Charlie Cina: How to Master the Highest Paying Profession in the World

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

This is Chris Albert, and I'm here to remind you of one thing. Someday, you're going to die. Now that's not some morbid statement or scary idea. It's solid fact. Your time here on this earth is limited.

And we need to be reminded of this as much as possible for one simple reason, to live your best life while you can. This is the Warrior Soul Podcast.

Chris Albert 00:00:39 (link to this point)

I'm gonna start today by telling you that regardless of what profession you're in, what you do for a living, where you are in life, whether you're still in the military or whether you've gotten out, that the subject matter that we're going to cover in today's interview will help you regardless of the factors I mentioned earlier. Today, we're going to be talking to mister Charlie Cina. And what he would tell you is that all of us, every single one of us is in the distribution business. And that to find success, we're all going to have to do certain things that include telling people who we are, what we do, what problems we can help them solve, or how we can make their lives better. And it all starts with that simple form of communication, walking up to somebody, looking them in the eye, shaking their hand and saying, hi, my name's Chris.

What's your name? And the reason I'm saying this is because in today's society, we've gotten so wrapped up in technology, that we're starting to look at it as a necessity for communication. Right? And and in some ways, it is extremely helpful. You know, without social media, you probably wouldn't know what the Warrior Soul podcast is.

Without being on social media, you probably wouldn't know a lot of things. But at the same time, the old school methods of communication are still extremely important. And I'll tell you, as the host of this podcast, trying to get guests trying to to get quality guests onto the show, it's not a matter of begging or pleading them. It's a matter of telling them who I am, what I do, and showing them how getting exposure to our community of veterans could help them and help their mission. Far too many people cringe when they think about the word sales. Nobody wants to be sold.

But here's the thing. What Charlie Cina has to offer you today isn't just skills for for increasing your state of being as a salesperson. What he's gonna talk to you about today in this interview is gonna help you with every single area of your life, in your relationships, in your profession, in your business, and in your communications with other human beings. I did a podcast last week about the recent tragedies, the two shootings that occurred in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. And one of the things I talked about there was the idea that if we continue to tear down the moral fabric of society, we can expect chaos to continue to ensue. And one of the things that I think is going to be vital for all of us getting back on the right track is in developing better skills of communicating with each other, getting to know each other, getting to know how we can help each other.

And these are the skills that Charlie Cina is offering. And if you do decide to apply these to business or sales, you're also going to be extremely successful. So what I want you to do, I want you to pull out a pen. I want you to pull out a piece of paper. I want you to turn off the distractions, and I want you to listen to this interview and what Charlie has to say because you're gonna get a whole lot out of this.

And then once you're done with that, over in the show notes, we've got a bunch of resources for you for this episode. We've got some of the main points you want to take away from this, and we've also got links to Charlie's book, Expose and Close. Recently came out, and it's one of the easiest to read and most digestible books on business or sales that I've read ever. Just fantastic elements. Charlie's got a great way of putting things so that people can understand them easily.

He's not wrapping them up in a bunch of technical jargon. It's just really, really simple stuff, but it is so valuable. And then beyond that, he's also just released a course. It's also called expose and close. And that course normally goes for a thousand dollars, but he's giving a massive discount for our audience.

It's only going for $295, and and that is a steal. I bought the course. I'm in it. There's some fantastic information in there. So there'll be links for that on the show notes for all you as well.

Now just before we get into this interview, and I promise I won't hold you up much longer. For those of you who are new to this show, my name is Chris Albert, and this is the Warrior Soul podcast. As I say during this interview, we empower US military veterans and anybody else that's willing to listen to live their best lives by delivering tools, tactics, strategies, and ideas to you every single week. We don't ask for anything in return for this show. All we ask is that you let people know.

Let other veterans know about the show or anybody else you think could use this information. The way you do that is either by sharing this episode out or I'm about to say OR, but do both of these. Share this episode out and head over to our iTunes and write us a five star rating and review. Really helps to spread word about the show, and it helps me to get amazing guests like Charlie Cina. We've been growing massively.

Our downloads are increasing every single week, and I want to get this out to as many veterans and as many people who are willing to listen as possible. Beyond that, if you want to support the show, you can always head over to our shop at warriorsoul.shop. That's www.warriorsoul.shop and get yourself a t shirt there. And like I said, it helps us to pay the bills around here, and that gear is honestly awesome. We make high quality t shirts.

They are made and printed by US Marine Corps veterans, and they're just great shirts. There's a lot of artistry that goes into them, a lot of humor, and there's a lot of those shirts that are conversation starters. My favorite one is the Born in a Bar 1775 shirt, the Tun Tavern shirt. It's probably my favorite skivvy shirt of all time. So definitely go over there and check that out.

Additionally, this show would not be possible without the good people over at F Bomb Nutrition. They are revolutionizing the high fat, low carb nutrition world. They make delicious packages of macadamia nut butters. They mix them up with chocolate, with sea salt, with pecan butter. There's no sugar in them, and they're absolutely delicious.

They're also sending boxes of this stuff out to the troops on the front line, and they've got some new snack new snacks out there, like their cheese crisps, and they've got some some pork sticks. Really great company run by amazing people. And if you want 20% off of your first order of f bombs, head over to www.dropanfbomb.com. Use the code Warrior Soul at checkout, and you'll get 20% off your first order. Now on to this interview with mister Charlie Cina, the author of Expose and Close.

Charlie Cina, welcome to the show, man.

Charlie Cina 00:09:23 (link to this point)

What's happening, man? Thanks for having me, Chris.

Chris Albert 00:09:25 (link to this point)

No problem at all. And it's my pleasure to have you on here. I I just got through your book, Expose and Close. And I have to say, it was a great read. Read it from cover to cover.

And, you know, I want to start with this. What do you mean by expose and close?

