About Curt Tueffert: Curt Tueffert leads Peak Sales Strategy with over 30 years of experience in sales and sales management. His expertise has earned him the title of “America’s Master Sales Motivator.” Curt understands that motivation and knowledge go hand in hand when it comes to achieving success. He communicates this balance with the right tools to help people stay motivated. Curt is a professor of Advanced Professional Selling at the University of Houston, where he is ranked in the top 5% of professors based on student reviews. Curt’s expertise in sales and human behavior stems from his certification as a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) with Target Training International. He’s the author of “201 Sales Motivators” a collection of quotes and short editorials designed to inspire and motivate sales professionals. Curt has just completed “5 Stones For Slaying Giants”, an e-book written to address 5 critical success factors for business and life. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Curt.
In this episode, Nancy and Curt discuss the following:
- The idea of 201 sales motivators.
- The importance of motivation in sales and in life.
- Who motivates the motivator?
- Curt’s experience at the University of Houston.
- Selling a degree: reality or myth?
- The ability of students to learn the art of communication at the university.
- How can we build trust and value in the art of having a curious conversation?
- Curt’s method of building trust through the quality of questions.
- Determination of behavioral styles via DISC.
- Do the right thing next and the next thing right.
Key Takeaways:
- Our meetings on a monthly basis help a lot. It’s like iron sharpening iron. One person sharpens another that helps me stay motivated.
- Selling is not a degree yet as it goes with accreditation and how difficult it is to define sales, as a leg of a table in academia.
- In the curiosity about engaging with a prospect or a suspect or a customer or a client, be curious about who that person is, do some research on that person, and ask them about themself. That will allow you to reduce that wall of mistrust.
- When the Why gets stronger, the How gets easier.
- If you can’t change people, change people.
“I think because we’re talking about sales, whether outside sales or inside sales or sales support or sales management, we’re expected to be up, positive, enthusiastic, maybe even extroverted. But you know, Zig Ziglar once said, “‘Motivation is like bathing: You have to do it every day for it to take effect.” And we’ve got to stay motivated in order to motivate the people to at least listen to our story, engaged with us and that’s the hard part” – CURT
“ Do the right thing next and the next thing right. As it relates to the sales process, follow a process. Just like if you were a baker, follow the recipe, do the right thing next, and then that next thing, do it right. If you’re moving from prospecting to discovery, do that with absolute expertise. If you’re moving from discovery to application where you get to talk about your solution suite, do that with absolute expertise. If you’re moving from the application to the close, do that, do the right thing next and the next thing right.” – CURT
“The one takeaway is to be fascinated and curious about your career in sales and sales management. To be fascinated by other people and to be curious to connect with them. Now, let me just say that with the caveat that it might sound manufactured and artificial at first, and I understand that. But over time, when you truly love people, and you’re truly passionate about the product or service or company that you represent, those two points will intersect more often than not. And the more you’re in the game, the more you’re collecting stories from other people, the stronger and more likable and more interesting you become.” – CURT
Connect with Curt Tueffert:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curttueffert/
- Peak Sales Strategy: https://peaksalesstrategy.com/
- DXP Enterprises, Inc.:https://www.dxpe.com/
Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
Connect with Nancy Calabrese:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/oneofakindsales
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/
- Website: https://oneofakindsales.com
- Phone: 908-879-2911
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/
- Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com
Voiceover: You’re listening to The Conversational Selling Podcast with Nancy Calabrese.
Nancy Calabrese: Hi, it’s Nancy Calabrese, and it’s time for Conversational selling – the podcast where sales leaders and business experts share what’s going on in sales and marketing today. And it always starts with the human conversation! Today we’re speaking with Curt Tueffert, Curt leads Peak Sales Strategy with over 30 years of experience in sales and sales management his expertise has earned him the title of “America’s Master Sales Motivator. Curt is also a professor at the University of Houston, where he teaches Advanced Professional Selling. His study of sales and human behavior provides a strong foundation for his Leadership, Motivation, and Sales presentations. And he is the author of 201 Sales Motivators, a collection of quotes and short editorials designed to inspire and motivate sales professionals. We are thrilled you are on the show, Curt! So, everyone, sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation! Welcome Curt! [1:21]
Curt Tueffert: Hey, Nancy, welcome to you and to all your guests and listeners here. I’m looking forward to our time together.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, me too. So, you know, 201 sales motivators. How did you come up with that?
