you with? What’s going on? And because, like you, you talk with so many people that you probably have talked to somebody recently that you know that could help Susan or Stan or bill or whoever it is that you’re talking with, and go, Yeah, I think I got somebody. I think I can. I can do that. And, like you said, that universal currency of the world or the the universe comes back around over time. Yeah,
Steve Ramona 10:42
the other mindset problem is transactional. Is easy. Hey, here’s 100 bucks. Damon, you know, here’s whatever, 1000s of dollars. Help me exit my company. That’s easy. In our mind, that’s easy. I got some money. Zelle, cash, whatever way you got paid. Transformation. We don’t know how, when or where that’s going to affect us, but I’ll tell you a quick story. I met this gentleman at the chiropractor office I was getting adjusted, and the guys I was talking about, by the way, everybody give away your IP for free. I do a free podcast workshop every month, and I do a business mentoring every other Monday for free. You know, the business mentor, and they could pay if they want, but nobody’s paid me yet. I don’t care. Yeah, a big universe thing. But this gentleman stood up. I was talking about my business class. He’s like, Oh my god, can I ask you a question? I said, Yeah, hey, my son is he left his job and he’s freaking out. I’m worried about him. Will you help him? I said, Absolutely, man, I just met this guy in 30 seconds. He’s like, Oh, man, I’m Andre, I really appreciate you. What did I do? I said, would meet with them. I’m going to spend 20 minutes when I could have changed this guy’s life. Yeah, and I did, because he called me two weeks there. He’s almost in tears. He’s unhappy. He’s like, I don’t know what to do. I’m freaking out, you know, sleeping into all this stuff. He’s telling me, which is amazing, when you bring value, people open up to you, which is good, because you can learn more. I said, Tony, come to my class. It’s next Monday. How about you? Is it? I said, it’s nothing. It’s an hour. Give me an hour of your time, and I’ll teach you how to build a business. And you come every other Monday. He’s like, seriously, said, yeah, he goes, stops, and I know a pause is coming. There’s emotion. He’s like, Steve, you’ve given me hope for the first time in six months. Awesome. Super simple to do, whether it’s me or refer them to, you know, you, Damon or whoever, just give that person. Here’s the crazy thing. I woke up the next morning. Get up early at five, 530 and I’m checking things, an email pops up and somebody sent me $500 don’t know where it came from. I figured it out later, because I didn’t recognize the email, and it was a partnership I have, and somebody signed up for their service. I didn’t know. So there’s the show me when, how or where does happen? I don’t, I don’t care on that. I don’t go, yeah, I didn’t give you 12 or, you know, two or three referrals, maybe more, whatever. And go, Okay, please, please, please, Email. Email me mommy, come on, give me some you know, you don’t do that, because that’s not how it works. You just keep moving through your day, serving, serving, serving.
Damon Pistulka 13:30
Yes, well, and that’s a great example too, because there are, I mean, so you talk about that first you need help. And you talk about, you know, what, what really that means to their life. And it’s funny, you talk about this. I had an example of that earlier this spring that was, was where we were able to help somebody, and I didn’t realize how much it did until told somebody else. And I was like, oh my, my goodness. You know, we don’t know how these little acts can really help people.
Steve Ramona 14:07
It’s we’re so much alike. We’re brothers from another mother. And I use that phrase a lot, but seriously, it’s great to hear we both would love to hear it more, but it’s not important our lives. We’re not searching it. And I’ll give you another and here’s a tip, audience, you’re having a bad day. Contracts aren’t being signed. People aren’t showing up. Back to no shows today. Kind of bummer when that happens, because your schedule take off and find a way to serve. And I did that two years ago, and it was two o’clock couple no no shows. A big contract was going to be signed, and they say, I’m going to delay it six months. I’m like, oh my god, could use the money. So okay, I don’t walk away at two o’clock unless me and my wife are going somewhere, doing something. And I went to the grocery store to buy groceries. And it’s so vivid to me, I had this when I was staying in line to check out. I had this I called the Holy Spirit of your faith. But just to. Feeling like I’ve got to buy this lady with a baby her groceries. I just want to serve, you know, server. So I tell the clerk, and it’s funny, he’s a long haired guy, surfer. Dude, you can skateboard. Dude, what are you doing? Dude, that’s crazy. I said, Hey, can you do me a favor? I just, I just want to do it’s not a lot of money. It’s 30 baht, whatever. Don’t matter. Finally, he did it. He’s like, he kept shaking. Said, Dude, you’re crazy. Well, I check out, and we start walking out. She thanks me, and she starts tearing up. And I said, I am. I didn’t want to upset you. Go, no, no, I really from Obama. I appreciate that, and my baby does. She can’t. She can’t tell you, but you don’t realize, last week, my husband lost his job, and this could have been our last $30 to buy groceries. It’s a great thing that I did. Now, again, it’s the if you’re a faith person, it’s God that ran through me to do we, I we never know which is awesome. But here’s the awesome thing, what is she gonna do when she goes home? She’s got these groceries, she’s gonna tell the story. Hey, this guy, like Steve, bought our groceries. He just had this data. And what are they gonna do? They’re gonna go out and share some type of service with somebody else. So this compounds, like money.
