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Why Most Salespeople Lose the Deal Before They Follow Up with Lynn Whitbeck · The Purpose and Progress Podcast Show

0:00
Lynn Whitbeck:: We're all in sales in some way or another. As
0:02
an author, you're in sales because you're getting people
0:05
access to new ideas and a new way of looking at things,
0:09
pathway to a better life. And so it's the same with sales, with
0:15
whatever you're selling. If you truly believe in the product and
0:18
service that you're delivering in the company, and how you help
0:21
and serve your clients, then you get to really step into that
0:26
role of worthy intent where you truly desire to make a
0:29
difference.
0:34
Jim Price:: Hello, I'm Dr. Jim Price, and welcome to The
0:37
Purpose and Progress Podcast. This is the place where we
0:41
explore how purpose can guide our actions, and how growth can
0:45
become a part of our everyday lives. On the show, I talk with
0:49
amazing guests, from educators and creators to everyday people
0:54
with extraordinary stories about the challenges they face, the
0:58
lessons they've learned, and how to keep moving forward. My goal
1:01
is to share conversations that inspire you to live
1:04
intentionally, embrace growth, and take meaningful steps to
1:08
your own purpose. Let's get started.
1:14
Hello, everyone, and welcome to The Purpose in Progress Podcast
1:18
with your host, Dr. Jim Price. Here where we share an
1:21
inspirational stories and motivational stories on leaders
1:25
in our industries that help motivate others and do justice
1:30
to help others in the way they can in their own individual
1:33
industries and stuff. We're so delighted and happy to have such
1:37
a wonderful guest, Miss Lynn Whitbeck, and I just have to
1:42
tell that I'm so excited to have you. You're an author, you're
1:45
the Founder, CEO of Strategic Sales Queen, and Petite 2 Queen,
1:51
TV show host, Podcaster, Speaker and Mentor, that's a lot of that
1:57
you have going on in terms of the things that you do
2:00
holistically.
2:01
We just want to be able to have people say, people always see
2:05
the finished progress of how things go, but they don't always
2:07
know the backdrop of how people get to that point where they're
2:12
having their businesses, successful and things of that
2:15
nature. Being an author and coming up with ideas and stuff
2:18
like that, so we like to have people be able to have a
2:21
backdrop understanding of where all that come from. People see
2:25
the finished product, but they don't always see the beginning,
2:29
or what the grind is to get where you're at. So tell us a
2:32
little about yourself and how your journey started in terms of
2:37
your purpose and everything, and what influenced that?
2:42
Lynn Whitbeck:: Well, it depends on how far back we want to go. I
2:47
have been in sales my whole adult life. I really started
2:52
when I was a Girl Scout selling cookies. I was so excited that I
2:55
finally got to sell the cookies from being a Brownie to being a
2:58
Girl Scout. And that first year, they had this huge cookie badge
3:03
that you had to sell a truckload of cookies to get the cookie
3:06
badge. I think a lot of people out there can just feel that
3:10
that is something they really wanted that they coveted, that
3:14
was me. I wanted that cookie badge. And that very first day,
3:17
out I went, I immediately discovered three problems that
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not everybody bought or sold, bought cookies, or were they
3:25
were home. I mean, first of all, just hauling my little red
3:28
wagon. You remember the little red flyer wagons with the
3:31
cookies, they're stacked up there, it was like the Leaning
3:33
Tower of cookies. And then if they did buy, like Dr. Jim,
3:38
you'd say, oh, wait, wait. Lynn, I want more samosas. I have to
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run back to the wagon to get them and bring them back to you.
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There I was at the end of the day, how you get when you just
3:49
feel like the world is on your shoulders? I really want this. I
3:53
want it so bad, but how am I going to get there? And I told
3:58
my parents this over dinner. My dad just looked at me and said,
4:02
Lynn, where do people buy their cookies? And I went to the
4:06
grocery store. And the next day, we ditched the wagon. Every day,
4:10
me and my best friend were out there at the grocery store. She
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played to her string, she's at the back table, she took the
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money and handed over the cookies. I was out front like
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the Walmart greeter. I brought him in. I really discovered this
4:23
passion, even at that early age, for sales, because I loved the
4:27
organization. I actually loved the cookies, and I really felt
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that these cookies were this great thing for people to buy.
