Synopsis
Tips on how to increase sales, improve profit margins and grow your promotional products business on a guaranteed basis.
Episodes
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Identifying and Attracting Ideal Clients
03/09/2024 Duration: 13minFor me, in identifying and attracting ideal clients, I need people who have the motivation, who have the desire, who have the discipline, and just the willingness to move forward. People who are decisive enough to be able to say, "yes, I want to do this. Let's move forward on it." Because the people who just take forever to make up their minds and who don't respond to calls and all that type of thing? Been there, done that. No longer my ideal situation, or even close. David: Hi and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be dealing with the topic of attracting ideal clients. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey David, thank you so much. Another great discussion here. If we could all only deal with ideal clients. I think that would be ideal. See what I did there? David: I think so too. I love the idea of ideal clients. I love the concept of it. And in nearly everything that I do with our clients, I try to keep that the focus. It's not about bringing anyone in who can fog a mirror. It's
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Prospects Who Can’t or Won’t Say No
27/08/2024 Duration: 14minWhen we think about prospects who can't or won't say no, and we think about people who tend not to respond to us, prospects who don't reply back after they've gotten all the information, it's basically two pieces of the same puzzle. When we run into these situations, our goal needs to be driving them to the no, if we can't drive them to the yes. Because the maybes, as we know, the maybes will kill us all the time. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing prospects who can't or won't say no. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David. Great to be with you again. You know, there's so much to cover about how to deal with prospects. You really have to be thinking in depth about, who are these clients who can't or won't say no? Do you even recognize that? Because that's going to affect how you spend your time. Will you be working with them? Are they worth the time? Things like that. David: Yeah. And it ties back exactly to our last podcast where we were talking
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Dealing with Unresponsive Clients & Prospects
20/08/2024 Duration: 11minWhen dealing with unresponsive clients and prospects, we have to make sure that we're doing everything on our end to be as responsive as possible. If somebody takes a week to get back to me, that doesn't mean I'm going to take a week to get back to them. Because if I start to fall into the trap that they've laid out, then that's not good for anybody. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing unresponsive clients and prospects. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David. Once again, great topic here. I think all of us are guilty -- anyone who's involved in sales -- of thinking, this client is going to turn into something, but really, if we looked at it, should we be spending time on somebody else instead of trying to push people through who are not ready or not able to do so. David: Yeah. And I think, as you said, everyone in sales deals with this, and that's when you're dealing with prospects, right? That's when you're dealing with people who have not yet spe
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Knowing vs. Doing in Sales: Implementation is Key
13/08/2024 Duration: 10minKnowing vs. Doing in sales is all about implementation. Implementation connects the knowledge you have to the results that you're going to get. And without that key element being implemented again and again and again, you're never going to get to the results, the sales, the possibility that you have in your entire career. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing knowing versus doing in sales. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David. I love this topic because I think so many of us are just doing what we think we should do, but we're like, squeaky wheel gets the grease. And so, are we really focusing and fine tuning and honing our sales. David: Right. And doing what we know. Jay: Yeah. David: Because a lot of us can get trapped in input, rather than output. And I know I am guilty of this myself because I am a chronic learner. I am always reading books and studying stuff, watching videos, learning from courses, I spend a whole lot of money educating myself
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Ready to Expand Your Market?
06/08/2024 Duration: 14minA lot of people just think broadly in terms of expanding their market, without asking themselves a really important question, which is why? Why do you need to expand your market? Am I not doing things well enough in my existing market that I haven't been able to mine that as effectively as I could? David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing Expanding Your Market. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you, David. Once again, I'm excited for this conversation. I know we always kind of learn from each other. We're in a process in our business where we're trying to expand from the inside, from our current customer base. Like right now we have a great Google Ads program, but we don't have an organic program, right? So that's one area that we're looking at right now. How do we get those organic leads? So we're right in this process right now. David: That's really interesting because there are so many different ways we can talk about expanding. I mean, the fir
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What Will Motivate Buyers to Do Business With You?
30/07/2024 Duration: 11minWhen you're able to deliver what you say you're going to deliver, that will start to motivate buyers to want to do business with you. And particularly for repeat orders. Because the first time they're buying from you, they don't really know exactly what you can do. They're basing it on what you're telling them, the conversations you're having. But then after they have that first experience with you, and they know what you're like, and they've liked that experience, then they are going to be motivated to buy again. Because at that point, they know those things. And it's not just based on what you're saying. David: Hello and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing what motivates buyers. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Yeah. Hey, it's good to be here, David. I kind of think, why would you need to know or have a discussion about what motivates buyers? I think it's because we assume everybody's like us. And that assumption, can be completely wrongheaded, right? David: Yeah.