Damon Pistulka 16:18
The ripple effect is huge. Ripple. Great one. Yeah, it just, it just, it just goes out. And, like you said, it doesn’t matter who you help. When you can help somebody and they feel better, they’re going to transmit that to other people that they’re around. Yeah, yeah, huge thing. And like, like you said, it’s little things. I mean, even I find it brings me a lot of joy just smiling when I’m out walking my dog, because I see people coming down the trail or coming down the sidewalk and they look like their day was could have been like hell, you know. And I’m smiling because I’m like, I’m breathing and we’re having a good time, and it’s good. I just want to just those little things, because you just don’t know what the what’s behind those eyes and that other person. And
Steve Ramona 17:12
I’m glad you mentioned that, because I got a call last Friday, a guy I was networking with died on his couch two days before, 40 years old, passed away, and I’m like, I’m 63 I’m like, my thought went right to that, how many more people can I serve? Because our life is not infinite, it’s finite. So why not serve more? Smile more. And here’s another tip, you guys want to make a more servers? Gonna say a lot of money? Could this will lead to money? Use cheat code when you go to the grocery store, we the person’s name. Hey Tony, thank you for the groceries. You go to the restaurant, hey Debbie, thank you. Use their name. What a way to serve. And I’ll tell you a quick story. I got so many stories, I hope you don’t mind. So we’re at a restaurant, and I like to go to when a really good waiter is there, I like to grab their manager, and I love to see what happens. I go, Hey, I think his name was Jonathan. He said, Jonathan, can you go get your manager? What’s going on? Oh, not too much. Just tell her something, you know, not so good here. I don’t know, kind of playing a little game fun for them. So I always watch an audience do this. It’s amazing. What happens you’ll see them talking and yeah, and start moving. So she comes walking over and says, Sir, how can I help you? So what’s your name? Oh, it’s Jacqueline. Jacqueline, Jacqueline, I want to say Jonathan was unbelievable. Our water was quick. The food was great. He’s so such a nice guy and is pleasant to be all that. I asked her, How many times do you hear that? She’s been there for five years? She’s heard it three times in five years. Waiters have done a good job. Yeah. But the next step is, I’m in San Francisco, the 40 Niners have Levi stadium. She goes, do you guys go to Levi stadium? I said, Yeah, my wife’s actually going to the Rolling Stone concert. She goes, here’s my card. I work at the bar. I’ll get you guys free drinks. It’s that infinite loop of and I didn’t and again, audience, here’s the power to I didn’t call her over to get something free, but it’s that Christmas gift over and over that people want to, want to give you something when you make them feel good, when you help them, when you support them. So
Damon Pistulka 19:33
yes, yes. And it Yeah. If we can get more people away from the transactional and into the transformational. Like I said, it’s, it really does allow us to to live a different life, to be honest. Yep, does. It’s
Steve Ramona 19:51
not all about the money either. It’s not about what’s in your bank account. It’s great to have enough pay bills all that. But that’s, that’s the secondary thing. It’s, yes, how many people. Be your servant. As your mindset, you should be any any dealings or conversations or anything you’re working with people. Your first thought should be, and my first thought is always, can women listen? And what can I what value can I bring?
