Larry Weidel tells trainers to stop over-explaining. Simplify, answer the question and shut up, teach only the next step. Build confidence in trainees instead of dumping complete knowledge on them.
Hi, Larry, this is Desiree in Texas. One of the questions I have, my people, a lot of times they say to me that I make it look so easy for them and they can't be as good as me. Is there something that I'm not doing? Larry, in my coaching style, how would you handle that?
What you want to do is just stick this in your mind, okay? You've gone through the phase and, and you're out there at a distance and all the pressure of the world is on you and you've wanted to prove to yourself and you want to get super confident. And so we all go through the phase where once we really master something, we always over talk, over explain. And what you're doing is you're giving too much information. Either too much information, you know, probably too much information to them when you're explaining. And by the way, I one of the world's worst at it too, and it's not terminal. But you've just got to say, answer the question and shut up. Here is a key of sales. You never say blah, blah. If never. If just saying blah will get the sale. As soon as you say enough to get the sale, shut up. See, at this point, if you've said blah, blah, blah, blah, you save money. Get this and the other thing, we good, and they say we're good. Anything else you tell them. Now the only thing that can do is give them a question to cause them to say, ah, that's something new for me to think about. Let's hold off for a while. So just tell yourself this is a great thing for me because this is the next phase of my career. I'm going to simplify for speed and you want to have a new goal. See, what we do is we think this is what I always thought I going to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Because it's a trainee number one. From the training standpoint, I'm not going to get a lot of shots out there with a trainee. And so in addition to making the sale, I'm going to make it a training exercise. I'm not just going to tell them one or two things. I'm going to tell them A through Z. Well, bad idea. Because then they're going to think they've got to know all that other stuff. What you're trying to do as you teach, as you demonstrate, you're trying to not only make them competent, but you're trying to get them confident they can do it. See, you know you've arrived when you go out one time on training them and they say, hey, that's great, appreciate it, but can I go on my own now? Okay, you want to make it seem that there's absolutely nothing. Do it. I used to have the same thing. People would say, wow, you know, you're the great. I've never in my life, I've never seen anyone as great as you. Wow. Oh, you're the best. And I'll never be able to do it that good. So I quit. That's a sorry trainer. You think you're an excellent trainer. But the excellent trainer convinces the trainee they don't really even need because there's nothing to it. It's simple. It's simple. Anybody can do it. Because the idea is to get them not just knowledgeable, but confident they can do it and where they want to go out and do it on their own. We overdo it with trainees because we're trying to really make sure, you know, use it as a teaching experience. No, get to the point. Get out. Shut up. If they hang around, they're going to learn all those 800 other things that you're trying to teach them. See, that's the same thing as when people try and recruit somebody to, let's just say, go to work at McDonald's flipping french fries. They're showing them how they can go through french fries and assistant manager and get where they get their own store, go to hamburger university and then open up their own store. And then they can open up other outlets. And then eventually they can become a member of the board, McDonald's. And then eventually they could break out and start their own hamburger. This that, you know, it's just like, hey, the kid's going to be making french fries. Shut up. You know, if he, if he does well at that, then you talk to him about something else. Too much information too. Too much information clogs their pores in their brain, shuts them down. Information is like food. Eat like a bird so you can fly like a bird. All they need to know is the next step. We're not trying to turn them into PhDs. Now the other thing is with a client, I used to go in there with a client. My persistence would be great because I'm not going to run in and run out. I will thoroughly explain everything. Guess what? I had the same persistency as the guys who ran in and ran out. Like they probably had better persistency. And so keep it brief. You're over talking. When you hear that, that tells you you're over talking it. You're getting lost in the wonder of the information. It's good for you to know that. But your goal, your goal is that day in the future where you get an office full of people who know everything. And whenever a question comes up, no one even thinks to ask you. You're working for the day where you make them the experts. You hide your knowledge. You get to the point where they think you don't know nothing because you've turned, you've turned them into such experts. I had people convinced that I didn't know a God blessed thing because I wouldn't let them know that I knew. You know, it's like it's in the manual. It's in there. I think you can find out there. I'm not sure. Check with him, call him, whatever. I could have answered it. Why am I answering it then? You know why. Now I become the library. Anytime anything else comes up, they're coming to me for, you know, I become like the reference room of the library. I ain't got time for that crap, you know? Go find the answer somewhere else. Leave me alone. I got bigger fish to fry. So thanks so much.
