Sales Strategies to Overcoming Obstacles

Rob  00:08

Welcome, everybody to The Slow Pitch. And today we have a special guest we have Beate Chellete. Welcome to the show. Welcome to The Slow Pitch, and we’re excited to have you with us. But I’m also excited to have lane with us because sometimes he joins us sometimes he does not. So Lane, how are you doing?

Lane  00:24

I’m doing fantastic. It’s been at least a few episodes.

Rob  00:27

Yeah, it’s been a couple of episodes. Beeate, can you tell me a little bit about what you do? Just so we get a little bit of an understanding of what you do?

Beate  00:35

Yeah, of course. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And while I’m, if I get ln, I guess, you know, I just entered the kingdom of awesomeness here. Yeah. So thank you, thank you for the pre approval. So I am known as the growth architect.

Beate  00:47

And I work with visionaries, and leaders, and help them to grow their authority and scale their impact by creating all the great fun stuff, the strategies, the workflows, the systems, and help them really map out to land planes. I help people overcome obstacles.

Rob  01:01

Nice. And so you’ve had a story, and we kind of had a chance to chat a little bit, that kind of relates to sales, in a sense, because I think one of the biggest thing that a lot of people have is a little bit of fear, and a little bit of uncertainty when they walk into a meeting, like how’s this gonna go?

Rob  01:17

And how am I gonna? How am I gonna do and, and there’s a, there’s a lot of people that kind of become a little bit of power by that, like, they become a little frozen and aren’t able to make any sort of movement forward or what have you.

Rob  01:30

And it’s a little scary, especially when there’s big meetings, right. So I know that you’ve had a meeting with somebody that’s pretty big, pretty important. You’re talking about a little bit that

Beate  01:38

yeah, so So I think that’s relevant for for the purpose of this show are really two examples. So one was when I when I secured the largest contract that then really put me on the map. And then the second was when I then took that, what I had built and walked into a meeting with a Bill Gates company, to help me then sell my company for millions of dollars.

Beate  02:02

And so I would like to start with the first meeting that was sort of the pivotable part because I think that shows a lot of audacity and the ability to reframe on the spot. And then the second part of when you just have to be even more audacious and stick to your guns. So the story goes like this.

Beate  02:19

So I ran a stock photography, syndication, and I had been really overcoming a lot of obstacles and tragedies of the likes of fires, floods, riots, earthquake, September 11, a lawsuit, a tsunami, and I had a lot of really big hits that I had to overcome and found myself $135,000 in debt, and broke, single mom couldn’t figure out how to do it.

Beate  02:46

And I had to make things work. Like I had burned the bridges and had a few obstacles, as as it’s so often said, there was no exit route. This was it, I had to make this work. So I finally got a meeting with the largest stock image distributor in the world, Getty Images. And I got this meeting, because I was watching how people are getting into these relationships with these large companies.

Beate  03:10

And as I was going through these conferences, I found that a lot of the men would go to the bar at the end of the conference, and a lot of the women would not and when I looked into this, I very quickly understood why because men when they’re not at home, and when they’re away, oftentimes like to let loose at these conferences, especially at the bar, you know, a couple of drinks and Haha, you know, bro, bro culture.

Beate  03:39

And I was like, I need to be there, no question because I couldn’t get the meetings. And so I came up with what I call in my book, happy woman, happy world, this Cinderella rule or strategies for women who travel for business. And it means you always dress up for the bar, you have a three drink maximum, you’re in bed by before midnight and you walk to your room alone. And that keeps you out of trouble.

Beate  04:03

And as I’ve been doing this men do not have a three drink maximum. I mean, at least not the men I hung out well, you know. And so I had been privy to certain conversations that probably when you’re sober the next day, you would not want anybody to remember.

Beate  04:21

And when men found out that I knew how to keep my mouth shut, suddenly I got every meeting that I wanted. Great strategies and it helps overcome a few obstacles. I finally make it into this meeting with Getty Images. And now Getty Images was at the time and is today the largest image distributor in the world with billions of images right now.

Beate  04:39

And back then the contracts that they would make would be with other companies that brought in millions of images. And so I finally got the meeting. So it’s myself I’m flying to Seattle, I’m walking into this room. There’s like six or seven people in me and then we sit down they said well, we are we excited to see you, you know you have a nice collection.

