Sticky Selling, Simplified With Your Sales Maven, Author, Speaker, CEO Nikki Rausch on Episode #0254

Nikki Rausch [0:00]
Hi, this is Nikki Rausch of your SalesMaven.com and you’re listening to EA Interviews.

Intro [0:06]
EA Interviews Episode 254 inspiration, transformation, success stories and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview.

Mario Fachini [0:20]
Have you ever wanted to increase sales in your business I know I have but how do you do that ? How do you do it where you’re increasing sales but you don’t want it to be salesy because I know that everyone loves to buy but they don’t like being sold to so how do you bridge this gap? I am excited to have none other than the sales maven herself Nikki Rausch on today’s episode. She sold to organizations such as Hewlett Packard and another small little one called NASA. She’s gonna be sharing her insights with us right after we thank our sponsor.

Sponsor – Free Business Book Publishing Course [0:56]
Every business needs a book, including yours, visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that’s FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com.

Mario Fachini [1:11]
Here she is, ladies and gentlemen Nikki Rausch. Nikki how are you feeling today?

Nikki Rausch [1:16]
I am feeling excellent. Thank you so much for having me on your show.

Mario Fachini [1:20]
Oh thank you for your time because I can’t wait to dive in and just ask you what are all the secrets of sales and how do you increase business and all these different things because if there’s one thing that I know every business needs it’s more sales.

Nikki Rausch [1:34]
Amen. I agree. Totally.

Mario Fachini [1:38]
What do you think holds people back from you know if they set a goal, a revenue goal, a profit goal, you know what do you think really holds people back?

Nikki Rausch [1:46]
I think one of the biggest things that holds people back is especially for an entrepreneur who is selling some version of themselves right whether it’s their service or some product they’ve developed is they don’t want to come across like icky and salesy and we’ve all been on the receiving end of a really bad sales pitch and sales approach and because we don’t want to do that we tend to really hold ourselves back because it’s really about judgment right like that person’s going to judge me and are they going to judge me kindly or are they going to be like oh gross I need to go take a shower after talking to you.

Mario Fachini [2:25]
So you think it has more to do with internal rejection than as serving who you’re supposed to help?

Nikki Rausch [2:32]
Absolutely, I think a lot of it is about rejection because we make up stories salespeople and really just people in general but really when you’re in sales mode I always say there’s two things that are kind of the deal killers and their mindset things one is that we project our limiting beliefs on to the person that we’re in conversation with and then the second thing we do is we hallucinate and imagine that we can read their mind I know what this person is thinking I know what they’re thinking about me I know what they’re thinking about my product or my service and I know what they can afford and we make all of these crazy assessments that frankly it’s really not your business what’s going on in the mind of the other person unless you ask in a kind way but projecting your own limiting beliefs and trying to act as if you know what they’re thinking can actually be a detriment it’s a huge rapport breaker because I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a sales situation where you kind of felt like this person who’s selling to me is kind of acting like I can’t afford their service and that doesn’t feel good.

Mario Fachini [3:33]
Yeah. I’ve been on both sides of the table because I remember years ago, when I paid for sales training because I’ve always loved helping people. I knew I had a good product, I knew I was a good person but I was just like, what you know I read a bunch of books I was like what is the deal? Well you have to put into action and you know you can’t just wing it there you know. There’s techniques that work and there’s techniques that don’t so I paid for a sales coach and it made a huge difference and I just remember being on the phone and he was like you are clearly passionate about what you’re selling but you have no sales process and at that point I’m like thanks. I think you know a backhanded compliment it’s like yeah I don’t know what to do to take this so what can we say for the people that are in the same boat let’s say. You know they know they have a good product, they know they’re a good person they just want to help but they’re just kind of going all over the place because I’ve been on the phone with people trying to sell to me and I’m like wow there was me 10 years ago.

Nikki Rausch [4:40]
Yeah well i don’t know if you know that quote i think is the Lewis Carroll quote if you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there. So I’m also a believer in a process. I teach a five step process to the sales conversation and it’s called the Selling Staircase and you know you can have a sales process that involves like how many times you follow up, how many emails you send and what’s in that email. And all of that stuff is important too. And when you have an actual, real live person having a conversation with you, you also need to have a process. And you must know where you’re going, you need to know what step you’re on so that you know what is the next logical step in the process. And it’s not a two step process. It’s not meet somebody sell to them, there’s a five, there’s a five step process, and you have to follow all five steps. And if you try to skip steps, often that’s where there’s a breakdown in rapport, there’s a breakdown, the person that’s in the, you know, position of being the client or the prospect gets confused, they don’t know what to do, it’s your job to lead them through the process. So I believe in a process as well.

Mario Fachini [5:48]
Let’s dive into those five steps. What’s the first one?

Nikki Rausch [5:51]
So the first one is the introduction step and that can come from your website, that can come over social media, and that can come from meeting somebody face to face. And in the introduction step, your goal is to make a positive first impression, you need to establish credibility, you need to establish that, like, I’m interested in you, as a person I’m not treating you like your big old wallet, walking around. Like I’m really interested in a connection. And I’m setting myself up for success by making a positive first impression.

