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Faith2Influence - A conversation with Justin
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Justin Janowski began his entrepreneurial journey just like many others—with uncertainty and fear, but also with a strong desire to build a faith-driven, impactful, and financially successful business. He has helped hundreds of coaches build their dream businesses from the ground up.
Driven by his faith, he founded Faith2Influence to help people learn what it takes to turn coaching into a profitable business venture.
Justin has guided Christian and non-Christian coaches alike, through the rewarding process of optimizing business models, pricing, and sales strategies so that they can scale their income alongside their impact.
He has a passion for sharing this process with emerging Entrepreneurs to help them simplify and grow their businesses the right way.
Enjoy this episode and don't forget to leave your key take aways.
Cheers !
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Transcript
Introduction: Faith in Business
00:00:00
Speaker
That's a great question. For me, I feel like God is the center of my world and he is who called me to this business. I feel like God has prepared me throughout my life to do the work that I'm doing right now. So it feels like a calling more than it feels like a job.
00:00:14
Speaker
And for me, especially in the early days, but even now, like again and again, I have to surrender to God and just say, God, I trust you with this. like I know I can't solve all the problems on my own. and I know I'm not. I don't have all of the answers on my own. It's like, in humility, can the foundation of the success I've had in my business. Welcome to the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast where I sit down with successful entrepreneurs and hear their stories from their biggest failures to their greatest successes. You get a behind the scenes look at what it really takes to make it as an entrepreneur. So come along for the ride and let's explore the entrepreneurial journey to get. My guest began his entrepreneurial journey just like many others.
00:01:12
Speaker
with uncertainty and fear, but also with a strong desire to build a faith-driven, impactful, and successful business. He has helped hundreds of coaches build their dream businesses from the ground up. Driven by his faith, he founded Faith to Influence to help people learn what it takes to turn coaching into a profitable business venture.
00:01:39
Speaker
My guest has guided Christian and non-Christian coaches alike through the rewarding process of optimizing business models, pricing, and sales strategies so they can scale their income alongside their impact.
Founding Faith to Influence
00:01:55
Speaker
He has a passion for sharing this process with imagined entrepreneurs to help them simplify and grow their business the right way.
00:02:04
Speaker
My guest today is Justin Janoski. Welcome to my show, Justin. Thanks for having me, Kofi. I'm excited to be here. Good to have you on my show. Justin, to start off, tell us a bit about your personal journey and what led you to found Faith to Influence.
00:02:21
Speaker
Well, I've been in sales since I was 18 years old. I sold Cutco kitchen knives in home presentations. and And then I got into financial planning for a little bit. I did some business to business sales. I hired my first couple of coaches. I loved the work I was doing with them and how they were helping me. And I said, I want to do that. I started working for another coaching organization doing sales and I loved the work that we were doing.
00:02:44
Speaker
But I felt like it was missing the Spirit of God in it and I wanted to bring my faith into my business. And so I started Faith to Influence in December of 2019 so that I could merge business and entrepreneurship with faith. Wow, wow. That's that that's inspiring. I will delve deep into it as we converse. So you've been on this journey for quite some time. What has the experience really been like?
Embracing Uncertainty with Faith
00:03:10
Speaker
That's a great question. you know It's interesting. the The first year, I wasn't sure if it was going to work. You mentioned when you introduced me that I was uncertain. I had some uncertainty. I was hoping to earn $60,000 my first year, and I was feeling really nervous the first couple of months. I was tossing and turning at night. I couldn't stop thinking about it or turn my brain off. and i was just hoping i could make it but then god provided way beyond what i could imagine and i collected over two hundred fifty thousand dollars in revenue that first year and i've been able to grow since then and so as i had a lot of success i was working with christian entrepreneurs at first. Some christian coaches said hey how are you doing that i wanna learn.
00:03:46
Speaker
And i started talking them about sales i started talking to them about their offers in the pricing and that's when i decide to work specifically with coaches i love helping coaches bring their vision to life i feel like i've been really blessed to get to do what i do and what i love and that it's gone so well.
