This transcript was generated by AI, and it ain't perfect.
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Speaker 1 (00:00:00) - Welcome to Uncopyable Women in Sales. If you're looking for actionable insights and real world tools to turbocharge your sales starting tomorrow, well, you're in the right place. Your host, Kay Miller, earned the affectionate nickname Muffler Mama when she sold more automotive mufflers than anyone else in the world. In this podcast, Kay will talk to another superstar women in sales as they reveal unstoppable strategies you can use to rack up more leads, snag dream clients, and take your sales numbers through the roof. Stay tuned and get ready to make more sales. And how about this more money?
Speaker 2 (00:00:39) - Today I have the pleasure of talking with Kristie Jones. Kristie is a speaker and author of the soon to be released book, Selling Your Way In. Kristie helps sales leaders and professionals build their pipelines, improve closing rates, and achieve their sales targets. Her speeches help salespeople leverage their sales superpowers to unleash their full potential. Kristie, welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:01:09) - I'm excited about our conversation today.
Speaker 2 (00:01:10) - Yes, me too, and I love the name of your book, Selling Your Way In, which we will be talking about during our our interview. But why don't you get us started and tell us how you got into sales in the first place?
Speaker 3 (00:01:23) - Yeah, a couple of paths. One., I affectionately say, and I talk about it in the book, that I got my MBA at the kitchen table., my parents owned the Coldwell Banker franchise, and so my dad was the owner broker. And my mom, after 13 years of teaching English and Spanish, quit teaching and got her real estate license over a summer and became one of the top agents in town. So,, our table, our dinner table conversation revolved around showings and listings and buyers and sellers and commission checks. And,, so money was a very transparent topic in our, in our house. And like a lot of folks growing up. So, you know, I knew when my dad was and wasn't taking a paycheck, if you had to make payroll or pay my mother's quarterly taxes.
Speaker 3 (00:02:02) - And I knew every check my mother ever made, every commission check. So, you know, I have a younger brother and he we no doubt that we both,, fell into sales based on organically. He took my mother's path and became a very successful individual contributor., and the staffing world. And I took my father's path as a sales leader. So I think that was definitely thing number one., and then I tell people, my favorite sales job to this day is still waiting tables., I thought the best the best job ever, because you got instant feedback in the form of tips slash commission. And so after every table, you got a chance to better yourself. Not every, you know, not everybody tipped appropriately, but I, you know, I there are so many lessons that I have learned in so many of us worked our way through high school and college waiting tables as I did, that there are so many similarities between waiting tables., you know, I can go go down the list, but, you know, like, you know what you sell matters.
Speaker 3 (00:02:57) - The section that you have, territory matters. What section you were assigned back in the day. I'm so old that we had a smoking section,, in the restaurant that nobody wanted.
Speaker 2 (00:03:06) - But me too. And I was actually a waitress for a while, too. And it was. I loved it.
Speaker 3 (00:03:10) - Yeah. And it was. Yeah. I mean, fast paced personality packs, you know, all of that. So I think those were really I mean, there was definitely those two things that formed my relationship with sales., and then, you know, I got out of college and went into retail sales. So I was a buyer for a major department store. And so I spent some time in retail sales. But I really like almost everything I did., all along the way, including those those high school jobs were all sales related.
Speaker 2 (00:03:34) - And you're obviously a natural, I can tell already enthusiastic. And if you have something that you love, you want to help people, right? Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:03:43) - Yeah. So so as you have been a sales trainer and not only your own experience, but you've observed other salespeople. I know you talk a lot about the fact that we all have a superpower, and so I'd like to start out by talking about first what separates the top 10% from the 90% in sales.
Speaker 3 (00:04:06) - Yeah, I think it's the things that the other 90% a thinker either, you know, not not important or hogwash, if you will., I asked this one question. Anytime I interview a sales candidate and it and it's. So if you interview with me, this is definitely coming up. So be prepared. And the question is tell me three things that you do consistently, regardless of the job or the company that you're working for that you believe will make you successful. If you are doing these three things consistently and top ten percenters say things like, I have a spiritual practice. I'm at the gym every morning by six, I put my phone down two hours a day so I can be present with my family.