Mario Fachini [6:25]
What if someone tries given that? How important is it? Because you said there’s not seven steps, there’s not 12 steps? There’s not 20? There’s five, but this is the first one, and I just have a suspicion? How bad is it if you don’t actually care?

Nikki Rausch [6:45]
Well, I think consumers nowadays and you know, as people, we are much more savvy than we were years ago. And we’re also skeptics by nature, because we all have heard the like, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is, and you know, all of those things. So I think people are much more savvy, they’re much more skeptical. And if you try to skip this step of making a positive first impression people go like, shady, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know if I can trust this person, like something feels off here. So trying to skip that step, and just be like, Hey, I’m just gonna show up and sell to you. And I didn’t establish any rapport, early on in the conversation or in this, like first meeting each other, like, you’re really doing a disservice. And the fact of the matter is, we can pretty much get anything anywhere. And so do you want to be the person who earns their business? Or do you want to be the person that causes them to go look elsewhere to buy?

Mario Fachini [7:48]
Now that we’ve established the introduction, and we do actually care, what’s the second step?

Nikki Rausch [7:55]
The second step, and this is, by the way, the most missed step in the selling process and conversation is being able to create some curiosity. Curiosity is such an important step to getting somebody to go like, hmm, tell me more. Oh, I wonder if that’s something I need or something that I’d be willing to share a little bit more about what’s going on for me, and you know, as the consumer tell you more. So being able to create curiosity is absolutely crucial. And again, it’s one of the most missteps because, again, people go like, I don’t really know how to create curiosity, so I’m just gonna skip it. And that’s a huge mistake.

Mario Fachini [8:36]
Why do you think they don’t know how to create it?

Nikki Rausch [8:40]
I don’t think they’ve put a lot of time and energy into thinking about it. If you don’t have a lot of background in sales, oftentimes, I find that people’s impression about sales is that sales is something that you do to somebody. And that’s a mistake. Sales actually is something you do with somebody, it’s a conversation. And a conversation means that there’s some back and forth that’s happening between you and the other person. It’s not you just talking to somebody and talking at them. It’s learning how to talk with them. And being able to create curiosity is that way of peeking somebody’s interest, enough for them to ask you a question. Because through questions, that’s where real conversation happens. And through questions, whether they’re asking you questions, and you’re asking them questions, that’s where we start to get to the heart of the matter, like, what’s their need? What’s their problem? Do you have a solution that meets it? And your job in sales is not to convince somebody to buy from you? Your job is to understand what’s the need, what’s the problem? What’s the want, and then deliver back a really simple, easy, yes solution for this person to take the next step with you. So being able to create curiosity is a big part of that.

Mario Fachini [9:55]
Is there a secret number of questions? I am sure there’s too many. And I’m sure there’s too few. But is there a secret number or anything? Or is it just making sure it’s in their best interest?

Nikki Rausch [10:10]
Well, I don’t know if there’s an actual secret number, but here’s what I will say. Because once we move through some curiosity, step three is discovery. And that’s really where you get into the heart of the questions that happen in the sales process. And here would be my secret to the discovery. And the question is that all questions should lead to hiring you. And one of the mistakes that people often make in the discovery process is they ask the questions that they only need the answers to once the person hires them. That’s a mistake. They haven’t agreed to hire you. So don’t waste your time, that precious time that you have with them focused on the things of like, you know, tell me all of your past history about this. And I need to know all of these things about you. It’s like, no, actually, you don’t, or I need to know where you want to be in 25 years, you don’t need to know that either to earn somebody’s business unless you’re selling them a long term 25 year something plan.So make sure that..

Mario Fachini [11:11]
Roll way concrete but the only thing I can think of where you’d sell it this year, and not need another one for two and a half decades.

Nikki Rausch [11:20]
Okay, so that was a good response. I love that. And if that’s the case, then maybe that is an appropriate question. But I find most of the time in the discovery, we’re wasting precious time. And by not really understanding what’s the need, we’re trying to get all the information of how to deliver the solution to them, instead of understand what’s the problem and need, and then deliver an opportunity to get the solution. So making sure that you’re asking questions that lead to hire you. So just an example of this is I don’t ask people in a discovery process, like do you use a CRM? Do you use… Do you have a really strong 32nd? elevator pitch? Because those are the things that once people hire me, I’m going to need to know the answers to and I’m going to work with them on. But I’m really going to ask more around the things that I specialize in, so for instance, you better believe one of my discovery questions is, do you know how to create curiosity when you’re talking about your product or service? Because if their answer is no, here’s someplace where I can actually help them? And if their answer is yes, I might not be the right coach for them.

Mario Fachini [12:33]
I see. So I would relate it to me with business book publishing, where they might say, should I be on Kindle and print? Or should I do a hard back and soft cover? You know, how do I promote it? And it’s like, I don’t even know if we’re a good fit. Do you want help? Can you afford it? And is this something you want to do now?