Curt Tueffert: Well, as I collected different quotes from the planet, if you will, all the different places, and I’d put a little editorial underneath the quote, it just kind of rolled around. I couldn’t get 365, so I landed at 201, and I had to bind these in a binder, and it was a great project.
Nancy Calabrese: Wow, you know, motivation is so important in anything, you know, in sales and in life. Why is motivation so important?
Curt Tueffert: I think because we’re talking about sales, we in the sales profession, whether outside sales or inside sales or sales support or sales management, we’re expected to be up, positive, enthusiastic, maybe even extroverted. But you know, Zig Ziglar once said, “‘Motivation is like bathing: You have to do it every day for it to take effect.” And we’ve got to stay motivated in order to motivate the people to at least listen to our story. Engaged with us and that’s the hard part. [2:40]
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah. Okay. So, I get like you need to be, especially if you’re in a leadership role, you really need to be motivated, right? Be able to motivate your team. But who motivates the motivator?
Curt Tueffert: Well, that’s a great question. And for me, I have a group that I meet with on a monthly basis. And it’s kind of like a band of brothers. It’s other sales professionals, people who are in the industry. And it’s like iron sharpening iron. One person sharpens another that helps me stay motivated because there are times when I can’t close a door much less a sale. And I’m not, I’m not even worthy to be out in public on those days. [3:22]
Nancy Calabrese: Right, well, I think that’s normal for everyone. You know, another thing that intrigues me is you’re a professor, and I’m so happy to know that schools or colleges are incorporating professional-selling classes. They didn’t happen when I went to school. I think it’s a gift to people, and everybody should take it. Tell us about your experience at the University of Houston.
Curt Tueffert: You bet, Nancy. You know, we started many years ago, I think it was about 20 years ago, with the Program for Excellence in Selling. And there’s a handful of universities across the United States right now that are creating curricula and certificates in sales. And at the University of Houston, we recruit students from all disciplines. They must interview and resume into the program, and once accepted, it’s a two-year program where they take courses on basic selling, advanced selling, and sales management. They do a technology run on CRM packages. And then they do something called key account selling where they go out into the Houston community and try to go to the major corporations and sell to them either a table at a recruitment mixer where we’re doing graduation recruitment or a golf tournament. So, there’s constant hands-on selling for two years, and they graduate with their normal business degree or whatever degree they have and a certificate in selling. [4:57]
Nancy Calabrese: But why don’t they just make selling a degree?
Curt Tueffert: That’s a great question and I think it goes with accreditation and how difficult it is to define sales as a leg of a table, if you will, in academia.
Nancy Calabrese: I think I’ve said this in earlier podcasts, you know, for all the naysayers about selling, everybody’s in sales. They don’t know it. But I think it’s a gift to just be able to learn the art of communication because that’s what selling is about. Wouldn’t you agree?
Curt Tueffert: Absolutely, Nancy, that it’s all about communication, as well as some of the things about curiosity and building trust and adding value. And it’s something that we don’t typically get in an education or in an academic environment, and it’s hard to pick up on your own. [5:52]
Nancy Calabrese: I agree. And so good segue, how can we build trust and value in the art of having a curious conversation?
Curt Tueffert: That’s a great question. I think, you know, I use little cliches like ABC, always be curious. And in that curiosity about engaging with a prospect or a suspect or a customer or a client, be curious about who that person is, do some research on that person, and ask them about themself. That will allow you to reduce that wall of mistrust. And then it increases the opportunity to build a little trust and then to discover and uncover what that other person feels is of value in this sales conversation. And it starts with curiosity. And I believe it’s a muscle that you work out in the gym and it’s a want to. And I’ll steal another quote from Jim Rohn, who was a phenomenal business philosopher “When the Why gets stronger, the How gets easier”. And if you’re in sales and you’re thinking, “Man, I got to get more curious”. Why? Because it allows me to engage with other people. So, when you have a why that’s strong enough, you’ll find ways of asking questions to be curious. [7:17]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Yep. And I don’t know if I read this or heard this, but you build trust through the quality of questions that you ask, right?