Speaker 3 (00:04:43) - I have an advisory circle and we meet regularly over beer to discuss our careers., so the 10% understand that it's not the hard skills or the aptitude towards what you're doing. And that's this is almost any profession, right? And then the other 90, I always I use this example, I said, you know, you're sitting next to Susan and I'm like, I'm saying what Susan's saying, but I'm not getting the results of Susan's getting it. I don't understand why. It's because the work that gets to the top, it doesn't actually happen at work. It happens outside of work. And what you don't see is what Susan's doing between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m..
Speaker 2 (00:05:18) - Right. And, and and most of the sales women I've talked to, I should say female sales professionals are lifelong learners. They they read, they listen to a podcast. And because you are listening to this podcast, you are in that group. And yes, those disciplines,, I like to work out. I have struggled since the pandemic because I used to go to the gym and do spin at the insane hour of 5:45 a.m., which I couldn't do that until I started doing it and I got addicted.
Speaker 2 (00:05:52) - , I do have a gratitude app on my phone, so. So I'm not perfect at those things, but I really do believe in the value of those. And I know you because you said exercise is a big thing, I didn't. Yeah., you know, there are some very consistent things that successful salespeople do. Successful people do. And,, it's important to prioritize that and keep keep working on that. So let's talk about the superpower. I'm I'm fascinated by that concept. And I like the fact that you say, how can someone identify their own superpower? Because as I mentioned before, we started the recording, I've been talking with so many different sales people and everyone's different. And of course, the the people, the women I'm talking to are all very successful. But everything their style, their personality, their, you know, methodology may be very different. So tell us about how we as salespeople can identify our superpower.
Speaker 3 (00:06:54) - Yeah. I mean, if you're not sure,, there's a there's some questions I'm going to give you,, about that.
Speaker 3 (00:06:59) - But I want to make sure that everyone understands that, like, your superpower is not just a strength., the definition of superpower is that it's something that gives you a significant advantage over others. And so, you know, it's not just something that you do well, but it gives you a significant advantage. And so if you're not sure what your superpower is, it's questions such as what seems to come easy for me but hard for others. What do people come and ask me? Advice about what seems to come naturally to me? What do I love doing? What do others call out as things that I do well? Like what? You know, if somebody says, wow, you're really good at that., and then, you know, it'd be asking yourself all of those questions doesn't elicit your superpower, then I would encourage you to ask family and friends, because I bet they know. So sometimes we are,, you know, we are blinded to superpowers because they just, you know, again, if they come naturally to you or they're easy to you, it doesn't maybe seem like it's something that could could give you a significant advantage.
Speaker 3 (00:07:59) - , I was in my 40s until I recognized one of my superpowers. And that superpowers generosity. And it was something that I had done for years. I say my motto is, I've got 30 minutes for everyone and do the right things and the right things will happen. And so, you know, I said, for years people have taken me up on that. Like I got serious about it and I was like, no, like I'm happy too. Happy to review your resume. I'm happy to talk to you about career advice. I'm happy to help you prep for the big interview., and I have a journalism degree, so I'm even happy to edit that Dear John email to your soon to be ex., so, so you know, I've got like I really like I people take me up on this about 3 or 4 times a week. Somebody asked for 30 minutes of my time and my and my answer is, of course I have 30 minutes for everyone., and that the universe conspired to take that superpower.
Speaker 3 (00:08:46) - And it brought a bunch of very interesting things into my life because I kept saying, yes, I have 30 minutes for you. And that was, you know, that was eight years ago. I started my own business, and it was a series of saying yes to people and doing them a favor,, as people would call it. And that all led to me starting my consulting business, which was not on the radar.
