Welcome to our latest episode of The High Profit Event Show! I'm your host, Rudy Rodriguez, and we are excited to have with us, George Bryant. George is not just any entrepreneur; he’s a former U.S. Marine with 13 years of service, a New York Times bestselling author, and a business growth expert who has helped two businesses reach the billion-dollar mark. Beyond these accomplishments, George is also dedicated to being the best father he can be every single day.

In this episode, we dive into George's experience in running events. For over a decade, George has been organizing a wide range of events, from free gatherings to high-ticket events costing up to $10,000 per ticket. We explore his journey from humble beginnings in a small Marriott conference room to hosting intimate, high-impact events at Airbnbs. George emphasizes the importance of intimacy and depth in his events, choosing quality over quantity to create meaningful experiences.

One of the themes of our discussion is the iterative process in event planning. George shares how important it is to iterate, learn, and improve with each event. He shares how some events started with just a few attendees but grew through word-of-mouth and continuous improvement. This process-driven approach, rather than focusing solely on outcomes, has been key to his success.

We also discuss the topic of event promotion. George provides insights into starting the event experience from the very first touchpoint with potential attendees. By giving value upfront, preparing attendees thoroughly, and creating tangible evidence of what they will gain, George ensures his events are not just sold but are anticipated. He mentions the importance of books like "Contagious" and "The Catalyst" by Jonah Berger, which have influenced his approach to creating a buzz and facilitating breakthroughs for attendees.

George dives into the customer journey, explaining how every interaction before, during, and after the event is important. He believes in starting to deliver value and creating a transformative experience long before attendees arrive. This preconditioning helps in reducing barriers and enhancing engagement once the event begins.

When it comes to engagement during the event, George shares his strategy of providing space and breaks to allow for integration and processing of information. He outlines his five-step communication process—acknowledge, prepare, project, pre-handle, and excite—to keep attendees informed and engaged. George also shares the importance of creating a safe and supportive environment where attendees feel valued and not pressured.

In the final part of our conversation, George discusses his approach to post-event engagement and enrollment. Rather than using high-pressure sales tactics, he focuses on serving and providing immense value. By ensuring attendees experience significant transformations during the event, he naturally creates a desire for further engagement. George's philosophy is about earning the right to ask for the sale by delivering results first.

This episode is packed with actionable insights from one of the experts in customer experience and event management. Whether you're an event leader looking to enhance your skills or an entrepreneur aiming to create impactful experiences, George Bryant’s wisdom is invaluable. Tune in to learn more about creating high-profit events that leave a lasting impact.

Want to connect with George?

Website: https://mindofgeorge.com/

DM George on his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsgeorgebryant/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/georgebryant

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7R-mri7sGlXEwDoIr659vQ

Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5U2CHpo45CpBUdHXb3Tu8w

Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mind-of-george-show/id1504361992

Welcome to The High Profit Event Show. Today we have a special guest, Mr. George Bryant. Welcome to the show, sir.

I am honored to be here, my friend. Honored to be here.

Me too, man. It's always great to have a fellow service member turned entrepreneur on the show. I want to toot your horn a little bit here to our audience who's just getting now, maybe to meet you for the first time. Not only are you a former U.S. Marine of 13 years, but you went beyond that to start an entrepreneurial career where you helped two businesses grow to over a billion dollars on this. A ‘B’, not a million, but a billion. You bootstrapped seven businesses to seven to eight figures, and you're a New York Times bestselling author. Any one of those is like metal on the wall, be happy for the rest of your life type of accomplishments. Serving your country, New York Times bestseller, going to a billion. But more important than any of that for you, which I think is super cool, is your commitment to being the best father you can be every single day.

That's the one that lands the most, man. That's the one that matters.

I love that, man. Thank you for sharing. For our audience here who are event leaders or are in the event industry, you've been running events for over 10 years now. All sorts of events from free to $10,000 a ticket. In fact, you have an event coming up this August that's all around a customer journey called Relationships Beat Algorithms. So really look forward to this interview and getting to go under the hood a little bit with you and learn more about the customer journeys that you've created at many events.

