Schmooze: What They Should Teach At Harvard Business School with Author & Speaker Cody Lowry on Episode #0225

Cody Lowry [0:00]
I’m Cody Lowry, and you’re listening to EA Interviews.

Intro [0:03]
EA interviews, Episode 225, inspiration, transformation success stories and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview.

Mario Fachini [0:16]
Would you like to be more influential? Would you like to be more persuasive? How would you like to schmooze people at business events and networking events or just in real life I’ve thought about this and I used to think everything was business, I only really saw the world through this lens. But the reality is, if you don’t know persuasion and influence, you’re gonna have a hard time with your family, your kids, friends, family, whatever the whatever the case is persuasion and influence is probably the two biggest things. And I kind of see him as one in the same but if you can schmooze people, what can’t you have happen? So I’m excited to have Cody Lowry today author of Schmooze, and he’s gonna be telling us how he got a Super Bowl ring without ever playing or coaching in the NFL, getting a baseball signed by the Pope and booking an appointment with booking a meeting with the President in under a week and loads of other stuff. So I’m going to thank our sponsor, and we’re going to bring up Cody Lowry.

Sponsor – Free Business Book Publishing Course [1:17]
Every business needs a book, including yours, visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that’s FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com.

Mario Fachini [1:32]
Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Cody Lowry. Cody, how are you feeling today?

Cody Lowry [1:36]
I am feeling great. Better since I got to be on your podcast. I’m looking forward to this.

Mario Fachini [1:43]
Well, I am to ever since I saw what you were doing and what you’ve done, I was just like, I need to bring them for Expert Authority World and you’ve done and accomplished so much. But the way you’re doing it and with the heart you’re doing it is really what stands out to me. Why don’t we just jump in? And why would you say persuasion influence schmoozing? Why would you say it’s so vitally important for business?

Cody Lowry [2:08]
Well, you know, today we live in the most connected society in the history of the world, and yet, we’re more disconnected because of it. And I have learned through my whole life, including starting out selling newspapers, how to communicate and how to communicate with schmooze. When, when you look at today’s situation as it relates to the digital world, I mean, the Googles and the and the Twitter’s and the Facebook’s, I mean, they’re all getting control of our lives, they want us 24 seven at their beck and call, we have our, our little blankie at night, it’s right by our bedside and you know, our cell phone doesn’t leave us right. And what I’m trying to do is get people to, to really, you know, schmooze a little bit, you know, put that phone away. I, I had up a advertising agency with loaded with millennials and, and you know, Millennials have taken a bad rap Mario, I mean, it isn’t just millennials that are caught up in this digital age, but, but they’re, they’re all around me. And I, I encourage them to leave their phones outside when we have a meeting and, and really, you know, try to look each other in the eye and communicate and today that’s, it might be a lost art, if you will,

Mario Fachini [3:32]
Literally talk about the digital meeting. I mean, right now, we’re using digital mediums to web conference and do do a live stream and all these different things. And I think it’s more powerful than ever because you can connect with anyone in the world. They truly believe that and it’s so easy to just jump on camera and have this conversation. But what do you feel we’re losing from having that in person? I don’t want to say situation. But having the in person meeting I realized logistically, this is faster and more efficient. But there is a lost art of just people skills and just people skills. What do you think is the benefit of being able to do this and what are the cons?

Cody Lowry [4:14]
Yeah, so I’m not sure there’s some cons although schmooze comes from the Yiddish word schmoozing, which, which means to chat idolater, chat in a friendly persuasive manner, so as to gain favor in business or connections. In fact, schmooze actually, many circles has a negative connotation, connotation. And I have redefined the word schmooze and in the book Schmooze What They Should Teach at Harvard Business School. You’ll see how throughout my life and today, the way I live it, how I use relationships and, and, you know, it’s about mentoring and, and about, you know, really looking out for the little guy and it’s they I redefine the word Schmooze. And, you know, throughout my life and, and right now it’s, it’s been something nice to have as part of my arsenal. And if you look at, like the point I was making is that schmooze in some circles has a negative connotation. It’s no it’s the Eddie Haskell Hello, Mrs. Cleaver. Hello, Mr. Cleaver, you know, and it’s a little disingenuous and, and really my definition of the word schmooze first and foremost, you have to be genuine. And in the book, you know, people say, what, what is the one common thread in the book and I and I think it’s, it’s more than just one thing, but it’s, it’s building relationships, it’s getting those relationships to trust you. And then it’s never letting them down. And it’s, it’s really the, the secret sauce and in my life, and it’s enabled me to keep clients on the books for over 30 years, which is unheard of in my niche, which is, which is automotive, you know, if you if your last five years, you know, that’s that’s pretty good. The last 30 years, what are you doing differently, and it’s, it’s, it is about trust, and, and never letting the client down. And so when you look throughout the whole book on, and in the front front of the book, they talk about all these things that I’ve accomplished, and, and really schmoozing is more than setting up a meeting with the president, President of the United States in one week. And it’s more than carrying the torch in the Olympics. It’s really about, you know, the way you go about life, the way you treat people, especially the less fortunate. And I’m so happy that I thought about writing this about two years ago, and it’s doing pretty well.

