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The Real Reason Prospects Say “I Need to Think About It" And How to Fix it, With Brian Mayoral · The Accounting Leads Now Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to another episode of the Accounting Leads Now podcast.
0:04
SPEAKER_02: Today's guest has trained over 850 sales events nationwide as Tony Robbins' number one national speaker.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: Tony Robbins, ever heard of him?
0:13
SPEAKER_02: And now he's bringing the same high performance energy directly to the accounting industry.
0:18
SPEAKER_02: In just 18 months, his firm has helped accounting practices add over$14 million in new revenue and tripled their cash collected.
0:26
SPEAKER_02: That's a pretty big number.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: He's the co-founder and CEO of Sell Up, the leading outsource sales firm built specifically for accounting firms and tax advisors.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: And in a few weeks, he'll be taking the stage at GrowCon.
0:40
SPEAKER_02: Please welcome Brian Merrill to Accounting Leads Now podcast.
0:44
SPEAKER_02: Brian, welcome to the show, dude.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: I'm so pumped you're here.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: I cannot wait to dive into everything that you're doing.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's do it, brother.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate the awesome introduction and so happy to be on with you as well.
0:56
SPEAKER_02: So let's dive right into it.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: We had the chance, and thanks to Roger Connect probably a year ago or a handful of months ago, we got connected.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: So it's cool full circle now that we're chatting again.
1:07
SPEAKER_02: Tell me, now that you, you know, 18 months in, you're you're working like you've niche down with the accounting space.
1:14
SPEAKER_02: What is the thing that you see the most that accounting firms maybe struggle with or that hurdle they can't get past when it comes to sales?
1:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: So we've uh been working with accounting firms for about three and a half years now.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: Started the company about five years ago, um, kind of fell into it.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we got our first six-figure contract by selling the number one fastest growing tax firm in the United States on Inc.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: 5000.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: And then uh got a call from uh a tax advisor who sells for Tony Robbins.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Hey, uh, can you do sales?
1:49
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Yeah, we could do sales.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: Can you do tax advising sales?
1:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, you're asking a salesperson to understand the US tax code, no chance on God's green earth.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, but after some influence, he he finally persuaded me to give it a shot.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: In the first weekend, we sold$1.4 million worth of tax plans.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: Is that good?
2:09
SPEAKER_01: I think that's decent.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, wow, this is pretty cool.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I fell in love with it because we actually had one woman from that event text my sales team.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: And uh, for anyone who doesn't know, we do outsource sales for accounting firms.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: We do the consultation calls and the closing for you so you don't have to, as well as we teach and educate you how to create upfront offers so you don't have to chase down proposals over and over again.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, we got a message from a woman and it was like a paragraph, and she said, Hey, I really want to sign up for this$10,000 tax plan, but I got news from my doctor that I don't have like a long window to live here.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna take that$10,000 and take myself on a dream vacation.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: And I was so proud of my sales professional because he he was present and he texted back.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: His dad actually is going through a similar situation.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: He said, Hey, I totally understand.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: My dad just so happens to be going through a similar situation.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: Based on our findings, we realistically could probably save you somewhere between$40,000 and$50,000 in taxes.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Now, I will never pressure you to do something like this, but imagine what we could do if you could take your entire family on a dream vacation for the last years you have left instead of just yourself.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: She signed up for a tax plan.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: She didn't save$50,000, she saved about$40,000 and she went on that dream vacation.
3:29
SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: Now, I being from the Tony Robbins world, everything has to be life-changing for me, or I just don't get excited.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: And once I heard that, I got hooked into this space.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, and really, over the last six to 12 months, um, we've just taken off like wildfire.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, what we've learned is that we're pretty dang good at at calls and consultations, but we're not great in Excel spreadsheets and we're not great at understanding forecasting.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: So we don't try to do that.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: We leave that to the experts, um, we leave that to the tax advisors, and we do what we enjoy doing.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: So um it's been it's been a great journey, brother.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: It's so interesting how you said you're really great on the sales side of things, you're really great at well, what I'm hearing is showcasing the value, helping people make the best decision for their business for themselves with those tax plans.
