Mastering the Sales Process: Why Traditional Selling Doesn't Work Anymore

0:00 The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests and not those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability explicit or implies shall be extended to W four CY Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURCY Radio. Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies, where you will find out that everything you have ever learned about growing your business is wrong. Finally, a show where you'll learn the right way to grow your business by learning business and financial strategies that your competition isn't doing. And now here's your host.

0:47 Resident of NeXTSTEP CFO Michael Barbarita and joining Michael for today's show as an executive moderator is chooky obia. Yes, this is chokey, and I believe that gratitude is undefeated and growth is about the next step. It is an honor for me to moderate today's discussion with my good friend Michael. Michael, how are you at Choky, How is your weekend? It's nice? Yeah, excellent. Well, as Chukey said, my name is Michael Barbery, the president of Next Step CFO and next Step CFO is a fractional CFO and strategic implementation firm and business owners hire us to double their profit to implementing business and financial strategies that their competition isn't doing.

1:34 And our vision is to ensure that overwhelmed business owners achieve the time, freedom, and consistent profits to build a legacy and the life that they desire. Our mission is dedicated to guiding small business owners to leveraging their time, exploding their profits, and building a meaningful legacy. The show Powerful Business Strategies and the book of the same name is a step toward accomplishing that vision and mission. And so with that, I'd like to hand it back to my co author and moderator for the show, Chooky Obio. Michael, It's remarkable that you talk about building a meaningful legacy because the topic today is just quite on point as it relates to that. So the topic today is mastering the sales process, why traditional selling doesn't work anymore.

2:20 So really energize to pick up on all the insights Michael that you've prepared for us. So look, a quick disclaimer folks before we get started. We know there are a number of business leaders and owners listening coast to coast. Michael and I are both affiliated with a number of different organizations, and I currently serve as the managing director of business Development for Vetterprice, a global business focused law firm. In addition to that, it's truly an honor to collaborate with Michael to moderate business roundtables and document insights from those roundtables as part of our book, Powerful Business Strategies. But please note that the views expressed on this show our personal views based on those successful experiences with business owners and a roundtables, and look, our mission is to ensure that you get access to strategic insights and implementation steps that the competition isn't doing. So with that, I want to sass it back over to Michael.

3:22 Thank you, Chocky. Before I get into the one minute inspirational opening, I have a little tidbit that I'd like to share that I thought about over the weekend, and I forgot that I even did this back in the eighties. One of the things that I did because we spent five hundred thousand dollars a year on advertising, and at the time, of course it was just radio and newspaper and direct mail. But what we did was we set up a separate company that was an advertising agency. And the reason why we did that is we got a fifteen percent commission if an advertising agency books the commercials. And by the way, this can happen on Facebook as well.

4:04 I believe I'm pretty sure that this is also happening there and any online advertising. But at the time, at least when we booked any type of commercials under our advertising agency, we received a fifteen percent commission, and so we got our five hundred thousand dollars of advertising all discounted at fifteen percent because we used an advertising agency to book the ads, to book all the marketing, and so our advertising would have been five hundred and ninety thousand if we didn't do this. We actually saved ninety thousand dollars by booking just coming up with a shell of a company. By the way it called at the time, it was called able advertising agency, and just by using that shell of a company to book the advertising, we got a fifty percent discount. So I just wanted to throw that out there for those out there that are doing a lot of advertising, it might be able to find a way to make it less expensive. So, in my one minute inspirational opening today to every business owner listening right now, this moment is for you. In a world where so many choose the safer path, you choose to be bold. You're the ones wake up early and stay up late, not because someone told you to, but

5:35 because that dream inside you demands it. Every day you carry the weight of payroll decisions and countless responsibilities on your shoulders, yet you keep moving forward. You're not just running a business. You're creating opportunities, building futures, and shaping communities. And when others see these problems, you see possibilities. And when they see roadblocks, you find detours. And when they say it can't be done, you find a way. The world may not always see the sacrifices you make, the risks you take, or the sleepless nights that you endure, but we see you. We see your courage, your resilience.

