Champions Create Distance with Tom Alaimo

Author

Jeff Bajorek
April 25, 2025

There’s a pattern I keep noticing with people I respect.

The ones who seem to be playing the long game, the ones who seem healthy doing hard work, they all have something in common.

They know exactly why they’re doing what they’re doing.

That’s Tom Alaimo in a nutshell.

Tom’s been building his own sales consulting business for the last few years, and I caught up with him recently to talk about what he’s learned along the way, about selling, about business, and about building a life that actually works.

Here’s what stood out to me, and since champions create distance on Fridays, I thought I’d put this out there on a Friday in honor of Tom.

The Power of Knowing Why You’re Doing It

Most people I know who leave high-paying sales jobs to start their own business can’t totally articulate why they did it.

Tom can.

“When I decided to leave Gong and start this business, I was trying to find a good why. I was trying to find my anchor. And, um, so I was thinking one day and I drew a triangle on a piece of paper and thought, all right, there’s three why’s that I have.”

His three points?

  • Fulfill his own potential

  • Positively impact people

  • Create financial and time freedom for his family

Clean. Direct. No fluff.

“It’s been something that has been truly one of the greatest joys of my life. I just really enjoy it. It stimulates me. It’s fun for me. It, it sparks a lot of creativity and so I’m really glad I did it.”

A lot of people think entrepreneurship is the clear path for them, until they try it and realize it’s not all roses.

When you’re as delighted by it as Tom is, you know you’re on the right path.

Selling Like Yourself Beats Selling Like Everyone Else

Tom talks a lot about being an introvert in sales, and man, do I identify with that.

The older I get, the more I think introversion is a cheat code if you know how to use it.

Tom figured that out early, selling Cutco knives.

“I remember my first few pitches, people, you know, they were giving me some tips. ‘Cause there were people I knew when I started and saying, ‘oh, maybe ask a couple questions and like, you don’t need to go through your whole book here of like 27 pages. Like just talk to people about what they’re cooking and like, what do they like about their knives or what do they not like?’”

Imagine that. Listening still outperforms talking, even in a transactional sale.

“I just find that my style’s a little different. It’s a little softer around the edges. It’s a little bit maybe more playful. It’s a little bit more of trying to ask good questions and be empathetic and trying to be creative in, uh, in my approach.”

I won’t argue with anything that works, and there are more ways to do it right than to do it wrong.

I’ll die on this hill: you never sell better than when you sell like you.

Creating Distance

Tom’s been talking for a while now about this idea of “creating distance” on Fridays.

If you’re not familiar, it’s not about working more or working less; it’s about working deliberately.

“I think the distance can mean one of two things. It could mean like, I, I am, if everyone else is half-assing it, I’m going hard in either direction. So some days, some Fridays, it is jam packed because I’m creating distance because I’m getting after it on a Friday while everyone else is, is dogging it and I’m giving it my best effort.”

Or the opposite:

“Or I’m saying, uh, I’m gonna create some distance from the work itself and say like, you know, me and my wife are gonna go, uh, you know, skiing, or, you know, I’m gonna do whatever with my, you know, dog or see my nephew, or whatever it is.”

Either way: choose your distance.

“I do really strongly believe like, you should be where your feet are. You should be locked in and present with wherever you are. And to me, that’s what it means.”

That line has stuck with me since the first time I heard it years ago. “Be where your feet are.”

It’s a simple way to communicate a profound concept. The key is to focus on what’s important and put it in front of you so you can be fully present with what matters.

Your customers can tell, and your results will show it.

Sales for Good

I love it when people take their success and look for ways to give it away. That’s exactly what Tom’s doing with his new Sales for Good initiative.

“Every time that we bring on a new client, uh, we are going to help someone, uh, in need. So either an underprivileged person that is trying to break into sales, uh, in some way. Or a nonprofit that needs some sort of sales, business development help.”

It’s not complicated, and that’s what makes it powerful.

“I’ve had this as the mission of the business since day one, is that we wanna positively impact as many salespeople as possible.”

Sales changed Tom’s life. Mine too.

I was taught to pay it forward, and I’m glad there are people like Tommy out there who are seeing the value in it.

Selling’s about so much more than making a living. It’s a life skill. It’s about the way we interact with the people around us.

Most sales don’t involve an exchange of money for services.

When my kids ask for something? It’s a sales call. When they get it, I’m their customer, and vice versa. Through that lens, if either of us wants something from the other, then we need to treat each other like we would a good customer.

It sounds cynical on the surface, but why? What if we all treated each other like good customers? Wouldn’t we be more likely to listen and empathize?

Not so cynical anymore, huh?

Final Word

The people who create distance in their careers, their skills, and their lives don’t get there by accident.

They get there by knowing who they are.

They get there by leaning into their strengths.

They get there by being where their feet are.

“You’ve gotta find whatever your natural tendencies are and strengths and like, you can lean into that to be really good. And it doesn't matter if you're an extrovert or introvert or somewhere in between.”

Champions create distance.

The rest is noise.

It’s been a while since I’ve published one of these. My mom actually asked me on Sunday why I took her off my list. 😄

There’s been a lot going on, and I’ve been trying to find the right voice and tone for these newsletters. Rather than just publishing for the sake of publishing, I’ve held back.

I’ve got a couple more of these types of conversations coming in the near future, and in the meantime, I think they strike the right chord. I’m also going to share some personal stories and answer questions I’ve been asked recently.

Thanks as always for being here until the end.

See you soon.

JB

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