When you stop learning, you stop earning. Today I share 2 lessons, 1 Introduction & a song.
Lesson #1 – “Crack those ‘China Eggs’!” – Joe Whelton
When I was in my early twenties I worked in sales for a large life insurance company. My boss was a gruff old, white haired guy from Chicago. Joe Whelton. Mr. Whelton was a little rough around the edges. He had this raspy Chicago accent that sounded a little like a character from an old mob movie. He was a tough minded guy who gave me the impression he had been in a fight or two in his day. At the time, I am guessing Joe was somewhere around the age I am now. So – to me he was old. But, I respected him and learned a few things along the way. One thing that Mr. Whelton said that has stuck with me for over 35 years now is – and this is how he would say it – “crack those china eggs!” What Joe was referring to are those beautifully painted and be-jeweled Faberge eggs that you will see as ornaments in fine homes and museums. Now according to the Internet, they actually came from Russia – but Joe wasn’t teaching about art or history. He was teaching about sales and – as I have come to discover – even more so about life.
At the time, what he was referring to was the gloriously, promising sales leads that I would tell him about when he asked me about my sales production. I would talk about who I hoped to see next, or who I had received a referral to and what my plans were. I would express my excitement over what I thought could be once I made my presentation. I’d even tell Me. Whelton what I anticipated my commission would be once I made the sale I was planning. Old Joe would listen to all of this promise and just growl something like, “You gotta crack those China Eggs Lee! They aint worth a damn until you break ‘em open and cook 'em!”
Now it was pretty easy for me to understand Joe’s immediate lesson about getting out there and either making those sale or not. Moving away from promise and on to reality. This one lesson turned me into one of the top sales producers in our office and earned me a lot of money at an early age.
However – I think the thing that I find most fascination about Mr. Whelton’s lesson is how I find it relates to so many areas of my life. Not long ago – I saw an old photo of myself – about 10 years ago. It was my birthday and I was doing some sort of foolishness in the picture – but in the background, I saw that I had written Joe Whelton’s words “Crack Those China Eggs!” on the wall behind my desk. So, twenty years later I was still reminding myself. …and now I am sharing it with you – and me – again.
Think about it and you will see how it applies. For me this past week, I have seen it apply directly to 3 different car flipping deals.
On 2 of them, by thinking about Joe’s words – I saw that I could take the money that was being offered and move on with a profit – instead of continuing to hold out for more. The fact is that holding out was going to take more of my time – and the more I would be holding out for was not promised. It was just hoped for. Old Joe would have been proud. I cracked those china eggs, got my money and moved on to the next deal.
The third deal is still working – but I have already started weighing Joe’s words on it too. …But I find that gruff old guy’s voice talking to me on things more than just cars, and sales and real estate deals. It has even come to influence some personal relationships and other situations.
Think about it. Maybe write it down. “Crack those China Eggs!” – yes, I know it is not sophisticated. It is not even accurate – but the meaning can help you too. Hey – if you think of a way that it does help, send me a not about it at flippingquestions@gmail.com. I want to hear about it.
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Lesson #2 – “Dis-trust, but verify” – President Ronald Reagan (sort of)
The second of our 2 lessons is something that we sort of heard from President Ronald Reagan. Actually he said “Trust, but verify”. …That is actually the English version of a Russian Proverb. However, the way I am thinking of the lesson I learned this week is DISTRUST, but verify.
A couple days ago I got a call from the car buying system I use to get private sellers to contact me about selling their personal vehicle. The guy told me the car was just an extra one that they wanted to sell so they’d have room in the driveway. He said there was really nothing wrong with it mechanically and just needed to be cleaned up. He didn’t have time to mess with the cleaning of the selling – so that is why my proposition caught his eye. He was even willing to bring the vehicle to me.
My natural inclination is to believe people. Even after all these years. Fortunately for me I am surrounded by people who are less trusting that I trust emphatically. The first was my wife Terri – who you will hear more about later. When I told her what the guy had told me – she sort of rolled her eyes and said – “be sure to check with Garry and Dennis before you give him any money.”
By now, most of you know that Dennis Johnson owns Dennis Johnson Automotive and Garry Hargrove – who you’ve heard from in several past episodes – is his Operations Czar – or something like that – all these Russian references are making me think weird. Anyway – that is who Terri meant when she mentioned Garry and Dennis.
The citizen who was trying to sell his car to me met me on a Sunday – so my mechanics were not working. His car seemed to be pretty much what he said. I whittled his price down about 25% from his original ask and had the title in my hand ant the cash in my pocket.
That’s when I thought of Ronald Reagan – and Terri – and Dennis and Garry. And I said, let’s hold off on this until tomorrow morning when I can talk to my guys. I told him about Dennis and Garry, but not President Reagan – or Terri.
The next morning I ran what I had seen – there were a few abnormalities that caught my eye. I mean after all these years I do see some things other than shiny wheels and hood ornaments. Anyway – the next morning when I shared what I had observed and had heard from the seller with Garry and Dennis – I found out that the likely repairs for this gem were going to about double my investment and create a loss.