4:20
SPEAKER_02: Yes, but you're not the best at the spreadsheets, at the fulfillment of the accounting side.
4:26
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's such a strong piece to focus on is you know your lane, which is also what a lot of other people should be focusing on is what are they best at and what else could they just outsource?
4:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, who not how.
4:37
SPEAKER_02: So I I love that you guys have come into this industry and you're I mean, you're just completely taking off.
4:42
SPEAKER_02: So how like what is the uh how tell me a little bit of how that works?
4:48
SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, obviously, it's hard to sell everything under the roof of an accounting firm.
4:53
SPEAKER_02: You're not you didn't grow up as a CPA, so knowing all those intricate intricacies, how do you get in and I'm guessing you build the offer?
5:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and yeah, that's let's hear about it.
5:03
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm just rambling on at this point.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: No, you're great.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, so for us, we learned that salespeople do really good at teaching the what, but not the how to do something.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: So, in in sales in general, when you're speaking to a client, you want to treat it like a relay race.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: Our job in the relay race is to run our 100 yards and then pass the baton off to the expert who will run their 100 yards.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: When we try and become the expert, we overrun our race and we end up having a really bad handoff.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: And what we found with most CPAs, accountants, and CFOs, they just know too much.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Like they they can get on a sales call and talk at a such a high level, they're so smart that the average person, the average business owner, will have to think about it.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: So think about this, right?
5:52
SPEAKER_01: Clarity sells and confusion repels.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: When when someone who knows a lot about something, that's like Michael Jordan trying to play basketball with someone who's just learned how to dribble for the first time.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna seem like they're on two different, complete different stratospheres.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: And the person who's just learned how to dribble might get discouraged or might get overwhelmed or might say, Hey, I don't want to do this anymore.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: Not because it's not a great game of basketball, not because we can't get great results, but because the overwhelm of the new information that they hear on a call causes them to say, let me think about it.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: Hey, can you send me all of that in an email?
6:29
SPEAKER_01: Because that was a lot.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna, I'm gonna review everything that you just talked about.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: As soon as someone says, I need to think about it, I need to review, send me an email, send me the whole thing.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: What they're really saying is that was a lot of information.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: I like it.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna digest this on my own time.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: And then no business owner on planet Earth has a lot of time.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens?
6:49
SPEAKER_01: The dog eats their homework, the car breaks down, they an employee leaves, and before you know it, this two-page email that you sent them with a bunch of details on things they don't know about becomes something that they put off in into the distance.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: And then two days of follow-up turns into two weeks, two months, two years.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: And so, as sales professionals, we know enough about the tax code and about forecasting and about accounting to be dangerous, but not to cause danger.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: You you hear the difference?
7:17
SPEAKER_01: We know enough to speak to it at a high enough level so we can educate and communicate it clearly, but we don't we don't overrun our race.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: We we hand the baton off when we're supposed to, if that makes sense.
7:28
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: It's it what was that piece you said again?
7:32
SPEAKER_02: The um it was more or less a rhyme about clarity.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: That clarity sells and confusion repels, right?
7:38
SPEAKER_01: So the more information you give somebody, the more opportunities you give them to be confused.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, being intellectual and being smart, um it is not the same as being effective, right?
7:51
SPEAKER_01: So a a great CFO, a great accountant, a great tax advisor is very smart, very technically sound.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: Being smart is not a substitution for being effective, though.
8:03
SPEAKER_01: Effective on a sales call means I share enough information to have the light bulbs go off, but I don't overshare as to burn out the light.
8:10
SPEAKER_02: So why why do you think that is?
8:12
SPEAKER_02: Why do you feel many, many accounting professionals get on sales calls and all of a sudden it's some of them feel like I don't know how to sell?