Beate  04:58

So how many images are We talking about and they have done little pins and papers out. And they’re waiting for me to put out a big number of like millions of images. And I said 453. Their reaction Lane was exactly like yours. They didn’t know if this was a joke, but it was funny in a way and then ever so carefully, they said, This is a little on the low side.

Rob  05:28

I know respectfully, but kind of like, we don’t think so. Right? It’s like,

Beate  05:31

Are you are you wasting our time? Are you joking? And that’s when I had to really think on my feet and reframe this very, very quickly. And I said, Well, allow me to explain, because I had  strategies for my business was that I went after the A listers.

Beate  05:48

So A listers are people that are taking the best photographs that are covers of Vogue, causa, Elle, Decor, that are the covers of all the books that are published in interior design, that photograph celebrity homes are Francis Ford Coppola, Madonna, Simon Baker, Teri Hatcher, Naomi Campbell, the who’s who.

Beate  06:11

And so when they were laughing, I just completely kept my call. And I said, allow me to explain. These are the A listers, they don’t need hundreds of shots. They take one. Yeah. And that’s the cover. I said. So if you are looking for somebody who needlessly fills your database with all kinds of junk to satisfy an image quota, I am definitely not the right partner.

Beate  06:37

But if you’re looking for high quality images that are taken by the best photographers that work with the best architects that work with the best interior designers, that design homes of the rich and the famous, then you’re at the right spot, but that’s not a large quantity, you know, exclusivity is limited, and then they stopped.

Beate  06:59

And uh huh, that sounds really interesting. I said, but having said that, as I am building my database, we can look at the data that you achieve from selling these images. And then I will give you more of what sells, and I got the contract. And we made with 453 images as much money as other people with 1000s of images. Because we had these high quality images

Rob  07:23

are wondering, what do you think made them stop? And listen, because I heard a couple of things in there that tells me they knew they were dealing with somebody that was confident. And obviously you have the ability to understand what that takes to get there.

Rob  07:37

But like, let me just put it to you this way. But there was one thing that I heard you do, which was the take back, like, if this is not what you’re looking for, if you’re looking for 1,000s of images, that’s just gonna fill your site,

Rob  07:50

…that’s not me, I’m looking for the company that I can put my images on, that are high quality. And it takes that one, two shots. That’s it. That’s all you need. That take back is the one thing that I have found in any sales meeting that will make them stop in their tracks and kind of say we were we hold on. Look. Tell me more. Let’s let’s talk some more. We don’t want you to tell me no. These are great strategies. How do we so is that one of those turning points that you feel like in your meeting? Or was there other things that you felt?

Beate  08:22

Yes, I think that, as you said, number one, the confidence of I knew these were the best photographers, because they these were the covers of the world’s best interior design magazines. And these were the covers of the books.

Beate  08:36

And this was the guy that shot the famous shot of the bicycle that is leaning in Amsterdam against the bridge that’s at IKEA that hangs in millions and millions, I think 5 million homes by now. That was my photographer.

Beate  08:49

So I had to go in with an audacity and a bit of an arrogance to say, I know who I am, and make myself hard to get or appeal hard to get in reality was completely desperate. Because if this deal wasn’t going to come through, how was it going to pay my bills, but they couldn’t see that. So there’s a little bit of a poker, a poker game here as well to say, this is what this is.

Beate  09:15

And I was a photo editor at Elle Magazine. I’m a trained photographer, I have an actual photography degree. I knew this was good. And it was good. It was my job to to bring this work this best off to the world. That was that’s what I wanted.

Beate  09:29

And so it was a combination out of what you said, of pulling back at the right time and saying, wait a minute, I didn’t realize you just want to junk. Did I just fly up here for you to just just just just find images?

Beate  09:42

We did take those strategies of saying a couple years later, like a year later, when we realized that there was a second tier of images that we probably could sell for less money just as well. And then we built that second collection which was the than the initial shader for my going to market and selling my business because that’s what put us on the map as a serious player.

Beate  10:07

So we had this high end collection, which when you have Madonna’s house, and Francis Ford Coppola is house, Nobody argues with you that you have the best because everybody knows that only the best work with the best. So that was that was the ticket.

