228 – Seriously – Take the Scary Out of Sales with Nikki Rausch and The Selling Staircase

Nikki Rausch, Author of The Selling Starcase

CEO of “Sales Maven,” an organization dedicated to authentic selling, Nikki Rausch has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of “selling.”

Today, entrepreneurs and small business owners from a wide range of disciplines hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically, without being pushy or “salesy.”

Nikki has just launched her third book: The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling which is available in print, ebook and as an audiobook. Her books are available on Amazon and where most books are sold.

Business Building Insights

  • When real conversations happen, real connections happen. That’s why it’s so important to focus on building relationships. That’s where The Selling Staircase comes in.
  • Raise your credibility by being the person people want to engage in conversation.
  • Make it easy for people to remember your name by telling a story of some other “memory clue.”
  • Be completely yourself and don’t try to mimic someone else. Let people see all those things that make you unique and special.
  • Selling is a process that leads from one position to another and it’s really important not to skip any of the steps.
  • Create curiosity so that people want to learn more about you. This is a way to gauge the true interest level of the person you’re talking to.
  • Invite people to do business with you as you progress up the selling staircase.

Resources Mentioned

Free Ebook – Closing the Sale

The Selling Staircase by Nikki Rausch

Gift Biz Unwrapped Episode 160 – Hello Corporate Business 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

Gift Biz Resources

Join our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community

If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you.

Thanks! Sue
Transcript
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Gift biz unwrapped.

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Episode 228 selling is a process and that's why I teach

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that it's a staircase because somebody is not just going to

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tumble down your funnel and give you money.

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At Tinton,

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gifters, bakers,

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crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

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Whether you have an established business or looking to start one

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now you are in the right place.

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This is gift to biz unwrapped,

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helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

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Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

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resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

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Here is your host gift biz gal,

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Sue moon Heights.

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Hi there Sue,

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and thank you for joining me here today.

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Before we get started,

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I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

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group called gift biz breeze.

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It's a place where we all gather and our community to

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support each other.

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I've got a really fun post in there.

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That's my favorite of the week.

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I have to say where I invite all of you to

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share what you're doing,

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to show pictures of your product,

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to show what you're working on for the week,

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to get reaction from other people and just for fun because

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we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in

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the community is making.

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My favorite post every single week without doubt.

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Wait, what aren't you part of the group already?

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If not,

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make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

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group gift biz breeze.

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Don't delay.

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Come join us in gift biz breeze today.

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I am really excited for today's show and to have you

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here from Nicki because once you do,

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you'll never think about selling the same way again.

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Okay? Who's cringing when I said Saleen?

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I can see you all the way over here tensing up

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a little bit and maybe even thinking about skipping this episode.

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Well, please don't.

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You can't ignore selling and think that it's just going to

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go away and let's face it,

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if you're in business,

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you've got to be making money and the only way you

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can do that is for people to buy your product.

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But what if there were a way to follow a process

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that doesn't include jamming your product into a potential customer's face

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or inventing a need when there really isn't one or feeling

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uninvited even when someone agreed to meet with you to talk

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about your business.

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Listen, I come from the days of quote unquote sleazy selling.

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I remember the times when business was won or lost based

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on the size of your entertainment budget and under the table

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deals. Ask me sometime when we're face to face and I

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can tell you stories that will make you cringe.

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That's why I'm so happy that in an environment today where

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selling can take on a whole new form,

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one of compassion permission and serving in an honest and friendly

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way. Want to learn how Pleasure to welcome back Nikki Rousch

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as CEO of sales Maven,

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an organization dedicated to authentic Saleen.

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Nikki has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of

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selling today,

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entrepreneurs and small business owners from a wide range of disciplines.

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Hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically

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without being pushy or salesy.

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Nikki has just launched her third book,

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the selling staircase,

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mastering the art of relationship selling,

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which is available in print ebook and as an audio book

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and is the main reason I asked Nikki to come back

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again because she is going to bring the goods right now.

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Nikki, welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.

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Thank you so much for having me back.

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So I'm very,

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very excited to be here And I was thrilled that you

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accepted my invitation because I approached you about this after reading

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your book.

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So awesome.

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Thank you for reading the book.

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I really appreciate that.

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Well, I get a lot of value.

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It reinforced and introduced me to some new things too and

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I know we're going to dive into some of those cause

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I'm going to be asking you about them.

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I can't wait.

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But before we do,

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I still want to reintroduce you to people who haven't listened

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to you on the first episode that you did with me.

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So I want you to share a little bit of who

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you are by way of a motivational candle.

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So if you were to tell us a color in a

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quote that would be on the candle that speaks you,

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what would your candle look like?

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Okay, so if you look at the cover of my book,

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it's set up with three colors.

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So when I think of the candle,

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it's going to be layered.

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It also fits with my idea of that there's a selling

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staircase and so things step up.

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So I see my candle as three colors.

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So it's like a yellow,

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a light orange,

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and then a darker orange.

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And the quote that would go with this.

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I want to say this is a Buddha quote,

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so I'm not totally sure if I'm going to get this

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right, but it's if one knows but does not do one,

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does not truly know because I'm really trying to bring in

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my life and what I'm trying to bring forward and the

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people that I serve is allowing for them to know and

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do things that are going to make a difference in their

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life. That really makes sense because I think people,

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you can learn something,

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right? So you can know what you're supposed to do,

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but if you never put it into action,

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you maybe really never know it and you certainly don't know

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the results that that action could obtain.

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Exactly. I like that.

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Okay. I have to say,

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and we did talk about this a little bit before I

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pressed record.

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Selling can be so stressful and scary to people.

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But the presentation of the cover of your book is so

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peaceful and so calm and the approach that you present in

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the book I think can be the overlay that we all

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need, especially those of us who are nervous and anxious about

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selling. So it just kind of like all comes together.

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Well, thank you for saying that.

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My goal is to take the scary out of sales and

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teach people a process that allows for you to show up

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and be your authentic self.

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And it takes the pressure off of you because you know

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what you're supposed to do.

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You know what you're supposed to say.

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And it allows for real conversation to happen.

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And when real conversation happens,

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real connection happens.

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And when real connection happens,

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people feel drawn to you and will want to work with

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you. They'll want to buy your products and they'll want to

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be in your community.

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So you make it sound so easy and logical.

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And that's the whole approach.

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And I know that the manner that you take,

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but have you felt like that,

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has this been your approach to sales the whole time?

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No. I started out as a dialing for dollar sales person

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in my career and it felt incredibly,

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like it wasn't telemarketing,

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but there was a component that felt like that and I

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was selling high end technology equipment into the corporate and education

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space and I thought I was supposed to sell like everybody

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else. Right,

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because they teach you that,

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right? They teach you a system.

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Yeah, but it's more about like here's a script.

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They gave us scripts.

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I have gotten to this place now with my clients where

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I give them possible language suggestions.

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I don't even call my stuff scripts because I always want

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to give flexibility that allows for their own voice to shine

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through. But having to follow a script where people aren't robots

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and when you're in a conversation they often don't say what

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they tell you.

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This person is going to say,

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you say this and then they're going to say that and

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then you say this.

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It just doesn't happen that way.

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And one of my biggest opportunities in my career,

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I moved up to the manufacturer level and I got to

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work for a company that I really had set my goals

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on and aspired to be a part of,

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which was Hitachi America and add Hitachi.

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I went into a position where there was already a really

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strong sales person who got promoted.

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And so I took over his territory.

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He's like the ultimate dude,

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this guy who was a great salesperson,

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but he was very guy ish,

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right? Like he was always about drinking and he was like

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fun. And he was kind of the life of the party

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and really kind of outspoken.

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And that was not my personality.

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And so I had to find my own way.

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It was actually a really good thing.

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I was so nervous about going into this territory because his

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clients had come to expect Kim and his personality and that

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didn't fit me.

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And so I really had to find my own way.

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And what I found was I could be me and be

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effective at sales.

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And my thing,

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like the thing that really worked for me was I started

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focusing on building strong relationships with these people even before I

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was trying to sell them anything or close any deals or

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I just started focusing on I really care about the people

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I'm in conversation with.

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I am legitimately interested in their wants and their needs and

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their desires and from the relationships.

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All of a sudden sales got so much easier and it

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allowed for me to let my own personality shine through,

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which I tend to fall a little bit on the introverted

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side. I can be quite shy in large situations like large

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group situations.

