How To Create an Effective Sales Process with Jim Padilla

Intro (00:09):
Welcome to Innovations and Breakthroughs with your host Rich Goldstein, talking about the evolutionary, the revolutionary, the inspiration and perspiration, and those aha moments that change everything. And now here’s your host, Rich Goldstein.

Rich (00:33):
Rich Goldstein here, hosts of the Innovations and Breakthroughs podcast by feature top leaders in the path they took to create change. Past guests include Kevin King, Steve Simonson, and Mike Calhoun. This episode is brought to you by my company, Goldstein Patent Law, where we help you to protect your ideas and products. We’ve advised and obtained patents for thousands of companies of the past 29 years. So if you’re a company that has software or product or a design you want protected, go to GoldsteinPatentLaw.com where there are amazing free resources for learning about the patent process. You could also schedule a call with my team speaktolarry.com to explore if it’s a match to work together. You could also check out the book I wrote for the American Bar Association that explains in plain English how patents work. It’s called the a b a Consumer Guide to Obtaining a Patent I have with me here today, Jim Padilla. Um, Jim’s been an entrepreneur for his entire life, and as founder of Gain the Edge, Jim is known in the personal development and business coaching world as the go-to guy for all things sales. He is a, a master collaborator whose purpose is to help entrepreneurs to leverage the power of collaboration to scale their businesses so that they can impact the world in the way that they intended. And with that, I’m happy to welcome here today, Jim Padilla. Welcome, Jim. Thanks

Jim (01:51):
For having me, Rich. We’re glad to be here.

Rich (01:53):
Absolutely. Absolutely. My pleasure. So let’s talk about, um, the first thing I said there, which is that you’ve been an entrepreneur your whole life. So how did you get started on your entrepreneur journey?

Jim (02:04):
Uh, you know, it, almost everything that I’ve done that that has come to be a great outcome was started on accident. I wasn’t, me being this creative innovator was me saying yes to some opportunity somewhere that just materialized and became great. And that even started as a kid. Um, you know, I I, I grew up in an, an abusive environment. I was in foster care, uh, early, you know, teenager and on the streets and gangs at 16 and in jail by 19. And I literally spent the whole first 20 years of my life learning how to read the room so that I could bend will and influence in my direction. So that, that was more like my safety mechanism, uh, you know, a little that I know that, you know, years down the road, I, I’d be making millions of dollars teaching other people the similar skillset and how to read the room, bend, influence your direction so that you’re not seen as a threat, but as an ally so that people wanna buy from you, let down their garden and be able to trust you. So, um, you know, I I, I’ve been, I started businesses and, and when I was literally in, in, in grade school, in kindergarten, we didn’t do lemonade stands, but we did just about everything else. You know, everything from buying back then, uh, court, you know, 25 cent candy bars and selling ’em at school for dollars all the way down to, uh, building up key chains and, and crafts and selling ’em on the street corners to cars passing by.

Rich (03:19):
Yeah, absolutely. So then, um, and, and I guess in a sense, that’s how you got involved in sales, right? Because, because those were all sales type businesses where it was you, um, out there selling. And, um, so kind of, when did you, when did you, um, and how did you move from, from having sales-based businesses to beginning to teach others how to sell and training others in sales?

Jim (03:46):
You know, it really was mostly out of necessity in 2008. You know, I I I used to have an alarm company, uh, uh, home, home Home Theater, and C C T V and, and home security. And, um, uh, we were selling that for years and then, uh, came across an opportunity to step into the mortgage push in the early two thousands when prices were going crazy and rates were dropping. And I would jump in on that opportunity as well, but we didn’t really set up for success the way that we should have when we were mostly making money because we could not, because we were serving people. So when the rates turned and everything went bad, we lost our whole pipeline ’cause we weren’t really taking great care of people. Um, but I knew how to sell. And so we went from teaching, from putting mortgages in place to teaching people how to sell in a crazy environment. And it just, that was again, just an opportunity that landed itself for me. And, uh, I decided to learn all the, the skill sets that I had gained that I had been using for primarily the wrong reasons. Um, and then started recognizing that, uh, the best way to do this was really to be of service to people instead of just learning how to make money for myself.