6:18 You're unwavering determination. You're not just entrepreneurs, you're pioneers, innovators, and the backbone of our economy. So today take a moment to recognize your own strength. Remember that your journey, with all of its challenges in victories, is making a difference. Keep pushing forward, keep dreaming bigger, keep breaking barriers, because what you do matters not just to your business, but to every life you touch through it. You are the dreamers who dare to do and for that we honor you, Michael. That is so inspirational. Great, thank you, Chivy. So every transformation in business history has created both winners and losers, and right now we're experiencing the biggest shift in sales methodology since the invention of the telephone, and the old ways of selling, quite frankly, are dying. But this isn't bad news. It's an opportunity.

7:17 And the businesses that adapt to this new reality aren't just surviving this thriving and they're closing bigger deals with higher profit margins and less time. Today you'll learn exactly how to be one of these winners. And the future of sales isn't about working harder, it's about working smarter. And by the end of the show you'll know exactly how to make this change in your business. So today we're tackling a critical issue that's affecting every business, why traditional selling doesn't work anymore, and what you need to do about it. So let me share some startling statistics. Traditional sales approaches are now failing at an unprecedented rate.

7:59 Called cold calling. Success rates have dropped below one percent. Email response rates have plummeted by forty seven percent in the last five years. Traditional sales presentation of presentations are being ignored or rejected at historic levels. But here's what's interesting. While most businesses are struggling with sales, a small group of companies are experiencing record growth that closing deals faster at higher prices with less resistance. But what's their secret. Well, they've recognized and adapted to three fundamental shifts in the marketplace. What is I call the power shift. These are buyers now have more information and options than ever before. Second is the trust revolution. Traditional sales tactics are now actively destroying trust. And third is the value of elution. What customers consider valuable as fundamentally changed. So today I'm going to show you a sales framework, quite frankly, a revolutionary or new approach that's certainly something to consider and we'll cover why traditional sales techniques are actually hurting your business, will cover the exact process top performance are using the close deals, will cover how to change your sales approach without losing momentum. And we'll cover specific strategies for increasing

9:30 both closing rates and profit margins. But most importantly, you'll learn how to implement these changes in your business immediately without disrupting your current sales operations. And this isn't theory, it's proven methodology that's already been working in business today. So let's stop by understanding exactly why traditional sales approaches are failing and what's replacing them. Be tuned with that petted paper as we break down exactly how to implement this in your business. And if you're driving, don't worry. You can catch this up so again at at our podcast on Powerful Business Strategies dot com. So to understand why traditional selling is failing, we need to examine the three major shifts that have changed the sales landscape. More importantly, we need to understand how to adapt to these changes.

10:21 So let's look at each shift in detail. So the power shift, as I mentioned these are traditional selling was based on information asymmetry and the salesperson knew more than the buyer. Today, customers often know more about your product, your competitors, and your industry than your sales team does. They've done their research before they speak with you, and before they speak with the sales team. Second, the trust revolution, Traditional sales techniques were designed to control the conversation and lead customers to the predetermined conclusion. Today, these same techniques are instant trustkill because customers recognize and reject manipulation. And Third, the value evolution. Traditional selling focused on features and benefits.

11:13 Today's customers are looking for something entirely different. They want insight, expertise, and strategic value. So let me share a quick case study that perfectly illustrates these shifts and how to adapt to them. So a B to B equipment supplier was struggling with declining sales despite having a strong product line and competitive prices. Their traditional sales approach, co calling, feature based presentations, and aggressive follow up was produced diminishing returns. Here's what they discovered when they analyzed their sales process. You know, once again, you know they have the data.

11:56 They went out they figured that they have the math and the data to be able to make better decisions, something we business owners have to have to do if we're going to make better business decisions in this twenty first century that we modern business era that we live in. So here's what they discovered when they analyzed their sales process. Eighty two percent of prospects had already researched their products before contact. Ninety one percent view traditional sales presentations as a waste of time. That was their perception. Seventy six percent wanted insights about their industry, not product information. So this company implemented what they called the insight first framework, and so step one of this framework was knowledge development.

12:44 They created detailed industry analysis reports, They developed specific insights for each market segment, and they built a database of industry specific challenges and solutions that the salespeople can draw from. Step two communication transformation or communication changes. They replaced cold calls with insight based outreach. They changed sales presentations into strategic consultations, and they developed industry specific value proposition propositions. So essentially here like for example, changing sales presentations into strategic consultations, that was more specific industry insight. And then step three was process redesigned. They implemented a consultive discovery process.

