Onward Nation

Kyle Reyes is the President and CEO of The Silent Partner Marketing, a nationwide marketing agency headquartered in Connecticut. Kyle is an acclaimed Keynote Speaker on entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing and social media. Kyle a former Producer of News and Special Projects worked in broadcast journalism for nearly a decade. His team offers a marketing one-stop-shop, filling the role of a Chief Marketing Officer and support staff at a fraction of the cost of having to worry about the payroll, taxes, benefits, equipment and training. And he has appeared in multiple media outlets including, Fox & Friends, AOL.com, Yahoo, and Bloomberg Business.

• Kyle's background
• Why it's important to create a company culture where all employees feel like they're part of something bigger
• Why you need to hustle & work hard to succeed
• Why Kyle believes that failure is the best teacher
• Why consistency is so important for discipline, focus & stress relief
• Why you need to invest money in your business to help you grow & scale faster
• Why you need to be aware of your strengths, weaknesses & limitations
• Why you need to focus on the art of communication
• How being 100% authentic, real, and candid will help you win
• Why you need to be engaging with people where they are right now

• Website: www.thesilentpartnermarketing.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/KyleReyesCEO

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media.

Good Morning Onward Nation — I'm Stephen Woessner — Happy New Year and welcome to this week's solocast. And today's episode also happens to be Episode 400 — so before we dive into the sales pipeline building toolbox that I want to share with you — first — I need to offer up a very big thank you, Onward Nation.

If someone would have told me back on June 15, 2015 that we were about to launch a podcast that would soar to the top of iTunes New & Noteworthy, that our email list would grow to over 20,000 people, that we would receive feedback every day from business owners who we have impacted in a positive way, that our message would now reach 105 countries around the world…and that all of the knowledge we collected in the last 18-months would turn into a book that a major publisher would want to buy and then publish…there is no way I would have believed that person.

In fact, I might have run the other way.

And yet, what I just shared with you is exactly what happened. And it happened because of you, Onward Nation.

Because you downloaded episodes and then let us know how we could make them better.

You emailed me, you hit us up on Twitter, you shared your thoughts on Facebook — and my team and I listened. We made adjustments and then you offered even more advice.

So we pivoted again. And again. And then again.

And we will continue to pivot and adjust because our goal is to deliver as much value to you, Onward Nation as we possibly can.

Please continue to let us know what you think of Onward Nation…thumbs up or thumbs down. We want to get better — and our first 400 episodes — are just the beginning.

So thank you for being here — and please know — how much you downloading, and listening to our episodes, and sharing your feedback means to me and my team.

Thank you, Onward Nation.

Now…

Let's continue the momentum that we started during last week's solocast…Episode 396 that I entitled, "Get Your Hands Dirty" and we focused on two main lessons:

1) why and how you should jump into the trenches with your team — and the impact you getting your hands dirty — will have on your team

And…

2) how to create your client avatar so you and your team focus your valuable time and attention toward the right customers.

And as I walked you through the practical and tactical steps last week — the "in the trenches process" that you need in order to create your client avatar — I also made you a promise.

I promised that last week's solocast would be the first in a series of four tactical lessons you take and apply in order to fill your sales pipeline.

So today's solocast is my next step in fulfilling my promise.

Today's lesson is going to tactical and provide you with another opportunity to get your hands dirty working alongside your team.

However, I am also going to push you to think differently before you dig into the tools.

I am going to do that so you can be sure to get your mindset right — to get your head right — so you are ready to unleash your full potential. If you work through the client avatar exercise from last week without getting your mindset right — you may focus on clients who don't push you — who will not challenge you to grow — you may focus on the ones who you think are safe — prospects who are lower hanging fruit — decision makers who operate at lower levels in the organization instead of the C-suite.

Run from those thoughts, Onward Nation.

I believe it was Albert Einstein who said, "The same thinking that got you and your business to your current level – is not the same thinking that is going to get you to where you want to go."

So you must push yourself to be open to the ideas I share with you – even if I challenge you – even if I make you feel uncomfortable from time-to-time – please know – that's what a good mentor does – they help you see the path you need to take.