You know what? I've been on over 10,000 podcasts. No one has ever asked me specifically about events, which is why I am so tickled, because I'm like, oh my god, I get to share it now? I'm so glad you asked, because genuinely, I obsess about customer experience and it's what I do. It literally lights me up and I'm like, oh yeah, let's do this.

Awesome, man. I'm glad we could tickle you with the subject matter here. Excellent. Also for our guests, not only have you been on 10,000 podcasts, but you actually have a podcast of your own. Just so our viewers know where they could find you, what is the name of your podcast?

So it's called The Mind Of George Show, and I'll just make it easy. If you want to see the pinkest website that you've ever seen, it is my website. It's mindofgeorge.com, and pink is legitimately my favorite color. It's also a social trigger, but like my podcast is there and by the end of this, you're going to realize I belong in a straitjacket. So I say I only share the safest parts with you on the podcast.

Fair enough. Thanks, man. Thanks for sharing that. We'll be sure to include that in our show notes as well for the audience to have easy reference for that. So George, love to hear a bit about your background when it comes to events. Let's go back 10 years ago. Where did you start? What were your humble beginnings when it came to events?

Oh man, I started in a Marriott conference room that looked like it belonged in the projects with six people in it. Over time it progressed into private wineries in Temecula with a hundred people up to 150. Now I just crave intimacy and depth so deeply that last year I made the clutch call and I was like, I'm never having more than 30 people at my events again. You're staying in the house with me. So now it's Airbnbs or experience-based because I just crave that. But I have been through every flavor that you can imagine. There was even a season where I was running back to back seven days of events where I would have my mastermind come for three days, 12 hours a day, facilitate for my team for a day and then turn around and do a public event for three days. I'd have two staffs because they couldn't keep up with me. So it is probably one of my favorite things in the world, facilitating it and being in that energy. I love it with all my heart.

Amazing, man. That's so cool. So humble beginnings to now much more powerful events. The reason I asked the whole beginning is that oftentimes people listen to podcasts and they're maybe in the process of designing their first event or maybe the next event. Maybe the new market or new niche. So it was great to hear where people start because people hear the end product. So maybe you want to expand a little bit about that.

I'm so glad you said that because I feel like everybody needs a permission slip to iterate. The easiest way to explain this is, I used to be a really big smart aleck when I would keynote. I'm like, hey, I'm going to ask you a question. Whoever answers it first, I'm going to give you an iPhone, a brand new iPhone. All right, cool. I'm like, all right, what's two plus two? Someone's like four. I'm like, great, stand up, you win. I literally would have a brand new iPhone 15 Pro Max and an iPhone one. I'm like, which one do you want? They're like, well, I want the new one. And I'm like, yeah, but this one wouldn't exist without this one. So when it comes to events specifically and even entrepreneurship in general, iterations are the secret and you have to put the reps in and you have to swing the bat. It's really not about home runs. It's about base hits. I have literally run events with two people in them. Then the next one had 40 people. I'm like, where'd you all come from? They're like, those two people told us about everything. I'm like, oh, I've made it. Now we get a hundred. Then I had a season of like every event selling out. Then we used to sell out in like a week, same thing three months later. Then nobody bought a ticket and I went right back down to 10 people. So it's really not being attached to the outcome. It's being attached to the process. Remembering that what we're doing is really creating opportunities to facilitate with people. But if we get really romantic about what it looks like, we end up getting in the way of our lessons and learning. So you can do an event at a coffee shop. You can do it at a yoga studio. You can do it in a hotel room. Like you can have people, and I still do this. We're doing one of these in three weeks with a friend. They're coming to meet us at our friend's house and their front yard for three days because the weather is nice.

We're doing the event in their front yard with flip charts and whiteboards. So you just gotta be willing to at some point plant your flag and be like, you know what, I'm gonna do this. Then you iterate as you go and you keep it in alignment. I think the biggest mistake people make is they get too romantic about what it looks like trying to keep up with the Joneses instead of remembering what it feels like for them and understanding that events are about creating experiences not putting them in these like logistical transaction machines.

