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258. The Sales Shift for Solopreneurs That Gets Prospects to Say Yes · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: On this week's episode of The Aspiring Solopreneur, we're flipping the script on everything you think you know about sales. Joe and I sit down with high ticket sales expert, Adam Cerra, who closed over $30,000,000 using a method that's the total opposite of the pushy, awkward style solopreneur's dread, Adam shares why the secret to selling isn't convincing anyone. It's helping your prospects talk themselves into the solution they already need. From escaping other people's limiting beliefs to charging based on your wisdom, not your minutes, Adam breaks down the mindset shifts that turn discovery calls into natural collaborative conversations. So if you've ever felt salesy, underpriced, or downright allergic to follow ups, this episode will change how you sell forever.
• 0:42
  So get ready to stop chasing and start assessing. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for anyone on the solo business journey, whether you're just toying with the idea, taking your first bold step, or have been running your own show for years and want to keep growing, refining, and thriving. I'm Carly Ries, and along with my cohost, Joe Rando, we're your guides through the crazy but awesome world of being a company of one. As part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all things solopreneurship, we help people design businesses that align with their life's ambitions so they can work to live, not live to work. If you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the place for you.
• 1:22
  But if you want real world insights from industry experts, lessons from the successes and stumbles of fellow solopreneurs, and practical strategies for building and sustaining a business you love, you're in the right spot. Because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. No matter where you are in your journey, we've got your back. Adam, we are so excited to have you on the show today because I love talking about sales in our podcast because people have such different perspectives and takes on it, and I think yours is very intriguing. So I wanna dive into that soon.
• 1:55
  But first, we have our icebreaker question that we ask all of our guests, and we wanna know, what do you wish you had known before becoming a solopreneur?
• 2:02
  Adam Cerra: Oh, gosh. I would say, I wish I'd known soon not to let someone else's limiting beliefs define my destiny.
• 2:12
  Carly Ries: Yeah.
• 2:13
  Joe Rando: Good one. Good one.
• 2:14
  Adam Cerra: Yeah. When you're on your journey of becoming a solopreneur, there are individuals that sort of contain you in their own views about what you should be doing. And the moment, you know, I stopped living under other people's ceilings, everything really changed for me. So I would say that.
• 2:36
  Joe Rando: Yeah. But so many people say, oh, I'm trying to do this, and my family's telling me I'm crazy, or my friends say that it's not gonna work. And yeah, it's not helpful.
• 2:47
  Adam Cerra: Yeah. It does help to have a good partner. So I had a very supportive wife, you know, turned to her one day and said, honey, I'm gonna leave my job, my high paying job, and do this on my own. She said, you know what? Do what makes you happy.
• 3:04
  Carly Ries: Yes. Shout out to the partners out there. I think, Joe, you and I would agree on that as well. Okay. So I was talking about sales, and some people may have heard me say the s word, and shuddered, and were like, oh my gosh, she said sales, and are already squirming in their seats a little bit.
• 3:23
  Because so many people dread sales calls because they don't wanna sound sales y. So you have this inverse closing method. How does that shift the mindset from selling to serving? What's one thing solopreneurs can start doing today to feel more natural on these calls? I am all ears.
• 3:42
  Adam Cerra: Yeah. So this is a very common feeling towards selling for solopreneurs. I think what's important is that you really have to make that mental shift. When selling as a solopreneur, it's not that you're selling your offer to a prospect, but really you're getting the prospect to sell themselves for the offer. And when you make that shift, that mental shift, it really changes the dynamic of the sales call.
• 4:12
  Key thing here and another extension of that sort of thinking is that you are always assessing. You are the assessor, not always closing. Right? The assessor mindset really fits the solopreneur's sales call and what they're trying to offer. And once that happens and the call starts feeling natural and you're in your sort of authoritative state, and then it doesn't sound salesy.
• 4:40
  It just sounds like a like a a guided conversation.
• 4:46
  Carly Ries: Yeah. Absolutely. It's just I feel like a lot of this conversation is gonna be about mindset shifts, so correct me if I'm wrong on that. But with that, you have closed over 30,000,000 in sales. Is that right?
• 4:58
  Adam Cerra: Correct. Yes. I've been in the space for two decades. I know I don't look it. I didn't start when I was 10. I'm in my late forties.
• 5:08
  So, yes, over the period of two decades, I've sold many, many different high ticket offers, and I've learned so much along the way. and it's contributed to my success.