Damon Pistulka 20:15
Yeah, well, and, you know, I there’s good and bad about social media hell. We’re on several platforms now doing this, right? But as you said, Money doesn’t bring happiness at a certain point of money, a certain at a certain point. Everybody needs some of it, right? You need some of it. And and it doesn’t hurt to have more of it, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to be happy, because there’s, there’s difference between what’s in your heart and what’s in your wallet. If your heart is empty, your wallet’s not going to make a difference.
Steve Ramona 20:52
It’s just going to be empty money and and I’m excited to be a millionaire, and I’m going to say I’m going to be a millionaire, because that abundance is going to allow me to help so many more people. Yes, yes, it’s, it’s, if people look at me as, like, well, cars, Trouts, yeah, I’d love to buy a private plane. I don’t think I will. I might fly, you know, first class instead of, you know, yeah, those are the but I’m also going to make sure that with my abundance, not only with money, comes all those resources, because I work with millionaire billionaires like you. You work with high end companies. What kind of resources they have. They have a ton, and the good companies get back. I know you’ve told me about some that you work with that’s exciting.
Damon Pistulka 21:33
It is, it is. And I tell you, that’s, that’s what I enjoy most about people that that when you can work with people that understand the the value of building something so they can, they can be more philanthropic with what they can do and have a greater impact. That’s where you go. My goodness, these are the kind of people that I want to work with, because we can together, we can do incredible things and and really make an impact on the world just little bit at a time.
Steve Ramona 22:06
Yep, yeah. Think about lottery winners. Are they changing the world? I think not, not
Damon Pistulka 22:11
much. Well, it is the people that are around us every day too. It’s, it’s the people that are, that are going to the park and cleaning it up on the weekends. It’s the people that are, you know, coaching the the girls basketball or helping out with the whatever events that they’re helping out with at the schools or the community events. I mean, it’s, that’s, that’s the real heroes of of you know, generosity around us.
Steve Ramona 22:39
That’s all servant’s heart. I serve coffee once or twice a month in my church, it’s the funnest time to be able to connect with people, you know, and just be a coffee such a big thing in church because, you know, especially when it’s cold, yeah, and it’s such a little thing. And I did an interview for the church, and what they were so excited about was the fact that serving coffee leads to growth to the church or leads to people closer to God, if your faith, that’s powerful, but your other servant, servants can be like you said, going to a homeless shelter and feeding them, cleaning a park, doing Alzheimer’s walk whenever. There’s so many ways you can actually search Google and to volunteer. I think it’s called volunteer opportunity. Yes, and in your area will pop up a lot, so there’s always some way to serve.
Damon Pistulka 23:29
Yes, if someone, if you’re having trouble, that’s a great point, because if you’re having trouble, figuring out how you can serve your community, there are a lot of places that you can go, and they will give you plenty of options. And it’s not just writing checks. I mean, it’s, it’s putting in time. It’s, it’s putting an ear in on a phone or or with Zoom call of people, because there’s, there’s so many people that have so much to give that they don’t even realize they do. Yeah,
Steve Ramona 23:56
eat the Fiverr at Apple or Google. You know you’re paying your bills. Bring your whole family, bring the kids and the wife, and go serve. Yeah, I do a beautiful day at my church, October 12 and 13th. We’re going to clean up a school. We’re going to paint a mural and do things nice. It’s a little bit of work for a weekend. I’ve spent a lot of time, not a lot of time, but an hour last night meeting, and today I’m going to meet again after this, but it’s so as you can see in your smile on your face, it’s so rewarding, yes, because you’re helping people. Yes,
Damon Pistulka 24:29
it’s such a it’s such a wonderful feeling. So as you, as you’ve been doing this, right? You’re doing the you’re connecting people, you’re help doing this. What are some of the things that you know? Let’s first of all, let’s back up a little bit, because before we got on, you told an interesting story. Now we, we, I think we share this. We probably started out in our younger years as transactional more than transformational. So let’s, let’s, let’s. Us hear, let’s hear your story from from a person we both know that helped you kind of change the way that you you looked at this.
