Understand the Difference Between Marketing and Sales to Understand Where You're Stuck

Marketing a business is everything that doesn't involve actually taking money. The money transaction is the sales part and that is where so many entrepreneurs fall down. For one reason or another, they get to the money part and simply stop. 

Small business coach, Stephen Krausse, talks about when you get stuck in your sales process it's not during your qualification stage it's actually in the conversation with a potential customer stage. So what Stephen recommends is that you put on your curiosity hat and really get down to what the customer wants. 

Steve shares, "rather than immediately go to, what can I do to get you to fill out a shopping cart? approach it with curiosity and say, you know, were you looking at the issues for x? Did you need a profit and loss statement for? Why? You know, do you need it? Because you're selling your business? Do you need it? Because you have a tax problem? Do you need it? Because you just want to review it? Yeah. Yeah. You know, and, and so instead of approaching these, these, and one thing that people will, you'll hear this is they'll call and say, what questions can I answer for you? That puts the work and, and, and the thought process on the customer? If I knew what questions I wanted you to answer I would call you, or I would Google them? Or I would look on your website. Yeah. So if you call me I'm going to be like, Well, I don't know. And that you might prompt something and we might have a discussion. But but the results you're going to get when you take the action are going to be better."

When you are being curious rather than assumptive with a potential customer, you'll be more likely to close the sale at the end of the call. Understand your customer's need and you'll see that you're not really stuck your just in your own way. 

Need help getting unstuck in your business sales?  Tap here and connect with Stephen. 

Amanda Mundo, the founder of Social Hero Brands, calls herself a former "corporate cyborg" turned soulful entrepreneur. Over the span of 15+ years, she climbed the corporate ladder crushing tasks, projects, and assignments. In return, she was given even more work, more deadlines, and less purpose. She found that her family would only receive the leftovers of her energy and spirit after spending 14 hours days in the office. 

 So, in 2016, she and her husband decided she should become a stay-at-home mom to their 4 children and this is when she found the opportunity to start her business. She began as an administrative virtual assistant, and in 2019 she decided to focus on social media management. She found that social media was only a piece of a much larger puzzle when it came to building a presence, gaining clients, and the overall ROI. She also recognized that the systems and processes she used to scale and grow her business lacked in the many coaches and consultants that she served. Now, she provides her clients with P.I.E. (Purposeful, Intuitive, Everlasting). The P.I.E. program empowers coaches and consultants to build strong and everlasting client relationships while giving their business the foundation to scale, grow, and THRIVE.   

Want to kick-start your social media strategies? Tap here and connect with Amanda.  

Meet Alison Proffit. 

Alison Proffit, founder of Proffit Coach is a business coach & consultant who takes a holistic approach in helping purpose-driven small business owners feel more heart-centered and soul-aligned in the sales, marketing, and operations aspects of their business. Her work is informed through a background in Human Resources, Operations, Sales & Marketing, and she is also a certified Energy Leadership coach through the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching. After 4 failed business launch attempts, she found the magic ingredient -- that “Joy is the best business strategy.” She is passionate about guiding her clients to find this joy in their business and allowing their intuition to guide the way. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the glorious nature of where she lives in Northern Colorado, rock climbing, singing at the top of her lungs, and spending time with friends.

Connect with Alison

Mary Gaul is a Business Strategy & FOCUS Guide who has helped over 500 businesses find practical solutions and new ideas for growth and success.

As the owner of Success Magnified, she facilitates conversations with business owners individually or in groups, asking questions, being a thought partner, and providing resources to help them gain clarity.  Using her gifts to help clients see the big picture, prioritize goals and strategies, and hold them accountable – all while having some fun!

With over 25+ years of experience in corporate communications, marketing and administration, and the last 8 years as an entrepreneur running two businesses, she has been a thought partner to hundreds of small business owners, who are looking for focused strategy, resources, implementation steps, accountability and support.

Mary is all about helping you get those ideas out of your head and into a focused step by step action plan to increase your bottom line, while creating a business and life you love.

Success Magnified is all about Helping Entrepreneurs: Recognize Insights, Take Action, and Increase Revenue through systems and accountability.

Fun Business Coaching with Serious Results!

