Christine Schlonski [0:02]
Hi Gorgeous. This is episode 095. You are listening to Heart Sells! Podcast. I’m your host, Christine Schlonski. I am thrilled to spend another Variety Friday with you. Today, I actually have a pretty cool surprise, so stay tuned. Make sure you have subscribed to Heart Sells! Podcast, you find all the episodes, including the show notes, the transcript, all the resources we’re talking about, at https://christineschlonski.com/ Hop on over there, find the podcast tab, and you’re all good to go. If you are looking for updates on Heart Sells! Podcast, make sure you subscribe for the empowerment notes. They come once a week to your inbox to give you some really cool empowerment. I’m so excited that today it’s the first time on Variety Friday, I actually have a guest. In this case, it is really a surprise guest and a very spontaneous thing following the flow. I’m going to work, come Leo Quinn.

Leo Quinn [1:09]
Thank you very much, Christine. It’s great to be here.

Christine Schlonski [1:11]
Yeah, I’m so excited to have you here. So to all our listeners, because you are from the New York, from state New York, Upstate. How do you say upstate?

Leo Quinn [1:21]
Upstate New York. Yeah. So three hours north of New York City. Yes.

Christine Schlonski [1:25]
So a warm welcome to all the listeners from there. Then also to the listeners from Orlando, Florida. Thank you so much for being here. Leo did something which I find super, super cool. It teaches us sales skills. He is a listener of Heart Sells! Podcast. He listened to the episode with Andrea Waltz, The Go for No Expert that was aired in January. Leo has such a cool project that I saw. I want to take his knowledge, his experience and I want to share that with you because he is going for, A full Summer of 1000 No. I find that so impressive. Tell us a little bit about, Leo. How did you come to that project?

Leo Quinn [2:19]
Well, I’m embarrassed to say that I bought Andrea’s book 11 years ago, March 20, 2008. I only discovered that yesterday looking at it because I was buying another copy. I’ve talked about that book for years. I reference it several times a year, I do a lot of marketing meetups in my area. So I’m talking about that book constantly. In November, they get excited about going for no challenges and things and I always bring it up to my email lists and my local meetups. But I’ve never actually taken on the challenge of intentionally increasing my failure rate. I was, in May, I was started looking for a summer project and I saw a tweet that of Andres that I liked several years ago. That tweet was, “I can achieve every goal and reach every dream by simply hearing no more often.” For some reason that really resonated with me on May 23. I decided, “You know what I’m going to go for, I’m going to increase my failure rate this summer.” 100 sounded too easy and 1000 made me nervous. So I figured I should probably go for the thousand. That’s what I —

Christine Schlonski [3:28]
So you 10 x what she is a suggestion, right?

Leo Quinn [3:31]
Yes, absolutely. Well, so I come up with the summer of 1000 Noes and that was on May 23. Because of fear, I didn’t really get started until June 10. But since June 10, I’ve gotten 332 Noes.

Christine Schlonski [3:46]
Yeah, awesome. I’m just going to give the readers some insight of how you approached me in an email. I really, really loved how it’s written because, sometimes we go for No but half-heartedly, right? We do not expect the yes, we do not hope for a yes, we just go like, “Okay, well, let’s put a checkmark, I got another No, in this example, right?” It can be the same vice versa with a Yes, if people do something, but they are not in it, they don’t play full out.

Leo Quinn [4:20]
Right.

Christine Schlonski [4:20]
They will never get the desired result no matter what they are looking for. Because it’s just you know, if I don’t play full out, people will get that energy. You said that you were looking for, go for No, and then you found the podcast, and that you are interested in talking about the topic. So I’m just going to read this because I find it so wonderful. Part of your email says, “I don’t know if you still have an interest in the topic, or I’m talking to someone actually going for No. But I’m in the midst of a project I call, Summer of a Thousand Nos, and I am a number 332. Will you be 333?” So I thought that what was so cool. That like kept my interest. Now I was engaged in you shooting me an email. You say that you get about 12 No’s per day and that you will be reaching your goal probably before August 31. What I also love is, you sent me some examples, and I find that so interesting, because when I was still in cooperate, and I did cold calling, that’s basically what we all here. So I’m just going to take a tiny peek.

Leo Quinn [5:44]
There’s only 12 Nos on that recording. I recorded some of them, and there’s 12 of them. Yeah,

Christine Schlonski [5:48]
Yeah, I’m just them. I’m just going to get a taste of it ao that people can hear again what they have fearful of and we can see it’s not that bad. Let’s just go for this.

Leo Quinn [6:03]
Sure.

Unknown Speaker [6:17]
[Audio recording]

Leo Quinn [6:27]
Yes. Now that poor woman’s as I said, it sounds like I was torturing her. But the phone picked up. There was no noise. I said, “Hello”, and that’s what she said, “Leave me alone.” So she was having a bad day, I guess.