• 5:24
  Carly Ries: Well, so with all of that, what have you found to be the biggest mental block? I mean, anybody, but solopreneur specifically face when it comes to confidently charging their services? And because I feel like people have such a weird mental thing with price point.
• 5:40
  Adam Cerra: Absolutely. I think, from what I've seen in coaching my clients, the biggest thing, the biggest block, I would say, is the impostor syndrome. They don't truly value their own experience, and they forget they've already paid for that expertise in time, energy, and hard lessons. And the shift really happens when you stop pricing your time, and you start pricing your wisdom. So clients are not paying you for your time.
• 6:12
  They're paying you for your wisdom, the experience, and the blood and sweat that you've invested to be able to do what you're doing. So that shift really does help.
• 6:22
  Carly Ries: Okay. Then that makes sense. I'm, writing down notes. Well, so as I said, many solopreneurs offer modestly priced services. How can they use the inverse closing method to make discovery calls specifically feel more collaborative and still convert you were saying at those high ticket items, how could they convert at a higher rate?
• 6:46
  Adam Cerra: So, again, it's all about framing the sales conversation and your position in that sales process. So going back to, again, that you should always be assessing. When you become the authoritative figure in that sales conversation and you elevate your status, you're essentially guiding the person to come to their own reasons to why they should buy or why they should take up your offer. And by having that dynamic, your the collaboration is almost set from the from the moment you start speaking to them.
• 7:19
  So you're not pitching. What you're doing is that you're having a natural conversation that that leads to the the logical and the emotional conclusion that they should buy.
• 7:31
  Joe Rando: So, I mean, just the implicit in this, I just wanna make it explicit, that they actually need what you're selling. Right? So you found people that truly need your offering. So this is one of the things I think that throw people off is that a lot of people are trying to sell to people that don't need what they need. And they feel like, oh, you know, I don't know how to do that, and it's because you shouldn't.
• 7:53
  Right? Am I off base here?
• 7:55
  Adam Cerra: That's absolutely true. This is one step further. This is actually knowing how to sell someone what they need.
• 8:02
  Joe Rando: Once you know what they need.
• 8:03
  Adam Cerra: Once you know what they need. So people, even if we're selling something that someone needs, it's how are you selling what they need. That's the point here. And often, what people confuse selling with is telling someone, oh, well, you know, you have this, problem, and therefore, you need this solution. The skill in making this really high level is to have the prospect utter those words, have them verbalize why they need it, and you just agree with them.
• 8:37
  That's where the skill comes in, and that's what takes the salesiness and the yuckiness of sales conversations.
• 8:43
  Joe Rando: You reminded me of a story back way back when I was an engineer, and I'm going way back. I was with this sales guy that was, like, the head of sales, probably in his early sixties, very experienced. And we were pitching an aeronautics company for a product that we had, and we're getting nowhere. And he turns around and he goes, you know, I don't even know why we're wasting your time. You don't really need this.
• 9:09
  It's really not gonna make any difference. And I'm like, what's happening? And all of a sudden, the guy starts telling him why he's wrong and why it would actually make a difference and be helpful to the problems that they were facing. And he turned the entire thing around by making this person explain it to him instead of telling him why. Boom.
• 9:28
  So, yeah, you just brought that memory back.
• 9:30
  Adam Cerra: Yeah. Absolutely. And that's the essence of inverse closing. We invert the sale. We're not selling to them.
• 9:38
  We want the prospect to sell themselves for the offer. So yeah. Great story.
• 9:42
  Carly Ries: Are there any questions that you kind of rely on when trying to uncover what people value so that you can get closer to the sale?
• 9:50
  Adam Cerra: if I had to choose three questions, if I only had three questions to use on a sales call, the first one would be, what are the recurring voids or concerns that keep showing up in your life? The second would be, where do you absolutely not want to end up in life or business? And the third is, if all of your concerns disappeared and your desires were fulfilled, how would you know it was true? And what those questions do, they sidestep the logical, critical thinking of the mind and go straight to the emotion.
• 10:27
  Carly Ries: Love those. Okay. So we've talked about the discovery call, but then there's the awkward follow-up where a lot of people feel desperate. They feel like they're bothering the prospect. What does your 20 to 30 % more clients follow-up rhythm do you have look like, and how can solepreneurs apply it?