Rob  10:21

Interesting. And I think there was another level or after that, that even more, so took some more confidence, I would think no,

Beate  10:30

yes. And then, and then once I realized that I could really play on a much larger level than I had ever thought I could, which is the worldwide place. And I had found because I did have these celebrity homes.

Beate  10:44

And I did have these high end images. So we got distribution agreements with 79 countries, where we literally had our images in every country in the world and every magazine you can possibly imagine.

Beate  10:57

And then I realized that there was a broader market where, you know, it was images for paint companies, for brochures for I mean, homes are used for any kind of ad. For audio visual, how do you how do you explain that you show a room where a family sits in front of a TV or you show a beautifully designed home, for windows, for pain for, for sealant for cement, for a garage doors, for hardware for doors.

Beate  11:30

I mean, all of these items are illustrated by interior and exterior images of homes. And so we build a second collection. And now with what I had learned in the meantime, is that audacity is king or queen.

Beate  11:44

In this case, I built a second collection with the images that we could not have placed otherwise, because they were not at that high tier level and created a second tier level for a lower for lower fee. And then we launched this.

Beate  11:59

And so now we had our celebrity homes, which was its own brand, we had our high end tier one images, our tier two images. And now suddenly, we were a player. And that’s when I realized it was time to put myself on the market. And that’s when the Bill Gates company came into play.

V/O  12:16

Do you have a question about sales call or text your question at (608) 708-SLOW. That’s (608) 708-7569. Or you can email them to Questions@TheSlowPitch.com. Now, back to the show.

Rob  12:35

Correct me if I’m wrong, you’re you don’t do sales every day. Right? You? You’re just running the company?

Beate  12:41

Yes, I know. I think that any business owner or any entrepreneur who thinks that they’re not in sales, 24/7 is deluded? We are in sales all the time. No. Yeah, all the time. If I don’t constantly think about this, then I’m in sales for sure.

Rob  13:00

Yeah, you are in sales. If you run a company, you are in sales, whether you like it or not. So I think what’s important for the listeners to understand is if you run a company, you’re a small business owner, you are in sales, if you haven’t been told that already before surprise you are.

Rob  13:15

So now this is where you have to start to say where do I differentiate myself? So you had basically you had a a competitive advantage once you have established yourself there. And so if you’re a small business owner listening, what is your small What is your competitive advantage is number one, I would ask?

Rob  13:33

And don’t think it’s the simplest thing, don’t think of it as well, we’ve had the best products, or we do the best have the best service? Because those things everybody will say that right?

Beate  13:44

Oh, God, don’t even get me started. When somebody says we do good work, then my answer is then you should, if you don’t do good work shouldn’t be in business. While we show up on time, if you can’t be punctual, you shouldn’t be in business. Well, we are trustworthy, if you’re not trustworthy, you shouldn’t be in business. And they come up with all this nonsense when you say like, dude, everybody says that.

Rob  14:03

Yeah. And that’s part of the stuff that we kind of talk about sometimes too, on the show is that you you can’t tell people that you’re good. They have to tell you why you’re good and why they’re selecting you to make the phone call.

Rob  14:14

So part of us is saying, Hey, listen, you know, if somebody asked me why, why should I do business with you? I’m not my answers. You always, I’m not sure you should. I don’t even know if we’re number one have I even can do what you want me to do.

Rob  14:28

What are you looking for? And then they can tell me what they’re looking for. And then over time, I say well, why do you think why did you reach out to me then? Because I don’t you know, I don’t know what you saw that maybe I’m not thinking of and they tell me why saw this on the website. I saw that.

Rob  14:40

And I think this is why you’d be okay. So now I don’t have to sell anything. They already told me what they thought, right? So you’ve kind of done that by being in that place of authority. You’ve had a good competitive advantage, so to speak.

Rob  14:51

And now you’re working at meeting with a bill cup Bill Gates company that you can now sell this, I’m assuming is based on what I’m understanding is a second tier Correct. This is what you’re selling?

Beate  15:02

Well, no, actually, because okay, what happened is that because we had these three different tiers they had bought, the company was Corbis, which is a was a privately held company by Bill Gates.