Speaker 2 (00:09:06) - Well, and I'm sure being generous, like you said, it opens a lot of doors and it it's karma. It's carbon number one. But when you do something nice for other people, of course they want to do it back. So, you know, that's a great superpower to have. What are some of the other superpowers that you find in sales people that that really serve them well?
Speaker 3 (00:09:27) - Yeah, I just did a keynote with Crunchbase. The sales that the sales and marketing folks at Crunchbase,, and things that I kind of did expect to hear, I hear a lot like, I'm like, I'm a good listener.
Speaker 3 (00:09:38) - Like, listening is my superpower. Asking questions of my superpower., some people said vulnerability was their superpower. So I think sometimes when we think about, you know, because I sometimes couch it as a sales superpower,, if I want you to get sort of specific about your, you know, my sales superpower, you know, would be asking questions., my son says I'm nosy, but I prefer naturally curious., but but, you know, if you think just like it's amazing how my universal superpower, if you will, of generosity, plays well in all spaces, right?, but I think a lot of folks, you know, a lot of folks read like,, I talked to another friend the other day, and he's like, I just read people. Well, like, I can read you and I know how to communicate with you. I just have to hear a few sentences out of your mouth to know how to effectively communicate with you., you know, the psychology of sales is, is, you know, understanding people is absolutely a superpower.
Speaker 3 (00:10:31) - And I think, you know, that's something that I think,, somebody asked me earlier today what my favorite sales book was. And I said, anything that Brené Brown writes, because it's all about psychology and we don't spend enough time. We spend a lot of time reading how to books., but sales is all about psychology. The art of sales is all about psychology. So, yeah, I think I think sometimes your universal superpower could be your sales superpower., not only and I think your sales superpower, my sales superpower of being a good questioner and being naturally curious,, sometimes will irritate some in my life, as my son would say. But it's like, enough with the questions already., but, like, I really am actually curious. I want to know everything about everything. Like, I think people are fascinating and what they do is fascinating. And so I just think it's so interesting what people have chosen to do with their life and the path that they've taken.
Speaker 2 (00:11:22) - Well, first of all, we all irritate our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11:24) - And I speak from experience. Oh my gosh, it's so funny. You can say something and someone else can say something. Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (00:11:32) - I take it.
Speaker 2 (00:11:32) - Very differently., I love the curiosity part., are you a Ted Lasso fan by chance, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (00:11:40) - Yes. My, my, this is one thing my son and I do agree on is Ted.
Speaker 2 (00:11:43) - Ted Lasso. And you remember the scene where Ted Lasso character, you know, or. Jason. Yep. His character talks about curiosity and played a dart game against,, kind of this rival. Yeah. And he smoked him. Right. And afterwards he said, you know, you never asked. You never found out if I was good at darts. And so that was a memorable scene, and that show was just really awesome. But,, I love the old Dale Carnegie, which is how to win Friends and Influence people. And it's just so much about listening. And I think salespeople, that's probably the one thing that we're the worst at.
Speaker 2 (00:12:24) - , a lot of us are very gregarious, and a lot of us are excited about what we're selling for good reason, right? But we're not learning when we're talking.
Speaker 3 (00:12:35) - That's right.
Speaker 2 (00:12:35) - I actually just read a book by Larry King, master interviewer and he said his favorite question is why? And so being curious is huge and learning as much as you can from the customer. And besides asking your friends and family, how would you explore what that is?
Speaker 3 (00:12:58) - You know, I think,, I think a lot of people it probably it developed at an early age and you didn't catch it., when I think about generosity being my superpower, I think back to high school, and I used to jokingly say that at night I had the phone lines were open for my friends to call and cry with. Christi., I was that person who I again, I'm not super emotional. I'm very levelheaded. I said, in case of emergency, you should put my name and phone number down. Almost everyone should.