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And so it was like finding my own way and that's

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when it was really once I reached at that level of

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sales cause these were like multimillion dollar deals I was closing

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and these were working with some of the biggest companies in

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the world,

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some of the largest education buyers in the world and in

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the United States I should say.

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And being able to find my way and even Excel past

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what he had been able to do in the territory.

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All came down to,

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I've got to make it about the relationship because it takes

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the pressure off of not trying to pretend to be something

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I'm not.

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Yeah. And I think it's a breath of fresh air too

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because it used to be,

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I was in sales back then,

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maybe even a little bit back further than you Nikki.

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Cause I'm older than you,

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let's just say it.

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But I think you know,

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it was that more sleazy.

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I don't mean to say it that way,

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but there's a reason why that word is attached to selling.

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Right? And that was what you were taught and what you

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were supposed to do.

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So that guy you were talking about that doesn't fit was

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probably doing what he was taught and maybe came naturally to

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him. I don't know.

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But with you,

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when you entered,

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now you're talking about relationships and I know the whole groundwork

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that you lay everything on is a relationship.

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And how refreshing is that for you?

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Because you can just be yourself and still see success.

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And I also think that like if someone would try to

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mimic you doing what you do in terms of the exact

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wording, the exact mannerisms,

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they're not going to see success because it doesn't come natural

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to them.

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That's right.

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The point is,

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and what we're going to get into later is there is

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a process so that you can feel comfortable with sales,

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but you still have to be yourself.

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And the underlying theme with all of it is the relationship.

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Is that right?

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Does that make sense?

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Yes, totally.

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And there are people out there who are aggressive and who

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can be a little pushy,

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but at the same time,

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they're also very charming and that's because they are being themselves.

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But then on the flip side,

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there's people who are pushy and aggressive and it's off-putting.

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It's gross.

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That's because they're not being themselves,

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right? Oh yeah.

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When you're trying to sell like somebody else,

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when you're not being your authentic personality and letting your own

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way shine through,

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people might not realize,

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Oh, you're not being authentic.

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They just know something's off and they don't like it and

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it doesn't feel right.

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And it's like,

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Oh, this is uncomfortable to be around this person or my

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experience, and I've worked with hundreds,

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maybe thousands now sales reps,

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it's because they're not being their authentic self.

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They're not letting their personality shine through because I have worked

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with so many sales reps.

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I told a story recently where I talked about there are

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like five people who I've worked with in my career that

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I consider the best of the best when it comes to

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sales. They are so good at what they do,

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but if you sat them around a table together and ask

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them to like enjoy themselves at dinner,

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they wouldn't really want to be at the table with the

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other four people.

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They're not their people because their personalities are so different now.

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They do have some structure of the things that they do

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that work really well,

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but as far as their personality style goes,

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very different personalities now.

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It's not that they couldn't be at the table because of

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course they've got that ability to be flexible in their behavior,

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but they're not people like none of them and some of

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them even worked for the same company.

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They don't hang out.

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They're not like buddies.

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Well I think that's good news for all of us because

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there's success.

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If you are just your authentic self,

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who you are,

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what comes naturally to you.

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Yes, there's a method and a process that you can use

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but you still in the end have to be yourself.

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It comes off as so fake and let's face it,

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you may be buying and spending money on behalf of your

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company, at which point you're responsible for results of whatever you're

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buying or it might be your own money cause you're in

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your own business.

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Either way,

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if you're working with someone who feels off because they're not

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being who they really are,

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there's no trust that the money you're spending is going to

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be the result that you're getting because there's no trust in,

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I'm going to say the relationship.

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I don't know if that's what I would have said before

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cause it just doesn't feel right.

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Yes. All right.

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So I would love Nikki to talk a little bit about

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networking and let me tell you why I'm a big proponent

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and a lot of people who have listened to the show

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for a while know that I feel one of the best

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ways that people can start growing a business,

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especially as a maker or a creator is right in their

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own market.

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Getting in front of people,

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be it at a networking event,

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a local community event.

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I don't know,

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even a school of where you're starting to talk with other

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parents, whatever it is.

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But a lot of people are really shy about talking about

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what they do,

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especially as makers because we're putting ourselves out through our product.

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And so I'd love to chat about interactions and how you

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work through networking events.

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And I know it all starts with being able to introduce

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yourself and that first impression.

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And because I've read your book,

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I know you have some specific ideas about this.

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I do.

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So will you help us out here?

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Absolutely. So networking is such a crucial part of building our

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business. So everything that you're saying to your audience,

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I support a hundred percent agree with you.

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And I'm so glad that you are talking about this with

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your community because this is how you start to open doors.

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And so one of the things in the introduction,

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this actually is a missed opportunity,

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so I'm going to share it.

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I'm always surprised when I'm meeting people for the first time,

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how often they forget to give you their name.

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So it's like you meet somebody and you go,

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hi, I'm Nikki.

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And they're like,

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hi Nikki,

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nice to meet you.

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You didn't give me your name.

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So now I have to ask for it,

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which sends the signal to me.

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Oh you missed a social cue.

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And because you missed a social cue,

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maybe you're not at a certain level of professionalism and when

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you want to be seen as a professional,

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even when you're just talking to other parents at your kid's

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school, you want to raise your credibility in the room,

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right? Like you want to be the person that people want

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to be in conversation with or feel good about the conversation.

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And so when you make the other person have to take

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a bunch of steps to be like,

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Oh, and what was your name?

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And then sometimes that person that you don't give your name

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to, they feel shy about even asking you for your name.

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So make sure that you are saying your name.

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And even if somebody says like,

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Oh Sue,

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I want you to meet my friend Brian.

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I don't want you to just say hi,

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I want you to say hi Brian,

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I'm Sue.

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Because he might not have heard it the first time.

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Like make it so easy for people to even know what

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your name is like.

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That's one of the first most important steps in making a

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powerful first impression.

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Okay. So I love that because now that you say that

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the very next event I'm going to,

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which happens to be in like three days,

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I'm going to watch for it.

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And that repeating does sound a little redundant,

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but it also helps you remember their name when you actually

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say the name.

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Yes. Yeah.

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So embarrassing when you're introduced to somebody,

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and this happens to me,

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I'm so guilty,

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I'm so bad with names I have to really focus.

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But like 10 minutes after I've met somebody,

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I may not remember their name but resaying it does help.

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Yes. I actually teach a process called the name game and

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it's something I learned in my studies of neuro linguistic programming.

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And so it is about saying the name and then hearing

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it in your own voice,

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like hearing their name back in your own ears helps like

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cement in your memory.

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And then there's another little thing you do with micro impressions,

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which it has to do with you actually write the name

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somewhere on you.

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So for me,

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I always write it on my middle finger with my thumb.

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Like with my thumbnail,

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I write somebody's name.

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So not like with a pen on your Palm,

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but just,

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yeah, I just do it.

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Sometimes people will write it up with their finger on the

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side of their leg or something like that.

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So it has to do with the visual,

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auditory, and kinesthetic.

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It helps you remember their name.

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But the other thing is you want to help people remember

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your name.

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Like you say,

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some people are not great with names and 10 minutes in

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they've kind of forgotten.

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So make it really easy.

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And it's also okay to say to somebody,

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you know,

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like, I'm so sorry to ask again.

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Would you help me remember your name?

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Sometimes instead of saying like,

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I forgot your name,

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say like,

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would you help me remember your name?

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And sometimes they'll even give you some type of a little

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thing, like maybe they've made up.

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Sometimes people will say it's Sharon,

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share something.

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And then with an N on the end,

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it's Sharon,

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right? They give you a little thing to paint a picture

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in your mind about like,

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Oh, okay.

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So when I think of her,

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I think of sharing and there's an end.

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So now it's Sharon.

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It's just some way to help you remember.

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By the way,

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you might want to have that for your own.

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If you have something like sometimes I'll say it's Nikki and

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it's spelled with two K's.

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Just even like a little thing like that can sometimes help

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people. Good point.

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And I think if you don't remember,

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you should probably do that the very next time you see

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them versus waiting until a couple of times that you've met

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later because it's a big snowball.

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Right. And starting to build bigger and bigger.

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I also liked,

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and you said in your book,

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I'm pretty sure it was in your book,

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I think so that if you're seeing somebody the next time,

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like at the next event,

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go up and reintroduce yourself when you're shaking your hand.