Awesome, man. I love that. Thank you for sharing the highs and the lows. I think it's important to demystify that for people. Even though you may have started at a low, had a high, came back to a low, and it's not a hockey puck straight up. I love what you said. That'd be such a result of the process. Continuing to do it, which is important. So thank you for that. Thank you for that transparency. I know the number one question that people often have when it comes to leading an event is how do I promote my event? How do I get people there? It's probably the number one problem. They don't have an event without people. I'd love to hear from you in your 10 years plus experience. What are the best practices that you've used to fill your events?

I am so glad. I'm not gonna be a smart aleck and give you a one sentence answer because I have a one sentence answer for this and I'll explain it after. So first, number one, and this is gonna be a weird answer. I would require you to read two books by the same author named Jonah Berger, which are Contagious and The Catalyst. Contagious is why things catch on and The Catalyst is what gets in the way of us being a catalyst for people's breakthroughs. The reason I say that is the only way that I have ever filled events is by starting the event experience at my first touch point with people before they ever got into the room. So when I say that, I think one of the biggest traps that I fell into early on is I was so addicted to selling the event that I forgot that the event was about them having clarity or breakthrough. I realized that the more prepared I made them, meaning the better I served and supported them leading up to the event, gave them tangible evidence, gave them an experience, gave them things that would make them get even more results at the event, the event ended up filling itself because really what people need is they need tangible evidence in their life, not in our life, not us convincing them, but them being able to see themselves in it, which basically makes the decision for them. The reason I recommended The Catalyst is Jonah Berger talks about this in the book on what's required for somebody to change. A human being requires a two and a half times greater potential before they even commit, which means they need to see like a two and a half side upside before they're even open to change. I think the game is that everybody falls into the trap of selling the bridge and selling the bridge instead of realizing the bridge is just a mechanism to whatever you're serving.

So if you give them a part of that experience and you give them the breakthroughs, you give them the information, you give them the better prep work, in my belief, the event begins the moment they hear about it the first time, but I don't have to convince people, I show them. I'm like, hey, we're gonna be covering this. So here's a video on how you can start doing this today. Then when you come to the event, you'll be able to add this and add this and add this. It's like giving them the appetizer, the amuse-bouche, and then the event is the main course and the dessert. So I always think about it like that. I've done it like that my entire time to where even leading up to events, I'll just run office hours calls. I'm like, no, no, we're starting today. What are your biggest questions? What can I help you with today? What can we solve in your business today? And I'm like, come if you bought a ticket and if you have any friends that might be interested, bring them on the call as well. What we're also doing is preconditioning what the experience is going to be like with us at the event, which is reducing walls and increasing the depth and openness of somebody when they come into the room because when you get into events, most of the time people spend their whole first day just trying to get everybody physically, emotionally, and connected in the room because nobody knows each other. They waste so much prime real estate when you could do it before. So I think before you get into marketing, it's what can I genuinely give somebody that even if they don't buy an event ticket, would make their life or business better knowing the worst thing they could say is, god, you'll never believe it. You should never go to this guy's event because he helped me for free. It changed my business and I decided not to buy a ticket. That's the worst thing you can say about me. But human beings don't say that because they only share for one of five reasons: humor, credibility, education, social status, and controversy.

That's the book Contagious By Jonah Berger. So my job is to give you tangible evidence to be able to speak about me or your own experience in one of those buckets, which starts to create the seed and the social trigger and associate those breakthroughs with me, which means if you are genuinely a qualified person and you are really open, you really only have one option and it's to come to an event or a future event, but you also come in open, with an experience, with evidence in your life that it works already, more excitement to come in, and it just speeds up the entire process. So that's genuinely how I think about every event that I do.

That's amazing, man. I'm hearing you say that you start the experience before the event begins with adding more value to ticket holders, having the ticket holders invite their friends in, in a worst case scenario, people get tremendous amount of value from you and they don't buy a ticket, but you still touch their lives, you still impact them. For the people that do buy tickets and attend your event, they've already been preconditioned, they already have a good sense of what to expect, how to respond, this sort of thing, when they get to your event.