00:04:01
Speaker
And that doesn't mean it's not without challenges. Like even today, like it's still challenging at times. There's still a question about expenses and revenue and profitability. And there's always going to be the challenge of how are we going to continue to attract more of the ideal clients? And what are the right offerings that feel fun that we can maintain as we scale? How can we create sustainable growth? And so at every single phase of business, there are different sets of problems. They're just, you know, now maybe more expensive, higher level problems, maybe more interesting problems to solve once you reach a certain level of success. But there's always going to be another challenge that we need to conquer. And for me, it's it's been about surrendering to God every step of the way and just trusting Him to deliver me through and having good mentors and people around me and execut executing on smart strategies. All right. Thank you so much for that response. So you've touched on a number of crucial points I want us to unpack. So you've touched on the importance of faith.
00:04:56
Speaker
the importance of God in your business. What really, or if I can put it this way, what how does faith play a very important role in your business?
Guided by Prayer in Business Decisions
00:05:08
Speaker
That's a great question. For me, I feel like God is the center of my world and he is who called me to this business. I feel like God has prepared me throughout my life to do the work that I'm doing right now. So it feels like a calling more than it feels like a job. And for me, especially in the early days, but even now, like again and again, I have to surrender to God and just say, God, I trust you with this.
00:05:29
Speaker
Like I know I can't solve all the problems on my own. I know I'm not, I don't have all of the answers on my own. And so like in humility, can I just surrender to God again and again and trust his plan? Can I bring my questions into him in prayer? Can I bring my businesses needs to him in prayer? All of these things have been really helpful and are certainly the foundation of the success I've had in my business. All right, thank you. So you've underscore the importance of having faith and also making God the center of your business and the center of everything you do. Thank you so much for that.
00:06:02
Speaker
fear Fear has hindered so many people from venture into business. People with great ideas have not been able to take that step because of because of fear. um What has been your experience and what would be your advice to somebody who is afraid to take that step, is afraid to put on their ideas and be able to implement their ideas? Well, a great thing to consider is what's more important to you? Your vision and your dream or your fear?
00:06:31
Speaker
Because only one of them is gonna like exist. For over the long haul you need to either conquer the fear and choose your vision or you need to let go of the the goal in the dream and let your fear when instead. And like that's fine like if that's the route that you take great like instead of starting your business or like acting upon your idea you can have a job and you can provide for your family through that and that's okay.
00:06:53
Speaker
Not everyone's meant to be an entrepreneur. Not everyone's meant to be a speaker. Not everyone's meant to run a podcast like you're doing here. And the people who choose to start businesses or be seen to speak, to create an idea, to share their ideas, open themselves up to judgment. And that's scary. We don't want to make a mistake. We don't want to fail. We don't want to worry about what other people are going to think about what we do. But if we allow those things to be more important to us than our dream, we're never going to have success.
00:07:18
Speaker
If we decide that what we want to accomplish is bigger and more important than that fear or that judgment that we just have to move forward and take the next step even though it feels scary a great piece of wisdom i received when i was a new coach and a new entrepreneur was to do it scared.
00:07:35
Speaker
Don't wait till you're ready. Don't wait till it's perfect, because it's never going to be perfect. You're never going to be ready enough. You just need to do it scared. Imperfect action is going to be perfect in action. So we just need to take the next step, take the next step, take the next step, and repetition creates confidence.
00:07:52
Speaker
So whether it's having sales calls or marketing or running a podcast episode, I'm sure the first podcast episode you did, you were scared. Your heart was beating fast. And if you've run enough podcast episodes, it gets easier every time you do it. It gets more comfortable. It gets more natural. And the same thing is true with holding sales calls, making our offer, working with clients, speaking from stage or anything else you can imagine.
00:08:15
Speaker
Almost everyone who did any of those things was scared when they started doing it and so you simply have to decide are you going to do it scared are you gonna be courageous and if you are and you do that often enough it'll get easier. And if you're gonna let the fear when that's okay but make that conscious choice rather than lying to yourself that it's gonna work without conquering the fear we have to conquer the fear if we're gonna accomplish these goals.