13:39 They created value based proposal templates based around this industry insight, and they developed return on investment calculation tools and the results were pretty significant. The close rate increase from twelve percent to thirty seven percent, their average deal size grew by sixty four percent, and the sales cycles shortened by forty one percent. The key insight they stopped selling and started solving problems. Ooh, position of market dominance, and they converted their sales team from product experts into industry experts. Now, let me take a deeper dive into the technical aspects of this change. Because the equipment supplier developed a knowledge value matrix which was a systematic approach to changing the interaction.

14:33 So number one was industry knowledge depth. So they created a four tier knowledge classification system that the first tier had basic industry knowledge, second operational expertise, third strategic insight, and fourth future trends analysis. And for each tier they developed specific knowledge requirements and testing protocols, and the sales team members had to demonstrate proficiency at each level before advancing, so this was almost like a built in training program. The second was value communication framework. They developed a structured approach to value communication where they had problem quantification, direct cost impact, indirect cost impact, operational cost analysis, and risk assessment metrics. And inside this value communication framework, they also did solution modeling which include ROI calculation templates and risk mitigation strategies. And then they developed a digital integration system where they created a digital infrastructure to support this new approach, and then they had all the performance metrics and so this technical infrastructure allowed them to systemize their new approach and make it repeatable across their entire sales organization. Tricky,

16:07 are there any questions from the audience? Michael, Look, you've struck a chord with a number of the insights that you've shared thus far, and yes, we do have quite a few questions. Let's go with this one. So, like, look, many of our listeners are probably wondering about their current sales team. Right, So the concept of the death of the traditional selling process, Now, how would you advise that they transition their traditional salespeople into this new approach without losing their top and their best performers. Okay, you know that's a genius question. That's great. The key to the key to start with your the key is to start with the top performers and let them lead by example. In the B to B equipment supplier case study we discussed, they begin by just having their best sales people create small wins using the new approach, and I think it's a process and these early successes created natural momentum, and they found that their top performance actually embraced the change because it gave them a competitive advantage.

17:17 And the key is showing them how the new approach helps them close bigger deals with less resistance. And actually one of their top salespeople who they tested and went from fifteen percent closed rate to forty two percent in just sixty days, and so it was it was really productive. You know. I keep saying the same thing with respect to all of these strategies that we talk about, is that what great advantage that we business owners have is that we get to test these things. And that's exactly what this equipment supplier did. They tested all of these theories that they had, and they were able to do it with one or two of their top salespeople. Any other questions SHOOKI.

18:05 Yes, so we've got one here, and this has to do with the shift in sales. So you talk about the three major shifts in sales, the power shift, the trust revolution, and then the value evolution. Look, which of these do you think businesses will struggle with the most. From our experience, it's the trust revolution and that's the most challenging. Yeah. It requires the deepest mindset change. You know, many salespeople have been trained to control the conversation, but today that approach destroyers trust. The solution is to shift from a presentation mindset to an exploration mindset. For example, one company replaced their standard pitch deck with what they call insight conversations, sharing once again industry specific data and trends, then exploring implications together with the prospect, and their sales cycle actually short by forty percent because they built trust faster.

19:04 The other thing is that the position of market dominance by creating one that generates trust because you're identifying the problem to the customer before they have to bring it up, and that is a real enforcement of trust. Well, thank you for the questions, Chooky, and we're going to break ninety seconds for a quick commercial. Hey, their business owners, let me ask you something. Are you tied of blending in with your competitors? Frustrated? With slow growth and slim margins. Well, I've got news for you. Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong. Don't worry. I'm here to let you in on a secret weapon, your position of market dominance. It's what sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining up at your door. My name is Michael Barbarrita from Next Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael, how do I find my position of market dominance? Well, that's exactly why we've created our game changing impleitation program called Next Step to Market Dominance.

20:14 In just ninety days, we'll guide you step by step to a position of market dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch. By crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer, by building a strategy that turns you into the go to expert in your field. Now this is in theory. These are battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like you as double, triple and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another quarter go by struggling to standout. It's time to dominate your market. Period go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net forward slash contact. Fill out the form and in the message section put the word dominate or call us at seven eighty one three two six three A two two. That's next FCFO dot net forward slash contact or call us at seven eight one three two six three A two two. Welcome back. And so today we're talking about why traditional selling is failing and the new sales methodologies that should be implemented. So now that we understand and the first segment was why traditional selling is failing, let's explore the new methodology that's replacing it.

