The GT PODCAST

032 Jackie B's 3 month journey to 2X her sales

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Today Sales Toolkit is learning from Jackie Burtch, with Burtch Designs as she shares her journey over the last 3 months and how she was able to double her revenue. 
 
 Key Takeaways:
Jackie's business 4 years ago served a different purpose than what she wants it to do for her now. Her steadfast and calming nature has allowed Jackie to appreciate the gifts of her business during each phase but is now wanting to take it to the next level. 
 
Jackie helps female entrepreneurs build thoughtful brands through strategic design. After almost 10 years of corporate design, she started Burtch Designs to help women build their dream brands and has collaborated with over 30 different brands in the last four years.
 
Why did you start Burtch Designs? 
I started Burtch Designs to have more flexibility as I started my family. It was important to me to continue to work but in a more sustainable and fulfilling way. I was also seeking more creativity than my corporate job at the time allowed.
 
What are some common challenges you’ve encountered in your field? 
One primary challenge I face with potential customers is sticker shock. I think on the surface, a lot of people come to me expecting a handful of logo options in a week or so – but once we talk through the details of what is included in a strategy session and how I present just one, thoughtful logo option they have a better understanding of why I price my services the way I do.
What made you realize or when did you realize you may benefit from a sales coach? 
After listening to Gwen’s episode on the branding business school podcast, I had an ah-ha moment: I kept thinking I needed to hire someone for my business but I couldn't quite land on an area that felt the most necessary to hire for. So, I figured, if I can get my sales process buttoned up, more confident and more direct, that would be an ideal next step in this journey. It would also be a better investment than hiring someone at random without real clarity in how to continually get new clients.
In the Confident Sales Accelerator Framework or as you formally know it, the B3 framework (breaking belief barriers) I saw and felt you have a few moments- I’d love for you to share in your own words your journey so far. 
I’ve learned more about sales in general, how to confidently approach new inquiries, strategies on how to follow up and how to highlight the things I do that help get my clients the outcome they want
I really love having someone hold me accountable through this process and push me to get uncomfortable and try something new – It’s easy to stick with the ‘it’s worked for me thus far so why change it now’ method, but trying out the two-call method and creating a sales deck to actually show my clients our steps in working together has helped me lead the conversation and be more confident in the true advantage of working with me
I loved working on the feature, benefit and advantage document with you - It was a real eye opener into actually connecting everything I do behind the scenes that helps support the design decisions I make for my clients
I’ve learned to lead the conversation in a discovery call rather than showing up with just a few questions and allowing the client to ask a lot of questions and hope it works out! 
CONNECT WITH GWEN:
2X Your Income NOW Free Sales Audit - CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
CONNECT WITH JACKIE
Visit my website: https://www.burtchdesigns.com/
 
Get on my email list for branding advice, tips and stories: https://www.burtchdesigns.com/subscribe
 
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burtchdesigns
 
Consider booking an audit to see how your brand & website is or isn’t working for you: https://burtchdesigns.hbportal.co/public/657890f3419b31002723dbce/1-Invoice
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

031 Lessons from the car Lot, How NOT to sell

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Today Sales Toolkit is all about using the sales formula of 
Authenticity + Curiosity + Desire to help = Confident Selling
 Key Takeaways:
Hey Girlfriends! This past weekend I helped my mother-in-love buy a new car and I was reminded why I love teaching and re-shaping the mindset of value selling. I was also reminded of why so many people get a bad impression of sales and are appalled with the dealership and their lack of any customer journey!  The car industry can stand to learn so much and likely earn twice as much by shifting to a coaching-selling culture rather than a “you're a number” culture! 
 
Okay, stay with me as I take you on this journey…
 
If you have been listening to me for a bit you know the psychology of selling is very important. You also know how you make someone feel ultimately determines if someone buys from you… unless your in the car industry it seems.  When we arrived at the dealership, the guy sluggishly walked out, introduced himself, and said, I’ll be here if you have any questions.. That’s it!  No discovery! No, what are you looking for? How can I help you?  I see you drove up in that car.. Are you looking for something comparable or different? Tell me more about your lifestyles and needs… NONE of that.. Why.. because quite frankly he didn't’ give a damn…  So. What did that do to me? 
 