Nikki Rausch [12:56]
Yeah. And do you have a message that by putting it in the form of a book is going to help you establish your authority in the marketplace? Right? Like, do they have a real message yet? Or maybe you help them develop the message? I’m not sure. But making sure that you’re not asking those questions like, do you want it on Kindle format? Like, you don’t need to know the answer to that question.

Mario Fachini [13:19]
How many copies? Should I order?

Nikki Rausch [13:21]
Yeah.

Mario Fachini [13:22]
What’s your balance? Or are you helping you? And I do have some sales questions, because part of it is, who are you writing the book for? If you don’t know who your avatar is? And you know, to your point, the message, you know, any road will work? I mean, it’s, it’s frankly, not that hard to get a bunch of sheets of paper bound together with a cover and a graphic on it. But that’s vastly different than when you’re using it for business. So the qualification is so important.

Nikki Rausch [13:53]
Yeah, so making sure that in your instance that the questions that you’re asking, really are those things that this is why people hire you, your questions should be more framed around that, versus the the, like, the deliverables that come after they hire you. Now, if they have questions about it, of course, you’re going to answer those questions for them. But those aren’t the questions you should be spending time getting information about. But you did bring up a really good point like, we do need to ask, you know, what’s your budget for this? Or have you already thought about what you want to invest in something like this? Like, we need to know, are we talking to a buyer, right, because if you’re not talking to a buyer, you’re wasting your time and energy. And I always say, not everybody is a client and it’s totally fine to bless and release. Other people who are not a good fit for your business or that you don’t have the solution. That’s the right solution for them. Less than release them, move on, don’t waste time and energy trying to convince them that they need to hire you. That’s just not going to build your business.

Mario Fachini [14:59]
One of the most freeing things i did and it’s i’m not gonna date myself but it was a while ago was realized that exactly what you said I don’t convince anyone if they can’t sell me i’m kind of like I don’t really care because I spent so much time going you know talking to 100 people and maybe five of them it’s like the other 95 i shouldn’t have never been talking to in the first place and let me rephrase that because that that was more comedic than anything I do care what I really do is look for someone I know I can refer them to maybe there’s something else in my arsenal i mean it’s one of the great reasons of having books if they if they can’t if they’re not ready for the service the timings bad or can’t afford it or they don’t think they can well here’s a bunch of books and free training and all kinds of other stuff I’ve produced that will help you bridge the gap initially.

Nikki Rausch [15:55]
Yeah.

Mario Fachini [15:55]
And that’s something that’s a reality too is maybe they’re not ready. And maybe it’s better if they are ready you give them you know four weeks of pre work or something before class starts you know so to speak because now you’re gonna have a much better time working with them and they’re going to be at a different level just because of that I produce stuff all the time that no matter what level someone’s at I found a way to help them.

Nikki Rausch [16:19]
Yeah and not spending yeah i mean the idea is not trying to again convince somebody and being really standing in your place of integrity and attracting your ideal clients I know you had a guest on I don’t think it was too long ago where they were talking about that the focus should be on building revenue and they were talking about I can’t remember the guest name so I apologize it was a great it was a great episode though and your guests was talking about how it’s it’s about identifying your ideal client and when you can really sell to your ideal client how that will amplify your business it was like fight 20 times then trying to sell to you people who are not the ideal client. I love that episode by the way and that’s really what we’re trying to do is identify in the discovery, am I talking to an ideal client? If this person isn’t ready for me yet yes you have solutions and you do you have you know all kinds of resources that people can take advantage of and I do too in my business i have a podcast, you know i’ve written books and you know i’ve put out tons of articles and trainings and all different types of ways for people to work with me and if they’re not the right fit right now sometimes no frankly is just a not yet and that’s okay too.

Mario Fachini [17:36]
I’ll tell you a story about one of my author clients she saw me do a book launch. She was excited it wasn’t she signed up for discovery calls. She passed the qualification to get to the discovery call, we get on the call and i could tell she was excited but it was just I could tell something it was like 95% and I decided i got it sounds like you have a little bit focus, it sounds like you’d be a great fit but the timings not right would you agree she goes you know what you nailed it. I got this going on, didn’t push, it kept doing my thing and five months later the message I get was a picture of the credit card she says i’m ready now. Well that was a hard sell yeah you know what i mean that’s vastly different than me nagging every week on you’re ready you’re ready you’re ready like that’s just not fun for anyone that’s it I never really did it to that degree but i know some people who do and it’s just like I don’t know I just I’ve never taught anyone that I’ve never done that to that degree I was definitely more on the spectrum of I don’t I would rather preserve the relationship long term than annoy you and agitate you and just go scorched earth over everyone I meet and now that’s my reputation.

