WHY NOT Wednesday with Elinor Stutz

These last few years have made us question everything.

Our relationships.

Our jobs.

What constitutes an office.

And who we are.

In a.

World filled with chaos, confusion and uncertainty. It's time for some clarity. It's time to start understanding one another.

It's time to start understanding ourselves.

We envision a world where everyone knows their why. But even more, we envision a world where everyone knows their why. O s, their why, their how and their what. The operating system that drives you, that lets the world know where you stand.

What your unique gift is, and most importantly, who you are.

Yos.

Are you ready?

Well, hello and welcome to why Not Wednesday. Everyone, we are blessed to have our good friend Eleanor Stutz with us today. And let me tell you a little bit about our guest on why Not Wednesday. Today, Eleanor broke through the barriers, has broken through barriers long before doing it was popular. Against all the odds, she defied the theme, the old theme of women can't sell to become the top producer at every company she ever worked, all the while ignoring attempts to get her to quit. Stutz's near death experience showcased for her two visions, including her becoming a speaker and and next, giving her best to communities. The medical staff at the place where she went after her near death experience referred to her as the walking miracle. She adopted the motto believe, become and empower. As a result of that accident. As the CEO of smooth sales, Stutz adopted that same motto, believe, become and empower. Believe in yourself. Become the person you envision and empower your audience to do the same. Stutz is on the social media committee for Inclusion Allies Coalition and they're devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion. Welcome to the show, Eleanor.

Well, thank you so much for having me, Dan. It's an honor to be with you.

It's great to have you here. I'm looking forward to talking to you. You know, we met way back in April and I know I invited you to be on the show. I'm so glad we finally made it happen. You definitely have a great story and you have a best selling book. So, you know, let's talk about that book because that is really. Even as I was introducing you and maybe even before we get to the book, let's talk about your yos because as I was introducing you, we talked about the first thing I said. You broke through barriers long before doing so was popular. So let's start with that. Your yos and that's how we met, right? You discovered your why operating system and your why is to challenge the status quo. Think differently, think outside the box. Do what others won't do. And that was right in the intro. You started breaking barriers before it was popular to do so. Your how is to clarify, to help people gain clarity. How you challenge is by helping people get clear, making sure you communicate clearly that they understand you clearly and you understand them clearly. And for you, clarity is important. And then your final part of your yos is your what, what people can count on from you is that you're going to contribute to their success. And that was all so really well captured. How does that fit for you, Eleanor?

Well, growing up, women were supposed to just aim for getting married and staying home and not having really much of a career. And my question was, why bother going through college and graduating if I can't have the career of my desire? And everybody said, oh, you'll never get married. I said, I'll find someone eventually, but first I want to focus on my purpose in life. And I came to realize it's your purpose, your passion and perseverance that will get you to the goal of your dreams. And that's what happened along the way. There are going to be many hardships, obstacles, and occasional self doubt. But if you keep drudging through everything hurled at you, you can get there. And that's part of breaking barriers. Statistics are made to be broken. You can do.

There we go. Can you hear me?

No, I can.

Oh, perfect. I'm sorry about that. So you started out in a tough business, Eleanor? Copier sales? No, no harder business than that. Everybody who I talked to that's in sales says copier sales people are the toughest sales people in the world. And, and you were probably at the time one of the only women working there. Tell me, tell me about that experience.

I was one of the only women. It took six interviews to corner the director of sales to hire me. And it was something he said and I repeated his words, which I learned later is a sales technique. Repeat the other person's words. And I was to sell an unknown brand of copier against the biggest and the best. Nobody in their right mind would take that job. But it was the only one I, outside of being a secretary, that was available. So I, I cornered him and I said, what time would you like me to show up? 8 o' clock or 9 o' clock in the morning on Monday morning. And boy, I was greeted with the worst attitude you can imagine. The upside was I enjoyed sales. I enjoy meeting people, building relationships, having fun, sharing experiences. And everyone I met called me a breath of fresh air and kept inviting me back for more appointments until their director or CEO said you've got to buy from her or I'm going to fire you for wasting company time. The fourth month I was the top rep without knowing anything about what I was supposed to sell or how to sell it. And then the games got ugly.