21:25 And we call this the value Framework, and it's actually a mnemonic BA LUE. The V is for vision, the A is for authority, the L is for learning, the US for understanding, and the E is for execution. Now let me break down each component and then share a case study of how this works in practice. So the vision is instead of pushing products, you need to help customers and vision a better future. This means understanding their strategic objectives and showing you how you can achieve them or showing the prospect how they can achieve them. Authority position yourself as that industry expert, not just a product expert share insights, trends and strategic perspectives that demonstrate your expertise.

22:17 The L is for learning, make your sales process a mutual learning experience. You learn about their business while teaching them new ways to think about their challenges. US for understanding, So focus on understanding the customer's entire ecosystem, not just their immediate needs. This allows you to identify opportunities that they might have missed, and then the E for execution create a clear actional path from their current state to this desired future state. So let me go through the methodology again. It's called Value framework and it's the new sales methodology VS for vision, as for authority, LIS for learning, US for understanding an E execution. So let me share a case study of how this works in practice. So a traditional office equipment dealer's sales team was using the standard approach the features, advantages and benefits and competitive pricing.

23:22 Their closed rate was fifteen percent and profit margins were shrinking. They then implemented the value framework, so for vision, they created detailed future state analysis for each prospect to help clients visualize their potential and create emotional buy in second, under vision, they developed industry specific road maps to demonstrate clear and achievable paths to success tailed to each industry. And then the third bullet under vision is they built visualization tools for return on investment and outcomes to make abstract benefits tangible and quantifiable for decision makers. Then, with respect to authority, they published industry insight reports to establish credibility and demonstrate deep industry expertise. So this is whether it was on a blog or some type of newsletter.

24:21 They created educational content to position the company as a thought leader and trusted advisor. And they developed benchmark databases to provide concrete evidence and comparative data for decision support. Under learning, they implemented structured discovery processes to uncover hidden opportunities and challenges. Systematically, they created knowledge sharing workshops to facilitate mutual understanding and build collaborative collaborative relationships. They developed collaborative planning tools to engage clients in the solution development process and a buy in. Then, from an understanding perspective BA l U, this is the U and Understanding built comprehensive needs assessment tools to identify both stated and unstated client requirements. And then they created an ecosystem mapping process to understand how changes impact the entire client organization, and they developed an impact analysis framework to quantify the ripple effects of proposed solutions across the business. Then, with respect to the execution, they created detailed implementation roadmaps to provide clear, actionable steps for solutions deployment. They developed risk mitigation strategies to address concerns proactively and build confidence in the solution.

25:49 And then they built progress tracking systems to ensure accountability and demonstrate ongoing value creation. So there was a lot of insight into the industry here, whether it was sharing information through blogging or newsletters or internally to help train the salespeople. And the result after six months is their close rate increased forty three percent, their average deal sides went up eighty seven percent, profit margins improved by thirty two percent, and customer retention increased two ninety four percent. And the key was moving from a transition of transactional focused approach, would change focused approach where it was basically industry focused, I think would be a better word for that. Uh, And so took any questions from the audience.

26:45 Yeah, so it's funny you're getting some electronic head nods on some of those points. There is a you know, one kind of chuckle worthy point here, Michael, we hope there's no spelling bee uh pop quizes all this modic. That's right, really important question, I think probably a challenging question when implementing the value framework. What a number of business owners are wondering is, Michael, which of those components would show the fastest impact on results. The authority component you see typically that shows the quickest return, Chookey. When the office equipment company implemented the framework, they saw immediate results from their industry insight reports, and a single report on office automation trends generated forty seven qualified leads in the first week. Why well, because it positioned in them as the experts rather than the vendor. And the key is sharing insights that help prospects think differently about their challenges and this builds a trust and credibility before you ever discussed your product to service.

27:58 Yeah, I want to pick up what Yeah, I want to pick up on your point, Michael about thinking differently, right, and you said that as it relates to prospects. Now, the internal sales team would also have to think differently. So a question for you related to this, like, how would businesses need to adjust their compensation models to support this new methodology. Well, this is crucial, chookey, because traditional commission only structures often work against this approach because they encourage short term thinking. Yes, what we have recommended is a three pot compensation model base, salary for stability, commission for results, and a value bonus tied to customer success metrics. For example, the office equipment company added a quarterly bonus based on customer implementation success rates.