Nikki Rausch [18:57]
Yeah, I always say that I don’t believe in chasing clients. I think when you chase a client like you know you call them every week and you’re like I got to stay in front of this person I got to bombard him a million ways and a million times. I think when you chase a client they turn into a toddler just I don’t know if you have any toddlers in your life but if you say to a little toddler like I’m gonna chase you they don’t even know what the game is and they’re off running and I think back like you’re going to chase your clients they’re going to run to because they’re going to be like oh I don’t know if we’re playing a game but I’m gonna run because this is like i don’t want to stand here and be you know he’s chasing me. So stop chasing and the way to start one of the ways to stop chasing is to be able to issue a essentially kind of that close language which I know is step five but if we’ve gotten to that far in the process with somebody and they’re not ready to commit you know you ask them the question like is this something like to move forward with or your example where you said like I get a sense that this is not the right time. And she’s like you’re right you know you hit it then in that particular case, say, oh, okay, well, when you’re ready, please know that you are welcome to reach out to me and I will be thrilled to hear from you. And I’ll be thrilled to work with you. And now you just set up the relationship I was a relationship first report always, you set that relationship up where she feels comfortable coming back to you, because I don’t know if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of you having to tell somebody who wants to sell something to you that you’re not ready. And then they act offended? Or like, how dare you not buy, like what’s wrong with you in some way, right. And so of course, when you are ready, you’re not going back to that person, you’re gonna go find somebody else. And what you did with her was you left that door open, and you left it open in a really kind way, where the relationship was still intact. And she felt comfortable enough to come back to you five months later, because she was like, I’m all in now. Like, you can’t ask for better clients than those.

Mario Fachini [20:53]
And that’s really the goal, because 20 lukewarm people, it’s kind of like, like you said, the toddler analogy. I’ve never heard that. But that’s hilarious because it’s like, you don’t want someone where it’s like, you have to pull them through the process. It’s like, I worked with the top people who are ready to go, they just don’t know the steps. Cool. Let me explain it to you, my team and I will work with you. It’s cool. But I’m not trying to teach you publishing along the way. And then you’re like, well hemming and hawing about like, that’s not fun, at all. No. And just so I’m abundantly clear, and also for the show notes, you’re welcome, Jules. She’s gonna get a kick out of that when she’s working on them, but tell me step four again, I know we covered a lot in there.

Nikki Rausch [21:39]
I don’t think I said step four so I’m glad you asked.

Mario Fachini [21:41]
Okay.

Nikki Rausch [21:41]
I kind of skipped it so I apologize. I did what I tell my clients not to do, don’t skip steps.

Mario Fachini [21:47]
That’s all right. But I know we went from three and then we’re talking. So four would be…

Nikki Rausch [21:52]
Four is a proposal. And that’s where you lay out the way to work with you. And so once you’ve moved, by the way to move from discovery to proposal, one of the key things to be able to do, you don’t want to sell when you’re in the discovery process. The goal of the discovery is to really understand what’s the need, what do I have a solution for? And then to move to proposal, I would say ask permission, because it makes sure that the person is still in the conversation with you and the way that you would frame that would be to say, you know, based on what we’ve chatted about, I get a sense that you’re a good fit for one of the programs I offer, is that something you’d be interested in hearing more about?

Mario Fachini [22:32]
And then because now you’re getting that not only are they qualified, you know, like you’re saying discovery, what I was hearing is make sure they’re qualified, because if they’re not, there’s no reason to give them a proposal. But if they are, don’t think you’re just going to oh, great so let’s get started saying that Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you can have some of that. While I’m still thinking about it, perhaps?

Nikki Rausch [22:53]
Yeah, you don’t want them like rappelling from you, because you didn’t ask permission? And frankly, if the answer is like, I don’t think I’m ready to even hear about your proposal yet. Don’t waste your breath. Like, don’t try to convince somebody like no, you must hear about my offer, because that’s gonna break rapport. And again, as consumers, like, we’re just, we’re just not down with that kind of sales technique anymore at the people who come across pushy and aggressive. It just doesn’t resonate. And so when you ask permission, you’re showing I respect you. And I’m going to honor your wishes. And then when you get a yes, well, now you’ve got like, here’s the open road layout that offer, layout that proposal, do it in a really easy, simple way for them to say yes. And then you move to step five, which is issuing the close language and close language is a yes or no question, frankly. And that’s where you lay out the proposal and say, is this something you’d like to move forward with? That’s the yes or no question. And you zip it, and you wait until they respond first.

Mario Fachini [23:58]
Now, is that easier on the phone or in person?

Nikki Rausch [24:03]
Well, for me it’s… it’s the way that I sell like, I’m gonna wait. But I will say sometimes on the phone, you can’t see what the person’s doing. And, you know, like, all of us, we make up stories like, oh, they’re, you know, freaking out right now, because I just gave the price when in actuality, what they were doing was reaching for their credit card, like, yeah, Be really careful about making assumptions. And people will give you clues. So when when I say Wait, I always think like you’re playing the game of like, whoever speaks second wins. Every once in a while you’ll meet somebody who’s like, I know what you’re doing. So I’m just not gonna say anything. Usually though, that person will give themselves some type of cue, they’ll take a big breath, or they’ll do something and then you’ve got permission to like, check in and go, you know, so I can’t see you right now. And I’m just wondering, are you thinking about it, or do you have a question? And then I wait again let’s see what they say.