Charlie Cina 00:09:45 (link to this point)

Well, what what I mean by that is, how do you promote, market, sell advertising and essentially shout from the rooftops who you are and what you do on a daily basis? So short story, I'm not a big social media guy, I'm getting better, I'm doing more, right? But I'm quote old school with all these millennials, I'm generation X and I'm more of a real social media guy, shake hands, follow-up, follow through, send a note type guy, but social media is 1000% where it's at. But that being said, I had a guy that saw me on a Facebook live, and he just showed up at my office. I have a chapter in my book that's called The Show Up.

It's just, I show up with my power pitch, dressed up, ready to go, and clearly articulate who I am and what I do and how I can help people. Well, this young gentleman pulled that move, that strategy on me, and he just showed up, knocked on my door, and the receptionist says, Charlie, there's somebody here who wants to meet you. So I go out into the conference room, I shake the guy's hand, he's a nice guy, and I don't want to say, I don't want anyone to take this out of context, but I made the mistake of handing him my business card with my personal cell number. And I say that with love and affection because before you know it, like he's calling me at five or 06:00 at night and because I just respected this young man's tenacity for business and really wanting to learn, I found myself excusing myself from the dinner table with my family, and I ended up mentoring this guy and my wife's going, where are you going? Like, But I really got into kind of like mentoring him and helping him, and then one day on one of our many calls, he said to me, well, I've been talking to you a lot, what's the secret?

And I said, what's the secret to what? He goes, how did you acquire clients like Les Brown and Jon Taffer and Tony Robbins and all these high level players? And I said, well, man, I just expose and close. And he goes, oh, so you have an expose and close marketing system? And I said, Yes, I do.

And a couple months prior to that, I lost a dear friend, a dear friend of mine passed away, you know, what I consider a young age of 66. And I started writing a book. I didn't know what it was called, they just started to put my thoughts down. So that's how Expose and Close was born, and to answer your question, that's what I mean by Expose and Close. How do you market, sell, promote, and shout from the rooftops, you know, who you are, what you do, what you represent, and and how you can help people solve their problems?

Chris Albert 00:12:45 (link to this point)

That's amazing. And and I have to say it it was such a great read. And what you just said kind of brings up something that that I heard about recently. And there was a young lady out there, she she has 2,500,000 Instagram followers. She went out and she tried to start a clothing line.

And in order to start this clothing line, she had to sell a minimum of 36 T shirts. And when she did that, she didn't out of 2,500,000 followers on Instagram, she couldn't sell the minimal 36 T shirts to get this brand off the ground. And you guys could look this up out there. It's definitely a true story. It seems like people are you mentioned that social media is powerful, but it seems like people are trying to take the easy route these days.

Just trying to build the following and and not really trying to do the groundwork that they need to do in order to actually sell. Right?

Charlie Cina 00:13:46 (link to this point)

Well, here's, this is just what Charlie Cina believes, right? I believe you have to be high-tech, but also be high touch. So I truly believe that our strengths become our weaknesses and our weaknesses become our strengths. So technology is awesome. It allows you to leverage.

It allowed her to connect with 2,500,000 people, but in my opinion, that connection is superficial, right? So that's a high-tech connection, but you still have to be high touch, you have to shake a hand, you have to in some way, shape or form have some type of intimate connection, taking people to lunch, sending people a note thanking them. You meet my kids, I won't, since they were babies, I mean, like we moved out to Vegas from Buffalo, New York, I didn't have a big extended family here, my wife and I raised our kids. When the kids were older, call them babysitter, if not, my father-in-law maybe babysat them, but I say all that to say, we traveled with them, we'd get in an elevator. I'd tell my son from when he was old enough to comprehend, know, honey, look at that man in the eye and say hello.

Basic stuff, right? So tell him your name, ask him his name. And my kids started at a very early age to understand the power of human connection. Now, I didn't understand as a parent, I would be teaching that or be on a podcast explaining that concept. I was just parenting.

I was just doing and implementing and living my life from how I was brought up and taught, but I knew it was powerful. So my kids, as they are now 15, my daughter's 15 and my son's soon to be 18 here, they know that the power of a handshake or a true social interaction will leave an impression on somebody where that other individual wants to be their friend and or wants to help them. I'll give you one example, let me go on to the next question. We'd be on vacation, right now they're older, five, six, seven. We'd be at an amusement park or on a cruise or wherever, and I say, you guys want ice cream.

Yeah, and I take out a $10 bill, and I tell my son, who at the time was maybe six, my daughter's four, go and get the ice cream, one scoop. They walked to the counter, and I taught them, asked the man or lady her name, and if they don't, right, my son was getting old enough to read, I said, look at their name tag, honey. So he'd go ask them their name. Long story short, they'd come back with the ice cream, two scoops. I said, I told you one scoop.

And he'd say, Well, daddy, Chris at the ice cream counter, right, was so nice to me, and he said I was a polite young man, he offered me two scoops, dad, I didn't buy two scoops, and he'd go into his pocket and take out the $10 bill and he handed it back to me. I told him, wait, honey, you didn't pay him. So now I'd run back to the counter and go, Chris, I'm Charlie, I'm Carmen and Sofia's dad, we didn't pay for the ice cream. He goes, Oh no, your kids are absolutely exceptional, respectful, people, you know, congratulations to you, I'm sure they're gonna grow up to be incredible young adults. So that's the power of human connection.

It's basic, it's simplistic. I just think because we've become so high-tech, because people are on these video games, these young people are on video games or social media, or the mind just becomes enclosed. And I think, not to be harsh, think that we're developing a lot of social inept young people that don't know how to shake a hand, how to say hello, or don't know how to personally interact.

Chris Albert 00:18:18 (link to this point)

Well, the thing is, you know, and and we're talking about business here, but what you're saying there translates to so many different things. You know, this past week, sadly, we've had two mass shootings occurring in the same week here in The United States. And I put a post up last week, you know, in talking about how the politicians are gonna bicker back and forth, people are gonna point fingers. But the reality is that the onus is on all of us. It's on all of us because we've basically torn down a little bit of that moral fabric in society where we actually interact with each other, where we know our neighbors, where we we talk to people, where we can develop communication and actually instill those skills and values into our children.

