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Sales Success Unlocked : Jacob Hicks on Mindset, Storytelling & Follow -up
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In this episode of The Entrepreneur Speaks Podcast, I’m joined by Jacob Hicks , a dynamic coach, keynote speaker, and sales strategist with over a decade of experience transforming lives and businesses. Known for his mindset-driven coaching, powerful follow-up systems, and authentic storytelling approach, Jacob has empowered countless entrepreneurs and professionals to break through barriers, close more deals, and build lasting success.
From his own entrepreneurial journey to his proven strategies, Jacob shares:
✅ Why storytelling in sales is the ultimate trust-builder and how to craft stories that truly resonate
✅ The secrets to building a follow-up system that converts without being pushy
✅ How to shift your mindset around sales from fear to confidence
✅ Practical tips you can apply today to sell yourself, your ideas, and your business with ease
Jacob’s blend of practical insights, engaging storytelling, and no-nonsense coaching will inspire you to rethink how you approach sales, relationships, and growth. Whether you’re a founder, creative, coach, or business professional, this episode will leave you with actionable tools and a fresh perspective on what it really takes to succeed.
🎧 Tune in now and discover how mindset, storytelling, and follow-up can transform not just your business, but your life.
Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an inspiring episode of The Entrepreneur Speaks!
#Entrepreneurship #SalesStrategy #JacobHicks #BusinessGrowth #MindsetMatters #StorytellingInSales #FollowUpSuccess #TheEntrepreneurSpeaks
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Transcript
The Power of Storytelling in Business
00:00:05
Speaker
Storytelling is so it's powerful in sales. Of course, it's it's powerful in business, but it's just powerful in the world in general. I mean, what are we doing most of the time when, if we're not working, we're probably hanging out with our friends and talking about whatever happens to be on our minds at the time. Maybe we're at home watching, a TV show, or maybe we're going out to the movies, maybe we're reading a book. I mean, stories are everywhere and they're really what moves us. And I believe that they that's what moves us in in life, but then also in sales and in business. Because we have to understand what the person across the table for us from us is is feeling and why they are feeling a particular pain point. And storytelling is is really, really powerful in that where we can share, you know, hey, based on you know what you've told me,
00:00:45
Speaker
um I've had a client in the past that struggled with you know something similar to yourself and here's how we dealt with it and here's what the ultimate result was for them. So that really helps put things into perspective for people. So being a good storyteller, I think is is critical in in life in general to really relay what you're going through, but also look where you want want to go.
Meet Jacob Hicks: Insights and Inspirations
00:01:03
Speaker
Hello and welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur Speaks Podcast. I'm your host, Kofi Anumedu.
00:01:09
Speaker
Jacob Hicks is a coach and keynote speaker with over a decade of experience transforming lives and businesses. He has a knack for identifying what drives lasting success and delivering implementable strategies to help clients achieve these strategies.
00:01:26
Speaker
He is also known for his practical insights and engaging storytelling that leave audiences inspired. Known for his strong follow-up systems and mindset-driven coaching, Jacob empires clients across industries to overcome challenges, implement sustainable systems, and move forward with confidence.
00:01:47
Speaker
Jacob is my guest today on The Entrepreneur. I'm but welcome to my show jacob nioly thank you so much what a great introduction i'm happy to be here with your jenny really it's inspired to take the leap into entrepreneur well i realized that how you said in the introduction i got got you know ten years of experience and and sales and a variety of other things but i realized about a year and a halfish ago or so um I was sitting down with a mentor of mine to see if coaching in general made sense for me to, cause I've always been very interested in personal development and doing things better and pursuing things to a higher degree more efficiently. And during that conversation, he said, you know listen, Jacob, we can definitely work on coaching with you, get you to where you want to go. But
00:02:28
Speaker
I think you should be a coach. And that was kind of ah a curveball for me. i had never really thought about being a coach before, but in reflecting on you know my life and what I'd done professionally and personally, I realized that to some level I had always been coaching.