So tell, tell me so without knowing anything about the product, how did you succeed? And you, I love that you used a great one of the tried and true sales technique. Even on your, on that sales director you said what time would you like me to start? Eight or nine. The what the, the option was not. No, it was eight or nine o'. Clock. Right. And so you, I'm sure that that had to impress him. But what was, what was it you think that made you successful? Without knowing the product, without knowing anything about the company.

It was not giving in to know or you can't do it. I always tried to keep an eye on my competition, the top three competitors, what they were doing, how I might do it differently. I'm always true to myself, authentic, I'm left handed, green eyed and that's a small percentage of the population, highly creative. And because I didn't know what to say, I thought I would just try to make friends with everybody I met. And it turned out that was the secret to my success. I was deemed a breath of fresh air and people wanted to do business with me. I, over time I realized that the definition of the smooth sale is to create a returning and referring clientele. That's exactly what I did. The other thing I did to up my game was to take a public speaking class because I was very timid and afraid of making too many announcements in person. But the first night I was afraid to announce my name. The last night I was the grand prize winner because I ate it all up. It was the game changer for me.

Sounds like you've always been a learner, Eleanor. Somebody that you know. You took an opportunity to take a public speaking course and not only did you take the course, you just absorbed it and became, you said you were the grand prize award winner. So what, what kind of course was it? Was it like a Toastmasters? What, what did you do?

It was a Dale Carnegie 3 month public speaking class. And the irony is at the end of the class I won his book how to Win Friends and influence People. That was the basis of all the information they shared during that class. And I implemented, and the one technique is, what I grasp, tried and never stopped using is to share your stories, your worst experiences, your best experience and the best Outcome is to share laughter. And when people feel they can laugh with you and share similar stories, they trust you. And that's when business starts to come your way. It's not about convincing people to buy from you. That's the worst thing you can do. It's about listening, asking questions, gaining insight about their experiences and finding that bridge to match. And then you become authentic and business begins to bloom.

So you said a lot there and I definitely want to get into that. You've written a best selling book called Nice Girls do get the Sale. Using the power of empathy to build relationships and get results. And you mentioned a few of those things just as we were talking. So you talked about building relationships, telling stories, getting clients to laugh, but you also talked about listening. And I know for salespeople, professionals out there and my friends at Selling from the Heart are probably laughing if they're listening right now.

It's hard to tell a lot of stories and share your stories while at the same time being a good listener. What's a good balance? What's the trick that you found works in all your success? You've had to make sure you're listening enough, but also sharing information that connects you to the client.

Okay, I do things impromptu, but I have the prospect of client speak first. I ask what caught your attention to meet with me today. And that takes them on a path and they're very cautious about what they do. But sometimes they'll say something and I'll ask questions about what they say. Do you mind answering this? Because I find it a little puzzling. And then they'll give me more insight and very often it brings a memory to mind and I'll share it with them. They'll be surprised, they'll smile, and then they'll share more with me. And then that's how we become comfortable in getting off the typical business routine of speaking and on a more personal level. And it worked beautifully.

Now you, you were selling a, in the beginning of your career, you were still selling a no brand copier. And we're not going to, we don't have to say the name, but you were going against number one. Right?

That's, that's a tough order. And it's your first sales job and you're the only woman and people are working against you. Tell for those of you, those that haven't lived in that area, tell us some of the stuff that you had to face as a woman in a male dominated industry.

Well, when we had team meetings, the men would ask me serve them coffee and I'd say, go get it yourself.

And it picked up. I mean, they were trying everything they could when I was the top producer. The fourth month, you won't believe what my reward was. They decided to give the man a treat to on the wrong side of town. A mother daughter combo at a motel modeling fashion outfits. That was questionable to say the least, and I didn't know how to handle that. But my car drove me to the event and after it was all over, trust me, they swore they'd never do that one again. But the games got uglier as I kept being the top producer. This is the first job and I just addressed each step at a time. And the secretaries were very proud of me.

So, so, so you're. You're the top producer. Fourth month in. You win. You, you. This was the prize to go, go see a mother daughter modeling show.

Yes, Lingerie fashion show. And I said, hey, it's my numbers you're celebrating. Let's go to lunch, a movie, I'll even go to a ball game. And they said, nope, we promised the man I didn't count, even though they were celebrating my numbers. So I had to take the upper hand and I did.