Charlie Cina 00:19:06 (link to this point)

Yeah, no question. You've heard the phrase, don't take it personal, it's just what?

Chris Albert 00:19:16 (link to this point)

Business.

Charlie Cina 00:19:17 (link to this point)

You know, I call BS on that. Business is personal, and that's in my book, right? Whoever says business isn't personal is full of it. It's personal, that's what I do, it's my craft, it's how I feed my family, it's how I serve my community, right? So everything that's happening, one of my mentors told me, his name was Jerry Epstein, I was a young guy, probably 23, 24 years old, and he was mentoring me, great consultant, dealt with a lot of large companies, a lot of high level players, but he called me Cina Man.

And this is also in the book. The guy resonated with me, he said, Cina Man, you need to understand one thing, your personal goals equal your business goals and your business goals equal your personal goals. And if they don't jive, right, you'll never be successful. And he was referring this conversation when he was teaching me this, I was in a relationship with a great gal at the time, weren't jiving. And I think to your point, we're not being brought up with the right intentions or right goals.

God's on our currency and God we trust, but yet we can't say certain things as it pertains to our faith, right? We're chastised for it. So even your audience, the military, now I never served, I'm not proud that I've never served, I think I just grew up in that little pocket you know, between the 70s and the 80s, right, where fortunately for me, there wasn't any major things, and by the time Desert Storm came, I was an adult, but I personally believe, and if I had to go back and do it again, everybody should have to serve their country. And I'm not saying it because I'm on the show, if I called my wife right now, she'll tell you, if I'm out and I see someone from the military, in back of me or in front of me, I'm going to do whatever I can to recognize them, thank them for their service, buy their coffee, buy their lunch, I've been at airport, like, I just don't think people really take a look at the moral fabric of how this country was initially built, right? What was the intention, right?

The pursuit of happiness, Well, how do you get to happiness? It's through freedom. What's freedom? Freedom isn't free, there's sacrifices that you need to make. And I say all that, and I hope I'm not digressing, I say all that because business is personal, your business goals equal your personal goals, your personal goals equal your business goals.

Why we complicate it, why we drift, I don't know, and not to get biblical, I don't care what religion that you are, I'm just using this as an example. The 10 Commandments, whether you're Catholic or Protestant, Jew, Christian, or whatever, each religion has something along the lines of those 10 commandments, and if we would follow them in business, if we would follow them in our personal lives, man, the world would just be such a better place.

Chris Albert 00:23:02 (link to this point)

Well, you brought a great example into your book, and I think in a couple of your speaking engagements where you were at a conference, and there was a long line and you decided to go grab a coffee at Starbucks. You sit down, you pull out your laptop, you see a guy next to you, and you introduce yourself to him and you say, Hi, I'm Charlie, what's your name? And that exchange brought you a bunch of business, right?

Charlie Cina 00:23:27 (link to this point)

Right, so if I could bring anything to your audience, and I might start to get a little passionate now because I love what I do and I love helping people with what I think are simple networking and sales techniques, but for some reason doing it complex. So what I want to bring to your audience right now is a multi million dollar move potentially, right? And it's a million dollar question that's simple to deliver. Hi, my name's Charlie, what's your name? Hi, my name's Chris, Joe, Frank, Mary, Susie.

There's organic opportunities that are right in front of you each and every single day, right? People that are within eyesight, right, on a daily basis, you're on a plane, you're on a train, you're at a coffee shop, you're at a dry cleaner, you're at your kid's baseball game, those individuals have a couple things that you need, right? They have money and or they have contacts that potentially need your product or service. And it's your moral and fiduciary responsibility to yourself and your family, again, to expose and close. So I'm at a conference, Grant Cardone, you know Grant Cardone, the sales trainer?

Chris Albert 00:24:53 (link to this point)

Yes, sir.

Charlie Cina 00:24:54 (link to this point)

Grant is on the LightSpeed VT platform, I represent LightSpeed VT for the past seven years and have helped speakers, trainers and subject matter experts create these online programs where they make money worldwide, and they help people in the process. That being said, it was a big line to get in. I didn't want to wait in line. I went and got a Starbucks.

I grabbed my laptop, I sat down, A gentleman sits down next to me with his maybe 12, 14 old baby boy and his wife, and I could have, just ignored him, right? Mind my business and returned my emails. But I didn't. The guy sat down, I turned around, I smiled, I said, Hi, my name is Charlie, what's your name? To which he replied, My name's Lester.

Lester, nice to meet you. I said, Lester, what do you do? He said, Well, I'm a speaker and a trainer. Well, guess what, call me lucky, ladies and gentlemen that are listening to this, right? Was I lucky or did I just happen to ask someone a simple question, what's your name?

And that good fortune of me being nice and exposing my brand came back to me. I said, wow, that's awesome, Lester. He said, what do you do? I said, well, I empower speakers, trainers and subject matter experts to monetize their content online worldwide, guaranteed in three easy steps. And once I said three easy steps, what do you think he said back to me?

Chris Albert 00:26:29 (link to this point)

Probably said, well, how can I do that?

Charlie Cina 00:26:32 (link to this point)

Yeah, what are the three how can I do that? What are the three easy steps? I said, well, I'm gonna teach you how to do three things, Lester. I'm gonna teach you how to present yourself in a way that's unforgettable at the first point of contact. I'm gonna teach you how to position yourself where you become the only logical choice so you can dominate your space.

And then I'm going to teach you how to profit by acquiring high level clients and teach you how to nurture those clients and take care of them, so you build revenue relationships for life. He said, I want, Charlie, what you have. I flipped open my laptop, right, thousands of people. Well, I don't know if you've ever been to Mandalay Bay, but like I'm in the main thoroughfare, I open up my laptop, I start giving him a demo of the LightSpeed VT platform, and literally in less than thirty minutes, he hands me his credit card and says, let's go. Then I took out my phone, and these are things that I teach to people, and I said, Lester, would you mind if I took out my phone and just recorded you, and got a little testimony from you of what you and I just experienced here over the past thirty minutes.