00:02:41
Speaker
I had been kind of the guy that my friends are family would come to saying, you know, Hey, thinking about pursuing a new job or starting a business of some sort. And I wanted to talk through it. I was always kind of the guy they talked to about those kinds of things. And it's always been, mean, it's kind of become a real sweet spot for me where, mean, I love selling. I like sales. I've been doing it a long time.
00:03:00
Speaker
um but I really, what it really like kind of lights me up and wakes me up in the morning is, is helping people to, to be better, to help them pursue their goals in a more efficient or just a better way and help them to really drive towards the vision that they're building for themselves. So let's talk about your entrepreneurial experience.
00:03:17
Speaker
Can you walk us through some key milestones or turning points in your entrepreneurial journey? Yeah.
Entrepreneurship through Podcasting
00:03:22
Speaker
So, I mean, I guess kind of the first leap was going into my business full-time. I mean, it was, you know, kind of ah a scary thing, of course it is for a lot of people, but I mean, it it felt right.
00:03:32
Speaker
um So I've been full-time for quite a while now, but really kind of the first, don't kind of breakthrough for me was when I started my own podcast, actually. It's that I I've always really, really loved getting to chat with people one-on-one to get to dive into into them, into their journey, i mean, similar to how we are today.
00:03:49
Speaker
um But diving into people and figuring out, you know, just understanding them a little bit better. And I've met some really, really incredible people that way. um And it's been really fun coming on podcasts like yours, Kofi, where i have people reach out to me.
00:04:03
Speaker
anybody listening, please reach out to me on LinkedIn or through my website. But have people reach out to me sometimes saying, you know hey, I heard you on such and such podcast. You were talking about, you know, this mindset piece or this sales strategy or whatever it happened to be. And they've told me that, you know, hey, i've I've decided to experiment with that or I've changed kind of how I'm doing business because of what you said. So it's been it's been really fantastic. I always tell people there's a lot of power.
00:04:25
Speaker
in podcasting. Yes. If you can do it, do it and do it well. Remain consistent on this podcasting journey. Love it. All right. So what was one of the toughest challenges you faced earlier on and how did you overcome
Winning the Mind Game in Business
00:04:38
Speaker
this challenge? So, I mean, I guess, I mean, kind of probably the the biggest challenge that I faced early on was, and we kind of talked about a little bit already, is is the mindset piece. I'm a I'm a really, really big believer that in life in general, but then also in business and in sales and probably most everything else, I believe that we have to win first in our minds and then we have to go to war, kind of like Sun Tzu said. So, I mean, I really believe that.
00:05:00
Speaker
mean, kind of like another quote that comes to mind is Henry Ford. You know, whether if you whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right. So, I mean, if you really, if you really truly believe in what you're doing, you just have to kind of find that mindset to find that grit.
00:05:12
Speaker
And I mean, early on, I mean, it's like you always have self-doubt, I feel like. I mean, the better you get, hopefully that lessens to some degree. But I mean, you have to just, you have to show up. You have to show up with intentionality every single day, particularly when you are a one-man show like I am. You have to, like, cause I mean, if I don't show up.
00:05:29
Speaker
and do the work, and the work doesn't get done. Like there's nobody else i can call in to help me out. So like you just got to get up and do it. And like that's, I mean, it it takes some doing to be that intentional every single day. So just do it.
00:05:39
Speaker
Take action. Just do it. Do it. Do it. Just do it. Just do it. My guest once again is Jacob Hicks. ah He shared his entrepreneurial experience and his expertise with us today on the Entrepreneur Speaks
Crafting Authentic Entrepreneurial Stories
00:05:53
Speaker
podcast.
00:05:53
Speaker
So, Jacob, tell me, you talk a lot about storytelling in sales. Why do you think storytelling such a powerful tool? Storytelling is so it's powerful in sales. Of course, it's it's powerful in business, but it's just powerful in the world in general.
