0254: Sticky Selling, Simplified with Your Sales Maven, Author, Speaker, CEO Nikki Rausch

Hi, this is Nikki Rauch of yoursalesmaven.com and you're listening to EA interviews, EA.

Interviews, episode 254, inspiration, transformation, success stories and the imperfect action round. Seven days a week. Join Mario Ficcini for today's expert authority effect interview. Have you ever wanted to increase sales in your business? I know I have, but how do you do that? How do you do it where you're increasing sales but you don't want it to be salesy? Because I know that everyone loves to buy but they don't like being sold to. So how do you bridge this gap? I am excited to have none other than the sales maven herself, Nikki Rauch. On today's episode. She sold to organizations such as Hewlett Packard and another small little one called NASA. She's going to be sharing her insights with us right after we thank our sponsor. And every business needs a book, including yours. Visit freebusinessbookpublishingcourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction, lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that's free businessbook publishingcourse.com Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, Nikki Rauch. Nikki, how are you feeling today?

I am feeling excellent. Thank you so much for having me on your show.

Oh, thank you for your time because I can't wait to dive in and just ask you, what are all the secrets of sales and how do you increase business and all these different, different things. Because if there's one thing that I know every business needs, it's more sales.

Amen. I agree totally.

What do you think holds people back from, you know, if they set a goal, a revenue goal, a profit goal, you know, what do you think really holds people back?

I think one of the biggest things that holds people back is especially for an entrepreneur who is selling some version of themself, right? Whether it's their service or some product they've developed, is they don't want to come across across like icky and salesy. And we've all been on the receiving end of a really bad sales pitch and sales approach. And because we don't want to do that, we tend to really hold ourselves back because it's really about judgment, right? Like that person's going to judge me and are they going to judge me kindly or are they going to be like, ew, gross, I need to go take a shower after talking to you.

So you think it has more to do with internal rejection than serving who you're supposed to help?

Absolutely. I Think a lot of it is about rejection because we make up stories, salespeople, and really just people in general. But really, when you're in sales mode, I always say there's two things that are kind of the deal killers and their mindset things. One is that we project our limiting beliefs onto the person that we're in conversation with. And then the second thing we do is we hallucinate and imagine that we can read their mind. I know what this person's thinking. I know what they're thinking about me. I know what they're thinking, thinking about my product or my service, and I know what they can afford. And we make all of these crazy assessments that, frankly, it's really not your business what's going on in the mind of the other person, unless you ask in a kind way. But projecting your own limiting beliefs and trying to act as if you know what they're thinking can actually be a detriment. It's a huge rapport breaker because I don't know if you've ever been in a sales situation where you kind of felt like this person who's selling to me is kind of acting like I can't afford their service, and that doesn't feel good.

Yeah, I've been on both sides of the table because I remember years ago when I paid for sales training because I've always loved helping people. I knew I had a good product, I knew I was a good person, but I was just like, what? You know, I read a bunch of books. I was like, what is the deal? Well, you have to put into action, and, you know, you can't just wing it there. You know, there's techniques that work and there's techniques that don't. So I paid for a sales coach, and it made a huge difference. And.

I just remember being on the phone and he was like, you were clearly passionate about what you're selling, but you have no sales process. And at that point, I'm like, thanks. I think, you know, backhanded compliment. It's like, I don't know what to do to take this. So what can we say for the people that are in the same boat? Let's say, you know, they know they have a good product, they know they're a good person. They just want to help, but they. They're just kind of going all over the place because I've been on the phone with people trying to sell to me, and I'm like, wow, There was me 10 years ago.

Yeah, well, I don't know if you know, that Quote, I think it's the Lewis Carroll quote. If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. So I'm also a believer in a process. I teach a five step process to the sales conversation and it's called the selling staircase. And, and you know, you can have a sales process that involves like how many times you follow up and how many emails you send and what's in that email. And all of that stuff is important too. And when you have an actual real live person having a conversation with you, you also need to have a process. And you must know where you're going. You need to know what step you're on so that you know what is the next logical step in the process. And, and it's not a two step process. It's not meet somebody, sell to them. There's a five, there's a five step process and you have to follow all five steps. And if you try to skip steps often that's where there's a breakdown in rapport, there's a breakdown. The person that's in the, you know, position of being the client or the prospect gets confused, they don't know what to do. It's your job to lead them through the process. So I believe in a process as well.

Let's dive into those five steps. What's the first one?

So the first one is the introduction step. And that can come from your website, that can come over social media, and that can come from meeting somebody face to face. And in the introduction step, your goal is to make a positive first impression. You need to establish credibility. You need to establish that like, I'm interested in you as a person. I'm not treating you like your big old wallet, walking around like, I'm really interested in a connection and I'm setting myself up for success by making a positive first impression.