A thousand percent. That's the easiest way, because really if you think about it in the lens of a customer, which is like my specialty and expertise, it's how I scaled all those companies. One of them that I joke about, we scaled from a million a month to 2 million a day in 18 months. All I did was write 30 emails after they bought a product. That was it. The only thing I did is I made sure they got tangible results with endowment and connection in the process. So their retention went from three months to 17 months on the same product, because they were getting an actual result. The trap that I see most entrepreneurs fall into is they fall into the trap of selling the idea instead of giving people evidence that the idea is possible. When you sell an event ticket, when you sell a product, your job isn't to sell the product. That's the day the relationship begins. Your job is to get them one step closer to their dream outcome or their dream goal. So why would I sell an event ticket and then make you wait 95 days to get a result when I can sell you an event ticket, get you results all the way to the process. Then by the time you're in the room, your business and life is already different and better. Then we just get to go deeper and deeper. So you have to think about the entire thing as a customer journey, because their first interaction with you dictates the entire context of your relationship, which dictates how they feel and engage when they're in the room, which dictates their decisions with whatever you have to offer, if anything, after the room. All of that success is predicated on how it began. So you have to understand that it's a full journey. So the other thing that I always think about, even when I'm about to sell an event, is where are they going to be 12 months after the event?

Because if I don't know where I want them to be, I have no business selling the event because it's just going to be inconsistent and incongruent touch points, which creates subconscious unsafety in people. So all that matters when it comes to the customer journey. So I think it's a really big picture idea to understand. So even in my events with entrepreneurs, we talk about business, marketing, customer journey, but I also use tools like breathwork and I do future self-journaling and bringing these exercises. So even leading up to the event, we'll run breathwork calls on Zoom so their nervous system can get used to it and they feel it. Then when we come into the room, I'm like, who's ready for breathwork? Everyone's like, yeah! No one's on their phones. No one's out taking Zoom calls. They pre-handle their schedule because they already have a taste of what that experience is like. So it really, really matters on your intentionality in building that container so that you can create the best experience.

That's great, man. That's a great transition point into the next part of the customer journey, no pun intended, is they get to the event and you created that, you got people there, but now the common problems that event leaders face is engagement. How do you get them there on time each day, especially day two, day three, after they've maybe been out late at night the night before, how do you get them to stay off their phones, to stay in the room, to pay attention to what's happening there and not be out in the hallway finding more value on their phone or talking to somebody else? How do you even engage in the content that ultimately is gonna improve their life and help them achieve their outcomes? So you are the expert when it comes to this. So just please give us the good gear, specific tangible things that you can do to best practices to maintain engagement.

I love it. So there's two ways I'm gonna answer this. Answer number one is the number one underutilized tool at events, which is space and number two, customer journey conditioning leading up to events. So there are five steps that I teach that are required in every single communication with a customer leading into the customer journey. So the steps are acknowledge, prepare, project, pre-handle and excite. One of my scripture statements that I say all the time is leadership is saying the same thing as many times as required till the last person gets it. So their engagement and their presence in the room is dictated by how you communicate and manage expectations leading up to the event. So we literally, and I mean hundreds of times leading up to the event, tell them the schedule, what we require them. We tell them why their presence is required, why they should pre-handle their schedule. If something comes up to let our team know so that we can fill you in on what's missed. We don't fault people. We don't blame people. We don't gaslight people. We invite them into their best version of themselves hundreds of times before the event starts. Then when the event begins, I have ground rules. The first part of every one of my events is getting everybody to mutually agree on the ground rules of the game. Hey, this is what we're here for. This is what we're doing. The power of events is not for me facilitating it. The breakthroughs happen in the space with each of you in between it. For me, the number one thing and the thing that everybody says after our events that they love more than anything is the amount of space that I leave. I give 30 minute pee breaks and two hour lunch breaks every single day because that allows them time and space to integrate and process and not feel like every single thing is like speaker, speaker, speaker, speaker, seller, seller, pitch, pitch, learn, learn, learn.