If you go to my website, charliecina.com, Lester's testimonial is on there. He literally, verbatim, gave me a testimonial of the process that I took him through, and said things about me and the experience that he had, like we had been friends for thirty years. But his testimony was, Charlie's an amazing gentleman, just took out his phone, or just sat down next to me, said, what's your name? And within a matter of seconds, we connected. So I share that story with everybody, it's not about me, I just can only explain my experiences and what hurts through my history, right?

But every single person that's going to listen to this podcast, it's a one in four hundred trillion shot that you're put on this planet. And I know that's, I can't get my head around that statistic. A one in four hundred trillion shot, right? You are a brand called you. You make a difference.

Every single person in this particular case, right, that happens to be on this call made a sacrifice that most people in our country didn't make, right? They've given their lives, their time, put their lives on the line for country. The same token, if you're sitting next to somebody, that connection of just the hello, that connection of making someone feel significant, that connection of being able to articulately clarify who you are and what problem you can help somebody solve is huge. Notice I said who you are and what problem you can help somebody solve. Not what do you do.

See, when people ask you what you do, if I was to ask you, Chris, what do you do? What's your response?

Chris Albert 00:30:00 (link to this point)

I empower US military veterans to live their best lives by giving them tactical strategies to to implement to help them become stronger, smarter, and better.

Charlie Cina 00:30:10 (link to this point)

Beautiful. That's ridiculous.

Chris Albert 00:30:12 (link to this point)

Yeah. That's a huge thing. And I wanted to mention that because if you had just gone to to Lester and had just said, oh, I sell online education platforms, that could have ended the conversation right there. But by by going into, you know, who you were and how you could benefit him, that continues the conversation. Right?

Charlie Cina 00:30:33 (link to this point)

Right. Here's here's here's the hook. How do you pre frame or there's a gentleman out there named Robert Cialdini. I just saw him

Chris Albert 00:30:44 (link to this point)

Influence.

Charlie Cina 00:30:44 (link to this point)

Yep. Conference I attended. He called he calls it the word persuasion. So how with words here's what I believe. I believe words trigger pictures that trigger emotions that lead to action steps.

Words trigger pictures, which trigger emotions, which lead to action steps. And when you can articulately, in thirty seconds or less, articulate who you are, what you do, but more importantly, what problem you can help people solve, is huge. And if you can't do that, to your point, if you just say, well, I sell software, people will dismiss you. If you just say, I sell insurance, I have insurance. Nice to meet you, Chris, I've dismissed you.

And again, not being curt, right? But it's the subconscious, everyone's busy, everyone's waking up with their own mission or things to check off the list on a daily basis, right? So how do you present position profit? How do you present yourself in a way that's unforgettable at the first point of contact? How do you position yourself both online and offline?

So whether I meet you on a podcast, on a plane or a train, I'm talking to you one on one, one on 500, one on 5,000, you will never catch Charlie Cina off guard to articulate, articulate, how he can help you, right? If I know you're a business owner, my presentation might switch a little bit. I might say something to the effect of, I empower business owners, sales professionals and entrepreneurs to shorten their sales cycle while acquiring high level clientele guaranteed in three easy steps. My three easy steps are the same, Right? So what I teach people how to do is how do you at the first point of contact get attention?

Because once you have somebody's attention and you can articulately state how you can help them solve a problem. And in most cases, this is real important for everyone that's listening, in most cases, you have to tie that to revenue. You have to tie it to money. And I don't say that from a greed standpoint, it's just a reality, right? Money makes the world go round.

So if I can help you as a business owner, sales professional or entrepreneur, make more money with the product or service that I represent, I'm gonna get your attention. Are you still with me, Chris?

Chris Albert 00:33:34 (link to this point)

Yes, sir. We're freezing up just a little bit on the line, but you can't do this.

Charlie Cina 00:33:39 (link to this point)

So I'm gonna get your attention. If you can help me save money, right? If your product or service will allow me to save money and better my lifestyle in the process, then that's how you have to articulately craft what I'll call your marketing message, your power pitch or your message to market. So that's what I go in and I help businesses do, and or individuals do. You go to people's websites, you even look at billboards, it's amazing to me that these big companies spend all the money, but they don't properly articulate their message.

So that being said, when you can do that, when you can, in thirty seconds or less, get people's attention, build rapport, gain credibility, and then create a call to action to where they want what you have, and they say, well, how do I learn more? That's huge. And I believe in the whole adage, you've heard the expression in selling, where sales, you had me at

Chris Albert 00:34:48 (link to this point)

Hello?

Charlie Cina 00:34:49 (link to this point)

Hello, right? Yeah, you had me at hello, right? Relationships, people that are married for years, you'll hear them say, oh my gosh, when Joe said hello to me, or when I first saw Susie, right, you had me at hello. So I believe 80% of sales are done at hello, and in that thirty to even sixty seconds, if you do your job correctly, you'll dismiss competition in the mind of that prospect that you're talking to, that you just introduced yourself to, and price will become irrelevant to a certain point, right? Or they'll just want to do business with you because they like you, they trust you and you've approached them with truth, authenticity and proof.

Chris Albert 00:35:44 (link to this point)

Definitely, and you know, one thing I could say is that, this is noticeable about you, in absolutely everything you do, you know, from your LinkedIn profile, your statement is up there for your headline, You go to your website, that's very clear. I run into so many people on LinkedIn, and they just put up their title on their LinkedIn profile, and that's a huge opportunity missed right there.

Charlie Cina 00:36:11 (link to this point)

Yeah. Like when I go in and speak, I went in and just spoke at a chiropractic conference a couple months ago, and I usually go in a day early, and I won't wear my lanyard, I'll just get on the elevator, no one knows that I'm speaking or part of the conference, and I'll just say to him, hey, what are you here for? Well, we're here for a conference, or we're here for a chiropractic conference. Oh, great, that's awesome. Well, what do you do?