Steve Ramona 25:08
I’ve served people for 11 years, probably longer than that. The last 11 years, I did $25 million in deals, and I met, you know, I made $10,000 I never asked which I’ve learned to do, because you build a network and stuff. But I was part of a digital business card company, and I got introduced to Donnie bovin And shout out to Donnie, great guy, awesome stuff. Talk about a servant’s heart and networking big time. And so we jumped on a call, and I started selling them right away, hey, you need this digital business card. Imagine you’re on everybody’s phone. And started pitching. And then five minutes, he said, stop the heck are you doing? Well, Donnie, you got this, you know, I’m thought all about you got this big community. Be great to be able to access to you. He goes, how you don’t even need this. You’ve never asked me one question. Shot me down a little bit, and I’m okay with that. It really, it really made a difference to me, because I after the meeting, I really think about it, and interesting enough, he came on my podcast a year later, and that’s all we talked about. So from that point with Donnie, I never pitched again unless somebody asked, What do you do? If they like, what they do? Then I’ll say, it costs this much, or let’s jump on a call, and I’ll go over the costs. It happens all the time on LinkedIn. I had a guy just now reach out to me. Hey, I can, you know, produce your podcast. I could get you 1 million subscribers. I always say, are you making a million dollars a year doing it? Oh, not yet. I said that. I don’t. I only work with people, and I don’t, but I just say that, but I get two or three of those a week, yes, and now I’m getting emails, same thing. And I’ve asked people, does it work? Well, I’ve got a couple of clients, so you’re going to work hard for weeks to get two clients? Yeah, no. Thank you. No. Thank
Damon Pistulka 26:59
you. Yeah, it’s, it’s a you wonder why the the cold pitch or, or as Peyton just dropped the comment. Pitch slapped as love it. Peyton, thank you. Yep, yep. Thanks for the comment. Peyton, it is. It is one of those things that we do live in a world where automation makes it easy to just mass dump, you know, Bs out to people, hoping that somebody bites. Honestly, that’s all it is. But the The interesting part about that, and I learned it from a different person, Jeff Graham, helped me. I said that before, and not just trying to sell right away. For me, it was like, I wouldn’t ask for the sale, and I didn’t know the process and the steps to do it. I just wanted to get to know people and keep asking questions and and it was like, Okay, now there has to be an end to this dude that doesn’t just go like that. I said, Well, I’ve I sold big accounts stuff for manufacturers for years. That’s what I did, and that’s kind of how you do that. When you’re when you’re selling somebody $20 million worth of stuff a year, right? It takes a little bit more, but when you’re when you’re really learn how to do it. There’s a there’s a wonderful symphony, or whatever you want to call it, play, of getting to know people and really getting to understand what, what it is that they need help with, like you’re saying, or, or what’s going on with them, whatever, if you if you could be of value, and then getting to the point to where maybe it is something worth talking about,
Steve Ramona 28:35
yep, yep, and it’s something people forget about. Here’s two scenarios. One, do you want to sell this one guy, or really pitch him and upset him, or get to know him and dive into his network? Yes, I’ve talked to people that a guy who’s a realtor in San Diego, here’s me, Ivan Meisner to be on my podcast. Founder of BNI, mega influencer, Lee Steinberg, Jerry Maguire. Movie was built around him. He’s Patrick mahomes agent. Somebody introduced me. I asked, I said, Lee, I’d love to have you on my show. I’d love to do it here. Talk to my admin, asking and treating people right? You just don’t know their network. You want to be involved in that networking. Here’s the power of networking, I don’t hear a lot. Is when I started networking, was 18 years old, at a health club my family started, and I worked the front desk. And hey, you know, Damon, have a great workout. Hey, Damon, see you next week, or see him Wednesday, and you have these conversations, and you’d ask questions, how’d the workout go? Yeah, hey Steve, let’s ask you a question. Can we get more? You know, now you’re building this dialog, and this this symphony. I love that word. I’m not doing music, but this building of relationships. What all of a sudden, these people are millionaires. Are starting at 19 years old. Give tips. And this one guy here, so powerful of it, of building relationships, he goes, he throws me a book. It. Says The Wealthy Barber. It’s still around. He said, Hey kid. He used to call me kid, little short Italian guy. Hey kid, read that book and I’ll follow up with you next week. Alright, great. Have a good workout. Tony, be followed up the next week. I said, Yeah, I read it. Basically you’re telling me, take 10% of my income, put in an account. Don’t touch it. Lot of advisors tell you, that’s how you say. So I did it. He had left the club. And 10 years go by, and if I looked at the account Now, keep in mind, this is 19 7980, I was making $5 