Mario Fachini [6:47]
Well, I’m glad that you’re talking about that because the word schmooze. You know, some people take it as positive, I think I’d say more people take it negative in my experience, but I knew it was positive. And I’m glad you brought that up, because it was actually something I wanted to ask you. Why do you think it got a bad rap? Because inherently, it’s not bad. Do you think it was the people that gave it the people who were doing it just were unscrupulous and that became the norm?

Cody Lowry [7:17]
Well, whether they were unscrupulous I won’t. I won’t say that. But I will. They were disingenuous, they, you know, they were always looking out for themselves. And you know, what’s in it for me? And I’ve just absolutely turned that whole definition around.

Mario Fachini [7:33]
So if someone does come from that mindset, what would you say is the bigger intention behind what you do? You know, you’re not trying to persuade them or influenced for a negative result? You know, what’s what’s on your heart when you like, how do you even set up a meeting with the president or something like that?

Cody Lowry [7:52]
Well, that was, you know, I am one of the chapters I talked about be a contrarian, you know, when people are going right, go left, and I was in a meeting and the president was coming to town. And our dealer had put in some pretty positive full page ads in the Tampa Tribune, the Miami Herald, in the St. Petersburg Times. And actually, it was an article that was written by Walter Annenberg and was called a Summer of Discontent. And it was, I don’t know if anybody, I’m sure a lot of people know who Walter Annenberg was. But if you don’t know who he was, he was a publisher, and a philanthropist and a hardcore Republican. And but during these times, Jimmy Carter was having a pretty tough times, pretty tough summer for him. Interest rates were, you know, 12 13%. And, you know, everybody was down on him. So that article was a Summer of Discontent. And the the takeaway from the full page ad was that regardless of whether you agree or disagree with, the president is the only one we have so you know, let’s support him let’s get behind him. And so when I heard that the president was coming to town, and like in a week, I thought it would be a really good idea if we met with the president. And when I brought it up to the dealer and the dealer sign and the general manager, I was the I was the general sales manager at the time, they kind of laughed at me and, you know, how are you going to pull that off? Well, I pulled it off. And it was a week later, the dealer and myself were in front of Jimmy Carter, you know, I, I audition for Saturday Night Live, so I know how to do Jimmy Carter.

Mario Fachini [9:41]
Oh, seriously?