8:21
SPEAKER_02: But it's like you have great relationships with your clients, you know how to network, you know how to bring in referrals, you do good work, but sometimes when they get on sales calls, it's like I need to share everything I know, otherwise I'm not gonna be seen as credible.
8:34
SPEAKER_02: Why, why do you think that is?
8:35
SPEAKER_02: And and what do you what would you say to that accounting firm owner right now who's listening, who's like, yep, that's me.
8:41
SPEAKER_02: I just I I know I say too much.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh number one, I would say most accountants don't have a selling problem.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: They have an offer problem.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh, 70% of the time that we go into an organization, they're great on on calls uh or good enough to get the job done.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: They just don't have the right offering.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, they're they're doing complex sales, they're doing highly customized quotes, and they're sending proposals.
9:07
SPEAKER_01: All of that leads to confusion and opportunities to fall off during the sales cycle.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: So nine times out of seven times out of ten, it's not their not their sales ability.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: It's just the way that they're positioning the offer.
9:18
SPEAKER_01: Um and then the in the cases where they can get a little bit stronger on the sales side, I would say it's just because they haven't done it at the same frequency.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: They're so used to having technical uh conversations that they don't know how to turn the technician off and turn the sales professional on.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: That's all it is.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: It's just like if you had uh, do you have any kids, James?
9:40
SPEAKER_02: I don't.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: All right.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: So anyone who's listening, if you have kids, the first time your kid played soccer, they weren't, you know, beckum, you know, doing scissor kicks in the air and hitting goals in.
9:49
SPEAKER_01: The first time they did it, they probably kicked the ball, cried because they stubbed their toe, and then they had to do it a bunch.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: We've just done it a lot.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: We've taken over 20,000 sales calls in the accounting industry.
10:00
SPEAKER_01: They've probably taken 200.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: It's not, it's not, it's not anything they haven't done.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: We've just we've ridden the bike more, if that makes sense.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: We've kicked the ball a little bit more.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: And just like we wouldn't try to go into you know a forecasting call and understand everything about their numbers, um, they wouldn't probably step into the arena of sales for someone who's done 20 two uh 20,000 sales calls or more, expecting to be as good just because of the repetitions.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
10:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love I love that piece about the repetition.
10:29
SPEAKER_02: And I I think that gets lost.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: And I I think that's a big differentiator between, say, the firms who are just getting started and maybe they're they're hitting that early plateau, maybe 300, 400k a year.
10:43
SPEAKER_02: And the firms who take off and they're well above a million, two, three million dollar run rate.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: They just have more repetition.
10:50
SPEAKER_02: That's on the sales side.
10:51
SPEAKER_02: They got more repetition and consistency on the marketing, they got more repetition with their systems and the team members they hire.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: Just the that word repetition across the board, I think, is so important where everyone wants the silver bullet and the instant success.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: But building a business, it's not about doing the sexy thing every day.
11:10
SPEAKER_02: It's doing the boring stuff that actually drives results.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: And then just to add on top of that, what you mentioned is those uh professionals that are, you know, somewhere between the$100,000 to$500,000.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: That is what I call the wit phase, WIT.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: Do whatever it takes, whatever it takes phase.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: That means you're getting referrals a lot, or you might be struggling to get referrals.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: But a lot of the business that you're currently getting is word of mouth.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: Those people are the easiest people you will ever sell in your life.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: And so most accounting firm owners don't realize that they have a sales issue until they start running cold marketing, cold ads.
