CEO Transforms the Sexual Health Industry By Understanding His Customers

In this episode, we have Jeff Abraham, CEO of Absorption Pharmaceuticals.

Jeff shares his journey from dreaming about being a businessman to becoming the CEO of his own successful company.

He talks about the importance of understanding his customers, their needs, and their hindrances in order to offer better solutions, in his case, products to enhance personal intimacy.

He emphasizes the value of active listening, communication, ethical behavior, and hard work. Jeff points out his company's growth from a 100K annual turnover to millions, attributing this to his unique approach to product representation, relationship building with the medical community, and focusing on customer feedback.

He illustrates how these principles helped him reposition his product, making the business thrive.

Website: www.promescent.com

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Full Interview:

Transcription:

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Jeff Abraham Teaser 00:00

We understand the people that use our product. We understand why they're using it. We understand what keeps them from maybe buying it. So we try to, lower those barriers. We also really are in touch with what it does for someone, the benefits, the features, and we try to focus on that.

Intro 00:20

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:48

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. And I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jeff Abraham. Jeff, excited to have you on the show.

Jeff Abraham 00:55

Pleased to be here. Yes.

Gresham Harkless 00:58

Super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're doing. And of course, before we jumped into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Jeff so you can hear about some of those awesome things.

Jeff is the CEO of Absorption Pharmaceuticals, the company behind the leading PE spray for men, Promescent. Jeff's mission is to help anyone seeking to better their love life with safe, proven solutions that work and are backed by science.

The taboo nature of topics surrounding sex, especially men's sexual health, paired with the business credentials and personality of Jeff, has led to some of the highest downloaded, shared, or engaged episodes for the shows that Jeff has been a guest host on. So super excited to have Jeff on the show. And all the awesome things that he's doing.

I was listening to one of the interviews, I think he said he always dreamed of being a businessman and having worked in the steel mill, if I understand correctly that shows a lot of great work ethic that Jeff has. And I wanted to call him the Michael Jordan of the industry, because I think he came out of retirement from the semiconductor business and came back in and you can find their brands literally and big brands like Target Walmart, GNC.

So Jeff and his team are doing some really awesome things. Excited to have you here, Jeff. Are you ready to speak to the I Am CEO community?

Jeff Abraham 02:09

I'm really happy to be here. I've done some research on your podcast and I know you have some really dedicated listeners and a very focused audience, and this is our outreach as a small company.

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We're never going to go head to head with Pfizer or Reckitt Benkiser or Trojan and have billion dollar, ad budgets, what we like to do is connect with people like yourself who have dedicated listeners and really find your podcast credible. And a long form like this allows us instead of doing a 32nd spot where it's like, Oh, we're the best and everyone goes, I hear that from everybody to expound a little bit and tell you the science behind what we do to tell you about our medical board neurologist.

So the pleasure is all mine. Believe me.

Gresham Harkless 02:49

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I'm super excited to get the opportunity to hear more about, everything that you all have been doing.

But I know I touched on it a little bit. I wanted to rewind the clock here a little bit more on how you got started with all the awesome things you're doing. Can you take us through what I call your CEO story?

Jeff Abraham 03:03

Yeah, I like you said, I was born and raised and worked at a steel mill when I was in high school and college.

And I tell people that was my first inkling that wasn't the life for me. I decided that, I was going to not work with my hands in my back and work more with my brain. When you made the comment about, I always dreamed about being a businessman, I was very practical, I was an okay athlete.

But I looked in the mirror and went, I don't think modeling or, being sex or people magazine sexist man of the years in my future, even though I was a reasonable athlete, I didn't, I looked at the NBA, I looked at the NFL, I looked at NHL, I said, those guys don't look like me. You know what I mean?

I'm not six foot four and 240 pounds and chiseled. I don't think that's it.

So I was very realistic where others were dreaming about scoring a touchdown in the super bowl and, being on the cover of people magazine. I was dreaming about having my own business from eight years, 10 years old on, I was very practical.

So I got out of college and I worked for two different companies, one for about three years, one for about four and a half years. And it's funny because when you're young, you always think that to someone, to be a CEO, they have to be Harvard-educated with a PhD. And they're brilliant. My first couple of jobs, it became apparent to me that I was smarter than my boss, and I was making this 2 percent commission.

I brought in 2 million in new business a year. And I got a 40 grand bonus. I go. That's not exactly. And I started thinking to myself, what if I owned a company? What if I was in charge? And all of a sudden, if I brought in 2 million worth of business, that was my 2 million.

I was like, I like that equation better. So when I was 31 years old, I had become a single father and I was traveling for my job all over the place. And I just said, it's time I want to branch out. I want to start my own business. And I had been a regional manager in the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductors are integrated circuits, computer chips. And I saw a niche that wasn't being filled to have a recruiting service for finding these high-tech engineers.