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You obviously know you know each other and say,

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hi, I'm remember me,

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I'm Nicky.

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Or you know,

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whatever. Yes.

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Well I think we met last time.

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I'm Nikki,

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like help them.

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So anytime you can show people that you want to make

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it easy for them,

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it's the same in the selling process.

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It's like anytime you can show people I want to make

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it easy for you to be in conversation with me,

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they will likely want to be in conversation with you.

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Right. Perfect.

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Okay, so give this listeners,

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this is your homework for the very next event you go

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to make sure you're saying your name back and I think

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also will be interesting just to observe what other people are

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doing to see this in play in real life.

Speaker:

What Nikki's talking about in terms of people not doing that.

Speaker:

Cause then it makes you understand and it just reinforces the

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behavior for you later.

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Yes. I was just on an event yesterday where I kept

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having to ask people for their name even though I was

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introducing myself like,

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hi, I'm Nikki.

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Maybe like hi.

Speaker:

Oh gosh.

Speaker:

Now I have to ask.

Speaker:

This must've been a,

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none of us ever give our name event.

Speaker:

It felt like it honestly.

Speaker:

Gosh. All right.

Speaker:

And so you also talk in your book and I see

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this happening all the time,

Speaker:

so I'd really like to talk about it is when we're

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presenting what we do,

Speaker:

you talk about don't always present what you're not.

Speaker:

Yes. Okay.

Speaker:

So this is one of the things that oftentimes we want

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to differentiate ourselves and so we'll tell people like let's say

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that you do something that sometimes people have,

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like they already kind of have in their mind what that

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means, but you want to stand apart.

Speaker:

And so one of the biggest mistakes people make with this

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is they tell you all the things they don't do.

Speaker:

So for instance,

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if I introduced myself and said I'm a sales coach and

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trainer. Now how I'm different is I don't give a bunch

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of scripts and I don't look at how many calls you're

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making each day and how many email messages you're sending.

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I never told you what I did do.

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I just told you what I didn't do.

Speaker:

And every time you say that,

Speaker:

and I think I talk about this in the book too,

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I always say it's basically like saying to somebody like,

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I'm going to tell you something,

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but I'm going to ask you to not get this mental

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picture in your head no matter what I say.

Speaker:

Please do not picture a blue zebra with vibrant blue stripes

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like black and blue,

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like vibrant blue.

Speaker:

Do not picture a blue zebra with black stripes no matter

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what I say.

Speaker:

It's like we all now have a blue zebra in our

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mind, right?

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Right. You're so right.

Speaker:

So please be sure that when you're talking about who you

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are and what you do,

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that you actually say what you do.

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Do not focus on all of the,

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I don't do this and I don't do that.

Speaker:

I hear this a lot where people are like,

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I'm a financial planner,

Speaker:

but I don't talk about blah,

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blah blah,

Speaker:

and I don't talk about this.

Speaker:

And then you actually never said what you do do and

Speaker:

all you've done is paint a picture for me of what

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you don't do.

Speaker:

And now I don't even know what to talk to you

Speaker:

about. Yeah.

Speaker:

Plus I think when you do share what you do,

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you present yourself as more credible in an authoritative state with

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whatever your profession is.

Speaker:

Yes. So you make something like a handmade thing.

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Talk about I'm a maker and all of my stuff is

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handmade and as a matter of fact we get our whatever

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it is,

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like we grow this in our fields and talk about all

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those things that make you special and unique.

Speaker:

Just make sure that you're saying the dues and not the

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don'ts. Right.

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Great advice.

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Great advice.

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Okay, so we've learned that we need to make sure to

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say our name,

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offer our name up and then also when we're talking about

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ourselves, talk about what we do,

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not what we don't do.

Speaker:

Yes. Make a better way to differentiate yourself from others who

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might be in an industry similar to yours.

Speaker:

Okay, so give biz listeners Nikki's book.

Speaker:

We've already talked about what it is.

Speaker:

The selling staircase offers five steps on how you transition through

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a sale.

Speaker:

And I know if I asked Vicki to,

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she'd stay here for the next 12 hours and tell us

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everything, but none of us have that amount of time.

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So she's willingly agreed to go through the different steps and

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tell us a little bit about each one so we can

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get a feel for the process.

Speaker:

But what I really,

Speaker:

really want,

Speaker:

and I never ask you guys to absolutely specifically buy a

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book, I suggest it,

Speaker:

but this one I'm saying you guys have to get,

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I'm just saying it.

Speaker:

I feel that strongly about it.

Speaker:

Thank you So seriously.

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I think it's something for all of us and I've been

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selling for years and I continue to learn from you,

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Nikki. So I have no qualms about telling people to do

Speaker:

that. All right,

Speaker:

but let's talk then about the staircase.

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How did you get this concept if you already just been

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teaching it and now you're putting it down into print or

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what's happened there?

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I have been teaching it for a few years.

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It's really because oftentimes when people show up to work with

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me one-on-one,

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they may have been through sales training in the past or

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they may have been trying to grow their sales and they're

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struggling because a lot of times we hear about the sales

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funnel, fill your sales funnel.

Speaker:

Your funnel is such an important part of your business and

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coming from the background that I come from corporate,

Speaker:

absolutely. Your sales funnel is really important.

Speaker:

However, it's really about garnering leads,

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right? Like that's what your sales funnel is.

Speaker:

It's a lot of marketing activities and we've got to do

Speaker:

that to grow our business.

Speaker:

We want good stuff in the funnel.

Speaker:

We don't want the funnel all filled with muck.

Speaker:

No, please qualify those.

Speaker:

Get those good leads,

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get the ideal clients.

Speaker:

Actually, I'm a big fan of let's repel the people who

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are not right in the beginning.

Speaker:

Let's make room for the people who are ideal clients by

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getting rid of,

Speaker:

I call those time suckers.

Speaker:

And I don't mean the people,

Speaker:

I just mean that the efforts and the energies that you

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put in,

Speaker:

but get rid of those things and those leads that are

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never going to turn into ideal clients for you.

Speaker:

So you've got to fill your funnel.

Speaker:

But then people get the lead and they're like,

Speaker:

well, now they're just supposed to buy.

Speaker:

No, now you have to actually start selling.

Speaker:

And selling is a process.

Speaker:

And that's why I teach that it's a staircase because somebody

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is not just going to funnel,

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like tumble down your funnel and give you money.

Speaker:

Oftentimes they're gonna tumble down the funnel and then be like

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waiting for you to walk them through the process.

Speaker:

And so I started teaching and breaking it down into these

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five crucial steps in a sales conversation so that the people

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that I work with and the people that read the book

Speaker:

will understand what step in my arm and how do I

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move somebody to the next step.

Speaker:

Because clients often will not move themselves.

Speaker:

And most people think,

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well, they're in my funnel,

Speaker:

therefore now I should just go in for the close and

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you can't actually skip steps in the sales process.

Speaker:

I would say your clients can skip steps.

Speaker:

Your client can walk right up to you and be like,

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Hey Sue,

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I want to buy from you.

Speaker:

Here's my credit card.

Speaker:

Great. Take the money.

Speaker:

I'm totally fine with that.

Speaker:

But you can not walk up to somebody and say,

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I would like your credit card and I'd like to sell

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you something.

Speaker:

People will be like,

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Hey, crazy lady,

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I've never met you.

Speaker:

I don't know you are.

Speaker:

No. Well,

Speaker:

when we get that all the time,

Speaker:

like how many times did you connect with someone from LinkedIn

Speaker:

and all of a sudden you've gotten an email about here's

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the link to my stuff,

Speaker:

right? Or an email or whatever it is.

Speaker:

It happens all in.

Speaker:

It's feels terrible.

Speaker:

It feels terrible.

Speaker:

As a matter of fact,

Speaker:

I posted this in my community.

Speaker:

I have a membership community and I posted this message that

Speaker:

I got over the weekend from Instagram.

Speaker:

Somebody sent me a private message and it says,

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hi, my name's Ken,

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would you like to buy my Instagram course?

Speaker:

No, seriously.

Speaker:

And I was like,

Speaker:

wait, what?

Speaker:

You missed all the steps in the selling process.

Speaker:

So I do want to get into the steps,

Speaker:

but it's the like you can not show up and walk

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up to somebody you've never met before and be like,

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would you like to buy from me?