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Building Trust in Sales is Critical
23/07/2024 Duration: 11minI mean, you have a podcast called Building Trust in Sales, you say, "yeah, be trustworthy." That's pretty obvious. But it's also necessary. It's necessary to be that, and to be able to convey that, and just to be authentic with it. David: Hi, and welcome back. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing building trust in sales. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, David, it's such a pleasure to be with you. Sales is a huge part of our business model, trusting that system. And, a lot of times it's like crossing our fingers that it will work. I think a lot of people would like to have a little bit more surety than that. David: Yeah. And trust is absolutely critical to the whole experience. If they don't trust you, there's no way they're going to buy from you. Now, there are some people who are untrustworthy and people should not buy from them, right? So if you're untrustworthy, this is not a podcast about how to appear trustworthy. I'm assuming that everybody who's paying attention to this
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Crafting Your Customer Experience
16/07/2024 Duration: 14minWhat do we want the overall customer experience to be like? How do we want this person to be welcomed if they happen to walk into our business? Because we want that experience to be consistent. That's another important aspect of this. The businesses that really consider their customer experience want to make sure that it is absolutely consistent. David: Hello and welcome back in today's podcast. Co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing crafting the customer experience. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you so much, David. And I feel like here once again I'm going to learn something from our discussion because I don't think a lot about crafting the experience. For me, it's like, Hey, we had a sales call. Now you're a client and we'll just fake it until we make it, I guess. David: Right. And that is certainly a way to do it. It's certainly valid. I believe it's probably what many businesses do, perhaps most. The thing that actually got me thinking about this was a trip that I took to Disney World a
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Why Some Exceptional Performers Can’t Get Enough Customers
09/07/2024 Duration: 05minOver the years, I have met some exceptional performers who still struggle to get enough customers. It's not a function of who they are as people. It's also not a reflection of their work. It's not even a mindset issue. It's about the fact that being exceptionally good at what you do, and being able to get enough customers or clients are two completely different skill sets. I can't tell you how many business owners I've talked to over the years who are exceptional at what they do, but they can't get enough customers. I've met: Chefs who make amazing food, but can't get enough people into their restaurants to keep the lights on. Real estate agents who know their markets in and out, they're great with people, can handle all the details, but can't get enough clients to pay their bills. Artists who have amazing skills, but who never mastered the art of customer acquisition, so their actual art remains largely unseen. Printers who have taken out loans to invest enormous amounts of money in equipment th
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Making Sales and Building Brands
02/07/2024 Duration: 10minEverybody has to make those determinations about their business when making sales and building brands. How am I going to do it? Is it going to be about me? Is it going to be about the customer? And how do I convey that in terms of my company name, my logo, my brand, and any slogans or taglines that you use, in order to communicate all that. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing making sales and building brands. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much, David. And again, just a great topic. I don't know if everybody feels like they're a brand. Like, I'm a company, I offer a service, but am I a brand? When I think of brands, I think of like Kellogg's or Tesla or things like that. I don't know if I think about my own business that way. David: Yeah. And a lot of small businesses don't. But even though they don't, very often, if they don't know what to do from a marketing and sales standpoint, they will copy the big brands because that's wha
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Creating Persuasive Communication
25/06/2024 Duration: 11minWhen we think in terms of creating persuasive communication, it's really important to consider the flow. What is the flow of the communication? In what order are you asking these questions and having these conversations? Are you leading with the pitch? Because if you're leading with the sales pitch, then that's not going to work well at all. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing creating persuasive communication. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thanks, David. You mean all communication is not good communication? I just thought sending out emails and random texts, that's the way to go. David: Yeah, random communication is often different than persuasive communication. I guess sometimes it can line up, but the stars have to all be in alignment for that to happen. Jay: Yeah, I see this. I get emails saying, Hey, just following up. And I'm like, Oh, you know, I don't know that that's really how you want to approach a potential customer. There's n
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Turning Leads into Loyal Customers
18/06/2024 Duration: 12minWhen I think in terms of turning leads into loyal customers, what is that first contact? And I know we've talked about that in a number of podcasts. And then from there, what is the desired path that we want them to take with us, that we want to take with them, right? Without some sort of basic path to get from here to there, the likelihood of making that happen is pretty much slim to none. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing turning leads into loyal customers. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you, David. Such a great topic again. I love our conversations cause I learn so much and I feel like there's a tendency to say, okay, I got the lead. I closed them. Now I'm going to move on to the next lead. And I think we would save ourselves a lot of time and money, if we were able to turn that customer into a returning loyal customer. David: Yeah, absolutely. And you raised a great point because I was thinking in terms of just new leads tha
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The Power of Strategic Networking
11/06/2024With strategic networking, you can make some initial decisions about who you think you'd like to target. Then it's a matter of saying, "okay, where do these people congregate?" Identifying exactly where they are. Are they online? Are they offline? Most likely they're doing both. But if they are online, where's the best place to find them? And a lot of times, particularly with social media, we just end up interacting with whoever we happen to be connected with. But if that part of it isn't strategic, if we're not connected with the people that we could actually potentially do business with, then we're wasting our ammunition. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the power of strategic networking. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you so much, David. I'm really glad we're talking about this because I think, you know, sometimes I think I'm great at networking, but there's not really any plan. There's not really any, like even down to storing
