Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and we prove it in our latest chat with William Gilchrist, the maestro behind Konsyg , who joins us all the way from Singapore. Prepare to be armed with an arsenal of sales strategies that could catapult your business to unprecedented heights. With insights spanning from the quirks of startup culture to the necessity of evolution in business, William's anecdotes and advice are a wake-up call to any entrepreneur feeling the tremors of market change.
Picture this: an introvert at the helm of a thriving sales-driven business. Sounds paradoxical, right? Yet, that's exactly the journey I've navigated, transforming perceived weaknesses into strategic strengths. This episode isn't just about the power of sales; it's a deep dive into Sales as a Service, where we redefine the traditional approach to creating robust sales pipelines. We're tearing down the walls of American market limitations, urging businesses to widen their horizons and seize the opportunities awaiting in the global market.
To round off, we dissect the art of crafting a resilient sales system, one that doesn't crumble when the market shrugs off your product. From the pitfalls of harboring personal biases to the breakthroughs achieved through genuine customer connections, we're serving up some hard truths about sales and the entrepreneurial mindset. So, buckle up and get ready to inject your business with strategies that matter, and don't hesitate to reach out for that bespoke advice that could be the pivot your enterprise needs.
William Gilchrist: Konsyg, Founder & CEO Website - https://konsyg.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamgilchristkonsyg/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Konsyg/ Blog - https://konsyg.com/podcast/ Email - williamkgilchrist@gmail.com
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and we prove it in our latest chat with William Gilchrist, the maestro behind Konsyg , who joins us all the way from Singapore. Prepare to be armed with an arsenal of sales strategies that could catapult your business to unprecedented heights. With insights spanning from the quirks of startup culture to the necessity of evolution in business, William's anecdotes and advice are a wake-up call to any entrepreneur feeling the tremors of market change.
Picture this: an introvert at the helm of a thriving sales-driven business. Sounds paradoxical, right? Yet, that's exactly the journey I've navigated, transforming perceived weaknesses into strategic strengths. This episode isn't just about the power of sales; it's a deep dive into Sales as a Service, where we redefine the traditional approach to creating robust sales pipelines. We're tearing down the walls of American market limitations, urging businesses to widen their horizons and seize the opportunities awaiting in the global market.
To round off, we dissect the art of crafting a resilient sales system, one that doesn't crumble when the market shrugs off your product. From the pitfalls of harboring personal biases to the breakthroughs achieved through genuine customer connections, we're serving up some hard truths about sales and the entrepreneurial mindset. So, buckle up and get ready to inject your business with strategies that matter, and don't hesitate to reach out for that bespoke advice that could be the pivot your enterprise needs.
William Gilchrist: Konsyg, Founder & CEO Website - https://konsyg.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamgilchristkonsyg/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Konsyg/ Blog - https://konsyg.com/podcast/ Email - williamkgilchrist@gmail.com
If you are this exact same as you were eight months before 100%, something is wrong. And it doesn't matter that you're making revenue. It doesn't matter that it's going well. Something's wrong If you're doing the exact same thing. You were eight months prior and no one's thought about shifting something. Well, it might be going good now, but I give you another six months and you're going to get a shock.
Speaker 1:
And then that's not, and then you're going to take another four months. So now you're already almost in another year trying to recover from it, just because you had a good run. So you know, a good run is a good time to start. To look at Reorg, I always feel like the things are going really well. Yeah, all right, let's look at what we need to do.
Speaker 2:
Let's disrupt everything.
Speaker 1:
Best it up right now.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Small Business Pivots. I'm your host, michael Morrison, a small business coach and founder of Boss. Boss helps business owners create a business that can run without them. Go to businessownershipsimplifiedcom to learn more. If you want to stay up to date with our podcast, make sure to hit that subscribe button now. Also, make sure to hang around to the end of this episode for my recap and coaches corner, where I share applicable action steps that every small business owner can do to move the needle in their business.
Speaker 2:
Our guest today is William Gilchrist. William's diverse career spans Shanghai's media, chicago's education sector and pivotal roles in tech giants like Google. However, his most impactful venture emerged with Consig, the sales as a service mercenary he founded and now leads as CEO. Consig's global presence across 14 offices serves enterprises and SMEs carving a niche as an end-to-end sales solution across continents. Today, william is going to share his vast knowledge of sales, which are the lifeblood of every business. Let's get to our guest now. Welcome to another Small Business Pivots podcast. Today we have another special guest from around the world. Where are you coming to us from today? Singapore.
Speaker 1:
Singapore, Singapore. So you know, normally they'll say, like you know, Chicago, Illinois, USA, which is where I'm born, but I'm in Singapore, so it'll be Singapore, Singapore.