Beate  15:16

And they had purchased a high end celebrity portraiture, stock photography, syndication, which ultimately was not a smart sell for the buyer for them, because everything in that level is high touch, no matter what you say exclusivity is high touch, you cannot formulate or automate high touch exclusivity. So they had this high touch brand, which cost him a fortune.

Beate  15:43

And they couldn’t grow it because they needed so many people. And the publicist needed to be asked every time a photo was sold, because it’s the image and likeness of somebody who has cloud and can sue you. So it was very complicated. So they had been looking for a way to buy something to grow this brand for a long time.

Beate  16:05

And then there we were, with our celebrity homes. So we had sometimes celebrity homes with no images, but they had the images. So in their mind, they went, if we buy her, then we can get her had celebrity homes matched up with our celebrity images, and we can all be happy. So they only wanted to buy the high end. And so they came to me and they said, Well, can you tell us how you do it?

Beate  16:30

And I said, No, absolutely not what you want to do by it? I mean, since when do or do I look like to have written free all over me? And then they said, Well, okay, well, but we only want this as it you can’t have it. It’s it’s all or nothing like why would I sell? Why would I sell my high ticket piece? And then keep the other pieces?

Beate  16:52

I mean, you know, it was the three tiers that worked really well. And then they said, Well, fine, how much do you want? I said, one a couple million. And then they said, okay, and they bought me for a couple million dollars. And the pitch really was here to say, look, the objective isn’t what you think it is.

Beate  17:10

Because I knew that the high touch stuff is very difficult. This is at a point where celebrities are thinking about how can I make money with my name and likeness. So that was at a time where celebrities try to every time a photo of them was published, to put their hand out and get paid by the magazine, which is completely unethical.

Beate  17:32

And there’s some celebrities out there that are just repulsive. But that’s a different story. I knew that this particular business would become more and more and more complicated. So I also knew that if I only sold this, then I couldn’t sell the other stuff. So I wanted to sell an altogether.

Beate  17:49

But I put it in a in a value proposition. I mapped that out. And I came up with a plan where I said that if you take all three collections, and I train all of your salespeople worldwide, you will within three years make your money back. And they did and they made a lot of money with it.

Rob  18:06

So another question that I have is how did you plan for that meeting? Because that would be a little nerve wracking to walk into,

Beate  18:15

you know, I have this philosophy that I learned from my friend Jeff, who sold his business for $70 million to Jupiter images in when we were when it was announced that he had sold his business and we are on the rooftop in in Lisbon.

Beate  18:31

He said to me you might do or next I’m like, What are you talking about? He says you need to be prepared for that. And he said, what’s your number? I’m like, What do you mean? What’s my number?

Beate  18:40

He says, well, what’s your number? You need to have a number that when somebody gives you that number, you know, the day has come? And I thought about it and then I came up with a number and then when that number was on the table, the day just came there was no no thinking about it. These are simple strategies.

Beate  18:57

There was no no What do I do? It was very clear. That was the number the day came. That’s how I prepared, and I had called the other two competitors in the market. One made me an absolute lowball offer that was so ridiculous that I declined.

Beate  19:17

Getty Images was not interested in purchasing me because they you know, they had what I what are offered regardless and they figured that no matter who bought it that that have access to these images anyway, it left only one player so it was literally a moment in time and after I sold the business six months later, the entire stock photography industry imploded.

Rob  19:38

Wow. So good timing.

Beate  19:41

Oh my god. Thank god I didn’t listen to anybody.

Rob  19:44

Yeah, right. Yeah, to know that you have your number. That’s a critical thing. I’ve heard business people or business owners say that before where they know okay, this is what it’s gonna take for me to get out. But But I also like a good example. I every once awhile, listen to this a podcast called Built to Sell.

Beate  20:01

And have I’ve been on the podcast with John? Yeah, have you? Okay?

Rob  20:05

So it’s an interesting podcast because they talk about being prepared and how you what’s your exit strategies and different ways of looking at it and how to approach it. And but if there’s a consistent theme about knowing what your number is, and what you’re willing to walk away from.

Rob  20:19

There was one recently that was something along the lines of if I could have walked away sooner, I would have taken a little bit less kind of just because I wanted my time so badly. So it was kind of that kind of, but to me, knowing that number is critical, and you knew your number, when you walked in and try to get that done. Had you not known your number or your worth? Would you have gotten what you got out of that meeting?

