Episode 123: How to Stand Out in Business by Doing What Most People Don’t with Bart Berkey
Bart Berkey
About Bart Berkey
Bart Berkey is the CEO and founder of Most People Don’t, an international keynote speaker, podcast host, and best-selling author who inspires individuals and organizations to take the actions most people avoid.
A Penn State University graduate, Bart spent more than 30 years in global leadership roles in hospitality, including 16 years as Global Director of Sales for The Ritz-Carlton, where he helped generate nearly $1 billion in revenue.
Today, Bart is known for his engaging keynote presentations and his message that extraordinary results often come from doing the simple, meaningful things most people don’t, like following up, showing appreciation, expressing gratitude, creating memorable service moments, and making people feel cared for instead of processed.
Through his work, Bart helps leaders, teams, and businesses stand out by bringing more kindness, service, human connection, and intentionality into everyday interactions.
Watch the episode here
What does it really take to stand out in business?
In this episode of Prospecting On Purpose®, Sara Murray sits down with Bart Berkey, CEO and founder of Most People Don’t, international keynote speaker, podcast host, best-selling author, and former global sales leader at The Ritz-Carlton.
Bart shares why the simple actions most people avoid, like following up, showing appreciation, expressing gratitude, being kind, and creating meaningful human moments, can become powerful differentiators in business and in life.
Together, Sara and Bart explore how to stay positive during uncertain times, shift from a survival mindset to a contribution mindset, and create experiences that make people feel cared for instead of processed.
They also discuss the role of AI, the meaning of luxury service, how to recover when you make a mistake with a client, and why human connection remains one of the strongest ways to stand out.
This conversation is a reminder that extraordinary results do not always come from grand gestures. Sometimes they come from doing the small, thoughtful things most people don’t.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Hello, hello. Welcome to Prospecting On Purpose® Live via LinkedIn and YouTube. I am thrilled to welcome today's guest, Bart Berkey. Bart is the CEO and founder of most people don’t.
He's an international keynote speaker, podcast host and best-selling author who inspires individuals and organizations to take the actions that most people avoid. A Penn State University graduate, Bart spent more than 30 years in global leadership roles in hospitality, including 16 years as Global Director of Sales for the Ritz-Carlton, helping generate nearly $1 billion in revenue. Today he is known for highly engaging keynote presentations, which is where I saw Bart. And he really challenges audiences to push past their limitations and take the actions required to achieve extraordinary results.
Bart, welcome to Prospecting On Purpose®.
Bart Berkey
Thank you, Sara. I can’t wait. Thank you for your flexibility. I was stuck somewhere before, and thank you for getting me back on the show. I really appreciate it.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Oh, I’m so happy to have you. I shared before we went live that the last LinkedIn Live had a lot of technical issues and so I was a little afraid to get back on the horse, but I knew I could do it with Bart. So thank you so much for being here and thanks for those who are watching live. Let’s get right into the big question what is it that most people don’t do? Bart.
Bart Berkey
There are so many things, and when I challenge people, and I know Sara, when you are on my show, I ask you to complete the sentence, because it’s different for everyone. What do you think most people don’t do? When I originally came up with a concept, and this was years ago, I was noticing that people weren’t doing what they said that they were going to do, that they weren’t following up, that they weren’t showing appreciation, that they weren’t being kind, they weren’t expressing gratitude. So there’s a whole lot of things that people are not doing, and what we found, very simply, is that when you do, when you take action, when you do what most aren’t, it’s going to one, differentiate you.
And the world is not always about differentiation, but it is about contributing. So if you are doing what most people aren’t doing, if you’re pushing your shopping cart back into the corral and most people aren’t, you are contributing to cleanliness, you’re contributing to orderliness, to organization for safety, for that parking lot. That’s simple. If you pick up a piece of trash, you’re contributing.
If you hold open the door for someone, you’re contributing. If you say thank you, you’re contributing to goodness in this world. And then at this point, right, we all could use more goodness. A lot of people think that they can’t contribute, but little things matter.
And so there’s a lot. There's many things that people can’t do or people don’t do, and we know that they should.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah, even your example of returning the shopping cart like, and it being a contribution to a greater society. I think even that little mindset shift is a good example too, because I feel right now, and I want to get into this maybe in the back half of our interview, so we don’t get into the heavy stuff right away. But, right now it just feels like there’s so much, just, a lot of stuff on us, right? And if it is coming from all angles, and it can be really hard to stay positive or take that extra step to return the cart or hold the door, you know?