Speaker 2:
So our world history lesson. If someone were to visit there, what is one thing you recommend them seeing or doing? Oh, man.
Speaker 1:
So the country is about 80 kilometers in general. I guess in American terms that would be about what like 50 or so miles Guys, don't beat me up on the conversion, I'm still very American about it but 50 or so miles around and there are so many things to see in that small piece. But of course, if anybody's seeing Crazy Rich Asians, you know you want to go to, you know Merida Bay Sands and the amazing restaurants. I mean, there's so many things to see but the big one is Merida Bay Sands. It's that big building with the three buildings.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, that's something that people automatically want to go to, and of course, the Merlion and there are so many places. But after 14 years in the country, I know where all the bathrooms are, so that's something that's awesome, kind of like the bean in Chicago.
Speaker 2:
It's like you always hear about the bean.
Speaker 1:
Well, real Chicagoans, because I'm like you know born and raised in Chicago, we didn't have the bean right. Oh, really, Okay yeah. So when they kind of put it there we're like okay, I mean this is a good gimmick, you know right. I guess people want to come see it, but it's not really like super Chicago-y, you know.
Speaker 2:
Yeah yeah, we have one of those in Oklahoma too. They put a big feather down in our big park and people take pictures from out of state. But here it's kind of like that's just a feather, it's a piece of art.
Speaker 1:
Well, I had this idea of having because of the bean, I had this idea one day in some random remote country that like needs the economy boost a gigantic metal like teddy bear, like huge, though like really big, and I think it would be such a big thing that people will come for tourism. And I had this idea like 20 years ago. So that's something that I'm hoping that I could probably do for a country at some point, Right?
Speaker 2:
So the purpose of our podcast is to help small business owners and you own a business around the world. It's a world business and I know for a lot of business owners we get stuck from a trial or tribulation growing up. Were there anything like that to get started with in a podcast here, Because I know a lot of business owners have a fixed mindset or something that's keeping them from being successful, anything like that. And then how did you overcome that?
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, I mean, I think. Well, for one, every single day is a challenge in itself. You're overcoming something and learning something every day and that's not a cliche statement, it's real. Like every single day I am learning something that I never learned the day before.
Speaker 1:
But getting started, in particular I mean one, was an internal mental struggle. Right, I actually knew that I wanted to start this thing, but I actually did not have the courage or any confidence in actually being able to do it, and it was an interesting set of experiences because, frankly and this is a bit of a humorous way of kind of bringing this out but effectively starting a business is stupid. Why? There's no mathematical reason why it's going to work. All the statistics are actually against you. Yeah, if you really go down to every piece of, why would you start a business? If you start a coffee shop that is called Starbucks that wasn't the first coffee shop that ever existed that's a stupid idea, right, you know, if you're doing something where you're going to be getting in other people's vehicles and literally ride sharing with random people, with all the crime in the world.
Speaker 1:
right now, you're really going to get in a car. You're going to call it what? Uber?
Speaker 2:
That's a stupid idea, and even Mark Cuban shot that down, I do believe on Shark Tank Somebody did I recall.
Speaker 1:
That's a silly idea. Why create I mean, man, you're going to create a search engine when there's Yahoo out there? It's a stupid idea, right. So all these things kind of bring a reality, I think, to starting a business, right, and I had to kind of go through that kind of mantra with myself to be able to get the courage to actually start.
Speaker 1:
Well, it's kind of back into a corner, because I was working for a company that pretty much showed me that you don't really need to be that bright to start a business. That was a bit of a push, which was nice. After I left big corporate, I went into a startup with some really smart people and then I went to another company right before I started this business and I kind of realized, ok, well, this is just kind of regular. It's not like everybody's an absolute genius and you're not trying to pretend to be a genius to start a business, it's just regular people. And some people go kind of down that corporate route, which is awesome, and other people go into having the courage to wear with all and just really honestly, the lack of a bit of word stupidity to go down the route of really exploring the idea and seeing what happens to it.
Speaker 2:
I'm curious, so you've worked for big corporate and then startup. I'm curious, so you own a very successful business. Today, what is a takeaway that you learned from corporate and what is a takeaway that you learn from kind of a startup? Those are two different cultures, dynamics, strategies. How did that help you today?
Speaker 1:
Oh wow, well being in sales in particular. So I've only worked in sales capacity in either of those worlds.
Speaker 1:
One thing that I've noticed is that corporate has the same exact people that are in startups, except more money and more security. Right? Just because you have company that has funding or it's a huge organization, that actually is an illusion that you're secure. And just because you are, you know, your own business owner, that gives you the illusion of power. Both are illusion More often than not.