Well, I'm a chiropractor. Okay, what do you do? Well, I'm a DC. Do you know what a DC is?

Chris Albert 00:36:46 (link to this point)

No.

Charlie Cina 00:36:48 (link to this point)

It's a doctor of chiropractic.

Chris Albert 00:36:49 (link to this point)

Oh, doctor of chiropractic. Had no idea what that was.

Charlie Cina 00:36:52 (link to this point)

No. I didn't mean it, right? It's vague. When you tell people that you go, oh, yeah, that makes sense. But I don't know.

Like, so if people don't know, they'll dismiss it. Or if you say I'm a chiropractor, people might have an experience where they had a bad chiropractor. How many stories have you heard, oh, I went to a chiropractor and the guy screwed me up, or it was terrible, right? So you can't pigeonhole yourself by just utilizing the title on your card. So when I went in and trained this group on was you're not a chiropractor, and I helped them articulate their marketing message to the point of, I help people, or I empower people to increase flexibility, reduce inflammation and pain through a drug free organic process guaranteed in three easy steps, or something of that nature, right? It's a differentiator and it's a hook. Well, what are the three easy steps? Well, help you, and again, I'm just throwing nuggets here, right?

I help you analyze, assess and achieve better health, right? I'm going to give you a fifteen minute consultation where we're going to analyze your history. What are you doing for your mobility? What type of drugs are you currently taking? What's your diet, Right?

Then I'm going to assess a new program for you, or you understand, but like you're giving people a step by step program to where they can connect the dots. People want to have the dots connected for them, so that they can progress by inches and look for that quantum leap.

Chris Albert 00:38:40 (link to this point)

That's amazing. And and guys out there listening to this, go back and listen to that again, because there's so much value in everything that Charlie just said there. I mean, that could mean the difference of millions of dollars for you throughout your career. Absolutely so much value there. One thing I wanna bring up here is is a little bit of your background, because I think it's interesting.

You you grew up with a father who was an entrepreneur. Right?

Charlie Cina 00:39:09 (link to this point)

Yep.

Chris Albert 00:39:10 (link to this point)

And and and he imparted a lot of this to you, or or did you have to learn this on your own?

Charlie Cina 00:39:16 (link to this point)

Well, it was both. I learned I learned the art of personal connection from my dad. My dad was a consummate entrepreneur from the standpoint of he knew how to shake a hand, he knew how to dress, he knew the importance of calling people by name. Now, my dad, you know, I didn't grow up where my dad sat me down, you know what I'm saying, and said, do this, this, I watched him, or again, he gave me the basics, you know, shake that man's hand, look him in the eye, you you say please, you say thank you. So, you know, again, I grew up in an Italian household.

You came in my house, right? It didn't matter whether you were male or female, if you were a close friend of the family, or you were an aunt or uncle, gender didn't matter. You hugged everybody, you gave everybody a kiss on the cheek. Because if you didn't, there was hell to pay, right? Now I know some people aren't grown up with that same capacity.

I know fathers and sons that don't hug. That's crazy to me, but that's just how I was brought up. So those are just things that I was taught in the home that I put into my business life. A lot of people say that you shouldn't make your clients your friends. I want to make all my clients my friends, right?

Business is business, but again, it's personal. You're right. My clients know that we build a friendship. I'm always going to have their back long term. And if there is something that comes up, that's not right, chances are they're just not going to break up a friendship, right?

They're going to call me and say, Charlie, this isn't right or that isn't right, and give me the opportunity to make it right. So all that being said, my dad wasn't like he put me through a rigorous school, I just observed and he just parented me and I watched what he did. Now, I watched all the things he did right, and then I watched him lose his fortune and all the success as well. He had a ninth grade education, he built up an incredible business, but a couple of bad moves and it came tumbling down, and we went from having the biggest house on the street, and fancy cars, and vacations, and pools in the backyard, to him and my mom getting divorced, which at an age of 12, 13 years old, from having all the finer things and not ever seeing my family worry about money, now my mom and dad are divorced and the money's not coming in, and now I had this fear inside of me at an early age that, you know, will I have the ability to make money? Will I have the ability to provide for myself?

Will I have the ability to raise a family? Will I be able to afford school? Will I be able to go on a vacation? Like whatever. So at an early age, these fears were kind of embedded in me because it was like the rug got pulled out from underneath me, and not only did we not have money coming in, my family unit got disrupted, which I talk about in the book, I think divorce is second to death.

Death is permanent, but you grieve, right? And you remember that person or that loved one that was significant in your life, and you cherish the memory, but the divorce is, never ends, man. There's always the animosity, there's always the discomfort. I just went home, right? And there's a way, who's not going to come to the wedding?

I mean, it's just, and I'm saying all that and sharing all that because we're not different, right? We as people all have the same dreams, wants, needs and desires. We all have the same needs, wants, dreams and desires as individuals, for our wives, for our families, for our kids. And when you learn these basic skills, again, call it when you learn the basic skills of how to expose and close or how to build really relationships, money should never really be a concern. Now, don't take that in a literal sense.

Money is always a concern. And in my definition of success, is when you can live the lifestyle that you want to live and never have to worry about money, what it costs, right? So I make an incredibly good living, but I still wake up in the morning, right? Wanting the next deal, wanting to build the next relationship. Now, when you can get to the point to where you're doing it because it's what you love to do, that certainly takes pressure off.

And I'm having this conversation obviously trying to relate to your audience. There's probably people out there listening that are starting a business, or are thinking about getting in to sales, or need to go out and just get a job, right? Which you should not have a problem getting a job in this marketplace. But do you want a job or would you like to get into a sales position where you could become a pseudo partner of that company? See, I believe salespeople are pseudo partners of whatever company and or product or service that they represent, if it's an independent contractor relationship.