11:48
SPEAKER_01: And then they realize these people don't know who I am.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: It's not a warm introduction, and then the cycle becomes a little bit different.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, when they get referrals, though, they run into a situation where they say yes a lot.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: And what can happen with the firm in that mucky middle area there is they're saying yes to a lot of people, but that means they are saying yes to someone who's not their ideal customer.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: They may have not niched down fully yet.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: And they might be uh saying yes to a plumber while also saying yes to a consultant, while also saying yes to a dentist.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: All business owners similar, but now they're spread thin because they can't create a standard operating procedure for one type of client.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: The reason people uh either use us to build their offers or learn how to sell, or they use us to do the done-for-you sales, is because we only work in the accounting industry.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: Think about how much safety and trust and how much, how many patterns we pick up on because we only know this industry.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: But if they start to become a do-it-all business owner up until about that 500K, they start to run into procedural issues.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: And that's when they do they become a do-it-all business owner and run around with a chicken, with chicken with their head cut off.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: I've been through that stage.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: I know you have as well.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then they realize that I need to start running marketing because relying on referrals is not one consistent, and two, I don't know who I'm getting.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: It's like a box of chocolates.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: You never know what you're gonna get.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: So they then they realize that they have to niche down, but then they have to go through this phase of cutting off what was.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: So the the root word of decision is incision, meaning to cut off.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: And so when they get to about that 500,000 and they reach out to someone like yourself to start running marketing or ads or something like that, you tell them to niche down or find your ideal ICP, your avatar.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: And they say, Yeah, this is my ideal customer, but they keep wanting to broaden it.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: Why?
13:41
SPEAKER_01: Because that's safety.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: Because they're like, if I go broader, I have a higher chance of collecting more fish.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: When in reality, they actually have to cut off what was is saying yes to everyone.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: They actually start to have to say no to people.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: And that is a very scary place to be because you don't know if the marketing is going to work yet, but then you also don't want to let go of the clients that you used to have that were working in.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: And so that phase is market to your niche, but say yes to referrals still until you get to about that 800K million dollar range.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: Then you can totally niche down and uh and you could be choosy around who you pick with.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: So as much as we teach about like the what to say, this, the, the perfect scripting, how to do things, how to generate referrals, we do all that.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: But more importantly is market positioning and teaching them how to have an upfront offer that sells to no matter who comes at their door.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: That's the key.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: That leads to easier yeses.
14:31
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: And to to add into that, I don't want to stray too far away from the sale side of things, but just something to note for everyone who's thinking about niching down or has already done it.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Those who've already done it, they they would understand this.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: Those who are thinking about it, it may get a little bit more expensive for you because now you're you're gearing a message towards a certain person, you're getting a little bit more specific.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: Once you have it honed in, it will get a lot cheaper.
14:55
SPEAKER_02: But just knowing, okay, we want to go after, say, construction firm owners.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's gonna take a little bit of time to get everything dialed in to only attract that person.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: That's gonna take money, it's gonna take time.
15:07
SPEAKER_02: Again, this stuff doesn't happen overnight, but you put in the repetition to what you're saying, then that whole puzzle comes together.
15:14
SPEAKER_02: So I think that that's a huge point you bring up, Brian.