Speaker 1:
What you find in the corporate world are individuals that are focused on their individual role. Right, it doesn't really matter what happens to the broader company or the bigger picture. It's mainly about their department, their role and their specific tasks. So you are kind of laser focused to believe that your department is effectively the company and then that ties into the broader company, which in some ways, is that is the case. But you know, the mentality is like that. So when you're working with individuals, they're only thinking about their department. When you're in a startup or even an SME to some extent, you are kind of required to think about the bigger picture. There is no way to hide, right? You have to exist in. Well, how is the revenue really going? You know, a revenue conversation in a startup is different than the revenue conversation that you have in your weekly meetings in a large corporate right, because you could almost tune that out. This doesn't really really matter. It takes nine months to get fired anyway, right?
Speaker 2:
So you know we're a startup.
Speaker 1:
It's like no, it's not firing, we might not be here if we don't figure out this revenue thing. So those are some of the key differences. I think that the intensities are different, but it's the same people in both organizations, it's just they're required to focus in different areas. That's interesting.
Speaker 2:
So you, the company that you have today, is Sales correct? Yep, and one of the things that we talked about was that you are an introvert and, as a small business owner, it's critical that they are the face of the business and that they are the salesperson Like if they don't know how to sell their own product or service. You don't really have your own business, and so what were some things that you overcame to be able to get into sales as an introvert that could maybe help some small business owners get over that fear Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
I mean one thing I didn't run from myself being an introvert. That was the first thing. I am who, I am, right, and what I found was that there's a superpower in all elements. Right, being an introvert is not necessarily a bad thing. Actually, it was the reason why I was able to do a lot more in sales because I listened.
Speaker 1:
Introverts are a little bit more or a little bit better at solution selling because they listen and they're able to take in the points and then say, okay, look, I'll get back to you and let me connect what you told me with our value proposition. That's a real sell versus the steamroller, right, the super extra beard that's wanting and indigning you and the power tie and talking so fast that you don't even know what was going on. You're kind of saying yes, but really, at the end of the day, you're probably going to cancel the contract before it even starts Because you didn't really know what you bought. So more often than not, what I needed to do with being such an introvert is understand the advantages of it versus trying to flip it. I know that, okay, there's some things. I cannot be necessarily shy. I could be an introvert, but I cannot be shy and be a salesperson. That doesn't work Right. So I had to work on being from being shy to a little bit more communicative.
Speaker 1:
I also had to look into more mastering the craft of the sell, the craft of the pitch, the craft of body language, voice inflection all of that Just so that I didn't have to necessarily be somebody who I wasn't.
Speaker 1:
It was more like okay, what is my voice? How am I going to communicate this to the world or to people who meet me and not worry so much about it and not worry so much about not really wanting to interact socially about it? Those are some of the things that I started with, and then it kind of just grew from there to a natural reality, to where I absolutely love selling, I love interacting with people, I love pitching. Yet I'm the same person that absolutely hates crowded restaurants and I'm the one to go to the grocery store right before it closes or right when it opens, or a cafe that's very desolate in the middle of no one's purpose, because I'm not really too into that. I don't get my party, I don't party things like that, but I'm in sales which, effectively, when people see me at work, they're like there's no way you're introverted.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's interesting. So what led you into the entrepreneurial world?
Speaker 1:
Well, I had the idea for a while. What actually led me to start the business was actually seeing the gaps, whether that be in large corporate, down to startups, down to companies that I was interacting with, down to friends who were working in corporate. There's a huge gap in the sales world. There still is. It's fully not figured out where most sales organizations are designed and built on our archaic 1970s and 1980s structure, system and outlook. The expectations of salespeople are so archaic because the market is so different than what it was in the 80s, for instance. So you have the AOL CD structure of selling. In a modern era where we have chat, gpt, that doesn't quite match up Because I kept seeing those gaps across. Just, it didn't matter if it was a big company or a small company and companies that I would just interact with. There's really a need for this. There's really a need to have that team that's not only going to sell on your behalf but also, at the same time, teach and showcase and consult. As to this is what's happening.
Speaker 1:
First off, your product doesn't sell itself, period. It doesn't Just because you did an amazing ad campaign and you got a few deals. That's not your sales pipeline. Those are just individuals who are interested at the time and then they've engaged. But it's when you do an absolute cold outreach, sell value, prop, pitch, close and then contract signature with money that has come in, now we've done a sell. Now let's try to repeat that a million times and if we can do that, now you know what the sell is for your business. It's been clouded with everything else that I mentioned before that.
Speaker 2:
Interesting that you mentioned that because I would just call it a framework of like a sales system. And the other day I said something and somebody said, oh, did you take such and such course? And it just kind of reminded me exactly what you're talking about. It's like there are certain things that we've been taught in the past to say or do or react to and people can associate those with a particular course. And then the reason he mentioned that, because we were just having a casual conversation. He said the only reason I mentioned that is because when I hear that now I know I'm being sold to because you're using curriculum from a sales course and there's so many courses out there like you're talking about, from the 80s and the 90s and etc. Versus today, it's more about the conversation, the relationship and the and the how you outreach, and so I want to let you kind of share what your business is real quick, because that it's it's amazing. So tell us what your business does so that people can relate to the information that you're sharing.