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Not only were they helping the Girl Scouts, but they were also
4:38
buying a great product. I also learned that you have to have a
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consistent, repeatable process. And heck, that was even scalable
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if we'd had more girls out there at different grocery stores,
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right? Because this was like early days, and I think that
4:55
that led me down the road eventually. Yeah, I became a
5:00
professional salesperson out of college, and it was just one of
5:03
those things that was funny. I was working at a company, and I
5:07
asked them if I could go into outside sales. The owner was
5:11
like, oh, this is not going to be a good idea. There was a
5:13
senior partner and a junior partner, and I shadowed the
5:17
senior partner for about two weeks. And then on April Fool's
5:20
Day, kid you not, I started my professional sales career. And
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that year, I cold called every one of my accounts, and I
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outsold the junior partner that year. I sold for 8 months, he
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sold for 12. And the next year, I outsold the senior partner.
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And at the end of the day, because sales has always spoken
5:42
to my core value to be of service, and I believe sales is
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an act of service when you genuinely desire to help and
5:50
serve your clients. And we're all in sales in some way or
5:54
another. As an author, you're in sales because you're getting
5:57
people access to new ideas and a new way of looking at things,
6:02
pathway to a better life. It's the same with sales, with
6:07
whatever you're selling. If you truly believe in the product and
6:10
service that you're delivering in the company, and how you help
6:14
and serve your clients, then you get to really step into that
6:19
role of worthy intent where you truly desire to make a
6:22
difference.
6:23
Jim Price:: That is so true. And sometimes, even in business,
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it's a two-prong thing, where you're wanting to satisfy the
6:30
customer, but you're also in your situation, you're helping
6:33
community too through boy scouts, girl scouts, so it's
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almost like a two-prong impact there where you're having
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consumers who are happy and with the services. I love cookies
6:46
myself. I would buy cookies all the time. As a school counselor,
6:51
I would buy cookies for the kids, and they would have the
6:53
Girl Scout cookies and stuff. I always love the peanut butter
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ones.
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Lynn Whitbeck:: Yeah, the Tagalongs.
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Jim Price:: I completely understand, I mean, it's a
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wonderful thing when you're able to do those kind of things and
7:04
bring more understanding to how businesses and stuff run in that
7:08
capacity. Why don't we get into a little bit of some of the
7:11
obstacles that you face throughout your journey, and to
7:16
get to where you are? Maybe some things that kind of resonated
7:19
that you remember like, okay, that was a hurdle that really
7:23
pushed me to maybe get to where I'm going, and stuff like that.
7:27
Lynn Whitbeck:: Well, I've always thought of myself as the
7:29
poster child for taking a long road around to travel a short
7:32
distance, just pick me up on the wall. But there are a lot of
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things, lessons that you learn along the way. I think a really
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powerful lesson for me that I learned was on customer repair.
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Because one of the things, you can fix things, you can reprint
7:54
things. I was in commercial printing for many years. But if
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the client doesn't feel that they've had the opportunity to
8:01
really have the emotional repair that it's still like the sticks
8:07
in their craw, it's not the way to put it. I really learned that
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you have to allow your client to vent, you have to let them tell
8:20
you how it made them feel. Because when something goes
8:23
wrong or it goes sideways, clients feel betrayed. A little
8:28
bit of their trust has been lost. We're human beings, but
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we're also angry about it, we're upset about it. And if we don't
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let them talk about that and really not be defensive, and not
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try to talk back, or anything, but just listen. Don't say,
8:46
well, listen, we're gonna fix it. No, just let them talk. And
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the most buttoned-down conservative person still needs
8:53
to get off their chest. And when you do that, then they're able
8:56
to process it. It's sort of like a grief process. And then they
9:00
can get to the other side, if you don't do that, you plant a
9:05
bitter seed, and then it takes root, and it is hard to get rid
9:09
of it. I had that happen once in my end. And I just went, okay,
9:15
what did I not do right? What do I need to do? How do I fix this?