And I know that it’s a muscle and we’re good at it, but when there’s so much noise and stress and just things coming at us, I think it can get very easy to drop those things because we’re in just this survival mindset. So, I think we need to talk about that. Because that’s what would help me to hear right now. And I think it would help a lot of people.
Bart Berkey
Yeah. And when you just said survival mindset and that’s really what it is, it’s mindset. Every single day, I’m thinking about the groups I have recently presented to, I will ask them what is their number one obstacle? What does your group need to hear? And a lot of people right now are saying how to deal with this uncertainty.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
And this negativity and this perception and this heavy weight, this dark cloud that sometimes appears almost every single day. The suggestion is, it is up to us to decide how we want it to weigh on us. Do we want it to weigh heavy? Or do we think that there’s a choice that we can make?
Uncertainty is going to exist, but it’s also up to us in our mind how we choose to perceive it. And that’s nothing new. It is nothing new. But I’ll share a couple of stories that is, it’s a reminder to me when I think that I can’t do anything about it.
I can do something about it. You can do something about it, Sara, your listeners, your viewers can do something about it. And part of it deals with this mindset approach. I’ll share with you an example.
I have a coordinator that I used to work with that was, overseas and every single morning she would send me a message, 12 hour time difference, but she would send me a message every morning. "Good morning, Bart, how are you?" And this was a while ago. I remember waking up and I felt like it was one of those heavy days. There was negativity in the news.
There was a lot of things going on. I was determined that I was going to be terrible that day. Because that’s how I felt. And I started to type in my response, T-E-R-R-I was all ready to be grumpy.
And what happened was the smartphone, the system, the technology, the universe gave me an option, gave me an option, and it started to auto-correct. Terrible. Do you know what the other word could be?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Terrific!
Bart Berkey
Terrific. It gave me a choice right then and there. I could keep on typing terrible or I could move my thumb over just a little bit and hit terrific. And I laughed and I said, I don’t need to be terrible.
Let me see what happens when I hit terrific. And just by doing that, a little key thumb stroke, changed my perception on the day. I laughed at myself. But you don’t have to feel sorry for yourself.
Things are good. Things are not always easy, but things are good and things are getting better. Why not choose terrific? That changed my outlook for the day.
That’s one example. We have the ability to choose terrible or terrific every single day. It is up to us. The other element, you had used the word mindset.
If we get out of our own mind, and if we start to look up and look out, in fact, I guess it was maybe last week's newsletter, was look up and look out because there’s life in front of you. There's a world in front of you. Too often, I believe we are getting bombarded and consumed with negativity.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
And if we are doom scrolling, well, let’s do positive strolling, instead. Let’s put the phone down, right? Let’s get a little exercise. Let’s walk.
Let’s look up and let’s see what we can experience. When we get out of the worry of our own heads and we start doing something for someone else, naturally that allows us to think about giving and to think about doing. Because we can’t be worried and me doing something nice for you, Sara, at the same time, I don’t think that’s even possible. Once I start doing nice things for people, complimenting people on the street, letting them go ahead of me opening up the door, seeing who I can help.
Then I start to feel better. And there’s studies done, and I’m sure you probably have read them as well. One act of kindness a day for seven days increases your personal happiness by 8%.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Wow!
Bart Berkey
Why wouldn’t we? If we wake up feeling doom and gloom, why wouldn’t we think: let me be kind to others, and let me see how it makes me feel. And it works. And I do it as much as I possibly can. It gets you out of your own head and starts having you think about others. Who else needs me? There's a story. Can I share it with you?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah, please.
Bart Berkey
This was not too long ago, I was having, what I perceived as maybe not the ideal day. I was waiting for a contract to come back and it didn’t, and I saw that someone else was selected for a speaking engagement and I was sad. I was waiting for good news while I’m shopping and I keep on looking at my phone. I didn’t get the note yet. Oh, I wasn’t accepted. Oh. Just kind of bad news. And a friend of mine had told me, if ever you feel that way, just try to do this. This was the task. Look up and just say this to the universe. Whatever you believe. Show me how good it can be.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
That was it. Just that statement. So, I’m done shopping, I’m getting all this negative news while I’m in the store. I come out and I’m like, okay, you know what? Enough of that, it’s a nice sunny day. Let me see, let me just try this. Show me how good it can be. I said it once nothing happened, I almost thought that my phone would ding and the computer, the contract would be signed immediately or I would get great news. Nothing happened. So then I said it the second time, a little bit louder, a little bit more empathetically and more passionately, show me how good it can be. Nothing, right? And I’m sure I’m looking ridiculous in front of anyone that’s outside of Trader Joe's.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
You said this out loud, right?