Speaker:

Because the answer is no.

Speaker:

Every time.

Speaker:

Yeah. Okay.

Speaker:

So tell me if this is right.

Speaker:

I'm envisioning a funnel as a selective process to get people

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in who are potentially the right person for whatever it is

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you offer.

Speaker:

You get them in the funnel and you were just saying,

Speaker:

so they go down your funnel.

Speaker:

So now you've kind of qualified them as somebody who has

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potential, but now they're at the bottom of the staircase.

Speaker:

So they're going to take step and step and step and

Speaker:

step and step and at the top of the stairs,

Speaker:

two cases of glowing light,

Speaker:

which is the sale.

Speaker:

Yes. That's where you're going to exchange money for product or

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service depending on what your offer is.

Speaker:

Okay. All right,

Speaker:

so we've got some people now at the base of the

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stairs. So the first step is the introduction.

Speaker:

Now, they may have been introduced to you because they're somehow

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in your funnel,

Speaker:

but it could also be that you're at a networking event

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and they're just meeting you for the first time.

Speaker:

So there are things to do in that introduction piece to

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set yourself up for a really strong first impression.

Speaker:

Now, if they're in your funnel,

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you might think,

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well, they already know who I am and they know what

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I do.

Speaker:

And that's not always the case.

Speaker:

So sometimes in the introduction is even people who have known

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you for 10 years,

Speaker:

you may still have to introduce them to the fact that

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you have a product or a service that they may be

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interested in.

Speaker:

So this is about setting that positive first impression and doing

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it in a way that isn't like,

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Hey, I'm Ken,

Speaker:

do you want to buy from me?

Speaker:

It's like,

Speaker:

no, it's the idea of being professional,

Speaker:

saying your name,

Speaker:

talking about what you do and who you are.

Speaker:

So it's totally that.

Speaker:

Just the introduction.

Speaker:

It's totally the introduction.

Speaker:

You say in your book that everything matters because an impression

Speaker:

is so hard to change once it's established.

Speaker:

But from the way you look on every point matters.

Speaker:

Yes. Everything matters.

Speaker:

Yes. I learned that in my NLP studies.

Speaker:

That was a great story.

Speaker:

My NLP teacher,

Speaker:

he used to always tell us,

Speaker:

and the baseline of,

Speaker:

uh, like the end result of this story is that everything

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counts. It all counts.

Speaker:

And so what you're doing and how you're coming across and

Speaker:

how you're showing up in a room and how your table

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is set up and an event,

Speaker:

if you're doing a trade show or whatever,

Speaker:

like all of that stuff,

Speaker:

it all counts.

Speaker:

So none of it is throw away.

Speaker:

None of it is like ah,

Speaker:

who cares if they see that things are a little bit

Speaker:

of a mass or who cares if I'm disheveled and I

Speaker:

look like I just ran across the parking lot and I've

Speaker:

got sweat pouring off my face and here I am presenting

Speaker:

myself. It's like no,

Speaker:

everything counts.

Speaker:

So take some time,

Speaker:

straighten things,

Speaker:

wipe the sweat off your brow.

Speaker:

Like be prepared so that when you walk in that meeting

Speaker:

or you walk into that room that you're on,

Speaker:

like you really are on.

Speaker:

For me as a cause I speak a lot when I,

Speaker:

as soon as I get out of my car and sometimes

Speaker:

driving to the event,

Speaker:

cause sometimes people are also driving to the event at the

Speaker:

same time.

Speaker:

As soon as I leave my house I'm on because what

Speaker:

if somebody is driving next to me and I'm not considerate,

Speaker:

I don't let them in.

Speaker:

And then they get to the venue and they're like that

Speaker:

speakers a real jerk.

Speaker:

Like she didn't let me in when the lanes merged.

Speaker:

So I really think about like it all counts and I'm

Speaker:

setting myself up for success from the time I leave my

Speaker:

house. I've been in that situation where someone that I thought

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was so nice isn't outside.

Speaker:

Now, my example is that we had a meeting,

Speaker:

we met and chatted and all of that,

Speaker:

but then I'm observing them on a phone like bashing and

Speaker:

an assistant.

Speaker:

Yes. And then it's like,

Speaker:

okay, then what I think I saw and the impression I

Speaker:

had isn't accurate anymore.

Speaker:

Right. And now it's like the trust is gone.

Speaker:

I don't know if I can trust that my first impression

Speaker:

of this person was accurate.

Speaker:

So now they've got an uphill battle to try to earn

Speaker:

back any trust that was lost.

Speaker:

So in the introduction,

Speaker:

again, just be presenting yourself the way you want people to

Speaker:

see you and make sure you're carrying it through,

Speaker:

whether you're in the restroom or whether you're talking on the

Speaker:

phone. If people can hear you or see you,

Speaker:

it still counts.

Speaker:

Same with your email,

Speaker:

the way you show up on social media,

Speaker:

like all of these things,

Speaker:

they count.

Speaker:

Yeah, they do.<inaudible>

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now you know how to make a great first impression and

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we'll talk about what happens next.

Speaker:

Right after a word from our sponsor,

Speaker:

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for more information.

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So once we've made a strong first impression through the introduction,

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the next step in the process is the step.

Speaker:

Actually, it's one of my favorite steps.

Speaker:

It's the curiosity step.

Speaker:

This is where you begin to create curiosity about who you

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are, what your product is so that people are interested and

Speaker:

open to hearing more or open to the idea of what

Speaker:

is possible for them when they purchase your product or your

Speaker:

service. So this isn't a brain dump of everything you offer.

Speaker:

No you to create curiosity.

Speaker:

One of the things I talk about is that you want

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to use the way you answer questions to drop a little

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curiosity creating statements.

Speaker:

And I call these here kitty,

Speaker:

kitty statements.

Speaker:

And when you read the book,

Speaker:

you'll get that in there.

Speaker:

But the idea is how do you answer some basic questions

Speaker:

like how are you or what do you,

Speaker:

do you want to answer them in a way that opens

Speaker:

the door for somebody to ask you a followup question.

Speaker:

So for instance,

Speaker:

right now if somebody were to ask,

Speaker:

and Sue,

Speaker:

you and I were talking about this before,

Speaker:

like we got on the podcast and I was asking you

Speaker:

if you are going to be attending an event,

Speaker:

you could just said no,

Speaker:

but you actually said something that allowed for me to dig

Speaker:

a little bit deeper into your answer,

Speaker:

which then allowed for me to have a little bit more

Speaker:

information about your business.

Speaker:

So you didn't say no.

Speaker:

You said,

Speaker:

Oh, I'm not able to because I'm actually attending this other

Speaker:

event where I'm speaking.

Speaker:

Well then I got to go like,

Speaker:

Oh, what's that event?

Speaker:

Or what are you speaking about?

Speaker:

Or now I get to as a potential consumer asks you

Speaker:

more questions about your business.

Speaker:

And that's what will happen when the listeners start dropping these

Speaker:

curiosity, creating statements.

Speaker:

So this,

Speaker:

like you said,

Speaker:

this is not an opportunity to word vomit all over somebody.

Speaker:

This is not like to tell people all the things you're

Speaker:

doing for the next six months or to outline every single

Speaker:

product that you've ever made.

Speaker:

This is just an opportunity to say something that allows them

Speaker:

to ask you a followup question.

Speaker:

And then is it also a place where you can gauge

Speaker:

whether they're really interested or not?

Speaker:

Yes, Because they will either ask you a followup question,

Speaker:

which is sometimes is what I call a buying signal.

Speaker:

So for instance,

Speaker:

if you sell a product,

Speaker:

and if I say,

Speaker:

Oh, how are you?

Speaker:

And you go,

Speaker:

Oh, I'm great.

Speaker:

We just were able to launch our newest scent and we're

Speaker:

really excited about it.

Speaker:

And I say,

Speaker:

well, what's the scent?

Speaker:

And you go,

Speaker:

Oh well it's this really delicious melon flavor.

Speaker:

I'm just making this up.

Speaker:

Cause that's what I would want.

Speaker:

And I would be like,

Speaker:

Oh, can I smell it?

Speaker:

And as soon as I say,

Speaker:

can I smell it?

Speaker:

If that's a product that you have available,

Speaker:

and I get to smell it.