9:19
And it's about letting it, it's not personal, just let it wash
9:24
over you. Truly listen. And then what can you do to make repairs.
9:31
I actually ended up being able to get that bitter seed pried
9:34
out. But I didn't make that mistake again, but I could tell
9:39
that things had gone sideways. Because for months after that,
9:43
they kept bringing up the incident. It was like we took
9:46
care of it, we fixed it. But by really focusing, it's not about
9:53
me. This is about them. We're human beings. Sales is an
9:57
emotional decision. We went out there, you, they make decisions
10:02
on their emotions first, and then they rationalize it. So
10:05
really taking that step back and that insight, I went, okay,
10:08
wait. Something similar was also going on that my grandmother had
10:13
passed, and I went, it's a grief. It's a grief process.
10:16
They were upset, and they didn't get to just talk about it. I
10:21
fixed it, but that didn't make it better because they didn't
10:25
feel like they ever got to go through that. Like Elsa, let it
10:31
go. They didn't get to do that.
10:34
Jim Price:: And you do see that a lot of times. Grief and things
10:38
that erotic, the things that happened in our lives can
10:40
actually be the trigger for a lot of progress in terms of
10:43
pushing us forward to what we're trying to do, or meeting our
10:46
purpose, and things like that. Even for myself, we go through
10:50
life, and you go through a lot of struggles and stuff, and it
10:52
kind of propels you to want to be better, do better, and
10:55
inspire others to do the same as you go along your own journey.
10:59
That's very inspirational, and thank you for being open and
11:03
honest, and sharing that aspect of yourself. Because sometimes,
11:06
people are closed off. They want to share, but then people can
11:11
hear your story, then they'll be able to say, hey, I can connect
11:14
with that. I can heal myself too through that process of going
11:19
through the healing process, even through grief and whatever
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it may be, so those are stakes for sharing that aspect of
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yourself. What projects do you feel as far as achievement, some
11:31
things that you feel like you really hold dear and close to
11:35
you in that sense?
11:38
Lynn Whitbeck:: My business. I'm really proud that I - this is my
11:42
10th year. I just literally hit my 10th anniversary in business.
11:46
Jim Price:: Congratulations.
11:47
Lynn Whitbeck:: As a sales strategist, as a consultant, and
11:50
I have the same team, same group of W-2 employees that I've had,
11:56
and that's amazing - four team members who've been with me. I
12:05
think that that's probably in my business. I am really proud of
12:11
the fact that I'm best friends with every one of my clients. I
12:13
become very good friends with them. I had a situation recently
12:18
that I called one of my past clients and I said, I need some
12:21
help. I know that this is your area of expertise. What do I do?
12:27
He was just literally, you call me anytime. You text me anytime.
12:30
I'm here for you. And he did. He saw me through that whole three
12:35
week process of, I was in a car accident, so there's just a
12:38
situation to go with that. And he was amazing. And that's the
12:42
relationships that you build, so definitely those are really
12:46
important to me.
12:50
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blessed.
13:25
I know you're an author too. Maybe you can speak a little bit
13:28
about the author aspect of things that you do. I doubt this
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is where, being an author, you don't know all the rigors and
13:38
stuff until you actually get in the game. And then there's
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something, okay, I have a book now. What's the next step? Maybe
13:44
share with our audience a little bit about the author aspect of
13:48
the things that you do.
