Young and Profiting with Hala Taha (Entrepreneurship, Sales, Marketing)
Bob Burg on Closing More Deals with the Go-Giver Sales Strategy | Sales | YAPClassic
Fri, 11 Apr 2025
Sales can feel like a grind, but Bob Burg proves it doesn’t have to be. By rethinking traditional selling, shifting to value selling, and mastering persuasion in both ecommerce and relationship-based environments, Bob developed a counterintuitive approach that transformed his life and career. He began in broadcasting, but soon realized his true calling was in helping others thrive through a giving-centered business mindset. In this episode, Bob reveals his powerful Five Laws of Stratospheric Success, the key to becoming a “go-giver,” along with powerful insights on authentic influence, building referrals, and mastering the art of pull—not push. In this episode, Hala and Bob will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (00:57) Bob Berg's Career Journey (03:17) The Power of Books in Personal Development (05:00) Understanding the Go-Giver Philosophy (07:36) The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success (17:45) Influence vs. Persuasion vs. Manipulation (22:32) The Importance of Authenticity and Receptivity Bob Burg is a bestselling author, motivational speaker, and co-creator of the Go-Giver book series, which has sold over one million copies and been translated into 30 languages. Named one of the 30 Most Influential Leaders by the American Management Association, Bob’s work has transformed how professionals approach sales, communication, and leadership. His perspective is essential for anyone looking to grow a business by building genuine connections, offering unmatched value, and leading with integrity. Sponsored By: RobinHood - Receive your 3% boost on annual IRA contributions, sign up at robinhood.com/gold Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/profiting Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at youngandprofiting.co/shopify Microsoft Teams - Stop paying for tools. Get everything you need, for free at aka.ms/profiting Mercury - Streamline your banking and finances in one place. Learn more at mercury.com/profiting Open Phone - Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at openphone.com/profiting LinkedIn Marketing Solutions - Get a $100 credit on your next campaign at linkedin.com/profiting Bilt Rewards - Start paying rent through Bilt and take advantage of your Neighborhood Benefits™ by going to joinbilt.com/PROFITING. Airbnb - Find yourself a co-host at airbnb.com/host Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap Youtube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services - yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship podcast, Business, Business podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal development, Starting a business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side hustle, Startup, mental health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth mindset, Selling, Online Selling, Sales, Economics, E-commerce, Ecommerce, Negotiation, Prospecting, Persuasion, Inbound, Value Selling, Account Management, Sales Strategies, Business Growth, Scale, Scaling, Sales podcast
Chapter 1: What is the Go-Giver philosophy in sales?
I just began as a sportscaster for a local radio station where I grew up, got into TV. I was the late night news guy for a very small ABC affiliate in the Midwestern United States. I wasn't very good at it though. Yeah, I could read the news. Anyone can do that. But I certainly wasn't a journalist. And so it wasn't long before I graduated into sales.
And I stumbled and floundered for the first few months because I had no formal sales training. And the company I was with apparently didn't either. So I was sort of left on my own. Fortunately, after a few months, I was in a bookstore and I saw there were a couple of books on sales, which doesn't seem like a big deal right now, but that was 40 years ago.
Sales books, they simply were not as prolific as they are now. I didn't even know such a thing existed. When I saw them, I picked them up, bought them, brought them home. And every night I'd come home after work and I would study into the wee hours of the morning. And within a few weeks of applying the information, my sales began to go through the roof. And it was really a great experience for me.
From there, I started to really get into the personal development aspect because I quickly learned that sales was really about building yourself on the inside. right? And that that success manifested outwardly, but it really was what you put into your mind and took into your heart.
So I started getting all the, you know, the classics of personal development from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People to Think and Grow Rich to The Magic of Thinking Big and Psycho-Cybernetics and As a Man Thinketh and Ogmandino's books and all the great books. And I just, I became a, I guess, an internal library, right?
And, you know, so I really enjoyed it and eventually worked my way up to sales manager of a company. And people began to ask me to show their sales team what was working for me and eventually just morphed into a speaking business.
I love the fact that you brought up that you've read so many books. I interviewed Stephen Kotler pretty recently, and he told me that books have the best ROI on your time. And you can literally time arbitrage with books because these authors are spending years of their lives researching and pouring out their expertise that might have taken a decade to acquire.
And then you get to read that book in just a few hours and absorb all that information.