For example…I can almost certainly guarantee that as you and I move our way through the lessons over the next several weeks…you may begin to think of challenges you expect to encounter if you were to implement what you learn.

You may think to yourself…

"That would never work in my industry."

"I can work on that when I have more time."

"I would put that into practice if only my team were up to the challenge."

"My sales have slumped because I have a couple of really tough competitors – or – our pricing is too high."

I am here to tell you – as a good mentor would – your key challenge – your key obstacle to having a vibrant, full sales pipeline heading into 2017 – with a steady stream of qualified prospects is not being blocked by any of these.

Okay, so then what is blocking you from having a full sales pipeline?

It's you, Onward Nation! Yes, you.

But how could I say such a thing? Please…just hear me out.

We as business owners…we fall victim each day by asking ourselves really horrible questions like…

"Am I good enough?"

"Am I smart enough?"

"Oh, that company over there would never want to do business with us because we are too small!"

We tend to set ourselves up for failure before we ever start.

We tell ourselves we can't do something. The way we speak to ourselves — in our own heads — can be truly cruel at times.

Instead…as you are building your client avatar…you need to get your mindset right…to eliminate the word "Can't" from your vocabulary.

Why do you need to eliminate this word – and these thoughts?

Because this word is the root of the Imposter Syndrome – and if you don't take aggressive action – the word will build a stronghold in your mind…and the Imposter Syndrome will keep you as its victim.

The Imposter Syndrome is your one and only barrier to success – and it will keep your sales pipeline empty if you let it.

Onward Nation — you are good enough – you are worthy of more – you have worked hard!

Don't let the Syndrome become a roadblock to your next level.

In fact, next time you catch yourself asking yourself road-blocking questions…I want to you to apply a little success secret to push past the blockade.

Here it is…

"Decide to win – before – you ever start."

And that's a powerful lesson I learned from Joanna Riley during Episode 324.

She went from zero to being the largest shareholder in her company now worth over $800 million.

Jo has accomplished much – but – it is because she learned at the age of 14 what it took to believe in herself – and that winning was as much about performance as it was deciding to win at the outset.

I believe in you, Onward Nation – you are far more capable, amazing, awesome, wonderful, and beautiful than you give yourself credit for.

And now I want to repeat the two warnings from last week because they still apply for today's lesson.

As we move through the steps…you may catch yourself saying… "Oh, I already know that…"

If you catch yourself saying that – take a moment – and instead ask yourself – "But have I mastered it?"

And then take it deeper by asking yourself, "Can I leverage it even greater that what I am currently doing?"

Deal?

Okay, so let's jump in.

The primary tool we will focus on today is LinkedIn.

Why? Because LinkedIn is the platform where business-to-business deals get done – and – get done quickly.

Plus, there are over 433 million business people on the planet who use LinkedIn.

So it is highly likely that your top prospects are there – using LinkedIn – every day. And you should be, too, Onward Nation.

LinkedIn members also may represent the right demographic – the right economic earning potential – that fits your ideal prospect or client avatar.

So let's begin…and in total…I am going to share tactical steps — or tools — you can use to find your client avatar in LinkedIn, build your Dream 50 list, expand your number of connections, and then reach out to your Dream 50 to generate leads to fill your sales pipeline.

Step 1: Boost your LinkedIn profile.

You need to do this by giving it a serious, deeply critical look. Does it include a deep summary description?

Have you linked videos from your YouTube account?

Do you have your experience section properly built out? And if the answer is "no" to any of these — you need to make immediate adjustments.

Why? Think of your profile as your landing page within LNKD. If it's not up to par — then prospects will bounce off your page and move on with their day.

Step 2: Participate in LinkedIn's Pulse publishing platform by sharing your long-form content at least once per week.

Publishing to LNKD gives you the opportunity to share your expertise and deliver value to your connections – and – to boost credibility on the platform.

Go to my LNKD profile for tangible examples that you can dissect and get some ideas.

Step 3: expand your LNKD connections

I encourage you to export your existing email list, import it into LinkedIn, and send connection requests. But why?