an hour. Yeah. So I make it 200 a week, maybe. So what’s that? Four 800 a month? Well, when I got to that account 10 years and I peaked at once in a while, it’s $68,000 at 28 years old in that account. Yeah, I forget how to win the lottery. But here’s the powerful thing. I called Tony because I still had this number. We stayed connected, kept that relationship, yeah. And I said, Tony, you know, there’s this much money. Let me give you $1,000 that was your work. You. You advised me I want to pay. He goes, No, no, here’s why. Kid, when you took my advice, which a lot of millionaires and billionaires didn’t, my universe changed. So I know somebody came into my world and probably made me a lot of money because you took action, because the gift I gave you, and you treated me so well during the I mean, just on or on and on. Yes, I didn’t went, Holy crap, this is the power of networking. And then I extrapolated even further. So I left, we sold the hell club in 2001 of the members in my network said, Hey, I’m starting a restaurant. I wasn’t working watching Oprah being stupid as a 28 year old, and so I started working at the restaurant. What did I do? I took the health club network, and I told them, Well, hey, I’m at this, this restaurant. You come join me. In months, we were packed because I’ve built all these relationships. You’re gonna come see me. 20% kept coming back every week, and then that closed. And then three years later, I started a recycling company, electronics and all that. Now this is my own company. Same thing. Now, I took the health club network, and now I’ve built a restaurant network, combined them together and send an email out or talk to people. Hey, I’m doing electronic recycling. We’ll come pick up your stuff for free. We got paid by the state. Next thing I know, I have 153,000 in the bank. Yeah, I never have that much money in the bank. It was like crazy. So I’m learning an audience. This is a big tip. This is the power of a network you can carry along with every opportunity, every resource, every philanthropic thing you do when you build that great relationship, years later, people are still going to come see you because they like you. Mm, hmm,
Damon Pistulka 32:47
yeah. And it’s so powerful, like you said, you know those people, they can help you in the future, you’re helping them. They’re helping you. And it really becomes a wonderful thing. And it’s not like you said, it’s not because you’re at a certain business or doing a certain thing, it’s because they like it. You built the relationship. And if it’s like, yeah, Damon, I do need that recycling. I was just looking at some stuff. I got to do it. What do I need to do? You know, that’s the kind of thing that happens. Or are you there’s so many other things can happen like that.
Steve Ramona 33:20
Yeah, you nailed it. That’s exactly what happened. I get emails, hey, let me check my garage and but then they tell their neighbor, yeah, they go to church and tell their church, hey, this guy, Steve, I used to see at the health club, he’s doing recycling. And that was all the marketing I did. I did no ads. Yes, I did referral marketing. I didn’t read. And the scary part, and probably the funny part is, I didn’t know I was doing it. Damon, I’m just reaching out to people now, I know, but it’s like, that’s the secret sauce I was doing again. I took action because I believe indecisiveness in business is just as bad as covid did to us, and we’ve talked about that. It’s make a decision. You can always pivot. You can always it’s wrong. Go a different road. It’s but maybe Damon, maybe I will, maybe I won’t inspect what you do X in your bill. I’m not sure if I’m going to exit. May wait a couple years, or next, you know, 10 years go by and they probably could have great things could happen, and maybe it’s too late, or the business guys or whatever, yeah.
Damon Pistulka 34:22
I mean, it happens a lot. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of good and a lot of bad. I mean, you can run, I mean, look at the economic cycles we’ve have. And when you go back to the to the time, well, going into covid, right? So before covid, people could have had a business that was very valuable, ready to sell covid hits reset, even if, you even if, well, we did this with several of the businesses we were marketing at the time. It’s like, Listen, you got this gap in time where nobody knew anything and nobody had any sales. We just don’t count that, right? And the market adjusted to that. But when you look back and you look through us. Economic cycles like the the real estate crisis, there were people that were in construction that, if they would have not been greedy and sold in 2007 or whatever, when their businesses were ready, if they would have been ready and ready to sell rather than going, Wow, it’s just going so good. I can’t do it. I can’t go now. Well, nobody. The next person doesn’t want it when it’s crappy time, right? They just don’t. So you really need to understand these kind of things, and when you’re doing them for that, because it’s so I kind of get off on a tangent on this, because it is so important to really understand and and I think this is where, like we said before, when you’re when your money is important, from when it gets too important, it will drive bad decisions.