Christine Schlonski [6:40]
Yeah. So I guess that was something that I had to learn in sales is, if we don’t make it about us, we never know what happened on the other side. I mean, now with all the smartphones, we might see the other person. But if it’s cold calling, it’s probably just going to be the classic call. We don’t know what’s going on and why somebody responds as they respond. So I guess one of the learnings would be, just relax. There’s nothing that can happen. Nobody’s going to come through the telephone grabbing your ear, trying to choke you by grabbing back or anything. So just relax, that’s all that can happen as a no.

Leo Quinn [7:30]
And these people have forgotten about you 20 seconds after you’re off the phone. So it’s not something you need to dwell on.

Christine Schlonski [7:36]
Yeah. How did you feel this, your first No?

Leo Quinn [7:40]
It’s funny. Well, I said, I came up with this idea on May 23 and I didn’t make my first calls. until June 7, I made 10 calls. I got brave, for some reason on that Friday and I made 10 calls. I talked to three people and got one no. So I was off to the races. The following Monday, I decided I was going to make 100 phone calls just to rip the band-aid off. I did wrong numbers, I counted. It was just going to be a phone call if it was a no answer that counted, I just wanted to make 100 phone calls. It took me two hours and 49 minutes and I got 29 noes. So at that point, before that day, I didn’t really know how realistic getting 1000 Noes was going to be. I knew I couldn’t do it going door to door selling something. But I figured I could at least pick up the phone and make a lot of phone calls. So after day number two really where I made 100 calls and got 29 noes I realized that this was going to be a realistic goal. At that point. I did the math, I figured out okay, I’ve gotten 30 noes so far. I need, I divided 970 divided by 90 Days of Summer, whatever. And it worked out to about 12 Noes a day. So I figured out I could do that, takes me about an hour and a half now to get 12 Noes a day on the phone.

Christine Schlonski [8:54]
Okay, well, that’s very, very good. I just love how excited you talk about it and how enthusiastic you are. Just one thing you’re going for the No and the book actually of Andrea Waltz which by the way, she is episode number 021 and 022 on Heart Sells! Podcast if you want to listen in. (www.christineschlonski.com/021andreawaltz and www.christineschlonski.com/022andreawaltz) It’s Go For No, but yes is a destination. You just had something with 100 calls, you only got 29 Noes.

Leo Quinn [9:29]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [9:30]
So does that mean like all the other 71 didn’t pick up?

Leo Quinn [9:36]
Or no answer or the owner isn’t in or I just couldn’t get a firm answer. A lot of no answers because I was calling earlier in the day. For this project, I seem to be calling pizza shops. I’m a marketing consultant, I help businesses with their marketing. And so I wanted to come up with something that was simple and easy for businesses to understand. So this particular program, I’m talking about text message marketing, I’m calling pizza shops asking if they’re interested, if they have a text message program, if they don’t, would they be interested and I could email them some more information on those. And during those hundred calls, I got 29 Noes. But I also got six people requesting more information. So we sort of forget about the Yes’s, or the maybes that you’re looking for. But those come along naturally, too.

Christine Schlonski [10:18]
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think that’s another great learning and why I love having this conversation with you. So I’m just finishing off parts of your email, which really got me intrigued as well was, “You’re right. I’m not a guru. I have nothing to sell your listeners. But I enjoy telling my story as a way to encourage others to get out of their comfort zone and to hear no more often. Really, please do send me a No if this isn’t a good fit. Getting a thousand Noes it’s a lot and every little bit helps. Thank you.” It put a big smile on my face and I thought “Wow, let’s see if he has prepared for a yes. What happens if I just reach out, and we have this experimental side?”, and I messaged you back asking you if you would be willing and spontaneous to hop on this podcast within the next two hours to record an episode. And you said, “Yes”.What did you learn from that?

Leo Quinn [11:30]
Oh, to be ready. And for some reason, I said I needed 20 minutes, I really didn’t need 20 minutes. I just needed a second to put my hands through my hair, to fix my hair. So I didn’t need 20 minutes, but I figured I could use it for something.

Christine Schlonski [11:42]
Awesome. Yeah, I love that. So if you’re listening, and you’re thinking like, “Wow, I mean, that’s quite courageous”, and it truly is. So chapeau for you actually doing that exercise that Andrea recommends in the book. And also, I want people to see the positive side effects is getting the Yes. So you’ve got six, sent me more information out of 100 calls, then there were many where people just went in. So it’s not really a no right into your face.

Leo Quinn [12:15]
Exactly. Yes. And I don’t count it if the owners not in or I don’t get, I count, I hang up but somebody hangs up on me. If I make the quick pitch, somebody hangs up that counts as a no and that happens every once in a while. I actually, I’ve gotten to a point where I like the hang-ups. I cheer, “I am closer to my 12 of the day.” So it’s really a weird thing. Somebody asked me, “Now, when you get a yes, do you stumble a little bit?”, and I said, “Yes. Actually, I have and now I know exactly what to say if somebody says yes”, but before that I sort of really wasn’t prepared for it. I stumbled a little bit but that’s okay. I think if you sound too much like an automaton that turns people off, so if you sound like a real person, I think that helps.

