Nowadays, the Internet has lowered the entry barriers and opened business opportunities for so many business owners. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Parker Stevenson discusses the mistakes that owners of small online businesses make with their finances. Parker Stevenson is a Co-Owner and Chief Business Officer at Evolved Finance, a bookkeeping and business education company, for online business owners to become profitable.

The interview discusses:

• Understanding and paying attention to the numbers
• Small businesses’ vulnerability
• Advice for people thinking about opening their own business

Know and Understand Your Numbers

The main mistake people make is not paying attention to the numbers. They only know that they will have taxes to pay at the end of the year, but even that is a problem that an accountant can fix. Or, they look at the merged accounts, and they see that there is money coming in, which has to mean that they have money. But, what about the money that is going out? Since many online business owners are consultants, bloggers, coaches, etc., who probably won’t be able to sell their business later, is it is crucial to find a system that will make the profits now.

Another common mistake is to intermingle between personal and business accounts. These two need to be separated. Many people do not know these things because they never had to deal with this type of responsibility, and that is why it is helpful to get professional help as early as possible, such as a bookkeeper and accountant. These professionals can help you to understand your finances better.

Cash Flow

Marketing and sales are the parts that online business owners focus on the most, but as revenue starts to increase, managing cash flow becomes vital as well. Small businesses usually struggle more with cash flow because sometimes it takes more than 30 days to receive money, leaving the cash inflows vulnerable compared to cash outflows. Smaller businesses are more at risk. So, investing in a financial professional to help you understand and plan your finances is for the overall well-being of your business.

Be Brave

Some of the reasons that limit us in opening our own business are self-doubting and thinking that other people know more than us. But the truth is, they also just figure out things as they go. Thus, we have to overcome the imposter syndrome, do the things we want to, make mistakes, learn quickly from them, and continue to go forward. The only recipe for success is to stay focused on the plan and not to quit when things get hard.

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.

It seems like sometimes we forget that life is about happiness. And since happiness comes from high-quality relationships, in this Expert Insight Interview, Pete Bowen discusses three steps to create relationships with the use of covenant leadership. Pete Bowen is an expert in high-performance leadership, organization, and culture with more than 30 years of experience.

The interview discusses:

• Seeking wisdom
• Practicing love to inspire performance
• Giving results to the people

Seek Wisdom

The first step in the process is to seek wisdom because people will always follow the one whose knowledge and character they trust. Wisdom comes from experience. For example, you can read about how to use a break in the car, but that does not mean that you will know how to use it. Only after actually using it a couple of hundred times while driving a car, using a break becomes part of your habitual behavior. Wisdom is a very critical component to build a high trust with the people to make them want to do business with you. Think about it, when you go for the surgery, you want a doctor who has the experience to do the surgery well and whose expertise you can trust.

Practice Love

The second step in covenant leadership is to practice love. By knowing that they are loved, people get inspired for higher performance and are open to commitment. Nowadays, around 70 percent of employees who left their jobs left because they didn’t like how their managers treated them. Little things as knowing people’s names, their spouse’s names, or their job position within the large firm, go a long way. Loving someone means having their best interest as your priority. Thus, we should make love a habit and watch how it transforms people.

Give Results

The previous two steps lose their significance if we do not conclude it with the last step, which is to give results. That means showing people that you can close a deal and finish the project successfully. Covenant leadership is a simple and effective way to create high quality and high trust relationships with yourself, friends, family, and at work because these relationships are the key to high performance. However, the hardest part is to start a conversation, but there are three steps for it as well. Those three steps are to ask people about their story, their professional challenge, and their passion in life. After that, listen actively and with love because those insights will be valuable in dealing with them in the future.

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.

Fear of failure is a much more popular topic nowadays than fear of success. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Daniel Mangena discusses how to overcome the fear of success and live an abundant, joyful, and purpose-driven life by choice. Daniel Mangena is CEO of Dream with Dan, coach, motivational speaker, and two times bestselling author.

The interview discusses:

Success comes from within
How to start looking internally
How to define success
How to take control of your life

The Mind Game

Our mind is a quiet executor of all our wishes. Everything that we have, we unconsciously wanted to have. So, if we unconsciously didn’t want to be successful, that is the reason why we are still not successful. Even though it is easier to look for external factors and blame the circumstances around us for our current situation, change and success have to come internally.

Choose Success

Today, we live in a society that encourages superficiality, lack of attention, and fast pace in everything, but we can choose whether we want to participate in it or not. We always make choices, both consciously and unconsciously. On average, we have around 60,000 unconscious thoughts in a day, and those thoughts are the reflection of the environment that we encourage or disrupt when we are being conscious of what we are doing. We are aware of our actions only three to ten percent of the day, so during that time, we have to choose success so that our brain has the correct information about what we want to achieve while being unconscious.

Define Success

Sometimes, it is hard to define what success means for us. So, we have to intentionally use our time to think of questions like what do we really want, why do we want it, and what is our leverage to use over ourselves when things get hard. It is crucial to define what success means for us so that we can feel accomplished. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in a state of incompletion, instability, and uncertainty.

