Episode Summary

What if everything you've been taught about sales is backwards? Jeff Bajorek, who's turned dead territories into multimillion-dollar producers and coached teams across 60+ companies, sits down to expose the uncomfortable truths most sales leaders won't admit. This isn't another feel-good episode about "mindset" and motivation. Jeff breaks down why your sales training investments are wasted, how a 13-year-old newspaper carrier outsold seasoned professionals using one simple strategy, and the five prospecting fundamentals that separate real closers from glorified telemarketers. Whether you're leading a team that's underperforming or hustling solo trying to hit quota, this raw conversation delivers the frameworks and mindset shifts you need to stop losing deals you should be winning.

Key Takeaways

• The hidden sales happening everywhere – Discover why 90% of your daily "sales" don't involve money and how this realization transforms your approach to every conversation


• Why your sales training is failing – Learn the critical mistake companies make before training their teams (hint: they're not sold on needing it) and how to fix it


• The 5 prospecting fundamentals crushing it in 2025 – Jeff reveals his proven framework that separates B2B professionals from glorified telemarketers making the same cold calls


• The "nobody cares" principle that changes everything – Find out why leading with ego kills deals and what top performers do instead to create real engagement


• From paper routes to million-dollar deals – How a 13-year-old's free offer strategy outperforms most modern sales tactics and what that means for your pipeline

Chapters

00:00 – Sales Without Money: Why Your Teen's Car Request Is Teaching You Everything

02:15 – The Dangerous Truth About "Selling Is Selling" That Most Get Wrong

04:09 – Transfer of Enthusiasm: Brian Tracy's Forgotten Secret to Every Sale

07:36 – The Toyota Strategy: When Giving Up Margin Makes You Millions

11:35 – The 13-Year-Old Who Crushed Objections Better Than Your Sales Team

15:03 – Ego Vs. Service: Why Showing Up to Impress Guarantees You'll Lose

18:43 – The Apprenticeship Model: Why Sales Mastery Takes Decades, Not Days

24:25 – Generational Sales Manager Trauma and How It's Killing Your Numbers

29:09 – Training Teams That Don't Want It: The Pre-Sale Nobody Talks About

37:14 – The 5 Prospecting Fundamentals Your Competition Doesn't Know

44:03 – Building Courseware That Actually Works: From Beer to Best Practices

52:15 – Discovery Before Demos: Why SDRs Fail and How to Fix It

Guest Information

Jeff Bajorek

Sales Consultant, Author & Speaker

Transforming Sales Teams Through Service

Connect with Jeff:

Website: https://www.jeffbajorek.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffbajorek

Host Information

Connect with John Rankins:

Website: https://thesalesmachine.com/

YouTube: @JohnRankinsOfficial

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrankinsofficial

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