00:08:41
Speaker
We have to conquer the fear if we want to conquer our goals. And that's ah important that gets shared by my guest today, Justin Janoski.
Rethinking Sales and Money
00:08:51
Speaker
Justin, what do you believe about sales and money as a Christian leader?
00:08:55
Speaker
You know, I think a lot of people believe that sales is bad and they believe that it's greedy and that it's bad for the other person and they think it's going to be pushy or manipulative. I think a lot of people think that money is the root of all evil. The Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. But I think people are afraid of earning too much. They're afraid of having success. They're afraid that money is going to turn them into something bad.
00:09:19
Speaker
But typically money like most things just magnifies the person that we already are. And so if we're a generous giving person, more income is gonna allow us to give more. It's a tool for good. And so we need to be thoughtful about the stories we're telling ourselves about sales and money. So many people are in a sales avoidant state as an entrepreneur. They're doing everything they can to avoid actually getting a sales call. Everything they can to avoid actually asking somebody to buy. Everything that they can to avoid actually collecting a payment. Which means that we're like preparing ourselves to go out of business. But the reason why people are avoiding sales is because they think it's going to be this bad thing and i think that making money is gonna be this bad thing and maybe they don't consciously tell themselves that but somewhere back in their mind they've got old stories about what sales and what money is like money is bad sales is greedy or manipulate ever pushy and because they have these old stories they self sabotage and they get in their own way.
00:10:12
Speaker
For me, I've healed those old stories, and I believe that the more I earn, the more I can give. That's what I really believe about money. I believe God's going to bless me and overflow the storehouse, and I'm going to tithe and give back to him, and I'm going to provide for people in my community. I believe regarding sales, that sales when done right is simply making it as easy as possible for the right people to say yes.
00:10:31
Speaker
Sales when done right is like coaching with an invitation at the end of it. Sales when done right feels like leadership. Sales when done right feels really good whether people buy or not. It helps people get more of what they want, become more of who God created them to become. Sales when done right, I believe, can actually be an expression of love.
00:10:47
Speaker
It can be a really wonderful experience. We just need to know how to do it and we need to show up in a way that honors both sides of the conversation. And if we can heal these stories and be empowered in how we feel about sales and money, we're going to remove resistance and we're going to have a lot more success. All right. Thank you so much for this. So so how do you structure a very good sales score? What would be your steps or guidance for someone? How does the person go about structuring a very good sales score?
Effective Sales Strategies
00:11:18
Speaker
I'm gonna break it into three parts. And you know we've got a 10-step sales process that any of your listeners can have for free. If they go to goodsalespdf.com, goodsalespdf.com, they can download it for free and have the whole 10-step process. But for simplicity in the conversation here, if we broke into three parts, there's the opening of the sales call, right? And to me, the opening of the sales call actually begins before you get on the call with your pre-call ritual.
00:11:44
Speaker
recognizing that when you feel good you're gonna do well, having a ritual to get yourself into a peak emotional state before the call even begins really matters. Then we want to briefly get in a rapport and make sure we're communicating in a way that our audience can receive and we're connecting emotionally to our prospects.
00:11:59
Speaker
And then we want to set the pre-frame and the pre-frame to me is the most important part of the conversation. It's where we tell our prospects like what the call is about. We're really transparent that we're on a sales call and that our outcome is to determine whether or not it's a fit for us to work together. And then we explain the journey that we're going to take. You know, I'm going to ask you some questions about where you're at right now, what your vision for the future is and what some of the challenges are that you're facing. And from there, I'll give you some coaching based on what I hear. And if it feels like a good fit, I'll explain really specifically how I work with my clients so that you and I can decide.
00:12:30
Speaker
either to work together or not, work together, and either way is fine with me. Does that sound good to you? We're telling them we're laying out this process, we're asking if it sounds good, and we're getting, yes, we're getting consent to sell, and we're getting an invitation to be the leader on the call. So that's that's the opening. If we do that really well, the rest gets really easy. The heart of the sales call is about discovery, asking questions about the prospects present and past, really making the call about them rather than about us.