Because with each new LNKD connection, your network of 1st degree, 2nd degree, and 3rd degree connections expands. This will give your team a larger network to search within for high-value prospects — your client avatar.

For example, I have over 4,000 1st degree connections on LinkedIn, which equates to a lead gen network of approximately 17 million people for business development team here at Predictive ROI, my content marketing and lead gen agency.

By expanding your connections, your will be able to "see" as many high-value prospects within LNKD as possible.

Step 4: expand your email list!

Now you should reverse the process from Step 3 and export your list of LNKD connections — and then — import the email addresses back into your email list.

LinkedIn is the only social media platform that allows you to export the email addresses of your connections.

This rinse and repeat cross-pollination will ensure yours prospects receive future content via multiple channels.

Step 5: build your Dream 50 list

Here is where you will take the details you identified regarding your client avatar using the recipe I shared with you in Episode 396 — and then apply it — to build your Dream 50 list using LinkedIn's Advanced Lead Builder tool.

The Advanced Lead Builder gives you the opportunity to conduct custom searches based on keywords, titles, industry, years of experience, employee size, geographic proximity to a zip code, and a variety of other variables.

But…just a heads up…LNKD recently announced their decision eliminate a number of the searching options because not enough members were using them.

Ugh. So we will have to wait and see what the revised version of Advanced Lead Builder will look like — I will keep you posted.

Once you have your Dream 50 list compiled — you will be ready for Step 6, which is sending your InMail messages. InMail is kind of like LNKD's version of email — except it is only available to premium members — you can only send 30 InMail messages per month without buying more credits — credits cost $10 each — and — the process cannot be automated…each InMail is sent to each recipient manually…one at a time.

Yes, I know — it is time consuming…but…that is also why we often see response rates of 10-20 percent…because there is very little spam via InMail.

You can go to Episode 298 of Onward Nation for our complete InMail template so you can swipe it and then customize the content for your business.

Now, that covers some of the core LinkedIn ingredients but there is another success secret I learned from Jeffrey Hayzlett in Episode 121 that I want to share with you right now.

And that is – to Crawl – Walk – Then Run.

Yes, it is going to take you time to perfect this recipe.

My team and I have sent thousands and thousands and thousands of InMail messages within the last 24-months alone.

Did it take us time to develop the expertise that we now have?

Of course it did.

So do as Jeffrey says…Crawl…Walk…and then Run. And soon…you too will have mastered LinkedIn and your pipeline will be full.

So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine.

However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today's top business owners.

And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is [email protected] — and yes — that is my actual Inbox.

No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email.

So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you.

We will be back tomorrow with an incredible interview with Kyle Reyes — where we focus on the power of not losing your identity as a business owner — and how your identity can, and should, become the foundation of your brand. Kyle is rock solid awesome.

You will not want to miss it, Onward Nation!

Until then, onward with gusto!

Bobby Albert led a small, local family business to become a nationally recognized leader in its industry and explains how it happened in his book, "Principled Profit—Outward Success Is an Inside Job." He pinpoints specific principles that can supercharge any enterprise. The book will be released in 2017, but Bobby is here today to share how he went from a humble start to good to great in his business -- and -- how any leader can leverage the same principles and practices in his or her own organization.

• Bobby's background
• Why it's important to have an abundance mindset
• The importance of putting together a to-do list of your highest priorities
• Why Bobby begins his day with quiet time & exercise
• The difference between leading and managing
• Participative leadership style
• Why you should give your customers an experience that exceeds their expectations
• Why it's important to focus on the foundational things that help you develop a culture where people thrive & profits soar
• Why you must get focused on your core values
• Being a values-driven company instead of a results-driven company
• Why you should focus on developing leaders around you vs. developing followers

• Website: bobbyalbert.com
• Website: bobbyalbert.com/onwardnation
• Book: "Principled Profits"

At 19, Evan Carmichael built and then sold a biotech software company. At 22, he was a venture capitalist helping raise $500,000 to $15 million. He now runs EvanCarmichael.com, a popular website for entrepreneurs and breathes and bleeds entrepreneurship. His goal is to help 1 billion entrepreneurs and change the world. He speaks globally and calls Toronto home.

