Conversational Selling Nancy Calabrese

About Michael Harris: Michael Harris is a multi-talented individual with an incredible gift for empowering others. Whether you're looking to take care of your health, share your story with the world, or build a thriving business, Michael has the expertise to guide you to success. With multiple bestselling books under his belt, Michael is the real deal regarding coaching, training, and entrepreneurship. He's dedicated to helping people from all walks of life share their message and make a real impact. Michael started a yoga practice in 1987 due to a near-fatal health condition. In the early 90's, he began teaching and has never stopped. Michael truly believes that nature holds the key to living our best lives. It's just a matter of learning how to apply what you already know so you can have better health, share your message, and live the life of an entrepreneur. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Michael.

In this episode, Nancy and Michael discuss the following:
o The reasons why people have preconceived limitations.
o Podcasting as a powerful marketing source.
o Michael recommends how anyone can get their message, story, and voice out to the world.
o Michael's first experience as an entrepreneur with pies.
o Tips to overcome the resistance to speak in front of others.
o Michaels's thoughts on human conversation and AI: could one substitute another?
o Advice on how to react when you have nothing to say but need to support a conversation.

Key Takeaways:

o We don't believe that we are good enough or that we really have the skills to do something when, in fact, it could be there; it's just buried.
o We all know WIIFM, which is "what's in it for me," so the other person needs to know what's in it for them to have an eager watch.
o Asking you questions about yourself helps me know who you are more, and I feel more connected that way.
o A system creates a tremendous amount of freedom in so many ways.
o You already have everything you need, and it's just a matter of learning how to use it.

" What it was like when you were in grade school? Perhaps first or second grade, maybe even kindergarten, and the teacher said "Now it's show-and-tell time. Michael, can you get up and, you know, show us your new rock that you found today?" And so, I get up and I'm all excited to talk about this rock and I found it and it was on the ground, but somebody had painted it, it was all these colors and all this stuff. So, show-and-tell is really a tricky way that the teacher had a tricky way, so to speak, to get us to speak in front of other people and tell other people something, show-and-tell. So, we've already got that skill in us. So, as we get older, though, we tend to forget about that. And that tends to kind of go away a little bit. But like, when I start to work with people, one of the things that I really invite them to do is to look at those things they've already learned in their life, and then enhance that. So, show-and-tell would be an example of how a salesperson can get better by show-and-tell. Because essentially that's what it is. It's, you know, there's all these different ways to sell, but it really comes back to show and tell when we get on a podcast. Now it may be just an audio, but we're show and telling with our ears and our eyes and everything else." – MICHAEL

" When I was growing up, imagine this, we had a couple of acres and in the back property, we had a bunch of blackberries. My dad was an entrepreneur, and he always says, "You know, find something somebody wants to buy and sell it to them." Well, I'd go out there and pick the blackberries and my mom would make pies and all the neighborhood kids would come over and eat Mrs. Harris's pies. You know, I thought about this and what Dad was saying about selling, things that people want. And I was a 6-year-old boy and I said, Mom, "Let's do this. Let me pick a bunch of pies. You bake them and then I'll go and sell th

About Denise Cagan: Denise Cagan is the Founder of DCA Virtual Business Support. Her company offers VASuperheros, social media management, graphic design, and website support for growing businesses. Denise Cagan started her first company while still working as a QA Manager at Coca-Cola. After a year of doing both, she moved on to become a full-time business owner at DiCi Services. She grew DiCi for 10 years, selling it in 2011. At that time, Denise established a second and third company. Only one of these remains today which is her current business. She attributes her success in navigating the business world to her strong operational and management style and being an incredible business advisor. Denise graduated from James Madison University with a BS in Quality Systems Development. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Denise.

In this episode, Nancy and Denise discuss the following:
o Denise’s definition of a VA superhero.
o Recognizing the undervalued role of virtual assistants in sales.
o Overcoming entrepreneurial fear: transitioning from offline to remote business.
o Exploring accountability methods for successful remote work.
o The rewards of having a remote staff.
o Reviewing potential pitfalls associated with remote work.
o The advantages to the business owner of having a remote staff.

Key Takeaways:

o In the world of Executive Assistant, KPIs are a little bit hard to come up with.
o When you're doing it by yourself, it's so much simpler, but when you have a team, it becomes less simple.
o We have mental health benefits because, without that, I'm sure you know that if people aren't doing well outside of work, they're going to carry that into work.
o When people come to us for services, when they try to negotiate less than our six-month minimum, they're not fit, and I try to very politely tell them that they're not.
o Keep asking questions.