Speaker:

And I'm like,

Speaker:

Oh that's delicious.

Speaker:

That's a buying signal right there.

Speaker:

So once there's a buying signal,

Speaker:

which happens in that curiosity creating step,

Speaker:

now we've moved to the next step in the process because

Speaker:

I'm going to issue the invitation to say,

Speaker:

Oh is it something you're interested in learning a little bit

Speaker:

more about this product?

Speaker:

Or you could even say like,

Speaker:

is this something you'd be interested in taking home with you

Speaker:

today? Right.

Speaker:

Like that's how you issue that invitation.

Speaker:

That's how you move somebody to the next step.

Speaker:

Okay, so this all makes sense.

Speaker:

And I guess it's practice to learn how to put this

Speaker:

into play.

Speaker:

Yeah, going back to your candle really,

Speaker:

because I could see now I get the idea,

Speaker:

but I'm thinking to myself on the fly,

Speaker:

I understand that I should do this,

Speaker:

but how do I come up with it all the time?

Speaker:

And I guess it's practice.

Speaker:

Well here's one little tip of how you come up with

Speaker:

it is you come up with your answer for the week

Speaker:

and you say to everybody who asks you,

Speaker:

how are you?

Speaker:

Cause then you are going to go to practice.

Speaker:

Now if you're saying it and you say it,

Speaker:

let's say you say it to three to five people and

Speaker:

they all go,

Speaker:

that's nice.

Speaker:

It's not creating curiosity,

Speaker:

so you need to change your answer.

Speaker:

Does it have to relate to your product or your business

Speaker:

or can it just relate to something in your life just

Speaker:

to deepen the connection of the relationship?

Speaker:

It can be anything you want to talk about.

Speaker:

My suggestion is that you try to keep it when possible

Speaker:

focused on business or product or service because that's how we're

Speaker:

identifying with people.

Speaker:

Is this a potential client or is this just somebody nice

Speaker:

to have a conversation with?

Speaker:

What does it mean that they won't be a potential client

Speaker:

down the road,

Speaker:

but I'm always checking to see like is this a potential

Speaker:

client? I think I might've shared this in the book.

Speaker:

I think I might've shared this story that I do.

Speaker:

These curiosity creating statements.

Speaker:

At this point it's habit for me.

Speaker:

Like I just,

Speaker:

if you say,

Speaker:

Nikki, how are you?

Speaker:

You're never going to hear me say fine.

Speaker:

I'm always going to have a like,

Speaker:

Oh I'm great,

Speaker:

this just happened.

Speaker:

Or Oh I'm great.

Speaker:

This is about to happen.

Speaker:

And it's usually business related.

Speaker:

Cause I love to talk about my business and I love

Speaker:

to work with ideal clients.

Speaker:

And so one time I was getting my teeth cleaned and

Speaker:

my hygienist said,

Speaker:

Nikki, how are you?

Speaker:

And I didn't just say good,

Speaker:

I could have if I didn't want to like have any

Speaker:

further conversation.

Speaker:

But I said,

Speaker:

Oh I'm great.

Speaker:

I just launched my newsletter.

Speaker:

This was a few years ago.

Speaker:

And she was like,

Speaker:

Oh, what's your newsletter about now?

Speaker:

She might just be having conversation with me.

Speaker:

And I go,

Speaker:

Oh, I put together a sales tip.

Speaker:

It goes out every week.

Speaker:

And she was like,

Speaker:

that's so interesting.

Speaker:

What kind of sales tips?

Speaker:

And so I think I'd shared like a sales tip and

Speaker:

then she was like,

Speaker:

she actually had her hands in my mouth and she was

Speaker:

like, how do I get on your newsletter?

Speaker:

I'm a big believer in using these statements everywhere you go

Speaker:

because you also never know who is an ideal client.

Speaker:

So she wanted to be on my newsletter.

Speaker:

Great. She got to be on my newsletter.

Speaker:

She's still on there today.

Speaker:

Or she may know somebody who wanted to be on your

Speaker:

newsletter. Yeah.

Speaker:

She may have shared it with somebody and said like,

Speaker:

Hey, check out this one.

Speaker:

I just had somebody recently come to me and I saw

Speaker:

an email that she sent and she was like,

Speaker:

I love this Nikki route,

Speaker:

and it was because somebody had shared my newsletter with her.

Speaker:

That's so cool.

Speaker:

But I also want to point out that you don't continue

Speaker:

going on after that either.

Speaker:

You just place a little sentence and that's it.

Speaker:

And then you wait for a response.

Speaker:

Yes. I don't go like,

Speaker:

Hey, you missed my curiosity creating statement.

Speaker:

If they don't ask me the question,

Speaker:

why not?

Speaker:

Because it's about building rapport and the relationship comes first.

Speaker:

So we always want to make sure that we take our

Speaker:

cues from the other person.

Speaker:

If somebody is not interested in talking about what I do

Speaker:

or sales Maven or my newest book,

Speaker:

I'm totally fine with just continuing the conversation.

Speaker:

Like I love to talk to people and I'm fine with

Speaker:

just talking about them and their kids and I'm also fine

Speaker:

talking about the weather or where they're going on vacation.

Speaker:

All of that is fine,

Speaker:

So you need to get approval to go up the steps

Speaker:

You do.

Speaker:

If someone doesn't latch on to your curiosity statement,

Speaker:

then you're just staying at step two.

Speaker:

You're just chatting.

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That's it.

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Yes. Okay.

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Now I'll probably drop another curiosity creating statement at some point

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if I think there is some potential.

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Now, if I'm standing there talking to somebody and they're not

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picking any of my curiosity,

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creating statements up,

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they're not asking any questions about my business,

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but I kind of suspect that they could be a client.

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I might ask at some point like,

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Hey, is it okay to ask?

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Would you ever be interested in talking more about what I

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do at sales Maven?

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I'm going to ask that question because if they're like,

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no, great,

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now I know and I'm moving on in the conversation,

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or maybe I'm just moving on and going to talk to

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somebody else.

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And not that there's anything wrong with that person,

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but if they're not an ideal client and I'm considering this

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a networking event or this is like they're never going to

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give me their business,

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great. And if they change their mind and come back later,

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I'll be happy to hear from them.

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But I'm not going to chase people that don't want to

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buy from me.

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Ken, my example from earlier,

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he's never going to get my business and it doesn't matter

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how much he chases me,

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the answer is always going to be no,

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because he did a terrible job and starting,

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he went right from step zero to step five of like,

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do you want to buy from me?

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And I was like,

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no. And you don't get to skip steps.

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Right. And I think a lot of people would be fearful

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of doing what you just were explaining Nikki,

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because they're afraid they're going to get the no.

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And if there's one thing that I've learned is a no

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is second best to a yes because then you know you

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know where to stand and you can move on versus pretending

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like maybe they're going to be Yes.

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Like do not spend time and energy trying to convince people

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to buy from you.

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I really do believe that in our society nowadays we are

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savvy and we're skeptical and we also know that there's a

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lot of choices on how to get our wants and needs

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and desires met.

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So if somebody is not interested,

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it's not your job to try to convince them.

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And as a matter of fact,

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you see this all over social media,

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right? We unfollow and we unfriend people who have differing points

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of view than us nowadays we don't even like,

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well I don't even want to tolerate that.

Speaker:

If you think you're going to convince somebody who's not interested

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to buy from you,

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you are wasting your time,

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energy and breath And then you might be missing an opportunity

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with the very next person who could be so ready.

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Yes. Cause you wasted all this time and energy on somebody.

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And now you feel disheartened or now you feel like,

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man, I've been chasing that person for six months and they

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finally told me like,

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go kick rocks.

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Leave me alone.

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Never contact me again.

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It's like,

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no, you should have known that sooner.

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You should have walked away from that a lot sooner because

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it should never get to the point where somebody is telling

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you like buzz off.

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Right. Well and I think that goes to the fact that

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sometimes we feel like there's such a finite group of prospects

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that are available.

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If we're in a networking meeting,

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it's only these people,

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I need a sale this week,

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it's gotta be here somewhere.

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Versus okay,

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maybe none of these people really are in a position.