28:49 So if whatever was suggested worked famously for that client, then there would be a quarterly bonus. And this aligned with sales team team's interest with long term customer outcomes, resulting in that ninety four percent customer retention I talked about, remarkable. Thank you hirty Okay, and so before I continue with our discussion, we're going to take a ninety second break. Hey, their business owners, let me ask you something. Are you tied of blending in with your competitors? Frustrated with slow growth and slim margins? Well, I've got news for you.

29:32 Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong. Don't worry. I'm here to let you in on a secret weapon, your position of market dominance. It's what sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining up at your door. My name is Michael Barbarrita from Next Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael, how do I find my position of market dominance? Well, that's exactly why we've created our game changing implementation program called Next Step to Market Dominance. In just ninety days, we'll guide you step by step to a position of market dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch.

30:12 By crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer, by building a strategy that turns you into the go to expert in your field. Now this is in theory. These are battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like you as double, triple, and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another quarter go by struggling to standout. It's time to dominate your market. Period. Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill out the form and in the message section put the word dominate or call us at seven eight one three, two six three A two two. That's next STEPCFO dot net forward slash contact or call us at seven eight one three two six three A two two.

30:59 Welcome back. So in this final segment, we're going to focus on how to implement these new sales methodologies without disrupting your current revenue. And this is crucial because many businesses fail not because the new approach didn't work, but because they struggled with the transition. And we talked about earlier. One of the great questions that we had earlier was how do you go about implementing this? And we say, you start with the top salespeople and test it. Got to test this thing. And so in this particular segment, we'll use a six phase implementation framework. So here's the framework with purpose statements for each point. So first, the first part of the six phase implementation framework to implement this new sales approach is number one, the assessment phase.

31:48 So you evaluate your current sales process to establish a clear picture of existing methodologies and their effectiveness. You identify gaps and opportunities to point specific areas where improvement will yield the highest returns. And then you'll measure baseline metrics to create benchmarks for measuring improvement in URI. Once again, we're tracking metrics in order to improve our decision making as business owners. Second planning, so design new processes to create structured, repeatable systems that align with business goals, and then create training materials to ensure consistent knowledge transfer and skill development. Develop transition timeline to establish realistic milestones and manage change without disrupting revenue. The third, and once again, this is that six phase implementation framework. The third step is pilot well select test group. Select that test group to imp to validate new approaches with minimum risk to overall operations. Implement new methods to test processes and real world conditions and gather practical feedback, and then monitor results to track effectiveness and identify early implementation challenges. The fourth step of the framework is refinement. Analyze pilot results to

33:22 understand what's working and what needs modification, make necessary adjustments to optimized processes based on real world feedback. Before full deployment, that's testing again, Prepare for full rollout to create a scalable implementation plan based on pilot learnings. And then the implementation is the fifth leg of this process, and it's you train full team, You train the full team to ensure all team members are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge. And you deploy new tools to provide resources and support systems for successful execution. And then monitor the progress to track adoption rates and identify any implementation changes.

34:09 And the sixth and final step of this framework is optimization. So you measure the results to quantify the impact of the changes and validate the return on investment. You make adjustments to fine tune processes based on organization wide feedback, and you scale successful elements. You take those successful elements and you replicate winning strategies across the entire organization. So let me share a quick case study of how this works in practice. So a mid sized insurance broker needed to change their sales process but couldn't disrupt their twelve million dollars annual revenue stream. So here's how they implemented the transition. So, during the assessment phase, they analyzed about twenty three hundred sales transactions, identified seven critical process gaps.

35:02 Then they established baseline metrics twenty two percent closing rate, forty eight hundred dollars average policy value, sixty eight day average sales cycle. Then in the planning phase, they created new sales playbooks and developed training modules and built implementation timelines. In the pilot phase, they selected five top performers and implemented new methods. They ran a ninety eight test period. I believe they had about it was twelve to fifteen salespeople or in the insurance industry they called producers, and so they selected the top five performers to pilot this thing.

35:43 And then the refinement phase is they analyzed pilot results, they made twelve process adjustments based on those results, and then updated the training manuals, once again relying on the data to make the decisions. Implementation phase was that they trained the remaining team and they developed new CRM tools and implemented weekly coaching. And then optimization phase they measured the key metrics, made ongoing adjustments, and scaled successful elements. And the result that the full implementation, their close rate increased the forty one percent, their average policy value went it was forty three hundred to seventy two hundred, their sales cycle reduced by forty two days, and their revenue grew to eighteen point seven million, So it was quite a change. But just implementing this new sales framework, and I got to tell you it's really important. But the thing about it is is if you're not analyzing data along the way, you're going to be a blind man without a cane making better. So any questions from the audience on this trioky.