We forget that our message is only as effective as the recipient's ability to hear it, understand it and implement it without us. So we tend to overload people's nervous systems because we think we need to cram so much in for it to be valuable. But the only thing that's really valuable is if they install it in their nervous system, in their brain or in their business, depending on the context of your event. So when I say that, it's like if I think about the first day of our event, we do ground rules and then we never go for more than 90 minutes and we take a 30 minute break. But guess what? At the beginning and end of every single one of those sessions, I hit those five steps. I acknowledge them for being there. I prepare them for what we're gonna cover. I project what it will look like when we're done with this section. I pre-handle any of the objections and then I get them excited. So then when we're going on break, I do the same thing. I'm like, hey, we're gonna take a 30 minute break. Does everybody agree to that? Amazing. Well, here's your break work and who's gonna be the one that's accountable to getting everybody back in? Does anybody have anything that came up? Do you need support? Do you need to take a call? I consistently keep those same containers and like you understand this better than anybody being in the military, especially an officer. But I was on the green side. I worked for a living. Sorry, I had to say it. It was like having a ton of Marines. We would have to tell them thousands and thousands of times just to follow those same standards. It's not what we do, it's what we tolerate. When we're running an event, our job is to create a container that allows somebody to have an experience, an agency to become the hero of their own journey and be led through the process. That's why they're at the event.

People don't pay for ideas. Every idea that you want, you can find on the internet for free. They pay for access and accountability. Our job is to create that structure. So if you think about the best customer journeys, they're multi-medium, multi-modality, all saying the same thing. So whatever comes out of my mouth is also sent in their text message. It's also in the handouts that come in their folder. It matches identically to the emails that they got. It's what the team says at the registration table when they get their ticket. It's what we say at the end of the day when we take their breaks. It's all consistent so that everybody is tuned into the same game. Then we allow space and agency. So with those things, I think one of the mistakes that I see happen all the time is people treat people at their events like they're children instead of holding them to their potential to be the incredible gifts, entrepreneurs, leaders that they are and inviting them to play the game at their level. Of course, we have people, like at my last event, a guy's nervous system was so overwhelmed with breakthroughs. He had to go nap for six hours. I didn't make him bad and wrong for napping. He came back, he's like, what'd I miss? I'm like, that's not up to me, bro. That nap was perfect for you. Next time, please tell me you're gonna leave because I was worried about you. He's like, okay, dude, next event, I'm never leaving. I'll sleep on the couch. I'm like, perfect. Well, thanks for committing to buy a ticket for the next event. I heard that, got you. So we tend to disempower people or then we tend to make them bad and wrong. People try to control rooms. They're like, get back in your seat, do this. Like, how dare you be on your phone? No, I don't do that.

If somebody picks up their phone, I'm like, oh, what are you taking notes? It's like, no, I'm texting my husband. I've taken people's phones and sent audio messages to their husbands. I just laugh about it and I bring joy to it and I make it comical. I think we have to understand that everybody plays games differently. Our job is not to be in the military. It's not to be this like a big, big drill instructor, but it's to invite people to their possibility and then do our best to hold them accountable to that potential without guilting them or shaming them in the process.

Amazing, man. Thank you. Wow. I mean, guys, you're hearing here from one of the world's foremost experts on customer experience, sharing with you exactly what he does to create a world-class customer experience at his events. I'm taking notes here. I'm gonna go back and re-listen to this, re-watch this over and over again. Ladies and gentlemen, this is pure gold right here. Thank you. A couple of my takeaways so far are, one, leadership is saying the same thing as many times and as many different ways as needed until the last person gets it. Yep. I really love that. It makes me come back to the notion of leaving no person behind.

It's like we're there. That is where it comes from. If you have kids, you know exactly what I'm talking about because I have two of them and it doesn't matter how many times I say it to my six-year-old. If he doesn't get it, I don't get to gaslight my six-year-old for him not getting it. I get to reinvent the way I say it so that he can hear it. Then I say it consistently until it becomes part of his belief system. Then we move on to the next.

Awesome, man. My next takeaway was to ensure there's space for ad space and agency. 30-minute pee breaks, two-hour lunches, and invite them to play the game at third level where they're at. Bringing joy and playfulness to the situation wherever it's appropriate, like phones being pulled out.

Oh yeah.

It's my favorite.