Speaker 3 (00:13:22) - , because I put my business hat on and I go to work. But. But it was funny because people would reach out to me, like, for advice about, you know, boyfriend breakups and fights and parents, you know, parents grounding them for sneaking out the second floor window and bad grades on the test. And how do I tell my parents? I just seem to have been that person that people felt confident in coming to me,, and I and so that superpower was a strength, but I didn't even recognize it. It was just it was just, you know, it was just part of my DNA. It was just what I was doing. I just I never thought that it was anything special, that my friends trusted me and my advice and thought I was levelheaded enough to ask some of the important life questions at 16., but that never changed. And even today, you know, I have, you know, I have certain friends, even from high school that still call and say, I talk to you about.
Speaker 3 (00:14:05) - I need some help. Like, I don't know what to do about this., and so I do think it's not. I think it's generosity, but it's also the other super powers would be, you know, I'm level headed in crisis., you know, I'm a professional firefighter in most times, and I can kind of see what action needs to be taken., and sometimes, you know, I have to be careful because a lot of times, again, going back to my precious, my precious boy,, you know, he he now knows to call. I mean, we we've been together 24 years, so he's smarter than he used to be, but now he calls about frustration about something he knows. I'm just calling to vent. I don't need solutions. That is.
Speaker 2 (00:14:44) - Very familiar.
Speaker 3 (00:14:45) - Yeah, I go immediately into problem solving mode. And so he'll be like, I'm just so he knows. And we had a conversation because I got frustrated and I said, like, I just react like, this is what I do.
Speaker 3 (00:14:55) - Like this is what I do for a living. People pay me to solve problems. And I said, so I don't know any. I said, you have to. So he knows now to say I'm calling because I had a really bad day at work and I just need to tell you what happened. I'm like, oh, I love it. Let me get a glass of wine then.
Speaker 1 (00:15:09) - Today's podcast is sponsored by the acclaimed book Unstoppable Sales Secrets How to Create an Unfair Advantage and Outsell Your Competition, by Kay Miller. If you want to make more sales, you need to read this book. We'll even get you started with a free download of the first two chapters. Go to Unstoppable Sales. Com slash chapters to grab this offer right now.
Speaker 2 (00:15:35) - , these superpowers remind me of a buzzword right now, which is authenticity. Authenticity. And that's something that I think really is important because, you know, our customers, our prospects can tell when we're not being honest and authentic. So knowing yourself allows you to be yourself, right, with your prospects and clients in an in an honest way.
Speaker 2 (00:16:01) - So I think that's a very valuable take on this.
Speaker 3 (00:16:05) - , yeah. I,, the first section of my book is called just that you have to know yourself before you get to know your prospect., and that's where I do talk about sales, secret weapons and sales superpowers and that and that and the like. But yeah, you don't really if you're not in tune with you. Right., and then, you know, I think of two people come to mind right away. I actually just got off of a zoom call with the author of Authentic Selling., and then Larry Levine's book Selling from the heart, right, also comes to mind immediately. And I do think that,, you know, I like to tell a story that this goes back to my do the right things and the right things will happen mantra. But when I was working my last W-2 job before I started my company, I was,, a director of SDR team, and I didn't realize at the time, but but when I pulled everybody off the floor for the weekly sales meeting, and I didn't realize that when everybody's off the floor and the phone rings into the sales department, that if nobody answers, it lands on my voicemail.
Speaker 3 (00:16:57) - And so I got back from the sales meeting, and there was a voicemail from a potential prospect who actually happened to be local in Saint Louis. And so I was going to do I was doing some research and I was like, you know what? I'm not sure he's really our ICP. I'm going to call him back myself. So I did call him back and I listened to him. And then I told him that I didn't think he was ready for us and that we were, you know, too complex of a software program for him and that he didn't have enough, you know, probably enough reps to justify it. And I gave him the names of some lesser,, complicated competitors,, that we're going to cost him a lot less money. And I said, when you get to X, call me back, then we can talk. And,, it was within a few months after that that I started my own business, and he reached out to me on LinkedIn, wanted to talk.