Bart Berkey
Out loud, of course. And then I said it a third time, show me how good it can be. As soon as I finished saying it, the third time there was a woman that passed around the corner was just getting her daughter out of their car, and she was in a wheelchair. She was about 11 years old or so, and it wasn’t one of the wheelchair situations. Hopefully that doesn’t sound bad. I didn’t notice like a cast on anyone's leg. I think that this young girl had an ailment, a chronic illness. But what I did notice is that as the mother pushed this little girl, they were laughing and they were joking. And the mother was, you know, acting like she was going to run into a car just having fun. And to me, all of my worries just went right out the door.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah.
Bart Berkey
What am I worried about? I’m healthy. My wife is healthy. My kids are healthy. We all love each other. We communicate well. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. I have enough money to pay for groceries. I have a home, like what am I really worried about? I didn’t get a contract right away when they said that they were going to send it to me. It put things really back into perspective.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah.
Bart Berkey
If here is an 11-year-old girl who is bound to a wheelchair and they can have fun and appreciate life and smile and joke, what is wrong with me? Now, to tie back into that story about how worry is not important and how worry doesn’t really matter, later that day, I got a note and it was from the client that had promised to send me a contract. And she said, in my mind I’m thinking she hates me, she doesn’t like me, I was priced high. They found someone else.
It was basically, she was in the process of retiring and they were finding, she was finding her replacement, a succession plan, a replacement, and she was a little delayed and she was horribly apologetic. I’m so sorry I’m about a week late, but of course we want you, here's the signed contract. So what was I worried about in the beginning? And it’s just little stories like that, that we all can look for are good reminders that we don’t need to worry.
If we do worry, if we’re negative, if we’re feeling the pressure and the uncertainty of this world, don’t ever feel like you don’t have control. You have control over your thoughts. You have control over how you are helping others, how you are contributing to others, how you are showing kindness and gratitude. Because most people don’t.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Oh, I love, okay, there’s so many things to unpack there, Bart. I want to recap some of the things that really stood out to me. One is we get to choose how we feel. So it’s either terrific or terrible. Your choice. I actually have, in my bathroom, I have an affirmation that says I am in charge of how I feel and today I’m choosing happiness.
Bart Berkey
Beauty.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Doesn't always happen though, and I think the other tool that you shared that I’m going to start doing today is stop doom scrolling, start positive strolling. And I like the idea of, show me how good it can be, because sometimes, you know, you’re on your walk and
Bart Berkey
Yeah.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Little bunny crosses the trail. It’s like, oh, okay. It kind of takes you out of yourself and your problems.
Bart Berkey
Yes.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
And the other thing you shared was, the one act of kindness a day for a week increases your happiness by 8%. I think that you hit on this concept of uncertainty, and I think when we think of the heaviness going on in the world, it’s the fear of uncertainty. Are we going to lose our jobs to AI, is global warfare actively happening now.
Bart Berkey
Price of gas, taxes in California.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Uncertainty. And so what I think you shared that really resonated was all of these different things you can do for others, gives you that sense of control. And so if we can look at what’s going to make us certain, what are the things that are in our control? We’re returning the shopping cart, holding the door for other people, saying thank you. Like those are some basic human niceties, but I feel like they’re becoming something that’s more of the exception, not the rule. And so I love it when I meet people like you who are doing this as your day in, day out work.
Bart Berkey
Yeah. And I’m not perfect, Sara. I’m not perfect. And it’s good, reminders to me.
What I just shared with you, maybe yesterday, I needed to hear myself. And once in a while, this sounds really egotistical and ridiculous. I remember I was on a trip, I had just finished presenting and it went well. 500 people. I was listening back to the audio because I was going to get some videotapes from it, clips.
And, I appreciated it. I looked at it like an audience member and I was laughing at my own jokes, which sounds so silly, but it made me feel better. My point is that we all know what we can do. We all know what we want to do.
We know in our own minds what we probably should do, not because someone is telling us, but because in our hearts and our minds, we know we should do certain things. We can do those things. We just need to be reminded. That’s it.
So maybe it’s the one story that we just shared. Maybe it’s a book, maybe it’s your podcast. Maybe it’s anything. Maybe it’s a speaker.
Maybe it’s a sales training. Maybe it’s an article. Maybe it’s a movie. But take those things that are reminders of good and use them to the best of your ability.
Take the things that are not helpful and not good reminders, and try to disregard those. Don’t look at them, right? If looking at Facebook makes you upset or angry or watching the news makes you upset or angry, you have a choice. You can turn that off and listen to music.