13:50
Lynn Whitbeck:: So my first book was called Practical Wisdoms @
13:52
Work. It really leaned into my entire sales career, but it was
13:57
about all the things that, sales is this accelerator for your
14:02
career. You never have to work a day in sales, or not at all. But
14:06
for women, especially if you don't know how to negotiate, if
14:10
you don't know how to speak up, if you don't know how to work
14:13
with difficult people, if you take all everything too
14:16
personal, it was intended for young women and younger career
14:22
women, so that they could bridge the gap. All the things that
14:25
they never teach you in college, they don't teach you on the job,
14:28
and you're in these situations, so how do you navigate them
14:32
successfully? So that was a really great book, and it was at
14:36
the right timing. My one niece was in graduate school, my other
14:40
niece was in college, and my daughter was about to go to
14:44
college, and that was a really important thing that it's
14:48
building on all of the sales experience, and how do you apply
14:51
that in day to day career and work. And then I finished my new
14:56
book, it is called Joyful Sales: A Better Way to Sell, and I'm
15:00
getting ready for that to be published. The audio version is
15:03
done. The book is done, but I went through a major rebrand at
15:07
nine and a half years. I changed my business name from Petite 2
15:11
Queen, which is still the LLC, and I'm doing business as
15:15
Strategic Sales Queen. The book was, I pulled the book back from
15:20
publication because we had almost 5000 URLs links within
15:26
our website that had to be updated. That was an entire
15:29
thing. I've helped clients go through this before, so I
15:32
already had the process, the roadmap, but it's a very
15:36
specific steps that you take in order, and what you do. Because
15:39
it's not just updating your website, it's updating your lead
15:43
magnets, it's updating your emails, it's updating the
15:46
socials. And you have to do that in a certain order. Then it's
15:50
filing for a state trademark, then it's filing for the federal
15:53
trademark. But once again, you've got to do all these
15:55
things in order. And it helps. Because by the time I finally
16:00
was ready to file for the federal trademark, which has
16:02
been done, I had to have all these other pieces in place. It
16:05
strengthens your case. And if you put the cart before the
16:08
horse, it just doesn't work right. So anyway, so the next
16:11
book is Joyful Sales: A Better Way to Sell. It is about the
16:15
core things that you have to do to be really successful in your
16:18
sales. Where you step into that worthy intent, which is one of
16:23
them is that you genuinely care. You want to give great service,
16:28
you want to deliver results and a great outcome, and you're
16:31
curious about who you're working with. And it matters to you. And
16:35
so that's one of the core elements in the book, Joyful
16:40
Sales: A Better Way to Sell. But there's also some really good
16:42
practical advice about things that you can apply in your
16:45
business immediately so that you can be more effective. I'm
16:49
really excited about that one. And I've already started my next
16:52
book, which is The Seven Deadly Sins of Sales, and so that will
16:58
be ready for publication by next February.
17:02
Jim Price:: Do you think you could give us a little sneak
17:03
peek of maybe what that might be? Maybe give us a bread crumb?
17:11
I know you're probably working a lot of stuff.
17:15
Lynn Whitbeck:: I actually written all the core content. I
17:18
do a lot where I dictate. I'm a talker, the sales person. I'm a
17:24
talker. But actually, a really good salesperson, by the way, is
17:28
you're a detective. Be honest. If you're not listening, 80% of
17:32
the time, you actually are not a good salesperson. But
17:35
regardless, so one of the deadly sins of sales I'm going to tell
17:39
you right now is failure to follow up. It's my second deadly
17:45
sin of sales. So number two on the hit parade of the seven. And
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here's the thing, when you don't follow up, you just gave that
17:54
project, that order, that consulting, that whatever it is
17:59
to your competition.
18:00
Jim Price:: Absolutely.
18:01
Lynn Whitbeck:: Because you've had the conversation, you've
18:03
primed the pump, and then you didn't follow up. And this is
18:07
the thing, it's an art. Actually in my career, I close almost my
18:13
sales and follow up. I do occasionally have people who
18:16
say, oh gosh. They've heard me speak, and they want to work
18:19
with him. I want to start working. Well, okay, I don't do
18:21
it. I just don't take your money. That's not how I roll. I
18:24
have to go through. I have to make sure that you're a right
18:27
fit, that I'm going to be able to help you, and that you're a
18:30
good fit for me as well. And that it's a win-win. But
18:34
regardless, most of my sales throughout my career, and I
18:38
think because I was in B2B, huge corporate sales, closing multi
18:42
million dollar deals, those don't happen overnight. But
18:45
follow up is so critical. And it's an area that most people
18:49
have so many questions about, and they take it personally.