Rich (04:52):
Yeah. And, and so, I mean, first of all, like, it, it’s interesting how that works, right? That like, um, sales is possibly the best skill you could have in any type of economy or situation, right? Like, if you can sell, there will be an opportunity for you. And so even in the midst of a huge downturn like that, that really ruined a lot of people financially in 2008, because you had some sales skills, you were able to hit the ground running and, and then also it, and one of the things you had to do was figure out what you actually knew how to do, right? Like, you, you knew sales, but you didn’t, you probably didn’t know how to explain what you knew or even knew what it is that you, you did like. So to actually figure out and break down what it is you did that worked is probably one of the most difficult things for people to do. And that’s why a lot of times you’ll, you’ll get a top sales person promoted to be VP of sales, and then they can’t run a sales team because they don’t know how to teach what they do. They, they can’t even explain what they do, they just kind of do it, right. Right. So, so the thing that really sets you apart was being able to actually figure out what you do and explain it to others. Is that fair?

Jim (06:10):
That’s right on the nose, uh, being able to decode a process is one, one skill set. And then being able to teach it is even another. And, you know, the Michael Jordans of the world, the Magic Johnsons of the world, they were legendary and Hall of fame talent and both, you know, they had a really tough time coaching because they just couldn’t impart the things that made them great into other people. And so it’s not as easy as most people would think. So being able to break down what you do and, and then be able to teach it in a way that’s actually understandable and actionable, um, is definitely something that, uh, takes some blessing. Um, you know, we, one thing that we see often, and it’s, it’s actually something we call a lot, uh, we we call out a lot, is people selling on what we call founder magic.

Jim (06:54):
And when you’re the founder of the company, you know everything about the offering the service, you know, everything before it was even a company, you know what stuff you’ve sold, you know what things you’ve done, you know what problems you’ve solved. So when you’re talking to a potential client, you literally can pull anything out of their bag ’cause you know it’s there. Well, a salesperson doesn’t know all of your history or all the off menu items or all the other problems you solve. So they only have a limited skillset that they have to operate from. And so it’s your job to be able to create a system, a process, and a strategy that will allow them to tap into the extra founder magic, quote unquote. So that way you’re not tied to being the person that has to make all the sales.

Rich (07:32):
Yeah. And, and, and I guess another part of that too is it’s not only is it difficult to, to get a salesperson to then do it the way that you can, but it’s also difficult to sell a business if it’s pretty clear that part of uh, of what is leading to the success of the business is the founder. So the extent to which a business isn’t transferable because it’s all about the founders, the extent to which it’s not sellable, right? So makes it even more critical to be able to do that.

Jim (08:02):
A hundred percent. And even, you know, if you’re listening to this podcast then being in Rich’s world, then it’s a good chance that exiting a company is probably somewhere in your future or at least a thought. But even if you’re not gonna exit it, building a business so that it’s exit able is the most rewarding business to run. ’cause everything works, <laugh> things work as good as they’re going to. And so you actually have a lot more pleasure in the process. Uh, and you know, the other thing that we, we tend to avoid is we, we wanna make sure that you don’t get stuck. Um, trying to build something that isn’t really replicatable. You know, you being selling from founder magic is not sustainable, is not replicatable, right? And it’s not what your business was designed to do. Your business was most likely designed to fulfill on a product.

Jim (08:43):
And the part that’s missing is how do you actually design the business so that it sells, predict predictably and consistently and grows without you? Uh, and uh, and one of the other things that people do often as a solution is, well, well what about a closer? I, what if I have just a high-end caliber salesperson? And that’s great. Um, but the challenge is to look for, and we see this all the time, which is why we do not install such people in people’s company. But if you have a quote unquote closer, number one, they’re hard to find. They’re hard to retain, they’re hard to keep. Once they show up, they’re already looking for the next thing. ’cause they’re always being recruited by other people. And, uh, they don’t typically bring their own systems and processes. And so when the time comes that they leave, the one thing they’re gonna do great for you is earn revenue.

Jim (09:26):
But once they leave, they’re gonna leave you where you were before they found them. And you’re likely not gonna have any systems, processes, or strategies, and they’re gonna be trying to figure out how to replicate this person. So we literally intentionally don’t go out and recruit top tier, quote unquote high-end closers. We recruit quality humans who are top tier humans, who can follow a process beyond brand, uh, and on value match for you and your company and understand what they’re selling. But most importantly, they can execute a well created system powerfully so that they can consistently and predictably overachieve for you.