Speaker 1:
So we are a full outsourced sales organization. In fact, people call it Sales as a Service. Now I can confidently say that we are the only actual sales as a service company in the world at the moment.
Speaker 1:
Now, that's a very strong statement because you see the term sales service at the time, but when you dig in a little bit deeper, no one's doing the end-to-end sale. They're doing components of sales or they might do activities that might result in a sale, but no one is doing a full concierge service. That is taking everything from no one knowing who you were, all the way through the sales process up until a contract signature into money in your bank. So pre-sales to pitching, to presentation, to follow-up, to demos, to no, I don't really want to pay it, other than maybe we do it all. No one's doing that.
Speaker 1:
And this is something that for us is actually a challenge, because we get associated with, let's say, the BPO's of the world or the companies that are, let's say, able to understand us might not necessarily be the companies that need us at that particular time, because they kind of understand what is needed in terms of sales, but the companies that probably would need us are thinking that we're just like a call center.
Speaker 1:
But we're not. You're not wrong with a call center, but I think that's a very different service than what we are. So, in short, we are a sales mercenary group. That's probably the most direct way that we say it where we take contracts from governments, large enterprises, all the way down to the startups. I mean we're behind seven different exits of startup companies to work with. We've gotten them exited with revenue that we've generated for them. We tell companies go from C to series A, all the way up to B even We've had 400 plus clients over the last seven years. So our work is to drive revenue for people so that they're able to have better conversations, either with their investors or to be able to scale to where they don't need us anymore, and that's the main business model.
Speaker 2:
And so your business model? You mentioned that you're worldwide or global. Is that correct?
Speaker 1:
Worldwide, except for a few countries like Japan.
Speaker 2:
I think you told me that the benefit of using a company like yours is also helping people recognize that you can sell around the world, versus some business owners have a one track mine of they can only serve within their region because they don't have a growth mindset. Is that kind of what you were mentioning in our past conversation?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, absolutely so. One of the things that I noticed, especially being an American and this is mainly aimed at American businesses right, being an American overseas for as long as I have, for almost 19 years now I noticed that when it comes to companies that are coming to Asia early, like even startup level or you know, just just out of startup level, they're usually from Europe coming into Asia and there are a lot of Asian companies at startup level that were going into the US, but there were never really that many American companies which there are far more startups, particularly in like tag, for instance, that wouldn't even conceive of the idea of starting from day one selling in their hometown and also selling in Singapore, when the probably the requirements to do so would be the exact same. Like it wouldn't. It wouldn't change anything, like you actually would just have a bigger market, you could sell an APAC.
Speaker 1:
So that frustration really also led me to start this business is to start to have that conversation. That conversation is to say hey, look, guys, like you do realize, as you're trying to expand throughout the Midwest, you do realize we could be spending you across Thailand, malaysia, Vietnam, singapore, hong Kong, australia, new Zealand at the same exact time, which has a very large population, and also automatically you're able to have that global stamp or a multi regional stamp. We're also in Asia. So that's been something that I've really been trying to get across to business owners, particularly from the States. You get some Canadians to do it, but the American business owners oftentimes are not comfortable with the idea of those market checkers. Maybe they haven't been there or whatever. So that's been a monster of ours for a while.
Speaker 2:
That's really interesting because that is important and relevant for the listeners, because so many of us do have a fixed mindset and we can't even fathom going outside of our market or comfort zone, if you will. So I appreciate you sharing that that led you to where you live now in Singapore.
Speaker 1:
Interesting. I was 13. I was a student ambassador and I was sent to China, and then I was never the same again. I came back and I said, okay, there's a world out there that is totally different than ours, and then ended up going to high school in Chicago, went to Bowdoin College in Maine major in international relations, and I minored in Asian studies. And as soon as I graduated my degree I moved to teach public school in China, in Shanghai, and then I ended up realizing that, okay, well, I want to get a more corporate job. So I ended up going into corporate Shanghai and realized that I couldn't speak Chinese. So I ended up going to grad school in Beijing University and then I had my whole plan set up. I was ready to go graduate from Beijing University.
Speaker 1:
And then it was 2008,. The Olympics was coming and the economy was tanking. So it was time for me to get out of China, because you're like here's your degree and there's nothing for you here. So from there I got a tip from an alumni was my mentor and also an advisor on Conn's sake, my company now and he said hey, look, you could be my intern down in Singapore. And I said internship, I'm kind of old, but, okay, I mean, I guess, I guess I'll do it, and I went down there and I started getting into the world of sales, the world of tech sales, and then that's what, let me later on to go into Google and all that stuff, and then we can Google and start this business. So that's how I ended up in Singapore.