You can turn it off and go for a walk. There are things within our control, even though things are unique and uncertain, we still have control. I just went off a little there, Sara.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Oh, no. I loved it because I think for anyone listening, this is our collective reminder that we’re allowed to be happy, we’re allowed to be proud of ourselves, we’re allowed to show up and be kind. I think that’s the other thing, Bart, we do have a choice and sometimes it feels like if we do a LinkedIn post on how well we’re doing, then it feels tone deaf to the state of the world or people suffering. And I think people hold in their happiness or hold in their joy because they’re afraid of optically how it’s going to appear.
And I will tell you, I’ll get messages from people on LinkedIn saying your post is always so positive, I really enjoy seeing that positivity. And so because I’ve gotten enough feedback, okay, my job is to stay as positive as possible so I can show up fully for my clients and my friends and my family. But if that means I have to lock my Instagram with an app. I locked the Instagram, so, You’re so right.
There's a lot of tools out there for us. There are people doing good in the world. We just needed to look at, how good it can be, and so I’m happy we spent some time there.
Bart Berkey
Yeah. And one other thing that you brought up about LinkedIn posts and things, I think there’s a difference. What sometimes frustrates me is that during difficult times people are getting promoted. And that’s not always easy. If unemployment is the worst that it’s been in X number of months, whatever the case is, and there is. I am so proud to announce that I’ve been promoted and I am like, but we should be happy for those people. We should be happy when someone is successful at doing other things. And to me, that’s also a reminder that there is abundance in the world.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
And if my first thought is, I can’t believe when so many people are suffering, this person is just bragging about them getting promoted. But you know what? They probably deserve to get promoted. And because there is abundance in the world, that is a good thing. That’s a positive thing. We don’t need to be negative or envious or anxious, or critical. We can be happy when people have happy things. Again, just other good reminders, but I’m with you.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
I like that. Sometimes I’d like to think of it as: Ooh, Bart closed. I’m going to use you as an example. Bart closed a really awesome keynote speech. It gets me excited because I know I can do that one day soon too. I think that’s how I try to shift it. I’m excited for that person's success. Because if I’m close to it, it means that I’m close to that too. So I think that that helps me reframe it and be like, oh yeah, I hang out with people that are doing cool things and I get, I get access to them, which is something I’m always grateful for.
Bart Berkey
It’s a nice way to think about it for sure. Yeah, a nice way to think about it. I’m surrounding myself with people that are also successful. That are trying to do good, for good reasons. And, yeah, that’s a great way. The other thing I talk about, the abundance element.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
As a speaker like you, there’s so many different opportunities and you don’t know where they’re going to come from. And I’ll share with you an example. I know it’s a big deal if people are able to present to supposedly Google, right? The big people and the Amazons of the world and the IBMs of the world. But you know what, there’s also great, messaging for the, Iowa Rural Association of Telecommunication experts.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Totally.
Bart Berkey
They need to hear your message too. So does Google, but so does this rural local association and guess what? They might be more thrilled to hear you. Your impact might be even more important and they might even be able to pay more.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah.
Bart Berkey
You never know. There's abundance in the world and it’s a reminder. There's goodness and abundance.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
I mean, I very much have an abundance mindset too, and it comes with time. Like you have to practice it. It’s a muscle. But I think I want to ask you, because of your sales background too, and because of your expertise on the relationship side of business development, I think that there’s a lot of abundance in our sales opportunities as well.
But, I think now with AI there’s all sorts of oh, let’s blast as many people as we can, because now we have these tools and there’s a place for that maybe at some point. But what I like about you and your work and the work I do, it’s differentiating yourself through this concept that most people don’t send a thank you card. most people don’t do this stuff. And so I’d love to switch gears a tiny bit and start talking about how your teachings and takeaways show up in a sales environment or business development environment as well.
Bart Berkey
Amazing. Thank you for asking. Yeah. People are afraid of AI. They're afraid to lose their jobs. They are afraid that they will become redundant. And in fact, I was just on a call the other day co-hosting, a live conversation and office hours with David Meltzer and friends. And there was a gentleman who is all about an AI competency and bringing AI into the sports marketing world. And we were discussing it and we were asking, similar types of questions. Is it going to replace everyone and should we be afraid? And the message is that there are certain things that we do every single day in a job that are repetitive.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
And that are automated. And those are the things that we should use technology for to be able to make our lives easier. If we go back and we think about, gosh, when I started years ago in hospitality, we would type out letters. We didn’t have computers at every single workstation.
We would type out letters and we would then, mail them. We would either go to the post office or the mailman would come to our office and we would send them. So let’s just think about that. Could that be automated?
Could that be quicker? Yeah, fax machines, and a lot of younger listeners may not even know what fax machines are, but that became a better way of doing an automated task. It could go quicker. We didn’t have to wait to get something in the mail.