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Where else are you going to go to find people and

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put yourself in a position where there is a whole group

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of them who are,

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Yes, there's plenty of business to go around and if you're

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not finding business now,

Speaker:

if you feel like nobody's interested in my product or my

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service, my guess is,

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and this is what I know to be true cause I

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work with these clients all the time,

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it's because they don't know how to create curiosity about their

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product. It isn't that nobody wants to buy from them,

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it's that they don't know how to create curiosity and because

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they don't know how to create curiosity,

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they never really even get a chance.

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They never get an opportunity to talk about their product or

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service. I agree with you there and I also now know

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and understand why curiosity is one of your favorite steps.

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Yeah, I love it.

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Yeah, because you really just get to it,

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but in a very subtle way.

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Yes. It doesn't have to be aggressive.

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It doesn't have to be a pushy.

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Again, it allows for your personality come through.

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It allows for you to test the waters to see am

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I talking to somebody who's potentially interested or are we just

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having a nice conversation and knowing where you are in the

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process and where you are in a conversation is really quite

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satisfying to you.

Speaker:

And also it is confidence building.

Speaker:

Yeah, I get that.

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Okay, so they were interested and they asked another question,

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then what happens?

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Do we get to move on to step three or do

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we stay at step two for awhile We moved,

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no we move.

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We definitely start to move.

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So we moved and now step three is the discovery process.

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The discovery process could be and all of these steps by

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the way can happen in one conversation and sometimes they take

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multiple conversations.

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So one of the situations that you brought up Sue,

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before we jumped on the podcast was we talked about going

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after a corporate clients for instance.

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Is it okay if I give the example around like if

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you are going after a corporate client and how do you

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use discovery?

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Yes. I actually want to make a comment and point that

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out here because this is a big topic in my maker's

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MBA program because I have a lot of people,

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Nikki and I'm just kind of staging this for everybody,

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that the next step for them to really grow their business

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is to get corporate accounts.

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And for some reason people feel like there's such a barrier

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or they want to go in and just think because they

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don't know any better,

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that automatically that first bigger,

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larger appointment is a presentation of everything that they do.

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And that's where you come in to direct us with these

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steps and what we should be doing.

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So people who were in maker's MBA,

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this is what I was talking about,

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cause I already told them I was going to be talking

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to you Nikki,

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but I just wanted to make that point so they catch

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it right here.

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And gift biz listeners,

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all of you,

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this is golden.

Speaker:

So Nikki,

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share it with us.

Speaker:

So, especially in your corporate accounts,

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if you go in,

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set up this big dog and pony show and just demonstrate

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your product and you haven't done any discovery,

Speaker:

oftentimes what happens is you talk them out of hiring you

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because you focus on the things that are not important to

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that person.

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And believe me,

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you think you're selling to corporate,

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you are selling to people,

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right? Like the person in the room.

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Now, they may not be the decision maker,

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but you still have to get to that point where you

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understand what's important to them,

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what kind of information do they need.

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So the discovery process is an opportunity for you to understand

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what's their want,

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what's their need,

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what's their struggle like,

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what's the problem?

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And it's also an opportunity for you to ask questions that

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lead people to want to go to the next step with

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you. Which step four is proposals.

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We'll talk about that here in a minute.

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But in the discovery,

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if you're missing this,

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if you're going right from creating curiosity to going in and

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doing a big dog and pony show and laying out all

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of your product and never asking any questions,

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then oftentimes they'll make assumptions about what the product means or

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how they will or will not use it and they'll make

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a decision really quickly.

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So be sure that you're doing a great discovery and understanding.

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Now that can happen in a conversation like a phone conversation

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before you get in the room with them,

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or it may need to happen in the first few minutes

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when you're in the room with them.

Speaker:

Not to say that you can't have your product there to

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show, but if you lead right with product right away and

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you don't take any time to ask questions,

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oftentimes you will miss the things you need to talk about

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in order to earn their business.

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Can I jump in here and also tell you something that

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is a total turnoff that I see happen?

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Yes, please.

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Okay. Is people will come in and assume they know more

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about the client's industry.

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Then the person who's actually in that job,

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right? So they'll want to tell them all about the banking

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industry, for example.

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But that's not their industry.

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So they are limiting the credibility of the person that they're

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talking to and really insulting them by telling them about their

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job. And they're probably wrong.

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Well, even if you're not wrong,

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even if there's a part of what you're saying is true

Speaker:

any time,

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think about this in your own life.

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Do you want people to tell you all the things they

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know about you that are true?

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Get feels so off putting.

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It's like if somebody shows up and they're like,

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Sue, this is what you think.

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This is how you do what you do and that.

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And you'd be like,

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excuse me,

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I'm a whole person.

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And you don't know how.

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I think.

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So what it does is it triggers people's polarity responses when

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you do that,

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and they draw a line in the sand and they want

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to take the opposite of anything you say.

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So they'll want to correct you and that they'll feel dismissed

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by you.

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And also again,

Speaker:

one of the biggest mistakes that salespeople often make is we

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show up and we act as if we can read people's

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minds and nobody wants to feel like you are telling them

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what they think and what they do.

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Mm, that's good.

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So this again is why you want to start with some

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questions, be curious,

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show up with this curious nature of finding out what is

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most important to you and ask great questions.

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One of my favorite questions to ask in a discovery process

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is what's important to you in regards to,

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and then insert your context.

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So for me,

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if I was going to go in and talk to a

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corporate account that needed some sales training,

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I would say so what's important to you regarding the sales

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training that you provide to your team and what do you

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most want to get out of it?

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Yeah, because the answer to that question is going to allow

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for me at some point.

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If I get permission to move to the proposal,

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I'm going to use that information in my proposal to demonstrate

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how I can meet that need,

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what's important to them.

Speaker:

Would you also requalify it?

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Like let's say you got to the discovery stare in a

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networking meeting cause it just happened that way.

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The conversation went that way.

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Now someone's coming in to a meeting potentially.

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Would it make sense then to confirm that that's still the

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most important thing when we met last,

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this is what you said was most important to you.

Speaker:

Is it still that way because two days prior something totally

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could have changed.

Speaker:

Yeah. And so how I might even phrase that to them

Speaker:

is last we spoke,

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you had mentioned this,

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this and this.

Speaker:

I just want to check in and see has anything changed

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or is there anything about that you'd like to revise?

Speaker:

You're so good with scripting.

Speaker:

Thank you.

Speaker:

Even though I know we're not supposed to use scripting,

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but the way you phrase things is just so perfect.

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Well sometimes it's nice to have something to start with,

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right? Because as one of your listeners might go like,

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Oh, I'd never say it the way Nikki said it.

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That's okay.

Speaker:

Take what I said and tweak it to where it feels

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comfortable coming out of your mouth.

Speaker:

And I do that for clients all day long,

Speaker:

like when I'm working with my clients privately,

Speaker:

a lot of times they'll go,

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Nikki, I don't think I could say that.

Speaker:

I'm like,

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great, how about this?

Speaker:

How about this?

Speaker:

How about this?

Speaker:

I'll just keep working until I get something that they're like,

Speaker:

yeah, I could totally say that.

Speaker:

That still has that same feel to it.

Speaker:

That still is going to land to the other person in

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that way.

Speaker:

What we're always trying to do is make sure that our

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statements land in a way that leaves the person wanting to

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stay engaged with us.

Speaker:

Got it.

Speaker:

Okay. I'm with you.

Speaker:

We've done intro curiosity,

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discovery. Yes,

Speaker:

so now once we've gone through the discovery,

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one of the things I like to do in a discovery

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process is I might say to the person,

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based on the information that you've shared so far,

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I do see a few possible ways that we could work

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together. Now are you interested in talking about that?

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Or I might say,

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would you be interested in me putting together a proposal for

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you So you ask a question?

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I'm going to ask permission before I launch right into the

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sale. Cause if I go from discovery and this happens,

Speaker:

I just had this with a client where she was sharing

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with me a discovery call that she had.

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But every time she would ask a question,

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she would ask one question,

Speaker:

the client would answer and she'd start selling and then she

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asked another question.

Speaker:

The client would answer and she'd sell some more.

Speaker:

And that's a missed up in the selling process.

Speaker:

You've got to ask the questions,

Speaker:

get an idea of what do you need to know in

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order to propose something to them.

Speaker:

And then you propose you don't muddy the waters by doing

Speaker:

this like back and forth,

Speaker:

back and forth.

Speaker:

Cause then you do come across salesy.

Speaker:

And oftentimes you're not asking all the information that you need

Speaker:

in order to make a thorough and proper proposal to them.