" VA has a few names that people recognize: virtual assistant, executive assistant, virtual executive assistant, virtual office assistant. A VA superhero is somebody who comes in and basically takes things off the plate of a business owner, a CEO, the president of the company, or someone in the C-suite. So, you're busy, you've got day-to-day things going on, and as you are a small business and you start growing, those to-do things become more. And that's exactly what these people do for you. Take those off your plate." – DENISE

" We have had to guide team members on how to maximize their time. We have a very flexible schedule first off, okay, so, and we use a system for them to clock their time, so we know their time down to the second. So, one of the things is that they sometimes feel like they need to be on all the time. We explain to them, no, that's the purpose of having a flexible schedule. We don't expect you to respond in three minutes to an email because part of the prep we do is explaining to people what the response time would be. So, prepping them, and that seems like such a small thing, but that really, really goes to how they just manage their day. And if they're starting to feel burnt out because they feel like they're having to be on for all day, they're only paid for the hours they work, that's, you're going to have a lot of turnover." – DENISE

" The thing is that you have to be a good communicator and a good listener. It goes with anything. You have to be willing to have even the tough conversations, the ones that are not easy. Because sometimes you need to dig in and find out what they're not telling you. I know you can relate to that. And I know that because you do Conversational Selling and it's the “Who, What, Why” digging in and finding out the pain points. It's the same thing for your team members." – DENISE

Connect with Denise Cagan:
o LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisecagan/
o DCA Virtual Business Support: https://dcavirtual.com/

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About RJ Redden: RJ Redden is the Founder and human-in-charge at Black Belt Bots. Coaches hire RJ to skyrocket their engagement. RJ creates epic engagement experiences that motivate people to click that button, connect with you, and enroll like crazy. She holds two Master's degrees at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Science in Management Information Systems. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and teaches technology skills to small businesses and nonprofits in the Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, metropolitan area. Redden specializes in websites, administrative streamlining, and social media campaigns. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about RJ.

In this episode, Nancy and RJ discuss the following:
o The definition of epic engagement adventures.
o Standing out from the crowd in the modern marketing world.
o Ways of having personal and unique thumbprints in each marketing sphere.
o The psychology of Disneyland's journey.
o The number of interactions needed before leads are converted into clients.
o The importance of being yourself in the sales world.

Key Takeaways:

o The problem is that we are imprinted into our brains this idea that we need to reach the masses to be heard by a few.
o Engagement First Marketing reframes the funnel concept into what that client's journey will be like.
o If you know exactly what you provide that's unique to this world and that they desperately need, and if you know your people, it could take one or two times reach, and they're sold.
o If you ever get into a coaching relationship or a program that demands that you be someone else to accomplish the goals – Run! Run away!
o You must embrace and own that brilliance to shine brightly!

" The way to stand out right now, as I see it in the marketplace, is to do your writing, make your video, make your podcast, make everything personal, have that thumbprint in there. Do not accept "Oh, I could send 800 messages that all say the same thing to 800 people on LinkedIn today. Let's go ahead and press that button". Do not accept mass, you know, mass marketing, mass messaging. It's not the way to go. Make it personal. Make it personal because everybody is using these AI writers nowadays to, you know, throw out an article or two. You know, those sound like they're produced by robots, Nancy." – RJ

" And Disneyland thinks about every moment of the journey that you are taking, and they do their best to make it a frictionless journey. What I mean by that is, this was a couple of years ago, they developed these watches that your watch opens your hotel room door. Your watch pays for dinner. Your watch basically does everything. They give you information right when you need it so that you can use it right there so you're not carrying the cognitive load of where they say the thing was. All that kind of stuff. That intentional journey setting makes Disneyland what it is, which is a preferred destination for many, even those without kids. That journey is what your people need to take. That journey needs to be full of interaction with you. Some of its stuff that we kind of write into a process. The quizzes, games, choose your own adventure videos, all of these types of things allow people to get to know you at their own pace. You get to know a little bit about them, and that way, by the time they're sitting across from you. They know that they want to be part of your tribe." – RJ

"Here's the really important part. Here's the part that changed everything for me. I could just be myself in the conversation because they weren't expecting a marketing expert. They were expecting a person who's crazy enough to wear a caping mask to an event. They weren't expecting a normal conversation. So, I could really be myself, and connect with them." – RJ

Connect with RJ Redden:
o LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rjredden

About Amanda Kohal: Amanda Kohal is the Founder & Digital Strategist of the Wolfe Co. Amanda provides business owners with access to reputable resources, community connections, and trusted guidance/education to start converting on social. After working as a brand marketing manager in corporate, Amanda ventured on her own, took her love of digital marketing, and ran with it. Amanda has turned many personal brands and service-based businesses into cash cows by helping clients earn $10k from just 2 Instagram stories, $77k from one DM, and $28K social media launches. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Amanda.