• Evan's background
• Why it's more about the mindset than hitting the target when it comes to goals
• Why it's important to Evan to make the entrepreneurial path easier for others
• Why having a morning routine & an environment for success is so important
• Why you need to consume some kind of content every day that gets you thinking bigger
• What you can learn from looking at other business models as well as other people's successes & failures
• Why you should master self-awareness
• Why it's important to build your business beyond just yourself
• Why you need to spend more time doing what you're really good at
• What makes a successful entrepreneur
• Why you should just get started and adjust along the way instead of planning for perfection
• Finding the schedule, routine & balance that works for you

• Website: www.evancarmichael.com
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ModelingTheMasters
• Twitter: @EvanCarmichael
• Book: "Your One Word: The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business & Life That Matters"

Daina Middleton is a Principal at Larcen Consulting Group and author of "GRACE MEETS GRIT: How To Bring Out The Remarkable, Courageous Leader Within." Prior to launching her consulting work, Daina served as the head of global business-to-business marketing at Twitter as well as successful leadership positions at Performics, Moxy Interactive, and 16-years at Hewlett Packard. In all, Daina possesses three decades of hands-on business experience as a proven leader and CEO. She now works with executives from large and small companies who seek to take their business to the next level. She helps them understand the importance of leadership development that accompanies success.

• Daina's background
• How having processes and routines helps contribute to Daina's time-saving success technique
• Why transformational leadership is a critical skill for business owners to master
• Why it's important to invest and take time for yourself
• Finding the right mentors for the right time in your career
• How mastering consistent, repeatable processes can drive value
• Why finding a core value to stand for is so important for a company to succeed
• Why you shouldn't change yourself to the whim of your customers
• Why it's important to balance your strengths & weaknesses
• Why you need to have self-awareness
• Why it's important to have mindfulness in work situations

• Website: dainamiddleton.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @DainaMiddleton

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media.

Good Morning, Onward Nation — I'm Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and welcome to this week's solocast.

Can you believe it? In less 4 days — we will ring in 2017.

AMAZING!

My hope for you is that 2016 was your best year yet.

— AND —

That 2017 will absolutely blow your accomplishments from this year out of the water in every way that matters to you. That you will be able to enjoy all of the freedom that running a successful, predictable, repeatable, and profitable business should afford you, your family, and your team.

Which if you just had a great 2016 — or maybe you didn't — making 2017 your best year ever will be a tall order.

To be successful…you and your team will need a strategy coupled with a practical and tactical execution plan for you and your team to follow.

You may need an even heightened level of focus on who you should be serving.

Who are the customers and prospects in your current sales pipeline? Are they companies who you most want to serve?

Do they represent your Dream 50 clients? If not…adjustments need to be made.

And once the adjustments are made — you need a system that consistently adds value to what the companies within your sales pipeline — within your Dream 50 — are trying to accomplish in 2017.

Over the next several weeks, I am going to use my weekly solocast to answer these questions and guide you along the path to creating the strategic plan you and your team need.

I will share insights, step-by-step detail, recommendations, and system execution processes in full transparency as always — all within a practical and tactical 4-part series that you and your team can immediately apply.

My hope is that the result outcome for you is that you will be able to fill your sales pipeline so you and your team have more revenue opportunities at your fingertips than ever before — and those opportunities are with the type of companies you most want to serve — your Dream 50 clients.

Over the next four weeks…you and me…we are going to get our hands dirty, together. We are going to get into the trenches to not only fill your pipeline — but — to demonstrate with excellence to your team members how it should be done so they can model your behavior going forward.

This level of hands-on leadership — as you push for new heights — is critically important. Because how can your team do more if you have not shown them how?

So…in turn…I will show you where you can dig in your business to find gold — to go an inch wide and a mile deep to strike oil — to find the data points you need to make great decisions — and all along the way — to be able to look your team members in the eye with confidence so they can see how the business is moving forward.

When you jump into the trenches with your team due to deadlines — due to a large number of orders that need to be shipped — due to some problems with key clients — whatever the reason — your actions in those moments demonstrate how important it is to create big wins for clients.