Dude, we've had phones ring and I'm like, hey, we all agree to silence our phones. Someone's going to forget. I'm not going to make them bad and wrong. I've had phones ring and I go grab it. I'm like, no, no, I'm answering it. I'll sit on stage and have an entire conversation with somebody I've never met in front of the audience. The person's mortified and we're all just laughing. It's the best content in the world. I was like, it's going to happen. Like there's no perfect way to do it. It's an art. Make it fun, make it connected. Don't make people feel bad and wrong because that's why they're going to take a break because they don't feel safe being in your room. Events are about creating safety. People are coming for breakthroughs. Breakthroughs don't happen when you cram information in their head. Breakthroughs happen when they feel safe to be in the container to receive and they're not guilted or shamed in doing it a right or wrong way.

Amen, man. Amen. So here we are, you have an audience, you've served them before the event, you serve them at the event, and it comes time to invite them to continue their relationship with you beyond the event, whether that's a coaching program, a mastermind, or another event. This is a typical challenge for many event leaders is how do I enroll them, do sales, sign them up for the next event so that they don't go home without support where you and I both know that life gets in the way and distracts them from being powerful in what they're inspired to do from the event. So how do you do it? What are your best practices when it comes to enrollment?

I love this. This is my recipe and my flavor. So take this for what it is. In a three-day event where I speak for 10 hours each day, I only talk about what I have to offer for five minutes. That's it, five minutes. Because for me, it's about fit and invitation, not force. So no matter what, we let everybody know at the very beginning of the event that we're gonna follow up with them and support them in everything that was covered at the event. We're gonna send you the recordings, the worksheets we talked about, and have some emails and a follow-up call to be able to support you. Then I let them know at the very beginning that there is an opportunity to work with our team and I, if it's a fit for you, and that's for you to decide, but now can we get into the content? They're like, yeah. Then the entire event is about giving them absorbent amounts of value. Like genuinely, I don't gate anything. I give them everything. Then typically what happens, and this happens every single time, by the end of day two, 10 people have been like, will you just please tell us how to work with you? And I'm like, no. No, I won't. I told you I'm not gonna tell you until tomorrow. Then we'll come back from a lunch break. I'm like, all right, do you guys really wanna know because you're annoying me? They're like, yeah. I'm like, great. Here's my whiteboard. Here's option one. Here's option two. Here's option three. Are we clear? I'm like, great. Let's get back to the content. If you would like any information on that whatsoever, just go see one of my team members and they will see how they can best serve and support you. Because I genuinely do not believe in selling. I believe in serving. I feel like when you serve enough, the sale handles itself and it's about fit, not force. So when you really think about it, I have a model called the four paths to the pier.

But when somebody is in your ecosystem, there's only one of four things they can do. They can bounce. They can learn more. They can opt into something or they can buy. My job is just to have an entry point to every one of those things. So if I'm serving and I'm teaching customer journey and mindset and all of those things, then I'm like, hey, after the event, we're gonna support you, have a follow-up call. That's completely okay. That might be all that you want and need. I can't wait to see you on the call. If you wanna join our Alliance, which is our $100 a month coaching program, then go see Ashley And she'll see if you're a good fit. If you wanna hire me as a one-on-one coach, go see Ashley and she'll see if you're a good fit. But other than that, let's get right back into the content because I told you you're here so that I can change your business and put these things into practice. Quite frankly, it's easier for me to coach you when you've already done these things. So stop trying to waste your money and start implementing these things so that we can make you more money. I genuinely stand by that. I have a rule in my business that you have to win before I win, which means I won't ever let you pay me until your business or life has already been measurably improved and I've earned the right to ask for your money. So I make everything about service, all of it. If there's a book I would recommend, it would be The Go-Giver by Bob Berg and David Mann because it's an incredible book. I typically wait for people to prompt me. I've been to literally thousands of events and spoken at them and they feel icky in my soul. The high pressure selling, the guilt tripping, the knowing and feeling that the entire event is just a giant pitchfest or funnel, literally recreate shame and guilt for people and creates reactants is what Jonah Berger talks about in The Catalyst.