Steve Ramona 35:54
Great. I love that. It’s so true. Yeah, it’s so true. I got covered. I can wait. I got covered. I got 2 million in the bank. Yeah. Two years later, three years later, there’s nothing in the bank. And, Yep, yeah. And sometimes see Yeah, and then sometimes you see and you got 100 million to bank. But it’s all about probabilities, yeah,
Damon Pistulka 36:13
yeah. It is. It is. Well, we got Peyton. He said something. Said in here, the relationship is not something you can just bluff your way into AI and pitching skips the human connection. Get to know the pain points over time, and eventually know if you fit. That is how it’s done. And the you know, you’ve heard the AI bot, you’ve listened to them, seen the text that comes out of them and, and I don’t know it could, it could, over time, get get reasonable, but we’ll see.
Steve Ramona 36:48
We’ll see. Yeah, thank you, Peyton, that’s a great comment. Yeah, there’s a place for AI, but it’s not with the human connection, as exactly said. But I actually met with a gentleman that worked with the three scientists that started the Internet back in 96 nice, same thing. Ai, I mean, he said, This is the same thing. It’s just now the internet, Internet can be good, or social media can be good, it can be bad. We have the black internet or the whatever, the dark internet, whatever. Yeah, so everything has good and bad. We just like Peyton said, We’ve gotta be aware of it. Yes, and don’t let AI speak for me. That’s not authentic, but using AI for other things we don’t need to get into that is,
Damon Pistulka 37:31
is there wonderful that can help you with wonderful things that can help you? It’s a wonderful tool, and if you, if you use it appropriately, can help you be more efficient. I mean, we have to do that. Look at what it can do to help you be a better writer. If I’m in a business setting, or if I need to review a contract or something, and I just go, Okay, what do you think it’ll give you two or three ideas that you go, what did you consider this? Did you consider, I mean, just the power of that, or even, yeah, there’s just so many different ways. So the the hard though, like you said, is is, and I don’t think you will be able to replace it, is the human to human connection that we have never because it’s just, I mean, the experience we bring from years of life, and that experience that that was was gained across there is just, I don’t know how it will happen, but
Steve Ramona 38:24
Well, what do we learn with covid isolation? Almost destroyed this country, destroyed the world. If, when they kept lying, you know, people like, wow, it’s a little it could have because and it’s crazy. My wife works at Trader Joe’s. There were people coming in, ladies coming in. Two years later, having left their homes, they left their home the first time in like 2023 but for two years they would just order in. They they’d never left their home. Not good for seniors, not good for anybody. No, it’s not, not healthy. No. Peyton, like Peyton, said, in a human connection, those two words are huge, yes, but when he said, when we’re pitch slapping people, that’s not a human connection, yeah, because I’m not going to meet you in person and slap you going, Hey, great to see you. I’m going to hug you and shake your hand, yes. So you kind of look at it that way. It’s it becomes so much more aware,
Damon Pistulka 39:17
yeah, yeah. Well, I’m paying to have one last comment here. He said, I’m still understanding the power of network. And I tell you that that is when you really realize the power of of building relationships with people. And like you said before, not everybody’s going to be you know, you’re not going to everyone you meet is not going to be someone you go, wow, I really want to get to know them better. It’s going to be, you know, one out of whatever. And that’s the way it is, and some are and some aren’t. But that the power of that network, whether it’s I’m feeling down today or whether it’s I need. Some help doing something is incredible. Yeah,
Steve Ramona 40:02