Speaker 3 (00:17:40) - I had no recollection. Okay. I had no idea who he was. Like, the name didn't. Oh, really? His name, his face, his business. Nothing. It didn't I it was it was about 6 or 8 months after that. I had no recollection. And so I was embarrassed, like I scheduled time with him and I did all my homework. I tried to do all my homework, and I still couldn't figure out why he'd reached out other than he was local. And so when I got the phone, I said, I'm super embarrassed. I said, you seem to know who I am. And I said, I don't know who you are. And he said, oh, he's like,, I talked to you when you were at this company and you wouldn't sell me any software. And then immediately I knew who he was, and I was like, I was like, oh, I said, I'm, I had no, I go, I'm surprised that you were following my journey.
Speaker 3 (00:18:17) - He goes, you're the only salesperson who's refused to sell me anything ever really well.
Speaker 2 (00:18:23) - And that speaks to that. You will only sell the right thing, right? Yeah. And I think that's it on the line.
Speaker 3 (00:18:29) - That's right. And he became a year long client and he became the biggest financial client I had that year. And I you know, and I told people, I said, you know, I'm not lucky. Like I lead a really blessed life, but I'm not lucky. I do the right things by people. I do the right, you know, I make the right decisions. I've made the right career advancements., you know, sure, I've made some mistakes along the way. But in general, you know, I think people know that, you know, I think people know right from wrong. You know, I think they know what the right thing to do. And the right answer is. And not everyone's a fit for what you sell. Not everybody's ready for what you sell.
Speaker 3 (00:19:00) - , and so, you know, I think again, I just continue to go back to, you know, my, you know, my office. And take mantras, do the right things and the right things will happen. And I think the universe has rewarded me time and time again for doing that.
Speaker 2 (00:19:11) - One of the things I talk about in my book, which is un copyable sales secrets, is,, going back to the basics. It ties into what you're saying about doing the right thing., one of my clients was just saying that one of the keys to her success is just following up with people and doing what she says she will do, and she's shocked at how many times people will, you know, pick up the phone and say, oh, thanks for calling me back.
Speaker 3 (00:19:37) - And because she walked her all all because she just walked her talk as if that was a natural superpower, right?
Speaker 2 (00:19:43) - And it's comical almost because thanks for calling me back. Calling a prospect back. That's a pretty that's a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (00:19:50) - , so. But it's true. I mean, building that trust and building that relationship, that rapport, letting them know that they're important is really key. And sometimes it sounds very basic, but like my husband likes to say, common sense isn't common.
Speaker 3 (00:20:06) - So yeah, I say everybody wants to be a special snowflake. So let's talk a little.
Speaker 2 (00:20:12) - Bit more about your book, which I'm very excited about. We actually, coincidentally both have books that are scheduled to publish in August. Our next book is UN Copyable U, which is a branding book., your book is selling your way in. I love that title. So let's talk a little bit more about the book and that philosophy.
Speaker 3 (00:20:32) - Yeah., the the subtitle really is kind of the tagline there, which is the playbook for setting your income and owning your life. So I think if you've chosen to be in sales and by the way, the majority of you didn't choose to be in sales, you were accidental sales professionals, right? You fell into sales one way or another.
Speaker 2 (00:20:50) - Exactly.
Speaker 3 (00:20:50) - But but if you put yourself in that position, then I find that a lot of times people put themselves in the wrong role within a sales without within a sales career. And so I, you know, time and time again walk into companies and I'm like, you know, and I said, so you got to really ask yourself, I think most people are not intentional or proactive about their career path thing. I call it,, step changes making, you know, knowing what your step changes. I think most people are reactive, like a recruiter calls you or you lose your job, or you know you're mad at your boss and you know, they they, you know, cut your territory in half. And now you're like, I don't want to do this anymore., but I think so many of the career decisions that we make in sales, as opposed to other, you know, industries and other careers are reactionary and not proactive or intentional. And so, you know, the role you take, what you sell, what industry you're in, what company you work for, you know, what size of company you work for and what size the company you sell into, the boss that you choose.