You get to go out and sell a book, a phone, coffee cups, water, whatever it is, and utilize that vehicle, that product or service to generate revenue, and you get a piece of everything that you distribute. So the reason I wrote this book is because A, I don't like sales, I love sales. If I could just sit at my desk every single day and someone can hand me a qualified prospect and say, Charlie, Chris Albert makes X amount of dollars, he has a podcast, he's a successful, right, column, man, that's beautiful, but that's not realistic in the game of business, right? Not that utopia, could you get to that point? Yeah, but I don't think anyone's ever to that point, you're always striving, you're always looking to take it to the next level.

But sales and selling to anyone that's listening to this podcast, if you're thinking about it, take the leap, do it, become a disciple of sales, learn, get mentors and learn the basics. This, my book is all about the basics. It's about the fundamentals. You have to learn the fundamentals in order to become a master at whatever you do. Michael Jordan just didn't become Michael Jordan, he took a lot of foul shots or he threw a lot of foul shots up, did a lot of layups, shot a lot of three pointers and mastered his craft.

Chris Albert 00:46:50 (link to this point)

Absolutely. And, you know, I think there's this this kind of fear that a lot of people have about getting into sales positions where they're gonna be working on commission and and their their salary is not set and and everything like that. And, you know, what would you say to somebody, some of the young veterans who out there who are trying to figure out what they're going to do as far as the difference between, you know, living off of commissions versus making a set salary?

Charlie Cina 00:47:19 (link to this point)

First of all, and I mean this from the heart, I'm not just saying it because it's your audience, anybody that's a veteran, to me, there's no bigger fear of commitment than doing what all of you have done. That's number one. So to me, we all fear different things, but I'm here to tell you, you've already made the biggest commitment and you've overcome that fear and you've served your country. Now, some of, when you talk to some of these veterans, whether it's Marines, Navy, or Rev, they're like, oh, a problem, right? Everybody has their own strengths and their weaknesses.

But that being said, to me, everyone knows that fear is just a false expectation appearing real. I had this conversation with my father-in-law the other night, I'm going answer the question. You can either get a job that's going to make you a living. What's the definition of making a living? Paying your mortgage, feeding your family, making your car payment, having your health insurance and getting your basic necessities to live the lifestyle that you want to live.

Making money is when you can pay all of your expenses and then you have something left over, preferably to invest and leverage, or take a vacation, or buy your wife something that she's always wanted, or pay for your kid's college or whatever the case is. I don't know too many professions that you could essentially go into with a pen, a phone, and make a 6 figure income if you're in the right vehicle and you have the right mindset other than selling. So if you, again, mentored all of these people on this phone call, right, or on this podcast, had to go through a basic training, right? Then they went through advanced training, then they went through on the job training, and I know they go through drills and right, whatever. Sales is no different, it's practice it.

The reason I did this, and maybe I should, I'm just being transparent, sometimes I think that I should have changed the title. I liked the title because it was catchy and people go, Oh no, I love it. But this is about giving you the basic fundamentals of going into sales, because what frustrates me, there's a lot of sales trainers out there that'll talk about this close or the alternate close or high level close or hard closer. Listen, those things are necessary. I know how to do them and I can certainly teach them.

But until you know how to dribble the ball, and until you know how to shoot from the foul line, it's gonna be very difficult to get on a team and run a play. Are you with me?

Chris Albert 00:50:43 (link to this point)

Absolutely.

Charlie Cina 00:50:45 (link to this point)

That's what I wanna do. Hi, what's your name? Charlie, what do you do? I empower speakers, trainers, subject matter experts, I monetize their content online. I empower veterans that are looking to get into sales or start their own business that I give them the tips, strategies and techniques to monetize their products and services online or offline guaranteed in three easy steps.

Or really how do you do that? Present position profit, right? And I go through my pitch. If they say great, super Chris, when would you like to set up a call? Or when could I come to your office and show you the three steps how I can help you generate more revenue?

Now you're setting the appointment, right? So the power pitch gets you to peak people's interest for them to say, I want what you have. Now you're taking them through the next step, which is the appointment. Is it an online demo? Are you going to their house to give them a bid?

Are you inviting them into your insurance agency to give them a thirty minute free analysis to make sure that they have the best coverage? Right? Not the best price, the best coverage that properly would help them and their families in the case of an accident or a disaster. Now, are you going to close them after that appointment? Probably, maybe, maybe not.

But then how do you follow-up, follow through? And then what I'm trying to teach people is here's a move, here's a tactic, here's a way to follow-up, right? Here's a word track. So that's the thing, how do you teach people the basics once they have the basics and they get the win? See, that's where a lot of companies don't, they don't teach, they really don't teach people how to get the win.

I represent a lot of direct sales companies that I help create online training platforms so they can better train and onboard their distributors. I say to them, what's your two seven thirty plan? And they're like, what do you mean? What do you teach your people as soon as they commit to be part of your opportunity? What do you teach them?

The first two days, right? How do you get them a win in their first seven days? What's a win? An appointment, a sale, recruiting somebody into your business, getting somebody to a meeting, getting somebody to take a free trial of your product, that's a win, right? That releases dopamine in your brain to go, oh man, this works. And they're going, You just give them the small win, you progress by inches and look for the quantum leap. Then how do you work in thirty days, right? You get them a bunch of little wins to where they actually have a paycheck to where they go, man, this could work, right? If I would have went to work for $20 an hour times forty hours, that's 800. I just closed $5,000 worth of business, and instead of making 800, I need a grand, right? Or instead of making 3,600 in a month, I made $4 or I made $6, it works. So anyway, I started to, you can hear my tone change, I started to get a little bit of passionate.

Chris Albert 00:54:13 (link to this point)

Getting fired up.

Charlie Cina 00:54:16 (link to this point)

Yeah, but it does, man, it just, it unnerves me that business owners, companies, and again, I don't think necessarily it's by intention, right? Everyone's out there and your audience will appreciate this. Everyone's out there with a tactical approach, right? You're a military guy, we could probably have a conversation and you can educate me on this even deeper. There's a difference between tactic and strategy.