Mario Fachini [25:05]
Now when you’re going through that what if they say I need to think about it, I need to talk to my husband my wife my business partner the dog whatever. What do you do when you’re if you get to that point and they’re still coming up with objections and you know that they’re just kind of making stuff up at that point because they’ve been 100% the last 27 steps or questions I should say.

Nikki Rausch [25:33]
Well I’m actually really comfortable with somebody telling me they need to think about it and my go to response and I teach this to my students to say great about how much time do you think you’ll need? Let’s go ahead and schedule a circle call now on our calendars and then that way I can answer any additional questions that come to mind and we’ll talk about best next steps for working together and then I will offer a time see and get it on our calendars and then before I’ll let the conversation and I’ll say now is there anything that i could provide that would be useful for you to know or that you’re going to need to have that conversation with your dog if that’s who they gave us their answer, right? Or with your spouse is there anything in addition that I can provide and I’m gonna see what what the answer is and then when you have a circle back call scheduled on their calendar and on yours, what happens now is you don’t have to spend a bunch of time thinking like should I call them or should i send them an email or are they going to call me like no we actually know so I don’t have to think about it again and nine out of 10 times if their answer is no I’ve thought about it and i really don’t want to hire you they’re going to cancel that appointment with you most people who keep your circle back calls like you have a pretty good chance of closing that person because they’re ready to get back on the phone with you. They might have one or two more questions that they need the answer to and then you’re going to issue close language again on that circle back call and if they’re like well I’m still thinking about it now you have to decide like is this person an ideal client you know do they have a legitimate reason to schedule another circle back call and I’m not…

Mario Fachini [27:14]
Getting to the hem and haw and just because if they come to you they’re all excited all of this and I like seeing how people react because with my program, if you say you’re going to do something you better be doing it because it’s eight weeks. It’s not like we’ll get around to it when it’s good for you. Well I need more time, Well if you need more time… you know my best students have the ones that made the decision on the call to get started they get the best results. You know I’m a firm believer in how you do anything is how you do everything and if you need four weeks to make a four minute decision is now it’s just not going to work because it’s just not.

Nikki Rausch [28:01]
Yeah.

Mario Fachini [28:02]
And you’re right I do love that just as much I go you know what it doesn’t sound like this is a good fit I don’t even let them give me a reason. And a few of them have been like hold on that’s not what I said i’m like fine give me a reason why should keep you 20 minutes later they were all lit up and I was like so it sounds like a yes now. Yeah let’s do it you know they sold me for 20 minutes after I was like it doesn’t sound like it’s a good fit okay now I can sense your passion. Now I can in the reality was they just it was all their other head trash that like you were talking about was playing into what they were doing you know who am I to write a book who am I to do this that the other thing and it’s not that they didn’t have the money and they didn’t want to it was just all the other voices and once basically lit them on fire they wrote they knew they heard themself going I absolutely need to be doing this.

Nikki Rausch [28:58]
Yeah. You know with my clients, like you said with yours it’s about like people who are able to make decisions in that kind of first call. I save this and I’ve created a culture because I want my clients to really believe this. I always say implementers get results you have to implement the things I teach and when you do you’re going to see results and only implementers get results so you can sign up for every program in the world with me you can listen to every podcast that I have been on and had on my own. And if you don’t implement this stuff doesn’t work, period so implementers get results. I only like to work with implementers and I tend to attract implementers because I say it all the time.

Mario Fachini [29:41]
I love that. I love that and you’re gonna love the second half of the show which we’re fastly approaching. It’s called the Imperfect Action Round and guess why I called it that?

Nikki Rausch [29:55]
Well you tell me but…

Mario Fachini [29:56]
You gotta take Imperfect Action because some people, again, perfection — it’s like no it’s got to be perfectly no it doesn’t it’s got to be really really good but you can’t spend 12 months doing something that should take 12 days. Now like no one’s gonna notice that.

Nikki Rausch [30:14]
Yeah. I’m a big I’m a big fan of like you could test things in the market right like I put out offers all the time I’m like i’m just gonna see if anybody wants to buy this and if nobody buys it okay.

Mario Fachini [30:24]
And if it doesn’t mean the offers any worse. It could just be the headliner, the copy that you used.

Nikki Rausch [30:31]
True. So true.

Mario Fachini [30:33]
I mean let’s be honest with me for a second how different is your offer now than last year ,the year before , the year before and i’m sure you changed a few things but at its core it’s not like you’re offering painting lessons versus sales training.

Nikki Rausch [30:48]
Now my training, as a matter of fact the training that lives inside my membership, the sales maven society that training is the training that I was teaching seven years ago when I bought my best or not bought mine when i started my business. It’s the same training I’ve been teaching. It’s just now it’s housed in a different form. I’m not teaching it live, it’s in there, you can go and watch it and have access to me for questions but the content is the content.