Speaker 3 (00:21:50) - Like I think sometimes I think sometimes sales professionals always feel like, you know, we're at the mercy of the hiring manager, the hiring person. And I'm here to say the top ten percenters don't feel that way. The top ten percenters are very intentional. They know that, you know, I don't have this box checked on my resume. So the next step change for me needs to check that box because I've got two more steps and I can't get to those other two steps if I haven't checked this next box. And so they're very deliberate and intentional about how they're progressing through their career pathing., and so I just really think that people don't take it or they're not. No one's spending enough time like those of us who own businesses. And you get this, you know, we use this like we're we're spending too much time working in the business and not enough time working on the business. I don't think sales professionals are spending any time in some cases, you know, working on figuring out what they really want.
Speaker 3 (00:22:42) - You know, there's all kinds. Again, I mentioned early on that my parents, my mother was in 100% commission sales role. Right. You know, my dad's income was dependent on the agents underneath him performing well, you know, and that's a small margin business. People complain about the 6% that you have to pay when you sell a house. But if you think about that's just not going I mean, that's just not going to the agent. All right. I mean, like, you got an office to upkeep, you've got all kinds of expenses, you've got administrative people., you know, I know that better than anybody. That is a low margin business., but again, you know, do you want, you know, do you want to be in a 100% commission? Do you want to be in a 5050 basin commission? Do you want to be in an 8020? Yeah. You know, do you want to, you know, sell into, you know, do you want to be in channel? Do you want to be in customer Success? What about sales engineer or solution consultant?, implementation specialist is under the sales umbrella in my opinion.
Speaker 3 (00:23:29) - So I think the more the more that you find what fits your sales superpower, secret weapons and, you know, place all of those type of strengths, the more likely it is that you can control your income. And what I mean by that is, you know, you can ask for more money than they're offering. You know, you can ask for other perks. I call it a player privilege. And so you can ask for things you could I mean, you know, everything is negotiable. Just because they're paying Susan 8% commission doesn't mean they wouldn't pay you 12. Right. And so when you're a top ten percenter, you get a player privilege. You could you have the opportunity to. Ask for things that other people don't have an opportunity to ask for, which allows you to control your income and then build the life that you want to have.
Speaker 2 (00:24:13) - , you have been on Lorie Richardson's podcast, which is conversations with Women in Sales, and she points out that women are often more reluctant to stand up for themselves and ask for what they want.
Speaker 2 (00:24:28) - , do you see that happening in your experience?
Speaker 3 (00:24:32) - Absolutely., and for a variety of reasons. First off, a lot of,, women don't do conflict well, and they see that as conflict, right? As negotiation is conflict., asking for what you want is conflict. You know, we're sort of even, you know, even in this day and age, you know, I find myself still cooking dinner, right? You know, when my son comes over, I don't I wouldn't ask, you know, he just shows up unexpectedly from time to time, you know, and he's like, hey, I'm like, hey, the first item. Well, the first thing out of my mouth is, have you had dinner? Right. The first thing out of his mouth isn't have you had dinner? Right. You know, that's a.
Speaker 2 (00:25:06) - Mom thing for sure.
Speaker 3 (00:25:07) - Right? Yeah. You never asked to buy that dinner, but I think, you know, again, as a nurturer and those type of things, I think we're built to do some of that.
Speaker 3 (00:25:13) - , I, you know, I'm part of the women's sales pro group, and so I spend a lot of time every year with Laurie in person, and we have this we as women have this conversation is about 45 of us. So when we get together once a year at our conference, we have this conversation at nauseam., so much so that I'll share my post-it with you. That light that my post-it from.
Speaker 2 (00:25:31) - It's hard to read, though.
Speaker 3 (00:25:33) - It says scary plus 20%. So what? I did things I'm supposed to bid it at scary, and then I'm supposed to add 20% more because that will get me to the man number. Interesting that that goes that credit goes to,, that credit goes to Joanne Black, I believe., and yes, she is scary. She is this scary. And I, I joined the group in 2019 and that's when I first heard it and wrote it on that post-it., so when I, you know, when I bid, when I bid projects with the companies that I work with, I have to think about that because, you know, and I always I say, like, if I get that agreement signed in return within an hour, then I know I missed the scary plus 20 mark.