When Dennis and I talked about it after they’d helped me make the wise decision to walk away from that one – he told me that his natural instinct is the opposite of mine. When he is buying vehicles – and he buys a ton – he automatically disbelieves everything the seller tells him. …so DISTRUST, BUT VERIFY. That’s lesson #2 and I am pretty sure it will serve all of us well.
Next up – as promised – I am going to make an introduction. For a lot of you, this may be the most important introduction I make.
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An Introduction - to Jeremy Fisher and his "3 Hour Flip Academy"
Earlier this year we kicked off Flipping Genius. The idea was that my experience with thousands of vehicles over the years would help our listeners make more money. I planned to create a step by step training program that would help our listeners avoid making some of the stupid mistakes I’d made over the years and create a path to success. Like so often in America – I found somebody else had already created what I had in mind and had done a damn fine job of it.
If you listened to Episode 42 of Flipping Genius – you heard my conversation with Jeremy Fisher. Jeremy is the author of 3 Hour Car Flip – and the 3 Hour Car Flip Academy. Like me, Jeremy has been flipping cars for a profit most of his adult life. However, Jeremy has over 2 million downloads of his materials on line!
Jeremy’s book and video training course takes you step by step through the systems he has followed to make a small fortune flipping cars! I looked at what Jeremy had created with 3 Hour Flip and was very impressed. As you heard in Episode 42, I have been a fan of Jeremy Fisher’s work for some time. Frankly I just think it makes more sense to offer Jeremy’s comprehensive system to our listeners right away – instead of me trying to reinvent the wheel. Especially since Jeremy is offering his program at a significant discount to us!!
FLIPPERS - Jeremy has agreed to make his book - 3 HOUR FLIP - and digital video course –
3 HOUR FLIP ACADEMY - available – with lifetime access to his training course for just $49 to listeners of Flipping Genius! 49 Bucks!! Frankly – there is no way I could produce the same material for anywhere near that price! And – and Jeremy does a fantastic job with it!! I see our Flipping Genius podcast serving as the perfect supplement for Flippers who invest in Jeremy’s course. Every episode of Flipping Genius compliments the material Jeremy has included in 3 Hour Flip with our real life experiences. Jeremy even found a way to pay me a couple bucks whenever one of you buys his system from our Resources Page. …Just go to www.FlippinGenius.com and then click on the Resources tab at the top of the page. Next click on the “More Great Stuff” tab and it will take you right to the Flipping Genius link to Jeremy’s “3 Hour Flip” materials.
If that is more clicking than you want to do – or if you just want to ask me a question or two – just send me an email at flippingquestions@gmail.com and I will answer your questions and send you a direct link so you are sure to buy Jeremy’s entire 3 Hour Flip program – the book and the digital video course – with lifetime access – all for just $49. I am excited to be able to make this introduction!
That is what our Resources Page is all about. In addition to Jeremy’s course, you will find links to all sorts of other things that will make and save you money. Everything from discounts on tools and parts to lists of auctions all across the US, Canada and even a few overseas. AND – Flipping Genius’s Resource page also includes referrals that will allow to save on auction fees. ...I just save 50 bucks today on a Volvo I bought at auction. Hey – 50 bucks is 50 bucks – you make your money when you buy!
So, go to flippingenius.com and click on that Research Page – sign up for the 3 Hour Flip course for just $49 – less than I saved on those auction fees today! AND take advantage of all the other links there too. We keep working to grow that!
Hey – if there is a place you’d like us to add – somewhere you’d like us to try to negotiate a discount from – send me a recommendation – a request – at flippingquestions@gmail.com and I will do my best to make it so.
Thank you for listening (and reading to) to the Flipping Genius. The bigger our audience gets, the more influence we will have to negotiate those benefits for all of us! So, please save us as a favorite, subscribe, give us a 5 star review AND share us on Social Networks – AND share us with anyone you think will have an interest.
HUGE THANK YOU to our Flipping Genius Team Members!! Your financial support of our podcast as we develop this is so greatly appreciated! Every single dollar helps. This takes time to build and grow. So, your expressing your confidence and appreciation is really a blessing. If you would like to join our Flipping Team Members, just go to flippingenius.com and click on the yellow text at the top of the page. Any participation level is greatly appreciated!
Thank you to the sponsors of Flipping Genius – Nick’s Ristorante and Team Townley ITEX. You can learn more about them both on our web site.
With all the thank you-s and such – I guess you realize we are coming to the end of another Episode/blog post – Number 43 this time – of the Flipping Genius. And – lately that means – if you hang in there – you get to hear one of my originals songs. This one is one I wrote in honor of my wonderful wife Terri. Terri was kind enough to come tell her side of this Flipping story back in episode 26. Terri is a Human Resources professional in real life. The H R Lady in other words. About a decade ago I wrote this one about my H R Lady. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know. Here is the link to listen to H R Lady
Send all of your comments, questions, stories, etc. to me at FlippingQuestions@gmail.com
Let’s work together… Let’s make some money… Let’s all become Flipping Geniuses
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Randy Lee the host of Flipping Genius podcast - THE podcast about buying and selling used cars for a substantial profit. If you prefer to listen the audio - or want to do both - you can find Flipping Genius wherever you listen to podcasts, or just click on this link to listen now on APPLE or here to listen on Spotify or here to listen on Anchor.
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