So, you know, one of the things I can imagine, what, what inspired the title of the book, Nice Girls do Get the Sale. What is, what do you mean by what? What is meant by that? And tell us, tell us about where the genesis for the title came from.

Well, it's very interesting you asked that. My book broke many records, including the first publishing house saying yes to the possibility of publishing it. And they love the stories in there and they entitled the manuscript. I said, hey, wait a minute, you're leaving out 50% of the population. I don't know that that's a good idea. And they said, have patience. Wait and see what the results are. So I said, okay. I certainly didn't want to disturb the opportunity to become a published author. It was never on my agenda. It just happened by another poor experience where I was left off the stage upon saying I was a sales trainer. People thought it was absurd a woman would know enough to sell, let alone be the trainer. And someone took me aside and said, to establish credibility, you have to write the book. So I did. And the book then broke many records. It was picked up by Time magazine. I was on ABC TV news, and it quickly became an international bestseller. And, and at this point in time, it's evergreen among the classics. It will never go out of print. So the title proved itself and men are reading the book today.

Yeah, I don't think using empathy, building relationships and getting results is gender specific. Right. So using empathy, building relationships and getting results sounds like it's worked for you for a very long time. You continued to win awards everywhere you went, and so you wrote the book. Did that lead to some opportunities once the book was published? You said you needed the book to gain credibility. Now you have credibility and that led to a speaking career. Tell us about that.

Oh, I had the unique opportunity to train with Les Brown, the inspirational speaker, and he heard about my near death experience and he said, I hope you don't mind, I'd just like to tweak it a tiny bit. It's your to begin your talk with a question of the audience that will resonate with them and then you'll be able to deliver what you want to say. And I tested it and I couldn't believe what happened. There was thunderous applause after the first time, so I continued doing the same. Of course, I got more professional with delivery as time went on and the same results occurred. So when you have an unusual story, ask a question to grasp their attention and then you know they will listen through the remainder of the story.

Great, great tips and I love Les Brown, so thank you for sharing that with us. So. So he coached you a little bit on how to begin your, your keynote talks and you did that successfully for quite a while. You also have a second book. In the second book, I, I'd love to hear more about it. Hired. How do you use sales techniques to sell yourself on interviews?

Yes, this is what the book looks like. And my community service work initially began with helping job seekers to realize they needed to do sales techniques in order to earn the new job that they desired. And the best example was I was giving a live talk and someone came in who was an engineer and he said, I want you to know I don't believe in any of this. I just came here to prove it to myself. And I politely said, okay, I'm so glad you did. Will you do me one favor? He said, what's that? I said, please wait till it's over. Everyone leaves and you still. And you tell me whether you still believe it's nonsense or not. He kept his promise. And afterwards I said, please tell me what you think now. And he said, I owe you a big apology. I'm going to buy your book.

So, and then over time, as I trained many people on how to sell themselves on interviews, it became very popular.

The book I, I love that, that the technique you used and, and Gary Sanchez, if he's listening, he's going to say, hey, I talk about that all the time. You agreed, and then you redirected, right? Hey, you know what? You might be right. This. This could be all gobbledygook, but let's finish the presentation, and then at the end, let's you and I talk and you can tell me what. What your thoughts are. So allowed you to continue on stage. A lot of. A lot of people who are listening, who are speakers, we all fear that, that heckler in the audience now, was he. Was he somebody that was combative in the audience, or he came. Just came up to you individually, or was it during the presentation?

No, he was very polite and quiet, and he came up to me afterward. And so I. I really welcomed his input. I always welcome input, whether it's negative or positive, and here's why. Sometimes in a negative input, particularly in sales, you uncover a nugget that you might be overlooking or an additional strategy that you never considered. So I always ask for feedback before I leave an appointment. And the same applied in this case, and it all turned out very well.

You know, as I read the banner. So in hired, you assert the fact that the interview is not about you. It's about how well you will solve the company's problems. And this is the only way you will get a job you actually enjoy. So it's not an interview about your skills, your resume, you say. It's about how will you. How well will you solve the company's problems? Tell us. Tell us about that insight and how, how we can practically use it. If someone going for a job interview, how. How do they prepare themselves to solve the company's problems? There's so much information today, but I'm sure you've got some great tips.

