Working with People to Get What You Want

And this goes beyond business too, right? Like, think about anything in your life that you want and who do you need to get there. Use these principles, and if nothing else, you'll walk away with a relationship. But I can guarantee you, if you approach life like that, you will get opportunities come your way that you didn't even know were possible.

And maybe friendships that you didn't expect to form.

Maybe, maybe friendships.

In this podcast, we share how we grew a 7-figure food business out of our 2-bedroom apartment in Chicago, all during the height of a global pandemic, and bring in expert entrepreneurs to share their stories and wealth of knowledge in business strategy and innovation. I'm Annie Slobodsky, and I'm Morgan Lerner.

And in today's episode, episode 9, Working with People to Get What You Want, we are talking about relationships. Yes, Relationships are the name of the game and a topic Annie and I are especially passionate about. I know I say that, but this one really hits a chord. And at the end of the day, we're all people behind our screens, emails, phones, et cetera. And don't get us wrong, we're all for goal setting and efficiency, but the quickest way to get what you want is to work with, not against, people to get there. So like I mentioned, Diving right in, this is all about relationships, and we actually got a lot of inspiration for this episode from the amazing book— highly recommend it to anyone listening— it's called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I think Annie can totally agree, it's pretty life-changing.

Yeah, absolutely, highly recommend.

So we love it because it just dives into the psychology of people. So we're breaking this down into a few different things of how you can get what you want and what we've seen work sell in the business. So starting off, when you're working with anyone or trying to get anything, you have to remember that we are all people. So when you're talking to someone, sending that sales email, make sure that you consider their wants and care about the person. If you're on a meeting, don't jump right into business. Ask them about their day, make some small talk, and just connect and try to get to know them.

Yeah, absolutely. I think that this is one thing that I've learned personally this year. I think when I was graduate I graduated and started my job for the first time, I thought so many meetings were unnecessary, right? I'm always like, that could have been an email that took way longer than it needed to, right? Because I have so many things we all do that we want to get done, but sometimes it's not about efficiency, and you're gonna get a way better result when you get to know the person on the other end of the screen, or hopefully one day back in person, right? Because those relationships are invaluable, right?

And I think you hit the nail on the head. Our generation especially is all about efficiency, and you and I are all about that. But I think we've really come to realize that in the long term, taking some extra time on those meetings, in the phone call, whatever it is, even if it's less efficient in the moment, in the long term has so much more value. So we have so many examples of this, but one of our greatest mentors we met through a boyfriend's friend and a company he worked with, like a connection, a connection, a connection. She helped us for this one financial analysis for a distributor we were using. And it didn't stop there because we really connected with her. And even though our meetings, you know, went over all the time because we were chatting, we built this lovely relationship. And she's since helped us get into HomeGoods, for example, on QVC, and just has helped us tremendously along our journey, let alone been such a support and just general role model for us. So it's just beautiful that that one person has actually been so integral to our business. And we had no idea. We just formed an organic relationship with her. So I love that example.

I do too. Another one that comes to mind for me, we work with a distributor, and I don't know if unusual is the right word, but you know, these people are incredibly busy. Like, it is so hard to get the person that we work with on a meeting because they have 10,000 things going on during the day. They have hundreds of brands they are representing, and it's weird to spend so much time emailing with somebody you don't know, and then they're also not gonna look out for you as much or go to bat for you as much when they don't know who you are, even if you have the greatest product in the world. So it was really important for us to set those meetings up, not because any of the things couldn't have been discussed over email, but because we wanted to make that connection. And, you know, we were able to ask him about himself and, and build that relationship. And I think on that note, moving into our second point, it's much easier to get where you're trying to go when working with someone else to make them feel heard, to show them that you're impressed with what they do. Only when that's genuine, right? You don't want to like make something up to somebody to get what you want. But when you make somebody feel special, when you make somebody feel heard, and when you're genuinely listening to what they have to do, their interests and what's going on in their life, you're able to form that real relationship. And then those people have loyalty to you. So it starts with, you know, taking some extra time to get to know the person, to make that connection in the beginning. And then once you have that, you can use the information that you've learned about them to build a deeper connection where they might go to bat for you in an unexpected situation.