Chris Albert 00:54:45 (link to this point)

Right.

Charlie Cina 00:54:46 (link to this point)

Right? Tactics are what's in front of you, how are you gonna put the fire out? But if there's a strategy, if there's a system, the art of the introduction, right? Hi, my name is, here's my power presentation, my marketing message, here's the problem I help people solve. Now it's a reversal, you're creating that intrigue, right?

You spit that out, you become a craftsman of words, right, or a craftswoman of words, you differentiate yourself. You get people's attention and now you're taking them through the process. And then how do you follow-up? How do you follow through? So what I explained in my book that you read, you've seen the Cake Boss, the show Cake Boss?

Chris Albert 00:55:36 (link to this point)

Yep, yep.

Charlie Cina 00:55:37 (link to this point)

I closed the Cake Boss off of a cold call.

Chris Albert 00:55:46 (link to this point)

Yeah. You and this was a really and I just wanna say this from the reader's perspective, because the way you did that, you you learned what the base phone number was, then you played with the last digit on the number until you came up with the right number to find the guy.

Charlie Cina 00:56:03 (link to this point)

I have just a minute to tell that story, that there's clarity with that?

Chris Albert 00:56:07 (link to this point)

Yeah, go ahead, go ahead.

Charlie Cina 00:56:09 (link to this point)

Yeah, so what Chris is referring to, I tell my story of how I cold called the cake boss. I tried calling his bakery, I tried calling his corporate office, I tried calling, I think he was with William Morris Agency, I tried calling some people, I believe, but William Morris to try to get ahold of his manager, couldn't get ahold of him. So one day I'm sitting at my desk frustrated, right? Frustration is just passion for you wanting to attain your goal, right? And I noticed that the number ended in 2,000, don't quote me, but it was like 2000. So I hung up and I said, well, what if happened if I dialed 2001? And I dialed 2001 and they said, Carlo's Bakery Shipping. And then I dialed 2002, and they said, Carlo's Bakery Wedding Cake Design. 2003 Accounting. 2004, the guy picked up and said, Hi, this is John, Internet Services.

I said, John, my name is Charlie Cina. Maybe you can help me. That is a line, right, or a move, and one of sincerity. I needed his help. So when you say to somebody, I need your help, that's powerful.

He said, Sure, how can I help? I said, Well, I empower speakers, trainers, and reality show celebrities to monetize their content online worldwide. I'm working with people like Tony Robbins, Les Brown and numerous others. And I'm trying to connect with Buddy for him to create an online university where he could teach people how to make cakes and pastries worldwide. He's like, wow, that really sounds cool.

Got him on a demo. Long story short, two weeks later, on a plane to Hoboken, New Jersey, signed a deal and we're recording his university and creating his university, right, creating the content for his university. So it was a cold call. Now my friend, Don Hudson, my friend and client Don Hudson, who's also a sales trainer said, Charlie, you shouldn't call it a cold call, man, it a new call, right? And anybody that says cold calling is dead, check their pulse and run away from them, because it's not dead.

It might not be the best tactical tool to use at the time that you're in battle, right? You have to decide. But think about where I was at. I emailed, I called, I sent notes, I did everything. And then I got creative with a phone number and went in with my Power Pitch, and instead of making a phone call, I went and made a new call, and I wasn't trying to sell him anything.

I was trying to present him with an opportunity where he can take his content, leverage it and monetize it online worldwide. Do see the difference?

Chris Albert 00:59:27 (link to this point)

Yep. And I wanna say that that is one of many, many tactical examples in this book. You know, ranging there was another case where you made a sale at a conference, which you did not have an invitation to and and and and closed business there. There are so many things in this book, and the book is easy to read. The chapters are very short and punchy. You immediately get something from it.

And I think everybody out there should definitely read this. But what wanted to bring up before before we had to jump off is that you also just literally just launched and hit the launch button on an online training where you're actually teaching people these concepts, right?

Charlie Cina 01:00:14 (link to this point)

Yeah. So again, I've been doing this for seven years for the top speakers and trainers and then when I wrote the book, I wrote the book with the intention, for lack of a term, of getting high on my own supply. So now I've launched my own online virtual training platform. It's exposeandclose.com, just like it sounds, exposeandclose.com. I'm officially launching it right here.

I had a landing page up for a couple months, it wasn't live, but I just flipped the switch yesterday, it's now live and it's a $997 program, Chris, but what I'm going to do for the launch, and obviously a great opportunity to connect here and serve your audience, it's a $297 program where I'm gonna go over all my tips, strategies and techniques and I even put a bonus course in there called Dress to Impress because I believe that packaging is everything. I believe that when you dress up and you're dressed for your audience, that it makes a difference in how you represent yourself, your brand and people that are being introduced to you, that are viewing you, it actually elevates your game. So I go through a course, it's called Dress to Impress that I've also included on there, that tells people how they can take a black suit, one black suit, and literally turn that into potentially ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen different outfits, whether you're going to a formal affair, business, business casual, you know, you're going to head out to a construction site, you know, I literally when I was in construction, on who I was going to meet with, would dress accordingly.

I knew if I was going to meet a lot of high level executives, I'd go there in a pair of dress slacks or casual slacks or jeans with a sport coat, with an appropriate shirt, it made a difference in me reflecting who I am in my brand. So that's also included in the course and there'll be some other documents that I'm uploading here over the next month, some scripts that I use to essentially get people's attention in a new call type of scenario, but I'm gonna give you my scripts and different templates that I use, word tracks and things of that nature that have helped me expose and close.

Chris Albert 01:03:06 (link to this point)

Definitely. And we're going to get the links for that up on the show notes for this episode. And they're going to be up there. And I want to say, know, you definitely inspired me. I'm sitting in my home office right now in a suit, Right?

I I definitely dressed up for this interview because I want to look my best, and interact with Charlie here who is absolutely immaculately dressed right now. He's got these cuff links in and, great suit right there.