Cody Lowry [9:42]
Yeah, I just present that’s a great story. I did that and only about two days. That was that was pretty interesting. But just getting back to Jimmy Carter. I mean, it’s a long story would take up, you know, 10 or 15 minutes, but the bottom line is, you know, I got on the horn to Washington. Jody Pal’s office, which is the first office, which was he was Carter’s right hand man at the time. And then they transmitted this off. Finally they, they transfer me to a lady in Tampa, Kesha Grande, who was the head of the scheduling committee. And, you know, I went over to visit her, I told her we wanted to do and when I left, I had two big cheesecake setup, sent up to the hotel room where her and her staff were. And she called the next morning and she said, we’ve arranged for a meeting with the president and and Mr. Abraham. And I said, well, Kesh, would I be able to go? And she says, no, that’s not going to be possible. And so she went on talking about security and the things that Mr. Abraham, you know, needed to do. And at the end of the call, I gave it one more try said Keesha, isn’t there any way I could go with Mr. Abraham and there was a pause, and she said, Cody, I’ll handle it. Thanks for the cheesecake. So there’s a little you know, schmoozing and, and how how cheesecake really work. But you, you mentioned Saturday Night Live. My goal was to be in a different arena. I’m glad I stayed where I was. I’ve got 11 grandchildren and they’re bigger than any, you know, big marquee sign in Las Vegas. But I was off to Las Vegas, Nevada was going to be a stand up comedy. Do it stand up comedy and I thought that might lead to other acting roles and what have you. But before I did take off to Las Vegas, I wanted to go to New York and just kind of kick the tires and what an experience that was. I didn’t have a lot of money at the time. And you know, back then Mario, you know, today, a young person, male or female can make a living on the circuit. You know what some of these, these comedy clubs have all around the world back then you got an honorarium here and honorarium or you just got up and did it free for free, hoping that somebody would, would notice you. So what I got to New York, I first thing I did, I went to the improv and kind of intimidated me a little bit. And then I went over to catch a rising star. And I told him who I was, and, you know, any way I could get up tonight, and it was a Saturday night. And so the guy said, yeah, you know, we’ll put you on and I was just about ready to go on and well known comedian at the time, just wrote a book, by the way, Tom Grayson. They come in, they came in, they grabbed me, and they said, hey, listen, you know, I’d waited almost two hours to get on. He says, we have somebody else that’s got to get on he’s going to be on the Carson Show tomorrow night. And he wants to try out some new material. Tom Grayson, I know exactly who he was. And so he went on, and it was it was unfortunate. And we’ve all had those nights at the mic. It just wasn’t going for him. And he put the microphone down about halfway into the his, his act. And he said, he apologized. He said that he was going home that night and going to work on some new material for the tonight show the you know, the following evening. And then, ladies and gentlemen, let’s give it up now, for Cody Lowry. And I know next thing I’m charging, you know, and I, I have a very kind of an aggressive style. And, and, you know, and I’ll be very honest with you. I mean, I hadn’t paid my dues. I’d been doing this for, you know, maybe eight months. And here I am at the hottest comedy club in the country, you know, and I mean, I’ve got raw talent, and I’m not scared of anything. And, and, you know, there weren’t people in the wings waiting to give me a contract. But I did pretty well. And I held my own that night, but the next day, it was just like it was, you know, so casual. I think I’ll audition for Saturday Night Live while I’m here. Well, I only had like three more days in the city. And, you know, it was just casual. So I think I’ll get my nails done or something like that. And and so I called Saturday Night Live at NBC Studios, Rockefeller Center. And I asked who was in charge of talent. They said, a gentleman by the name of John Head was an English chap. And I got on the phone with him. I told him about who I was. I said, I think I’m the only guy in the country right now. I don’t think rich little does. Jimmy Carter. And I said, I’d like to audition. And they said, well, you know, give me a call tomorrow. One of those deals, and I didn’t realize it was a put off. But the next day I called and I called and I called and I called I finally thought I said, I said you know what? I bet he’s got a telephone number. And back then before cell phones, we all had a listed number, right? So I called information and sure enough, I got John Head’s number and I called him and I said Mr. Head, this is Cody Lowry. He goes, you’re amazing like that. probably knew how many times I had called him you know that day. And he invited me in the next afternoon and there I was going up the elevator to audition for Saturday Night Live. And it was really quite an experience. I got off the elevator and for some reason, a calm came over me and I go into this room, there’s a platform, you know, up front, and I get up and I start doing my act. And he’s smiling from ear to ear. So he’s not rolling in the aisles but I can tell he likes it. And when I’m done he said, hold on I want to get to other people and let’s do the the Jimmy Carter again. So income these two other gentlemen and they sit down and I do my Carter, my name is Jimmy Carter, I always tell the truth. If I will tell I don’t know the truth and a lot of people think I’m prejudiced come from the South. I want the American people understand one thing right now about four children two of them are black. And, and it goes on and on and on and on, you know, and but they loved it. They clap, they laughed, and he said, listen, he said stay around town. He said, we’ll see if Jimmy Carter becomes president why he probably didn’t hear me well, you know, I didn’t have enough money to stay another, you know, two days and, and so I was off to back home in Florida. And that’s where my life really took a turn. I was next thing you know, I’m in the car business and general sales manager of a very large Chevrolet store. And you know, wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for that move. And so I didn’t, I didn’t make it to Las Vegas. But who knows, there’s still plenty of time, right?

Mario Fachini [16:43]
There definitely is and now with the world so super connected. You know, one of the things I wanted to ask you about the comedy and congratulations, that’s not only inspiring, but what a great story. And I don’t think there’s maybe a handful of people I’ve told this to and it was all really close friends. And I sure as heck have never said it live or on the show. But one of my goals is to, I actually have notes and notes I’ve been working on of like, it’s literally says the notes, say stand up routine one, stand up routine two, and just building stuff. I don’t know if you have to go for 5, 10, 15 minutes. But you know, just like when I’m public speaking, I decided 30 minutes set, if I can do that, the rest will be easy. So that’s what I was aiming for. But that is, it’s just incredible what I’m hearing a lot of just go for it because you’re a lot like me where you’d… Let me ask you, I don’t want to assume anything. And that’s why we’re having this conversation. Would you rather go into a presentation or meeting completely unarmed, completely unprepared and just go on the spot? Or would you like a week to prepare,