Exactly. And, you know, I think when you... And there are different types of books. There are the books that really you're just developing yourself personally and professionally. And then there are the how-to books. And they can provide, and such as the ones I purchased, and they were by Zig Ziglar and Tom Hopkins, the two that I purchased when I first saw them. They were roadmaps for me.
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Chapter 2: What are the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success?
Chapter 3: How does authenticity play a role in sales?
Chapter 4: What is the difference between influence, persuasion, and manipulation?
Chapter 5: How can books enhance personal development?
Thank you, Holla. Great to be here.
Yeah, likewise. Before we get into all that good stuff and the meat and potatoes of the interview, I do want to talk to you about your career path. Similar to me, you started in radio. So I started my career at Hot 97 and then kind of evolved from there. So I'd love to hear about your broadcasting background and how you ended up, you know, becoming such a popular writer.
I just began as a sportscaster for a local radio station where I grew up, got into TV. I was the late night news guy for a very small ABC affiliate in the Midwestern United States. I wasn't very good at it though. Yeah, I could read the news. Anyone can do that. But I certainly wasn't a journalist. And so it wasn't long before I graduated into sales.
And I stumbled and floundered for the first few months because I had no formal sales training. And the company I was with apparently didn't either. So I was sort of left on my own. Fortunately, after a few months, I was in a bookstore and I saw there were a couple of books on sales, which doesn't seem like a big deal right now, but that was 40 years ago.
Sales books, they simply were not as prolific as they are now. I didn't even know such a thing existed. When I saw them, I picked them up, bought them, brought them home. And every night I'd come home after work and I would study into the wee hours of the morning. And within a few weeks of applying the information, my sales began to go through the roof. And it was really a great experience for me.
From there, I started to really get into the personal development aspect because I quickly learned that sales was really about building yourself on the inside. right? And that that success manifested outwardly, but it really was what you put into your mind and took into your heart.
So I started getting all the, you know, the classics of personal development from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People to Think and Grow Rich to The Magic of Thinking Big and Psycho-Cybernetics and As a Man Thinketh and Ogmandino's books and all the great books. And I just, I became a, I guess, an internal library, right?
And, you know, so I really enjoyed it and eventually worked my way up to sales manager of a company. And people began to ask me to show their sales team what was working for me and eventually just morphed into a speaking business.
I love the fact that you brought up that you've read so many books. I interviewed Stephen Kotler pretty recently, and he told me that books have the best ROI on your time. And you can literally time arbitrage with books because these authors are spending years of their lives researching and pouring out their expertise that might have taken a decade to acquire.
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Chapter 6: What strategies can increase referrals in business?
And when I first started my business, I was buried in resumes, juggling interviews, and it was just so hard to find the right people. It was overwhelming, and I wish I had used Indeed from the start. Now we use Indeed for all our hires. How fast is Indeed? In the minute that I've been talking to you, 23 hires were made on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.
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Hiring Indeed is all you need. OK, so my last question on influence is really about the fact that people love to be the ones making their own decisions and they want to make their own decisions. So tell us about the law of the back door. I thought this was really interesting.
Well, thank you. Yes. Autonomy is a key aspect of human nature. People wanna feel they're in control of their own lives, okay? An out or a backdoor is an emotional escape hatch you give someone so that they never feel as though they're back into a corner, okay?
So, Berg's Law of the Out or Back Door simply says the bigger the out or back door you give someone to take, the less they'll feel the need to take it. So, you don't necessarily give them that out so that they'll take it, although if they think they should, they will, which that would make sense. But no, you do it so that they feel comfortable enough with you and the situation that
that they don't feel pressured and they don't feel the need to take that out or backdoor. So even saying something, let's say you have a prospect, a sales prospect, and you're in front of that person and they kind of come to the table, kind of defensive and it's, well, don't Don't think I'm going to buy anything necessarily from you. I'm not some easy sell. Why did they fit?
But who knows what their experience has been? We never know what someone's experience is. Maybe somebody took advantage of them, or maybe they really are someone who doesn't trust themselves to make decisions. I don't know. But what we can do is reframe this using the out or back door. So it might be something like,
Susan, while we've been fortunate to be able to help a lot of people with this product, whether or not it's the right fit for you, we simply can't know without exploring deeper and both of us discovering that. So please know that this conversation is for both of us to determine whether this would be right for you. And if it is, great. If not, that's okay, too.
And I bet you you could even do that in a simpler manner. Like if you just want to hop on a call with someone, you could be like, hey, you're probably slammed this Friday. But if you have time, would you be able to hop on a call? Like, does it work? And yeah, it even works in simple situations like that.
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