Christine Schlonski [12:59]
Yeah. But also just be prepared. Because if you’re not, like when you ask, you have those two choices, It can be a yes or no, just because you’re focusing on the nose. You don’t want to push away the Yes.

Leo Quinn [13:14]
Exactly. Don’t forget to follow up. I haven’t been the greatest at following up on the Yes and the Maybes. So I gotta remind myself, “You’re really looking for Yes here.”

Christine Schlonski [13:25]
Yeah. Well, the money is actually in the follow up as well. So I’m just wondering, have you ever called back a person who just hung up on you?

Leo Quinn [13:34]
I have not, I don’t have to, because this particular project, I’m talking to pizza shops, and there are millions of them around. So when they say, “Call back, the owner will be back”, I don’t, I just keep right on going. I don’t want to waste any time and just new blood. I probably should go back but I would never do that. Calling these pizza shops, I also try to be respectful. I don’t call during lunchtime. I call in the morning before 11 and then after two in the afternoon. Now, some places are still busy. But most places slow down a little bit before, between lunch and dinner. I do try to be respectful. If somebody answers and it sounds busy, or they asked me to hold because they’re taking an order, I’ll hang up. Again, I don’t want to interfere with anything that I’m aware I’m interfering with. I know that I’m calling a business during business hours, but I try to be as respectful as possible.

Christine Schlonski [14:24]
I also love that I think that’s a golden nugget in and know your market. Because if you go to a pizza shop during lunchtime when they have their busiest hours, you are not coming at the right moment, right, they need to receive your message and they need to listen to your message. So they understand what kind of benefits they can receive working with you. I think that’s another good one, really knowing your market and going in the best hours.

Leo Quinn [14:58]
I think so. I just remembered nobody can see this on the recording but I wear this little name tag around. As you can see, it says 332 on it. If I go to local networking events or things, I’ll wear this around and people will ask me, “What’s that number on your name tag?”, and I’ll say, “That’s my IQ”, but then I’ll actually tell them what it is. I have found being public about this goal has really helped as well. Normally, most people keep their goals to themselves, particularly their success goals. I like having a failure goal out there.

Christine Schlonski [15:29]
Yeah, that’s actually a great idea.

Leo Quinn [15:31]
People wonder, and it’s a fun thing to talk about.

Christine Schlonski [15:36]
It definitely is. I think it’s so important because if we overcome that fear of being rejected, life all of a sudden becomes so much easier because you always know there are enough choices, that there are thousands of pizza shops for your project. And I’m quite sure for no matter what you offer, might be coaching, multi-level marketing, whatever, there are enough people and not everybody is your perfect fit.

Leo Quinn [16:05]
Right. I will say, one of my goals for the rest, I have 700 or 600 and some odd more to go. I want to start getting more offline Noes. I think I’ve conquered my fear of the phone. Now I do have to talk to more people offline to get more Noes face to face.

Christine Schlonski [16:22]
Yeah, but you’ve been like, you said in March 16, you attended 31 networking events in 31 days.

Leo Quinn [16:30]
Yeah, I like to do weird stuff. Like, we’re challenges like this. Yes. Prior to that, I hadn’t been to 31 networking events in my life. I don’t tend to like the small talk that goes on at these things. But again, I knew it’s something I would have to do if I wanted to improve this marketing business of mine and so I did it. And it was a great talking point, I had to go to a lot of unusual networking events just to get my quota because there aren’t business networking events every day. But it was a great talking point, before or during the 31 days, and after the 31 days, because people hear that and they say, “Oh, my God, how could you do it?” It was fun to do and it gave me something to talk about.

Christine Schlonski [17:11]
Well, you also have a Facebook group, I’m just going to say it’s, Adventures In Rejection (https://www.facebook.com/groups/rejectionadventures/), I’m going to put that in the show notes. So anybody who feels inspired to reach out to you and obviously I put your social links, so people can connect and can be encouraged to actually go for No. Thank you o much for having the courage to have this amazing project and to really inspire others. Because at the end of the day, the more Nos you have, the more failure you have, the more successful you will be.

Leo Quinn [17:44]
That’s right, fail and grow rich, that’s the idea.

Christine Schlonski [17:48]
That’s a good book.

Leo Quinn [17:49]
I own that domain name by the way. So I’ve own that domain name for 10 years never done anything with it. But well, maybe I’ll write a book on that someday.

Christine Schlonski [17:56]
I was going to say that’s your next book coming up. Well, thank you so much, Leo, for being here on Heart Sells! Podcast. I just want to encourage the listeners to set their goal. It doesn’t need to be 1000 but have something where you totally feel okay this failure rate and where you stretch a little bit to get out of your comfort zone.

Leo Quinn [18:21]
That’s right. Make it make yourself a little nervous safe. Christine, thank you very much. This has been fantastic.

Christine Schlonski [18:25]
Yeah, thank you so much. For everybody listening, hop on over to https://christineschlonski.com/. Find the podcast tab and then you find all the show notes, the resources. Make sure you subscribe to the empowerment notes, and can’t wait to get to you with the next episode. Bye for now.