And then we had email communications, and that could be faster than phone communications and that could be quicker. And it just helped us. It helped us to be able to communicate with more people more quickly. I think that’s how we should use automations and technology.
It helps us communicate with more people more quickly and sometimes a little bit better. I’ll share with you all an example. There's a tool that I use called Marblism. It’s M-A-R-B-L-I-S-M.
It is an AI tool that gives you essentially seven employees, AI assistants to help you do things. And, I don’t want people to think that this is cheating, and I’ll share with you the reason why. There's one of these AI assistants that is an assistant and this assistant, Ava, will go into your inbox and they will help to organize your emails based on marketing, follow-up, to-do, lead, whatever it is, whatever categories you want. But what they'll also do is that they will go to your inbox and they will draft email responses and put them in your draft folder for you to review.
And at first, I didn’t know if I would like that. And so I’m traveling and I get a note from Sara. Thank you, Sara. Can we reschedule?
And my response might be, because I’m getting onto an airplane. Yep. Or yes or thumbs up or thanks. But then I looked at what this AI tool was responding and how they were responding.
It was: Sara, thank you so much for being flexible in allowing me to reschedule with you. I had such a great time when you were on my show. Thank you for allowing me the honor to be on your show, March, whatever looks great. Thank you.
Let me know if there’s anything I need to be prepared for. To me, that was much kinder, much more professional, much smoother, much more eloquent than me just saying: "Gotcha. Thumbs up."
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Totally. And it gave the date too, so that they were more efficient too. Yeah, that’s a great example, Bart. That’s a great example.
Because I think that there’s that fear of the human touch being lost. And or resistance to learning something new. Like there’s a whole nuances, to incorporating AI into our workflows. But I think that’s a great example of how it’s still able to do that customization and the prompt follow up and be more efficient.
Because that’s an area I, personally struggle with. I find letters in my draft all the time that I just started and then walked away for whatever reason and never sent. And it sucks. It’s out of alignment with how I work and do business.
But it happens. And I think maybe we can talk about that too. If somebody does screw up whatever that is, in the most people don’t category and we fall into the trap. What are some things we can do to maybe course correct?
Let’s say you made a mistake with a client.
Bart Berkey
Mm-hmm.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
How can we leverage some of your teachings to get through it and push through it and kind of forgive ourselves, but also make it right?
Bart Berkey
When we make mistakes?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah.
Bart Berkey
Yeah. I think the greatest thing is just admit that you’re human.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
And, don’t try to cover up anything. Admit that you made a mistake. You don’t need to necessarily give excuses for it, but just say you are right. This was my mistake. I strive to do better.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm.
Bart Berkey
I never want to let anything like that ever happen again. If necessary, will you forgive me?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm.
Bart Berkey
What could I do to make it right?, From my hospitality background with Ritz-Carlton, we are always trying to make things right. Even if it wasn’t necessarily our full-blown responsibility, we wanted to make people feel better. I believe being honest and up upfront and just let people know that you are human and as long as you are trying your best and doing your best, that’s all that you can do. And I have kind of a fun story if I can share with you.
So we were talking before we hit record about, in luxury, both of us coming from luxury sales, trying to always be perfect, and we wanted to have the right clothes and the right polish and the right makeup, and the right hairstyle, the right everything. When I first started working for Ritz-Carlton. I had never been into a Ritz-Carlton. I had never stayed in a Ritz-Carlton.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Pretty common.
Bart Berkey
I didn’t grow up that way, right? I didn’t grow up that way. Pittsburgh guy right here. And, I wanted to be perfect.
So, first time I stepped onto Ritz-Carlton property was for the interview process. And thank goodness I got the job. On my first day at work, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect, that the car was clean, my shoes were clean, my everything was ironed and pressed. Fantastic.
I remember the general manager asked me, would you like to have lunch today, day one in the employee cafeteria? Sure, let’s do it. It’s an early lunch, 1130, and as we go down there, a housekeeper greets me and wants to make sure that I’m feeling welcome on my first day and says, good morning, Mr. Berkey, we’re glad you’re here.
That’s what they said. Wow. Knew my name, knew it was my first day. Recognized me from the photos, I guess, and I had to think what I wanted to respond and how I wanted to respond.
Sara, I wanted to be perfect. This was my first day and I’m thinking, well, they say certainly, they say, my pleasure. They said, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. How may I help you?
And I thought in my head. They said good morning because it was 1130, but I was there to have lunch and if it’s morning I would be there to have breakfast. So shouldn’t they have said good afternoon? Because I was there to have lunch Because the breakfast food wasn’t out anymore.
