519: Proven Sales & Marketing Strategies That WORK! (feat. Brian Nichols)

Brian Nichols  0:00  
Instead of focusing on winning arguments, we're teaching the basic fundamentals of sales and marketing and how we can use them to win in the world of politics, teaching you how to meet people where they're at on the issues they care about. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Well, Happy Wednesday there, folks, Brian Nichols here

on The Brian Nichols Show. And thank you for joining us on course, another fun filled episode. I am as always your humble host. And today oh, we're in for a fun filled episode. And it's a little bit different of an episode. So I have the pleasure last evening of joining the inventors network, which they have been doing since the advent of COVID. These online networking groups and getting together really it's a mastermind group of different inventors and, and after my appearance over on Tim Poole, I was invited to speak in front of this group of not only inventors, but also a lot of entrepreneurs, really exciting stuff, some very cool inventions, I got to get some sneak peeks. And you'll definitely be seeing them on store shelves very soon. But it was a great opportunity to talk about proven sales and marketing strategies that work. So I was asked to give a talk focusing on these proven strategies. And specifically, what if you could reach your target market on the exact issues they care about? Sound familiar? Well, I hope so. And folks, yes, this is exclusively the presentation that I gave to that group, we ended up having a 45 minute, probably an hour or so I would dare say a question and answer session afterwards. And it was just an absolute blast. Lots of really great questions, but I'm going to keep that for the inventors network. That's for their ears only. But you why not? I'll share with you the audience here at The Brian Nichols Show. I'll give you my presentation, I gave them the proven sales and marketing strategies that work if you enjoy today's episode will please do me a solid, go ahead and let me know. Shoot me an email Brian at Brian Nichols show.com. But I'm not going to keep stalling. And now further ado, I'm gonna show yours truly joining the inventors network outlining proven sales and marketing strategies that work here on The Brian Nichols Show. All right, there we go. Rock and roll. All right. Hey, folks, ya know, Don, I thank you, number one for inviting me. I'm really excited to speak to everyone today. And obviously, the world's changed over the past few years. With the advent of COVID-19. And what we're doing today, you're right, so not only has the world changed, but also the world of sales and marketing has changed. So it's important, I think, for us to not only make sure we're addressing what's changed, but also as we're moving forward making sure that the strategies we're implementing in the world of marketing and sales, and that they're keeping up with the times as well. So to start things off, Hi, I'm Brian, by the way. As Don mentioned, I'm a sales and marketing executive. So I focus my time mostly spent in the world of telecommunications, cybersecurity, business continuity. And before I get into this role, where I'm doing direct sales, I was leading a sales team out in in Philadelphia, PA for a number of years where I actually started out building the entire department, from, from really the soup to nuts, building, the email campaigns, the scripting, the hiring, the firing, the campaigns, all that goes into it, really making sure it was mapped out to be as effective as possible. So fast forward from the creation of the Department of my sales development team to three years later, they were accounting for around 60% of the company revenue. And the reason being is because we were implementing a little bit different way of doing things based on what works and that's what we're gonna talk about today. So when we talk about old sales, and marketing techniques, they don't work. No more spray and pray. You have to know your audience activity used to breed results. I used to have a manager who would preach that activity breeds results. Brian's Okay, but what about smart calls? What about smart sales? And then content content is king, it's not effective to waste money on old outdated advertisements. You can get viral ads, viral marketing, you can do so much with regards to social selling, whether it's going on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, wherever it may be. I mean, Don saw me over on a podcast of all places, right? So you can you can go ahead and find great opportunities for marketing and so many different places. So step one, knowing your market this is so often overlooked in sales and in marketing. You know what, and this is the part that drives me crazy. So many marketing folks overlook the knowing your market part of marketing. And let's dig into why that's important because number one, you gotta Stop trying to sell ice to Eskimos, I used to, oh goodness, I used to have an SDR. And he used to think that everybody that he called was a potential customer. Now, here's the unfortunate reality, not everybody is a potential customer. And that's okay, that's actually a good thing. Not having any solution for every single person makes it so you can now find your niche. And you don't need to sell ice to Eskimos, you don't need to give somebody a product or a service or a solution for a problem that they don't need solving. So it's important to find the people who are actively looking or maybe not necessarily actively looking, but are getting ready to look to solve the problem that they have, or the problem that they should be experiencing. And then make them your target market. This then goes into your ICP, your ICP stands for your ideal customer persona. So when we talk about your ICP, what we're talking about is not just a specific