00:06:08
Speaker
I mean, what are we doing most of the time when if we're not working? We're probably hanging out with our friends and talking about whatever happens to be on our minds at the time. Maybe we're at home watching ah TV show or maybe we're going out to the movies.
00:06:20
Speaker
Maybe we're reading a book. I mean, stories are everywhere and they're really what moves us. And I believe that they that's what moves us in in life, but then also in sales and in business. Because we have to understand what the person across the table for us from us is is feeling and why they are feeling a particular pain point.
00:06:36
Speaker
And storytelling is is really, really powerful in that where we can share, you know, hey, based on, you know, what you've told me, um I've had a client in the past that struggled with, you know something similar to yourself. And here's how we dealt with it. And here's what the ultimate result was for them.
00:06:49
Speaker
So that really helps put things into perspective for people. So being a good storyteller, I think, is is critical in in life in general to really relay what you're going through, but also where you want want to go. Okay. So how can entrepreneurs craft authentic stories that resonate with potential stories?
00:07:05
Speaker
clients or customers. So a big one where I can always start people is is finding out or are starting at least to find out what your what your vision is. i think this is really, really critical because a lot of times when people start working with me, they say, you know, hey, Jacob, you know, I've been ah i'm a salesperson, been doing this for however long it's been. um And I want to i usually I want to generate more income, wanna generate more revenue, which I mean, there's that's absolutely fine, that's a great goal to have.
00:07:32
Speaker
But we start to dig into why. i mean, just generating more money is is fine, but that's what I call a soft why. Meaning that when, i mean, in business and in sales, like it's it's kind of a roller coaster, it's up and down. And when you're having a hard time, you're not getting the closings that you want, and maybe you have a long sales cycle. So it's, you know, three, six months isn't uncommon between closing a deal.
00:07:54
Speaker
i've I've had guys like that before. What are you going to do to keep yourself moving? And just saying, I want more money isn't going to do it. So we always start with your future vision. So like really like, where is it that you want to go? Now, I really look at it as like the the analogy that I use, it's like building a boat.
00:08:09
Speaker
So when you're asking yourself like these harder, like sometimes harder questions or deeper questions that require more thought, like the one that I, like I've got a ah process that I use, I call it the interview where every time somebody comes on the first kind of Activity that we do together, among other things, is called the interview where they put themselves, hopefully, a future vision where they're saying, okay, it's five years from now.
00:08:29
Speaker
What does like an ideal day look like for you? And really digging and not just saying, like hey, you know I wake up, I go to work, I make so much money, you know I hang out with the wife and the kids or whatever. like Those are fine things, but you really need to dig down deep and figure out, okay, what does like my true ideal day really look like?
00:08:45
Speaker
And really exploring that because that will help drive the emotions and like and drive the the story ultimately. So like when you're when you're asking yourself these questions, I look at it as those questions are what helps to build your boat. That's the actual boat itself.
00:08:57
Speaker
And then like the activity that you do day in and day out, whether it's, you know if you're in sales, you're you know cold calling and prospecting. And you have to do that very consistently. Those are the things that help the boat to float. But you have to know where you're going over the long term. Mm, mm, mm.
00:09:11
Speaker
Very true. So you've been interacting with a lot of people in various sectors. um In your interaction and your in your great number of years interacting with people from the various backgrounds, what are some common mistakes that you think people make when they are trying to use Storytelling and sales.
Effective Listening in Sales
00:09:29
Speaker
So something common, particularly in sales, is people think that they need to be the one talking. Particularly like if you're like a newer to the sales profession, if you're a salesperson, you're new, you generally think like oh, I need to be the one talking. I need to talk about the features. I need to talk about why it's going to be beneficial to you, all of that kind of stuff. But when we're talking about like telling the stories, you need to find the right time and place.
00:09:49
Speaker
And usually that right time and place is going to be in between a bunch of questions. Now, it's very common where people think, all right, I've got this great story. I've got this great product. I need to just talk it up.