Beate  20:40

A good question, you have to think about it this way. I don’t think there is any point in selling your business, if that number doesn’t make a significant difference in your life. So if you sell for a million dollars, let’s say and you take your whatever 30% taxes, it leaves you with 700,000.

Beate  20:58

So if you conservatively invest this money, you won’t make if you’re lucky, 5%, 7%. So you take $700,000. Five…Seven perscent, because that’s just not enough to live off. So now you’re going into your principal, and you’re you’re gonna run out of money.

Beate  21:12

So you have to calculate for an exit once that number that if you conservatively invested over a period of time that you can live off, or that you can buy something and then rent it. So I have a house that I purchased that has over doubled in value, so I bought it for a million, and it’s now worth 2.2 million, that I’m renting for an obscene amount of money in Los Angeles for $7,700 a month.

Beate  21:37

So I could live off that alone, right. And that’s an addition to the money that’s in the bank. So I, I have financial freedom for the rest of my life, if so, if I so choose never to work again, reckless as I am, I’ve invested this in another business, because I really would like to do this again. But that’s all out there.

Rob  21:58

That is a whole other story. That is something that is very typical, I think for business owners who start their business and then sell it. They’re just like, I got to do something more again, I got to do this again, or I got to do something else.

Rob  22:09

I know a couple of personally, who literally sold them and then they’re they bought a new house and they did their thing. But then also they’re like how you start something else. And you’re like, I thought you were retiring, then? Nope, I don’t have I don’t want to do that. I want to do something more.

Rob  22:22

And I I would be one of those two, if I ran into that situation where I even if I had my number, although

Beate  22:27

I’m gonna do it one more time. And that’s it.

Rob  22:29

Yeah. And and I guess if I won that that lotto that was just you know, recently that was out there. What was it? almost 2 billion…?

Lane  22:37

1.7?

Rob  22:38

Yeah, is that then then maybe I might just travel. But that’s even then I’d be bored. Right. So you got to know your number. That’s really critical, I think. Lane, did you have any questions?

Lane  22:49

No, I…just as I’ve been listening, I just I’ve been thinking about kind of the the big key points that I think could have been very fascinating. One going in with confidence to knowing your worth and being able to articulate

Lane  23:02

No, this is let’s this is how it’s going to be. But yeah, it just I think your story has been very fascinating. And it I think it resonates with a lot of people that are probably listening that, you know, if you if you go into it, you know, approaching your business, the way you have seeing where you need to make strategic choices and making those choices, and they pay off and, and just playing it smart.

Lane  23:26

It’s it’s an interesting, it’s been a very interesting story for me to listen to.

Beate  23:29

I think there’s two pieces. All’s I want to mention is number one, I’m a woman and it is very different for women to go in and put that up. versus men. I have seen men just completely blow up smoke. And where you go do that’s not even true.

Beate  23:44

And they presented so convincingly because they’re like, what’s the worst case scenario is that they say no. So when women generally have more of a desire to stay with the truth are downplayed? Well, it’s you know, but if I would have come in, and I would have said, Well, I’m really sorry, I’ve only made it to 453 images.

Beate  24:02

I hope that’s, that’s that’s okay, that it’s only such few images and, and maybe it’s not. But but they’re very good images, you know, and abroad, some I can show him to you right now, if I would have done that I would have never gotten the deal.

Beate  24:17

This was really a play of understanding the market that you’re in, in the market that you’re going after. So what I want to implore everybody who’s listening to this to really think about is what is that? We call it the unapologetic value proposition in growth architecture, to say what is unapologetic about that?

Beate  24:38

Because there is a piece you need to be really truly unapologetic about and say, Look, if how many people do you think got into France for a couple US House to shoot that?

Rob  24:48

Yeah, I would. I would gather none other than you. Maybe one other I don’t know. Yeah,

Beate  24:53

yeah. So you want that that comes at a premium? That’s just it. Yep. And I am not going to apologize. If you think that it’s the same, if I do Francis Ford Coppola and John Smith down the street house, then you don’t know what you’re talking about, then we shouldn’t be here in the first place.

Beate  25:10

So, so you have to really get very deep, you know, and Simon Sinek calls it the why you have to get really deep into what is it that you’re doing? And why is it different? And then when you stand there, you’re going to pound that thing home? Like there’s no tomorrow? Because that is what sells it.

