Smart Solo Business

I help solo professionals acquire their ideal clients

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Move Your Clients to Make Fast, Favorable Decisions: Powerful Sales Tips From Andy Paul

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[Legacy post: Small Business Talent] My guest on the podcast today is bestselling author and top sales trainer, Andy Paul. Andy is passionate about helping sales teams and solo entrepreneurs to land more of the customers they want most.

Over the past few years, Andy has written two bestselling books on selling — Zero-Time Selling: 10 Essential Steps To Accelerate Every Company’s Sales; and Amp Up Your Sales: Powerful Strategies That Move Customers To Make Fast, Favorable Decisions (the topic of today’s interview). In his powerful sales books, Andy delivers insights derived from research in diverse fields such as decision theory, psychology, sociology and sales, and decades of hands-on selling experience, providing self-employed professionals like us with proven strategies to dramatically accelerate our sales.

Andy and I cover a number of important topics in the course of this interview, including:

  • Using social media to do research and connect with your ideal customers
  • Why B2B sales is a creative process, and why context always matters
  • How to approach selling from the perspective of creating value
  • Storytelling and helping customers to take a “mental test drive”
  • Three approaches that help us convert prospects into customers

Helping customers to make the right purchase decisions faster is the defining sales challenge for any entrepreneur. The advice that Andy delivers on the podcast today is extremely valuable – you’ll take away tips that you can put to immediate use in your selling. Scroll down to the Podcast Player and listen now!

Podcast Player:

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Duration: 27:30 — 13.5MB


Free Agent — Katy Tynan Shares Her Proven Roadmap to Successful Self-Employment

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[Legacy post: Small Business Talent] My guest on the podcast today, Katy Tynan, is an author, speaker and consultant. As the world of self-employment changes, Katy is committed helping independent professionals like us to adapt to this evolving landscape and thrive.

Today we’ll be discussing Katy’s exciting new book, Free Agent: The Independent Professional’s Roadmap to Self-Employment Success. Whether you are an experienced solo entrepreneur, or just have a side business that you want to grow, you’ll find her guidance on successful self-employment inspiring.

The bottom-line is simple. If you’re striving to build a healthy and sustainable business, then you don’t want to miss Katy’s practical advice. Scroll down to the Podcast Player below and listen now!

Podcast Player:

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Duration: 27:40 — 13.3MB


Selling Solo: Why Sports Analogies Don’t Work For Me

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A friend of mine is obsessed with the NBA playoffs. He’s also an entrepreneur and fond of using sports analogies to describe what it takes to “win” new business.

As a kid, playing basketball and other sports was a great experience. But when it comes to selling my services today, sports analogies just don’t work for me.

As a business owner, I think of myself as more like a physician who heals pain than an athlete competing to win. This frame of reference means approaching sales conversations with a strong desire to quickly and accurately diagnose each clients’ problem and provide lasting solutions. Prospective clients sense the positive, caring intent behind my approach. This helps create trust and opens up a dialogue about their situation.

In getting to know lots of solo entrepreneurs over the years, I’ve discovered that their frame of reference around selling always influences their results. For example, they may view sales calls as a battle for control – perhaps they feel like a basketball player trying to wrestle the ball away and drive to the hoop. Does that analogy lead to behavior that builds openness and trust? No, and if you want to develop a long-term working relationship then that’s not the way to approach sales.

You can probably think of many other analogies that people might use to describe selling. I’ve heard them all, from sports to dating, farming, fishing, hunting, chess, solving a puzzle together, etc. Do you relate to any of these?

Perhaps it’s time to consider your own frame of reference on sales and how it influences your results. If you’re open to some honest self-reflection, I think you’ll find these questions worth pondering:

  • What type of analogy best captures your approach to selling, and why?
  • How does this relate to your sales attitude, behavior and results?
  • What shifts in perspective might help you improve your sales results?

Most of us haven’t thought about selling from this perspective. The novelty of these questions often leads to creative insights and opportunities for growth.

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