Mario Fachini [31:18]
Yeah and that’s the same thing I have never skipped well, it’s brand new year we don’t need a cover for the book that’s always in there it’s always going to be in there. The answer is six by nine if you want to ask for the size so i want to know your biggest success story from someone that’s gone through your training.

Nikki Rausch [31:42]
The one that comes to mind off the top of my head is that I had a client who we heard her business was doing well she’s she’s successful and she really wanted to amplify her business. Her business had kind of been built on referral and it was time to now do some business development. And we had it set a pretty big goal for her and worked through you know all the stuff that involved business development who are you reaching out to what’s the message you know what’s the process and you know where are you what step are you on in the selling staircase and how are you moving people to the next step and by the end of the year she can attribute $100,000 in brand new business in the things that we worked on she’s one of my biggest success stories and I just was so I mean, she’s exactly what I said implementers get results she was implementing like crazy and her business has continued to just grow and it’s been awesome to watch.

Mario Fachini [32:41]
That’s fantastic and I’m sure her confidence is up just slightly also.

Nikki Rausch [32:46]
Oh she knows. She I mean if you ask her she’s like i’m great at sales that might not have been how she described it when we first started working together but she knows she’s sales she’s got it.

Mario Fachini [32:58]
Yeah because when you understand the process and you whether it’s in your head or you when you’re starting it’s on a sheet of paper that you might have off the phone call that no one can see. You learn it just like the questions I asked you here I remember the first dozen or two episodes, I was like and I literally had a sheet of paper like I’m on question like i’m playing battleship or like an f six oh it’s this one. Now it’s you know just have fun with it. It’s a learned process that anyone can do and that’s what I think is so fantastic and so few people do. But once you learn it you know I couldn’t speak higher than having someone like you mentor someone and go through formal sales training that you invest in because if you’re willing to make the investment off the gate I’d say that’s a pretty big chunk of it right there and then you just keep practicing and go through the steps and the tracking how you can you know like you said add another extra six figures to your business this year. I don’t know if you know. I’m sure your prices change and everything and we don’t need to say it here because all of that but i’m just betting it’s less than that and no matter what it is you’ll get an ROI on it is that accurate.

Nikki Rausch [34:15]
That is very accurate. I always expect my clients to earn their money back very quickly when they invest in sales training but again implementers get results. You can give me all your money and not do anything and you will see no results but sales training is that one piece of sales it’s one piece of training that I will say will serve you in your personal and professional life for the rest of your life so I love sales. I love conversations around sales and I love to be in conversations with people who really understand what’s going on in the conversation and how to move it along.

Mario Fachini [34:53]
Let me ask you this I just thought of this one and this is I know part of the sales process and if you do online stuff the guarantee, have you ever done an action takers guarantee?

Nikki Rausch [35:07]
You know i haven’t, although i’m not opposed to them if it’s something that you love in your business to have a guarantee. I actually have a client right now who has a $10,000 guarantee when you hire her she will guarantee you a $10,000 raise to your income. She’s a career coach and she’s doing awesome work with people oh no no I’m not opposed to a guarantee I think it’s more I don’t do them in my business but again I haven’t had to it’s not that I wouldn’t, I just haven’t had to.

Mario Fachini [35:40]
Yeah, I remember the first time I heard about that and because when you’re doing when you’re doing certain types of training, it’s like you want the numbers in there to help more people and also probably for your own revenue goals but at the same point when you’re not doing it one on one it’s like you can get anyone in there and you know what I mean it’s like you’re you’re there at some point there’s going to be a higher percentage than working one on one and it’s like well what if they don’t take any action well how do i handle this it’s like well i’d first off say, give them the money back because if they’re not going to do anything you know when they’re in there but i’ve seen people doing action takers it’s like you can’t complain about it you didn’t do anything you’ve been in for 30, 60 , 90 days and I can see that you’ve literally didn’t even watch the welcome video.

Nikki Rausch [36:30]
Yeah we can do…

Mario Fachini [36:32]
Yeah, what’s that?

Nikki Rausch [36:33]
We can do. I said we can do that in my membership to you so I can see when’s the last time somebody logged in. What videos have they actually you know what training content have they gone through and so it’s you know when I have somebody who joins and then the next month they’re like okay I’m leaving because I’m not finding any value in it and you’re like you actually didn’t do anything. And so in my you know my philosophy is blessing release like i don’t want people in my group that aren’t going to at least dive in to some of the training because it only works if you learn it and practice it like that’s how communication works that’s how you get better at it.

Mario Fachini [37:13]
Yeah, I’m rethinking and I agree and it’s reminded me of a quote I believe was Henry Ford it’s like everyone wants success but unless it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Nikki Rausch [37:24]
Yes. I love that.

Mario Fachini [37:27]
There’s been times I’m like yeah I want the shortcut I don’t want to do this but then like the next day I’m like well this isn’t getting me anywhere okay let’s do.

Nikki Rausch [37:35]
Well another one too about parking spaces like there’s a lot of parking spaces on the road to success i’m not saying it right but i was thinking about that too.