And I thought of all of these things and guess what my response was, Sara Murray, guess what it was.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Did you say good afternoon?
Bart Berkey
That would’ve been lovely.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Ha-Ha. What did you say?
Bart Berkey
It was, it was much worse.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Much worse. You too?
Bart Berkey
That would’ve been lovely also. That would’ve been better. That would’ve been a nine on a scale of 10 compared to what I did.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
What did you do?
Bart Berkey
I said...
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
You were just quiet?
Bart Berkey
I said nothing. That was my response. Good morning, Mr. Berkey, we’re glad you’re here.
I said nothing. And it taught me a valuable lesson. A few days later, I realized how dumb that was. I was so worried.
About making a mistake that I made the worst mistake by being rude to someone by saying nothing. I found the housekeeper. I apologized and I said I was just trying to be perfect. Instead of just trying to be me, I should have said, Hey, I should have said hi.
I could have said, what’s up? I could have said, dude, and it would’ve been better than saying nothing, but that just teaches me right. Another example I think that we all can, understand and learn with and grow from. Just be yourself.
You don’t need to be perfect. Just be yourself. I’m up on stage and I say words that aren’t even words sometimes, and I laugh about it and I have to check with my wife who is the co-founder of the company. Is this a word I even check with the audience?
Is this a word?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Oh God.
Bart Berkey
Which will bring me back to a sales related conversation whenever you’re ready. But my suggestion there is just, be yourself.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yeah. Well it’s so funny you say that, because I was writing up some questions for our interview and I wrote the word inexcellence and I was like, is this a word? And it is not, inexcellence is not a word, trying to say the opposite of excellence, like mediocrity. And I think you’re so right. I want to just close the loop on the luxury, the fear of luxury, because the luxury market is not going away. It’s just going to keep booming.
Bart Berkey
Mm-hmm.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
So for all of us here, it’s a great opportunity to sell into that luxury space. And I just want to empower people that you don’t need to have a perfect manicure. You don’t need to be super polished. I mean, you want to be hygienic and well groomed, but you can be yourself, and I think that’s what.
That’s the difference. I think when you see stuffy inauthenticity, sometimes people are just really polished and that’s their authentic self, and that’s great. But I want to encourage people that the luxury experience is just being real and letting other people be real too, because. It’s about the feeling and the experience, not if you have a manicure or not.
Not if you say good morning, you know, Ms. Murray like it. It doesn’t have to be that hard. And so I think that’s what I really appreciate about your message and the way you show up is it’s accessible to others.
Bart Berkey
Yes, it, it’s the way that we are inclined to be able to, I use this in my workshops, notice, anticipate, and overdeliver.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Hmm. Let’s dive into that.
Bart Berkey
Yeah. I, if you have the propensity in your heart to be able to notice, which is also taking you out of worry to anticipate what might someone need and overdeliver, how could I surprise and delight them?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
That element. To me is luxury and probably more so that element to me is service. Someone comes to your house and that is hospitality. You’re going to notice that, that when they took off their shoes, they didn’t have socks on.
So you can anticipate, well, I have a cold floor Because it’s 30 degrees outside. You know what, I have a, I just bought a brand new pair of socks. Let me put them in a little basket. And so if anyone chooses to take off their shoes, I mean, I’ve never even used this example, Sara.
I don’t even know where it’s coming from. But here, here's a brand new pair of socks. And and to me that’s overdelivering, right? That’s just one little example. friends of ours across the way, they lost their, their father.
And so it was my wife. Who was talking about, you know, we had to divide and conquer. She had a different event to go to. I was going to go to the neighborhood event and she’s just like, well, Bart, make, I know you’re out and you’re busy today and maybe it’s not what you planned for, but can you pick up something?
I was like, well, what do you pick up for a celebration of life? You know, I’m sure they’re going to have tons of food. And she’s just like, why don’t you get a flower, right? A flower represents growth in life and bloom.
Why don’t you pick up a flower? So I, that’s what I did, and it was her encouraging me. To me that is overdelivering, because I looked to see what did other people bring when they showed up? Respectfully.
Most people didn’t bring anything because there was plenty of food and there was plenty of beverages. But the flower was an element of overdelivering. Yeah. It’s noticing, anticipating and overdelivering.
So I, I think we all can do that and doesn’t necessarily need to be luxury, but it needs to be customized, it needs to be personalized. It needs to make someone feel good for the hoteliers that are listening. You don’t need to, if you hotel doesn’t do monogrammed bathrobes and monogrammed pillowcases, you know, give me an apple. Because I love apples.