In this episode, Nancy and Amanda discuss the following:
o Secrets of turning a company into a cash cow.
o Tips on getting deeper into the funnel.
o Why selling on social is an important marketing channel.
o Applying strategies on different social media platforms.
o Why LinkedIn differs from other social media.
o How often to post on social media.
o Latest news on Google integration with AI.

Key Takeaways:

o I have never really focused on chasing the followers rather than on the community that was already there, who are a little bit deeper in the funnel to convert.
o So having a presence and a place where people can buy in the spaces that they're now searching for is really important if you're running a business online.
o LinkedIn is a great space for organic reach.
o Our InstaSite is a static grid of all the information that you would typically find on a website.
o When it comes to a space like TikTok Start, start with at least a 15-day sprint of daily posting to accelerate the algorithm.

“I created a unique approach to social and a strategy called Instasite. And it's basically looking at social media platforms in two different categories. One category is those platforms that are good at achieving growth, visibility, and reach. And then those platforms that are good at nurturing and converting from the platforms that are driving that reach and visibility for you. So, when you pair them together, you now have more of a holistic approach to your strategy, as opposed to leaning too far into just focusing on growth or leaning too far on just doing heavy selling on your social. You're now covering all your bases, bases of grow, connect, and convert." – AMANDA

" Google has now come out saying that they're going to be integrating AI into their entire search experience. So one of the things that we're going to start seeing is when you're searching on Google, it's going to become a little bit more visual. Like you would find on Instagram or TikTok or even YouTube. So, if I'm typing in keywords like, social media strategy into Google, because, you know, I have content that is all about social media strategy. My actual posts from Instagram or TikTok are now going to show up in Google searches as opposed to it just simply being mostly text searches right now. So that's another reason why getting into LinkedIn would be a good idea, especially if you're posting content. Really optimize those keywords, your captions, and any of the text on the screen. So, in the future, the very near future, when people are searching topic-specific because maybe they're not aware of you just yet, content can now show up on Google your actual posts." – AMANDA

" Start with two platforms, one that is good for the reach and visibility, whatever that might be. I'll give you a few examples and you can pick one from the category. We've got TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, or blogging in the visibility category, and then create yourself an Instasite, mimic the experience of a website. There are over 200 examples out there right now. So, you can really drive traffic over to your Instasite, which then drives traffic to your website, checkout page, landing page, whatever it might be. You're going to find a lot more success like that than spreading yourself so thin across all the platforms.

About Reuben Swartz: Reuben Swartz is the founder of Mimiran, the “anti-CRM” for independent consultants who love serving clients but hate “selling.” Mimiran helps companies sell faster and more profitably by streamlining the sales process, converting more visitors into leads, more leads into conversations, and more conversations into e-signed proposals. He’s also the host and chief nerd on the Sales for Nerds podcast. He went from a computer science and software engineering background to sales and marketing consulting for the Fortune 500. His mission is to help other independent consultants make a bigger dent in the universe and get more clients by using their talents to teach instead of the market, connect instead of the network, and help instead of sell. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Reuben.

In this episode, Nancy and Reuben discuss the following:
o The importance of having the right CRM.
o The key to identifying your ideal prospect.
o How to have a fun and productive conversation when you are not a salesperson and think sales are icky.
o Why do people find sales awkward?
o Being an introvert in the sales world.
o Tips on following up effectively.
Key Takeaways:

o And one of the reasons why I ended up building an anti-CRM is because all the CRMs I've tried (and I've tried dozens of them) were sort of like necessary evils for me.
o Defining your ideal client is the foundation for everything.
o You don't have to waste a bunch of time trying to convince someone to have shoulder surgery who doesn't need it.
o The main thing is when you have strong positioning, it acts like a magnet and it starts attracting your tribe to you, and just as importantly, it pushes the people who are not going to be a good fit for you away.
o Referral networks are relationships that are built on conversations.
o There's a place for email marketing and automation, but when you're in a sales cycle, you're in a conversation-based context, and you need to talk to people.