Want to connect with Mary? Just Tap Here

Meet LeAndra Foster

LeAndra Foster is an expert speaker on the topic of scale-up finances for women who run coaching or alternative wellness businesses.  With almost 20 years of experience as a former pension actuary, hedge fund operations manager, and university finance instructor, she knows what it takes to make small businesses profitable.  LeAndra helps her clients increase profits, feel confident in their pricing, and keep more of what they make, so they can afford their ideal lifestyle.  She teaches a live online course called Double Your Profits in 30 Days.

From LeAndra:

"Hello!  I'm LeAndra Foster and I'm so glad you're here!

​I became a Sabotage & Confidence Coach, because it's something I know intimately.  A few years ago, I hit a point where I had achieved some major accomplishments - I was a credentialed Actuary with a Masters degree in Finance, 10 years of experience, and was the go-to person for my retirement expertise - but I was afraid of stepping into a leadership role, because I didn't feel qualified.  Worse yet,  I was making less money than I had when I started my career!

​I knew things had to change.  As I discovered my own restrictive mindset and learned to change it, I instinctively knew this was something I had to help other women with.

​I now combine my 20 years of personal wellness "side-knowledge"  – from nutrition and exercise to energy work and meditation – with my formal education and experience to help women like me.  Women who have credentials and experience, but feel like maybe they need just one more set of credentials or maybe just a few more years of experience to be ready to step into a leadership role.

​I help you discover the ways you're holding yourself back, dream your life bigger, and design it to make it happen. Together, we'll unleash your courage and confidence, so you can become a leader who changes the world and gets paid well for it!"

Tap now to connect with LeAndra

Meet Stephen Krausse  

 In His Own Words:

 My vision? A world where successful small businesses are the rule, not the exception.  I know success looks different to every entrepreneur because we're all different.  30 years of experience starting, buying, operating, and selling small businesses has taught me two things.  Businesses are bought and sold on the perception of future value. Business owners are oftentimes experts in fields outside of business. I built Beyond 50 Percent to help owners stay in the top 50% of businesses that are still around year after year. I developed Business BeyonDIY to help entrepreneurs make their way confidently through the processes of buying, selling, and preparing businesses for sale.

Want more? Connect with Stephen

Are you asking your happy clients to share their happiness? 

When you get it right with a client their testimony is a powerful tool to promote your business to others.    

There is a tiny trick to getting testimonies to happen as Amanda Mundo shares, "Honestly, the hardest part about it is just asking, if you know that this person enjoyed what they really gained value from your service or your product, then they will be happy to give you a testimonial. "  If you are looking for an easy way to boost your online presence and trust factor, try this very easy tip.  You'll be gaining followers and clients in no time!

Want tips on how to boost your online presence? Tap here to connect with Amanda. 

Just be you, it's going to work!  

Sales conversations can be scary for both people. Our soulful sales expert, Alison Proffit, shares that being bold enough to say you know the fear can really open up a prospect.   In fact she says, "...it's showing that person that you are aware of the energy of the conversation, and that you're not just trying to push through to get your point through..."  If you find yourself being unsure about yourself in the conversation, maybe you can look into that and find new confidence to be you. Being authentic is the BEST way to make a sale.

Want help being bold in your conversations? Connect with Alison Today!

Offer Clarity Not Confusion  

When it comes to deciding what to offer your clients, the sky is the limit. This is not necessarily a good thing because limitless offers may be hurting business.   Alison Proffit, our sales strategy expert, hits the nail on the head this week. She shares with us that it's easy to think your offerings should be vast, but really simple is the better way to go.   Alison muses, "we want to make sure that we're giving the client opportunities to work with us in a way that works best for them. And what, what I've seen happen is that people will have too many offers. And what happens then is, when you're in the sales conversation, then you're having so many different things to think through in terms of what is the right thing to offer that person."  Looking at what you're offering and making sure it's from a place that you value will bring more value to your customers.  Are you overloading your offer plate?

Need help simplifying your offers? Connect with Alison

Details Matter, So Write Them Down  

Planning. Whew, just reading that feels big.   Our productivity expert, Mary Gaul, says it doesn't have to feel big if you help yourself out.  Her tip, "...don't just put a time block on your calendar that says planning time, or marketing time, right? That's step one, step two is going into that calendar, block or invitation or whatever, you know, in the notes section, putting down what you're going to work on."  Get more from your work-time because you know what you are working on. Sounds simple? Give it a try in your next scheduling time.

Get help with powerful planning tools from Mary