What did Daryl Dittmer do after a partner blew a several million dollar deal?

Daryl found his partner on the casino floor in Vegas at 3am, drunk, hours before a flight to a meeting in Salt Lake City. Coffee and Denny's didn't fix it, and they lost the deal. He was pissed. He kept doing business with the guy anyway (he had the best deals on the block) and used the blown call to get better terms. If someone does that to you and they're in a position to help you out, "get the help."

How does Daryl Dittmer define success?

He didn't grow up with money, so early on money was the goal. He made it, and it wasn't that fulfilling. He still loves money and the freedom it gives you. But about 25 years ago his definition changed to "waking up in the morning with a smile on my face." For Daryl, that comes from gratitude and from giving it away. Teaching, training and coaching people is what keeps him interested and growing.

Does Daryl Dittmer hold back feedback people didn't ask for?

No. At this point in his life, Daryl says, "I'm going to tell you because I care about you." He's got nothing to prove. He thinks it's unfair of him to not expect the best from you when he can see it in you. He can't demand it, and you might not give it, but he isn't afraid to stir it up. Drewbie feels the same on a sales call: once he knows he can help, holding back is the hard part.

What's Daryl Dittmer's advice for someone new to sales?

Get your why figured out. In his words, "make your why strong enough to drive the bus of your life where it needs to go, regardless of what happens." Daryl came from farms, framing and carpentry, and fell into sales scared to death. His why came from watching family members pass away in nursing homes. It has to be "big enough to keep driving you when you get your butt kicked," whether that's hang-ups, slammed doors or a spouse upset about your hours.

podcast ·Nov 10, 2026

Episode 244 - Make Your Why Strong Enough to Drive the Bus | Daryl Dittmer

by Drewbie Wilson

It's three in the morning in Vegas. Daryl Dittmer has a flight to catch, a proposal in hand, and a several million dollar deal waiting for him in Salt Lake City. His partner isn't answering texts or calls. He finds the guy on the casino floor playing Texas hold 'em, drunk.

Key Takeaways

A blown deal doesn't have to bleed into the next two weeks of your pipeline. Daryl watched about 75 to 100 grand in commission walk out the door, stayed pissed, and kept selling.
He kept doing business with the partner who cost him that deal, and used the situation to get better terms without shaming anybody into anything.
Daryl stopped using money as the scoreboard 25 years ago. In his words, his definition of success changed "from making a bunch of money to waking up in the morning with a smile on my face."
Getting there means figuring out what doesn't work for you and throwing it off the table. Sometimes that's social media. Sometimes it's people.
Where a young rep should start: get your why figured out, and make it big enough to keep driving when you get your butt kicked.

Coffee. A stop at Denny's. More coffee. The guy still smells like booze, and he's slurring his words when they walk into the meeting. Daryl watched about 75 to 100 grand in commission walk out the door because somebody else couldn't treat the night before with any respect.

Here's the part that makes Daryl worth listening to. He was 20 years into his sales career when it happened, so it didn't put him in a slump and it didn't shake his belief in what he was selling. He stayed pissed, kept doing business with the guy anyway (best deals on the block), and used the situation to get better terms.

He also came up the hard way. Blue-collar house, Dad was a mechanic, in recovery at 19. He told his wife a bunch of stories from those years, and she said, "That's not the guy I see in front of me right now." He told her to remind him to write a book someday. Two books later, with two more in progress, he's still writing about the thing that stops people from moving.

His definition of success changed somewhere in the middle of all that money he was making. Ask him now and he'll tell you it's waking up in the morning with a smile on your face, and that getting there means figuring out what doesn't work for you and throwing it off the table. Sometimes that's social media. Sometimes it's people.

And when a young rep asks him where to start? Get your why figured out, and make it big enough to keep driving when you get your butt kicked.

In This Episode You'll Learn

- How Daryl handled a partner blowing a several million dollar deal, and why he kept doing business with him after

- The way he turned that blown call into better terms without shaming anybody into anything

- Why the moment a deal falls apart doesn't have to bleed into the next two weeks of your pipeline

- What made him stop chasing money as the scoreboard, 25 years ago, and what he swapped it for

- His approach to giving people hard feedback they never asked for, and why he thinks holding back is unfair to them

- The morning practice he runs six days a week (and the reason it's six, not seven)

- How to build a why that survives hang-ups, slammed doors, and a spouse who's tired of your hours

Find Daryl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daryl-dittmer-734205294/

Website: https://www.daryldittmer.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095169161814

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whenistopfighting/

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