• 10:46
  Adam Cerra: Good question. So I think the problem is rooted in having this idea that I have to do a one call close. So many people in who engage in sales, they have this hard fact that hard rule that they have to try and close them on the first call. The problem with that is if the prospect isn't ready, and maybe there's some logistical issues like, hey. I gotta move money around.
• 11:11
  I gotta speak to this person. Once you go for the close, you ultimately lose control. And losing control when someone's selling is the worst situation that you can be. So therefore, when you lose control, if you try and go for a close, you lose control, and then you're like, hey. Do you really want to buy this?
• 11:34
  You know, then you're chasing. So, essentially, instead of having that and also removing the pressure, you have a rhythm of follow-up that feels like a continuation of the conversation, not a chasing one. And when you approach it in that way, what you're showing up is, as a leader rather than some needy salesperson. So you have to be smart and harness the things that can go against you. most people will not buy on a first call.
• 12:11
  Most people won't buy on a first call. So knowing that, you have to restructure your sales process to cater for that, but also harness it. So make it into a two call process, knowing that they're not gonna bond the first call, because it's not logistically possible, and have the second call as almost that I went away and looked at all of our notes, and I think you know, you would be a good client of mine. I think we're ready to move on. It's taking that and utilizing that rather than trying to close them on the first call and then frantically trying to follow-up with them and being ghosted.
• 12:49
  Joe Rando: Can I ask a question on that note? Because something I'm curious about because, you know, I'm not a salesperson, and I was actually really bad at it for a long time and studied it a little bit. So I'm curious of your take on this, this concept of the soft close of asking, you know, if we could do this and this, would this be something you'd wanna move forward on without making them commit Giving hypotheticals. How do you feel about that?
• 13:13
  Adam Cerra: we call that yes traps in traditionals.
• 13:16
  Joe Rando: Yes. Yes traps?
• 13:17
  Adam Cerra: Yes traps. So, hey. you have this problem. So if I could solve it, would you be ready to move forward? Yes.
• 13:26
  You have x amount of funds, and it's in your budget, and this program is x amount, would that mean that you're able to afford it, yes. The problem with that, this is very old hat and old school. Prospects know what you're doing, and it feels like you're being cornered and trapped and manipulated. What a better sophistic sophisticated way of doing that is eliciting affirmation and yeses for a different subject. And then when it comes to the next proposition or the next question, they're more likely to go ahead with it because prior to that, they were saying yes.
• 14:04
  I hope that makes sense.
• 14:05
  Joe Rando: But not yes to your offer, just yes in general, which primes them to then just be kind of in a yes mood.
• 14:12
  Adam Cerra: Yeah.
• 14:12
  Joe Rando: Is that fair?
• 14:13
  Adam Cerra: Correct. Yes. Yeah.
• 14:14
  Joe Rando: Interesting.
• 14:15
  Carly Ries: I like that perspective. Yeah.
• 14:18
  So something we hear a lot from our community members who are all solopreneurs is that sales consistency is really tough because they're wearing all the hats. They're marketing, sales operations, you name it. So what daily rhythm could they do if they wanna keep their pipeline full without burning out with all of their other responsibilities?
• 14:39
  Adam Cerra: Yeah. This is a difficult one because a lot of solopreneurs, they become a victim of their success. Because the better they get at sales, the more calls that they start to get on their calendar because you're scaling, and then there's a physical limitation of how many calls that you can possibly take in a day, and people are turning up. You're feeling burnt out by the end of it, and then you've gotta run the business.
• 15:09
  You gotta wear all these other hats. So the way that I answer that is to really consider delegating. Because a successful solopreneur has to come to a point and the realization that they have to consider delegating their sales calls. But that's easier said than done. You've got to find the talent, you've got to find someone who you can trust, and really dig deep in what they're capable of doing. I always say that you've got to look for four qualities in someone doing sales, or a closer that you're bringing to the team. They've got to have acute listening skills. They've got to be able to think laterally. They've got to be able to read between the lines and connect the dots. So it doesn't really matter if they've never done sales before, but if they can show those qualities, then it might make a good move to start delegating your sales calls to someone else.
• 16:06
  Joe Rando: We encourage solopreneurs to basically outsource and get people to help them. There's still this body of thought out there that says the solopreneurs have to do everything. And it was just in an article the other day. it was something you showed me, Carly, the other day, and basically saying, solopreneurs have to do it all to be a solopreneur. And I'm like, No. No. That's not true. But I never thought so much about delegating the sales Because it seems so personal.