Rich (09:59):
Yeah. So, um, that’s probably one of the, the failings right there is a lot of people look to hire, hire the, hire the skills rather than set up the process, right? Right. So, um, it’s just, and it, it really is a, a sobering notion there too. It’s like when that, when they leave effectively, you’re back to where you began. And that’s just seems so true.

Jim (10:25):
Yes. That’s a tough place to be in. Uh, you know, and, and I don’t wish it on anybody ’cause I’ve been there <laugh>, that’s everything we’ve created has been out of, oh, we’ve done this wrong, so let’s build a process system or strategy that’s gonna help us make sure that we don’t do it wrong going forward, <laugh>. Um, so you wanna make sure that you’re getting as many qualified book appointments as you can. And a lot of that comes from just really dialing in what you, and converting well, having a system and a process that allows somebody to convert at a high level. Are you converting at 50% or better? And if not, that’s our target for all of our clients. So we, you know, we’ll train to make sure that’s happening. And then once we get you optimized, we build a sales playbook around it so that we can consistently perform at that level.

Jim (11:07):
And then you have a documented sales process. Literally all the steps that you did are involved in you making a sale. So now there’s this system, a process documented that can be handed to somebody else. Then we build in the automation that allows that system to actually be executed all the time. ’cause if you have a sales person who is having to chase leads, uh, and trying to work all of their own magic, they’re gonna be average. You don’t want average, you want an human who can perform at above average because they know how to follow a system that’s been well created for them.

Rich (11:38):
Okay. Yeah. And so like, in, in terms of, let, let’s, let’s see if we can make some, uh, give some actionable advice to people that are listening that want to create such a process. So like, you know, where would they begin? Like what, what’s a good starting point for this to think in terms of, of process rather than, well, let me just delegate, I’ll find a closer and then that person can just do it. So where, where, where is the right place to start?

Jim (12:05):
Yeah, great question. This is, um, here’s, here’s the few keys that I’ll, I’ll give you that you, if you start doing this, you’ll, you’ll be well on the way. First and foremost, you need to make sure that you have documented your process. So just look back over your shoulder. It doesn’t require science or some big sales expertise where you just document what are all the steps that you typically lead people through in order for you to make a sale starting from the time they get to know you. So do you speak on stage? Do you have a blog? Are you, is it Google Click ads? What is, what happens? And then once they click on it, what happens next? What happens next? What happens next until they’re at a place where they’re buying from you? And if you document all of that, guess what? It’s a process. Process and system does not mean technology, it just means system. You have a system for brushing your teeth

Rich (12:51):
<laugh>, right? It might not be efficient and it might not. Um, it, it might not be optimal, but at least now you’ve got, um, you’ve absolutely, you’ve got what your process is as it exists,

Jim (13:01):
Correct? So document everything there. Now you have an analog process, okay? Then you start looking at what are the things that make your, if you A, B, C, which I call it super, again, trying to make it this as simple as possible. A, B, c, your, your, your buyers. Well, who are the A buyers and why? Who are the people who buy all of your things? Who are the people who think you’re amazing and love what you do? And they can’t wait for you to launch the next offering of some kind, right? Those are your A people. And now start replicating who those people are. What is special about those people and what makes them the a what makes them what we call a Q B a qualified book appointment. ’cause a qualified book appointment is somebody who buys, who’s de ideally suited to buy all of your things instead of just the thing you’re selling today, right?

Jim (13:42):
So determine who is a highly targeted Q B A. Um, then the next thing you wanna start thinking about is what are the things that you wanna qualify them? What are all the things that you can say, okay, this, you must be this tall to ride the ride. How do you determine what is this tall length of time in business? How much revenue they make? How big is their company? Whatever it is, doesn’t matter. It’s your circus, your monkeys, you figure it out. But just make sure you know, and you get to choose. Don’t make the mistake of choosing an avatar that you, that is gonna stress you out because it’s not ideally suited for you, just because they’re easy to find and maybe it could pay you, right? You determine who this person is that is gonna allow you to thrive and then you go find them because it’s, it is easier.