Yeah, well, it's traditional, but it still works. You need to review the company website, and today you can review the reviews that are written about the company, where they excel and where they need improvement, and then research the industry and check out their top three competitors, what they may be doing differently or similarly, see what resonates with you, and then have these talking points at your fingertips to express in the interview.

So it's almost like you're saying, hey, you almost have to rehearse for the interview, having those talking points. Are you. Are you a big fan of that? Just making sure that stuff flows off your tongue really easily. As a speaker, I'm sure you believe in the. In the power of rehearsal, but it sounds like that's something you Might recommend for someone who is interviewing.

It's certainly a very good place to start. But I want you to know when they interview salespeople, the craziest questions are asked. And this is a funny story if you'd like to hear it.

Let's do it.

I was, it was my fourth job and I couldn't believe it. The woman asked me if I could be any animal, which one would it be? And of course I'm thinking, what a dumb question. But then I, you know, I caught myself and I remembered that years prior we had taken an African safari in Kenya and Tanzania, and I used to admire the animals running in the plains. And my favorite was the giraffe because the fur glowed in the sunlight. It was very graceful running. And, and I shared that with the interviewer. But then I said, salespeople are always accused of taking low hanging fruit and never trying something more complicated. The giraffe has the longest neck and I could get high hanging fruit and outshine everybody. And she said, you're hired.

That is so good. Talk about taking, taking a negative, right? A weird question. What animal would you be and turning it into a positive. And then you did something really, really good there too. You redirected into the sales analogy. Right. So low people, sales people want the low hanging fruit. Giraffes go for the high hanging fruit. And then you applied that to yourself.

Right. One of the. My techniques is to connect the dots as much as possible so that people see where you're coming from and it makes sense to them.

That is great, Eleanor. So tell me about Smooth Sail. That's your company. What? When, if somebody works with you and at Smooth Sail, what, what is it that they're going to get?

Well, my mantra is always be consistent and authentic. Values and priorities take.

Priority. So you need to connect with people who think similarly in that regard. When you meet someone who is not willing to move with integrity or be consistent, move away. Don't waste your time. A lot of people try to convince others, but that never works. You have to be genuine. And the other thing about sales is that your personal brand, your identity, becomes your branding program. And the branding program soon morphs into your marketing program, which all precedes sales. People have to know, like and trust you to purchase for you. That's the sales philosophy.

People have to know like and trust you before they'll buy from you. That's a great advice. So, Eleanor, we talked earlier about your why of challenge and you've told some great stories. Where did the why of challenging the Status quo. When did you. When's the first time you remember it growing up, where you said, hey, why do we have to do it that way? Why do we have to follow the rules? Can you remember a specific time that you, that maybe the first time you did that?

Well, it all began at an early age. I came home crying from kindergarten. My father heard what happened. He said, if you don't stand up for yourself or speak up for yourself, not one else will. And that's when I took the bold step for speaking my mind, but hopefully in a diplomatic way. And all through school, people told me I was crazy, but it worked to my advantage. And I always sought out people who thought similar, had similar goals. For a long time I was by myself.

I make no apology for it. People told me I was crazy for going into sales, but I wanted a career. Whatever is important to you, you need to figure out the pros and cons if you're missing anything, and figure out the better road ahead to make it happen. And I always, always challenge people with questions politely. My first sale was for Girl Scout cookies at age 10. And the woman coming to the door, the first person said, oh, honey, my doctor told me, I can't eat sweets anymore. I'm so sorry, or I purchased from you. And I stood there staring at her. I didn't know what to say. Well, I knew what to say, but I didn't know if it would be diplomatic enough. And she said finally, do you have a question? I said, yes. Do you have nieces, nephews, grandchildren? If you kept goodies in your pantry, might they not visit you more often? And the woman looked at my mother, said, God, she's good. And she purchased 10 boxes of cookies.

That is fantastic. So many great origin stories for salespeople, right? I know all of us remember that first sales job or that first, you know, for me, it was yearbook sales in sixth grade. For you as Girl Scout cookies, Eleanor, a big part of your life is something that changed. Your life was a car accident that you had. You had a near death experience. And that's where your motto, believe, become empower. Believe in yourself, become the person you envision and empower your audience to do the same. Came from. Tell us about that moment. You know, what, what, what was it like? Tell us as much as you want to share and how that shaped your. Creating your, your motto.