00:12:56
Speaker
And then we're gonna get into the vision of what they really want what are their goals for the future what are their dreams what are they trying to accomplish what's important to them. And then we're gonna ask the about the gap or in other words what's the biggest challenge that stands in their way that's preventing them from going where they're at to where they want to go and the things that they want to accomplish.
00:13:14
Speaker
And if we can help them get really clear on where they're at, what they want, and what problem they have to solve to get what they want, we've given them a great service, whether they buy from us or not. But the closing part of the sales call in vlp involves a step called potential futures, where we ask them, well, what's going to happen if you don't solve this problem?
00:13:30
Speaker
What's going to happen if you do solve this problem? What does that make possible? And then what? And how important is this to you? And are you ready to commit to solving this problem? And if they commit to solving the problem, I'm going to tell them, great. If you're committed to solving the problem, I'm really confident I can help. Are you ready to hear how I work with my clients? I'm going to consent again.
00:13:48
Speaker
Now I'm able to actually make my offer to a committed prospect who's very clear on what they need and want, that I'm clear I can help. Now I can share the details of my offer and ask them if they want to buy. And then if they have questions or objections, I'm not going to panic. I'm going to stay relaxed and calm and know that that's part of the process. I'm going to ask good, curious questions to help them make the best decision for themselves. And my job on that sales call is just make it easy for the right people to say yes.
00:14:13
Speaker
If I ask enough for the right questions, it becomes really easy for the right people to say yes. And at some point during that call, they simply begin to recognize that I'm their coach. Right. um So to build on that question, um so how can one be persistent without being pushing a sales call?
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, if you want to be persistent without being pushy, this can be done by being assertive. This can be done by being thoughtful about transitions in the relationship, and this can be done through curiosity. So when do people expect that it's going to feel like they're being pushy. One of the times is at the closing of a sales call, when do we make the offer, and we invite people to buy that if they have an objection, like, is it going to be pushy if we ask questions? Well, objection handlers can the lines that we've created to solve the objection and paint someone into a corner that is pushy. That's aggressive. It doesn't feel so good. But if we install curiosity here, instead, we're going to have a lot more success. So if somebody says, wow, that
00:15:18
Speaker
I'd love to do it, but it's too much money. I'm not going to back them into a corner with a one-liner. I'm going to say, I totally get it. It is a big investment. Tell me more about that for you. And that curiosity allows us to continue the conversation. And then i mates I might talk about their vision again. I totally get it. That makes a lot of sense. You told me before that you wanted to accomplish this and that solving this problem was one of the key opportunities for that.
00:15:43
Speaker
what about you makes you ready to solve this problem now? you know Or questions like that where we're just getting curious with them to help them solve the problem. The other reality is a lot of people feel pushy when they don't close the sale on the first call and they have to do follow up and they have to like send somebody a text or an email like, hey, have you made a decision yet? And if they don't get a reply, then they have to decide how long should they wait before they send the next message. It's almost like dating, it gets really uncomfortable and it feels like somebody's chasing or too desperate or trying too hard, right?
00:16:12
Speaker
So we actually can remove some of the pushiness by ending every single sales call with yes, no, or the next call booked. So if they're not a clear yes, making their payment right now, or they're not a no to our program or our offer, and they want to think about it, that's fine with me, but then I want to book the next call now. Uh, so that we have another zoom call lined up and we're going to make the decision on that call. So if somebody says, I need to talk to my spouse.
00:16:38
Speaker
I don't need to have a pushy answer. I don't need to force them to make the decision without talking to their spouse. I might just say I totally get it. I'd talk to my wife about a decision like this, too. Let me ask you a question, though. Have you made your decision for you yet? If she says whatever you think, I trust you. Do you know what you want to do and help them own their part of the decision?
00:16:57
Speaker
And they're like, I'm in. Okay, awesome. So you just want to make sure that your spouse is on the same page. Makes a lot of sense. How long do you need to talk to your spouse and figure this out? Can you make a decision by tomorrow or do you need till Friday? Friday? Okay, great. Can we just line up a 15 minute call on Friday where I can answer any final questions you have and we can make a decision together?