00:09:59
Speaker
Now, you do need to be able to talk about it, of course, but it's it's been proven that, generally speaking, in sales, we need to identify four pain points before someone will do business with you, generally speaking.
00:10:11
Speaker
And in order to find those four pain points, you need to ask at least 12 questions. And if you aren't asking questions and then shutting up, being quiet and actually listening to their answers and trying to understand them and asking follow up questions, then ultimately said you're going to lose. Very interesting. So let's talk about follow ups, follow ups.
00:10:31
Speaker
So why do so many sales opportunities fall through the cracks?
The Art of Consistent Follow-Up
00:10:34
Speaker
um Honestly, i mean, simply put, it's because of what you just what you just said, follow up. Most, i've seen I've seen stats on this where yeah salespeople, those are the folks I would argue are the people paid to follow up.
00:10:47
Speaker
um Usually, speaking generally speaking, one out of every two salespeople aren't following up more than once. And another stat that's really critical here is that most business, again, broad strokes here, most business is one in five or more follow-ups.
00:11:02
Speaker
Now, where people can get confused sometimes and kind of get intimidated almost by like saying following up with somebody is thinking that, okay, Kofi, I meet you you know somewhere out. We hit it off. We exchange contact information. We think that maybe business could make sense. So most people think as follow up is like, Jacob's going to call you and then he's going to call you once a week or however often until you do business with me.
00:11:23
Speaker
Now that is kind of true in a sense, but you don't want to be like that personal sales person. You don't want to be the guy saying, Hey, Kofi, it's great to meet you. It's Jacob again. um Are you ready to do business? I'm still selling my stuff.
00:11:35
Speaker
You don't want to be that guy. You want to follow up from a place of value, meaning, that, you know, hey, Kofi, you know, you said you were struggling with something. I think that I might have so a solution for you. Folks that have been in a similar situation usually ask these three to five or whatever questions in my experience. And i wanted I just wanted to send over those answers to you.
00:11:53
Speaker
Would that be beneficial, do you think? And you can say yes or no, but that's that's just providing value. That's not saying, hey do you want to buy stuff now? That's just saying, okay, here's some more potential interesting information that I think could help you in making that decision.
00:12:06
Speaker
And that's really what you want to do. You want to follow up consistently, but from a place of value. So offering them good information or good insight every single time you interact. Okay. So I want us to build on your submission and try and make things better.
00:12:19
Speaker
Try and work on our follow-ups. So how can we set up a good kind of follow-up system? Can you share some practical tips and yeah tools with us?
00:12:30
Speaker
How we can develop very valuable valuable and very efficient follow-up systems. So there's there's kind of a couple of pieces here. So the first piece is is is a tool. It's a client resource manager, a so CRM commonly. Now, i ah i really, really always strongly advise anybody, if you're ah if you're in business and you deal with more than one person at a time, then you need to have a CRM.
00:12:51
Speaker
A CRM will allow you to store all of your client information. It will also allow you to include notes. So saying, know hey, Kofi and I, we talked today about whatever. Those kind of things. You want to make sure you're keeping in front of those kind of people. A good ah CRM, at least ones that I always recommend, will have automations.
00:13:07
Speaker
Meaning that, okay, Kofi and I, we... Met at whatever. Now he's in my system. So now he's going to be getting some automations, whether it be maybe it'll automatically add a task for me, whatever day it is to to give him a call or shoot him a text, or it will automatically send you emails.
00:13:22
Speaker
Now that's really, really critical because that takes, it's kind of like a second brain is the way I think of it. It allows you to focus on being a salesperson and closing more business, hopefully, as opposed to making sure you're staying on top of your administration stuff and just saying, like okay, well, it's been you know two weeks or whatever since we talked. so I'm going to kick him another email.
00:13:39
Speaker
Now, the really key piece here is is what you said before, is it's establishing the follow-up systems. Now, when I say a follow-up system, it means that, okay, I meet Kofi out someplace. What is my very next step?