What if someone tries skipping that? How important is it? Because you said there's not seven steps, there's not 12 steps, there's not 20, there's five, but this is the first one. And I just have a suspicion how bad is it if you don't actually care?

Well, I think consumers nowadays, and you know, as people, we are much more savvy than we were years ago. And we're also skeptics by nature because we all have heard the like, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. And you know, all of those things. So I think people are much more savvy, they're much more skeptical. And if you try to Skip this step of making a positive first impression. People go like, shady, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I can trust this person. Like, something feels off here. So trying to skip that step and just be like, hey, I'm just going to show up and sell to you. And I didn't establish any rapport early on in the conversation or in this, like, first meeting each other, like, you're really doing a disservice. And the fact of the matter is we can pretty much get anything anywhere. And so do you want to be the person who earns their business or do you want to be the person that causes them to go look elsewhere? Where to buy?

Now that we've established the introduction and we do actually care, what's the second step?

The second step, and this is, by the way, the most missed step in the selling process and conversation, is being able to create some curiosity. Curiosity is such an important step to getting somebody to go like, tell me more, or oh, I wonder if that's something I need, or something that I'd be willing to share a little bit more about what's going on for me and I'll, you know, as the consumer, tell you more. So being able to create curiosity is absolutely crucial. And again, it's the. It's one of the most missteps because again, people go like, I don't really know how to create curiosity, so I'm just going to skip it. And that's a huge mistake.

Why do you think they don't know how to create it?

I don't think they've put a lot of time and energy into thinking about it. And if you don't have a lot of background in sales, oftentimes I find that people's impression about sales is that sales is something that you do to somebody, and that's a mistake. Sales actually is something you do with somebody. It's a conversation. And a conversation means that there's some back and forth that's happening between you and the other person. It's not you just talking to somebody and talking at them, it's learning how to talk with them.

And.

And being able to create curiosity is that way of piquing somebody's interest enough for them to ask you a question. Because through questions, that's where real conversation happens. And through questions, whether they're asking you questions and you're asking them questions, that's where we start to get to the heart of the matter, like, what's their need? What's their problem? Do you have a solution that meets it? And your, your job in sales is not to convince somebody to buy from you. Your job is to understand what's the, what's the problem, what's the want? And then deliver back a really simple, easy yes solution for this person to take the next step with you. So being able to create curiosity is a big part of that.

Is there a secret number of questions? I am sure there's too many and I'm sure there's too few. But is there a secret number or anything or is it just making sure it's in their best interest?

Well, I don't know if there's an actual secret number, but here's what I will say because once we move through some curiosity, step three is discovery. And that's really where you get into the heart of the questions that happen in the sales process. And here would be my secret to the discovery and the questions is that all questions should lead to hiring you. And one of the mistakes that people often make in the discovery process is they ask the questions that they only need the answers to once the person hires them. That's a mistake. They haven't agreed to hire you. So don't waste your time, that precious time that you have with them focused on the things of like, you know, tell me all of your past history about this and I need to know all of these things about you. It's like, no, actually you don't or I need to know where you want to be in 25 years. You don't need to know that either to earn somebody's business unless you're selling them a long term 25 year something plan.

So make sure concrete. It's about the only thing I can think of where you'd sell it this year and not need another one for two and a half decades.

Okay, so that was a good response. I love that. And if that's the case, then maybe that is an appropriate question. But I find most of the time in the discovery we're wasting precious time. And by not really understanding what's the need, we're trying to get all the information of how to deliver the solution to them instead of understand what's the problem and need and then deliver an opportunity to get the solution. So making sure that you're asking questions that lead to hiring you. So just an example of this is I don't ask people in a discovery process like do you use a CRM? Do you use, do you have a really strong 30 second elevator pitch? Because those are the things that Once people hire me, I'm going to need to know the answers to, and I'm going to work with them on, but I'm really going to ask more around the things that I specialize and do. So, for instance, you better believe one of my discovery questions is, do you know how to create curiosity when you're talking about your product or service? Because if their answer is no, here's someplace where I can actually help them. And if their answer is yes, I might not be the right coach for them.

I see. So I would relate it to me with business book publishing, where they might say, should I be on Kindle and print, or should I do hardback and softcover? You know, how do I promote it? And it's like, I don't even know if we're a good fit. Do you want help? Can you afford it? And is this something you want to do now?

Yeah.

And.