Speaker:

Like you're not recommending the right product because you're taking one

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answer to one question and selling based on that.

Speaker:

Well and I'm thinking then that you also probably have multiple

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products that you could select from that would be the right

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solution. So you're really asking a bunch of questions to truly

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determine what it is you should be proposing.

Speaker:

Yes, you have to narrow it down.

Speaker:

I always say you can never give somebody more than three

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options. Even if you have,

Speaker:

I don't care if you have a hundred skews of product,

Speaker:

you cannot present more than three options to a client unless

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they've specifically given you permission to do that.

Speaker:

You'll overwhelm them.

Speaker:

You'll cause them to go into this place of indecision,

Speaker:

which is not good for you in the selling process.

Speaker:

So go through the discovery check to be sure that you

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have permission to put together a proposal or to actually propose

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product. And then once they've said yes to that,

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now we're in the proposal phase.

Speaker:

So for those of you who are going into corporate accounts,

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a lot of times you will need to go back to

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your office and put together a proposal.

Speaker:

So one of the steps you want to make sure that

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you do not miss is you get permission at the end

Speaker:

of that meeting to put together a proposal before you leave

Speaker:

that meeting.

Speaker:

You say to them all have that proposal to you by

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and you give like a date.

Speaker:

If it takes a day or a week or whatever it

Speaker:

takes for you to put it together.

Speaker:

And then you say,

Speaker:

now let's go ahead and schedule a circle back call so

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we can review the proposal together,

Speaker:

answer any additional questions that you have and then talk about

Speaker:

next steps of us working together.

Speaker:

Do not leave the meeting without trying to schedule at least

Speaker:

attempting to schedule that next time to review the proposal.

Speaker:

Because if you miss it,

Speaker:

you may give a proposal to them and they'll never even

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look at it.

Speaker:

Or it'll postpone the decision like sometimes months,

Speaker:

sometimes years because the,

Speaker:

you never get moved back on their to do list.

Speaker:

You never get high enough on their to do list for

Speaker:

them to actually make a decision.

Speaker:

So by giving that date and having it scheduled on their

Speaker:

calendar to review the proposal,

Speaker:

this actually gives them a really easy timeframe of when they

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need to review it.

Speaker:

Right. And I'm thinking then also if they don't review it,

Speaker:

if they haven't had the time,

Speaker:

they can still pull it up and you can go through

Speaker:

the key elements that you know are the most important points.

Speaker:

Exactly. Yes.

Speaker:

I know it's going to happen from time to time,

Speaker:

but does this help eliminate the issue where you're trying to

Speaker:

get back in touch with them and then you just get

Speaker:

pushed off and you never get to talk to them?

Speaker:

Yeah, they start ghosting you.

Speaker:

Yeah, so a lot of that is,

Speaker:

it's not necessarily because they're not interested.

Speaker:

It could just be because they're busy and most of us

Speaker:

nowadays, we live and breathe our calendars.

Speaker:

Like my whole world revolves around my calendar and if you're

Speaker:

not on my calendar,

Speaker:

if you just call me out of the blue and say

Speaker:

like, Hey Nikki,

Speaker:

how are you?

Speaker:

Do you have five minutes to talk to me?

Speaker:

I'm never even going to pick that phone up because I

Speaker:

don't have just five minutes of my day randomly to answer

Speaker:

the phone.

Speaker:

So the reason you want to be on their calendar is

Speaker:

because now that's scheduled time for them to think about this,

Speaker:

ask questions,

Speaker:

make some decisions,

Speaker:

and you're actually making it super easy for them by being

Speaker:

on their calendar because when the calendar invite comes up for

Speaker:

them and they're like,

Speaker:

Oh, I'm talking to Sue today,

Speaker:

they're ready.

Speaker:

Right. And I think one of the things you also talk

Speaker:

about is when you're scheduling a time,

Speaker:

you don't just leave it open-ended.

Speaker:

No, you offer some specific times because it's way easier for

Speaker:

them to respond.

Speaker:

Yes. I love the idea of giving people windows of time

Speaker:

and I always suggest giving three windows.

Speaker:

And what I mean by that is saying,

Speaker:

and so this is like if I'm trying to schedule a

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time in an email,

Speaker:

I might say in case you like this idea,

Speaker:

here are a few possible times for us to jump on

Speaker:

a quick call and I'll say Monday,

Speaker:

any time between 11 and two and then I give windows

Speaker:

of time and I do it three times.

Speaker:

And the reason for that is because again,

Speaker:

like you said,

Speaker:

it makes it really easy for them to look at their

Speaker:

calendar, go,

Speaker:

Oh, I actually do have time at 1245 that I kick

Speaker:

it on a call with you.

Speaker:

Perfect. Yep.

Speaker:

And so then you review the proposal.

Speaker:

Yes. You answer any questions,

Speaker:

all of that.

Speaker:

Am I seeing that shining light on the top Yet of

Speaker:

the last step or is there anything else we need to

Speaker:

talk about in the proposal?

Speaker:

Yeah. Once you've reviewed the proposal,

Speaker:

now the idea is you do go in for the close.

Speaker:

So you've reviewed the proposal,

Speaker:

you've answered their questions and said,

Speaker:

great. So now that we've reviewed this,

Speaker:

based on this,

Speaker:

are you ready to move forward?

Speaker:

That's the invitation to go in for the close.

Speaker:

So it's direct.

Speaker:

That's direct Nikki?

Speaker:

Yes. Okay.

Speaker:

Yes. As once you're in that proposal,

Speaker:

like clothes.

Speaker:

And the fifth step by the way,

Speaker:

just to call it out,

Speaker:

is the clothes.

Speaker:

So once you're in that proposal and moving into the close

Speaker:

step, you have to take the lead.

Speaker:

This is your job to move the people to the next

Speaker:

step, which means you have to get the language out of

Speaker:

your mouth.

Speaker:

You can not say like,

Speaker:

okay, well we've reviewed the proposal.

Speaker:

Okay. So yeah,

Speaker:

like you can't know you're interested.

Speaker:

No, no,

Speaker:

no. It has to be like,

Speaker:

okay, so we've reviewed the proposal.

Speaker:

I get a sense that the best option for you is

Speaker:

option one.

Speaker:

Should we go ahead and schedule that now or should we

Speaker:

go ahead and get that?

Speaker:

Whatever that next step is.

Speaker:

Sometimes it's issuing a purchase order.

Speaker:

If you're selling product,

Speaker:

find out what that next step is and get that scheduled.

Speaker:

So sometimes it's like,

Speaker:

are you ready to move forward?

Speaker:

And they say yes and you go,

Speaker:

great. How would you like to pay for that?

Speaker:

So you always get to the next step?

Speaker:

I do.

Speaker:

Yeah. If you miss that,

Speaker:

if you're like,

Speaker:

well let me know.

Speaker:

Cause they might say,

Speaker:

well, well now that we've reviewed the proposal,

Speaker:

we need to think about it.

Speaker:

Oh you know,

Speaker:

they do.

Speaker:

People do that all the time.

Speaker:

Yeah. So guess what I'm going to say?

Speaker:

I know.

Speaker:

Let me guess.

Speaker:

Can I guess?

Speaker:

Yes, please.

Speaker:

You're going to say wonderful.

Speaker:

How long do you think that will take?

Speaker:

And they'll say,

Speaker:

Oh, probably the week.

Speaker:

Okay, let's pull out our calendars and set a follow up

Speaker:

date. That's right.

Speaker:

I'm going to schedule another circle back call.

Speaker:

Okay. Yeah,

Speaker:

for sure.

Speaker:

See, I'm learning from you.

Speaker:

You're doing so that was great.

Speaker:

So yes,

Speaker:

I go,

Speaker:

great. How long do you think you'd need to think about

Speaker:

it? Let's go ahead and schedule another call,

Speaker:

so at that point we'll make a decision.

Speaker:

We're either working together or we're not.

Speaker:

Sometimes I say that as direct as that because I've got

Speaker:

a preframe for them.

Speaker:

The idea is that you're going to make a decision.

Speaker:

Now if they're like,

Speaker:

well, we probably are not going to make a decision.

Speaker:

I need to know that too,

Speaker:

and then make some decisions about what I'm going to do.

Speaker:

Sometimes I'm going to say,

Speaker:

okay, well I would love to earn your business.