Mario Fachini [37:44]
No, no finish that. I have not heard this one.

Nikki Rausch [37:46]
I will . I’m trying to think of how to say it now it was the there is there is a saying of like there’s there’s many parking spaces on the long road on the long road to success okay like the idea is that you have to keep going but so I apologize i’m not i’m not okay

Mario Fachini [38:01]
I like that I appreciate the seat of that automobile one Henry Ford. It’s hard to steer a parked car I mean hey we’re …

Nikki Rausch [38:03]
Oh I never heard that.

Mario Fachini [38:13]
Not at the destination, really I feel like I’ve heard that she’s 20, 30 years ago and it’s just like no but I mean think about it like we’re not there well what direction are you steering you’d be steering in the wrong direction but if you’re not moving forward the car’s not even on you didn’t even unlock the doors yet you can’t be mad at me.

Nikki Rausch [38:35]
I love that . I love quotes so thank you.

Mario Fachini [38:38]
You’re welcome thank you because I didn’t hear the other one. I have one more thing before we thank our sponsor and go to the Imperfect Action Round. Oh that’s a good spin look at that.

Nikki Rausch [38:49]
That is a great spin.

Mario Fachini [38:51]
Wow. Sometimes I just nail it and other times I’m like gotta do it three times I’ll get this thing ain’t gonna stop but my question for you this is the Wheel of Whatever. My question for you is what is an organization or individual you would love to work with that you haven’t yet.

Nikki Rausch [39:09]
That I haven’t yet?

Mario Fachini [39:11]
I mean I gotta be honest .I think NASA is pretty cool.

Nikki Rausch [39:14]
I know .I have an extensive background. I’ve worked with many many organizations and many individuals. I’m gonna say…

Mario Fachini [39:26]
That’s a good question.

Nikki Rausch [39:27]
I know it’s a good one. I’m going to say I would love to support an individual and or an organization that had a pretty significant giving back component to their sales. I would love to work with that type of an organization and help them really grow their sales so…

Mario Fachini [39:46]
Like Toms shoes?

Nikki Rausch [39:47]
Yes exactly like Toms shoes and I know there’s lots of them out there but I don’t think i’ve worked with one specifically to help them on their sales side and even if it was an entrepreneur that had this giving back component. I just love primarily working with… I work with men and women, but I love working with women entrepreneurs. And I think they have this like, you know, servant’s heart. They show up from this place of really wanting to make an impact in their community. And I would love to work with one who is making a big impact to help.

Mario Fachini [40:23]
You know what, that gives me an idea. And this was another reason I love doing that. I mean, it is for fun. But you just had me thinking of Christian l’affaire. I had him on the show. He helps people start nonprofits in like record time. And I know, nonprofits also need sales.

Nikki Rausch [40:43]
Yes.

Mario Fachini [40:44]
And that also goes back to the contribution piece, I’m sure that he’s got dozens of people that not only might not need the sales component, but would also, you know, you could start working with more of those types of companies. Because if it’s a nonprofit, they’re probably doing something charitable or,

Nikki Rausch [41:02]
Yeah,

Mario Fachini [41:02]
I’d say there’s a higher percentage of them doing something contribution and charitable focused.

Nikki Rausch [41:07]
Yeah, I love that. Thank you.

Mario Fachini [41:10]
We’re gonna thank our sponsor, and we’re gonna come back for the Imperfect Action Round.

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Mario Fachini [42:44]
And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Nikki, are you ready to take Imperfect Action?

Nikki Rausch [42:50]
Absolutely. I love Imperfect Action.

Mario Fachini [42:53]
Three questions for you 60 seconds or less responses? What is the fastest path to the profits?

Nikki Rausch [43:00]
To ask for the sale.

Mario Fachini [43:03]
Excellent. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way for them to fix it?

Nikki Rausch [43:10]
The biggest mistake is that they are trying to skip steps. They’re trying to move too fast through the process, the person’s not in it with them. And the path to success is to learn how to issue an invitation, know what step you’re on and how to move the person to the next step.

Mario Fachini [43:25]
Excellent, excellent. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Nikki Rausch [43:32]
Understand what the what the need is of the client and make sure that you are creating curiosity and planting seeds about next steps for the client throughout the time of working with them so that when you get to the end of whatever the thing was that they bought from you that it’s an easy conversation to say, you know, my next recommendation, if you’re open to it would be to talk about this. Is that something we should talk about making sure that you’re being really clear on that offer.

Mario Fachini [43:59]
Very good. Yeah, a lot the offer can make or break. You know, like we were talking about earlier, you could go to 100 people and offer them something, but if the offer is horrible. Good luck.

Nikki Rausch [44:12]
Yeah, you have to have a strong offer. It has to be a good offer. And frankly, it needs to be an easy yes. So one of the mistakes I often see is people put up a bunch of roadblocks. Like you have to jump through this hoop and this hoop and this hoop, even to get to the place where you can even sign up and sign up and pay me money. That’s a mistake, make it really easy for people to sign up and pay money.