• 16:34
  You know? When you're a solopreneur, especially, you know, if it's a high ticket, very personal service kind of thing. It's interesting. Although, I do know a guy named Denny Ward who's a solopreneur, and he delegates. he's a sales coach, actually, but he delegates all his sales.
• 16:49
  Adam Cerra: Really?
• 16:49
  Joe Rando: So, yeah, I hadn't really been encouraging people to think about that, but thank you. That's good.
• 16:55
  Adam Cerra: Yes. So you know, when I sort of opened this topic up and as you know, I run a done for you closing agency where solopreneurs actually outsource their sales to my company. One of the main objections they have is, well, Adam, don't my prospects wanna speak to me? Isn't that the sale, half the sale done? And what they failed to understand is that if you remove yourself from the sales process and there's a buffer between you and the prospect and the closes in between, it actually makes you more desirable.
• 17:28
  Why? Because it subconsciously says that this solopreneur is so successful, they can't even take their sales calls, they have someone else doing. So it actually works an advantage to be able to delegate if done properly, of course.
• 17:47
  Joe Rando: Now you're reminding me, I'm full of stories today, I guess, but just a few years ago, I signed up for this, kinda online course on how to do a presentation in the form of a TED Talk. And I think I spent, like, a $195 for it. And I was, kicking myself the minute I clicked, the buy button because I'm like, oh, this is probably a rip off. Turned out it was great. And I kind of used it for a while.
• 18:13
  And then I said, you know, maybe I wanna hire this guy. And I reached out and figured I was just gonna talk to him. Right? Because there's just this little thing. But over the course of six months, he got to the point where, he wasn't even doing any sales calls anymore.
• 18:28
  It was all, people working for him. And you're right. I had that perception of, wow. This guy's gotten really big. He's really doing well. So yeah. You know, that's definitely true.
• 18:38
  Carly Ries: Well, so for the people that want to try to get better at their skills and do wanna do it themselves for a little bit, do you have, a five minute daily practice that they can do or anything to improve at least their confidence above anything else?
• 18:52
  Adam Cerra: I think what's really important is to understand that sales, you can never perfect it. It's a journey of the pursuit of perfection, but never reach that. even now after twenty years, I'm still learning. I'm still refining. I'm still sharpening my swords. And a tool that can really help solopreneurs or anyone who's in sales is to make sure you record your calls and then listen back to them. With every single closer I have in my team, we record everything, and we get on coaching calls, and we review them. And one step higher than just recording and listening back is to get a mentor. Because that feedback loop, that analysis of your abilities on a live call and to get that feedback from that mentor is invaluable.
• 19:47
  That's how you become better at the skill when you have someone who has more experience that can say to you, hey, you know, you said this, but you could have said this or you missed this. You know, your tone was off here. You could have asked a better question. that's what constantly refines you. So first thing is record your sales calls, listen to them, and spot your own mistakes, and if you can, get a mentor.
• 20:11
  Carly Ries: Love it. Well, Adam, I have no doubt that you help people find success with their sales. We ask all of our guests this question. What is your favorite quote about success?
• 20:19
  Adam Cerra: My favorite quote about success, and this is something that really resonates with me, and that is that every failure compounds into success. If I look back in my past, and I look at all of my mistakes, all of my seemingly failed attempts, they've all been learning opportunities for me to become more refined, and to be able to claim my success.
• 20:45
  Carly Ries: Such a great perspective. Adam, where can people find you if they want to learn more about you, your business, anything you wanna share?
• 20:52
  Adam Cerra: So you're welcome to, your viewers and your listeners are welcome to look at my website. It's adamcerra.com. Also, if you're interested in learning how to sell as a solopreneur, I have a book called Conversation to Client. It's on Amazon, and you can also purchase it off my website.
• 21:09
  Carly Ries: Love it. Well, thank you so so much for coming on the show today. I feel like we had so many amazing nuggets of wisdom, Joe.
• 21:16
  Joe Rando: Yes. This was great. This was really great stuff. Thank you.
• 21:20
  Carly Ries: Yes. So thank you. Thank you. And listeners, thank you so much for tuning in today.
• 21:25
  As always, leave that five star review. It helps us spread the word to other solopreneurs. Share this episode with a friend and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform, including YouTube, and we'll see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go.
• 21:50
  So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.