Jim (14:23):
They’re everywhere, right? Our world is so interconnected, you can easily find the clients that you need to fill your practice, uh, and what you’re doing. Um, so the, the next thing that you wanna think about is from a qualification standpoint, what are the things that they need? What are the things you absolutely don’t want? So it’s equally important to determine what are the things you want in a client as well as the things you don’t want in a client. Uh, and like we tend to work with people who are accelerated in their growth and they desperately seeking the next stage of growth. We don’t want to convince somebody that they wanna grow. We are suited to work with scaling companies that are eagerly pursuing the next tier of success. And if that’s not you, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just, we just don’t work with companies.

Jim (15:00):
We’re just looking to just make a little bit more growth. That’s not what we’re suited for. We’re suited for fast speed and high growth, right? Then the next thing that we, you want to think about from a system perspective is what happens post offer. You have to have some kind of a post offer mechanism. So the first time you see somebody, first time somebody meets you Rich, and they say, you know what? This sounds great. I think I, you, I love what you have, but I just need to get to know more. Well then what? Right? How do they follow you? How do they stay engaged in your world? What events or, or education opportunities can be in place so that they can, okay, can you still write these words down? You still remain relevant and valuable in their world over time so that when they’re ready to buy, you are the obvious person they buy from it.

Rich (15:47):
So you have to get them to opt-in into something or to have, um, you know, have, have some type of call to action for them so you can remain in contact with them and, uh, and be top of mind for what,

Jim (16:01):
Right? You, you wanna make sure that you have, because no matter, even if you’re converting a 50%, which is great, um, that still means 50% of the people you talk to aren’t buying from you. Well, what are you gonna do to make sure that a percentage of them do over time, right? So you, uh, it’s your job to make sure that you stay relevant and valuable. And that’s not a, uh, a, a nurture system, which is what most CRMs deliver a pipeline and what we call it is a sales function. So it’s an, it is a way for your salesperson to stay in front of their prospects so that there’s a relationship build. They’re building a relationship with your people on behalf of you, right? So that there’s a big difference from you sending out an email blast that says, Hey, I’m having a webinar on Friday. Versus your salesperson reaching out and saying, Hey Rich, remember that problem we were talking about? There’s gonna be a webinar on Friday. And I was thinking, you need to be there ’cause you’ll really benefit those people show up and those people buy ’cause it’s a personal relationship instead of just some lasted email that they may or may not be interested in.

Rich (17:00):
Right? Got it. So, um, so then part of it is maintaining that relationship and cultivating them for, um, you know, um, so, so that it occurs that you are, you’re making a personal invitation, for example, if you’re going to, uh, invite them to a webinar as opposed to just the they’re part of, you know, they’re getting spam by you <laugh>.

Jim (17:23):
Correct. And you know, something to to think about is if you’re a founder, um, you, this is something we come across a lot. You might be thinking, but my community has been trained to connect to me and I don’t know if they’re gonna connect to somebody else. And all I will will share with you is that that’s just a story that you’ve told yourself. And we all, everybody, no matter what community you’re in, you have already trained people in how to engage you. So the good news is you can just train them differently. So you, you know, even right now, you everybody start writing an email like this, this is a message you should all give yourself right Now, welcome to my world in 2023, I have been growing and being blessed, and the world has been moving, and I’m starting to grow my company.

Jim (18:07):
And as a result, you’re gonna start seeing new things from me and new people in my world, right? And here’s my new team member, so and so, whatever. So just start letting people know, share what you’re actually doing in your company, in your growth cycle with your audience, because then they’ll be excited to know what’s coming next. They’ll know you have new products coming, new team, you’re gonna hear from my customer service manager, Elizabeth, and you’re gonna wanna hear this from her. Hey, book appointment with my partner manager, right? ’cause you’re gonna start letting them know. So then they’re gonna start recognizing, oh, guess what? I don’t have to talk to Rich every day. Now I have a team of people that I can talk to and I talk to Rich when I need to talk to Rich.

Rich (18:43):
Yep. And that’s, that’s, it’s very interesting that you bring this up because this is something that I’ve been doing over the past couple of years, is seeking to make that shift. And one of the things that I did is, so Larry Slavin is the guy on my team that, that speaks with new prospects to see if it’s a match to work together. And, um, I set up speaktolarry.com where they could book an appointment with him, but inevitably someone meets me in person and they think like, Rich, like, let’s get on a call to talk about a trademark. And, and for me it like, it, it, it’s not, it’s not worth it to get on every one of those calls. I would spend all of my time just getting on those calls and, uh, and, and for all the reasons we talked about, it’s just not scalable.