Take Control of Your Life

People are unaware of how much control they have over their lives. We gain that control through acceptance of where we are at the moment. For example, you know that in order to sell, you will have to pick up a phone and start calling, and you accepted it. From acceptance, we come to a place to make empowering decisions. You can decide either to call prospects yourself or to hire someone else to do that job for you. Doing a gentle but honest self-reflection, learning, and accepting who you are, gives you the energy to create the life for yourself that you want to live.

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.

Due to the pandemic, salespeople among the rest of the business professionals had to transition their work to entirely online. Hence, in this Expert Insight Interview, Henry Daas discusses online sales. Henry Daas is a founder of daasKnowledge, providing professional coaching primarily for entrepreneurs, and the author of FQ: Financial Intelligence.

The interview discusses:

• The adjustments following the transition to online
• Strategies to improve verbal communication
• The importance of the selection of prospective customers

Transition to Online

Many people who were excellent in sales in traditional face-to-face environments cannot adjust to the new online environment, while for some, online environment was the reason to flourish. The big adjustment to make for online work is to understand the difference between the online and face-to-face way of doing business. Communication does not consist only of speaking words, but also of our tone, non-verbal communication, body language, eye contact, etc. However, some people do not even want to turn on their camera when having a Zoom meeting. Those things, other than verbal communication, are a big challenge in online work because they are hard to replicate virtually. So, the only thing we can do is to advance our spoken game.

Verbal Communication

Moreover, some of the strategies for advancement in verbal communication with your customers are active listening and mirroring back. While someone is talking, active listeners do not think of their next sentence but actually focus on what that person is saying. Mirror back to your customers means listening to them and then repeating your understanding to them. In that case, you would start your sentence with “Let me see if I got this right…”. This way, you show your customers that you value what they have to say and want to understand their wants and needs.

Choose Quality

Considering that the Internet became a significant part of today’s life in general, it is a perfect moment to put yourself out there as a thought leader on your subject matter. That way, you will make your customers come to you instead. Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn are some of the tools that have enormous passive marketing potential. However, be careful and selective with your customers. It is always better to go for clients that fit your ideal sales avatar than to chase the volume. Companies, no matter if large or small, are notorious for not empowering their employees with sales training but giving them sales quotas regularly, and that is what causes employees to aim for the volume. Still, with only a couple of high-quality conversations, you will probably book more high-value prospects than someone who chases sales volume.

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 term Googlization represents the merging of people, business, and technology. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Ira Wolfe discusses recruiting in the Age of Googlization. Ira Wolfe is a Chief Googlization Officer at Success Performance Solutions, helping companies to perform faster recruiting and smarter hiring.

The interview discusses:

• Changes in the application process
• The importance of data analytics
• The REACH recruiting method
• The effects of automation on the recruiting process

The Job Application

Traditional filling out a job application on a paper has been replaced with quick applying on numerous jobs searching websites. However, the foundation has not changed. Companies still ask more personal questions than ones related to job qualifications. So, in the world in which Amazon updates its software every 11 seconds to provide a better customer experience to its users, how is it possible that the job application process still hasn’t evolved as well?

Data Analysis

Just like marketing, recruiting is also looking at qualifying data to choose the best candidates. HR does collect numerous data, but it does not use it in the right way. If we do not use data for data analytics, then all that data becomes useless. There are different departments for collecting data within the company, but the level of disconnection between them makes data utilization in the right way impossible.

The REACH

Following the REACH method can significantly improve the company’s recruitment process. The first two steps are basic marketing strategies to Reach and Engage with the candidates. Next comes the process of Applying. Many companies have a 70 to 90 percent abandoning rate. They do the marketing part well, but because their application process is too lengthy, people decide to back out from it. The following step is Conversation. After applying, candidates always get an automatic message thanking them for their interest in the job, but then they never hear back from the company. And lastly, the Hiring part. The hiring process is not over with the job offer. Onboarding and following through with the newly hired person are also parts of the hiring process.

The Automation

The recruiting process benefited from technology innovation by getting the process automatized, but at the same time, it lost on human contact. The point of automation was to free up the time once used for the manual work so that HR can focus more on people. As a business function, HR also has its KPIs that measure its success. One of them is diversity and inclusion. And while technology can help to have the right percentage of the diverse workforce hired, people are the ones who have to ensure inclusion within the organization.

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.

Do you want to become an entrepreneur, but you are scared of failure? In this Expert Insight Interview, Michael Lane discusses entrepreneurship and leadership. Michael Lane is a Managing Director at Success Resources, focused on empowering entrepreneurs around the world by giving them a world-class education.

The interview discusses:

• Lack of leadership skills for many entrepreneurs
• Things to consider as an entrepreneur
• How to keep up with fresh ideas to stay sustainable

Get a Mentor

Many professions have an apprenticeship program helping you to start right with your career, but entrepreneurship lacks it. People usually start their business as solopreneurs, and then they get lost somewhere in the process. Thus, it is crucial to find a mentor who can direct your way to success. The mentor helps you to identify what matters the most to you, teaches you about leading yourself first to be able to lead others in the future, equips you with other business knowledge, and then lets you go in the world to scale your business. The entrepreneurial journey is a process of many steps that teach you how to handle the highs and lows of being your own boss.