" Try to think like a doctor rather than a sales rep trying to make quota. And me being a sales and marketing consultant for years and sitting in some of these sales meetings where people were kind of giving those always-be closing speeches was not a good influence on me. And I knew it wasn't me, but I was like “Well, I guess this is what I must do”. I got to force myself to do it. And no, you don't have to do that. And so, if you go back to that foundation of let's make sure that we're targeting the right people and attracting the right people to us, think about like the doctor who does shoulder surgeries. You don't go to the ear, nose, or throat doctor for your shoulder surgery. You don't go to the knee doctor for your shoulder surgery, etc. If you walked into the hospital and every doctor there was kind of trying to stab you with a business card saying “I'm a doctor and you know, by the way, you're walking funny, let me fix your knee, etc”. That would be an absurd experience." – REUBEN

" You probably went to a restaurant recently and had a great experience with a waiter or waitress. That's a salesperson. You go to the doctor. That's a salesperson. A lot of these things that we don't think about that's really what we ought to be doing. We don't want to be selling to anybody. We don't want to be convincing them to do something that we want them to do. We want to be helping them to do the thing that they want to do." – REUBEN

" Most introverts I know don't want to be in a room full of tons of people, but they love having deep, interesting conversations, and they're good listeners. They've got everything they need, except the mindset and the process, and the organization to do that with intention.” – REUBEN
Connect with Reuben Swartz:
o LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reubenswartz/
o Mimiran CRM: https://www.mimiran.com/
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About Atiba de Souza: Atiba is the CEO of Client Attraction Pros and Video Content Superman. His goal is to help you discover those moments and position content that will deliver a victory for your customers. For 25 years, he ran an exclusive agency that got regional and national brands ranked on page 1 of Google. He was doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before the term was even invented. But one day, Atiba realized that his agency was not growing because he was not applying what he did for his clients to his own brand. Atiba has been using a unique method of blending storytelling with search keywords for more than 15 years. He has ranked regional and national brands in the US on page one of Google. He's also an award-winning marketer who has been featured on many renowned platforms, including Fox, USA Today, Times, CBS, and many more. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Atiba.

In this episode, Nancy and Atiba discuss the following:
o The importance of video marketing in the modern marketing world.
o The background of Atiba’s story of owning his agency.
o SEO is not just about Google Search.
o Using a method of blending storytelling with search keywords.
o How does a newbie get started in the video?
o The start of AI in 1992 and Atiba’s contribution.
o Tips on getting the attention of posting the video and catchy title.
o Is YouTube the only platform for posting videos?
Key Takeaways:

o The statistics say that almost 80% of business owners are going to watch a video before they make a purchase.
o Google right now wants to rank videos that solve people's problems on page one.
o Concerning the video length, you need to talk long enough to answer the question and not a moment longer.
o The title of the video needs to be your question.
o The truth is that as your organization grows, you need both organic and paid video marketing, and they complement each other and work together.
o When doing a video, you want to think about your target audience and the pains they may be going through.

"Every network now has a search and an SEO component. All SEO means is that whoever owns a network, whoever has the data, wants to put that data in front of the right people. That's all it is, getting your message in front of the right people. So this now starts to get into some of the synergies between where you are in the cold calling world and the sales world and what we do as well because I think it's no secret that those who are super successful at doing cold calling aren't the ones who call and say “Mr. and Mrs. Jones, this is Johnny, and I'm calling today from So and So Company, and let me tell you all about the features and benefits of our thing that you've never heard of before.” Those people aren't successful, okay? " – ATIBA

" The way we look at it is there are three buckets that content falls into before someone's willing to call you. And those buckets are WHY, HOW, and WHAY. When you first have a problem, you ask big philosophical questions, WHY-type questions. And you're trying to figure out what's going on and what my options are, and you're looking at those types of things. Those are pain point questions. Okay, the next bucket is HOW-questions You should be doing the WHY-videos, the HOW-videos, and maybe 20% of the videos you create are WHAT-videos. And the WHAT-videos should say “Okay, so we've looked at the different factors that it would take for you to determine how many leads or how many leads you would get from a cold calling campaign. And we've analyzed how to build your lead list so that you can have better results and whatever else. And now if you're looking for help, I can help you”. So, those are the three levels of content that we bucket into for you to create." – ATIBA

"Video marketing is an umbrella term that has two segments to it, organic and paid. Just like digital marketing has two same segments to it. Organic video marketing is vid