here’s a tip Peyton to help you and help anybody else out there. Every business I mentor that’s looking for leads and building your network, meet 10 to 15 new people every week. So starting next Monday, look on your calendar as your Bible. Are you meeting 10 or 15 new people? And that includes another great tip I share. People, go through your calendar for the last year, look at every single appointment. Oh, I met Damon. It’s Luca. I’m not going to say your name. I met Damon. Great conversation. I haven’t talked to in six months. Hey, Damon, a while we got chance. Let’s follow up. Let’s see what we’re doing. Let’s see how we can support each other. As simple as that, you meet the 10 to 15. Go through LinkedIn, go through your calendar, and here’s a powerful tool. The third one I met, this gentleman three years ago, young guy, 27 I think I told you this story and start telling about his flip at Home program. Course, that’s actually five years ago. I’m getting old. I said, How you doing with this program? You know, everybody’s flipping home. He goes, Steve, I’m making a million dollars a month in income. I went, Whoa. What? I was like, 5857 I’m like, Okay, I’m 57 Let’s talk. What are you doing? He Steve, said, Steve, all I did the market, my businesses. I had 1000 people on my phone contact list on my phone, I reached out to every one of them and said, Do you know anybody who’s interested in flipping homes? I’d love an intro. They came in like wildfire. Why? Because those people in your contact list, most of them, like you. You like them because you’ve interacted with them multiple times. Who are more willing to help you your family and your friends, yes, and your business friends. So use that content, whether you got 100 or 10. I have 4800 No, 5800 I reached out to all of them. I’ve got this podcast. I got 4000 my newsletter now, and people every week seeing my new podcast. And you know, I’ve got 9800 subscribers, partly because I did that. So I know it works. Yes,
Damon Pistulka 42:04
it does. It definitely does. And and that follow up, and just seeing how people are doing is so key, yeah, yeah,
Steve Ramona 42:13
so key, it’s and it’s simple, and if somebody says, not interested, next, yeah, all my head all the time next and here’s the power of networking. Peyton and everybody listening just happened before I got on this show. I had a meeting before this, and the guy wasn’t showing up. And I always wait 10 minutes. I’m courtesy. And I just about hit the leave, and he popped up. Very honest. I, you know, I didn’t ridicule him, you know, I know people. I’ve done that. I’ve been late. You should never be late. And I’m like, Okay, let’s just move forward. He apologized. Said, no problem. What I did for the next 10 minutes was exactly what I just did. Contact List. I walked him through LinkedIn, how to connect. He’s a brand new business. He needs more leads, and he was going to go out and buy a legion. You can find millions of people online. There’s no reason to buy scrapers, and you know those different types of lead, lead magnets, or lead gens, or hire a company, plus they don’t work. Anyways, you meet 100 people. One’s going to buy from you. How long’s going to take you to meet 100 people? Well, it’s 10 a week. That’s 10 weeks. That’s two and a half months. You got one client, we got bills to pay in those two months. Yeah,
Damon Pistulka 43:28
yeah. Well, and that’s, that’s where it is. Again, it’s, it’s really to understand the power of of serving people, getting to know them, and building those relationships over time, because then when you do have something coming along, it makes a huge difference. Just makes a huge difference. It
Steve Ramona 43:49
does. I mean, I’m gonna go big time. What’s happened to me is meeting millionaire and a billionaires for the first time are coming to me because of the value I brought to people. But I’m being asked to speak now. I’ve never spoken my life to a crowd. Now, remember, I got asked to speak to 20,000 people in South America. More shows like that. Been on 50 shows like this, and I pat myself on the back a little bit. But Peyton and anybody else that, if you haven’t commented, who’s listening, you all can do that. Yeah, but it’s building that network who’s going to get you to the billionaire? Get you to the speaking gig, get you to the podcast. Those get you on Damon’s live, whatever it may be. So that that network is your core and the branches of the speaking you start your own podcast. I have a TV show. Be on my TV show. Start a community. Start another opportunity. It all comes from that network. That’s your core. I say every day you need to spend time building that network, calendar, contact list, LinkedIn, whatever it may be. That’s why 10, if you try to go for 1015, new people during the week, you’re going to reach out to people, or meet people or get. Referrals, and I’ll leave with this once you see how, tell me how you feel audience, if you want to type in the chat if you got three to 10 referrals daily. Now I’ve received that for 18 months, and I’m not bragging here, but I’ve got such a network of people. And I told you one of six months, 610, 20 weeks later, I got you. And that happens fairly often too. It’s a game changer, because it’s more people I get to meet, more people I can partner up with, more people. He gets to my podcast for what I’m offering. It’s it doesn’t change for what you’re offering, Damon, what Peyton’s offering, whoever else is listening. It’s all the same. It’s just a different route that’s all Yes,