Curt Tueffert: Yes.
Nancy Calabrese: You want to get them talking. And the sales conversation is all about them. So, there’s a great need to be curious, especially in a sales conversation. You also, I researched. taking notes, doing research, being interesting and interested. Why is that important in a sales conversation?
Curt Tueffert: Well, I think we have to take notes because the world is so complex that when we ask permission to take notes about a person and we start using curiosity-based questions to uncover who they are as a person and some of the pain points and challenges. When we have a second, third, and fourth conversation, I can refer to my notes so that I can be interested, meaning I can ask permission to take notes because what you say is valuable and I can be interesting because I take the data and I formulate questions that go above this concept of the needs. It digs down into the wants and goes even further into the whys. [8:40]
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, wow. So, in conversation with your prospects, how do you determine who they are as a person? Are there any key questions that you suggest we ask to determine? Are they the analytical type? Are they dynamic? You know, are they sociable? What do you recommend?
Curt Tueffert: That’s a great question and I’m a passionate student of all things DISC for behavioral styles.
Nancy Calabrese: Ah, me too.
Curt Tueffert: So, I’m looking for a person who’s dominant, influential, steady, or compliant. The questions I ask are more about, “Hey, I’d like to get to know you a little bit better and about maybe give me a week in the life of”, or “Hey, what do you do when you don’t do this?”. Or if it’s more of a classroom situation, “Please introduce yourself. What do you do for the company? And what are your passions? What are you passionate about?” And that allows me to unlock a conversation in the future. If the person has a unique last name, like your last name, “Where is it? What’s the origin of it?” And if the origin is Middle Eastern or European, “Wow, have you ever been? Have you done some research on that?” Or if you’re in someone’s office, you try as hard as you can not say, “hey, that big fish on the wall, did you catch that?” You try other things. And of course, for all of the people who are listening, Nancy, we’ve got LinkedIn and social media, you know if you Google that person and you find out through their profile, some unique things about them, that might be another bridge builder to say, “Hey, you know, Nancy, I was on your profile and you graduated from the university of Blank. What? What was one of the funniest things you experienced when you were at Blank?” [10:33]
Nancy Calabrese: You’re making me think of my college days. I’m trying to think what was my, I know what was my most fun.
Curt Tueffert: Well, Nancy, I would say,
Nancy Calabrese: But I’m not going to let everybody know.
Curt Tueffert: I would say, look, if you’re talking to somebody who’s under 30, you have a higher probability of tapping into their college. If you have somebody who is over 60, you might be tapping into “What do you want to do when you don’t do this anymore, or what legacy do you want to leave?” Or for you, Nancy, I would say, “Nancy, with all that experience that you have, what are some of the aha moments you discovered hosting a podcast?” [11:08]
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah. Oh, I love doing this, by the way, because I mean, I get to speak to so many interesting people. Is there a story the audience would find interesting?
Curt Tueffert: Story of me or story once upon a time.
Nancy Calabrese: Any, which way do you want to go?
Curt Tueffert: You know, I guess for me, this story I have is really resonating with a couple of different of these crazy cliches. I mean, the Jim Rohn quote, “When the Y gets stronger, the how gets easier”. When I first heard that, I was driving a Honda Civic in San Diego, California, and I was on the I-5, Interstate 5, and boy, it hit me like a ton of bricks because I needed to find out what my Y was. And of course, Many years later, a guy on the TED Talk scene, his name is Simon Sinek, wrote a book called “It Starts with Why”, and he outlined companies and the whole resonation. What is it that really resonates with you on the Why? And so, I wrote a book called “Five Stones for Slaying Giants” about passion, excellence, vision, value, and confidence. As it relates to the why of my career. Why am I a speaker? Why am I a sales trainer? Why do I like selling? And just tapping into that because I love helping other people. I love solving problems. [12:41]
Nancy Calabrese: Wow. So, you and I have been in sales our whole adult life. And what would you tell your younger self about a career in sales?