Rich (19:28):
It’s not good long term. So I send them to speak to Larry um, dot com and, and what I’ve done more recently is, is create a page there that kind of explains the handoff. I’ve got testimonials from people who are saying how great it was to talk with Larry and, uh, and how it really helped them to get what they needed. And um, and you know, there’s a little, a little note there for me saying, Hey, you know, you’re probably wondering why, why is Rich telling me to talk to Larry? I want to talk to Rich. No, but Larry is the better one for you to talk with, to kind of get, um, get things going and get things rolling for you in terms of working with us. And so, yeah, it’s, it’s like making that handoff and, and I was exactly like you described saying, no, there’s no way for them to work, um, with anyone else. They all just want to work with me. But, um, it’s such an important step to take.

Jim (20:26):
It is, and it, and it elevates you. It starts separating now. People go, wow, he’s got a lot of things going on. So, um, now his time is worth more and he must be doing more things. They start making assumptions on their own that are good. If somebody assumes, well, you’re too big for me now you’re too uppity. I don’t wanna work with you because you can’t gimme all of your time. What they’re really, really doing is they’re telling you they’re not ready to grow with you to the next stage of your business. So they might stay where they’re at or go someplace else, but as you start to climb, you’re gonna start attracting people who want the bigger version of you. And they want, they, they know that you have a team and you have the resources now to solve bigger problems for them. And that’s what you want. You want people who wanna be on that ride with you on that journey that say, I’m gonna stick around with this guy for a long time because he’s going places and I wanna go there too.

Rich (21:13):
Yeah, absolutely. Hey, I’m gonna zoom in on a little micro topic here. Uh, and, and that has to do with appointment setting. So if you are, um, I mean there are different ways that people run a sales process. Sometimes they, um, bring them right to talk with the quote unquote closer, right? Right. Other times they do it through another person referred to commonly as an appointment setter whose job really is to, is to qualify the person and get them ready for the conversation with the quote unquote closer, right? So what do you think about that? Like what do, do you think, do you think that, that it’s an important part to, of sales process to have a multis segmented process where, um, where there is that appointment setting person interjected into it? Is it, do you find that to be effective?

Jim (22:02):
Uh, it, there’s, you know, every strategy works and every strategy doesn’t work. I know it’s a cop out answer, but there’s a time and a place for all of it. Uh, I do believe because your typical quote unquote closer, they’re somebody who, you know, they kind of eat what they kill, quote unquote, and they know how to move people across, but they often come with other baggage, meaning like, they don’t follow up, they don’t necessarily build rapport and relationship well. They want to take, they wanna capitalize in the moment. And so it’s really good to have a balance on your team of somebody who is a farmer, who is a nurturer, who can keep those relationships going, keep people wanting to answer the phone when you call, so that when the time is ready, you tee them up for the opportunity with the person who can help them make that decision powerfully and walk across the line like AKA your closer.

Jim (22:48):
But if you’re using an appointment setting process, then the thing that you wanna be good about is really understanding what is triaging look like Because your appointment center is your triage person, ideally their, their their job to get, to get people to actually wake up, answer the phone, et cetera. So it’s not just somebody who’s performing a task of calling people, it’s somebody who knows how to diagnose and position the next step so that if I’m talking to you, it’s not just, Hey, we got this appointment coming up with Steve, can I get you on a call with them? It’s, what’s the problem that you were trying to solve that you still haven’t? And are you still, are you committed? Are you more committed now than you were? And let me ask you three or four questions ’cause based on how you answer these questions, I know if I should set you up with an appointment with Steve or send you another book, right?

Rich (23:31):
Yeah.

Jim (23:32):
Right. And so that person needs to have a good understanding of what the world looks like in the ideal client’s world, so they know how to navigate them through the journey of making that next big decision.

