Rules You Need Break to Get Your Business to Multi-6 or 7 Figures (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Isaac Ho discusses the rules you need to break to build a six- or seven-figure business. Isaac Ho is a master sales coach, six-figure business owner, regarded health expert and dad. He helps growth-oriented entrepreneurs and business owners overcome the nasty feeling of never being good enough and the overwhelm of their outdated business model.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

The rules entrepreneurs need to break to build a successful business
How to adjust your pricing model to earn more in less time
How do our internal beliefs prevent us from achieving success

Archaic Pricing Models

The first thing entrepreneurs need to do to achieve success is to stop using a pricing model that does not serve them or give them the outcomes they want. When Isaac learned this, it took him from charging about $200 an hour to having $16k, $30k, and $60k clients.

Often people come up with the pricing for their business by looking at their costs and adding a margin on top. This is an archaic model that ends up making us burned out and fatigued in our own business, even resenting our work. Being an entrepreneur is not worth it if you can’t have the freedom associated with it.

Charging a Premium for a Premium Product

Another way people price their products or service is by looking at what other people are charging and sticking to the same ballpark. This is a huge problem not only for the reasons discussed above but also because pricing yourself the same as everyone else tells your clients that you’re average.

It boils down to how much you value yourself and the service or product you’re offering. When you have a high-quality product or service, and you’re confident in it, don’t be afraid to charge a premium. People expect to pay top-dollar for top-quality and are generally willing to invest more in excellent products and services.

Stop Believing That It Is Hard

Another rule you must break if you want to build a seven-figure business is to stop believing that it is hard. If we think that something is hard, it will be hard. One of the ways we make sales more difficult for ourselves is by focusing on trying to convince the prospect that we’re worth the premium.

Believing that building a successful business was hard also gives us a get-out-of-jail-free card, and we tend to use it as an excuse for not being as successful as we would like.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

What Digital Transformation Actually Means (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Lakshmi Pappu discusses digital transformation. Lakshmi Pappu is Head of Global Digital Transformation: Director at Signify.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

What digital transformation actually means
What companies need to focus on when going through a digital transformation
How the digital transformation journey has changed over the years

Digital Transformation

Digital transformation was a buzzword even before the pandemic, but very few people understood what it meant and were actually doing it rather than paying lip service to it. The term is so widely used that it means different things to different people in different organizations.

To Lakshmi Pappu, digital transformation is about building the right customer-centric experiences for her internal and external customers. It is about creating a customer experience that helps customers make better decisions through the products and services provided by her company — Signify.

Customer-Centricity

There’s a whole process that companies must go through to figure out whether their own processes are the right ones before heading into any kind of transformation initiative. Often, processes grow organically, and if you simply digitize or automate bad practices, you end up with bigger problems.

The tenants of doing digital transformation right include being customer-centric and process-centric. This means companies need to think about the customer as the center of the universe and think about the business processes that need to be changed to deliver the experience they’re trying to deliver.

A Journey Rather than a Project

When undergoing a digital transformation, a business must tweak, observe and test every detail to be able to improve things as time goes on. One of the things that challenge people most is the fact that the days of being able to implement a discreet project, dust off your hands, sit back and relax, are gone.

We’ve gone through the journey of technology as a service model with a product-centric approach and reached a stage where we must think about solutions on a roadmap with the ability to iterate.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Leading Through Language (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Thomas Zweifel discusses leading through language. Thomas Zweifel has had quite an interesting journey from ski instructor to CEO, working as a construction worker, actor, director, animator, and copywriter.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

How our language can shape our reality
Why do people have trouble understanding the power of language
The power of authentic communication in sales

Language Creates Reality

Thomas believes that, through language, we generate the reality that we encounter. Our brains are conditioned so that they only see what we already believe in, and they will only select the evidence that is consistent with their existing beliefs.

This is why communication is the water that leaders swim in. The good news is that effective communication can solve any issue, from misunderstandings, through failed mergers, failed sales, or lost clients, all the way to preventing divorce or lawsuits.

Power of Words

Today we live in a culture where language has become quite casual, and people don’t seem to pay as much attention to what they’re saying as they used to. We are quite unconscious about the way we communicate, and we think that what we say is only a representation of reality and that it doesn’t actually create reality.

However, whatever you put into words can and will become real. So, we need to treat whatever we say as a commitment. Unfortunately, people don’t understand the power of words and how they can impact your life.