And…even more importantly…your actions demonstrate that you have your teammate's back — that you will not let them down — that they can count on you when the going gets tough. That they can count on you to take care of them while taking care of customers — with excellence.

This level of leadership should be one of your most vital priorities in 2017.

There is no better team building move a leader can make like stepping out of their executive office, rolling up their sleeves and riding with the sales team, making presentations to prospective customers, call customers, making deliveries, or shipping orders when there is a backlog.

To be clear — I believe in delegation — I absolutely do — it is a key ingredient to scaling a business. And here at Predictive ROI, my content marketing and lead gen agency, my leadership team and I stress delegation, we support and fund personal development for all our teammates, and each of us pushes one another whenever possible to grow and develop.

Doing all of this is a key to scaling.

But, getting my hands dirty with the practical and tactical is something I love to do — I love to solve problems — I am driven by it. I love jumping into the trenches with my team to work alongside them — to look them in the eye when we are faced with a big challenge so they can see my confidence and how much I believe in them.

It is part of the entrepreneurial DNA that I was blessed to receive my family — and — it was honed to a razors edge during my enlistment in the United States Air Force.

At the close of each day in the Air Force, I was typically covered in diesel fuel, brine, grease, battery acid, cobwebs, and dirt from crawling around the floors inside the 150 nuclear missile silos where I performed hundreds of maintenance procedures as part of a team.

During my enlistment, I was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base near the Black Hills of South Dakota — the prairies were my commute to my office — and my office was 1, 2, or 3 Minuteman II ICBM nuclear missile silos each day that I served.

And I loved every second of it. Most days were like 100 percent pure adrenaline, Onward Nation.

It was absolutely awesome!

And it was in those days — where my team and I worked our guts out — where we stood fast in the face of numerous technical challenges happening concurrently, in the face of impossible timelines and pressure, and the ebb and flow of an ever changing schedule — but — when we successfully navigated it all — when we got back to our base following a 17-hour shift — and debriefed with our supervisors — we felt a major sense of accomplishment.

We did it. And we did it with excellence. There was no finer feeling after a hard day of slugging it out in the trenches then being able to look back on what we had done along the way with pride.

That what we had just done — really mattered.

So let's bring this back to the leadership lesson I want to make sure you take out of this solocast. When we were working within a missile silo…one of the things we enjoyed most was when our supervisors and leadership from our squadron paid us a visit. Sometimes as a complete surprise.

Our field supervisors wanted to inspect what they expected — to watch us perform while we were knee deep in problems inside a silo. It was nerve racking to be sure — because we didn't want to make a mistake — but — sometimes, one of our supervisors — all former technicians themselves — couldn't resist the temptation to jump into what we were working on so they could get some grease on their hands — to help us save time — or to provide us with a teaching moment and mentorship to make us better for our next dispatch.

For example, one of our supervisors might jump in and operate a crane while we were replacing a brine chiller — or help drive one of our maintenance trucks if we were short handed.

What we did on a day-to-day basis was dangerous, Onward Nation. There were significant risks. We were working six feet away from a nuclear missile inside a buried silo — for 17- hours at a time. And as you might imagine, our stress levels could rise pretty quickly within the team — so we had to keep our cool through solid communication and leadership.

So, seeing the willingness of our supervisors to jump in when they didn't have to was inspiring — it was motivating — it was awesome seeing them get dirty right alongside of us — they looked us in the eyes and gave us courage that we could get the job done and get the heck home to our families — safe and sound.

You and your team, Onward Nation, may not be working inside a nuclear missile silo — but — if you, as a leader, jump in — with the heart to help and not micro-manage — to be a resource — to share your insights and experience — to be in the trenches — to look them in the eye so they know it will all be okay — your team will love you for it — and that momentum will carry you to new heights in 2017.

So that is why over the next several weeks, you and I will be in the trenches together. We will get our hands dirty — together. You and I will get tactical on the curriculum I prepared for you — the step-by-step details along with the metrics you can use to ensure your team is on-track.