It actually puts people's walls up. So for me, I always focus on giving tangible value and tangible evidence. Then if they decide that that's enough, I'm like, great, here's the menu options. Let me know which one you'd like to eat if you're still hungry. If not, I'm still here to support you because we'll see you on the follow-up call. So it's really about carrying that experience all the way through, but also remember that my event is not effective if you come to my event and leave with nothing but information and no results in your life. For me to think that I could even take your credit card because I just blew your mind but nothing changed would just be more of a disservice because then I'm just gonna overwhelm you for more and there was no point in you paying for the event. So the entire purpose of my event is to get 10 times the value of what you paid for the ticket. Then if you found that value and you want more, then you can order the next course. I've never done it any differently and I won't because the most important thing, like I said, is that I sleep like a baby at night and that any person that my son ever meets that the only thing they can say about me is that he was incredible. He kept his word and he delivered on value. Never tried to force me, never tried to take my credit card, never tried to trick me or manipulate me or objection handle me like, no, you can't talk to your wife, pay me now or give me a deposit because I'm gonna secure this fake spot that really doesn't have urgency and scarcity in it. You gotta be ethical and you gotta be in alignment. People can smell it from a mile away. When you walk through the mall, how many of those people in the middle of the mall do you ignore knowing they're gonna come up to you and try to get a hair roller or perfume thing because they're just using force.

But yet if you walk by this cart numerous times and it smells so good and then you have the agency to walk up to it and be like, god, what is that? Then they engage with you, all of a sudden you're a whole lot more open to buying or like, what if you walked into a grocery store because you were going grocery shopping and instead of having agency to walk around, they're like, nope, buy this, you need to have this, walk down this aisle, you'd be out of there faster than you could blink an eye. So you have to just understand the game. In my opinion, the easiest way to win the game is to give value, give agency and allow somebody else to choose their next step and us having a step for them to follow.

Then give agency, give value first, give them the option and let them step. So earning the right to ask for the sale. I also love how you said, I wanna make sure that they win first. That they not just get information and confusion, but they get a result in their business before moving forward.

Oh my god, even now, like people literally, I get 50 DMs a day and they're like, dude, I just wanna hire you. I'm like, can you ask me out to dinner first? Nobody said I wanted to let you hire me, what's your question? They're like, oh. I'm like, no, no, just ask me a question, see if I can help you. Then I'll like help and they're like, oh, I'm ready. I'm like, no, no, no, you're not, go put that into your business, save the money. Call me in 30 days when it works and we can make more. It's applicable everywhere. Business is not the game of convincing people to buy a product. Business is the game of getting people results so that they wanna get more of them and stick around. There's two games to play. There's the short game, which you're guaranteed to lose. There's the long game that lasts forever. If you fall into the trap of transactions, you're just gonna end up with an empty bank account, an empty soul and no one at your funeral. You fall into the long game of transformations. Instead of fishing every day, you have fish jumping in your boat and you're having to throw them back in the ocean. So you just have to choose which side of the field that you wanna play on.

Amen, transaction or transformation?

That's it, man, the choice is yours.

That's a great note to end on here, man. For our audience, who are listening in, what's the best way for them to follow you or tune in?

The two places that I spend the most of my time are my podcast and my Instagram. I genuinely mean this. If you have a question, if I open a loop, if I can support you in any way, just shoot me a DM on Instagram. My Instagram is itsgeorgebryant, the it's is included, I -T -S -G -E -o -r -g -e -B -r -y -A -N -T. Then it's linked on my website, as well as my podcast, as well as our free customer journey resources. I don't even want your email, I just want you to take the value. And that's mindofgeorge.com. So, like I said, it's the pinkest website, it's a beautiful lighthouse on there. You'll see all my fat photos and marine photos and all these other random things about me in this lifetime. Genuinely, it really, my mission is to help as many people as I can so that the world's a better place for my son. So I don't care if I get paid in the process because Nike's billboard doesn't say just do it, only if you buy our running shoes. So my job's to help. So if I can help you in any way, please just take the time to reach out because you might be surprised at what you get as a response.

Awesome George, thank you so much. We're gonna be sure to include all those links here in our show notes so our audience can easily reference that and reach out and communicate with you. Thank you again for being such a world-class guest on our show today and all the value that you're adding first. Really appreciate you.

Thank you. Oh brother, it was an honor. Thanks for having me. For everybody listening, thank you for giving me the one asset that I can't give back to you, which is time. So I hope it was worthwhile. If not, you can DM me and yell at me and I'll do what I can to make it.

There you go. Thanks brother. Appreciate it.