Speaker 2 (00:26:12) - Exactly. And and it is surprising. I've had some situations where I asked for the scary plus 20% I suppose, and they didn't even didn't blink. And then you're thinking, oh my gosh, that's.
Speaker 3 (00:26:25) - A scary plus.
Speaker 2 (00:26:25) - 50. All this on the table. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26:28) - And and so, you know, and again part of it's just I think part of it's part of it we're not going to overcome I hate to say that, but part of it I think we won't overcome for a variety of reasons., you know, I mean, we didn't enter as women. We didn't enter the workforce as soon as men did. So, like, we're just we're still some decades behind where they're, you know, where they were at because of how long men have been the breadwinners,, of their family in, in, in society. But but we need to be asking and then we need to be negotiating, and we need to be willing to walk away like I finally, I finally hit my first hard.
Speaker 3 (00:26:58) - No, the other day., you know, they wanted me to come in and do a day long training in Chicago, and they were getting together for their Sko. And I said, here's my hourly rate. And they were like, oh, no. And I was like, okay. And I didn't flinch, right? I mean, it's my hourly rate. Like it's it's what other people pay. It's the value that I bring to the table. It's, you know, going to Chicago in the middle of the winter. It's like, you know, you might have been able to get a grant out of me if it was Florida. But if you want me to go to Chicago in January. No., and so, like, I think that that's the other thing is that I think women are also conditioned to give in, you know, and to be willing to negotiate or take less than,, because we again, we've just sort of been conditioned to do so. And so it's, it's it's something that we I'm so grateful for the group of women that I, that I, you know, I belong to that organization.
Speaker 3 (00:27:44) - And, and then we get together regularly and we do I mean, part of a mastermind with other women in that group so that we can challenge each other because, you know, we need to say, like, I, you know, I want my accountability partner. The other day did,, did a keynote speech in Florida. They paid for everything. And I said, can I ask what you charge? And she told me, and I said, you didn't charge enough. And she's like, well, I know, but they're playing with this really nice where they go. They would put anybody up at that nice resort. They're not going to put you at the super eight or the motel six like they were going to. Whoever was going to be was going to be at that. That's the host hotel. They're of course they're going to put you at the host hotel. That's not, that's not, that's just that's just the cost of doing business. You know, I said you could have absolutely gotten more money.
Speaker 3 (00:28:24) - And, you know, and she's like, I know. But it's like I go, no, no, no, no, no. Here we go again. This here we go. I know, but I haven't done this one before. And and I go,, you know, sorry. That's why I'm your accountability partner., and so we need we need to hold each other accountable to, you know, asking our worth in in dollars and cents.
Speaker 2 (00:28:43) - Right. And, and when we talk about hourly, what your hourly rate is or what your speaking rate is, they're not paying for that time. They're paying for all the knowledge that you have. That's all the experience that you're sharing, the value, the change that you're going to make in your your business. And yeah, sometimes we'll say, say how much are you charging for an hour. And. I'm like, this isn't like I'm working 40 hours a week and getting that every hour, right? Well, it.
Speaker 3 (00:29:10) - Wasn't I mean, that's my day, right? But I was going to have to do as much work in prep, you know, it was going to be 8 to 12 hours in prep just to do the eight hours of training.
Speaker 3 (00:29:18) - Right?
Speaker 2 (00:29:18) - Right.
Speaker 3 (00:29:19) - So not everybody thinks about that either. They think you're just going to show up and this is all just in your head. And I'm like, no, in order for me to be memorable, in order for this to work, in order for it to be sticky, in order for them to walk away with value, that takes prep.
Speaker 2 (00:29:31) - So tell us a little bit more about,, selling your way in. And of course, how can we get that book?