And do you have a message that by putting it in a form of a book, is going to help you establish your authority in the marketplace? Right. Like, do they have a real message yet? Or maybe you help them develop the message? I'm not sure. But making sure that you're not asking those questions, like, do you want it on Kindle format? Like, you don't need to know the answer to that question.

How many copies should I order?

Yes.

What's your book about? Who are you helping?

And I do have some sales questions, because part of it is, who are you writing the book for if you don't know who your avatar is? And you know, to your point, the message, you know, any road will work. I mean, it's. It's frankly not that hard to get a bunch of sheets of paper bound together with a cover and a graphic on it. But it's vastly different than when you're using it for business. So the qualification is so important.

Yeah. So making sure that in your instance, that the questions that you're asking really are those things, that this is why people hire you, your questions should be more framed around that versus the deliverables that come after they hire you. Now, if they have questions about it, of course you're going to answer those questions for them. But those aren't the questions you should be spending time getting information about. But you did bring up a really good point. Like, we do need to ask, you know, what's your budget for this? Or have you already thought about what you want to invest in something like this? Like, we need to know, are we talking to a buyer? Right. Because if you're not talking to a buyer. You're wasting your time and energy. And I always say not everybody is a client. And it's totally fine to bless and release the people who are not a good fit for your business or that you don't have the solution that's the right solution for them. Bless and release them. Move on. Don't waste time and energy trying to convince them that they need to hire you. That's. That's just not gonna build your business.

One of the most freeing things I did and it's. I'm not gonna date myself. But it was a while ago was realized exactly what you said. I don't convince anyone if they can't sell me. I'm kind of like, I don't really care.

Because I spent so much time going, you know, talking to a hundred people and maybe five of them. It's like the other 95 I shouldn't have never been talking to in the first place. And let me rephrase that because that, that was more comedic than anything. I do care. What I really do is look for someone I know I can refer them to. Maybe there's something else in my arsenal. I mean, it's one of the great reasons of having books. If they, if they can't, if they're not ready for the service, the timing's bad or can't afford it, or they don't think they can. Well, here's a bunch of books and free training and all kinds of other stuff I produce that will help you bridge the gap initially.

Yeah.

And that's something that's a reality too is maybe they're not ready and maybe it's better if they are ready. You give them, you know, four weeks of pre work or something before class starts, you know, so to speak. Because now you're going to have a much better time working with them and they're going to be at a different level just because of that. I produce stuff all the time that no matter what level someone's at, I found a way to help them.

Yeah. And, and not spending. I mean, the idea is not trying to again convince somebody and being really standing in your place of integrity and attracting your ideal clients. I know you had a guest on, I don't think it was too long ago where they were talking about that the focus should be on building revenue. And they were talking. I can't remember the guest name. So I apologize. It was a great, it was a great episode though. And your guest was talking about how it's about identifying your ideal client. And when you can really sell to your ideal client, how that will amplify your business. It was like, by 20 times than trying to sell to people who are not the ideal client. I love that episode, by the way. And that's really what we're trying to do, is identify in a discovery. Am I talking to an ideal client if this person isn't ready for me yet? Yes. You have solutions. And you do. You have, you know, all kinds of resources that people can take advantage of. And I do, too. In my business. I have a podcast. You know, I've written books and, you know, I've put out tons of articles and trainings and all different types of ways for people to work with me. And if they're not the right fit right now, sometimes a no, frankly, is just a not yet. And that's okay, too.

I'll tell a story about one of my author clients. She saw me do a book launch. She was excited. It wasn't. She signed up for discovery call. She passed the qualification to get to the discovery call. We get on the call, and I could tell she was excited, but it was just. I could tell something. It was like 95%. And I decided, I go, it sounds like you have a little bit focused. It sounds like you'd be a great fit, but the timing's not right. Would you agree? She goes, you know what? You nailed it. I got this, this, this, this, this going on. Didn't push it. Kept doing my thing. And five months later, the message I get was a picture of the credit card. She says, I'm ready now. Well, that was a hard sell.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? That's vastly different than me nagging every week on, you ready yet? You're ready yet? You're ready? Like, that's just not fun for anyone. I never really did it to that degree, but I know some people who do. And it's just like, I don't know. I just. I've never taught anyone that. I've never done that to that degree. I was definitely more on the spectrum of I don't. I would rather preserve the relationship long term than annoy you and agitate you and just go scorched earth over everyone I meet. And now that's my reputation.