Rich (23:44):
That’s great, great. And, and it really returns to the theme of what you’ve been saying, which is the way in which you set up the process makes all the difference. So what you’re speaking to there is really having a process in place for the appointment setter. So a process within a process, like there’s their process for how they qualify someone, how they triage them, um, how they get them excited for what’s next. And so again, return to the, the power of the process

Jim (24:12):
Always. You know, it’s the two things I, I was blessed to play, uh, college baseball and I coached some high level athletes in, in high school basketball for years. Um, and something that’s was thrown around a lot when I, when I was growing up is that you don’t, typically, people don’t typically rise to the occasion. They fall to the level of their preparation and their processes. And so the more you prepare, the better you prepare, and those systems will allow you to prepare differently so you’ll know how to leverage those steps. Your systems and processes and preparations is gonna be what determines how much success you have. Because when, when you know, when the push comes to shove and the, the, the, you know, what hits the fan as they say, then uh, that’s when you, that’s when your, what, what opens up is how well have you been prepared and how great do your systems work? Very rarely is it gonna be, I’m just magical and I’m gonna fix this because that just doesn’t happen.

Rich (25:08):
Right. So in terms of being prepared then, um, you’ve, um, you’ve recently launched a process where you’ve launched a system for helping people to, to create this scalable sales. Um, do. And uh, would you like to tell me a little bit about that and what you’re doing there?

Jim (25:26):
Uh, I, I absolutely appreciate that opportunity. Um, my, our company, we in, in our current format, we’ve been in business, uh, uh, right around almost 10 years now. And we spent most of our time serving, you know, higher, higher end, uh, expert companies, people in the top 10% of the industry, 7, 8, 9 figures. And, um, what we do is we, as a done for you sales team, is what people would hire us for. And we would come in and build out their systems and we come in, well, ideally we come in to sell their product, but then we found out that they were missing systems and strategies and structures. So we then had to start building that stuff. So what we have done now is, uh, in recent years, we’ve taken all of the systems strategies and structure that we put into those clients and we’ve decided to start selling them.

Jim (26:09):
We’ve productized them. So now we have a scalable sales system that we then convince all inside of a company. And the first phase of it is getting your sales process documented and the sales playbook built so that we’re getting you to a place where you’re converting at 50% or better than documenting and building a system around it so that then we can bring in the automation that will uplevel that and the qualification process and then put a salesperson in place. ’cause we won’t put a salesperson in place and we don’t recommend you do until you have this documented process and the strategy already in place. And it doesn’t sound sexy and exciting, but I can tell you this, I can give you a, a salesperson in a week and he’ll ruin your business for a year. So don’t let that stuff happen, <laugh>. And so that’s what we have. We have scalable sales system, and the first phase of this is our adaptive Conversations for conscious selling, which is designed, it’s a, it’s a relatable communication leadership program that is designed to have you walk people effectively partner with them to be able to make great decisions in their own best interest instead of showing up selling a product.

Rich (27:11):
Yeah, no, that sounds, that sounds amazing actually. Uh, <laugh>, I’d like to check that out. Um, so if people wanna learn more about you, get in touch with you, how they go about doing. So,

Jim (27:22):
You know, the best way to go is, uh, if you’re watching here, you got the JimP360.com here. There’s also a, uh, a QR code that you can scan that will take you there. Uh, or you can just type in with your fingers, JimP360.com, which will take you to my personal website and you’ll find everything there about me, all of our websites, all of our social medias, et cetera. But before you do that, while you’re listening here, go to that page and then click on the contact button and download me into your phone. Shoot me a text, find the one button there that says text. Shoot me a text with your name, the podcast here that you, that you heard me and just put in there, um, anti closers, right? So we have an anti closers process that we wanna put in front of you and we wanna give you resource so that you can start this process of put, of documenting for yourself what is the system strategy processes that I need in place so that I don’t have to go out and hire a bunch of closers and I don’t have to live on Founder Magic, trying to sell my, my, my, my wares and my services and my company.

Rich (28:23):
Yeah, that sounds amazing. I love it. And uh, Jim, thanks so much for taking the time to do this, to do this program. I really appreciate it.

Jim (28:31):
Absolutely pleasure. And I look forward to, uh, all the growth that you have going on as you’re being started to scale your company.

Outro (28:42):
Thanks for listening to Innovations and Breakthroughs with your host Rich Goldstein. Be sure to click subscribe, check us out on the web at innovationsandbreakthroughs.com and we’ll see you next time.