Communication as the Solution

Any competent salesperson knows that sales is not about broadcasting the greatness of your product. It is actually about trying to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and listening to them, seeing what their dreams, fears, and concerns are, and what they need.

This effectively allows salespeople to customize their sales pitch depending on the customer’s needs. There’s a certain level of self-discipline required to take a step back and listen because, as salespeople, we’re motivated to close the sale. This means we need to discipline ourselves to have a proper conversation with our customers, rather than “talking at them.”

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

The Future of Medical Practice (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Aaron Hartman discusses the future of the medical practice. Aaron Hartman started Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine to provide access to advanced integrative and functional medicine, evaluations, and treatments to patients in the greater Richmond area and by way of telemedicine.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

How the medical reimbursement system works
The idea behind membership models
Why the current reimbursement system makes patients feel like they’re on a conveyer belt

Same Old System

Medical practices have not changed very much over the past couple of decades in terms of the way they’re set up. It is really the doctors that are different, rather than how they operate. The way our grandparents went to see a doctor in their youth is basically the same system we’re using now.

With the reimbursement system, the big payers — big companies, Medicare, CMS, etc. are asking for value, so they keep using the same old method to create value via quality metrics. However, the actual science of medicine is going in a different direction.

Membership Models

Doctors trying to keep up with the times are stuck between the industry and science. This results in people jumping ship and doing direct primary care, whereby they do not accept insurance and charge their patients a monthly fee instead.

The underlying idea behind these membership models is that they allow medical professionals to minimize the overhead and run micro-practices. Many people don’t realize that 25% of their doctor’s overhead goes toward dealing with insurance companies, so if they can get rid of the insurance, doctors can create more value for the same cost.

Time vs. Procedure

The problem with current medicine is that it requires cognitive work and time. It takes time to think about patients, but the system pays for procedures. This means that we have a system of driving procedures, while what we really need is cognitive time.

Unfortunately, the fact that the system drives procedures leads to a situation where patients feel like they are not being given enough time with their doctors.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

What Should Entrepreneurs Think About Before Starting a Company? (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Zev Siegl discusses what it takes to start a new company and what prospective entrepreneurs should think about. Zev Siegl is a co-founder of the Starbucks Coffee Company and founder of Quartermaine Coffee Roasters and socialbees.com. He is a much-sought-after international keynote speaker.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

What people should think about when starting a new company
Why every startup needs a financial expert
How to address the connection with the customer

Starting with the Basics

There are a lot of people interested in starting their own company rather than going back to work for someone else. The first thing that they need to think about is whether they are in the right industry and whether they can make a profit.

The founders of Starbucks started looking into the coffee industry in the fall of 1970 and quickly found out that it was the right industry to be in, that they could make a profit, and do it at several different levels of the industry.

Managing Finances

Another thing that people need to think about is whether they can manage the finances of the startup and the operation/company. This is a big deal because so many people have great ideas but don’t have the financial management skills.

If prospective investors figure out that the entrepreneur doesn’t have a CFO or even an accountant, they will not invest. So, make sure you have a financial person on tap — they don’t necessarily have to be an employee or a partner.

What’s in It for the Customer?

Finally, prospective entrepreneurs need to think about what is in it for the customer. This is something that happens a lot with digital entrepreneurs. They get all revved up about a new platform that they can put together or a piece of software that will save money in a particular industry, like, say, solar power installation.

However, the simple fact that a piece of software has the potential to save solar power installers some money doesn’t mean that they’re going to buy it. So, this connection with the customer needs to be addressed. People in the tech industry create dummy apps or minimum viable products that look like apps but have nothing in the backend. The idea is to get a sense of whether you’re on to something or not through informal focus groups.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Transform Your Marketing and Turn Customers into Evangelists (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Wayne Mullins discusses his book Full Circle Marketing: Transform Your Marketing and Turn Customers into Evangelists. Wayne Mullins is a CEO, entrepreneur, and author. He founded Ugly Mug Marketing, which has won a lot of praise over the years.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

The fact that marketing comes down to psychology
How most of us can’t even define what marketing is
Why do our marketing campaigns often fail due to having a diluted message

Fundamentals

It is refreshing to come back to the underlying fundamentals, strip away the technology in marketing, and focus on its psychological part. At the end of the day, it is the psychological aspect that drives decisions, not the technology itself.

You can have the best tool or platform in the world and even the biggest audience in the world. Still, if you violate fundamental foundational human psychology principles, your messages will fall flat. They will not resonate, people will not take action, and you will never convert customers into evangelists.

