On today’s episode, we’re shaking things up. We’re playing an episode from a podcast I guested on, the Business Growth on Purpose podcast with Jose Palomino.

One of the topics we focused on in the interview was how I discover new leads and opportunities in our used machinery business by using strategies that create serendipity. You know–the stuff I often like to talk about. Keeping your eyes open for interesting things you weren’t originally looking for. Contacting lots of people out of the blue who might be able to help you. Saying the right things in conversations to bring out valuable information.

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Jose Palomino:  I’d like to just spend a little time (discussing) good luck. Or I think the term you use is “serendipity.” Where can I actually start shaping good fortune by things I do or don’t do?

Noah Graff: Selling machine tools—maybe more than half of the job is the buying and finding stuff. Sometimes you call somebody or visit somebody’s shop looking for one machine and it turns out that machine sucked.

But then you see another machine in the corner that you had no idea they had, but you are interested in. All of a sudden, you found something that’s way better than what you came for.

You have to keep your eyes open for things in order to find luck. 

I interviewed this guy for our podcast who wrote amazing book called The Serendipity Mindset. His name is Christian Busch. The book is about all the different things you can do to find luck in your life and in business.

One example is a strategy he calls “serendipity hooks.”

Say you’re calling somebody on the phone about a machine, but they say they don’t have it. Instead of ending the conversation, you continue by saying “before you hang up, our company also has a service, buying and selling machining companies. Do you know of anybody looking to buy a company or sell a company?” Boom. All of a sudden, you call for one thing and you might find something totally better.

Palomino: The request you don’t make is an automatic no.

Graff: Absolutely. 

There are a lot of dealers who some might say talk too much. They’re like the town cryer. They give away a lot of information in conversations that might be questionable to share.

But if you tell somebody else a secret that maybe you shouldn’t tell them, maybe they’ll tell you a secret back.

The more things you put in the open, the more magic that could happen.

Palomino: You mentioned before something called “serendipity bombs.” That sounds interesting. 

Graff: Serendipity bombs are really cool.

Say, you need to get something. Like you’re a podcaster and you’re looking get some awesome people on your podcast.

You think of six people who could maybe help you, and you send Hail Marys out to them. Maybe one or two actually come back.

I had a guy recently who bought a Swiss screw machine from me. He was this guy in Idaho. He made rifles. He contacted me about a machine on our website, and it wasn’t even the right model. It was a model that was smaller than the one he needed. 

Then I thought about it, and I remembered that the week before, my friend Randy, another dealer, was telling me he had that machine in stock. I called up Randy, and he still had it. The next day I called up the guy from Idaho and he bought the machine right away. 

Palomino: The request you don’t make is an automatic no. 

What comes to my mind in all the years of coaching people trying to do ramp up their sales or their business development activities, oftentimes the most powerful thing is being a little bit vulnerable and asking for help. 

And I find a lot of good people who would be helpful if they could. I have found a lot of kindness and goodness coming back my way just by being out there in the world a certain way.

Graff: Yes. That is totally true. 

People often want to help. It’s incredible. They get this sort of feeling inside that, “oh, you value me, you want me to teach you?” And then by them doing that favor, all of a sudden you become closer in your relationship.

There’s this guy I love to study. His name is Robert Cialdini. He’s a social psychologist and one of the things he talks about is reciprocity. I think it’s sort of another kind of serendipity creator. The more things you have out in the open and more favors people do for each other, the more magic that can happen.

Question: What have been your most successful methods for finding new business?