I think that's so important, and that's just the key of relationship building. So it's not just making the small talk at the beginning of the meeting, which is a great start, but go beyond that. And we do that when we're sending emails all the time, or even Instagram DMing influencers to get them on our team. I always look at their LinkedIn or their page and find something unique that I genuinely like, because when— especially when you're doing something at scale, it's easy to just have a list, but that's not going to get you the result. You have to get that personalized touch or line in there just to make them feel special, that they're unique and different and have some specific value to you.

The response rate is so much higher. I could not agree more. When you're like, hey, I see that you're from California, I was just there in that area last week, yada yada, they're going to be more interested in responding to that than, hey, this is the thousandth email you've got today about some better-for-you snack, try it out. Like, that is not interesting.

Being on the other end, if someone says something really specific about me, or, oh, I saw you guys on this, or I just saw this flavor, this, I'm like, oh, they're paying attention, they're engaged, like they actually care. So it actually comes off more real more genuine than a copy and pasted template that you could send to 100 people and it would be all the same.

Yep. I would say on that note, it works both ways. Like for us, a good example is, you know, we work with other brands so often in a lot of different spaces, whether that's Instagram giveaway, whether that's co-promoting a product, whether that's a whole slew of projects. And we are turned off by brands who don't show any interest in our needs or what we want, when brands are so focused on themselves, you don't want to work with them anymore. And opportunities get cut off later down the line that they might not be thinking of. It's super short-sighted in my opinion, right?

Oh, it's so easy to catch when something is transactional. There is a very different tone and kind of conversation when you know someone is just trying to be transactional versus genuine, and maybe they have a goal but they're are trying to get to know you or just show interest. So very easy to spot also.

And you know what we haven't even mentioned that may be the most important of all of this is it's genuinely more fun when you show interest in other people and make those connections. Like meetings are more interesting, you know, you have things to catch up on, you and you look forward to, oh, you know, how was that party that you said you were going to? How's the move? Like it's not awkward. You feel like you know these people, you can develop friendship.

That's so true. Honestly, this episode is kind of just grounded in like Human Psychology 101, how we're just made to connect with others. Thesis statement right there. So just connecting is so fun. That's why we love what we do. We're best friends at the end of the day, so we get that connection out of work. It's not just show up and work. We enjoy it more because we have that relationship.

Yes, we do. I would also say, moving on to our third point, which is about boundaries and respecting the other person, I think that's something that our generation talks about quite a bit because is in a lot of work-from-home situations where there isn't a clear-cut you're in the office, now you're at home. There is a lot of issues with boundary settings. And one, I would just say, when you do respect and connect with another person, it is easier at least to have those boundaries because you remember that there's a real person. And when you don't, you can treat them in a very transactional manner, and you can email somebody really late at night on the weekends, and you no regard for what's going on in their life, right?

I think that's an important point in here, just because yes, take the time to connect and then go the extra mile and really get to know them and remember those little details about their lives to make them feel heard. But then also, these, these boundaries are an important piece because respect translates to trust. So the more respect you show, like you mentioned, not emailing them during holidays or just respecting that they have a life out of work, quite frankly, that leads to trust because it shows that you're thinking about them as a person.

Yeah, and not only trust, but it leads to— on the other end of that, if you recognize that somebody isn't doing those things, they're not hitting you up on times that they're— you're not supposed to, they let you have your vacation, you want to work harder during the times that you're supposed to be. And you, you have an affinity to them. Unfortunately, I have a pretty severe example of this in my last job before GoNanas, and I'm not going to name names on here, but my old Employer really just did not care about me at all. They had absolutely no boundaries. They texted me on Jewish holidays, on the weekends, on my birthday. And I would say the worst one was my best friend unfortunately passed away about 2 years ago, and I had let my employer know that this had happened and it was super traumatic. I had needed some time off, and they started emailing and texting me during his funeral to get some information about Facebook ads. Which was not that time sensitive. And I think that was honestly the last straw for me. I couldn't work for somebody who just didn't care about me as a person. And that was so clear in that example.

It's something so easy to do that just goes a long way. In that moment, you're like, okay, they don't respect— they don't have respect for me. It's all about work. Like, they just care about getting this one thing done, and it just shows no respect for you. So that's their huge loss. My gain. Just kidding, this is gonna happen anyways. Annie and I quit our jobs at the same exact time, if you're wondering.