Well, my energy immediately matched his energy and I could literally feel the walls and the “don’t tread on me vibe” go up.  As he let us alone to endlessly walk the car lot and my mother-in-love saw something she liked, I reminded my whole family to show no emotion because I knew I was getting ready to go into negotiation mode! YUK! Negotiating brings me back to corporate selling where everything is hidden, nothing is just out in the open and you have to fight for what you want.  If you have ever purchased a car recently then you know the sticker price on the window and what the “out door” price is thousands in difference.  So, before you say to any new car make sure you ask for out-the-door price, this will include taxes, titles and all fees.   But I digress, - The salesman came to check on us and we asked to test drive the one she liked. Once they got back I could see my mother-in-love really liked the car so I suggested we grab lunch, let them take her old car and give a trade in value and we’d be back.. I announced “to start our negotiations '.  Who am i?!   Upon our return the car we were considering was pulled out front, all shiny you could tell he ran it through the car wash and his chest was puffed out with a big ole smile on his face.  I was taking over now because, like most, my mother-in-love sees negotiation as being confrontational and honestly I can see why. I shook the guy's hand and asked him again the price, I told him we needed to be at a price point that was $5,000 under that.. He immediately said.. We can't do that… I said .. sure you can.. Everything is negotiable.. We can bypass this whole thing.. Please just go get your manager. After about an hour of back and forth, they met me where we needed to be but unfortunately, it took me threatening to walk away, telling them I nor my mother in love didn’t care about the shiny features they were trying to throw at us as a value add.  In fact, at one point they were listing all the “products” and I asked them. What’s the value of these and they couldn't answer the question.  As they continued to tell me how much they purchased car for and how they would lose money by meeting me I became irritated. I dont give a damn about that and if it wasn't for my mother-in-love, I would have walked away but I knew she really wanted this car. Finally, after hours at this point, they came back with the number we wanted… why.. Why…  
 
All this to say, car lots would sell more and at higher prices if they didn’t go out of their way as it seems to make you feel you're just a number. See what happens is everything immediately goes to price objections because the potential clients don’t feel valued so they feel the need to make up the value in getting a price they perceive is aligned with the value of the car. After the negotiations were over the manager comes over and says I just want to shake your hand… What do you do for a living? Realtor?! I said no, I teach business owners how to do exactly the opposite of what happened here today.. He was over impressed with my selling skills but I was over-exhausted after that.  See selling your services or products should feel like lighting your soul on fire when you sell from a place of genuinely wanting to help and coming from a natural place of curiosity. 
 
We talk about the sales formula 
 
Authenticity + Curiosity + Desire to help = Confident Selling
 
That salesman was just showing up to a job, he wasn’t passionate about helping people get into the car of their dreams and that showed from how he dressed, walked, and introduced himself, all the way to the end as I had to push him to push his manager. See he should of been pushing his manager on behalf of his client.  He lacked curiosity as he didn't ask one qualifying question to see if we were just shopping, in the decision phase and he sure didn’t have the desire to help!  Yes, he still made the sale but if you ever go to dealerships you will find that most of the salespeople are rather new… the guy was 2 months old because selling from inauthenticity, lack of give a shit really is exhausting and certainly not rewarding long term. Yes, he made the sale but i’m telling you.. He could of sold that car for more than asking price if he was customer journey-focused and his first priority was caring about how we were feeling from the moment he walked out. 
 