00:13:51
Speaker
Like, what do I do next? And most people don't know the answer. And that's okay. But what really what I recommend at least starting is what I call 10 by 10. Meaning that you will, over the course of 10 weeks, I will interact with you, Kofi, my new potential prospect, 10 times.
00:14:08
Speaker
Now that doesn't mean again, I'm gonna call you every single day, but for once a week, I might have, so for once a week for 10 weeks, I might have, maybe I'll have two calls, maybe I'll have a couple of texts, then I'll have a handful of emails. And all of those things are hopefully driving a ton of value.
00:14:22
Speaker
Now the really critical piece here is consistency. and it's And it's consistency even when I'm not getting responses. Meaning that Kofi, you and I meet once. I call you, i email you, I text you, I get no response. I'm going to continue to follow up with you.
00:14:37
Speaker
Because remember, most business is one in at least minimum of five follow-ups, if not significantly more. So the more consistent you are with ah that follow-up piece, even when you're getting no response, then and the more likely you are to win business. I mean, if you are a salesperson and you've been in the business for...
00:14:54
Speaker
you know, a year or two, you will know people, if not have the stories yourself, where you have interacted with somebody, never heard from them again, kept following up. And then eventually they say, okay, I'm ready to do business. So stay consistent.
00:15:06
Speaker
Stay consistent. Stay consistent. So Jacob, let's dwell on being consistent, staying consistent. So how do you balance consistency? with not being pushy when following up with potential clients?
00:15:20
Speaker
So, I mean, i think i think really when it comes down to it, when we're talking about like At least in my mind, the the used car salesman can get a bad rap for being that really pushy used cart like car salesman.
00:15:32
Speaker
So you do want to balance it out. So the way that I always suggest do it is if you are following up from a place of value with the intent to help that person, meaning that you believe that your service or your product actually helps these people, then I think you're absolutely in the clear. Now, that doesn't mean that you want... You do have to kind of watch your verbiage sometimes, meaning that...
00:15:54
Speaker
ah Kofi and I, like we've been interacting and stuff. We think it makes sense. We sit down to close the deal. And then we get there, we talk, we go on, we're going, we're going. And then I get what's called past the close, meaning that I don't actually say, Kofi, do you want to buy this or something to that effect?
00:16:09
Speaker
So now it again, it doesn't need to be pushy. You want to accept the answer that you're given, handle some objections if you're in that kind of position. But as long as again, you are following up from a place of value, then I think you're absolutely fine. Follow up from a place of value.
00:16:22
Speaker
And these are the nuggets my guest, Jacob Hicks, is sharing with us today on the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast. um So, Jacob, you emphasize the role of mindset in achieving sales success.
00:16:35
Speaker
um Why is mindset so foundational
Mindset Mastery in Sales
00:16:38
Speaker
your coaching? So, I mean, it's foundational in a couple of different ways. So first, when I'm dealing with like an entrepreneur, for example, most of the time entrepreneurs created a business of some sort.
00:16:48
Speaker
And it's not like a selling. It's not a sales business. It's like a marketing business or whatever the case might be. And usually those kind of folks, they don't want to be a salesperson. They want to, they started a marketing firm. They want to do marketing, right? But you do have to sell to some degree. Now, a lot of times when it comes to the mindset shift with these kind of folks, they need to get out of the mindset that if I call you or message you or email you two or three times with no response, that means I'm going to be bugging you.
00:17:14
Speaker
And again, you're not going to be bugging them if you come from a place of value. The true people that don't want to work with you will tell you that. they'll tell you no. I'm not interested in whatever it is that you're offering.
00:17:24
Speaker
But most of the time, people are not going to tell you that. I'm telling like most of the time, they're not going to tell you that. Most of the time when they're saying, you know, I just don't think I can do this right now. It's just that. It's a timing issue. It's a time thing or a money thing.