vertical, we're not talking about just a specific, you know, a specific title, you know, a chief information officer, sales manager, CEO, but rather, who is the person? What is that persona of the individual that you're selling to? And it's important to know that because then we get to know not just the things they care about in the business world, right, that the text in the specs, the features and the benefits. But also we get to figure out what are the pain points? What are the things that are keeping them up at night? What are those top of mind bedbug issues that are keeping them not just up at night with regards to their business, but what's keeping them up at night for their own security. So, it's often said that in sales, we don't sell on on logic, but rather we sell on emotion, and we rationalize our sail with logic and reason. That's true. And it's also true when we're trying to go through and present our solutions to our prospects is being able to make sure that we're entering in in an emotional way to solve the problem that has been holding them back. Eddie's tool that he showed where he was being able to pick up a dryer, that could be game changing for someone who has been struggling time in and time out if they have to go in and move large pieces of equipment or furniture around to now all sudden have something that's going to make that emotional pain go away. So stop trying to sell ice to Eskimos, who's your ICP and bedbugs, that is knowing your market number two, smart sales. So when we're talking about sales, again, I like to make sure we're focusing on doing what's more effective, versus just looking at numbers and feeling good when you see a big number for activity. So when we're looking at what are the most effective means of starting a sale with someone I have found, the number one means of identifying someone who is open to possibly hearing a different way of doing things or your solution in this case, is someone who's going through what we would identify as a trigger event. Now a trigger event can be many different things. I like to look for people who in my world in the b2b world are trigger events going from one business to another. And the reason being is because that's usually a trigger event where they're going to be going ahead and likely making some type of change when they go to a new location. So if I'm talking to a Chief Information Officer, for example, and they started at ABC Corporation, they're likely going to have a pretty big whiteboard of projects that they're gonna be going through from top to bottom. And with that, they're going to be going in with a fresh perspective. So what better opportunity for me to enter into a conversation that they're likely not only having in their own mind, but now they're actually going to be having in the boardroom at some point in time, but we want to be in this moment where we are hitting them at the trigger event, not just where they are in this position where they're making a decision at some point in time but maybe rate before they're actively searching for alternatives. So let's think about for you know, going back to the example with Eddie's Eddie's designed there for moving, will say the washer, in this case, you might have the opportunity to find someone who's actively saying I need to move a washer and I need to find something that's gonna be able to help move that washer but that person is already going out. And finding a means to solve that problem. Meaning that when you enter into the conversation, you might be one of many choices. Where we want to be is usually the first person in And with that, helping them frame what an ideal solution looks like. So we want to get them when they're in a trigger event of searching for alternatives. And if we can, if we can really get that lined up with another trigger event, which I mentioned, you know, in my case I try to do with when they switch jobs, then you're, you're really gonna be batting 1000. Because what you can then do is you can now align, what their main concern is what they are feeling as a pain, yet they have not actively started to search for, and the fact that you know that this is likely gonna be something that's going to be on their plate already. And based on the fact that we know our market, we know what is keeping you up at night, we know what is the main drivers, the things that our ideal customer persona is gonna be focusing on. So now we can make sure we're tailoring everything specifically to them in that trigger event. So when we're getting the opportunity now to speak to the person, we had to focus on, not what it is that our product does, or our service, or our solution does, or is but rather what it does, and then add emotion to tie that down. In terms of not just a you know, this is a nice to have, but this is going to help solve a problem and then check the box of getting rid of that emotional pain. So let's go. Let's let's take for example, ice, you know, we're talking about the ice with an Eskimo, right? Ice to a glass of water. It makes the water cold. That's Yes, that's exactly what happens. But what does that mean? What is the meaning of that water being cold? Well, now you can enjoy a cold, refreshing beverage on a sweltering hot summer day, instead of having room temperature or in this case, if you're outside hot water or a hot beverage. So being able to now tie the enjoyment, the happiness, the excitement of getting a fresh, cold beverage versus the disappointment, the grossness of having the warm and not ideal beverage, now you're being able to present not just I'm giving you ice, but I'm giving you ice that will make your drink cold. And here's the emotional tie that that makes to you. And then the other thing that in sales works so so effectively, well, and it's so underutilized. And I used to be this used to drive my team nuts, because I'd make them do