January is a perfect time for you to jump in with your team — to get your hands dirty — to pull some levers and let your team see how much you care — put in the hours — to build the business — together.

They will love you for it.

The first practical and tactical lesson I am going to share with you is how to define your client avatar so you know exactly who should be inside your sales pipeline. It is impossible to answer the question of "Who do we want to serve" if you have not completed the exercise.

Or, if you have already completed — like my Predictive ROI team and I did a year ago — it is likely time for you to rinse and repeat the exercise just like we finished doing ourselves. And low and behold — we discovered that over the last several years — a shift had taken place.

That was exciting to see — so we pivoted — and made our sales pipeline much better as a result!

Yes, the exercise is hard work. It can be time consuming. You and your team need to challenge yourselves and not accept surface answers. But the reward is high. Because not getting your avatar right can be one of the single biggest and most expensive mistake business owners make — not knowing who to sell to — or why they choose to sell to one customer instead of another.

Before we jump in — I want to offer up a couple of warnings.

As we move through the steps…you may catch yourself saying… "Oh, I already know that…"

If you catch yourself saying that – take a moment – and instead ask yourself – "But have I mastered it?"

And then take it deeper by asking yourself, "Can I leverage it even greater that what I am currently doing?"

This recipe represents such a significant opportunity for you and your business because only about 2 percent of the business owners listening right now will take action on the steps I share.

Onward Nation, you may nod your head in agreement when you hear this recipe — you may even take some notes – or even share this episode with a colleague.

But ultimately, your inaction will signify your acceptance of operating your business at the status quo — instead of at the level of excellence.

Please don't let this be you, Onward Nation!

Don't fall into the trap of procrastination. My hope for you is that you will take the notes – have the discussions with your team — and then put the steps into action — swiftly. That is how excellence is reached.

Let's dig in by starting with a question.

What's the number one reason people buy anything?

I will give you a hint. It has nothing to do with the features, advantages, or benefits of the product or service.

In fact — it has everything to do with just one, four-letter word.

And that word is "HOPE."

The only reason we buy anything is because we HOPE that tomorrow will somehow be better than today as a result of buying the product or service we are considering.

That's it — HOPE.

So in order for you to fill your sales pipeline like never before — perhaps your goal is to 10x your pipeline in 2017 — you need to understand how to make an emotional and empathetic connection with your prospects and customers.

You do this by becoming a HOPE Dealer to your customers.

Let's take this a little bit deeper with another question.

What percentage of people make a purchase decision based solely on emotional reasons?

Would you guess 20%? 30%? Maybe even 50%?

The answer is 100%. Yes, 100%.

Now, we like to think we are such rational creatures and we only make decisions based on objective data and thoughtful analysis. But the reality is that all of our decisions — yes, 100% of them — are made for purely emotional reasons.

And if you go back to Episode 392, our amazing guest, Dave Hoffeld will share the science behind selling and the emotionality of the decision making process. He is brilliant.

And because this percentage is so high — you and your business must become HOPE DEALERS to your customers. You can do that by connecting on an emotional and empathetic level with your "client avatar".

You can do this by understanding their challenges.

You can do this by understanding their pain points.

You can do this by going beyond demographic and economic data by metaphorically "Laying in their bed at night" to understand what is causing them pain…so you can get into the hearts and minds of your customers and prospects.

You need to understand the last thing they think about before they go to bed — and — the first thing they think about when they wake up in the morning.

Every piece of communication you send to your customer and prospect lists needs to speak directly to what we like to call your customer avatar.

You should give your avatar, him or her, or both a name. As if you were having a one-on-one conversation with them…right now…just you like and I are having…right now.

Again, as you and your team work through the 10 specific questions I am about to share with you — don't allow surface answers — challenge yourselves to dig deep and push to find specific examples of situations that either reinforce or contradict what is currently believed to be true.

Question 1: what things are challenging our customers right now?

Be careful here — because this question does not have anything to do with challenges your customers may or may be experiencing right now in working with you. Instead, think about it from the perspective of when your client wakes up — what challenges concern them about their business and in moving their business forward.

Question 2: what are our customer's emotional fears or worries?