15:17
SPEAKER_02: I do want to go back a little bit though.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we touched on it in the intro, and I think we would be remiss not to be asking what was the experience like working with Tony Robbins and his organization.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: That I can only imagine that must have been absolutely incredible.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think when I'm like 90 and I'm looking back on my life and saying, back in my day, um, I think that's gonna be one of my experiences is the Tony Robbins thing.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: It's um it was completely life-changing.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: I was a school teacher, uh, not just a school teacher, I was a gym teacher.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: And I was not happy with where I was living in my life, wasn't happy with the level of impact I was making.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, I stayed in that career for four years, went through about a depression pretty heavy.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: And my best friend forced me to go to a Tony Robbins seminar.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to go, I didn't have the money.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, but here's the key that every everyone that I've met that is successful has done this one thing right here.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have the money, but I did it anyways.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: At some point in our lives, we have to take actions that are bigger than our circumstances to get results that we've never had before.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: And I for most of my life played it safe and was terrified to do that, and that's why I went through about a depression because I kept limiting myself.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, I went to the seminar, drank the freaking Kool-Aid, and Tony said something from stage.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: He said, uh, if you want to be successful, find someone who has what you want and go model them.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, well, you're the guy that is showing me what success looks like, so I'm gonna model you.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: I spent 18 months flying myself around the country on my own dime.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: So I spent about$20,000 to$25,000 getting Airbnb's flight tickets just to volunteer at the Tony Robbins seminars to hopefully meet somebody in the organization that would give me an opportunity.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: After getting denied for a year and a half, they finally uh gave me an audition.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: I did that audition.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: I was the first person in company history to get hired on the spot.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: And then I became the national speaker and sales trainer for Tony Robbins.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: I traveled the country moving to a different state every three and a half months.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: I sold everything I own.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh I broke all but one sales record when I was at that organization, became the uh uh broke the all-time sales record in the state of Florida for the most lives impacted.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not telling you that to brag to anyone.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you that because I was I believed what we were doing that much.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've I had people come into those meetings who were suicidal, who were twice my age, who were going through the most horrific things in their life.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: And I, at the age of 27, 28, had to find a way to help them break through.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: And so for me, it wasn't about dollars.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: It was about how many human beings can I possibly impact.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: And it gave me a love for human beings that I didn't think I was capable as a young man to just love all human beings, no matter what their background is, no matter what they're going through, and just find a way to support them.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: And that's the reason why I did so well at the company.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't the best, but I I would argue that I probably cared next to highest or higher than most people.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: And that lesson has carried with me into this business.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: We're our this business, we didn't have any business getting into the accounting industry.
18:21
SPEAKER_01: But when I fell in love with it and I realized the impact that it can make in people's lives, the clarity it could bring, um, I that lesson from Tony has brought this into my life, which is everything we have to do has to have a bigger purpose than just the green pieces of paper with dead people on it.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: And um, it's one of the most transformative things I've ever gone through in my life.
18:40
SPEAKER_02: Congratulations.
18:40
SPEAKER_02: That that's so amazing, Brian.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: But there's so much that that comes up as you're saying that, but I mean, the biggest thing I'm hearing is you may you may not have been the most technically skilled at sales, but okay.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: You cared the most and you were you believed in what you were selling, and you it was bigger than what you just said at the end, the sheet of paper with dead people on it.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, weren't it wasn't full of commission breath, and I'm trying to get everyone across the line so that I can eat.
19:08
SPEAKER_02: You knew I can actually help you.
19:10
SPEAKER_02: I want to help you, and that's why I'm I'm I'm going to keep putting this in front of you because I truly believe I could help.
19:17
SPEAKER_02: And I think when people really get into that rhythm, that's where I would say the most successful salespeople are because you're extremely ethical and you know you're genuinely able to help this individual out.
19:27
SPEAKER_02: It's not you selfishly looking for a commission check.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: Couldn't agree more.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: I would say um 80% of sales is psychology of the person doing the persuading or doing the influencing.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: And when we talk to accountants, we come in and we teach them all the technical stuff, we help them change their offer.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: But you know, eight times out of 10, we eventually get to the root cause of what's causing them to tighten up when they're asking for the business, or what's causing them to tighten up when they get objections, or what's causing them to be afraid to charge more for their services, or what's causing them to be resistant around having an upfront offer.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: And we work through those limiting beliefs in a caring and loving way.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: And I literally got a text uh yesterday from a guy that I've been pushing pretty hard in one of our groups.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, hey, you got to do this.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: You got he closed$40,000 the other day on an upfront offer.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: And he was so happy, so excited.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that just brings joy to my heart because I know that's gonna impact his family.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna be able to make a bigger difference in his business, gives him better margins, gives him a little more breathing room.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: So I I agree with you.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: I honestly, I don't like most salespeople.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I love the art of influence, but most salespeople do have commission breath and they are selfish.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: I think the best ones, the best ones that I've come across, anyways, um, tend to be the ones who care the most and care about people the most because they're the ones that tells you when you're not the right fit.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: And that builds a lot of trust is being able to say, you know what, I can make this sale right now, but because you're not the right fit, I don't think we're gonna get the best outcomes.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: So giving yourself the ability to say no to people who are not the right fit, um, is is being able to discern that it makes a great sales professional.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: And we kind of look for that in our hiring process.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: One of the things that we look for is one, have they been through something?