storytime once a week where we would go around, and we would tell a story because stories are the thing that we have been using for quite literally, like generations to stay alive because story stick. I mean, if you think of any any bad thing, you know, Poison Ivy, why is it bad in your head? Not because you know, it's gonna itch. But because if you ever got it, you go back to that story of the time that you first got it? Or if you never did get it, you go back to the story of somebody who said, Yeah, I know somebody who got it, or I myself got it. And here's what happened. That story sticks with you. So let's tell a story about what our product or what our service and in this case, obviously, our inventions are doing for our customer. But in this case, what can we do in helping them accomplish the main goals, the main challenges that they're looking to overcome on their hero's journey, and to be able to tell the story of what you've been able to do for others will be able to do more than talking about the features, the benefits, the texts, the specs, then you could possibly do for your invention, or for your good or your service, any any possible way. Because a story now is going to be able to resonate based on the fact that the person you're speaking to, can see themselves as the hero, right. And what better way to articulate a story. And I didn't put this on here, but to take the story and put it in terms of a testimonial to take a story and take somebody who's already experienced a positive benefit and had been able to share that emotional win that they've gotten from using your product or using your invention. And to be able to share their story and what that's done for them what's that help them accomplish, and to be able to not only share that story, but now to take more stories just like that and start to layer that into your sales layer that into and we're gonna hit this in a second into your marketing and that will be able to start to not only sell your product or service way better than you possibly could going out and doing cold calls. But what you'll do is you'll effectively create superfans you will create people who will do your sales who will do your marketing on your behalf by the nature of their sharing their stories. So when we go to marketing and marketing sometimes, I think gets over Look in the world of sales. But I am a firm believer that if you want to be successful in sales, you have to be successful in marketing. And vice versa. Because they go hand in hand with each other marketing is so much about finding your your audience, finding your market and getting in front of them staying top of mind. Whereas sales is finding the people when they're in that moment of getting ready to make a change, solve that problem, find a new solution, or get out of that comfort zone and maybe get a little uncomfortable with getting out of their status quo. So when we're talking about smart marketing, number one, content is king. I know Edie shared, I know keep on going back to Eddie there, I'm gonna pick him I'm picking on you. But when you share the video there, that that will be one of the biggest things that you can do in terms of being able to promote your product is getting little snippets of content that you can share. Now, you you don't have to go out and do a million different things. I hear this question all the time. Brian, should I be on Facebook making Facebook content? Should I be on Twitter doing use things on Twitter? Should be on LinkedIn? Should I be on YouTube should be on Tik Tok? The answer is you should be where your customers are. Right, we're gonna go back to what we talked about, originally know your audience, where is that ideal customer persona, where do they spend their time in an IT manager or chief information officer is likely going to spend their time in a different area than the NFL player, right? They just they're different people, they're different personas, the same thing is true for your personas of the people you're speaking to. So when you're making your content, it's important to know who your audience is and where they're going to be. And then to make the content there. And I would recommend doing it in a form in a medium that you feel comfortable with that you can be your authentic self. I like to use YouTube, I think YouTube's a great means because you can not only get the audio medium, but you also get the video element behind it as well. Also, I'm a big believer and fan of going out and using the clips that you're gonna get from the YouTube channel and then break those into mini clips, stop reinventing the wheel and trying to like make new content. And what you can do is actually go to the YouTube videos, look for what parts of the video are doing the best for free viewership and turn those into little mini clips. Now you can put those on Tik Tok, you can put those on Instagram. And now all of a sudden, you're not reinventing the wheel, but taking one piece of content and disseminating it over multiple channels and multiple different mediums. And it's going to be able to meet your audience. Now, when you're going out and you're trying to collect the audience, it's not, it's not just one thing to get in front of the audience and to get your name in front of them. And so they get familiar with you. But it's also imperative and I can't stress this enough to get a means to own that audience. So whether it's an email list, whether it's a you know, a, like a Facebook group, and even then it's risky. And I'll tell you why it's risky, because you look at what's happened over the past few years with the different social media organizations going out. And they can nuke anybody at any given time, you could lose a Facebook group, I actually saw this happen in a political organization, they had around 10,000 members in the Facebook group, and just arbitrarily overnight, one day, they