18:54
They don't know what to say. There's all kinds of things.
18:57
They put all these roadblocks, they don't want to hear the NO.
19:00
But I'd rather get the no, so that I actually know what's
19:05
happening. And a no is usually a no for now. It's rarely a no for
19:10
never. And when you're following up and you're still building
19:13
that relationship, showing up what it's going to be like to
19:16
work with you, who you are, they may not be your ideal client,
19:20
but they could become a referral resource, they could become a
19:23
partner, they could become a platform. I want you to think
19:26
about, it's just not about you. Sales is not about you, it's
19:31
about your ideal client. That leads into another deadly sin of
19:37
sales. You got to think like your client. So those are some
19:41
of the things that I talk about in the book, but I go through
19:43
the seven deadly sales and how they're intertwined, what they
19:46
are, what not to do, and what to do.
19:50
Jim Price:: Those are you've already given us so many gems.
19:54
I'm sure the audience, and I definitely appreciate it. So
19:57
you're giving us so many gems right now from this aspect of
20:01
how to correlate a lot of that in terms of customer service,
20:03
and rendering those services, and building trust and all the
20:07
things that are entailed with business. But you're definitely
20:09
sharing so many gems. That was going to kind of be my next
20:12
thing, if you were to give advice to someone who's coming
20:14
up in the business industry and they're trying to maybe
20:16
formulate their own business, what would advice would you give
20:19
them?
20:20
Lynn Whitbeck:: Well, this comes up all the time, but stop
20:23
projecting. So what happens is that you project your ideas of
20:28
why somebody would want your product or service? Why they
20:31
would want to do business with you? You need to take a step
20:35
back and really think like your client. You're starting your own
20:41
business, well, who else have you worked with in the past?
20:43
Because you can still interview them and understand from their
20:47
perspective what it's been like. And so if you've been in
20:52
business for a while, this is something that every time I go
20:55
into an established business long term, they've never done
20:58
this. It's really my own IP. I call it the voice of the client,
21:03
and it's really to get into the head of your ideal client. And
21:07
you do that by interviewing them to get the full story arc. What
21:12
were they at the very beginning? What was the pain? What was the
21:17
problem? What was the solution they were seeking? What was
21:19
keeping them up at late at night? What was just a dang
21:21
frustration? And then what was they wanted? Get into that.
21:29
What's the catalyst? What made them decide I've had enough? I
21:34
gotta fix this. Something's gotta give. Oh, man, I heard Dr.
21:39
Jim, and I know that I need to make a change. Whatever it
21:44
happens to be, so what's the catalyst? And then, why did they
21:47
decide to start working with you? How did you make them feel?
21:51
What were their thoughts around it? What did they believe around
21:55
it? And so that, once again, you're pulling that language
21:58
out, always looking for the emotions and motivations through
22:01
this. Then the step four is, what's their experience been
22:05
like working with you? What were those initial results? What were
22:10
the first things that they had in 30 days? Sometimes, it's just
22:13
a feeling of, okay, somebody's got my back, finally. That's
22:18
huge. That's a huge stress reliever. Sometimes for my
22:21
clients, it's like, I want them to, we actually move forward.
22:24
Something in their sales starts working better, right? What's
22:28
those quick results? And then what have been the long-term
22:32
results that you've delivered? What they've gained from that?
22:36
And finally, where are they at now? Their business is thriving.
22:40
They're able to bring more people on. Their sales are
22:43
humming. And as they bring new sales, people in, they can just
22:47
hit the ground running, and their business is growing, and
22:50
they're able to focus on other things, aspects of their
22:52
business. So isn't that amazing? You get that full story arc.
22:57
What's most important is you get the language from your ideal
23:00
clients, the people you loved working with. Don't interview
23:04
somebody that was a pain in your side. Come on, let's be honest,
23:08
we've all had them. We've all had them. They may be lovely,
23:12
wonderful people. But sometimes, it's soil and water, and you
23:15
just don't mix. But now, when you've got that and you need at
23:19
least seven interviews that you go through, you've got this
23:23
great information that now you can actually use their language.