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Have they have they pushed through and shown resilience and um uh uh um the ability, the ability to think outside the box, to be resilient, um, to be resourceful.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: And then the the other question is we ask, you know, what what's your purpose for doing this?
21:29
SPEAKER_01: And if they don't have something deeply connected to their own story, it probably is not gonna make much sense.
21:34
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
21:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the it I feel like in and maybe just being in sales as well for a handful of years, you can tell pretty quick when someone's genuine or when someone's like, I'm just out to make money, and and they and a lot of it comes down to language.
21:51
SPEAKER_02: Like I I've sold when I was in Australia, I was selling gas and electricity door to door.
21:57
SPEAKER_02: Pretty cool experience.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: Got some funny stories there.
21:59
SPEAKER_02: So TV segments um now running a business, obviously selling marketing packages to help different firms out, a part of different groups.
22:08
SPEAKER_02: And as I get on different coaching calls, it's interesting seeing some of the other either sales reps or firm owners who jump on looking for help with their own sales process.
22:18
SPEAKER_02: And pretty quick, it's like cool.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: That guy really cares.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: This guy, the language he's using, he's really just trying to make money.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: Shouldn't be a battle for one.
22:33
SPEAKER_02: It should be a conversation.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: So that that language, I don't know.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's probably what gets in the minds of a lot of firm owners where they're like, I'm not good at sales.
22:42
SPEAKER_02: Like, well, you are because you're just having a conversation.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: Just remove that, like, for lack of better words, the stigma of a used car salesman because you don't have to be that.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: You just have to have a conversation with someone.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: And simply to add to that, I could I couldn't agree more.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: To add to that, uh, listen, um you know, the the CEO of a cereal brand doesn't know how to make the cereal, right?
23:52
SPEAKER_01: Like you're not you don't have to do everything in your business either.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: You know, early on, and you know, that first million dollars, that's tough, right?
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Like that first million dollars, you got to kind of wear multiple hats and all those good things.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: But at some point, you you you shouldn't be the best person at sales because you should be focusing on growing your business.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you're not the person at delivery anymore.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Like that's not your job as the CEO and owner eventually.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: You know, early on in the business, you got to wear multiple hats and and do that kind of thing.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, trust me, when our first couple years, I had to do it, you've had to do it.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, but now we're fortunate enough to, you know, have other people do the delivery and I get to focus on the things I enjoy.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: And eventually they'll get to that point too.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, knowing enough about sales to get you to that million dollars or two, and then being able to step back from that and bring on experts or hire the right people is is key.
24:42
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
24:43
SPEAKER_02: Brian, but um, I'm I'm guessing on this one, but what are you gonna be talking about at GrowCon?
24:49
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm I'm pumped.
24:50
SPEAKER_02: I can't wait to see your your your keynote.
24:53
SPEAKER_02: I'm guessing it's gonna be a few of the things we've discussed on here.
24:56
SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'm wrong, but I would love to hear like what can people expect for those who will be at GrowCon?
25:00
SPEAKER_02: What can they expect uh from you on stage?
25:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm gonna be teaching how to find 30% more profit in your business without having to change your skill set or anything of that sort.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of that has to do with we're just the only firm that I know of in the United States that has thousands and thousands and thousands of sales calls for for multiple firms.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: We sell for dozens of firms.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: And so we know the patterns of what leads to yes and the patterns of what leads to no and how to charge more for your services.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: Nine times out of ten, uh, it's it's not anything that they're doing wrong.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: It's just a positioning of their offer.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna show them how to reposition their offer, how to charge more upfront for their services, and then give them uh, you know, uh what's called a two-minute sales script in order to be able to close those sales with confidence.