00:17:36
Speaker
So just being able to handle those kind of things. Now on the sales side, when we're talking to true salespeople, the mindset shifts and really the truth is, it I mean, it's true in entrepreneurship as well. It's also true in sales. It it comes down to grit.
00:17:48
Speaker
It's how bad do you want it? And like said, that's why we do that future visiting exercise I mentioned earlier, because if you don't know where you're going, then how can you ever know if you get there, let on how to get there. So you have to make sure that those things are in mind, particularly when you're maybe in a slump or you're just not getting the deals closed, you're not getting the meetings set.
00:18:06
Speaker
So you just have to keep going and keep your mind on the actual long-term prize, which isn't again, just making more money. All right. So stay focused and keep going. Hmm. One thing that has hindered people's success or progress when it comes to sales is the issue of fear. The issue of fear. So what mindset shifts do people need to take to go from being afraid of sales to actually enjoying it and really achieving success.
Building Confidence with Achievable Goals
00:18:33
Speaker
So when it comes to fear, um I mean, this this is a pretty dynamic issue that people can struggle with.
00:18:39
Speaker
So figuring out really what it is that we're afraid of. I mean, a kid i mean some some people really struggle to just walk up to a stranger and say hi. like Like having like those kind of fears. so you So the way that I always kind of do it is you have to like play a game with yourself. Meaning that if you're going to a networking event and you're just not like, you're just not that kind of per like thinking about going and talking to all of these people you don't know kind of gives you some anxiety.
00:19:01
Speaker
We have to start understanding like what does it mean to actually have a win still? So let's say your job really requires you to go to these networking events. So let's say instead of talking to a hundred people, which would drain you, exhaust you, just that kind of leaves you in like a ball and like an anxiety knot in your chest.
00:19:17
Speaker
Then let's say, let's let the bar a little bit lower. Let's say, okay, we're not going to go in there and talk to 100 people. Instead, we're going to go in there and we're going to see if we can find one quality connection. And that doesn't mean find one person you're definitely going to do business with. It could be that.
00:19:31
Speaker
But instead, let's talk. Let's say, hey, I met this one person who I don't really know if going ever do business or not, but this was a really great person for me to know. They know everybody or it's just a really good connection to have and maybe they can refer you some business at some point.
00:19:44
Speaker
Because what this is doing is this is going to stretch ourselves. Again, it's kind of like I think of it as the the New Year's Eve like resolution like mindset where you haven't been working out all year But you decide January 1st, going to go to the gym a whole bunch. I'm going to eat it really, really healthy.
00:19:59
Speaker
Instead of doing that, going from zero to 100, need to go from zero to one. So we set that one we set that bar lower where we go into the networking event. We're going find one quality connection. and then we can leave if we want to. Or if we're doing OK, maybe we find another one.
00:20:12
Speaker
But then we start to set the bar a little bit higher. So OK, we've gone to a handful of networking events. We found one quality connection. We've tried to be nurturing to them. So now we're starting to feel a more comfortable with that. OK, so we're stretching ourselves a little bit further now.
00:20:23
Speaker
So, OK, so instead of going to a networking event and finding one quality connection, now we're going to shoot for two or three. And this will allow us to stretch a little bit more and a little bit more outside of our comfort zone. So that's really kind of the key point to all of this. OK, all right.
00:20:36
Speaker
So in your opinion, why is sales a skill that everyone, not just entrepreneurs, should master?
Universal Importance of Sales Skills
00:20:42
Speaker
So maybe I'm biased here, but I really believe that sales is everywhere, regardless of if you're a salesperson or not.
00:20:48
Speaker
Now, I think the really easiest example for somebody who's like, I'm not a salesperson, I've never sold in my life, is, well, have you had the same job all of your life? you ever switched jobs? Have you ever had an interview for a new job?