Curt Tueffert: Hmm, what would I tell my younger self? I would say, “Do the right thing next and the next thing right. As it relates to the sales process, follow a process. Just like if you were a baker, follow the recipe, do the right thing next, and then that next thing, do it right. If you’re moving from prospecting to discovery, do that with absolute expertise. If you’re moving from discovery to application where you get to talk about your solution suite, do that with absolute expertise. If you’re moving from the application to the close, do that, do the right thing next and the next thing right.” [13:41]
Nancy Calabrese: And never take for granted any step. And I’ve done that.
Curt Tueffert: Preach it, sister, preach it.
Nancy Calabrese: I’ve done that in my early career. You just must follow it, right?
Curt Tueffert: Customer calls you on the phone and says, “Hey, how much is that doggie in the window? You got to ask them about do you love animals. Do you really?” I mean, I can quote you the dog in the window. But let me ask you some questions regarding this for you. Do you have a big enough house? You got to qualify that person. Otherwise, you skipped all the steps, and you closed them on a dog and it’s not even for that person.
Nancy Calabrese: Right now, I’m with you all the way. So, tell me something that is true, that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Curt Tueffert: “something true that no one would agree with me” Okay. “If you can’t change people, change people”. And that’s a cutthroat way of sales management. It’s cutthroat saying if I can’t change you, my salesperson, who’s struggling and who can’t make quota, change people. [14:47]
Nancy Calabrese: Meaning…
Curt Tueffert: That person might be a great person, but it’s a wrong fit. [14:53]
Nancy Calabrese: Right.
Curt Tueffert: And I talked to so many people and I’m one of the people, I talked to myself in the mirror. Let’s give Bobby another chance. Let’s give Sally another chance. And I’m just saying, “Hey, look, if we’ve done everything we can, there’s always going to be those people who are straggling”. And so, you carry some, but you gotta cut others. And that’s cutthroat, but I don’t think we have time anymore because artificial intelligence, chat, GPT, and all this new technology are automating the sales process. And if you’re on the lower rungs of sales, your job may be eliminated. And so, you got to, you got to be tough about that. [15:40]
Nancy Calabrese: What did they say? Higher, slow, fire, quick.
Curt Tueffert: And I’m not firing because of I’m mean or I’m cruel. I’ve given you the chance. Here are the three podcasts you need to watch. Did you watch them? Here are the two books you need to read. Did you buy them? If you’re not even going to do that, I can’t be your coach. If you’re not going to show up for the track meet with track shoes, then you might need to find another sport. [16:09]
Nancy Calabrese: That’s true. And you know, the job of every employee is to make their supervisor’s life easier. So, if you’re carrying a person that is just not up to par, it creates so much stress from a leadership point of view. And just imagine the stress that an individual is going through, right? So, you’re really doing them justice by releasing them from a role that they’re not suited to. We are almost out of time. What is the one takeaway you’d like to leave the audience with?
Curt Tueffert: I think the one takeaway is to be fascinated and curious about your career in sales and sales management. To be fascinated by other people and to be curious to connect with them. Now, let me just say that with the caveat that it might sound manufactured and artificial at first, and I understand that. But over time, when you truly love people, and you’re truly passionate about the product or service or company that you represent, those two points will intersect more often than not. And the more you’re in the game, the more you’re collecting stories from other people, the stronger and more likable and more interesting you become. [17:30]
Nancy Calabrese: Wow, I love it. How can my audience find you, Curt?
Curt Tueffert: You know, I’ve got a website called peaksalesstrategy.com. That’s one place I’m on LinkedIn, I’m on Facebook, and I really believe in paying it forward. So, if your listeners have any questions, comments, or concerns, they want to bounce off me, please, I’d love to help.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, wow, you’re the go-to guy and everyone out there. Take advantage of Curt’s offer. He is a sales guru. And Curt, I may be running a call or two by you. You never know in the near future.
Curt Tueffert: My pleasure.
Nancy Calabrese: So thanks for being on the show. Thank you, everyone, for listening. And make it a great sales day.
Curt Tueffert: Thank you, Nancy. [18:22]