 
CONNECT WITH GWEN:
Discover why your prospects aren't buying audit- CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

030 How To Avoid The Spring Sales Slump

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Today Sales Toolkit is all about how to avoid the spring sales slump 
 Key Takeaways:
All businesses go through sales cycles. Most of the time, service-based businesses experience slowdowns in sales during the summer and the holidays. Depending on your industry you may feel busier during the summer and holidays but if you look at when you sold those clients in they were earlier in the year.  We start to see the symptoms of this however weeks to months prior and NOW is the time to start preparing.
How can you tell when you're are in a Spring Slump? 
If you can answer yes or are nodding your head as you follow along, then I’d bet you are either on your way or in the midst one. 
 Are you hearing a lot of “not right now?”
I’m going on vacation with the family and just don’t have the time
Let's wait until fall summer is just so crazy for us right now 
We don’t have budget right now
Or maybe it’s harder to get people on the phones or to respond to you in email or DM’s 
Sales cycles are taking longer because coordinating schedules is harder
Leads aren’t coming in like they were a few weeks ago
 
If this sounds familiar then odds are you experiencing the start of one.. But fear not!  There are ways you can minimize the effects overall.. Stay tuned..
 
This is what the 6 day spring slump sales challenge is all about.  Giving you ideas and real examples of how you can start right now putting practices into place to help you overcome the most challenging months in your business.  
 
The beauty of this is you get to decide how big of a dip your business takes during these months.. Is it a large drop-off or tiny where you barely feel it?  It really is up to you!  
 
Starting this Monday, April 22nd you will get 1 email a day with a quick video and actionable things you can do that day to move the needle. On the 29th 8 pm Eastern I will do a live training on how to create a sense of urgency in your business and stop discounting to 2x your sales.  During the 5 days, I am offering my coaching services by providing you feedback in your daily assignments plus you will go into a drawing for a FREE 30 min 1:1 with me!   Each of the assignments can be done in 20 min or less but are strategies that you can reference for a lifetime! 
 
Don't miss out and get registered today! You can go to my website and or course I’ll link it in the show notes!  
 
 
CONNECT WITH GWEN:
Register for the FREE 2X Your Sales in 6 days- Spring Sales Slump Challenge 
Get More New Clients NOW with my FREE Sales Audit- CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

029 Earn MORE money with what you already have Jill Johnston, Online Route

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Today Sales Toolkit is all about earning more money with you have already created for your business! 
 Key Takeaways:
What is passive income:
Money is being earned with little effort.
Examples include: 
PDF's ; trainings, workshops etc
Jill Johnston with Online Route shares her personal discovery and journey of entrepreneurship which led her to change her target audience and focus on helping other female entrepreneurs earn more in their businesses by identifying content they have already create and through her 1:1 coaching and workshop turn into passive income quickly. 
 
Learn what almost held Jill back from working with a coach and why she is so glad she pushed through. 
CONNECT WITH JILL 
Get her passive income toolkit & audit: 
https://www.instagram.com/itsjilljohnston
FREE Toolkit & More
CONNECT WITH GWEN:
Register for the FREE 2X Your Sales in 6 days- Spring Sales Slump Challenge 
Get More New Clients NOW with my FREE Sales Audit- CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

028 Mapping Out Your Customer Journey for MORE Sales

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Today Sales Toolkit is about understanding the Customer Journey throughout your entire sales process.  NEWS FLASH! You never stop selling! 
 Key Takeaways:
A customer journey serves many purposes. 
Promote confidence in your client with a repeatable journey with milestones to trigger connectivity, communication and delight 
When you have a repeatable process each client goes through from beginning to end YOU have more confidence to sell 
A system to ensure you have happy, loyal customers who will refer you often to others as well as repeat business 
Where does a customer journey fit into your business?
From the moment your lead becomes a qualified prospect- meaning they want more information from you 
During the sales call 
During the follow-up process
Onboarding (critical place)
During the servicing 
As your project comes to an end 
What should you consider in each phase?
From the moment your lead becomes a qualified prospect- meaning they want more information from you How are you keeping the excitement high and adding value 
During the sales call How are you keeping the excitement high and adding value 
During the follow-up processHow are you making them feel?- stressed/turned off or enlightened and excited, that your helpful? 
Onboarding (critical place)How are you showing your gratitude? Do you send them a thank you? 
What are you communicating to them and when? 
During the servicing What milestones do you over-communicate? (very important) 
As your project comes to an end How are you delivering your outcome? How are you surprising and delighting them? 
Do you ask for reviews or feedback? If you don’t ask the answer will always be no. 
CONNECT WITH GWEN: 
Get More New Clients NOW with my FREE Sales Audit- CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