Defining Marketing

We always assume that we know what marketing is, but many would likely struggle if you asked them to define what it is and is not. If you can’t define marketing correctly, you don’t have much of a chance of getting it right for your business.

Wayne Mullins and his associates define marketing as “your ability to attract and to keep a customer.” However, there is more to keeping a customer than most people think. It is not just about them coming back every few years for purchase. When Wayne talks about keeping a customer, he means turning them into an evangelist for his products, services, and brands.

Diluted Message

In his book, Wayne says that long-term success does not come from easy, quick fixes but long-term thinking and strategizing. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we often become short-sighted as it relates to our marketing.

As a result of our constant struggle to keep everything else in our business under control, we often leave the marketing to others, outsourcing to ad reps and marketing companies without really thinking about what we want our message to be. This leaves us with a diluted message, as there is no cohesive thought or strategy behind all our running ads.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Why Focusing On Our Relationship With Power Will Elevate Leadership (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Runa Bouius discusses why we need to focus on our relationship to power to elevate leadership. Runa Bouius is a serial entrepreneur from Iceland and the founder of the True Power Institute. She is a speaker, author, executive coach, and consultant to visionary leaders, entrepreneurs, and people of influence.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

Our strange relationship with power
Why our greatest power is the power of self-reflection
How childhood limitations lead us to become disempowered adults

Relationship with Power

Most of us have a strange relationship with power, similar to the one we have with money — it feels like a taboo topic to talk about, so we avoid it. Most people go through life thinking that they have no power, and others go through life doing everything they can to get power and hold onto it.

This is most obvious in the political arenas all over the planet. This abuse of power jeopardizes democracy and puts the planet out of balance, similar to how things are with the climate at the moment. In fact, our power imbalance is the primary cause of our imbalance with nature.

Self-Reflection

The greatest power we have is the power of self-reflection and focusing on how we show up in the world. Most people think of external or positional power when they think about power. They think of people in corner offices or the senate, presidents, CEOs, and world leaders.

In truth, we all have power, and it is there for the taking if we have an intention to tap into it. It is all about cultivating leadership from the inside, in connection to something bigger than ourselves. Instead of hoping for or wanting power or thinking we have no external power, we need to reflect and claim our own power.

Internal Power

If you can’t lead yourself or find leadership within your own environment, whether that is being a great parent or a great spouse, hoping for a lot of external power will take you nowhere. You have to be able to lead yourself first and prove this ability before you can ever lead other people.

As children, we constantly check our powers and limitations, and of course, our parents are the first to put these limitations on us. But often, some things happen in childhood that lead us to believe that we don’t have power. This means people often reach adulthood feeling disempowered.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

How to Get Over the Fear of Sales Calls (video)

In this Expert Insight Interview, Nina Cooke discusses how to get over the fear of sales calls. Nina Cooke is a mindset coach for entrepreneurs. She helps entrepreneurs break through limiting beliefs to achieve their business goals, create impact, and above all, make more money.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

Why people have a fear of sales calls
Why sales calls are not only necessary but essential
How we often sabotage our own success

Fear of Sales Calls

Many people, especially entrepreneurs, enter a business because they are passionate about the product or service, but they don’t necessarily see themselves as salespeople. On the other hand, many salespeople default into a sales job as their first position out of college, and sometimes it becomes a reluctant career. Still, they are never quite able to get over the fear and trepidation of making calls.

When we start a business, we’re the expert in that particular product or service, and suddenly we’re forced to become a sales expert, a marketing expert, a tech expert, etc. It can take so much time trying to do these things when all we want to do is deliver the service we’re passionate about.

Why Sales Calls Are Essential

When making sales calls, we’re fantastic at convincing ourselves into a negative outcome, not even expecting to get somebody on the phone. Sometimes, when we get the person we’re trying to reach, we’re so shocked that we don’t even know where to start.

Unfortunately, without having regular sales conversations, you’re unlikely to get many clients, especially high-paying ones.

Self-Sabotage

People are often reluctant to admit to themselves that they are being held up by limiting beliefs. However, we all know the physical response that we experience when we have trepidation about something. Once people acknowledge this physiological response, it becomes hard for them to deny that the limiting belief is there.

Entrepreneurs go into business wanting time freedom, financial freedom, flexibility in their schedule, the ability to spend more time with their families, etc. And yet, they often end up sabotaging their success by doing things that work against them rather than for them.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.