Yeah. I always say, too, that I don't believe in chasing clients. I think when you chase a client, like, you know, you call them every week and you're like, I've got to stay in front of this person. I got to bombard them a million ways and a million Times, I think when you chase a client, they turn into a toddler. Just. I don't know if you have any toddlers in your life, but if you say to a little toddler, like, I'm gonna chase you, they don't even know what the game is, and they're off running. And I think when you act like you're gonna chase your clients, they're gonna run, too, because they're gonna be like, oh, I don't know if we're playing a game, but I'm gonna run because this is. Want to stand here and be, you know, he's chasing me, so stop chasing. And the way to stop. One of the ways to stop chasing is to be able to issue essentially kind of that closed language, which I know is step five. But if we've gotten to that far in the process with somebody and they're not ready to commit, you know, you ask them the question, like, is this something you'd like to move forward with? Or your example where you said, like, I get a sense that this is not the right time. And she's like, you know, you're right. You. You know, you hit it. Then in that particular case, say, oh, okay, well, when you're ready, please know that you are welcome to reach out to me, and I will be thrilled to hear from you, and I'll be thrilled to work with you. And now you just set up the relationship. I would say relationship, first, rapport, always. You set that relationship up where she feels comfortable coming back to you. Because I don't know if you've ever been on the receiving end of you having to tell somebody who wants to sell something to you that you're not ready, and then they act offended or like, how dare you not buy, like, what's wrong with you in some way? Right? And so, of course, when you are ready, you're not going back to that person. You're going to go find somebody else. And what you did with her was you left that door open. And you left it open in a really kind way where the relationship was still intact and she felt comfortable enough to come back to you five months later. Because she's like, I'm all in now. Like, you can't ask for better clients than those.

And that's really the goal. Because 20 lukewarm people, it's kind of like. Like, you said the toddler analogy. I've never heard that, but that's hilarious, because it's like, you don't want someone where it's like, you have to pull them through the process, it's like, I work with the top people who are ready to go. They just don't know the steps. Cool. Let me explain it to you. My team and I will work with you. It's cool, but I'm not trying to teach you publishing along the way. And then you're like, well, him and Hannah, but, like, that's not fun at all.

No.

And just so I'm abundantly clear. And also for the show notes. You're welcome, Jules. She's gonna get a kick out of that when she's working on them. But tell me step four again. I know we covered a lot in there.

I don't think I said step four, so I'm glad you asked. I kind of skipped it, so I apologize. I did what I tell my clients not to do. Don't skip steps.

That's all right. But I know we went from three, and then we're talking. So four would be.

Four is proposal. And that's where you lay out the way to work with you. And so once you've moved, by the way, to move from discovery to proposal, one of the key things to be able to do. You don't want to sell. When you're in the discovery process, the goal of the discovery is to really understand what's the need, what's the want? Do I have a solution for them? And then to move to proposal, I always say ask permission because it makes sure that the person is still in the conversation with you. And the way that you would frame that would be to say, you know, based on what we've chatted about, I get a sense that you're a good fit for one of the programs I offer. Is that something you'd be interested in hearing more about?

And then you wait, because now you're. You're getting that not only are they qualified, you know, like, you're saying discovery. What I was hearing is make sure they're qualified, because if they're not, there's no reason to give them a proposal. But if they are, don't think you're just gonna. Oh, great. So let's get started. Sign. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You can have some of that. Well, I'm still thinking about it. Perhaps.

Yeah, you don't want them, like, repelling from you because you didn't ask permission. And frankly, if the answer is like, I don't think I'm ready to even hear about your proposal yet, don't waste your breath. Like, don't try to convince somebody. Like, no, you must hear about My offer, because that's gonna break rapport. And again, as consumers, like, we're just. We're just not down with that kind of sales technique anymore. The people who come across pushy and aggressive, it just doesn't resonate. And so when you ask permission, you're showing, I respect you and I'm going to honor your wishes. And then when you get a yes, well, now you've got, like, here's the open road. Lay out that offer, Lay out that proposal. Do it in a really easy, simple way for them to say yes. And then you move to step five, which is issuing the closed language. And closed language is a yes or no question, frankly. And that's where you lay out the proposal and say, is this something you'd like to move forward with? That's the yes or no question. And you zip it and you wait until they respond first.

Now, is that easier on the phone or in person?

Well, for me, it's, It's. It's the way that I sell. Like, I am going to wait. But I will say, sometimes on the phone, you can't see what the person's doing. And, you know, like, all of us, we make up stories like, oh, they're, you know, freaking out right now because I just gave the price, when in actuality, what they were doing was reaching for their credit card. Like, be really careful about making assumptions, and people will give you clues. So when. When I say wait, I always think, like, you're playing the game of, like, whoever speaks second win. Every once in a while, you'll meet somebody who's like, I know what you're doing, so I'm just not going to say anything. Usually, though, that person will give themselves some type of cue. They'll take a big breath or they'll do something, and then you've got permission to, like, check in and go, you know, So I can't see you right now, and I'm just wondering, are you thinking about it or do you have a question?