Again, from the perspective of them running their business — not fears or worries as it relates to their working relationship with you.

Question 3: what are their dreams and aspirations?

What would need to happen in 2017 for their company to have their best year ever?

Question 4: what are their pain points?

What are the challenges that really cause them pain — is it a distribution channel — is it a dealer network — is a supplier? What is it? Because if you can solve that problem — you will be hero in 2017.

Question 5: what are their values — and are their values the same as yours?

This is key because it helps to determine if your two companies will be a good fit working together — or will you end up being at odds and fighting. Ugh. Who wants that? There is an abundance of opportunity in the market, Onward Nation — you do not need to work with companies whose values are incongruent with your own.

Question 6: who do they want to impress the most?

If you can help your clients look good in front of who they want to impress — well — they will love you forever.

Question 7: what frustrates them about our industry?

This question is indeed about you — actually — about you and your industry as a whole. And if you know the answer to this question — you can change and pivot to create distinction from your competitors — and in the process — appear to be that beacon in the night for your Dream 50 prospects.

Question 8: what do they want from our business?

Or perhaps said in a slightly different way — how can you best add value to them?

Question 9: what's the one thing — or result — that if you could guarantee — your customers would pay a premium for?

BOOM! Probably enough said there.

Question 10: finish this statement on behalf of your customers…"You will gain my trust and comfort by…"

Once you have collected that data – you will have all you need in order to create your "Client Avatar."

But, please remember, your client avatar is one person. Not an email list of 20,000 people.

One person and you should give him or her a name, a personality, you hang a photo of her on your conference room wall, and every time you write an email campaign, shoot a video, etc. you speak directly to your avatar.

Here, I will take you inside Predictive ROI to illustrate this point. Our client avatars are "Harry" and "Sally" (we chose those names because When Harry Met Sally is one of my favorite movies of all time).

All of our conversations with Harry and Sally are personal — they are emotional — and they are always authentic.

Let me introduce you to Sally…

• Sally runs a business-to-business professional services firm with revenue between $1 million and $20 million per year
• Sally and her team are ambitious and want to learn new things
• She knows there is more opportunity and growth "out there" and is frustrated she does not know how to capitalized on it, faster
• he reads lots of books but doesn't know a good idea from a bad one
• She is uncertain and afraid to fail
• She has been fooled before and does not know who to believe
• Everything sounds too good to be true
• And Sally has said to me…"Stephen…I want to trust you…that you can do what you say you can do…show me the evidence quickly that it is working and that you are delivering on your promises".

And Onward Nation, during more than one presentation to a prospective client, "Sally" has said to me – "My goodness, that's me!" It is magic when that happens because I know we just made a powerful, emotional connection with Sally.

But for your team to get this process right — they need you. They need your leadership — they need you to push them — they need to see the importance you give the process by jumping in and getting your hands dirty. Just like my field supervisors did for me while we were out working on the missile silos in South Dakota.

For next week…I will share several research tools you can use to collect the right detail you need to find the specific companies, and the decision makers within the companies, that match your client avatar so the result outcome will be a full sales pipeline as you head into 2017.

So with that…I want to thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine.

However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today's top business owners.

And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is [email protected] — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email.

So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you.

We will be back tomorrow with an incredible interview with Daina Middleton — where she teaches how grit meets grace — and as a leader — the lessons we all need to apply in order to be more effective with our teams and customers. The conversation with Daina is powerful!

You will not want to miss it, Onward Nation!

Until then, onward with gusto!

Nav Athwal is Founder and CEO of Realty Shares, an online marketplace for real estate investing connecting individual and institutional investors to private U.S. real estate investments. By infusing technology into the archaic real estate industry, Nav and his team are able to connect accredited and institutional investors with pre-vetted real estate companies and operators looking to raise debt and equity capital. To date, Realty Shares funded more than $200 million across 400 deals in 31 states, and they are growing rapidly. Nav is also is a regulator contributor to Forbes and TechCrunch.