00:17:15
Speaker
Awesome. I'm going to duplicate today's link. I've got us on Friday at two o'clock and I'll talk with you then. We can make that decision. Any, anything else I can help you with before we wrap up today? Now, now I don't have to have any pushy follow-up tactics. Now I just wait and i I get down that call with them on Friday. We have the conversation.
00:17:32
Speaker
It makes it easier for them to decide. It makes it easier for me to be relaxed. I don't force or push through resistance and I'm not following up like I'm desperate. I'm using thoughtful, influential tactics to make it easy for them and me to find out whether or not our relationship is a win and decide whether or not to move forward. And those things remove the pushiness and sales curiosity. That was a key part of it.
00:17:56
Speaker
Thank you once again. ah So you've been on this journey for quite some time and like any other journey, I'm sure they've been ups and downs.
Overcoming Personal and Business Challenges
00:18:04
Speaker
So can we spend some time for you to share your experience on some of the challenges you've encountered on this journey?
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, man, there there have been a few moments that have felt really challenging. um You know, the first few months did feel scary and challenging just because I didn't know if I could do this or not. I didn't know if it was going to work. And so I just remember feeling that fear and anxiety, um but working through that and having some success. And so I need to surrender to God in that.
00:18:30
Speaker
ah The next challenge came my my sister passed away in this in summer of twenty twenty one and we were really close she died from cancer she was forty two really sad like really um just like life changing moment for me.
00:18:46
Speaker
ah the months preceding her passing and the months after, real grief for the first time in my life and my business ah took a dip after that and and we had our first down year in business, ah ah the year and my sister passed away and that caused us to have to make some big changes because I didn't have as much revenue coming in as I was used to but my expenses were higher than they ever were before because I was considering and planning on growing.
00:19:14
Speaker
And so I had to make some hard decisions. I had to let some team members go at that time that I loved working with because I had to scale expenses back. I also had to realize that the way I designed my business wasn't sustainable ah yeah if if big circumstances like that were to occur again. The way I had my business designed, it required a big lift from me all the time for the business to succeed. And so my sister's passing, while that caused the business to step backwards,
00:19:44
Speaker
ultimately led to me designing a much more thoughtful business model, attracting more ideal team members who are specialized in certain areas of the business and finding a way forward that would allow for more sustained long-term success. And so those are the things that I've been working on now. And even now I still feel like I'm experiencing some growing pains as we're trying to figure out scale. And I'm trying to sort through like, you know, ah new team members and more investment in technology and more investment in online ads and things like that.
00:20:12
Speaker
So my expenses are going up. My profitability isn't yet skyrocketing. So I'm going to still have hard decisions to make. How am I going to be thoughtful about my expenses and my revenue to make sure that we're profitable enough to provide for the needs of my family and the needs of the business and the needs of our team?
00:20:28
Speaker
And or how can we create scale that doesn't require as much of me how can we create an automation where people are buying how can we delegate to other team members and lead through other people who can perform sales and make sure that i'm not having to make all the sales i'm not having to do all the fulfillment and so.
00:20:46
Speaker
those I think have been the biggest challenges. First one, just being scared of being new and trying to figure it all out. Second challenge, losing my sister, going through something really difficult in my personal life and seeing how as a small business that really translated into my business, which caused me to learn better scaling tactics that have gotten me to where I'm at now. But even now, the next phase of scale presents totally new challenges around profitability and financial decisions and You know, what I think is important to is to keep leaning on God and surrounding ourselves with good people and good counsel and doing it scared and taking that next step and learning how to up level again and again.
Authenticity and Fun in Business Design
00:21:23
Speaker
Okay. So, so just as there's been challenges, I believe you've also picked a lot of useful lessons and in your submission, you mentioned some of these lessons, but I still want to ask you what indeed are some of the useful lessons you've picked up so far on this entrepreneurial journey?