Cody Lowry [17:50]
I would like a week to prepare. And in my when I one of the chapters is schmoozing from the podium. And the one main point that I want people to understand is never ever, ever wing it. I can tell you a story I was I was at a grand opening of a new store. And it’s one of these great big mausoleum type stores, you know, probably 25 $30 million. And, and it’s I’ve been 100 of these things, they have the mayor there, they have the dealer, they have, they have some important community people and they usually have whatever, whatever brand it is they have a big, you know, heavy weight from from corporate come in. And so this was this guy was like head of the country for this brand. And, and I and I’m sitting back there watching them, you know, that dealer got up and he thanked everybody and then the mayor got up and then this person and and then they invite this this gentleman over to the podium and I was watching him and he didn’t have any notes. He was kind of looking around and I figured he’s gonna give the stump speech that he’s given over and over and over again. And he’s he gets up there and he he starts going through it. He says, you know, number one, we believe in boom, and he gives us you know what, that is a number two, boom. And he says, uh, number three?Come on. Hello. He actually couldn’t remember three. And that happens to you know, your speaker you know, sometimes you’re sitting there and you’re on automatic pilot and you go where am I you know, and I think he forgot where he was but you know, you can never never wing it. Now with that said, may I tell you a story that really changed my life.

Mario Fachini [19:52]
Please do.

Cody Lowry [19:53]
Yeah, so I was in the advertising business. Our our niche was was automotive did other retail but it was primarily automotive. And I get a call from a guy from North Carolina. He’s a Toyota dealer and he says, hey, the Toyota dealers are all meeting at the Grove Park Inn, which is in Asheville. And he said, we’re gonna have dinner, why don’t you come up and meet him have a little chat, little chat. On the next plane, you know, or whatever it was, and, and so the, the cocktail party started around six, and I got there at 630. So I get into the cocktail party. And one of the things I always tell people about building relationships, you, you don’t take two weeks, three weeks a year to build relationships. You start in the first 30 seconds that you meet somebody because it’s very important in the way I approach clients. When I when I meet them, there’s a good chance I know what college they went to, I know the fraternity and how many kids they have. I know, I know somebody who knows him and bah, bah, bah. And so anyway, I get to the cocktail party. And, you know, I’m the guy with the lampshade on my on my head, you know, so I’m telling jokes and having a good old time. And one of the one of the dealers looks at me, and he said, he said, who did you bring with you? I thought that was a strange question. And I, I said, well, I didn’t bring anyone you know. And he said really? Well, there was a major presentation the next morning for the account, which was worth multi seven figures. The agency that had the account at the time was Saatchi and Saatchi, multibillion dollar agency. And they were having a pitch for that business in the morning. And I just couldn’t even believe and I started thinking, oh, no, what do I do now I got up to my room and I actually was kind of outline putting an outline together of my little conversation I’d have with the president of the Toyota group. And then then I got hold of myself as wait a minute, I said no, you don’t you don’t have any storyboards with you. But you know, your creative strategy. No, you don’t know anything about the Charlotte Market. But you know, your media strategy. And Cody, this is your magic moment. You know, you’ve been you’ve been doing this forever. And this is a big, big deal. So the next morning, I go down and I meet the other three agencies and they they each have four or five people with them, right? They’ve got you know, they’ve got the media people, they got the creative people, they have you know, somebody holding parting gifts, there’s always gifts, you know, that you give out. And in comparison, I had a I had a VHS tape with me. Remember VHS and absolutely, maybe maybe a business card? Well, I went on last and in advertising, you don’t want to go on first you want to go on last my preference is always last. So I I wait around a couple hours and the other agencies get done. And you know, I’m asked to come into the room and all of a sudden it’s like old home week, Cody hey, how you doing? We had fun last night and, and hey, let’s get together, you know, book. And now it’s like, you know, it’s not even a pitch, I feel so comfortable. They feel comfortable with me. And I get up and I do my presentation. And I will say this the real I had with me I just finished it. And it was a real It was a great sizzle reel. So they gave me a little applause. And I left and I went out in the lobby with, you know, the other agencies. And when you’re in this niche, automotive, these guys make decisions very, very quickly. And about 30 minutes later, gentlemen came out and asked me to come into the room. And I walked in, they closed the door. And they said Cody, you got the account. Now I gotta tell you what that meant to me, first of all, to pull off and maybe the only agency to get a piece of business out of out of Southeast United States, other than Saatchi and Saatchi was quite remarkable, was really remarkable. And about three months, their market share kick started going up and up. And we had a much stronger message in our media buys were more aggressive. And the next thing you know, I get a call from the marketing manager from Southeast Toyota and Cody, could you go to Columbia, could you go here? Could you go there and next thing you know about a year later, you know, we’ve got eight Toyota associations and you know, I’m doing pretty good so that that kind of changed my life but the be the whole meaning behind me telling the story is his relationships and building relationships and when you when when and most entrepreneurs do this, but when you’re going to meet a new client know everything you possibly can about that person. And as I said earlier, never ever ever wing it.