Damon Pistulka 45:39
yes. Well. And, I mean, how many people can say that referrals are a a worst path to business than cold outreach? I mean, it just, it’s just not. There’s no, there’s no comparison. I mean, a lot of times, honestly, if people really know you, the referral is is just means you’re going to do work with them. You’re going to work with them because they know you well enough that you know if you’ve worked with somebody else and they’re referring you and they’re happy with what you did already, you’re don’t screw it up, because that’s really the only way you’re not going to do it. Yeah, they’ve likely, if they know each other well, they’ll, they’ll know how much you caused what happened, what you know, they’re going to get a lot of questions answered from their friends and and other people before that. So absolutely, yeah. And Peyton said three to 10 referrals would change my business. Yeah, thank
Steve Ramona 46:38
you, Peyton. Yeah, it’s and that’s why the best year, last year that I’ve ever had it, because I’m meeting all these folks, not only I’m putting, putting out and I’m receiving, it’s just fun. I mean, I could look at my calendar right now. Betcha, I have a referral, and I do somebody just, just referred me to somebody, yeah, and it’s crazy. And I say that because, again, I want to keep going back. I sometimes when I say it, I won’t feel like I got this ego, but anybody could do it. I’m not special. Now people call me super connected. That’s why I use that, that moniker, or that I’m special, and I appreciate that. And what I did the grocery store was probably something special. But again, it doesn’t mean I cannot help a company exit their, their their business. I cannot. I don’t have the expertise. Yeah, it’s not gonna be able to do it. That’s your expertise. Networking is my expertise. But the service thing, any there’s, you don’t need to be an expert at. Just need to do it. Yeah,
Damon Pistulka 47:38
yep, that’s for sure. It’s it’s just, it is the someone asked me today and, and I don’t talk about how many followers I have on LinkedIn, because I don’t think it really matters to me. It is just getting up and prioritizing what you do. And if this is if what you do and you’re special in, in the way you do it and how you do it, that’s that’s what it’s about. Get up if you really want to build your network, go ahead and do it, but put in the work. Do it consistently. Do it over time. Service before selling, just like you’re saying, help people and it will come around. Yeah,
Steve Ramona 48:19
I met a gentleman, and I landed in 2022, another referral asked about his business, manufacturing two, 50 million he did in sales. Bought a company I need to retrieve. I gotta figure it out. See, I’m thinking serving you already. I think a referral. But I said, Okay, Jim, how’d you do that? Yeah, the first time I’ve really met somebody who’s done really well, because it was three years, four years, two years ago. He says, Steve, I wake up in the morning, because that’s what reminded me. I wake in the morning. Who am I going to serve today, I go to the bed. Think about who I’m going to serve. Do I serve my collaborators, which he means competitors. Do I serve my employees? How do I serve my board? How do I how do I serve everybody? How do I bring them value? That’s why I made two 50 million. Yeah, I’m like, Okay, there’s something. Yes,
Damon Pistulka 49:06
it really is. It really is. Well, Steve, it’s been a pleasure to have you on today. It’s so, so loved talking about the the power of serving before selling. You are truly a connector, a wonderful person to get to know, and you’re helping a lot of people
Steve Ramona 49:25
great show. You’re a great host like thank you so much. Thanks for
Damon Pistulka 49:29
being here today. Want to say, Peyton, thanks so much for the awesome comments. Those of you that weren’t didn’t drop a comment in there, but were listening, or got in late, go back to the beginning, because Steve dropped a bunch of great information there. So Steve, if someone wants to get a hold of you, what’s the best way to find you? LinkedIn.
Steve Ramona 49:49
Steve Ramona, search me there. I’m always on there, or I have a digital business card in phone.co/podcast. I N, P, H, O, N, e.co, so. Watch the word podcast,
Damon Pistulka 50:00
awesome, awesome. Well, Steve, thanks for being here today. Hang out for just a moment. We will finish up offline. Thanks everyone for being here. We will be back again later. You.