So I started my company and it went insane within three years. It beyond my wildest expectations. And I just found that finding a business that had high margins that really and truly was exciting and fast-paced.

Fit my lifestyle very well. I've always been the type of person I tell people I love to create rather than sustain. If I have a business that I brought up and it starts doing 40, 50 million a year, and you've reached pretty much the cap of where you're at. And the goal becomes let's see if we can get 2 percent more on margins next year. That's not my thing.

My thing is taking a concept. Taking an idea and making it a business. Once it's a mature, solid business is doing 40, 50 million a year. And the goal becomes eek out a little more profitability. I hand it off to a number cruncher, a bean counter. That's not my thing. I love the idea.

That this is a concept. Is it actually a business? And I'm like, yeah, it is. And let me show you, let me make it a business. But once it becomes mature and it's solid and the dynamic switches from growing and let's really, energize this thing to let's refine it and get an extra 2%. That's when the, the CPAs come in, that's your baby.

Now that's not mine. I love the idea where someone says that can't be done. I go, Oh yeah, let me show you. Not only can it be done, it will be done. And I came out of retirement, to run this business. I had retired at 53. I sold my first business and decided I was going to kick back and just enjoy life.

And my next door neighbor happened to be a urologist and also my best friend and my doctor. And I went in to see him for my yearly physical. And he's Oh, I really need your help. And I said, what is it? What are you doing? He said I developed a cure for PE.

So I did a quick cursory study and I found out that market was bigger than Ed, and I knew Ed was billions of dollars. I went, oh my God. I'm like, does this stuff work? He's yeah. I said, give me a sample.

Does it have a recreational component to it? He goes, Oh yeah. So I tried it. I'm like, Oh my God, this stuff is dynamite, so I came out of retirement and the goal was I'll come out of retirement for a year or two, get this thing up and running. Okay. 11 years later, here we are expanding. Not only do we have, the products for premature ejaculation, we have vibrators and lubes and products for erectile dysfunction.

And nitric oxide supplements for blood flow and the company's thriving and growing.

So I've really learned a lot because not having been In a consumer business, being in a high-tech semi is totally different than this.

So as a CEO of both companies, I can tell you it was a learning curve. Everything in my prior job was all based on metrics. It was all based on science. This is a lot of. Nuance and how do people feel and how can you bring it up without making someone feel self-conscious or making them feel inferior, so it's been it's been a real journey and it's taught me that there's no secret sauce that works in every single industry that you have to evaluate as a CEO, each company and say, what is it that's going to drive this one?

But there are some commonalities and those commonalities are ethical, hard work and communication. But then you have to look at your product. the people you're serving and then tailor your approach to whatever industry you're in.

So I use the same basic mindset of ethical behavior, communication, hard work, but then tailored it to an audience.

That is totally different. It's a very sensitive subject.

Gresham Harkless 08:44

Yeah, I love that. So I know you touched a little bit on your secret sauce and what you're doing at Promescent.

Is there anything else that we can find there? And you could tell us a little bit more on how you're making that impact for the clients that you're working with and customer.

Jeff Abraham 08:56

Yeah, it's interesting because I took a lot of criticism when I first took over this company and the company was doing 100 grand a year and we'll finish this year at about 13. 2 million. We're on target to do probably 18 million next year. Yes. 1800 percent increase. Yeah, it's not relatively short period of time.

So I looked at all of our competition and we have distinct advantages. All of our competition all fall into the category. They have these lidocaine, benzocaine-based sprays that you put it on and it sits on the surface.

It's a crystal and it doesn't permeate the skin. So we have a huge advantage.

The guy that Dr. Ronald Gilbert, the founder of our company, was a genius. He, along with Dr. Tony Capimacchio, change the crystalline structure of lidocaine from a solid to an oil aqueous so it goes subdermal it goes beneath your skin so the man maintains a much higher degree of surface sensitivity it doesn't transfer to the female.

So when I took over the company the gentleman who'd been running it prior was literally doing infomercials and all these stupid little 30 seconds, and every, and he had the product priced where all the garbage products were.

So it literally had an aura of, we're just like everybody else, and we weren't making money. And it was like, I looked at it and went, this is a chance to shine. This is a superior product. And the messaging is insane. It's absolutely backward of where it should be.

So the first thing I did was come in and triple the price and people go, Oh my God, you're not selling now. I go, because people look at it and automatically they go, it's one of those garbage products. Okay. I am going to make this thing really and truly pristine. I am going to make it where people see the value in it.

So then I went out and presented to physicians and doctors and got the proper patents in place.

And then the doctors are like, where have you been all my life? This is my biggest issue. Okay. If someone comes to see me for ED, I got Viagra, Cialis, Levitra. They run out and never see him again. If they have prostate issues, we take care of it. They have incontinence issues, they take care of it.