Think Big

Success does not come easily. It requires a lot of thinking and finding out what is the difference that you desire to make. Many people haven’t found their true passion even if they think they have, and that is what stands on their way to success. Finding a true passion gives you a reason to get up early from bed and to stay up late in the night if you have to. Also, it gives you the strength to push forward when things get tough. People who found their true passion harder quit on it. The other important thing is that when you think of the difference you want to make, think of humanity and not of yourself. People like to stay in their comfort zone, and that is why you need a mentor who can help you to expand your mind and think globally.

Focus on New Ideas

Entrepreneurs mitigate the risk by calculating it and then making a bold decision to go for it. And then, the growth comes by continuing to step up. We live in a world in which keeping sustainability means continually evolving new ideas. That is why at one point, you have to stop being the revenue producer and create the team that will do that part of the business for you so that you can focus solely on the new ideas to help humanity. By manifesting new ideas to your team the soonest you get them, you stimulate the coming of newer ideas.

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 are the advantages of digital transformation? In this Expert Insight Interview, Bilyana Georgieva discusses the company’s digitalization and new opportunities arising from it. Bilyana Georgieva is a Digital Nerd and Keynote Speaker who trains companies and virtual event organizers.

The interview discusses:

• Digital transformation
• Digital technology opportunities
• Process digitalization

Digital as a New Normal

The recent Covid-19 crisis has shown us that nowadays, going digital is a must. Hence, changes are necessary, and ‘online life’ is our new normal. When it comes to companies, they are facing persistent pressure to digitize all their activities. In order to see the level of your company’s digitalization, you should calculate how many days or months you need to organize remote working. The second important thing is to realize employee’s adaptability to the change and their perception of new opportunities to improve profitability, reduce costs, and boost revenue. Therefore, you will have to train your employees to work in a digital environment. Now more than ever, time management will be of great importance to everybody. Moving from analog to digital will help you to share your information rapidly and without unnecessary expenses.

New Opportunities

When going digital, you should be aware that you will have to do things differently. It means that ways of communication will change when switching from face to face meetings to online conversations. It is of great importance to see it as an opportunity to reduce your travel costs by gathering more people settled all around the world at the same time. Also, you have the chance to do it more frequently and not just once or twice a year as before. Besides, you will have more time to discuss with your stakeholders and introduce new ideas. Hence, moving into a different way of thinking and embracing of the digital craft will allow you to transform yourself and add a new virtue into your portfolio.

Process Digitalization

Reorganization of the company comes as a consequence of introducing new technologies and going digital. Thus, it is understandable why we have to accept new concepts. It will create new positions and change most of the job descriptions. Mindset shifting will be of great importance when going into transition. Besides, the opportunity of reaching people more easily has to be in your focus. Organizing frequent online meetings or group gatherings will help you to achieve consistency while doing business. Also, the organization of focus groups, round tables, and panels will help you in sharing knowledge and expertise through your company much faster. Regardless of the form, online connection and cooperation will improve and build up your business. It also allows you to create your online community.

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.

Law firms have to convince potential clients that they will be the best fit to provide them a service, which is a sales process. So, in this Expert Insight Interview, Allison Williams discusses efficient intake for law firms, aka phone sales. Allison Williams is a Law Firm Mentor, which is a business coach for solo and small law firm owners to grow their revenues.

The interview discusses:

• How to remove the sales stigma from the communication
• Traits and characteristics of fine intake professional

The Sales Stigma

A common misconception with professional services firms is that they are not “in business.” However, not understanding that they still have to sell their services to the potential clients and not ensuring that every person is in a sales pipeline is a loss of business opportunity. The intake person in the law firm has the first contact with the prospective client, and that contact usually determines whether the prospect chooses the firm. That is why it is of utmost importance to remove the sales stigma from that conversation. The main concern is how to convince that person to schedule a meeting and pay for it. And the key is not to focus on the convincing part but the actual person. By gathering the information about people, you will connect and learn their point of urgency, direct them towards coming to the office and lastly, try to sell them the solution they need. The goal is to get a prospective client emotionally connected with the idea of coming to the office. By asking clients to identify the significance of the problem and reassuring them that coming to the office was the right decision, you help clients to overcome their internal objections.

Piece of PIE

Calling a law firm is a very emotional and stressful process for potential clients, so showing empathy, compassion, and kindness plays a significant role in proving to clients that you care to help them. An intake professional must be a piece of PIE where P stands for personable, I for inquisitive, and E for the employee. Personable is someone who is conversational, naturally empathetic, and trustworthy. Inquisitiveness means being able to learn how clients’ problems affect their circumstances. Some people share more information, while some are more reserved, and you need to extract valuable information from both types of people. Allowing people to talk, listening to them, and doing the pregnant pause enables you to control the tone of the communication and to find out what matters to them to be able to reach the sale point. And as in the last part of the PIE, an employee needs to possess the right, serving-oriented mindset while working.

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.