00:20:58
Speaker
And if the answer is ever yes, which most most of the time it would be, then you are selling. And I believe that In the interview process, you are selling and you are buying, meaning that you as the candidate, you need to sell yourself to this company, to this organization and show them that, yes, I am the qualified, good candidate that will get the work done the way you are looking.
00:21:17
Speaker
And then the the company, the organization needs to sell themselves to you and they say you need to buy from them saying like, yeah, this is going to be a good fit for for me and for my life and for my career. So again, i I'm a really, really big believer that that sales is everywhere, regardless of if you're a salesperson or not. and So we need a skill beyond business. So you gave a very practical example of interviews.
00:21:38
Speaker
Yes, we need to go sell and try and purchase something. So we all need to be good at this. We should have that skill in our back pockets. Absolutely. All so so So still building on your submission. So what's one small action someone can take today to become more confident?
00:21:57
Speaker
He's selling them themselves
Preparation and Confidence in Sales Scenarios
00:21:58
Speaker
all the ideas. So I think the easiest way, like if I was going to give somebody one point to say, do this thing to feel a little bit more confident in it, is I would say prepare. Now, there is a caveat to this where a lot of people can say, I'm going to only prepare. I'm to prepare and prepare and prepare, and I'm never actually going to do the thing.
00:22:14
Speaker
You have to do the thing, but you have to be prepared for it. Meaning that let's say we're we're in a sales position. Okay. Some of these things could be practicing a cold call, doing some role playing with somebody, you say, Hey Kofi, you've been doing this for a while for the next 15 minutes. Can I just practice some cold calling on you? Just because the, the key here is you do, you don't want your, your live scenarios where you're actually dealing with a potential client to be when you are are actually practicing. So you want to practice on your own time, practice what you're going to say, how going to say it. And I said, like some people hate the word scripts. I still really believe in scripts.
00:22:47
Speaker
Now that doesn't mean that you need to sit down and memorize something, but you do need to understand, okay, these are the four or five points I'm going to make. And here's how I'm going to say it. And I'm going say those things out loud. It's actually see if I'm going to fumble my words, see if it really makes sense. See if it sounds like me. And then you also need to practice objection handling.
00:23:04
Speaker
Meaning you make your offer, you make your pitch and somebody says, well, I don't have time right now. Well, I don't have the money for it right now. How do you handle that? What's the next step? and And if you're sales person that's trying to close more business, it can't just be like, well, they said no. Like, okay, we'll tell you need to ask more questions saying like, okay, you said you don't have the money for it right now. Okay. Well, like what kind of like, I mean, start asking some more questions, following up with them or offer them a more entry level price point for something a little lesser saying like, go okay, well, you said you wanted this,
00:23:33
Speaker
but you said that you know the price doesn't necessari necessarily make sense for you right now. Well, how about we take away X, Y, and Z and to try this price instead? So how does that work for you? So dealing with some of those things. So again, preparation, I think, is really, really critical in sales. But the at the end of the day, you have to get out there and you have to get boots on the ground and you have to try selling. You have to do it. So get to your boots on the ground.
00:23:53
Speaker
So we're just about wrapping up our conversation, but you've been on this journey for over a decade. What indeed are the key lessons you've picked up on this journey you would like to
Consistency and Value in New Ventures
00:24:02
Speaker
share with? My view is in North. Oh man.
00:24:04
Speaker
Oh, I think, man, there's probably quite a few, of course. Um, I mean, I think establishing your sales systems is really, really key. If you meet somebody out, you have to know what your next step is. If you want to try to cultivate a relationship there. One of my favorite kind of mini lessons is, and I still do this to this day. I learned this, gosh, 10 years ago. Now, if a task is going to take me five minutes, I do it.
00:24:23
Speaker
If it takes me five minutes, I don't push it off till tomorrow. Just sit down and just get it done. And like those kinds of things will add up really, really big over time. Okay. So before I sign off, let's create two scenarios and and see how you advise people in such um a situation.
00:24:38
Speaker
So let's start off with a bad entrepreneur who is afraid of selling. The person is starting off and his business, he has to sell products and in some cases services.