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Business Growth vs. Maintenance
04/06/2024There are a lot of people who aren't quite sure where they are with the whole business growth thing vs. just maintenance. Some people are content where they are. And if you're okay with just maintaining, then none of this applies to you. Right? You're not required to grow your business if that's not where you're going. But there are so many people that I talk to that really want to do it. They want it to grow. They want it to be more than it is. They want to be able to create better lives for themselves, for their employees, for their families, for everybody they impact. And they know they can't do it without growing. And when they use maintenance as an excuse, that's a tough one to overcome. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing business growth versus just maintenance. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey David, once again, it is a pleasure to be here. And it's so funny, oftentimes we choose these topics and I'm like, "man, I am right in the mid
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The Incredible Cost of Untrained Salespeople
28/05/2024There are so many situations where inadequate product knowledge, damaged reputation, and inefficient or poorly executed sales processes come from having untrained salespeople. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will discuss the incredible cost of untrained salespeople. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, it's such a pleasure to be here, David. Sometimes I think I'm that guy. I'm the untrained salesperson. So, this will be very informative to me, I hope. David: Okay. Well, you know, there's a difference between being untrained and untrainable. So, as long as you're trainable, that's a really big plus. Jay: OK, I feel a little better. David: No, I'm sure you're trainable, but untrained salespeople can really cause a great deal of harm to themselves, to their companies, to their prospects, to the businesses they're associated with. It is really kind of epidemic and It's largely unnecessary. A lot of it comes from, particularly in small businesses an employers
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Your Success Protocols Determine Your Results
21/05/2024 Duration: 11minA lot of the people that I work with now are exceptional at what they do, but they may struggle to get other people in their organization to be able to do it, because they haven't codified the success protocols that would allow them to say, "okay, this is how we perform this task. This is how we do this. This is how we do that." And when they start doing that, they're just amazed at how far their people can come so quickly. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing your protocols for success. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, it's such a pleasure to be here with you again. This may be a situation where I want to sit back and listen to you a little bit because I know you have a lot of experience and coming up with these protocols and things like that. So I'm just going to say hit me and I'll see if I can learn something here. David: Okay. Well, when I talk about protocols for success, we talk a lot about systems and processes and the work that we
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The High Price of Indecision
14/05/2024 Duration: 11minIndecision comes with a high price. I think most of us in business try to make the best decisions possible, but really it becomes a matter of saying, "okay, do I have all the information I need?" And if I do, then make the decision. Say yes, say no, but make the decision. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I are back with a talk on the high price of indecision. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be here. And I think this is something that we all suffer with, especially in a new business, just knowing what you should do. What are your priorities? How can you tell that? Paralysis by analysis is very common. David: Yeah, no question. And I think some people are more wired to be decisive while others are more wired to be indecisive. If you're decisive, dealing with indecisive people is extremely frustrating. And if you're indecisive, dealing with decisive people can feel a little intimidating. So it's a challenge. Jay: Yea
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Breaking Through a Sales Plateau
07/05/2024 Duration: 15minParticularly in the early stages, breaking through a sales plateau may just mean doing more of what you're doing. But generally, at some point, we hit a plateau that is created by the fact that we can't run any faster. We can't do any more by ourselves. So we either need to implement new procedures and new processes, we need to get some help, or something needs to change fundamentally in the business in order to get us to that next level. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, cohost Jay McFarland, and I will be discussing the idea of breaking through your sales plateau. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: It's so good to be here again with you David, and as always, I'm very excited about this topic. I know businesses that hit these thresholds. It can be a monumental task to get to the next level and they're not sure how to do it. Is it, is it marketing? Is it adding new products? I think that's what a lot of them try to do. They're like, well, let's add 10 more products to the lineup and then we
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The Sales Mindset Connection
30/04/2024 Duration: 07minFrom a sales mindset connection standpoint, market domination starts with the idea that it's possible. And if you're not sure that it's possible, ask yourself this, your very best clients. When they think about who to go to for the products and services you offer, who do they think about? Obviously, if they're your very best clients, it's you. They're thinking about you. So you've already achieved a level of mindset or market domination with your very best clients. That demonstrates that it can be done. So then it's a matter of saying, okay, well, how can we do this with other people? David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Bianca Istvan and I will be discussing the topic of the sales mindset connection. Welcome Bianca. Bianca: Thank you so much, David. Very happy to be here with you. And I'm just curious, what do you say to people who think mindset is woo-woo? David: Yeah, there are a lot of people who feel that way. To some extent, I've been one of them. And in fact, Bianca
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Staying in Touch Without Being a Pest in Sales
23/04/2024 Duration: 04minStaying in touch with prospects is required, and creating value in your communication is certainly something that will keep you from being a pest in sales. Because if what you're saying to them is going to help them to accomplish a result, they'll be a lot more likely to pay attention to it. But ultimately it's required. You can't just skip it. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Bianca Istvan and I will be discussing the topic of staying in touch without being a pest. Welcome back, Bianca. Bianca: Thanks so much, David. And wow, such a topic. Please tell us, why is it so critical to stay in touch? David: Well, I think for anyone who is in sales, you recognize that you're probably not going to sell something in one call. You're going to need to have multiple points of outreach, multiple contacts with a prospect or client before you're going to be able to make that first sale, let alone the second or third or fourth. So staying in touch is obviously a critical part. of t