Charlie Cina 01:03:33 (link to this point)

Yeah. And again, I want to make sure I want to make sure that people understand. You you you have to dress to your audience. So if there's, you know, people out there that own a gym, I'm not I'm not suggesting you go out and buy a French cuff shirt, but I am suggesting, like, I every work morning at a place called Scale Fitness, and the gentleman there is a chiropractic doctor, as well as a fitness trainer. Right.

So he teaches all three. Right. He has chiropractic services. He teaches nutrition, and then he puts you through a rigorous workout. Everything he does is branded.

He's always got on nice workout clothes, logo shirt, branded hats. So that's what I'm trying to impress upon everybody. If you're in an industry where obviously, shirt, sport coat, suit, tie, doesn't apply, I'm just want to suggest to everybody that you need to dress to your audience.

Chris Albert 01:04:37 (link to this point)

Awesome, awesome. And I think that's a good place to start to wrap up. Charlie, number one, I just want to acknowledge you for for putting good information out there into the world. I could see that in everything you do, you bring absolute passion to it. And, you know, after having such an amazing career, you know, you're you're you're literally going out there, and you're trying to bring this knowledge to the masses, and so I applaud you for that.

Is there anything you want to end with for this audience?

Charlie Cina 01:05:12 (link to this point)

Well, first of all, I wanna thank you for for having me on the podcast. And just so everybody knows, I only got on this podcast not because Chris called me and asked me to be on his podcast. I think we should address that, right? You actually reached out to me on another business that was completely unrelated. But because I believe I articulately stated who I am and what I do, you were nice enough to afford me the opportunity to come on your podcast and address this incredible audience of 100,000 plus veterans.

So what I'm teaching and preaching works, it's not rocket science, it doesn't require skill. Everybody that is on and listening to this, male, female, I don't care what industry you're in or where you come from, it does not require skill. What I'm transferring to you just needs to be accepted and implemented and then you just need to take action on it. It works. It's just you making the commitment, which is one of my keywords in my book, I call it the C word, right?

It's the commitment word. When you're committed, right, there's no doubt, there's 100% certainty, right? That you are going to go in and take the action steps. And every single person that is on this podcast, you've made again the ultimate commitment and you serve, you know what commitment is, you just have to stop listening to that other little voice in your head that kind of gets in the way. Take the action step and implement and just go out today, shake a hand, ask somebody their name, and then present to them the brand called you.

And I'm telling you, you'll start to progress by inches and those quantum leaps will take hold, and you'll get those wins.

Chris Albert 01:07:33 (link to this point)

100%, and you're absolutely right about that. I was so impressed with you, so impressed with how you describe what you do, and honestly so impressed with the other media that I saw you take part in that I wanted you to come here and deliver this knowledge to this audience. And for those of you out there who have just gone through this episode, like I said before, go back and actually listen to a lot of this stuff. Like, down, put all your distractions aside, and and listen to this. Make sure you're going out there.

You're grabbing Charlie's book, because there are so many lessons here. I think we live in a world, particularly in business right now, where there's a lot of shiny objects, ranging from fancy funnels to lots of gadgetry and things like that. But these basics, these these lessons, if you know them and you understand them, you don't need the shiny objects. You you you need you. Right?

And you need you to be your best.

Charlie Cina 01:08:30 (link to this point)

So No question.

Chris Albert 01:08:32 (link to this point)

Again, Charlie, thank you so much. And to those of you out there who are grinding away, pushing forward every single day, Thank you for listening, and get out there and live your best lives. Well, I can't. One more thing, Charlie?

Charlie Cina 01:08:46 (link to this point)

Yeah. If they wanna anyone wants to connect with me, certainly on LinkedIn, or if you go to the Charlie Cina, T H E C H A R L I E C I N A on Facebook, love to connect with all of you.

Chris Albert 01:09:01 (link to this point)

The Charlie Cina on Facebook. Absolutely, and we'll have that up on the show notes. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Charlie, and we'll be back at you very soon with another awesome interview. Hey, what's going on guys?

Chris Albert here again, and I hope that you enjoyed that show with mister Charlie Cina. I know that I got so much just out of interviewing him. I hope that you were taking notes, and I really, really do hope that you go and you grab a copy of his book, Expose and Close. The link is up on the show notes for this episode. And I also wanna say this, guys.

This show is about bringing tools, tactics, ideas, and strategies to The US military veteran community that will help and empower them to live their best lives. And the reason why we do this is because everything we've seen the veteran community go through over the past decade and a half, there's been a lot of awareness built. There's been a lot of people talking about it, but there's few people out there actually delivering solutions. And that's what we try to do here. We try to give you things that you'll be able to implement right after you listen to a show.

They don't cost you anything. There's not anything that you you need to buy or anything like that. You just need to start taking action. So I hope that you're learning from these episodes and that you're taking that information and you're actually putting it into action in your own lives. And all we really ask you in return is that you let people know about this show.

Let them know that it exists. We have a strong community here. Our downloads are growing every single month, and that really helps me to get better guests, guys like Charlie Cina. We've also got Robert Greene, the author of The 48 Laws of Power coming on in September. And the more we grow, the better guests we're gonna be able to get, and the more lessons you're gonna be able to get from these amazing people.

So please share these episodes out, and if you can pay us the highest compliment by going over to iTunes, writing us a five star rating and review, It really helps us to spread the word. And with that, guys, I wanna thank you so much for listening. I do this show for you guys. It doesn't make millions of dollars. It doesn't put tons of money in the bank.

I do it because it's a labor of love. I absolutely love this community. I believe it's the sleeping giant in this country. And I believe that once this sleeping giant wakes up, we are going to be putting this country on the proper path, the path that it needs to exist on, and that we are going to help to ensure the greatness of The United States Of America for decades to come, and hopefully centuries. So with that, I'll talk to you very soon.

This is Chris Albert with the Warrior Soul Podcast out.