Mario Fachini [24:55]
That is a huge expert authority insight and I’m glad I asked the question and I appreciate That story of transformation, because that’s what it’s about. No matter where you’re at right now, you can always get to that other side. And so many people think, oh, I’ll just wing it or, you know, some people prepare. I don’t want to say they’re over prepared, but they just get so caught up with every last detail they never just take that faith and go, at some point you had, you know, especially with launching a book, I tell all my author clients, this, it’s like, well, we got to refine it, we got to edit it, it’s like, you want to be prepared for sure. But you still you still had to step out in faith and go, well, I’m in New York for three days, you couldn’t have waited five to go on, you know, to submit for Saturday Night Live, you can’t wait two weeks to, you know, when the President’s not in town. I mean, there there is the timetable. But I love the stories that you’re sharing because they’re inspiring first off, but what I’m hearing is, there is no magic bullet, you just basically the magic bullet is you went for it. And you went in prepared knowing, hey, you know, I might not have the credentials, or I might not have paid my dues or whatever. But you went in prepared enough to go well, I can go from step one to two, I can go from two to three, you didn’t spend 10 years, hyper refining it. And then missing all those opportunities.

Cody Lowry [26:21]
I think to just sum up what you just said, and it was right on, right on target, is people do business with people they like, and if people don’t know you, there’s a good chance.

Mario Fachini [26:34]
They’re not gonna like you.

Cody Lowry [26:35]
Business with you. But yeah, I think one of the things that is, throughout the whole book is is being persistent and sticking with it. And, you know, because somebody says, no, it doesn’t necessarily mean, you know, that they mean no, right. And I learned that,

Mario Fachini [26:57]
Yeah, no, no means not now.

Cody Lowry [26:59]
Yeah, there you go. There you go. There you go.

Mario Fachini [27:01]
In the persistence part of it, you know, let’s go back to the Saturday Night Live. But you know, give us a call, you know, you know, call me tomorrow, most people won’t let alone I don’t know, if it was three 5, 10, 15 doesn’t matter. But when he said, You’re amazing, you know, that was the real first key. Now you still need to be equipped to do the impersonation, which was very good, by the way. But if you don’t have that persistence, you’re not even getting get your foot in the door. However, if all you have is the persistence, you still need to know the craft and know what you’re doing and be prepared to your point. Because there’s plenty of people who are persistent. But like I said, in some of my episodes, they’re pricks and no one wants to talk to them. You can you can be persistent, you know. So that’s what’s so fascinating is, I think everyone knows these words, and they’ve heard it, but how many people are implementing it? And just even how you’re talking? It’s so smooth and seamless and just, you know it? I’m glad you’re sharing it. So I thank you again.