00:21:41
Speaker
One of my first coaches told me to give up the need to be perfect for the opportunity to be authentic. I think that that's really important is that like we let go of being perfect. We let go of the fear of judgment. We decided to do it scared like we talked about before. We just have to move forward. um A second idea is to have really great mentorship and people in our lives. It's so valuable to surround yourself with encouragers and people who speak life into your vision and believe in you.
00:22:09
Speaker
a Third idea is to prioritize sales and what i would call the short game many coaches and entrepreneurs are so afraid of sales that they're doing a lot of long game marketing activities they've got a great website they've got a great podcast they're writing the next e-book they're posting on social media but none of its leading to sales.
00:22:27
Speaker
And if that's the case, we're not gonna have a whole lot of success. And so we need to say, how can I actually take action today? That's gonna lead to sales this week, this month, this year, so that I can grow to the point of experience in the long game success of all those marketing efforts. And then a final ah fourth idea is just to design a business that's fun.
00:22:47
Speaker
that doesn't overwhelm you, that doesn't burn you out. I'm not gonna say that every day is going to be fun and easy, but we ought to, as entrepreneurs, design a business that we love, that's fun for us. You're the only person who's gonna be in your program forever. Your clients are gonna come and go, so make sure that you like the program, that you like what you're offering, and that you're asking, is this fun, and making sure you design something that is. All right, so so so what's next for Feed to Influence?
Community Growth and Business Scaling
00:23:14
Speaker
Well, we're we're ah on on pace right now to have our biggest year ever. Really excited about that. we We are really growing community right now. So we've got a membership for Christian entrepreneurs called Christian Coaches Academy. We've got 110, 115 Christian entrepreneurs in that community. I'm really excited about that. We also are running a live conference this coming summer. And and like I said, we're we're building out the team and just figuring out scale. And I'm excited to to learn how to grow through others and how to really provide through delegation and building more of an organizational presence rather than just relying on my own skill set. There's always gonna be an element of me and my involvement in my business. Of course, I'm gonna be the leader of the business, the leader of our clients, but there's more of a sharing of responsibility as the team is continuing to grow and as our communities continue to grow. And it's really special to see how people at Faith to Influence in our communities
00:24:09
Speaker
Lift each other up encourage each other pray for each other challenge each other and support each other what i'd like to see is faith to influence be part of a movement and changing how people feel about sales and for our christian coaches academy are cca community to be a place where it's you know the premiere space for christian coaches and entrepreneurs online to connect and network with each other.
00:24:32
Speaker
Okay, before we wrap up, Justin, um what pieces of advice would you offer to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those who want to create a business that aligns with
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
00:24:42
Speaker
your fit? Get a great mentor, get a great business plan, and then take action every single week to move the business plan forward. If you do those three things, you've got a great mentor, you've got a great business plan, and you take the necessary action to move the plan forward every week, you're going to have success over time.
00:24:58
Speaker
Take action. Take action. And that's one of the nuggets from our guest, Justin Janoski. Justin, before we sign off, um what would be your general advice for our listeners and also viewers? I would just say we can do anything. and And maybe there are times where we feel like we're not good enough and we can't do it.
00:25:20
Speaker
And if that's true, the reminder is God can do anything. And so if he's called you to something that's important for you to do, go do it. Be bold. You only live once. Let's take advantage of this opportunity. Let's give it our best. Let's pour our hearts into what we're doing and let's help people. Let's do it generously and with a loving heart.
00:25:41
Speaker
Let's do it generously and with a loving heart. And these are the parting words of my guest, Justin Janoski. Justin, thank you so much for sharing your rich experience with us today on the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast. We wish you the very best.
00:25:57
Speaker
Thanks for having me. This was fun. So this has been another exciting episode of the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast. I'll come your way next time with another exciting episode. I remain your host, Kofi Annemedou. As always, do take good care of yourself and let's continue to keep hope alive. Cheers.
00:26:17
Speaker
Please be sure to subscribe to the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast on all your favorite podcast channels and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to reach out to us on social media or in the comments section below.