And then I wait again. See what they say.

Now when you're going through that. What if they say, I need to think about it. I need to talk to my husband, my wife, my business partner, the dog, whatever. What do you do when you're. If you get to that point and they're still coming up with not rejections, objections.

And you know that they're just kind of making stuff up at that point because they've been 100% the last 27 steps or questions, I should say.

Well, I'm actually really comfortable with somebody telling me they need to think about it. And my go to response, and I teach this to my students too, is to say, great about how much time do you think you'll need? Let's go ahead and schedule a circle back call now on our calendars and then that way I can answer any additional questions that come to mind and we'll talk about best next steps for working together. And then I will offer a time see and get it on our calendars. And then before I'll let the conversation end, I'll say, now, is there anything that I could provide that would be useful for you to know or that you're going to need to have that conversation with your dog if that's who they gave us their answer, right. Or with your spouse. Is there anything in addition that I can provide? And I'm going to see what, what the answer is. And then when you have a circle back call scheduled on their calendar and on yours, what happens now is you don't have to spend a bunch of time thinking like, should I call them or should I send them an email or are they going to call like, no, we actually know so I don't have to think about it again. And 9 out of 10 times if their answer is no, I've thought about it and I really don't want to hire you. They're going to cancel that appointment with you. Most people who keep your circle back calls, like, you have a pretty good chance of closing that person because they are ready to get back on the phone with you. They might have one or two more questions that they need the answer to. And then you're going to issue closed language again on that circle back call. And if they're like, well, I'm still thinking about it now you have to decide like, is this person an ideal client? You know, do they have a legitimate reason to schedule another circle back call? And I'm not.

Now you're getting into the him and ha and just because if, if they come to you, they're all excited all of this. And I, I like seeing how people react because with my program.

If you say you're going to do something, you better be doing it because it's eight weeks. It's not like we'll get around to it when it's good for you. Well, I need more time. Well, if you need more time to, you know, my best students have the ones that made the decision on the call to get started. They get the best results when you're, you know, I'm a firm Believer in how you do anything is how you do everything. And if you need four weeks to make a four minute decision, decision, it's now. It's just not going to work. Because.

It'S just not. Yeah, and I, you're right, I do love that just as much. I go, you know what, it doesn't sound like this is a good fit. I don't even let them give me a reason. And a few of them have been like, hold on, that's not what I said. I'm like, fine, give me a reason why I should keep you. Twenty minutes later, they were all lit up and I was like, so it sounds like a yes now. Yeah, let's do it. You know, they sold me for 20 minutes after. I was like, it doesn't sound like it's a good fit. Okay, now I can sense your passion now. I can. And the reality was they just, it was all their other head trash that like you were talking about was playing into what they were doing. You know, who am I to write a book? Who am I to do this? That. The other thing. And it's not that they didn't have the money and they didn't want to, it was just all the other voices and once basically I lit them on fire. They were, they knew, they heard themselves going, I absolutely need to be doing this.

Yeah. You know, with my clients too. Like you said with yours. It's about like people who are able to make decisions in that kind of first call. I say this, and I've created a culture because I want my clients to really believe this. I always say implementers get results. You have to implement the things that I teach. And when you do, you're going to see results. And only implementers get results. So you can sign up for every program in the world with me. You can listen to every podcast that I have been on and had on my own. And if you don't implement, this stuff doesn't work, period. So implementers get results. I only like to work with implementers and I. And I tend to attract implementers because I say it all the time.

I love that. I love that. And you're gonna love the second half of the show, which were fastly approaching. It's called the imperfect action round. And guess why I called it that.

Well, you tell me.

But gotta take imperfect action because some people, again, perfectionitis. It's like, now it's gotta be perfect. No, it doesn't. It's gotta be really, really good. But you can't spend 12 months doing something that should take 12 days. No, like no one's gonna notice that.

Yeah, I'm a big fan. I'm a big fan of like you could attest things in the market, right? Like I put out offers all the time. I'm like, I'm just gonna see if anybody wants to buy this and if nobody buys it. Okay. And if somebody.

And it doesn't mean the offer is any worse. It could just be the headline or the copy that you used.

True. So true.

I mean, let's be be honest with me for a second. How, how different is your offer now than last year, the year before, the year before. And I'm sure you changed a few things, but at its core, it's not like you're offering painting lessons versus sales training.