25:48
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
25:49
SPEAKER_02: What which day are you presenting?
25:51
SPEAKER_02: I know I was looking at the agenda earlier, but I just I can't remember now.
25:53
SPEAKER_02: Are you on day one?
25:54
SPEAKER_01: Right and early, brother.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking I'm at 10 a.m.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: on day one.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: Prime time.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: Can't wait to catch that one.
26:01
SPEAKER_02: So who who would be the ideal firm for sell up?
26:05
SPEAKER_02: Where are they sitting at, maybe revenue-wise, team services?
26:09
SPEAKER_02: What does that look like?
26:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we have three core offerings at our organization for firms that are scaling up to about$1.5 million and are not running marketing campaigns and things of that sort.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: We help them uh with their offer creation, their offer positioning and finding their niche.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: So, how to create an upfront offer, a streamlined offer so they can get ready for either running ads or as they're bringing on their ads team, we teach them how to do the upfront offer.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: In that offer, we also give them our sales scripts for every process.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: We give them our entire sales process that we use, plus, we give them one-on-one sales coaching and mentoring.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: So it's an advisory uh package for people from zero to$1.5 million.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: For firms that are between$1.5 million and$10 million, they're typically running marketing campaigns and ads.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: We become their outsource closing team.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: So their outsource sales team who takes the consultation and closes those deals for them.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: For the firms that are above$10 million, they typically have an internal sales team or internal people taking sales calls.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: We then have a consulting package which trains those sales professionals, uses our licensed sales training content to train their team across the United States.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: Training has been my background my whole life through the Tony Robbins world.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: So we've trained uh companies all across the United States, some overseas as well.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Those companies have us come in to build their sales process, build their sales scripts, and then a training platform so that they stay at peak state and peak skill ability throughout their career.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: So uh three offerings uh for firms that are still scaling up to$1.5 million.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: It's offer creation, sales process, and sales systems from 1.5 to 10.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: That's done for you sales.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: We become your outsource sales department from 10 beyond.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: We come back in to consult and train on the sales side again.
28:01
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
28:02
SPEAKER_02: There's such a need for this service.
28:03
SPEAKER_02: This is so cool.
28:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm kind of geeking out, picking your brain on all of this sales stuff.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: So, what would you say to the firm owner that he's running or he or she's handling the internal sales calls?
28:15
SPEAKER_02: They're in a bit of a slump, they're getting busy with other things.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: It's hard to get that that that yes across the line.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: What do you say to that person who's, hey, I just I know I'm in a slump right now.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: I'm gripping the stick too hard.
28:26
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna use a hockey analogy here, being from Canada.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say uh turn somebody down.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, one way to get your confidence back is to tell someone that they're not the right fit, even though you need that sale right now.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's gonna be doing more for your mindset than anything else.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna get rid of commission breadth.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then two is just focus on small wins, right?
28:48
SPEAKER_01: Focus not on getting people to say yes, but moving to the next stage in the sales process, right?
28:54
SPEAKER_01: So we at our company have this thing called maximum and minimum acceptable values.
28:58
SPEAKER_01: On a sales call, obviously we want to get you know someone to close today and close for the most amount and pay all up front.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: That's the best solution, our best outcome for us.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: But if that doesn't happen, what do we do next?
29:13
SPEAKER_01: And if that next best thing doesn't happen, what do we do next?
29:16
SPEAKER_01: And if that next best thing doesn't happen, what are we doing next to advance the sale?
29:20
SPEAKER_01: See, um, there's research done on testosterone for both male and female.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: Trust me, I'll bring this back.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: If you're watching your favorite team for you, James, it would be a hockey team.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, unfortunately, uh, you know, Canada versus US, I'm sorry about that.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: Um I knew that wasn't gonna get away with that one.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh so let's say you're glued to your television screen, right?