Speaker 2:
Wow, that's amazing story. You're listening to small business pivots, a podcast created for small business owners. Small business pivots is supported by boss. Boss helps business owners create a business that runs without them through business coaching, lending courses, events, additional resources and much, much more. Go to business ownership simplifiedcom to learn more. If you're enjoying the podcast and want to stay up to date with all our latest episodes, make sure to hit that subscribe button. And if you're loving what you hear, show us some love by giving us a thumbs up or leaving a positive review. Your support means the world to us and it helps others discover the show too. Thanks for tuning in and don't forget to subscribe and like.
Speaker 2:
Now let's get back to our guests. You started your business, so let's jump back to that first day that you don't have a job and you start a business. Let's talk about some of the pivots that you made, and then maybe some. I would think that you probably learned some sales tips along the way that were beneficial, not for your customers, but more or so for you. What were some of those early learning things that a small business owner could take away?
Speaker 1:
Well, I think one thing in particular with my background. It was that I've been doing sales for so long, so when it came to what I wanted to achieve and the value proposition, I was very clear on that. But the difference was I didn't have a big, flashy logo behind me at that time, because I'm ex-Google, so that usually gets you a callback Right. In my particular case, I have this pink logo with a K on it and I'm telling people that I'll be able to help them with their sales pipeline. And oh, by the way, we just got started. Not the best situation. I think that the key learnings were more along the lines of realizing that I am a salesperson by trade. That's just what I am. I am what I am. However, I had to learn to be a business owner. I had to learn to think like a business owner. I never thought I didn't realize that you had to think like an employer. I didn't know what that was. I've been thinking like an employee or a student or a child right, my whole life. You go from child to student to employee 99% of the time, and there's no real playbook on how to be an employer or how to think like a business owner and see yourself at the same level as other individuals who might either generate more revenue than you or been in the game longer than you. So that was a process, psychologically, to be able to come to grips with this business. I knew I was good at what I did and I was going to hire people who were good at what they do. But getting that mindset in terms of no, this is us, like this is us, this is what we do and this is how we're going to take on the market, that was a process for me, completely. Once I was able to come to grips with that, it became much easier to sell the business because it was coming from a very genuine place of content, confidence. It was. We are comfortable with the space that we're in at this particular moment. So, yes, we are new. Yes, we do have a pink logo. There's a little K on it, our mascot is a unicorn and, yes, this seems very weird because our palette, our color palette, does not match what a tech sales company should look like on purpose. And it was just. We just did everything that you wouldn't expect a company like ours to do and we ended up presenting ourselves in manners.
Speaker 1:
I wore a suit every day for three years, right, every single day. I was fully suited. I had I mean, it was fortunate being able to, you know, have a team in Thailand as well, because I was going to the tailor all the time. So I was always dressed to impress and made sure to get the narrative of the business very genuinely into the ears of people. And just being comfortable with where the wave took me, you know, and enjoying the ride was the big thing, because it's just, it's not going to work out right away. Your dreams in terms of we're going to make millions of revenue in the first year yeah, maybe, and that might be the worst thing ever for you is that if you actually do make that 10 million dollars your first year, that might be the curse Kind of want to struggle a bit. You kind of want to sweat out and just see, see, see where it takes you.
Speaker 2:
You mentioned Google and I don't want to get off on your past career path, but you didn't mention what you did there, so I'm sure a listener is probably wondering. You can just share and a few words.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I was on a sales floor and then I was a knowledge manager as well, where I was building up sales teams, but I was on the.
Speaker 2:
I was on the sales floor for about four years, so your past career helped lead you into what you're doing now as well. Is what you're kind of referring to that as?
Speaker 1:
Actually it's kind of funny. I didn't really learn much sales at all from Google. In fact, I learned hold my sales prior to Google, which was under Kyle Hagerty, who was a person brought to Singapore and I was working under him at TSL marketing and we were doing 150 cold calls a day. Wow, and it was real. And you put me through, you know, samler, sales training and things like that. I had some really good people kind of around me. So by the time I got into Google I was kind of like this hungry dog and then realizing like oh this, oh, it's not really about sales really yeah.
Speaker 1:
So, oh, it's about. I don't need to learn sales, they just need to learn Google. Okay, I?
Speaker 2:
was gonna say learn their system probably.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, learn there. Well, it was just Google. You just got to understand how the company works and really it's not really sales in a raw sense, like you're not able to, you can, but it's the way it's set up. It's not what you think in terms of what I came from, so it was a bit of a cultural shift. But I would say that, prior to, google prepped me more for this. Google allowed me to dream, because you know a spaceship, everything's there. So then you're able to think bigger. You're gonna say, wow, I can go to space and come back down to earth. That's, I didn't know, I could do that.