23:30
And when you do this, it reveals things that you would not have
23:34
recognized, and also the words to use to communicate. Because
23:42
this is the thing you want to be able to attract them and
23:45
connect, and then guide them to convert them to close a sale so
23:50
that you can serve them and create impact. So that's the
23:56
thing. And when you do that, this is literally the foundation
23:59
of my entire sales strategy philosophy. You got to get out
24:04
of your own way, get out of your own head, and put this Venn
24:08
diagram together about what you do, your products or services,
24:11
who you are, so you can always be authentic. And then what your
24:15
ideal client? Who they are with that voice of the client
24:18
thinking, and then you put that together. And now, using that
24:22
voice of the client language. You use that in everything. Use
24:25
it in your outreach, your lead magnets, your blog posts. You
24:28
use it when you're talking on a podcast. You use it when you're
24:32
doing your discovery questions. You use it in your follow-up.
24:36
You use it in your onboarding. You use it when you're seeding
24:39
referrals, and you're asking for referrals when you've earned the
24:42
right. So it's just the whole thing. It's a beautiful thing,
24:46
and it is a game changer. I hate that phrase, but it really is a
24:50
game changer.
24:51
Jim Price:: People will remember a lot of things. People will
24:54
definitely remember how you made them feel. So when you're doing
24:57
all this aspect of how business goes and stuff like, a lot of
25:01
times, they have these sound bites. Even on commercials, when
25:07
people hear that, they know that's a sound bite for a
25:09
certain company, and it kind of works the same. People remember
25:13
how you made them feel in a lot of situations. You're dropping
25:17
so many gems right now with tha. That's that's how we do it in
25:23
terms of collaborating all those aspects of the business world
25:27
and stuff, and making sure those things stand true in that way.
25:32
How could the audience connect with you? In terms of your books
25:37
and your business, how can my audience connect with you?
25:41
Lynn Whitbeck:: Well, there's a lot of ways, but I'm going to
25:42
tell you something that's really special. So that is my Get More
25:45
Clients checklist, and this is going to help people who just
25:49
want to get a feel where their sales are at. It's going to
25:53
reveal if you've got some polls, if you've got some chasms, if
25:58
you're doing something really well. And it takes you about 15
26:02
minutes to go through it, and it's going to give you some
26:04
insight as, okay, now this is something we should work on
26:07
because I can see we got a chasm here. You can get that at P, the
26:14
digit 2, Q.link/checklist, and it's going to let you get
26:21
started on that journey of figuring out, and you're going
26:25
to be then connected into our world. You can look at anything
26:28
else that you'd like to.
26:29
Jim Price:: Could you share the site one more time?
26:33
Lynn Whitbeck:: Absolutely. It's P, as in Petite, the number 2, Q
26:39
for Queen .link/checklist. One word.
26:45
Jim Price:: Excellent. This has been such a world full of gems,
26:52
this segment right here, and I'm so appreciative of you, Lynn,
26:55
for coming and being a part of the show, and sharing so much
26:58
knowledge and understanding, and share it about yourself too.
27:02
Sometimes, people forget about the other side of things. They
27:05
see the face and know the company, but they don't really
27:08
know the name behind the face of the company, or other aspects of
27:13
the person and stuff like that. So welcome to The Purpose and
27:17
Progress Podcast show. Once again, we hope the audience make
27:20
you subscribe to the channel, and we will see you next time.
27:24
Thank you so much, Lynn.
27:26
Lynn Whitbeck:: Thank you, Dr. Jim.
27:29
Jim Price:: Thank you for joining me on this episode of
27:31
The Purpose in Progress Podcast. I hope today's conversation gave
27:35
you insight, inspiration, or a fresh perspective to help you
27:39
move forward with purpose. If you enjoyed the episode, please
27:42
subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could
27:45
use a little encouragement. You can also support the podcast
27:49
through the donation link in the show notes. Every contribution
27:52
helps us keep sharing stories that uplift and inspire.
27:55
Remember, your purpose is waiting, and progress never
27:58
stops. I'll see you next time.