got a strike from a 2017. Facebook like content violation, that wasn't a content violation. But regardless, that group, in all of its 10,000 Plus members was gone. So now, all those people who originally were customers, if you will, of that group now had no means of being contacted. So what I recommend is if you can collect emails, if you can collect physical addresses, phone numbers, direct means for you, as the producer as the inventor to be able to directly reach out to your customer at any given time and to get in front of them. That is going to be one of the most important things. Because you don't want to have a situation where all of a sudden your entire audience is ripped out from underneath you. So content is king, owning your audience and then consistency. This is where I think you'll you'll see a lot of people drop the ball when they're talking about marketing is staying consistent. I recently was doing a mentorship for a podcasting group and for folks who aren't aware. So when dawns on me over on this large YouTube channel, I was asked to be on there I have a podcast myself where we focus on taking the ideas of sales and marketing and bringing them more to the world of politics focusing less on political solutions to the problems we see and more so on being able to bring real out you know, real non government solutions to

the problems that are out there. So when I'm going out there, I built up this audience I was surprised over the past you In five years or so that I've been able to reach as many people as I have. And with that now I've had the chance to start mentoring other podcasts and help them build their network. And I've told them and I've seen unfortunately, too many people do this where they'll, they'll drop off the face of the earth, they'll do 10 episodes, they're great episodes, but then they go away, because it's tough. It's it's a lot to be consistent to not only be consistent in being there, but to consistently put out good content, and to consistently think of new content. And to always be thinking of what can I be adding a value? What questions are my prospects? Or what questions is my audience asking that I can answer, and to be consistently there to be top of mind, here's exactly what you want to be when you're marketing. Because at the end of the day, if you're top of mind, your the person that they're reaching out to, versus the competitor, because you've been consistently on the top of their Facebook page, you've been consistently in their newsfeed, you've been consistently on their LinkedIn page, whatever it may be, but it requires us to be incredibly consistent. So at that point, I'm going to pretty much take a pause here, because it's so much to hear me rant and rave about the things I have seen work, but it only means so much until we can make it apply to you. So what I want to do at this point was to turn it to you guys, if there's any questions, or anything I can do in terms of giving actionable advice, if you have a specific product, and you're trying to think of a way to present that product to your market, anything in that world. I would love to, to see if I can answer any questions. So Don, if it's fair, and Leo, if it's fair, I'll do kind of open forum here. So yeah, fire away, folks. But alas, no, you do not get to hear the question and answer. I'm sorry. I know. I wish I could share that with you. If you want to hear that. You have to be an inventor. I'm sorry. That's the rule. So no, thank you to the inventors network for inviting me over. It was a great time to speak to everyone. We had a great audience. I think we had around 50 to 60 people or so that joined us virtually so does a great opportunity to really dig into specific challenges that they were facing, not only as business owners, but also in this specific case, inventors, entrepreneurs. So you know, thank you, thank you to that amazing, amazing group. And folks, thank you for joining us on today's episode. If you enjoyed the episode, well, I'm gonna tell you right now, you're really going to enjoy yesterday's episode as well. We had Richard blank. He is the CEO of Costa Rica's call center and he joined the program as a retro gamer telling us how Yeah, being a retro gamer actually helped him improve and enhance the sales experience, both for his customers and prospects, but also his employees. If you are interested in that conversation. Well, for your YouTube listener, it's gonna be right here below in the video, just click right here and you'll be able to jump right over. But if you're for our audio listener, please click the artwork in your podcast catcher, it'll bring you over to Brian Nichols. show.com, where you can find today's episode. Plus, you can find all 500 Plus episodes, including Yes, my conversation with Richard blank. But with that being said, thank you for joining us. And thank you for joining me on my proven sales and marketing strategies that work talk that I presented to the inventors Network. Thank you folks for joining us. And as always, I am your humble host is Brian Nichols signing off, you're on The Brian Nichols Show. We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for listening to The Brian Nichols Show. Find more episodes at the Brian Nichols show.com Enjoying the audio version of the show, then you'll love our YouTube channel. Be sure to head over there and subscribe. If you're new to The Brian Nichols Show, be sure to head to your favorite podcast catcher and click download all unplayed episodes so you don't miss one of our nearly 500 episodes that will be sure to leave you educated, enlightened and informed. If you got value from today's episode. Can you do me a favor and head to the Brian Nichols show.com forward slash support and leave us a $5 donation and by the way, have you given the show a five star review yet? 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