027 10 Sales Myths Holding YOU Back

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Today girlfriends,  I want to go back to the basics of selling and start from the beginning! We are building that sales toolkit so let's start with a strong foundation, but first we need to bust some common sales misconceptions. 
 Key Takeaways:
#1 Selling is something that happens when only getting someone to buy!  Wrong!  Selling is a part of every piece of your business!  The REAL selling happens once they say YES!  
#2 You have to be an extrovert or a people person to be successful 
#3 You can’t turn down a potential client 
#4 "Discounting is the best way to close a deal
#5 Closing is the most important part of the sales process
#6  Selling is about convincing 
 #7 You have to be pushy and aggressive 
#8 Working with a sales coach is high-pressure
#9  The Client is always right 
#10 Being flexible is what your clients want 
 
CONNECT WITH GWEN: 
Get More New Clients NOW with my FREE Sales Audit- CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

026 Stop Throwing Yourself Under The Bus- The Accountability Coach's Roadmap To Success

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Amanda journey: 
2017 laid off- Through a series of interviews realized she wanted to be a coach. 
Said yes to everything that came her way, and found through saying yes to those things she realized what she didn’t want to do. 
 Key Takeaways:
Tracking and measuring- “ a tracked number grows”  It’s the road map that gets us to our vision
Income producing activities are the measurable actions that will become our road map to our vision. 
Amanda definition of accountability- Taking ownership of your actions or lack thereof and the outcome that happens. - No buses allowed, not throwing ourselves or others under the bus. 
You cannot control whether someone pays on your website, that’s on them. You can control, how many emails you send out, how many podcast episodes you produce etc.
90 day goals 
3 things you have to do to set a realistic goal-  (when these things are off this is when you need a coach)
 You have to know what you ACTUALLY want - most people go after what they think they should want- if you are sitting in the should bucket it’s going to feel hard the whole time, and you will always struggle to take action, because someone else is driving that- it’s external.  Ask WHY -
You have to know your capacity-  your time, finances, skills and energy- 
Know your commitment - the willingness - equation-  your performance is a function of your capacity, skills, and willingness.
We all choose our hard, working for someone else is hard, and working for ourselves is hard 
 
 Connect with Amanda, The Accountability Coach: 
Take Amanda's productivity quiz on her website
Listen to her podcast
Connect on Instagram 
 
CONNECT WITH GWEN: 
Get More New Clients NOW with my FREE Sales Audit- CLICK HERE
Connect with me on Insta- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
 
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will respond directly to you! 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

025 When This Mom Had Enough : Grit, Tenacity and Sales Realities

Sales Lessons:
Drawing parallels between parenting, entrepreneurship, and the art of selling Gwen emphasizes the importance of facing challenges head-on and maintaining authenticity in all endeavors.
Key Takeaways:
Gwen encourages listeners to recognize their inherent value and expertise in selling, emphasizing the power of authenticity in building trust and credibility.
Reflecting on the transformative nature of her parenting journey, she urges entrepreneurs to embrace challenges with confidence and resilience, regardless of external judgments.
 
CONNECT WITH GWEN: 
CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTA- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
GET YOUR FREE SALES EFFICIENCY AUDIT - CLICK HERE
www.gritandtenacityconsulting.com
 
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will share it in upcoming podcasts. 
Have a Question? Ask HERE

