Show notes
A few weeks ago, I was in California for a wedding and I got a big reminder about the fact that regardless of what's going on in the economy, there is always a segment of the population that has significant money available to spend. So every now and then I think it's a good idea to just get out of your bubble!
David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, we're going to try something a little different. I'm going to welcome a new co-host who will be along for at least the next several episodes to help me probe a little deeper, perhaps ask a few questions that you might be inclined to ask yourself, if this were more of a dialogue, and hopefully make this podcast even more valuable to you. His name is Chris Templeton. He's got extensive experience doing this kind of thing. So welcome Chris!
Chris: Thank you, David. So, you're at this wedding and then you mentioned getting out of your bubble. What does that mean to you? Cause I think so many people don't really have a good sense of that.
David: Yeah. Well I think every one of us in our day to day lives, we're doing things, we're operating around a certain group of people were interacting with the same people. We're talking to the same people and sometimes when we just get out of our zone, get out of our bubble, we're able to see things a little differently. And I mean the economy now at the moment for most people actually seems pretty good, but sometimes you can get out of your bubble and you can see that, wow, it's even maybe better than I thought. And regardless of what the economy is doing, even when it's not as good as it is, there are always situations, there are always people who are still doing things, still spending money and still having a great time.
Chris: You know, it is really easy to go down that road of kind of telling a story about what's going on, and a lot of times I think as business people especially, we get stuck in that place. But what do you do? What's the process of getting out of your bubble? I think people kind of, well, I don't know, who should I talk to? It's kind of a nebulous thing for a lot of people.
David: Starting with where you are and who's in your bubble now, it's really just a matter of starting with that and then saying, okay, how can I expand beyond this? I mean, are there are people in my industry that I should be interacting with are there people beyond my industry that I should be interacting with? Looking at our prospects, the types of prospects that we're interacting with. Should I be interacting with a different level of prospect people and perhaps larger companies, people who have more connections themselves? Should I try to look at things like LinkedIn and identify more of the people on there that I want to be interacting with? We're connected with so many people that I think the opportunities, the potential for getting out of our bubble are practically limitless, but it starts with just identifying, okay, who is somebody else that I might just want to talk to? Might want to have a conversation with to start thinking beyond my current circumstances.
Chris: And when you talk about all of the different means that are available to us, whether LinkedIn, Facebook, our list of prospects, clients, I think part of the problem for a lot of businesses, is I don't know where to begin. It's so overwhelming. So from your standpoint in what you do, what do you see as kind of the ideal process of starting?
David: If you have an idea of where you want to be, that's part of it. Some of this is just direction. I mean, getting out of our bubble is like, okay, well before I leave I have to decide where I want to go, just as if I were getting into a car and going somewhere. So when we think in terms of the types of prospects we'd like to interact with, the types of clients that we'd like to have, what industries they might be involved in. If you're doing business to business sales it’s different than if you're doing business to consumer sales. But just thinking in terms of the types of people that I want to meet, it is so easy nowadays to connect with pretty much whoever you want; as you indicated either through social media or whether we're actually doing it in person. That I think it starts with identifying the types of people that we would like to interact with, the types of people who are perhaps already outside of our bubble so that they can then help us to get out there ourselves.
Chris: When I look at that, I was gonna say it earlier, it really does. A big piece of that is saying, “Hey, wait a minute, am I getting a little stale where I am and where are the places that I'd like to go?” And I think knowing that at some level makes a big difference in what my approach is going to be.
David: Yeah, I would think so. And I mean things like in going to California from Pennsylvania, I mean just things like the weather obviously is different. It was actually hotter here in Pennsylvania than it was in California, but the weather's different. The approach is different. The people are different. The way that they communicate is different and it just gives you a better feel for the fact that our day to day is very often not representative of what's actually out there. And so some of it is just a matter of exploration, deciding what do I want to see, where do I want to go, who do I want to interact with so that we can adjust our lives. I mean now we're getting beyond just marketing and sales, but we can adjust our lives in a way to say what types of people do I want to interact with? How can I use this information to make my life better, not just my sales?
Chris: And I think it's a really good point, especially from the standpoint. I think there's two ways to approach that, right? There's the, well, I just want to go and talk to all the wealthiest people in town and then there's the other side of, wait a minute, what do I like? What are the things that motivate me in what I do in my day? What are the things that I love about my job that can help me to find that place and to discover the best ways for me to move forward and really identify authentically the people that I do want to spend more time with. And I don't think we do much of that, do we?
David: No, I don't think we do and it really does go way beyond money. I mean, obviously when you're in sales, you want to be able to interact with people who have the ability to spend money with you, but if they're rude, obnoxious, belligerent, that sort of thing, then it doesn't matter if they have a lot of money because we're not going to want to interact with them and they're probably not going to want to buy from us. So finding the people that have the ability to spend money, but also the kind of people that we don't mind interacting with. In a lot of cases, in business, we spend more time with our prospects and clients then we get to spend with our friends, family and loved ones. It's just the way things work out. If you're doing a typical 40 hour work week, you're spending more time with your prospects and clients than you are with the people that you truly care about. So if that's the case, I'm saying, how can we make that more worthwhile?
Chris: I think another thing that's really interesting is that in looking at all these different ways we can go in terms of breaking out and kind of going to the next level, which is really what we're talking about. I mean isn't it all about increasing quality of life overall?
David: It probably is. And actually getting out of our bubble might mean interacting with friends that we might not have seen for a while, interacting with family members that we wish we could have spent more time with. You’d think that family members are in your bubble, but often they're not.
Chris: Mmhm, it's a great point. So from that standpoint, it seems to me like one of the best places to start is looking at my existing clients and just having some way to talk to them about what's going on. I think a lot of businesses and myself included, I find that it's hard to go back to a client and just say, hey, how are you? And so if I'm feeling stuck, what do you recommend?
David: Well, that sort of ties back into the whole idea of touching base or following up with clients. And that's a big buzz word in the sales industry. I'm just calling to touch base, just calling to follow up and those words to me, just scream salesperson and not in a good way. I've got a very positive view of most salespeople. I love the profession, I love people who do it well, but there are some people who don't do it well and I believe that there are trigger words like that that can immediately tell someone, okay, I'm not just here to have a relationship with you, I'm here to try to sell you something. And so I think that part of it is being as authentic as possible and just contacting people that you actually like interacting with and having that conversation. Hey, it's been a long time since we've talked. I know you know we've done business in the past, but beyond that, you know what's going on, what's new, what have you been doing to better promote yourself or what have you been doing to create more awareness of your business? That type of thing. Finding out the ways that we could potentially help them, but doing it in a way that is engaging.
Chris: You read my mind. The word that I think is really a great one is help. How can I help you? And I also think it's a fair question to say, Hey, I'm looking for some help. People love to help, don't they?
David: Well, hopefully they do! The right ones do.
Chris: Well, but here's the thing. As salespeople, if we've done a great job and we're not the stereotypical sales guy, you know, having that ability to say, Hey,