Never Listen to Anybody Worse Off Than You

Words of wisdom I learned from the great sales trainer Tom Hopkins when I attended his three day boot camp in the 1980s. I was in my twenties and new to the outside sales game, but they are words I have lived by throughout my business career, and not simply as a sales professional. The words are so simple and logical, yet have such profound implications.

Would you take medical advice from the guy who failed high school biology and works at the tire store installing your new tires? Would you listen to the doctor who thought you could install your own tires with two crowbars? Would you invest your money with the middle age guy living with his parents who doesn’t have enough capital to make his car payment and is close to filing personal bankruptcy?

At that sales training seminar back in the 80’s those words were profound, yet the meaning was also clear. The three examples I gave above could easily be identified because you would be standing in front of the person and wonder why this guy in the tire store uniform was giving you medical advice.

Now let’s fast forward twenty years. That tire changer, who flunked high school biology, has a blog titled “DeathoftheDoctor” and espouses his opinion on medical issues. He never really says anything with any substance, rather he just attacks anybody else that does and uses pithy phrases to indicate they are fools. Eventually, those “fools” begin to disappear from the blog since they didn’t sign-up to get berated and the only posters left are the real fool, your high school biology failure, and a small group of other flunkies who agree with this unqualified guy giving out medical advice.

The internet, self promotion, and lack of substance have elevated this guy—mostly in his mind because let’s face it he still goes to the tire shop each day—into some type of cult guru.

That 45 year old “investment guru” who attended two different obscure colleges over eight years, yet never graduated, also has his blog, “FailedInvestor.” This guru claims to have invented the hybrid investment approach—a long/short hedge enhanced with options. He claims it is the phase 3 of the modern approach to investing. He has all types of fancy charts and phrases and he too loves to attack others. You hear things like the large investment banks are stuck in the past and don’t understand his strategy and he was first to do this or that, but without much examination you can easily see that he simply changes terms and puts out press releases. His obsession with self promotion—a characteristic of all of these cyber world experts—even attracts some fools to invest in his fund. But in the end all is lost.

The point of this post goes directly back to the words of Tom Hopkins but links those words with the world we live in today. A blog, postings on LinkedIn or Facebook, giving a presentation at a show, or a press release doesn’t make you an expert. Education and experience are what makes an expert. Spend some time to get to know the specific experience of those you seek for advice and you will save a great deal of money and time.