Cody Lowry [28:02]
Would you like to hear the genesis of my persistence? Absolutely. time so I, I always tell people that instead of a rags to riches story, mine was a riches to rags because my mother was a debutante. And in the City of Detroit, her father was Superintendent of Schools for 30 years, he was the first president of Wayne State University. And there’s a there’s a high school named after my grandfather called Frank Cody High School, which still stands today, and I was there for the dedication. But when my mom and dad got married and it was almost downhill immediately, they moved to Florida. And my dad was a heavy drinker. And next thing, you know, I mean, there’s just total chaos and in the, and the tape that you showed at the front of this segment, yeah, within a seven year period, seven mile radius, we moved 32 times and, you know, we we lived off government food, spam and peanut butter. And then my father leaves, you know, and so my mom has never worked a day in her life. She’s she gets a job as a hostess at a place called Creighton’s restaurant. And that was their tagline was home of the world’s best apple pie. And she was also a classified ad girl at the Fort Lauderdale News and, and we live the dream and about a 600 foot square foot house with, you know, two bedrooms and, you know, four of us are actually five. And it was tough. But one of the things that my mother instilled in all of us, was that you know what, maybe we’re down now but you know, you guys, your kids can be anything you want to be and, and she, she really, she she gave us hope. And we all started working at a young age, and I work as paper boy age 11 at the Sunrise Shopping Center, and after school, I’d get 15 papers and I go off and I do my very best to sell them before it got dark on Saturdays I would get 35 papers the same thing. I try to sell all my papers. And I had this little tactic that I use my when I asked somebody if they wanted a paper, Miami News, sir Miami News, ma’am. And I say if they walked past me without and just ignoring me. I’d say, sir, would you buy a paper if I told you where you got your shoes, what states you were born in and how many birthdays you’ve had? You know what for a nickel, you’ll bite, right? You got your shoes on your feet. You were born in the state of infancy and you’ve only had one birthday the day you were born, right? So I learned to be persistent and I didn’t know what schmooze was at that time. But I knew if I was going to make any money I you know, I think I got two sets of paper I I had a charm, charm charm, everyone that I came in touch with. So one Saturday, my district manager comes and he says, you know, you always do a good job selling 30, 35 papers. I think you can sell 50 I said no, I cannot sell 50 sir, you know, blah, blah, blah. You know, it’s just too much I get I barely can sell 35 and, you know, he encouraged me to at least give it the old college try as they say. And so off I went that day. Miami news, Miami, I talked to everybody in this mall Sunrise Shopping Center. That’s where I sold the papers. I talked to almost everybody twice. And it was getting about six o’clock it was starting to get dark and and I had two places I could I had 12 papers left. There’s two places I could have gone. One was the next bar. It was an upscale bar adjacent to the to the shopping center and Nick had his own PhD and schmooze when I went in there. You know, hey, kid, come over here who wants to buy a herald, with a herald was the Miami Herald I didn’t sell the Herald I sold the Miami news. You know, he didn’t care. I’d sell all of my papers, right. But there were the other option was to go across the street to a Jewish delicatessen called wolfies. And, and that’s where I decided to go. And I just gotten across Sunrise Boulevard. And I looked and much to my disbelief. There was a man an older gentleman selling the early edition of the Sunday Miami Herald and he had the papers they were stacked up to the awnings, you know, and 333 stacks. And think about this. He was he was selling the early edition of the Miami Herald, which was bigger than the New York Times, right. It was it was just huge. And I was going to try to sell the Saturday Morning Miami News, which probably had, you know, a 20th of the circulation and it was a little thin, you know, fish wrapper. It wasn’t there wasn’t anything substantial about except it did have the blue stripe on it, you know, I had that going for me. So I said, well, I’ll give it I’ll give it a try. And so I got about 10 feet from him Mario, and people would come out and and he didn’t have to say where people were just buying the paper, right. And I was going Miami news, blue st edition Miami news. And it must have been laughable to you know, people watching this thing. And you know, after a while I was really getting tired. You know, I was I had ink all over me my change purse was pulled to one side I I tell people that I look like the artful dodger who really needed a haircut. And so I just about ready to give up and I’m gathering my stuff. And this man, this older gentleman comes blowing out of the restaurant. And I said paper, sir. I mean, it was blue st edition, and he ignores me and it just keeps going. And I go after him now, sir, would you buy a paper if I told you where you got your shoes, what states you were born in and how many birthdays you’ve had? He turned around. I thought he was gonna hit me. And then he stood there for a minute. And he looked down at me. He said, son, how many papers do you have left? And I said, I have 12 sir. He said that’s exactly how many I want. I want you to go home. And you know that night when I when I think about that story. I mean, it can bring a tear to my eye. But I learned a lot. Number one, yeah, be persistent. No doesn’t mean No. But then always look out for the little guy. And if people do pick up the book Schmooze what they should teach at Harvard Business School. There’s probably about four good stories where, you know, one time I had a catch myself, I was getting really irritated with this guy that you know, wanted some money and I realized I was really wrong and handled it wrong. And And then, just real quickly, Monsignor Caulfield who was my best friend we were in, we were in Rome with my with my wife, she was sick and and we were out just taking in the sites whereby the Pantheon air on a roller skate on a, on a skateboard with, you know, roller skate wheels was a man who didn’t have any arms or legs. And that’s not what gave me pause. And I try to encourage people to think about the less fortunate, as I looked at him, even people that did put money in his can Mario, they did so without any human interaction at all, and drop the money in there and just, you know, on their way. So, Monsignor and I, we walked up, and I said, ciao, you know, it’s the only Italian I knew, you know, and he said, ciao back, and you can see a delight in his eyes, somebody was now paying attention to this very, very lonely man, and, and we, we, you know, try to communicate as best we could, we got ready to leave, and I put some money in his can and Monsignor bless them, and I got maybe 10 feet away, Mario, and I turned around, and I looked at him and he was zeroed in on me like a laser. And I said, ciao back. And, you know, we were communicating and, and I think it is a lesson that I learned early enough in life, where, you know, I can I can reach out now and, and, and really help the less fortunate and I tell people in the book, look, you don’t have to be a philanthropist. Wouldn’t it be nice if we were all philanthropist, and we could give to this charity. And this, this, this, this college and, you know, endow this and, but you know, what, just by doing having a little human interaction with a lonely person, or, you know, people, they say, I’m an easy mark, right for these people on the street. But, you know, 85% of these people are just hungry. Some of them are mentally, you know, they have some, some issues. So, you know, I don’t try to figure out the ones who are going to buy booze or the ones who are trying to con me, you know, I try to, I try to reach out to as many as I can. And I always feel guilty if I’m in my car, and I’m like, Oh, no, I don’t have any money on me then I really feel terrible. But so those are the kinds of things I think people will really like in the book, schmooze, just just great stories.