00:24:49
Speaker
but he's afraid of selling. would be your advice to such a person? So, I mean, without a little more detail, I mean, you just have you have to do it. And like that doesn't mean that you need to be you know cold calling every single day and and you know driving a ton of business and out there pounding the pavement and knocking on doors. What it can mean is that, okay, I met Kofi out at this networking event.
00:25:11
Speaker
I think we really hit it off. I got his contact information. What are my next steps? I know my exact next steps for over the next eight weeks, 10 weeks, whatever it is, I know how I'm gonna be interacting with him and you're trying to interact with him. So establishing those systems, it does what I call selling without selling.
00:25:28
Speaker
Meaning that whatever service I am offering to you, the fact that I'm staying in front of you over a longer period of time means I'm significantly more likely to earn business when you are ready to buy. So again, just staying in front of people consistently and providing value that they will help them goes a really, really long way and doesn't force you to in these really hardcore selling issues. One, two, two quick questions before we wrap up.
00:25:52
Speaker
One other person in business has also been around for, let's say a year, four, five doing relatively well, but then realizes that, yes, they are not doing so well in the aspect of of sales and marketing.
00:26:06
Speaker
um What would be advice to such a person or such a business? So with those kind of things, when like they're doing okay, but they think that they could be doing better, we need to be figuring out where we think we're missing.
00:26:17
Speaker
Meaning that, you know, i again, Kofi, I meet you out at someplace. I get your contact information. I start staying in front of you. I start closing business or whatever. Like where are we ultimately losing? Is it, do we feel like we need to go deeper on the relationships that we already have?
00:26:31
Speaker
Are we selling to them like once and then we're not really seeing much out of them after that? um Are we you know meeting somebody out, but then again, we don't have our follow-up systems in place. So we need to make sure that we're establishing longer term drip campaign of some sort to make sure staying in front of those folks. And we just need to like really establish like where the gap is.
00:26:47
Speaker
And like the difficulty can be like the data where you have, that's why like the CRM is so critical because it will also allow you saying, okay, well you only ah interact with that person three times. So like actually being able to say like where, like where the debt, where the gap is are running some of those numbers over the course of, you know, three, four or five months will really help you to dig into some of those things.
00:27:06
Speaker
And that way you can start experimenting. Experimenting is really, really key in life, I think, but also in sales.
Persistence and Facing Rejection
00:27:11
Speaker
Meaning that like, let's say, for example, like where I'm doing well, I'm closing business, but I'm not closing very much. Like maybe my my conversion rate from, you know not business to business is 10% or whatever the number is in your industry.
00:27:23
Speaker
So start trying out some new closes, asking more questions, asking questions in a different way, digging in a little bit more, like trying experiment so with some of those things to get yourself more data to see what is ultimately going to work for you. Okay. So before i sign off, What would be your last words to my audience?
00:27:38
Speaker
Honestly, the last words it would be to do it. Like just get out there, get out there and try and be willing to be told no, because no, most the time is going to be not yet. So let me just get out there, do it, try and keep trying, because that's really the name of the game. Try and try again. Try, try and try again. If you do not succeed, keep trying, keep trying, take action, keep trying.
00:28:01
Speaker
And these are the last words from my guest, Jacob Hicks. So Jacob, thank you so much for joining me today on the Entrepreneur Speaks Podcast. We wish you the very best.
00:28:12
Speaker
Yeah, thank you so much. it's been a fantastic conversation. Thank you again. All right. So this has been another exciting episode of the Entrepreneur Speaks Podcast. I'll come your way next time with another inspiring and exciting episode.
00:28:24
Speaker
I remain your host, Kofi Anymedo. As always, do take good care of yourself and let's continue to keep hope alive. Cheers. 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.
00:28:54
Speaker
Builders of tomorrow shining bright. From every land they find their beat. Yeah, it's the entrepreneur speaks.