If you can write a little handwritten note and spell my name properly, and I will probably tell a million people about that experience. I had one client, they hired me to come speak, for their, their hotel. And I was joking around, you know, what else do you require? What else do you require?
I’m like, just, you know, a, a, a room that, that’s it, you know, and just, and now I’ll get my way from the airport. Don’t worry about me. And I said, oh, by the way, yes, I need 23 green M&M’s, and 14 red Skittles in the funniest thing. Sure enough, and I have a picture of it somewhere when I arrived, and this is, shout out to my friends at Quorum Hospitality, that’s what they gave me for an amenity.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Oh my God, that’s awesome.
Bart Berkey
the red M&M’s and Skittles, whatever the number was, with just a little handwritten note with my name spelled properly. I have told hundreds of thousands of people about that experience because that was noticing, that was anticipating and that was overdelivering. They could have given me an apple, they could have given me a bottle of wine, and I haven't had a drink in seven years. They could have given me, brownies and my wife and co-founder, she’s gluten intolerant. They could have given me a glass of milk and I’m lactose intolerant. No, they noticed, they anticipated and they over-delivered, and anyone on the phone can do that right now.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
And I feel like that should just, I mean, your examples, that’s a little above and beyond, but at this point I feel like even the baseline is like wowing. Ooh, somebody answers their phone, great service, like the bar is so low that we can only go up. So I like what, you know, these little tips and tricks you’re giving us. It’s not that hard, you know, write a review. That’s one thing I’ve been really committed to is if I have a good experience, I will write a review. But I’ve learned. If I don’t just do it right there in the store. Yes, I won’t. So I’ll just sit and do it before I check out.
Bart Berkey
Okay. And you bring up another amazing point, Sara, and this is a reminder. I loved having you on the podcast. Thank you. And hopefully I sent an email. Thank you. Hopefully I sent you a link to some of the highlight clips. hopefully. I know I did. We promoted it in our newsletter that goes out to 12,000 people. Okay, great. I could have found your home address and I could have sent you a handwritten note instead of you buying the book. Didn't I give you the book when I saw you?
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
I bought the book, but that is just.. I just, but that’s just my way.
Bart Berkey
Well thank you for that. But I could have sent you a handwritten note and. A copy of my book and I could find your address in Los Angeles. I could have done that and that’s a reminder to me.
I can do better. So, so that, that component you’re just talking about writing reviews when we get great service. Well, Sara, after this, Because you are a great, interviewer and you are very kind and friendly and supportive and nice to me as a new friend, wouldn’t it be nice. How can I provide you a recommendation or endorsement?
Oh wait, LinkedIn. Oh, so maybe I can find your name. Sara Murray. And I can say I had a phenomenal experience with Sara on her podcast, and I can put that on LinkedIn and my 20,000 followers can see that.
And your 30,000 followers and connections can see that. Wouldn't that be a nice thing to do? So I said it, I will do it now and then to, to your listeners right now. Seriously, and Sara, thank you and thank you and all those things are real.
But then even for our listeners, like I will share my email address and I will share my mobile number and, I will share after I’m on stage, look, if anyone else could hear this message, let me know. Just click this little button. Some people do it, and I don’t want it to sound self-serving, but not everyone does. Yeah.
And but if people need help and we are offering help, I would hope that people would go to your podcast and leave another rave review for all of the great guests. If you’re listening now, you can do that. It’s being broadcast live on LinkedIn to your channel and to my channel. Put a comment down there.
Don’t just give it a thumbs up. Don’t just give it a like. Because everyone can do that. Type in something.
Tony Vargas service is the key. Tony did what most people are not doing. If you’re listening and something resonated, type in tag Sara, tag me. Type into the live comment.
This is so darn cool. Thank you. This is what I’m learning. Have you ever thought about this?
Right? Because that helps us grow.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
And I think you’re so right. All the examples you just rattled off, they are free. They take five seconds and they help lift other people up. And when I think about like the biggest emotional bank account deposit you can give to someone else, it’s something that helps build their business, promotes their career. Like there’s so many ways we can help each other. Bart, we do have a question. Yeah, I don’t know who it’s from. Because it says. It’s a little generic, but in your opinion, what in general makes a company a luxury brand from a buyer's perspective, and how do I sell to that as a salesperson is a great one.
Bart Berkey
What makes a company a luxury brand from a buyer's perspective? Okay. A few things. luxury is perceived by the buyer. I could be selling, any of us could be selling a hotel room.