Mario Fachini [37:18]
Well, I appreciate you for sharing those with us because I think the world needs more humanity, no matter if you’re the janitor, the CEO or something in between. It takes exactly zero sense to give someone a smile, or actually care. I mean, what did it take to actually say hi or ciao to him, and, you know, you’ve made his day probably even as week and everything. And that’s why I love showcasing such great people as yourself because now you have that it costs nothing truly, to be a good person. But when you do have more influence, and you do have more of a following an audience, whatever you want to call it, now, it’s just amplified and I think people trust it. It’s not to say anyone can’t do it. But if you look at the authority, celebrities, experts, whatever the case is, it’s like people just gravitate towards them. And when they say a message, it’s, I mean, you got sometimes 100 500,000 time amplification on it. And I’m thoroughly enjoying this. I got a question before we thank our sponsor, for you. But I really want to say thank you for sharing those stories because you’re bringing back some memories for me when I was starting out and some things dad told me and also what he embodied. And we all have similarities with all of it so thank you for being who you are, and sharing those. We have one fun thing before we thank the sponsor, this whole thing’s fun, but I incorporated this. It’s called the Wheel of Whatever. And it always ends where it needs to and my question for you is, who is someone you would love to schmooze that you haven’t yet? And what would it be around?

Cody Lowry [39:05]
Someone that I haven’t schmoozed with? It probably wouldn’t be political because I have to duck regardless of who it was right? You know, a guy that I’ve always admired is Alan Dershowitz. I mean, this is a guy that, you know, I think in 21, he went to Yale Law School, his head of the Law Review and went to Harvard, one of the youngest. I are the youngest college professor of law at Harvard University. And he’s, you know, if you look at the cases that he’s that he’s been on, and, I mean, from Oj Simpson to well, as recently is as this whole impeachment deal, I mean, he’s, he’s led a very, very interesting life and I could see sitting down and having beer with Alan Dershowitz.

Mario Fachini [40:02]
Okay, excellent. Thank you for sharing that with us. We are going to thank the sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action Round.

Sponsor – Free Business Book Publishing Course [40:11]
You’ve heard me say every business needs a book, including yours. And it’s true. And that’s why you should visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. But you know what? Don’t take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lorie, “I went from having an idea and the possibility to actually getting my book published.” Or Katherine, “Thank you for making my mom number one bestselling author.” Or Maryalice, “What he got done for me in three days regarding my book launch, unimaginable.” Jon Cody, “I’ve worked with Mario over the phone and online and he’s been very helpful in getting me where I needed to go with promoting my books.” Rosio, “There’s no way in the world I would have been able to do this with somebody else. Again, I’ve attempted it in the past, it didn’t serve me. As a matter of fact, I ended up more frustrated than anything. So this has been a very seamless process.” Adele, “If you’re looking for an amazing business coach, I highly recommend Mario Fachini.” Or Bill Benner, “I can’t make a higher recommendation than to work with Mario Fachini. He has been great for me. And right now, I won’t work with anybody else except for Mario.” Hey, their words, not mine. Visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com to get started now and I look forward to hearing your transformation as the next video success story. Once again, that’s FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com.

Mario Fachini [41:41]
And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Cody, are you ready to take imperfect action?

Cody Lowry [41:48]
Yes, sir. I am.

Mario Fachini [41:49]
I have three questions for you all 60 seconds or less responses. The first one is what is the fastest path to the profits?