No, my training as a matter of fact, the training that lives inside my membership, the sales maven society. That training is the training that I was teaching seven years ago when I bought my business or not bought when I started my business. It's the same training I've been teaching. It's just now it's housed in a different form. I'm not teaching it live. It's in there. You can go and watch it and have access to me for questions. But the content is the content.

Yeah. And that's the same thing. I have never skipped the. Well, it's a brand new year. We don't need a cover for the book. That's always in there. It's always going to be in there. The answer is six by nine if you want to ask for the size. So I want to know your biggest success story from someone that's gone through your training.

The one that comes to mind off the top of my head is that I had a client who we.

Her business was doing well, she's successful and she really wanted to amplify her business. Her business had kind of been built on referral and it was time to now do some business development. And we had it set a pretty big goal for her and worked through, you know, all the stuff that involved business development. Who are you reaching out to? What's the message, you know, what's the process? And you know, where are you, what step are you on in the selling staircase and how are you moving people to the next step? And by the end of the year she could attribute $100,000 in brand new business in the things that we worked on. She's one of my biggest success stories and I just was so. I mean, she's exactly what I said. Implementers get results. She was Implementing like crazy. And her business has continued to just grow, and it's been awesome to watch.

That's fantastic. And I'm sure her confidence is up just slightly also.

Oh, she knows. She. I mean, if you ask her, she's like, I'm great at sales. That might not have been how she described it when we first started working together, but she knows she's great sales. She's got it.

Yeah. Because when you understand the process and you, whether it's in your head or when you're starting, it's on a sheet of paper that you might have off the phone call that no one can see.

You learn it. Just like the questions I ask you here. I remember the first dozen or two episodes, I was like. And I literally had a sheet of paper like I'm on question, like I'm playing Battleship or like a F6. Oh, it's this one now. It's, you know, just have fun with it. It's a learned process that anyone can do, and that's what I think is so fantastic. And so few people do. But once you learn it, you know, I couldn't speak higher than having someone like you mentor someone and go through formal sales training that you invest in. Because if you're willing to make the investment off the gate, I'd say that's a pretty big chunk of it right there. And then you just keep practicing it, go through the steps, and it's shocking how you can, you know, like you said, add another extra six figures to your business this year. I don't know. You know, I'm sure your prices change and everything, and we don't need to say it here because all of that, but I'm just betting it's less than that, and no matter what it is, you'll get an ROI on it. Is that accurate?

That is very accurate. I always expect my clients to earn their money back very quickly when they invest in sales training. But again, implementers get results. You can. You can give me all your money and not do anything, and you will see no results. But sales training is that one piece of sales. It's one piece of training that I will say will serve you in your personal and professional life for the rest of your life. So I love sales. I love conversations around sales, and I love to be in conversations with people who really understand what's going on in the conversation and how to move it along.

Let me ask you this. I just thought of this one, and this is, I know, part of the sales process. And if you do online stuff, the guarantee. Do you, have you ever done an action takers guarantee?

You know, I haven't, although I'm not opposed to them. If it's something that you love in your business to have a guarantee, I actually have a client right now who has a $10,000 guarantee. When you hire her, she will guarantee you a $10,000 raise to your income. She's a career coach and she's doing awesome work with people.

Oh, nice.

So I'm not opposed to a guarantee. I think it's more. I don't do them in my business. But again, I haven't had to. It's not that I wouldn't, I just haven't had to.

Yeah, I remember the first time I heard about that and. Because when you're doing, when you're doing certain types of training, it's like you want the numbers in there to help more people and also probably for your own revenue goals. But at the same point, when you're not doing it one on one, it's like you can get anyone in there. And you know what I mean? It's like you're, you're, at some point there's going to be a higher percentage than working one on one. And it's like, well, what if they don't take any action? Well, how do I handle this? It's like, well, I'd first off, say give them the money back because if they're not going to do anything, you know, when they're in there. But I've seen people doing action takers. It's like, you can't complain about it. You didn't do anything. You've been in for 30, 60, 90 days and I can see that you've literally didn't even watch the welcome video.

Yeah, we can do this isn't on me too. Yeah, what's that we can do? I said we can do that in my membership too. So I can see when's the last time somebody logged in. What videos have they actually, you know, which training content have they gone through? And so it's, you know, when I have somebody who joins and then the next month they're like, okay, I'm leaving because I'm not finding any value in it. And you're like, you actually didn't do anything. And so in my, you know, my philosophy is bless and release. Like, I don't want people in my group that aren't going to at least dive into some of the training because it only works if you learn it and practice it. Like, that's how communication Works. That's how you get better at it.