If it has a luxury name on it, it’s $1,200 a night, and if it doesn’t have a luxury name, it’s $200 a night. It is the perception of value. And I know Sara, you talk so well about this, about value. It’s about what the value is to the buyer, but more than anything else, and this is kind of coming full circle, I believe it is how you are making the buyer feel okay?
More than anything, it is how you are making the buyer feel. There are studies that my, myself and my team have done that buyers don’t want to feel processed. They want to feel cared for, and let’s just dissect that they don’t want to feel processed. We’re talking about AI and using AI as a tool to be able to communicate with more people.
Well, if it’s thoughtful and meaningful, like the examples that I shared, it is going to make me feel cared for because it’s a little bit more in depth than me just giving a thumbs up. However. If I get a note from Sara after this is over and it’s automated and it says, dear, insert name here, comma,
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
I would never,
Bart Berkey
I know you would never, yes,
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
no.
Bart Berkey
There are so many times where we spent way too much money for a product or a service, and that’s the wording that we get because it’s from a generated automated system. That says, insert name here, thank you so much for buying the Mercedes-Benz GL and I mean, we don’t own a Mercedes, but as an example. Right? So it’s about how you can make them feel. There's another element of, of something when we were talking about words that we might make up Sara.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Mm-hmm.
Bart Berkey
There's a term, when I’ve been doing some consulting work with another organization, their goal was to move away from transactional selling. We uncovered that it needs to be more transformational.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Hmm.
Bart Berkey
Anyone can do the checklist of, tell me what you need, what kind of car you need, what kind of house you need, what type of meeting space do you need? What size suit do you need? We can go through the check, check, check, check, check. And that is all transactional.
It’s not until we get into the transformational thing, it’s how it will make you feel. And to answer this question, how it makes them feel. I believe then identifies luxury. Along those lines, AI might help with a process, but we are able to, and my new sales training program's called "Humanality™", and that’s the word that I made up because I was finding, when I was asking people.
What element of specialness can you insert into this process, into this customer journey? What element of personality, what element of emotional intelligence can you insert? And all of those words just started to come out as where can you insert "Humanality™" into the process to make people feel cared for, not processed? To make them feel seen, not manufactured, to make them feel trusted, not managed.
And so this "Humanality™" element helps for customers, it helps for clients, for buyers, it helps for how you lead people. And I believe that it is, and I’m in the process of getting a trademarked, tm.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yep.
Bart Berkey
that, that’s going to be the differentiator. How can we insert "Humanality™" into the buying process into the interaction process. That’s not even a word into the transactional process, but I think that will be a differentiator for any company, luxury or not. When you can insert more of a Humanality™ aspect to make people feel a certain way, people will remember how they felt. They don’t necessarily remember the specs. People will analyze with their heads, but they will buy with their hearts.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Yes.
Bart Berkey
That’s where "Humanality™" comes into play.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
I love it. I mean, mic drop changing from feeling processed to feeling cared for. I think that’s a great delineation. And then that transactional versus transformational. I think that that’s what you ask yourself and when you’re out and about in the world, look for those moments, look for those things. I think, I think it’s brilliant, Bart. Where can people find you and connect with you if they want to learn more?
Bart Berkey
They can find me on your podcast.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Goodbye. Awesome. We'll put that in show notes, but if they want to right now, what is the best place?
Bart Berkey
Yes, easiest place. It’s easy to remember. It’s all one word. mostpeopledont. There's no apostrophe. mostpeopledont.com. That’s it. And my mobile number, which I pick up all the time, 301-312-1600. Maybe it’s not the smartest thing to give out my number, but I share it because if people are dealing with uncertainty or sadness or frustration or they need a speaker, great. Reach out to me, but I’m a new friend, right? Sara, you and I are new friends, and hopefully I can be a new friend to anyone that needs it.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
Well, we so appreciate you lending us your time and expertise and your experience. I love Humanality™. I love what you stand for. Thank you for joining the show, and we’ll see you soon.
Bart Berkey
Thank you. And if everyone listening right, Sara Murray, of course, prospecting on purpose. Go to where her podcast is being broadcast, apple, Spotify, all the channels. Write a review, write a recommendation, and go to LinkedIn and write a review. Write em recommendation, be kind to others. It only comes back.
Sara Murray - Prospecting On Purpose®
I love it. Bart and Bart’s podcast, as most people don’t, and For All the Marbles, and I’ll link that in the show notes. Thanks for joining us this morning. Happy Friday. Stay positive. I’ll see you soon.
Bart Berkey
Thank you, Sara.
Connect with Bart Berkey
Website: https://mostpeopledont.com/
Podcast: Most People Don’t
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartberkey/
Connect with Sara Murray
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saramurraysales
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramurraysales/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saramurraysales/