Speaker 2:
Okay, do you think that's kind of what pushed you to be this global company?
Speaker 1:
I definitely say that I should be my Google experience of that, being able to see things a lot bigger, and not try to Keep things kind of here You're able to. With you know, with a laptop and internet connection you can do as much Damage as you want. Yeah, it's your own mind that's holding you back.
Speaker 2:
And that that's applicable for contractors, that's applicable for People that mow yards. I mean, the world is your oyster, as you're kind of saying. It's like, well, you don't have to go actually mow every lawn, but maybe you create franchises and then you call somebody like you and say, hey, can you help me sell franchise? In fact, I want to get real quick on what size of companies do you sell for? Like, who would this be beneficial for?
Speaker 1:
I would say well, look, we've dealt with companies that were literally two people and we have companies that are 10,000 now, the companies that were 10,000 plus. Of course, when we started seven years ago we weren't getting those contracts, so we got really good at two to 50. That's our bread and butter. We're really good at two to 50. However, as we progressed Over the years and started getting reputation and started selling more into markets, of course we got the larger contracts as well, which we've been able to navigate. We're very strong with two to 50, even under 200 companies, and all that. But you know, our book of business is very diverse.
Speaker 2:
So the biggest takeaway is no business owner should not think big.
Speaker 1:
I mean, the world is your oyster as you're saying the Sun's not going away just because it's set while you were sleeping.
Speaker 2:
Yes, it's, it's daytime for somebody else.
Speaker 1:
I like it somewhere you know what language do they speak, and get somebody to speak that language and talk about your value proposition there. And, yeah, that's more of an opportunity for you to be able to make it.
Speaker 2:
Well, and I want to thank you for taking this time because we have a 12-hour difference. I believe in our time. So you're it's the middle of the night where you're at and I'm just here in Midday, so I appreciate you being up to share your knowledge with everybody. So Back to your business. So you started a business. What was kind of like that first pivot, because I know, like us and I guess what I'm referring to is most business owners, they they're on this honeymoon ride. You know their sales increase, they increase and then they plateau, and Most of the time it's because they become the bottleneck. So did you experience that and how did you get? How did you overcome that?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I think I might always be the bottleneck, because you know you have a vision and you have to pivot, and then that pivoting doesn't feel the same way as the first one. But you know it's the needs time to warm up something. Year I was like no, let's go back to this. So it definitely happens with all businesses and I would say that that, more often than not, one of the big pivots was in terms of our general structure. Like we've had to reorg quite a bit over the years and and that's usually where I feel like a lot of companies tend to forget You're going to need to reorg, and reorging doesn't necessarily mean something's wrong.
Speaker 1:
Reorgan means you're adapting, just like inflation, you have to. You know, yeah to the practice, you have to reorg For what's going on in the world right now, or where the hotspots are, or you know where the new Areas of focus are, how sales is done and what platform sales are done. I mean, if I still use the same tools that I was using seven years ago, even though they still exist, no way would be able to do the things that were continuously able to do year on year, and that's that's a hard process.
Speaker 2:
That's very hard, and I appreciate you saying that instead of me, because I share that with business owners all the time. I'm like, okay, we're I call them guiding principles, kind of like your vision statement, your mission. I'm like, okay, once you're done with this, you're not checking a box and that's the way it's always gonna like this, these are living, breathing documents that, as you evolve, they have to evolve with you or else there's no direction and that's kind of I think, what you're leading to, isn't it?
Speaker 1:
If you are this exact same as you were eight months before, 100%, something's wrong and it doesn't matter that you're making revenue.
Speaker 1:
It doesn't matter that it's going well. Yeah, something wrong if you're doing the exact same thing. You were eight months prior and no one's thought about Shifting something. Well, it might be going good now, but I give you another six months and you're gonna get a shock yeah, and that's not. And then you're gonna take another four months. So now you're already almost in another year trying to recover from it, just because you had a good run. So you know a good run is a good time to start to look at reordering. I always feel like the things are going really well. Yeah, all right, let's look at what we need.
Speaker 2:
Let's disrupt everything.
Speaker 1:
Bested up right now. Right, it's always been. I think you know rigidness is better when it's kind of like because you're able to kind of control the fall, when you're up time to spin the wheel, because you never know, it goes even further up. Yeah, I.
Speaker 2:
I say so basically discomfort means we're growing absolutely.