Yeah. I'm thinking and I agree. And it's reminded me of the quote. I believe it was Henry Ford. It's like, everyone wants success, but unless it's dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Yes. I love.

There's been times, I'm like, yeah, I want the shortcut. I don't want to do this. But then, like, the next day, I'm like, well, this isn't getting me anywhere. Okay, let's do something.

Well, there's another one, too, about parking spaces. Like, there's a. There's a lot of parking spaces on the road to success. I'm not saying it right, but that. I always think about that too.

No, no, finish that. I have not heard this one.

Well, I'm trying to think of how to say it now. It was the. There is. There is a saying of like, there's. There's many parking spaces on the long road. On the long road to success. You know, like, the idea is that you have to keep going. But so I apologize. I'm not. I'm not.

That's okay. I like that. I appreciate. Appreciate the seed of that automobile. One as Henry Ford. It's hard to steer a parked car.

I mean, hey, we're not at the destination. Oh, really? I feel like I've heard that she's 20, 30 years ago, and it's just like.

No, but I mean, think about it. Like, we're not there. Well, what direction are you steering? You'd be steering in the wrong direction. But if you're not moving forward.

The car's not even on. You didn't even unlock the doors yet. You can't be mad at me.

I love that. I love quotes. So thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. Because I didn't hear the other one. I have one more thing before we thank our sponsor and go to the imperfect action round. Oh, that's a good spin. Look at that.

That is a great spin. Wow.

Sometimes I just nail it. And other times I'm like, gotta do it three times. Okay. This thing ain't gonna stop. But my question for you. This is the wheel of whatever. My question for you is, what is an organization or individual you would love to work with that you haven't yet?

That I haven't yet.

I mean, I gotta be honest. I think NASA's pretty cool.

I know. I have. I have. I do have an extensive background. I've worked with many, many organizations and many individuals.

I'm going to say that's a good question then I know it's a good one. I'm going to say I would love to support an individual and or an organization that had a pretty significant giving back component to their sales. I would love to work with that type of an organization and help them really grow their sales so they get bigger. Yes, exactly. Like Tom shoes. And I know there's lots of them out there, but I don't think I've worked with one specifically to help them on their sales side. And even if it was an entrepreneur that had this giving back component, I just, I love primarily working with, I work with men and women, but I love working with women entrepreneurs and I think they have this like, you know, servant's heart. They show up from this place of really wanting to make an impact in their community and I would love to work with one who is making a big impact to helping.

You know what? That gives me an idea. And this is another reason I love doing that. I mean it is for fun. But you just had me thinking of Christian Lafair. I had him on the show. He helps people start nonprofits in like record time. And I know nonprofits also need sales.

Yes.

And that also goes back to the contribution piece. I'm sure that he's got dozens of people that might not only need the sales component but would also, you know, you could start working with more of those types of companies because if it's a nonprofit, they're probably doing something charitable or I'd say there's a higher percentage of them doing something contribution and charitable focused.

Yeah, I love that. Thank you.

We're going to thank our sponsor and we're going to come back for the imperfect action round. You've heard me say every business needs a book, including yours, and it's true. And that's why you should visit freebusinessbook publishingcourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. But you know what, don't take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lori.

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Absolutely. I love imperfect action.

Three questions for you. 60 second or less response is what is the fastest path to the profits.

To ask for the sale?

Excellent. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way for them to fix it?

The biggest mistake is that they are trying to skip steps. They're trying to move too fast through the process, the person's not in it with them. And the path to success is to learn how to issue an invitation, know what step you're on, and how to move the person to the next step.

Excellent. Excellent. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Understand what the what the need is of the client and make sure that you are creating curiosity and planting seeds about next steps for the client throughout the time of working with them. So that when you get to the end of whatever the thing was that they bought from you, that it's an easy conversation to say, you know, my next recommendation, if you're open to it, would be to talk about this. Is that something we should talk about? Making sure that you're being really clear on that offer.

Very good. Yeah, the offer can make or break like we were talking about earlier. You could go to 100 people and offer them something. But if the offer is horrible.

Good luck.

Yeah, you have to have a strong offer. It has to be a good offer. And frankly, it needs to be an easy yes. So one of the mistakes I often see is people put up a bunch of roadblocks. Like you have to jump through this hoop and this hoop and this hoop even to get to the place where you can even sign up and pay me money. That's a mistake. Make it really easy for people to Sign up and pay you money.