36:53 Michael, It's quite interesting, right. I think there's quite a bit of energy from business owners in the list listener's coast to coast to activate implementation on this. So I'll synthesize a couple quick questions here. So it seems like a recurring question is this idea of how to implement? So, Michael, question for you, when implementing these changes, what's a typical timeline before business owners start to really see significant results? Well, of course you know the standard answer I have to give. The timeline varies by organization side, but using the six phase implementation framework, I think you can expect to see initial results in somewhere between forty five to sixty days at least starting to get the data to be able to start to expand it or to make the necessary adjustments. I mean, the insurance company which we discussed a little earlier, saw their first significant improvement during the pilot phase and they started twenty seven percent increase in close rates within the first six weeks. And the key is to focus on quick wins early that with a small group, get some victories and use that momentum to drive broader adoption and then full of the implementation using usually takes somewhere between four to six months once you get everybody on board, everybody trained, but you should be seeing progressive improvements throughout that period.

38:21 I want to pick up on that phrase progressive improvement right because I think that goes to the heart of what could stop that progress. What do you see as the biggest mistake Michael, that companies make during the implementation phase. Well, trying to do everything at once, Chiki, you know this overwhelms the sales team, It disrupts the revenue flow, the current revenue flow. Instead, we recommend we use that twenty percent rule. Change no more than twenty percent of your sales process at a time. And the insurance company started by changing their initial prospect conversation approach and once that was working, they then moved to the next phase.

39:03 So this measured approach allowed them to maintain revenue while transforming their sales process, and they actually grew revenue during the transition because each small change produced incremental improvements, and those incremental improvements started to compound on each other. Very similar that we talk about when we talk about our eighty twenty rule and the most important things that business owners need to focus on. The power of the compound effect. Right, Michael, there you go. Took it as wonder if if you had any compliments. Today we do absolutely and Michael, look, this continues to grow week in and week out. So we have business leaders coasts to coasts that we want to spotlight as part of our business Complements segments. So the first is Tyler Marshall. He is a founder and CEO of EYC Labs and Michael get this. They are blazing the T trail in global agritech. EYC Labs is a go to design and engineering partner for agriculture and agriculture adjacent business operations.

40:13 Their team is one hundred percent in house with experience across the board hardware, software, industrial, and mechanical. In fact, you could learn a little bit more about EYC Labs, in fact, a lot more by visiting the website eyc labs dot com. Mike, I think you might appreciate this next business compliment, So this is Amanda Severs. She is with First Buckeye Landscapers, LLC, and she also recently launched out of her passion, a small business coaching program to really impact and positively support business owners in her community. So it's really incredible. Here's why we believe a manager is just so inspirational. She is committed to supporting other business owners to ensure that they could live a more balance life and break free from the chaos that causes burnout in business. And Michael, this goes to your opening inspiration, it really does. You can follow Amanda at Simply Amander Sever's on Instagram. That's simply Amander Sever's on Instagram. Now, the next business owner is Brian Gibbs. Brian is with Brian Gibbs and Associates, LLC. And here's what their commitment revolves around to provide impactful AI coaching for small businesses across the country. And if you're interested in you're listening to this, you can learn a little bit more about Brian Gibbs and Associates through their website. It's very simple,

41:45 Brian Gibbs dot com. And here's part of their commitment. You will have the opportunity to not just learn ideas, but to share ideas and best practices with other business owners and Michael, Last but not least here, Bambi Weevil with Acceleran and Bemby has over a decade of experience with marketing, sales, PR and event production across multiple industries. And here's her mission statement. She truly works to advance strategic partnerships. In fact, this is part of the work that she's doing for Acceleran, which is a trusted quick books solutions provider. Michael, I believe you know one or two things about quick books.