Speaker 1:
The word comfortable needs to be put in a box and thrown In the world if you're gonna get into being a business owner. There's no, there's just no such thing. There's no comfort. I, I, I, I steal sleep. I don't go to sleep, I steal sleep. I say, okay, it's time for me to. I'm gonna take some hours and I'm gonna do my eight hours of sleep every night. I'm guilty every time. Yeah, what, what would you say?
Speaker 2:
So now you have this successful business. A big question that most business owners ask me is I'm always wondering if I'm working on the right thing. So I'm curious, kind of what you work on.
Speaker 1:
As the leader of the CEO of your organization, I spent a lot of time in developing the people, particularly the leadership, and really trying to work within their strengths and to encourage them to do the same for their subordinates. That's probably 40 to 50 percent of my time, right? The other thing is also planning out, where it's not really goal setting right. It's more of a scenario of where are we in reference to our own abilities to deliver. More often than not, a lot of people will put goals and those goals are based on a podcast they listen to, or the goals of a son, a blog they read, which that's not your reality and that wouldn't be. You know, you don't know. This person might have rich family and it's actually secretly funding them, and then they write a blog.
Speaker 1:
I'm saying my, my struggle, and you're you're like why aren't I having that same success? Because you don't know their reality. So your reality is your reality. So when I dream and kind of set these benchmarks, I set it off of based on the circumstances that we're under or have been under, and based on the resources that we have and the knowledge that we attain. Are we, based on my assessment, in a realistic trajectory that is positive, does have to be great, but is it positive? If it's positive, well then that's way better than when I started writing it out on a cocktail napkin seven years ago. Yeah, that's where I started, right, you know, you know, you know, you know you're not going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1:
You know, you know, and I always make this joke and said how can we lose when we came here with nothing, winning every day? Now that you've already won, where do you want to go? And I think that's where it gets entertaining, that's where it gets fun as we get energized because now you're saying I've already won, so where do I go?
Speaker 2:
Are there any tips sales tips that you could give our listeners, because most of them are small business owners and Probably aren't quite ready for to go global yet. They're just trying to get a handle on what they have. Any tips you could give them on how to clean up or shore up their sales process or system that might benefit them?
Speaker 1:
Absolutely Well, first come up with a methodology and I don't mean a sales methodology that you can pick up a book and you read the book and suddenly that's your sales methodology. No, you have to come up with your own methodology and system that's based on exactly presenting your value proposition and what it does. That's one thing, and why people would care. The next is look at the mirror and forgive me, I'm a salesperson, so very direct, you know. Look in the mirror and tell yourself nobody cares about my product. So have your methodology. Look in the mirror and say nobody cares about my product, no one's just going to buy it because it's cool, no one's just going to buy it because I'm speaking about it.
Speaker 1:
And then go back to your methodology after you've said that to yourself and then review it again and make it, because once you do that and this is a real process, it sounds crazy, but it's a real process because once you do that, you go back to your methodology You'll realize more often than not, the things that you've put in your methodology are things that you're assuming someone would care about. You're making assumptions on it, you're projecting what you care about on your methodology and then you're frustrated that no one is behaving like you. That's why I didn't. Revenue doesn't happen. That's where the bottleneck is more often than not.
Speaker 1:
It's from projection. You're thinking the market's going to behave like you behave and it's not the case. So have your methodology come to reality with that mirror conversation and then from there a test different components of how you present your business and also think very big and broad. Do not just hone in on one. We're going to start small, one particular market. I know this is most common thing I hear. I know we'll be able to sell in this particular sector Because you know what. We've sold three deals in the last three weeks right here. This is it. We're just drilling here. Big mistake, because that doesn't happen. Then you're going to be questioning your product or the sales people or yourself and then you're going to double down on it. So Keep yourself very broad as well when you're doing your different tests in terms of how you're going to be positioning your methodology that you put together. So methodology, come back to earth in dream that that would be the best advice I can get.
Speaker 2:
I love that because I think of most. I Always say most, but I don't mean most. I just mean a lot of small business owners. When they leave the workforce, start their own business, they, they have this dream or this idea that all my friends and family are gonna buy from me and I'm here to tell them that they're the last to buy from you. Most of the time.
Speaker 2:
My friends were gonna help sell for me and it's like, no, they know you as Michael or William or whoever it is. They don't they, they're not there to promote you. And that kind of goes back with, like when you mentioned, when you sell those first three deals in this particular area, if you stay there, you're basically kind of committing suicide for your business. You're not expanding. You got to keep thinking bigger, and I love that. I love that. What's the name of your company?
Speaker 1:
Conceit kao n s y g is that the domain to that's the domain conceitcom. You can definitely see everything. We have too much information on the website, so Kao n s y g com.
Speaker 2:
Excellent. How could someone get a hold of you if they want to follow you? Do you have any channels out there?