You know, it's interesting you say that, because I can speak from firsthand experience. Literally, right now, there's been. There's someone in my inbox that wants to partner with the show. And instead of just like a click, click, click, like, fill out the form, the name, and all this, and we'll get the affiliate partnership and this, that, whatever. It's like, I gotta write a paragraph and this, that, the other thing. And I'm like, I get that you want to qualify, but it's been in there for a few weeks because I'm like, I'm going to need to block out more than five minutes to do this, this.

You know, so.

It'S going to happen. But again, with the sales cycle, you know, you could be doing three years of sales in one year if you just change that part around.

Oh, my gosh. I. I can't tell you how many clients I've worked with, where they will. When I say, like, let me understand your sales process, and we start breaking it down, and they're like, I don't actually ask for the sale until the third meeting. And I'm like, what? Why? You know, and it's like, well, because I feel like I need to do all these other steps first. And I was like, I feel like you're wasting your client's time. If they're ready to buy.

Potential client.

Yeah, if they're ready to buy, let's make sure that we're making it easy for them. Because the one caveat I will say to skipping steps in the selling staircase is that you, as the seller, cannot skip steps. But the client or the prospect, they can absolutely skip steps. If somebody comes up to you and they're like, mario, I've heard about you. My friend recommends you. I'm ready. I totally want in. I don't want you to say, like, slow your roll. We gotta go back to introduction.

We need to do discovery call.

Yeah. Now, if you need to qualify, that's fine, but don't slow that process down because you're like, oh, I don't know. No, take the order. Make it happen.

Yeah. And that's the beauty of creating assets and doing stuff and having podcast and books and speaking engagements and different things. Because it's like, there are people who will follow you. You have no idea who they are listening right now. Hi. Looking forward to meeting you. And they'll just show up. And it's like, I've been following you for weeks, months, years. Awesome. You know what I mean? It's like, you don't need to have 58 meetings or whatever. When they're ready, they're ready. Just keep, you know, you do you. And do it the best you can. You can.

Yeah. I've had two people in the last year tell me you were on my vision board. They had a picture of me on their vision board and then hired me. How weird is that? And cool.

That is cool. It's not weird at all because it's like when you position your, you know, I. I created the expert authority effect, and when you position yourself as like, you know, you're the goal you people want to get into, it's like, you know, you don't need to be salesy and all this stuff in between. It's like when you want to go on this special vacation, it's like you. You have that and you might not have the money right now, but when you do, it's even more special and you're even more excited about it. It's not. Oh, I'm just buying this thing from yet another person. No, no.

All right. I got to stay on track here. I could go off on a whole, whole tangent on that, but that's awesome. Congrats. Because that's what you want people doing.

Yeah.

My last.

What books would you recommend to Expert Authority World?

Well, I really love. There's a couple books I really love, but from a sales book and it's been out for years, is. Oh, my gosh, it just left my head. So I'm going to give you the other one and then I'll come back to it because it'll be there. I love the book Uncopyable. Have you read that?

I have not. I haven't even heard of it. That sounds great, though.

It's so good. Uncopyable. Built to sell.

Yes. Built to sell is great.

I love Built to Sell. And oh, my gosh, it's like, right? It's written by Bob Berg and it's the go giver.

I.

Yes, thank you. It was like completely left my head, but I love that idea of it. And it's what I do too, as I teach relationship sales. And I feel like that's what that book is about.

Yeah, that's fantastic. Where would you like people to learn more?

Well, the easiest way to learn more is can I offer your audience a download? I apologize ask you this up front. So the easiest way to connect with me is to download my ebook called Closing the Sale. And it's all about building confidence. And you can get this. This is my gift to you so you can go and download it by going to yoursalesmaven.come so this is for your audience specifically so your salesmaven with a v M a v e n forwards.come and you can get that and then we'll be connected.

Excellent. Well, thank you for that. Sounds great. And I'll also make sure it's in the show notes. This has been so fun. Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.

The pleasure is mine. And I know we could go into much more depth than everything, but if someone's listening and you're afraid of sales, talk to Nikki. She knows what she's talking about. And don't be. It's a simple process, just like riding a bike. You gotta have the tires inflated though, and you have to start pedaling.

All right, Expert Authority world. We have another great episode here today. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. God bless.

You're already the expert, but have you transformed your expertise into a tangible asset that will generate and qualify leads while increasing profit for you 24 7? And if so, how well are you promoting it? With the expert Authority Effect publishing method, it's easier and faster than ever. Visit freebusinessbook publishingcourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction, lead and profit generating business book book in eight weeks. Visit freebusinessbookpublishingcourse.com to get started. Now, once again, that's freebusinessbookpublishingcourse.Com hey, thanks for listening to today's episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show and also be sure to check out eainterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I'll see you tomorrow.