If they have PE issues, I see them every year, and they're desperate, and they're freaking out, and they're my most troublesome. This stuff actually works. I go, yeah, here's the science behind it. Then we did clinical trials. So the doctors were even more on board. So we approached it from a different aspect. Okay. We want to have the medical credibility. We have a medical advisory board, and I started on our website.

Gresham Harkless 11:26

Yeah, that sounds awesome. And I was wondering, would you consider this to be like what I call a CEO hack, which can be like an app, a book or even a habit that you have that makes you more effective and efficient.

Jeff Abraham 11:35

This company, this product, the exact same product was doing a 100K that will next year do 18 million. I'm no genius. I didn't invent something new.

I just positioned it correctly. I just went. We are doing what was happening prior to me was a case study in how not to run a business.

Okay, let's make sure that all the unsuccessful products that are already out there that we mimic them and let's price it and let's put it in a position. That where it will lead people to believe it's similar. So I wanted to make our company and our product elegant because it is, and it's a cut above.

So the marketing and the presentation had to fit the actual product. If anything, people are accused of taking a garbage product and trying to make it elegant. We had an elegant product and we were making it look like garbage. I was like, and so when people go, you're a genius, I'm like, no, I'm the tallest midget.

You know what I mean? This company was so poorly managed prior to be taken over. All I had to do was bring really sound fundamental business principles and put them in place. And I think it's my nature. That I was a big brother for seven years before my son was born. I love mentor. I love helping people.

I love I'm a good communicator, And it started to resonate because we had a lot of our doctors that would go on podcasts and stuff, and they were decent returns, but it was a problem because a lot of doctors are so impressed with themselves.

Gresham Harkless 13:05

Yeah, absolutely. I don't know if this is part of your CEO nugget.

Cause it sounds like the doctors, the previous person that was in charge of the company, they maybe knew a little bit more around the clinical studies and all those things. But I feel like you have a really strong sense on the human aspect of the product of what you're doing. And I think so many times we can skip past that.

We forget about that. But do you feel like that's like a piece of advice or word of wisdom you would give to other entrepreneurs and business owners to really understand not just what You know, it's important to understand what your product can do and not do as you all have on your site, but it's even more important to, I think, understand the transformation, the human element, that part that it sounds like you have brought to everything that you're doing.

Jeff Abraham 13:47

That is the key to our success. We understand the people that use our product. We understand why they're using it. We understand what keeps them from maybe buying it. So we try to, lower those barriers. We also really are in touch with what it does for someone, the benefits, the features, and we try to focus on that.

If all you do is look at statistics and studies, And I didn't dig deeper and pull back the covers and go, Whoa, whoa, whoa. This isn't just a product for people who have PE. There was a recreational component to this that improves even people without PE.

Let me tell you something. Over 50 percent of our business now is people who don't have P.E. People who literally just want better intimacy. I tell people this all the time.

Gresham Harkless 14:38

Yeah, that's huge. I appreciate you breaking that down and sharing that and how impactful that is. So what would you consider be your answer to my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. Our goal is to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show.

So Jeff, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Jeff Abraham 14:52

Being a CEO to me is keeping your eyes and ears open. Don't tell your customers. Don't preach. Don't think that more than they do. Listen. Okay. Take the feedback, solicit it, go out, study it. Give people what they want. There are so many documented cases of where someone thought.

They knew more than their consumer knew and tried to stuff something down their throat. And they found out the consumer is going to buy what they want to buy. The consumer is smarter than you about how they're going to spend their money. And even if you're smarter than them, but you can't get them to buy your product, you're still a failure.

So listen. Take the time. Like I said, check your ego at the door. My main goal is to listen. People had said to me when we developed, these, we have female arousal gel and we have ed price and everything. Oh my God, you're a genius. You went, I said, no, I'd listen to my customers. I've had people say to me, I was only lasting 30 seconds.

Now I'm lasting 10, 12, 20 minutes. I never needed to learn. I need some loop, develop a loop. Okay, great. Oh, that was genius. They told me I'm not a genius. I listened to my customers.

Gresham Harkless 16:06

Yeah, I absolutely love that. I appreciate you sharing that so much. Jeff. We're going to have the links and information as well. And the show knows your email so that everybody can follow up with you.

Appreciate your time and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Jeff Abraham 16:17

No, I can't thank you enough. I listened to some of the episodes. I was like, this is a great venue for us. This is the kind of venue we appreciate and I can't thank you enough for having me on.

Outro 16:28

Thank you for listening to the I Am CEO podcast, powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I Am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at blue16media.com. This has been the I Am CEO podcast with Gresham Harless, Jr. Thank you for listening.

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