Speaker 1:
Well, william Gilchrist on LinkedIn, that is the best way to find me. I'm always on LinkedIn, I'm always posting and doing amazing interviews with great content providers and I'm always talking the conversation of sales. Really, I mean, everything on my LinkedIn is about these type of conversations funny Outreach messages that I get. I'll screech, shot it and remove the names and then start critiquing. You know, hey look, it would have been better if it was this way or that way. We have some ebooks out as well. So, kowinisfedgercom, or add me, william Gilchrist on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2:
So I highly Encourage everybody to go follow William. He's got a lot of good stuff out there to get you to that level to where someday you will need his services so you can go global in your business. Is there any last words of wisdom that you're like the one thing I learned in business or the one thing I would suggest, or maybe a book or mentor or something that you would suggest that could really help our listeners?
Speaker 1:
Absolutely. I mean, I think that the biggest thing to kind of take away here it really in, if anything could resonate it would be to look in the mirror and come back to earth sometimes. I think that is I have to repeat it because, based on my experience in big corporate startups and running my own and Running my own and also dealing with 400 plus clients over the last seven years, so I've probably worked Lifetimes sales rolls and, yeah, corporate role just by clients alone, right, and the one common thread that I'm seeing is that we all need to look in the mirror and realize that there is not a magical pill. There's simply work, ethic, skills and leveling up and coming to reality and being more genuine.
Speaker 1:
Ai is not gonna save you guys. You know Email wouldn't say. You know. People thought like all the new technology is going to suddenly cut a corner to be able to solve Business or business interactions or human interactions and revenue. It won't. So the best thing to do is to learn your way and have faith in it and adapt and adjust and everybody's capable. Everyone is.
Speaker 2:
That would be the best thing I could say that's brilliant, because I see so many business owners get stuck. They read a book and they Keep reading it and they go chapter by chapter by chapter and they never pick up anything else. And it's you said it beautifully and I don't know that anyone's ever said that on our podcast. Like you can't rely on just one source. Like you always have to be learning and Incorporating and pulling this and using that and getting rid of this and that, because not every business is the same.
Speaker 1:
My entire business strategy for years has not been relying on any kind of sales material. It's been on studying leaders and emperors of the past. Actually the month the, the Mali Empire of Monsimusa, napoleon, caesar I've actually I've read those type of things be like okay, no matter how stressed that I am in a Q4, it can't possibly be as stressful as Napoleon was in the Alps.
Speaker 2:
I.
Speaker 1:
Prepare who's more stressed out. But, like you know, understanding tactics and concepts and structures, and you know I just I should read more historical books to Understand, you know, how business have been done and how interaction that, for me, allows me to be able to hone my own Empire. We all have empires, right, and that in itself, for me, has worked. Where, if I were to read the, you know the, the challenger theory? It says you should wake up and have five coffees in the morning before you work out, because that will help your sales process.
Speaker 1:
That's Extremely toxic you know to be here you do down a path that's not genuinely you, versus Earring stories and being inspired by other people's challenges that should be able to bring you into a place of your own.
Speaker 2:
I'm going to enhance what you said, because we had another podcast guest that said the exact same thing. He does not read. When I asked him what's a good business book, he said I don't read business books, I read historical books. He listed off, like the shoe dog Hangry, people that have gotten their business to another level and he doesn't follow anyone methodology he like. Well, they did this, so maybe I can try a version of that or something like that, and that seems to work better for a lot of people. So that is awesome advice right there. Well, you have been a joy, a pleasure, full of information. I appreciate you. I'm sure you're about ready for bed again. It's the middle of the night where you're at. So I appreciate you and we'll stay in contact, and I encourage everybody to go follow William. You will learn a lot in the future. So thanks again. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1:
This is great.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the recap and coaches corner, your go-to spot for practical coaching tips to transform your business into one that runs seamlessly Even without you. In today's recap, we honed in on a vital essential that every business needs to be successful the power of sales and the art of crafting a system that works. In this episode, we uncovered the crucial role sales play in the success of any business and delved into the keys to creating a systematic approach. Let's step into the coaches corner, where I'll share one actionable item to help you build a solid methodology for your sales process. Here's your actionable nugget map out your customers journey. Start by understanding every step a customer takes from discovering your product or service to make a purchase. Identify touch points, concerns and opportunities at each stage. This mapping exercise will not only streamline your sales process but also enhance the overall customer experience. As you gear up to boost your business, remember this key step in creating a methodology for your sales. It's all about guiding your customers seamlessly from interest to purchase. It's about the relationship.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for listening to small business pivots. Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast. If you need help growing your business, go to business ownership simplifiedcom and schedule a free conversation by clicking the orange button in the top right corner. If you have a guest or Topic suggestion for our podcast, or just want to talk anything small business related, email me at Michael, at Michael D Morrisoncom. We'll see you next time on small business pivots.