Cody Lowry [41:57]
The fastest path to the prop that is no little white lies I’ve been in business a long time advertising and you know, we screw up on occasion, whether it’s media or it’s creative, or, or whatever it is, and they’ll come in and they’ll say, Oh, my gosh, we did this, you know, what? Should we tell them? But I said no, you don’t tell them anything except the truth. And I think i think it’s it’s honesty, and, and I’ve never lived by the little white lie philosophy that you tell the truth. It is what it is. And and I think you’d love to see another day after when you do that.

Mario Fachini [42:38]
Wow, I so appreciate that. I agree. And I don’t think anyone’s ever said that right here yet. Thank you for that. Number two, what is the biggest problem your prospects keep making? And the fastest way for them to fix it?

Cody Lowry [42:52]
I think is inconsistency. You know, they’re always looking for that that’s special, whatever it is, it’s gonna take them to the next level quickly. And, you know, there is that doesn’t exist. So we’ll we’ll go into a market and yeah, we’ll be with an account. And, and, you know, we’ve been on a campaign for six months, which is seems like a long time, it’s not. And all of a sudden, you know, they went to a 20 group meeting, which in our business 20 dealers get together, and they might come back with an idea and, and just be adamant about taking off in a different direction. So it’s a matter of about harnessing them, getting them to remember why we were on this campaign before it was it’s usually branding and serious positioning, and, you know, so keeping them in line and keeping them consistent. And, and, you know, at times babysitting.

Mario Fachini [43:48]
Excellent. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Cody Lowry [43:54]
I think the best way is to be there for them be there at their beck and call, you know, in my in my arena. Mario, we have to, you know, it’s not a Monday through Friday, five to nine, it’s it’s seven days a week, and we get some pretty high powered individuals that will will call us and on a Saturday or a Sunday and, and you know, I’m there blanky right. And I look down and oh my god, it’s Mario. I don’t want to pick this phone up. But you know what? Mario called me for a reason he’s got he wants to ask me a question. He wants me to hold his hand. He wants, you know, he wants something or he wouldn’t be calling me on a Sunday, right. And I will pick up the phone and I and and, you know, when you look at when you look at our book of business, to have accounts in automotive, you know, 30 years, 20 years, 15 years 10 it’s almost unheard of, and I think it’s for, you know, those reasons were there for our clients when they need us and you know, it’s you know, it’s not glad handing It’s not what you think the original definition of schmooze was, right.

Mario Fachini [45:05]
Yeah. And when you mention that I was thinking of some of the my clients I’ve had for 1011 plus years. And I’m like, thank you. And I’m like, wow, I get, you know, I can imagine 15, 20, 30 plus years. But what an impressive accomplishment because, again, like you said, most businesses don’t even last five years, let alone, you know, it’s a difference of being a vendor to an actual partner. And like you said, being there for him. So I appreciate those expert authority insights, I have one or two more, but what are some books you could recommend to Expert Authority World that have made a difference in your life?

Cody Lowry [45:40]
Um, well, Thin and Grow Rich is one of the first ones that you know, I ever read, how to win friends and influence people even though those books were written, you know, 30, 40 years ago, they are as relevant today, as they were then and they’re very kind and my book, they compare it to a modern day version of, of how to win friends and influence people. And while I’m flattered by that, I look back on on that book, and it had a it helped me ways and become who I am and probably read it several times.

Mario Fachini [46:22]
Yeah, Dale Carnegie’s great and How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the, I think, is the first book dad gave me. Oh, really, he had it. And I still have the original copy. I still have it. So think, great recommendations. Thank you for those. Where would you like people to learn more?

Cody Lowry [46:41]
Well, they can go to Mr. m r schmooze.com that’s my website. And they can you know, they can catch me on Facebook or LinkedIn or, you know, Instagram, on their forum. And I want to thank you and if you people listening don’t know Mario’s story. He’s got he’s got a great stories a great guy, and he’s a genuine guy so and really, that’s what schmoozing is all about being genuine. And so thank you very much for having me, Mario.

Mario Fachini [47:18]
The pleasure is mine. And I didn’t expect that, but I do appreciate it. I’m real glad we got connected.

Cody Lowry [47:28]
Thank you.

Mario Fachini [47:29]
All right, Expert Authority World. We have another great episode here today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. God bless.

Sponsor – Free Business Book Publishing Course [47:38]
You’re already the expert. But have you transformed your expertise into a tangible asset that will generate and qualified leads while increasing profit for you? 24? Seven? And if so, how well are you promoting it? With the expert authority effect publishing method, it’s easier and faster than ever. Visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com to get started now, once again, that’s FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com.

www.EAInterviews.com [48:11]
Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out ea interviews.com for complete shownotes the full interview video experience links to the resources we mentioned and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.