Speaker 3 (00:29:38) - Yeah. So you can go to selling your way in.com and sign up and and first off, it's pre-ordering now, so,, you know, Barnes and Noble target wherever you get books, all of those places that you get books., it is available right now for pre-order. So I'm, I'm, I'm actively promoting pre-ordering of the book., but it really is like I'm calling it not a sales book. I'm actually calling it a professional development book for sales professionals, because I think that's really what it is.
Speaker 3 (00:30:04) - It's not a how to,, I chose not to write a how to. I think there are plenty of people out there doing that and doing it. Well., and I really wanted to say, like, you know, you two can get to the top 10%, but you're if you're willing to, you're going to have to make some sacrifices. You're going to have to make some changes., like you mentioned about lifelong learning, I'm like, you may have to read a business book instead of watch The Bachelor from time to time., but, you know, I and I, you know, and I'm a competitive athlete and have been my whole life. So the third section of the book is all about, I call it the woo woo., you know, it's all about visualization and positive self-talk and affirmations and affirmations and, you know, all of those types of things., because I do believe, you know, I, I read a, I read a new book,, over Thanksgiving, actually listen to it because I'm an audible girl.
Speaker 3 (00:30:48) - I don't read anything anymore., called, I think, the great little book of affirmations, not affirmations.., and so I have stopped doing affirmations, which I was doing, and now I'm doing affirmations. You mentioned gratitude journal or a gratitude app., that's another one of those things, a spiritual practice or religious practice. Like something bigger than you, something that you can connect with., but I just I want people to think differently about their lives. And, you know, you can be, you know, I want you to get sales training. I'm not I'm not not advocating for that. I want you to be, you know, I want you to get I'm, you know, frustrated that the art of science,, or the art of sales has gone by the way of the,, science of sales, or now flip the script or to data driven. We've got all this AI, and we've got all this automation and and the art of sales is going by the wayside.
Speaker 3 (00:31:39) - So I want you to get sales soft skills training, I really do. But that's not what's going to get you to the top. You know, knowing how to do an interactive demo or how to negotiate a deal or whatever, that's not going to get you to the top. You know, you have to be. And, you know, like my mother used to call it, fighting shape. Like, let's get in fighting shape, eating well, sleeping eight hours, exercising, you know, being connected to something bigger than you., I believe your circle matters. Like, you know, I believe in reason. Sees a lifetime. Not everybody gets to stay the whole time. Not everybody should stay the whole time. You know, you've got to weed the garden, you know, now and then people. People, you know, people will fall off when you get on a journey. And that journey makes other people uncomfortable. You know, they'll either try to derail your journey, you know, or they'll jump off the train on their own.
Speaker 3 (00:32:21) - , but, you know, it's not like, again, in getting to the top 10% isn't for everybody because there are sacrifices that have to be made and you might not be willing to do you you know, you may. They're just at the end of the night. I want to watch The Bachelor, which is totally fine..
Speaker 2 (00:32:33) - Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:32:34) - Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you're going to watch something, you know, maybe The Bachelor is highly entertaining and doesn't take a lot of brainpower.
Speaker 2 (00:32:39) - Well, I did watch The Golden Bachelor because.
Speaker 3 (00:32:41) - I didn't watch that. But I should have, because that was my. That was my demographic.
Speaker 2 (00:32:46) - , it was very interesting. You know, it was a novelty, and I it was fun to watch, but,, I, I think your book sounds fantastic. I can't wait. I will go ahead and pre-order it right away. And I encourage you listening to also order selling your way in. Christy, the time has flown by. I really, really appreciate you coming on the podcast and sharing all of this wisdom and some perspectives that I think can help every listener on the call.
Speaker 2 (00:33:11) - So thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (00:33:13) - Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed our discussion.
Speaker 1 (00:33:17) - Thanks for listening to this episode of Unstoppable Women in Sales, your source for secrets you can use to make more sales. Check the show notes for links and contact information, and if you enjoyed the podcast, please spread the word by subscribing, sharing and leaving a five star review. You can always learn more by going to Unstoppable Sales Company cast. Until next time, go out and supercharge your sales like a true unstoppable rockstar.