It made all the difference for my life moving forward. It was actually. An irreparable broken neck was the best thing that ever happened to me. Hard to believe, but true. I Finally, after 11 jobs, 11 years, I took one day off for myself. I'm at a red light, waiting to make a left turn. Someone's not paying attention. And slams full force behind me in my car. And I told the doctor I could feel my brain swaying around in my head. It was about 60 miles an hour. I was in terrible pain. For 10 years, no one wanted to touch me. And then I say, thankfully, 10 years later, I was a passenger. It was a rainy night, the car slowly skidded into a lamp post. And I timidly said, I think you better call an ambulance. So there I was on a stretcher in the hospital, waiting to be admitted. My family was in consultation. And suddenly I heard these bursts of sobs and. But I had a whole different experience. Two visions came to me. One was of me becoming a speaker. And in my mind I said, yes, that's what I always wanted to do. I saw a blink of a gold light. To me, it signified that that would happen. A beautiful gold light encased my entire body. The first vision faded. A second vision came up, and it was my life report card. The left hand side, I had high life marks. The right hand side was a complete embarrassment, entitled community service. In the moment, I promised to myself and the great beyond that I'd begin giving back to communities any way I could. Putting the salesperson. I had one stipulation, I said, but to do my best, I have to be able to walk out of this hospital on my own. And I saw another brilliant blink of a gold light. And then the light over my body slowly but surely dissipated. And my family came over and I said to them, go home, get a good night's sleep. I'm going to be fine. But then that night, all kinds of miracles happened. It's a very long story, so I went go into it now. But the next morning, I was heavy, heavily medicated, told I'd have two minutes to meet the surgeon. I was expecting words of encouragement. Instead, he said to me, Mrs. Stutz, when you wake up, most likely you will be paralyzed. Given what happened the night before, and hearing most likely told me he didn't expect me to survive. So, using sales skills and standing up for myself, I shot back with every ounce of energy left in me. I said, doctor, when I wake up, I fully expect to be well. My words set him back on his heels. Hours later, he's standing over me and he's saying, Mrs. Stutz, there's no rhyme or reason for what just happened, but in four days, you will walk out of this Hospital.

Wow, that is a. Eleanor, that is a great story. And what a. What a beautiful example of willing something, right, Believing in something, and then helping the people around you. Believe. Because I, you know, I. I can imagine the surgeon was not trying to make sure you didn't make it through surgery, but I think the. That boldness that you gave them probably gave him the confidence to do even better because you had such a will to live.

Oh, I never even thought about that piece. Thank you. I was just surprised he would tell. Give me indication I wouldn't make it. That kind of shocked me.

I love it. The medical staff referred to you as the walking man Miracle. You adopted the motto. Tell us about the motto. Believe, become empower. How did that. That. That was shaped by that. But tell me where it came from for you.

Yes, well, truthfully, I never believed in these type of stories. I couldn't possibly make it up. And many things occurred that night in ICU and in the lab where they were doing experiments on me. They actually hammered a metal halo into my forehead with screws. And the typical practice was to put five pounds of weight on your spine and attach it to that halo. But that wasn't working on me. So a doctor from New Jersey, I was in California at the time, shows up out of the blue and says, I'd like to. I'm a brain surgeon. I'd like to do an experiment on you. And I said, yes, please. That's what I've always needed. I always have humor, even in dire times. So he put 60 pounds of weight on my spine, and instantly I could feel my spine straighten out. He told his students what he did. And I read facial expressions. Their eyes almost popped out of their heads. They had never heard of this before. It was once in a lifetime episode. So everything that night gave me more motivation to believe that I would be, well, so out of that. After.

Combing over everything that occurred that night for months, I came up with believe. Believe you can do it. Become that person and empower others to do the same. And that's where my. My community service effort came into play.

That is fantastic, Eleanor. Can you believe it? We're done. We're half an hour in. Thank you so much for sharing with us. I love. I love the. The ending note there. What do you say? You know, we're going to talk. We're going to finish with believe in yourself. Become the person you envision, and empower your audience to do the same. What do you say we end the show on that note, Eleanor?

Why not?

Thank you so much, Eleanor, for being on. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Eleanor, I look forward to talking to you again soon. Congratulations on all your achievements. And thank you for being a guest on why not Wednesday?

Thank you. I welcome future car.