Speaker:

When you're ready,

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please know that you're welcome to reach out to me at

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any point.

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I will be happy to hear from you and then I

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go, okay,

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like in a really nice way.

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It's like,

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here's the ball.

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You own it.

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When you're ready to buy from me,

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give me a call.

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I'm not going to chase you,

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but sometimes they'll say,

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you know,

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Nikki, we really,

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at this point,

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we don't have this in our budget.

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We won't really know until in November when we start to

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budget again,

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whether or not this will make it into next year's budget.

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If you're again talking to corporate,

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so in those particular case I'd be like,

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great, can we set up a call for November so we

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can review and make sure you have updated information?

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Would that be good?

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Let's get that on our calendar.

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Now I can schedule my calendar out two years in advance.

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Well, what I like about all of this also is it

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also to you as someone Who means business,

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you're doing what you're saying you're doing and you're getting results.

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Even if the result is okay,

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you've gotten the answer,

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not for now.

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Maybe it can be reviewed to go in the budget as

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you were just showing with this last example,

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but you're moving it forward one way or another.

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You've taken control of it all and I go back to

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the part that if it's just wishy washy,

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like maybe it'll happen,

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maybe it won't,

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and you're leaving with the hope that might be false that

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this is still a prospect that doesn't serve you.

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No. I often,

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sometimes when I first start working with clients privately,

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they'll say like,

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Oh, I have this list of deals that are out there

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that are going to close,

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and then I want to review that list with them and

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I'm like,

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okay, so here's this first deal.

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Let's say this is a $50,000

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deal. What do you have?

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And it can be a $5 deal.

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It doesn't matter.

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It's all the same.

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Okay, so when's your next conversation with them?

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Oh, well they said to follow up in September.

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Well that's not on the list of potential TEALS then because

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follow up with me in September and not having a call

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scheduled. We don't count that as money coming in the door.

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That's, you're not even that far in the process.

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But if you say to me,

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we have a call on Thursday where they're gonna give me

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their credit card.

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Okay, you can count that on your list.

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But it's really,

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really important that you have realistic expectations and acting like all

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this business is going to come in can be quite detrimental

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to your mental state when you realize you never really got

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this to the proposal phase and you never went into for

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the close.

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Therefore you cannot count this as potential business.

Speaker:

We can hope it's going to be business,

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but if you're not following the steps and you're not moving

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your client through the process,

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these are hopes these are not 90% closed.

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Right. But I would also say that knowing the steps makes

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it so much easier to actually do them.

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I think a lot of people are exactly where you're saying

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several of the people who started working with you are,

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cause they just didn't know that that was the next step

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that they should be taking.

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Yeah. And that's okay.

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It's like,

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what's the other saying?

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My Angela I think is when we know better,

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we do better.

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And if you want to grow revenue in your business,

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you have got to know the steps.

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You need to understand the sales process because you will do

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sales so much better.

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Absolutely. And you'll also do sales so much better when you

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read Nikki's book.

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So I'm looking at the time now and I think I

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could continue on and on and on.

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Like I told you,

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it could be 12 hours,

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but we're going to have to start closing down now.

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But you want to know more.

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You want to hear more of Nikki's tips.

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They are all in the Saleen staircase and of course that's

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going to be linked over on my show notes,

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page, Nikki,

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anything just to encapsulate everything that we've just talked about,

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The most important thing is that you start inviting people to

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do business with you.

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You start putting yourself out there and going ahead and asking

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to move people the process and you will find that clients

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are going to start to show up as a result.

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Beautiful. And if people want to go somewhere and learn more

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about you,

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where would you suggest that they had?

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Well first I'd love to give them something to start with

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so I was like to give a little bonus.

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Is it okay if I give my ebook for them?

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Absolutely. Okay,

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so this will be a free gift.

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This is a download and it's going to help with that

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close process and some of that close language that we dug

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into at the end here of the interview.

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So if you go to your sales maven.com/ebook

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you will be able to download my closing the sale,

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the secrets of successful,

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but it's called closing the sale.

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Now I can't think of the subtitle,

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but it's going to help you and you'll be able to,

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that will put you onto my website.

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You'll be able to see more information about me.

Speaker:

You can contact me.

Speaker:

I'd love to hear from you if you have a question

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or a comment about the interview.

Speaker:

And of course you can find the selling staircase,

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mastering the art of relationship selling.

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You can find that pretty much where all books are sold

Speaker:

at this point on Amazon,

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on iTunes,

Speaker:

nook. It's available in all different forms.

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What's your favorite version of your book?

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The written or the Kindle or the audio?

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Well, I'm an ebook reader,

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so I love the ebook.

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There's a lot of opportunity in the ebook because there's places

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that suggest for you to take notes and write out like

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your answers to certain challenges and questions that are in there.

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So I ended up for the ebook readers cause that's what

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I, I actually created a workbook that you can also download.

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So the information is in the book when you buy it

Speaker:

on how to download the workbook that you can print out

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as a PDF that will accompany your ebook.

Speaker:

So you'll have all of that,

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the worksheet stuff that goes in the physical book.

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I'm so glad you mentioned that because your book is like

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a workbook.

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It is.

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It's reading like a book.

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But then when you get to a point you say,

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okay, now you in your situation,

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what are you thinking?

Speaker:

And it really helps move you along and relate it back

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to you.

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So that was brilliant to put that in your book.

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I love it that way.

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Thank you.

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And then with audio,

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I guess you just have to kind of work through those

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yourself. In the audio you'll hear,

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cause I actually read the audio book so it is my

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voice. Do you go off script?

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Sometimes I do a little.

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I try to stay the context of the book is all

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on the audio.

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But yes I do have a few places where I add

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some little bit of commentary but I do say in the

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book, okay,

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get your workbook out and get ready.

Speaker:

So you do want to be able to like have even

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a notebook.

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Even if you just have a notebook to go through.

Speaker:

Some of these things you can listen and hear it.

Speaker:

But sometimes with anything it's back to my favorite quote at

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the beginning here.

Speaker:

If one knows but does not do,

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when does not truly know.

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So it is about doing,

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I mean it's almost kind of like a class really.

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Yeah, It's a book,

Speaker:

but it's a class.

Speaker:

You'll hear me tout.

Speaker:

Always implementers get results.

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So the more you're willing to implement,

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the more you're going to see these results.

Speaker:

And I often hear from who come up have heard me

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speak, who go through some of my webinars or in my

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community, they're like,

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I can't believe the kind of results I'm getting.

Speaker:

And it's like because you implement implementers,

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get results.

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These things work.

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There you go.

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Alright, gift biz listeners.

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It's time to implement and right now the next step is

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to get the book.

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I'm not going to say it again,

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but I obviously mean it.

Speaker:

So Nikki,

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thank you so much.

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This has been so valuable.

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I already know a couple of people who are going to

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take some of these tips and already use them because you

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can, I mean,

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we've all learned something that we can implement right now.

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Can we meet somebody we remember to say their name.

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That one's an easy one like that.

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There's a bunch of them in here.

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I encourage all of you to relisten to this show in

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addition to getting the book because it's golden.

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Nikki, thank you so much.

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I really appreciate it.

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Thank you for having me.

Speaker:

That was a great episode with such valuable information,

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and now it's your turn to get out and start climbing

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the selling staircase.

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It'll be a game changer for your bottom line,

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but even more importantly,

Speaker:

selling can actually become rewarding because you're helping your customer receive

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something that they truly want or need your product.

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Circle back with me and let me know how it goes.

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Okay, and now a teaser for next week and I'm smiling

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because I'm bringing you on a little trip to the land

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of kudu law.

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Can't decide if my favorite critter is Kiwi or Moxie,

Speaker:

even though it should probably be sprinkle.

Speaker:

I could live with these adorable creatures every day and next

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Monday you'll meet the creators of this land and learn all

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about this unique life.

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Only one week until we're off to Kuda LA.

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I'll see you then.

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After you listened to the show.

Speaker:

If you like what you're hearing,

Speaker:

make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on

Speaker:

Apple podcasts.

Speaker:

That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they go

Speaker:

live, and thank you to those of you who have already

Speaker:

left a rating and review.

Speaker:

By subscribing,

Speaker:

rating, and reviewing,

Speaker:

you help to increase the visibility of gift biz on wrapped.

Speaker:

It's a great way to pay it forward to help others

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