Mario Fachini [44:32]
You know, it’s interesting, you say that because I can speak from firsthand experience literally right now there’s been someone in my inbox that wants to partner with the show. And instead of just like a click, click, click, like fill out the form the name and all this and we’ll get the affiliate partnership and this that whatever. It’s like, I got to write a paragraph and this that the other thing and I’m like, I get that you want to qualify but it’s been in there for a few weeks because I’m like, I’m going to need to block out more than five minutes to do this you know so it’s gonna happen but again with the sales cycle you know you could be doing three years of sales in one year if you just change that part around.

Nikki Rausch [45:16]
Oh my gosh i can’t tell you how many clients i’ve worked with where they will when I say like let me understand your sales process and we start breaking it down and they’re like I don’t actually ask for the sale until the third meeting I’m like what why you know and it’s like well because I feel like i need to do all these other steps first I was like I feel like you’re wasting your time if they’re ready to buy a client yeah if they’re ready to buy let’s make sure that we’re making it easy for them because the one caveat I will say to skipping steps in the selling staircase is that you as the seller cannot skip steps but the client or the prospect they can absolutely skip steps if somebody comes up to you and they’re like Mario i’ve heard about you, my friend recommends you, I’m ready i totally want in. I don’t even say like slow your roll we got to go back to introduction.

Mario Fachini [46:04]
We need to do discovery call.

Nikki Rausch [46:06]
Yeah now if you need to qualify that’s fine but don’t slow that process down because you’re like I don’t know now take the order make it happen.

Mario Fachini [46:17]
Yeah and that’s the beauty of creating assets and doing stuff and having podcasts and books and speaking engagements and different things because it’s like there there are people who will follow you you have no idea who they are listening right now hi looking forward to meeting you know and they’ll just show up and it’s like i’ve been following you for weeks months years awesome. You know what I mean it’s like you don’t need to have 58 meetings or whatever when they’re ready they’re ready just keep you know you do you and do the best you can you can.

Nikki Rausch [46:51]
Yeah. I’ve had two people in the last year tell me you were on my vision board. They had a picture of me on that vision board and then hired me. How weird is that and cool.

Mario Fachini [47:01]
That is cool. It’s not weird at all because it’s like when you position yourself you know I created the expert authority effect and when you position yourself as like you know you’re the goalie people want to get into. It’s like you know, you don’t need to be salesy and all this stuff in between it’s like when you want to go on this special vacation it’s like you have that you might not have the money right now but when you do what’s even more special and you’re even more excited about it’s not all I’m just buying this thing from yet another person no no all right I gotta stay on track here i could go off on a whole whole tangent on that but yeah that’s awesome congrats because that’s what you want people doing.

Nikki Rausch [47:46]
Yeah.

Mario Fachini [47:48]
My last, what books would you recommend Expert Authority World?

Nikki Rausch [47:56]
Well I really love there’s a couple books I really love but from a sales book and it’s been out for years is oh my gosh it just left my head so i’m going to give you the other one and then i’ll come back to it because it’ll be there I love the book Uncopyable have you read that?

Mario Fachini [48:12]
I have not .I haven’t even heard of it that sounds great though.

Nikki Rausch [48:15]
It’s so good. Uncopyable, Built To Sell.

Mario Fachini [48:18]
Yes Built To Sell is great.

Nikki Rausch [48:20]
I love Built to sell and oh my gosh it’s like right it’s written by Bob Burg and it’s a…

Mario Fachini [48:28]
The Go Giver?

Nikki Rausch [48:29]
Yes. Thank you. It was like completely left my head but I love the idea of it and it’s what I do too, I teach relationship sales and I feel like that’s what that book is about.

Mario Fachini [48:41]
Yeah that’s fantastic. Where would you like people to learn more?

Nikki Rausch [48:46]
Well the easiest way to learn more is can I offer your audience a download and I apologize I didn’t ask.

Mario Fachini [48:51]
Please do.

Nikki Rausch [48:51]
Let’s get this up front so the easiest way to connect with me is to download my ebook called Closing The Sale and it’s all about building confidence and you can get this, this is my gift to you. So you can go and download it by going to YourSalesMaven.com/EAE this is for your audience specifically. So YourSalesMaven.com/EAE and you can get that and then we’ll be connected.

Mario Fachini [49:21]
Excellent. Well thank you for that sounds great and also make sure it’s in the show notes this has been so fun thank you so much.

Nikki Rausch [49:29]
Thank you for having me.

Mario Fachini [49:31]
The pleasure is mine and I know we could go into much more depth than everything but if someone’s listening and you’re afraid of sales talk to Nikki she knows what she’s talking about and don’t be it’s a simple process just like riding a bike you got to have the tires inflated though and you have to start pedaling. Alright, thanks for the Expert Authority World. We have another great episode here today. I’ll see you tomorrow have a great day god bless.

Sponsor – Free Business Book Publishing Course [50:00]
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www.EAInterviews.com [50:34]
Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EA Interviews.com. For complete show notes, the full interview video experience links to the resources we mentioned in more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.