024 Strategic Marketing as Your Silent Sales Partner: A 9-Grid Approach

From innovative Instagram strategies and the challenges of being a working mom to the importance of effective marketing and building genuine relationships. Ruthie and Gwen explore help you navigate showing up consistently while saving you hours by using a 9-Grid on your Instagram! 
* Ruthie Sterrett, founder of Consistency Corner, introduced a new strategy called the '9 grid' aiming to transform an Instagram profile into a mini website. She emphasized the importance of sales and marketing collaboration and intentionality in social media strategy.
* Ruthie emphasized the importance of marketing in driving business growth, even though it's not directly monetizable. She recommended a time budget of 10 to 15 hours for a 9 grid social media content
 
CONNECT WITH GWEN: 
CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTA- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE B3 FRAMEWORK- CLICK HERE
GET YOUR FREE SALES EFFICIENCY AUDIT - CLICK HERE
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BRANDING BUSINESS SCHOOL (use code: GWEN to save)- CLICK HERE
Connect with Ruthie and The Consistency Corner https://www.theconsistencycorner.com/press 
I hope these tips help! Keep in touch! Leave me a message at gritandtenacityconsulting@gmail.com or INSTAGRAM 
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will share it in upcoming podcasts. 
Have a Question? Ask HERE
 
 

023 Mindful Entrepreneurship; Shifting focus to love your business again

Dive into actionable tips for navigating challenging business seasons, fostering a positive mindset, and ensuring client success. Explore topics such as mindset shifts, effective client communication, and leveraging client wins to elevate your business. Don't miss out on these empowering conversations with actionable insights to propel your business forward.
In this episode:  
Every time I start to feel anxious I realize that I am operating and focusing on: 
What I don’t have, what I can’t control and the future.   I now pause when I realize I'm doing this and recenter to focus on: 
Being appreciative for where I am, the things I can control and present- This gives me instant peace.  From there I can the think to what I can control and the future which gives me my power back!  (Brad Bizack -
Every time I start to feel anxious I realize that I am operating and focusing on: 
What I don’t have, what I can’t control and the future.   I now pause when I realize I”m doing this and recenter to focus on: 
Being appreciative for where I am, the things I can control and present- This gives me instant peace.  From there I can the think to what I can control and the future which gives me my power back!
Every time I start to feel anxious I realize that I am operating and focusing on: 
What I don’t have, what I can’t control and the future.   I now pause when I realize I”m doing this and recenter to focus on: 
Being appreciative for where I am, the things I can control and present- This gives me instant peace.  From there I can the think to what I can control and the future which gives me my power back! https://www.bradbizjack.com/
4 Steps to fall back in love with your clients
Step 1: Conduct a  Features/Benefit/Advantage analysis: So often we operate on autopilot and we start talking about things that our future clients may or may not care about.  I’ll give you an example; If you're a website designer you know all the behind-the-scenes nuances that go into producing a beautiful website (templates, SEO, platforms etc). What your clients care about is having a website they can be proud of and that will help them get more visible online.  
Step2 : Evaluate your clients- what did you like or not like- If you have found you are working with a group of people that take your energy not give, then something needs to change.
Step 3: Evaluate your Consult/Fit calls-   If you're working with people who take your energy you likely are missing key questions to ask during these calls that could save you a ton of headaches. 
Step 4:  Ask for feedback- How do you keep your energy high and how do you know when you have a satisfied customer?  Do you ask for your clients to share their wins because of how you have helped them? 
Finally 5 places you need to sharing your client's WINS
5 places you need to make sure you are sharing the wins of your clients (pro tip: never claim responsibility for the wins, make the client the hero)
Insta stories and reels
Email campaigns
Social platforms (Facebook; Insta; membership groups)
Website
Sales Deck/Demo
CONNECT WITH GWEN: 
CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTA- @GRITANDTENACITYCONSULTING
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE B3 FRAMEWORK- CLICK HERE
GET YOUR FREE SALES EFFICIENCY AUDIT - CLICK HERE
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BRANDING BUSINESS SCHOOL (use code: GWEN to save)- CLICK HERE
I hope these tips help! Keep in touch! Leave me a message at gritandtenacityconsulting@gmail.com or INSTAGRAM 
HAVE A QUESTION?
 Ask it here and I will share it in upcoming podcasts. 
Have a Question? Ask HERE