• Nav's background
• Why creating more efficiency around your time is very important
• How getting your Inbox to zero every night can help you start your day off focused
• Why what you do outside of work can help contribute to your success
• Why having a single decision-maker can make a company more efficient & effective
• Why it's important in tough situations to be amicable
• Why you need to master hiring as a critical skill in order to thrive as a business owner
• Why it's so important to cultivate talent & create a culture for retention
• Why mentors & advisors are so critical for founders & CEOs
• Why taking the time to think creatively is so important to having a successful business
• How creating more ways to communicate effectively can be highly beneficial for your business
• How thinking about technology can help you do your job more effectively
• How to make your employees & company more effective, scalable & efficient

• Website: www.realtyshares.com
• Twitter: @navathwal
• Email: [email protected]

Mark Faust is an expert on growth, strategy, sales, and performance improvement. For the last 26-years, Mark has run Echelon Management, a growth consulting firm. He is an advisor on company boards and he has conducted hundreds of sessions for dozens of the world's largest companies including Apple, IBM, Procter & Gamble, John Deere, Monsanto, Bayer, and over three dozen third generation family-owned companies. His first book "Growth or Bust! Proven Turanround Strategies to Grow Your Business" was a bestseller and his new book "High-Growth Levers" is also available at BarnesAndNoble.com. Mark is also adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University.

• Mark's background
• Focusing on your customer's customers
• Breaking down your to-do list into your A's and B's
• Mark's customer interviews that drive 7-9 figures of revenue
• Strategy, culture, and innovation: the three high-growth levers
• Echelon strategy dialogues
• Why you need to only hire eagles (not turkeys)
• Finding islands of profit in the sea of red ink
• Why you need to think bigger

• Website: highgrowthlevers.com
• Phone (515)621-8000

John Livesay is a funding strategist and helps CEOs craft a compelling pitch that engages investors in a way that inspires them to join a startup's team. He is partners with Judy Robinett in "Crack The Funding Code," which gets founders — funded — fast. He hosts "The Successful Pitch podcast" with investors from around the world. He is the Pitch Mentor at Startfast.net, the number one accelerator in Upstate New York. INC magazine calls John "The Pitch Whisperer." After a successful 20 year career in media sales with Conde Nast where he worked across all 22 brands in their corporate division, John won salesperson of the year in 2012. John is the author of The Successful Pitch: Conversations On Going From Invisible To Investable.

• The strategy behind John's podcast
• How John overcame the three faces of fear
• Why you should not take rejection personally & why you should never reject yourself
• Why collaboration is the secret to overcoming your fear of the unknown
• How John created a huge shift in his business
• Why John believes the "team" you have is everything
• How having a podcast has changed John's personal life & career
• Why empathy is the most critical skill to having a successful podcast
• How John learned to let go of the need to be perfect
• Why you need to be gentle with yourself when starting anything new
• Why you need to keep your focus on how you can serve your listeners

• Website: johnlivesay.com
• Twitter: @john_livesay
• Report: 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Pitching

David Hoffeld is the CEO and chief sales trainer of Hoffeld Group. He's pioneered a revolutionary sales approach based on neuroscience, social psychology, and behavioral economics that radically increases sales. David literally wrote the book on basing sales strategies on scientific evidence in his groundbreaking book, "The Science of Selling." David works with small and medium businesses to Fortune 500 companies showing them how to align their sales behaviors with how the brain naturally forms buying decisions. David is a contributor to Fast Company and has been featured in Fortune, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Investors Business Daily, CBS Radio, Fox News Radio, and more.

• David's background
• How adapting science-backed behaviors can improve your sales ability
• How to align your sales processes with the brain's natural commitments to buy
• How emotions impact selling & the decision-making process
• Why pre-loading your decisions and linking them to external references with action triggers will increase your chances of following through
• Why you should view failure as feedback to help build your growth mindset
• Why to get rid of beliefs that aren't serving you and embrace ones that are
• Why, as a business owner, you need to learn how to influence others
• How science-based selling is aligned with what you like about selling
• Why you should be mindful of the relationships you have & the influence they have on you
• Why you should always give more value than you take

• Website: www.hoffeldgroup.com
• Twitter: @DavidHoffeld
• Book: The Science of Selling