42:28 Right, Yeah, a little bit. Your excellent and strategic CFO background. And Michael, look, part of the work that they do at Accelerate is just to help business owners achieve higher profits and improve their cash flow. So to sum it up, one of the things that we admire about the business Complement segment is that these business leaders are really coast to coast are doing important work. And Michael, they are problem solvers, as you alluded to earlier, They're using their business experience to solve problem So with that, I'll toss the back over it than you. Thank you, Chuggy. That was outstanding. So as we wrap up today's episode of Powerful Business Strategies, let's just recap the key points about changing your sales process. So, first, understand why traditional selling is failing, so the powership to inform buyers It was the trust revolution. Third was the value evolution. Second, implement the value framework, so that's vision to help customers see a better future. Authority. Position yourself as an industry expert, not just a product expert. Learning, create mutual learning experiences, understanding, comprehend the entire ecosystem, not just components of it. And then execution create clear action paths.

43:50 And then third, use the six phase implementation framework assessment, planning, pilot, refinement, implementation, and optimization. Here's why this matters more than ever. You know, the gap between high performing sales organizations and everyone else is widening rapidly, getting wider and wider. And the companies that adapt to this new reality aren't just surviving, they're thriving, and they're closing bigger deals with higher profit margins and less time. So your immediate action step should be assess your current sales process against the frameworks that we discussed today. Second, you should identify your biggest gaps and opportunities. And third, create a pilot program to test these approaches. And remember, this isn't about throwing out everything you know about sales.

44:46 It's about evolving your approach to match today's reality. The fundamentals of human psychology haven't changed, but the context in which we operate has changed dramatically. And before we sign off today, I want to talk about real quickly the eighty twenty rule and how it applies to business, because we talked about it earlier with the insurance company and the twenty percent, and so Choky and I in our book Powerful Business Strategies, have identified seven areas that we call the seven step Pathway to Profit formula. And in this formula and in the seventh steps, this represents twenty percent of your activities that will drive eighty percent of your revenue. It's incredibly it's an incredible leveraging tool. Now we had a whole show about it, so you can go to Powerful Business Strategies dot com and look up the show on the seven Step Pathway to Profit formula.

45:48 But I wanted to just quickly review it again in the time that we have remaining, because it's important and it helps business owners leverage their time, but it also helps them understand what really drives that revenue. So the seventh steps is number one, getting leads and getting quality leads, not just the mickey mouse leads, but quality leads. Second is what we call conversions. And that's not a conversion to a sale. That's a conversion into your sales process, whatever that is. It could be a sales presentation, it could be some type of industry impact presentation that we talked about here today. So that's conversion. So there's always a next step. And so the next step from a lead is to the conversion process, whatever that is for your company, and then the closing rates. So it's leads conversions.

46:43 That's step two of the seven step Pathway to Profit formula. Step three is closing rates. What are your closing rates? And notice now we're getting into managing the data. You know, what is your conversion from lead to conversion? What is the rate of conversion to closing And so those are the first three. The fourth is client retention and this is a quite frankly, this is an area that we business owners really have neglected, quite frankly, and it's just as important. And you know when we business owners get a client, we automatically think we get to keep them by default, where nothing could be further from the truth.

47:30 And so client retention and focusing on that as part of the seven step pathway to profit is really important to maintain the revenue that you have. And then the next step in the process is average dollar per sale. This is something that we business owners need to keep track of. We need to understand every time we make fail what what are the average What is our average order values? So all of the sales that have been made, divided by the number of sales, it gives you your average order value, and you need to understand whether that's rising or declining, and then you can do something about it.

48:14 Once again, though, you have to have the data. So average dollar per sale. Then frequency of sale is how often you're able to sell to the to an existing customer. So the more you can sell to an existing customer, obviously, the more revenue you generate. And the reason why it's important to focus on it is because there is literally a gold mine in your existing customer base if you can sell them other products or services that you that you provide. And then finally, as business owners, we always have to control our costs. So and that's both fixed costs, which are the costs that occur every month at the same rate, or variable costs which are associated with and variable to the sales of your company. So once again, the seven step Pathway to Profit formula is number one.

49:08 Focus on leads, conversions, closing rates, client retention, average dollar per sale, frequency of sale, and costs. So to get a copy of the book Powerful Business Strategy, simply go to our website www dot NEXTSTEPCFO dot net. It's totally complimentary and until next Monday at noon Eastern time. But Chukey Obio. My name is Michael Barberita, and remember, don't keep doing what your competition is doing. You have been listening to Powerful Business Strategies finding out that everything you ever learned about growing your business is wrong. Tune in next week and every week at noon Eastern time on W four CY Radio with your host Michael Barbarita of Next Step CFO and moderator Chukey O Bio.