It's like literally the same day.

Yes. So that's a super important one. Like, that really hits it home, even though it's an extreme example. It's, it's more common than you think. But our last point here, which I think takes it a step further, and this is something we use on a very regular basis, is when you're actually writing that pitch or having that conversation, literally reframe your goal in terms of their needs. So I remember our very first sales pitch was a lot different, and we finally changed it when we thought about this. So we said, what do the buyers care most about? They care about velocity, about products moving off the shelf so they can make more money, and that is the number one thing. So we front and center, bold, underlined, showed our velocity and how it compares to competitors, and we had much higher open rates. So just always think about how you can flip how you phrase what you want. And so that applies to buyers, that even applies to when we're reaching out to brands for a partnership, for a giveaway. We show how much reach we have, what exposure we can bring to them as a result, so they have a reason and they have a benefit for partnering with us. So I think that's a really, really key one that is super strategic and can help conversion for sure.

Yeah, it's such a simple one that I feel like gets lost sometimes because it's so easy to be like, hello Whole Foods, I love your store so much, and here's 'Why I think we would make a great product,' but that is not thinking about what the person in charge of stocking the Whole Foods shelves cares about. They want to increase their sales. So it's going to get you a much better result to say, 'I have a really fast-moving product that's going to increase sales in this area,' versus telling them why you'd love to be there, right?

And honestly, that's a good example of like putting all of them together, right? So you make a little conversation and personalize it in your email. So maybe you're pulling something from their LinkedIn, they're from your hometown too. Oh my gosh, small world, do you know whatever? So you make that personal connection. Maybe you're asking for a meeting so you can even start to build a relationship, or working with the right people in our industry stance. You don't just go straight to the buyer. And then you're not sending that on the weekends, you're sending it during the working hours and respecting that piece.

And you're not emailing them every single day no matter how badly you want something. You're not like flooding their inbox. You're being respectful but persistent.

And it's a dance because sometimes you don't know. We're like, how soon is too soon? But you always have to have those things in mind. So you're saying, am I bothering them? Like, they're a busy person. Am I including all the right things? So it's just about keeping these things in mind, but I don't think there's ever like a perfect answer because it's, it's just not black and white.

I couldn't agree more. I think if you keep these ideas in your head, right, getting to know the people that you work with and taking a genuine interest, making them feel heard, respecting their boundaries and keeping their needs in mind, you are just setting yourself up for success, objectively speaking.

And this goes beyond business too, right? Like, think about anything in your life that you want and who do you need to get there. Use these principles, and if nothing else, you'll walk away with a relationship. But I can guarantee you, if you approach life like that, you will get opportunities come your way that you didn't even know were possible.

Or maybe friendships that you didn't expect to form.

Maybe, maybe friendships. I agree, this business has brought a lot of friends.

It has.

Yeah. But anyways, thank you guys for listening to this juicy episode all about people, our favorite topic. It is so, so important to remember that we are all humans and we have lives outside of work, needs of our own, and by nature need to feel heard. So take time to listen to the people around you instead of hyper-focusing on your goal or that thing that you want. You may even reach a better conclusion and make friends along the way. And that is all for this episode of Bite into Business. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day. We will catch you guys in one week for our final episode of the season. Crazy that I'm saying that with the founder of Great Nola to talk about how to build resilience. Thanks, guys. And for our sweet tooth friends out there, if you're like, what is this banana bread? I need to try it. I'm so glad I discovered this podcast. You can find us on the gram at @eatgonanas. You'll get all the fun updates, behind the scenes, new flavor updates, all that jazz. And you can also find us online at eatgonanas.com. That's E-A-T-G-O-N-A-N-A-S dot com. And if you want to try our banana bread for free, we're just starting out. And so we are building our reviews. You can help us grow. It means so much. So if you're on Apple Podcasts, rate and review, or for Spotify or something that doesn't use reviews, share your favorite part of the podcast on Facebook and Instagram and tag us. We will see you, we will enter you into this, and we will be picking winners to give away free banana bread every month. So you'll be contacted, we'll be on the lookout, and they just make our day, if, if anything else. And the link to subscribe to our emails on the podcast itself so you never miss a bite of business will be in our show notes as well. So check those out. There's a lot of good links there, and see you guys next time.

Bye!