Rob  25:27

Yeah. So the male female piece are you talking about I’m a woman? And if I would have walked in timid, I don’t see that as you would walk into it ever. I just because you have the confidence, you know, your worth. There’s a fine,

Beate  25:40

I give you that. Yeah.

Rob  25:43

there’s a difference with you. And I’ll take male female. I know, plenty of guys who will who are just as timid as any females. I think the the gender piece can be an issue. Yes. I think you’re absolutely right.

Rob  25:57

Early on, you talked about being able to go to the bar, you say dress appropriately. I feel like that’s unfortunate that you have to do that. But yes, that’s helpful, right? I get that. And having having these rules in place, I get that those are all good rules. I feel like this, that whole that whole story. I don’t know about you lane.

Rob  26:14

But it reminds me of of selling like a spy we had somebody on not too long ago, who has been a little while he said he you know, he talked about how you sell like a spy. And it’s about gathering information and doing some background information and doing a lot of research and, and how you approach the way you ask questions and how you all of a sudden you’re in front of them.

Rob  26:31

And they’re like, they had no idea but it was you worked all these different avenues to get there. You’re kind of doing talking about doing the same thing. You’re like, I’m at this event, I’m going to this bar. Normally, there’s not a lot of women there, I know the guys are going to be just drinking and having a good time, I’m getting more information than I should.

Rob  26:47

Now I’m all of a sudden trustworthy, all those things are exactly the way that they should be done. I honestly right. That’s the smart way to go. If you can be a little bit discreet about how you’re gathering information. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Rob  27:03

And I think having the layer on top of what you have done, and you layer on top of that your confidence, and knowing your worth and your value, it’s no wonder that you were able to do what you did, honestly, like it’s it is the combination of all the right things.

Rob  27:17

And that’s what’s cool. That’s kind of why I wanted to have on the on the show, because I got this feeling of you really know your worth, you know what’s going on, you know how to get these things done. So to me, I’m curious, do you happen to know your DISC profile?

Beate  27:29

I do? I do. I do. But I don’t remember it? I think it’s like, is it like an ID type thing?

Rob  27:36

That’s what I would have guessed Yes. Yeah, I would have guessed ID because you have a good personality that people like, right, then people like to talk to you. You’re good at talking your people focused.

Rob  27:46

But then you also behind the scenes get things done. You take steps every day to get you’re moving forward. You’re not like sitting on your hands just doing nothing on any particular day. Right. So I can tell, just based on the way you told the story, and how you’ve gotten things done over time, I almost whether or not it’s true or not, I don’t know.

Rob  28:06

But I will by would be my guess is your eye and then a D at the same time or somewhere,  and

Beate  28:11

I and d and a d at the same time. Yeah. And smack right there in the middle. If I remember this, right. Yeah. And I’ll give one more example. So I just get back from Japan, with a trip with the entrepreneur organization that I’m not a part of, but my partner is.

Beate  28:25

And as we are like hiking through Japan, and this this ancient pathway that the samurais took back in the days, I’m talking to a gentleman because we’re building up a certification program for virtual assistants to help virtual assistants succeed and virtual assistant companies to help their assistants succeed and have better retention, because we have created all these workflows and strategies.

Beate  28:50

And so, you know, had this epiphany, why do I teach business owners how to do it, why not teach virtual assistants on how to do it, because you don’t want to know how to do it. You just want to hire somebody who knows how to do it. And so, as I’m walking, there is a guy who owns a VA company.

Beate  29:06

And as we are strolling along this ancient walkway, and you know, he’s on the phone, and it’s like, oh, my god problem, you know, this guy fired the third assistant. I’m like, well, we should talk about this a little bit. What exactly is the problem that you’re having? So it just never stops?

Beate  29:25

I’m always in that mode, because I’m genuinely interested in how does it work? What’s your problem? What needs to be solved next? And so now I can take what I learned and apply it into what I’m doing. Definitely next.

Rob  29:40

Yeah, definitely. And I think the other piece of that personality piece too, is that you have the ability to see things, how they connect differently than most other people. My guess would be somebody presents you with a business idea.