29:40
SPEAKER_01: And you're emotionally invested into your team.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: Did you know that both male and female, if your team loses, testosterone can dip for both men and women?
29:50
SPEAKER_01: 20%.
29:52
SPEAKER_01: Up to 20%.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: Did you know if you're emotionally invested in your team winning and they win, both male and female's testosterone can increase up to 20%?
30:02
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
30:03
SPEAKER_01: That means if we're emotionally invested in outcomes, aka our sales calls, and we feel like we lost on a call, then guess what's gonna happen?
30:12
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna literally change our biochemistry and even our hormone level.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: So we don't want to walk away from sales calls feeling defeated.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: So what how do we do that?
30:23
SPEAKER_01: How do we feel like we won on every call?
30:25
SPEAKER_01: We have check downs.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: If we don't get an absolute yes and a pay in full, okay, can we get a payment plan?
30:31
SPEAKER_01: And if we can't get a payment plan, can we get a verbal commitment?
30:33
SPEAKER_01: If we can't get a verbal commitment, can we at least get them to agree to a second call and book that second call?
30:38
SPEAKER_01: There's an order of operations.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: And as long as I progress the sale, I won.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: And so now I reinforce positive behavior.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: I reinforce my biochemistry that even though I didn't get my best outcome, I still got a good outcome.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: And that reinforces the idea of liking sales.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: You see, if most people don't like sales, it's not because sales is bad.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: It's because their belief around sales and the way that they set up their biochemistry around winning and losing or getting defeated or feeling like a success, you're tying that to an outcome instead of setting the game up to win in the first place.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: So we teach a lot of that.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: That's like the secondary stuff we teach.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously, teach them what to say, when to say it, how to say it is more important for them.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: But we also come in with some of these mindset tricks to kind of get their energy up around this this field as well.
31:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think that that's so important because you're gonna take so many more no's in sales than you're ever gonna take yeses.
31:32
SPEAKER_02: If you're taking way too many yeses, I'll argue until I die your price is too low.
31:36
unknown: Yeah.
31:36
SPEAKER_02: If you're taking way too many yeses, your price is too low.
31:38
SPEAKER_02: But I really do like that piece of almost gamify it.
31:42
SPEAKER_02: And and again, a lot of firms, you just need a system like anything else around that.
31:47
SPEAKER_02: So I'm so happy you touched on that.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: And I'd go as far as to say, Brian, my testosterone probably dropped way more than 20% when Canada lost in the final.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: Sorry about that, brother.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: But you're you're you uh you have a lot of reasons for that to get jacked right back up.
32:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, no, it's all good.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: So, Brian, I I've taken a ton of your time here.
32:07
SPEAKER_02: I cannot wait to catch up.
32:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, see you in Utah in a few weeks.
32:11
SPEAKER_02: How can people get a hold of you who've enjoyed this episode and and want to continue the conversation with you?
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, we sell up.com is the website.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: If you just click on book now or email our team at action at we sell up.com, we will send you a referral script at no cost to you.
32:27
SPEAKER_01: It's how to generate more effective referrals.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the things that led to me breaking the records for Tony Robbins.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: Just send us an email saying, hey, I heard you on the podcast, wanna uh want that referral, or you can message me on any social media platform with my first and last name, Brian Mayor.
32:41
SPEAKER_01: And if you type in referrals, then my team will send you a referral script, no cost to you, just for listening to you know CFO Chronicles here with James.
32:49
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
32:49
SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: We'll make sure all that stuff's in the show notes.
32:51
SPEAKER_02: People can get a hold of you.
32:52
SPEAKER_02: Brian, thank you so much again for coming on, sharing a ton of value.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: And again, cannot wait to catch your presentation from the stage at GrowCon.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I appreciate you having me on, brother.
33:01
SPEAKER_01: You're a blessing, and I can't wait to meet you as well.