Rob  29:52

You would probably come back to them and go you know what if you did this or just said it this way, that would be better and hands out three seconds better?

Beate  29:59

Yeah. It takes me literally three seconds. I mean, I can’t even help. It is like, wow, it

Rob  30:05

just comes right out. Yeah. So if you had to give, if you had to give one or two absolutely important tips for anybody out there who’s in sales owns a small business has to sell stuff,

Rob  30:16

what would be the things that you would say based on your experience that you would recommend that they do or say, or what’s the most important pieces that they need to remember?

Beate  30:26

Well, number one, either hiring you or hiring me, of course, is that you have to get very clear about that what’s happening in your business is not personal, but it’s data collection points, and that what you perceive as failure is really a learning experience.

Beate  30:43

And unless you lean into the failure and the mistakes, there is no success. It’s, it’s somebody with a stop sign. You know, always compare this to the story of when you don’t update your GPS, and your GPS keeps telling you please update me update me and then you don’t do it in one day.

Beate  30:58

Inevitably, the cul de sac, the construction for the freeway, to get out of the car, you’re gonna throw yourself on the ground, you’re gonna you’re gonna throw a temper tantrum on overdrive again, driving is the worst, I’m gonna sell my car, it’s just not worth it,

Beate  31:11

I’ll never be a good driver, you just got to go Slap yourself on the head said should have updated my GPS, you know, the destination is still there, you wave at the guy in the neon suit with a stripe and say, thanks for letting me know, we’ll update my GPS, and you just move on. So failure is just like that. So that’s number one.

Beate  31:29

And number two is to your point, you always have to think about what’s happening in the market. And we are in a massive upheaval in the market right now. With what matters to people what they’re thinking about, what what is relevant right now. I mean, what last November, nobody was using AI now we couldn’t, nobody can do anything without using AI.

Beate  31:53

So if you have not updated your avatar, your your personas, if you haven’t crawled into the minds of your buyers, and you’ve not constantly live there to figure out what bothers them today, you’re not going to be able to stay in business. I mean, think about you know, troubles that IBM and is having.

Beate  32:11

And what Kodak used to do is like they completely ignored market demands, because it just didn’t want to do it. Our job is to always be that step ahead. So those are my two things. Don’t take failure, personal. Always, always live in the minds of your buyer.

Rob  32:29

I love that. And I I just recorded a episode, an episode about keeping yourself protected from feeling like you’re the failure. And when somebody’s pushing you back, you know, they’re giving you some garbage because you’re a salesperson and making a phone call or trying to follow up on something.

Rob  32:47

It’s not personal. It’s not personal. It’s, you know, they’re mad at the role that you’re playing, maybe, or there’s something else going on their life, who cares? It doesn’t really matter. Move on. So you’re absolutely right, the failure piece.

Rob  32:58

And I think the market awareness is huge. Just knowing where you belong and where you need to be next. It’s the old adage, you gotta go where the trend is going so that you’re ahead of it. Don’t try to follow the trend, because by then you’re too late. So

Beate  33:13

The bell curve doesn’t ring on the other side.

Rob  33:17

That’s a good way to put it actually. Yeah, the bell, I’m gonna use that the bell curve does not ring on the other side. It’s a good way to put it. Very true. Beate, thank you for coming on. We really appreciate it. You, you, you had some great insights.

Rob  33:31

I think a lot of people out there listening can take what you’ve given them and apply it in any given sales situation, particularly knowing about how to pull back a little bit how to just make sure you’re confident and know your own worth.

Rob  33:44

Because if you don’t know your own worth, right, it’s not gonna happen. Not gonna happen. So be it a thank you. It was a pleasure having you.

Beate  33:51

Thank you so much for having me. I had a blast.

Rob  33:53

Don’t forget everybody. When you’re in your sales process, slow down because you’re going to close more when you start to slow down, things start to really, really happen.

V/O  34:02

Thank you for listening to The Slow Pitch. Slow Down and Close More.

Rob  34:21

Thanks as always for listening today. If you’d like this podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. We really appreciate it. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at The Slow Pitch.

Rob  34:30

We were mixed today as always by Johnny Polakis. We were produced by High Gravity Studios. Music credits and other notes are in the show notes section on TheSlowPpitch.com. And we’ll be back with another episode soon.