BROADCASTS.com

Published: Oct. 16, 2017, 8 a.m.

Good Morning, Onward Nation\u2026I\u2019m Stephen Woessner and welcome to Episode 600!

Today\u2019s episode is going to be a solocast \u2014 where I fly solo without a guest so that you and I have an opportunity to explore a topic with some real depth \u2014 and in the process \u2014 I can share practical and tactical steps \u2014 also with some real depth \u2014 that you can take and apply into your business right away to accelerate your business development with more leads and sales.

And we are going to follow that exact recipe today.

But before we do \u2014 I owe you a very big thank you. Seriously\u2026episode 600!?!

Seriously\u2026it feels like yesterday when Scott McKain and I recorded\xa0Episode 1. And we have had the privilege and honor \u2014 that we take very seriously \u2014 of being able to serve business owners in 115 countries with our daily episodes.

All of which is possible because of the questions YOU ask me, the feedback YOU send my way where you help us see what we are doing right \u2014 or \u2014 when YOU push us to go where we need to go in order to get better.

So before we get into today\u2019s lesson \u2014 I wanted you to know how much I appreciate you\u2026and how I do not take for granted the generous gift that your time and attention represents.

You make my team and I better every single day \u2014 so thank you, Onward Nation \u2014 thank you so very much.

So now let\u2019s shift our focus toward today\u2019s lesson\u2026and why I believe so strongly that\xa0business owners are going about selling the wrong way.

To help illustrate that\u2026let me share a couple of scenarios that I see happening inside the typical business.

The owner is busy\u2026so he or she doesn\u2019t believe they have the time in their day to do \u201cprospecting\u201d so they hire a junior person, or several junior people, to run point and \u201cget out there and kick up some prospects for us to sell to\u201d.

The owner rationalizes their decision by saying, \u201cWell, if we are going to scale this business\u2026then someone other than me needs to be able to sell what we do.\u201d

And the sales team does what they are asked to do. They research\u2026they call\u2026they follow up\u2026they schedule appointments\u2026and sometimes they make pitches.

And sometimes\u2026they even close a deal or two giving them confidence that the hard core sales process works\u2026and it does from time to time\u2026it just isn\u2019t that efficient or cost effective.

And you know what? That is exactly how I learned some extremely valuable sales skills early on in my career. One of my first positions inside an advertising agency when I was 21 years old was to go through the yellow pages (I know, cringe\u2026the yellow pages!) and then cold call everyone in town\u2026and then go meet with anyone who would listen.

I learned a lot about persistence and tenacity\u2026and we closed some business\u2026 but I wasn\u2019t really that effective.

So now let\u2019s also consider another scenario\u2026this time replacing the heaving lifting of hand-to-hand combat \u2014 that sometimes prospecting can become \u2014 with inbound digital tools designed to advertise and promote your business to a vast audience who doesn\u2019t yet know you \u2014 where there is no context of relationship \u2014 but over time and if you invest the right budget \u2014 you will be able to win them over and they pick up the phone and call you\u2026to become your next big client.

But oftentimes\u2026this is filled with marketing hyperbole because it is not that simple as launching a Facebook ad and connecting it to an email sales funnel\u2026then voila \u2014 you have well prepared prospects who are desperate to become your next client.

Logically, we know it takes more than one Google Adwords campaign, or one Facebook ad, or a retargeting campaign on AdRoll to earn the trust of your next client. Digital marketing is great \u2014 heck \u2014 Predictive ROI\u2026my core business is a digital marketing agency\u2026and we have worked hard to earn our chops in this space.

Relying on a purely digital model is the wrong sales strategy for a business, too. Because\u2026what I oftentimes find is that the business owners who are reluctant to get out and sell are the owners who are the most attracted to an inbound or digital marketing model for what should be a true sales strategy.

So let\u2019s set these two scenarios aside for a moment \u2014 and instead \u2014 I want you to consider the potential impact on your business if you and your team stopped the aimless prospecting \u2014 and paused your digital marketing budget budget \u2014 so you could take some time to get really clear on who you wanted to serve.

Where you and your team sat down and made a list of your Dream 50 prospects \u2014 the companies you would most like to serve \u2014 but for whatever reason \u2014 you haven\u2019t had an at bat just yet. And take it deeper that just saying\u2026 \u201cOh, we want to work for Harley Davidson!\u201d Of course you do\u2026and so do all of your competitors. Instead\u2026you and your team need to get laser focused and say\u2026 \u201cWe want to develop a relationship with Sarah Jones at Harley Davidson because she is the type of business leader we most like to work with and for whom we can create the greatest impact.\u201d

And then instead of unleashing your junior salespeople or a digital armada on Sarah Jones and your other 49 Dream prospects\u2026you first reached out to Sarah personally to begin building a relationship. But not a cold call.

Instead, you will be seeking to build a relationship that is architected to remove all of the friction and uncomfortableness that can sometimes creep into the sales process. You will make Sarah feel valued\u2026and most importantly\u2026she no longer felt like a prospect.

Wouldn\u2019t that be rock solid awesome for Sarah and for you?

And the sales process I just described\u2026is what I call\xa0The Trojan Horse of Sales\u2026and it has the potential to change the game for you and your business.

The legend of the Trojan Horse comes from the story of the Trojan War between the Greeks and Troy chronicled in the Odyssey written by Homer near the end of the 8th century BC. The story \u2013 which could be fact or fiction \u2013 is a great illustration of strategy and subterfuge.

According to the legend, the Trojan War ended in a stalemate because Greece was unable to devise a strategy to circumvent the city walls of Troy. The 10-year battle ended and the Greek army made what looked to be a retreat to their homeland.

The Trojan army investigated and found the beach abandoned. The Greek armada was gone and a large wooden horse was all that remained on the desolate shore.

The Trojans believed the Greeks had left the horse as a peace offering.

They gleefully accepted the offering and pulled the horse from the beach, past their impenetrable city gates, into the city square, and began to celebrate their victory over the Greeks.

However, a little due diligence by the Trojans would have been prudent. Perhaps they would have found the Greek strike force tucked quietly inside the horse.

The Greeks seized their opportunity late that night when they snuck quietly out of the horse and opened the city gates so the balance of their army could enter unencumbered.

The Greeks proceeded to sack the city. The story gave birth to the expression \u201cBeware a Greek bearing gifts.\u201d

The business development strategy for your company, if executed properly, will work in a similar way.

For example, a typical salesperson may have their access to a decision maker within a dream prospect\u2019s company \u2014 like Sarah Jones in our example \u2014 blocked by a \u201cgatekeeper.\u201d Any sort of sales opportunity is thwarted and the salesperson may be forced to move on to her next prospect.

However, what if you happen to be the host of a top-rated podcast \u2014 or a YouTube channel \u2014 or a popular blog with a lot of subscribers \u2014 and you are getting in touch with Sarah Jones \u2014 one of your Dream Prospects \u2014 because you would like to interview her about her journey, her secrets to success, and the wisdom she could share with others in her industry or the broader business community?

Well now, you just changed the entire game, didn\u2019t you?

Your podcast \u2014 video interview \u2014 or article for your blog \u2014 just increased the probability of a one-on-one, private, 60-minute conversation with your ideal prospect.

But how did your podcast give you this \u201cAll Access Pass?\u201d

Your podcast changed the game because you are no longer perceived as a business owner looking for a new account.

You are now perceived as a journalist and your show is a media channel \u2013 a conduit \u2013 to an audience the guests on your show want to reach and influence.

It\u2019s as simple as letting the decision maker at your dream prospect wheel the horse past the company\u2019s gatekeeper \u2013 and park it right in the center of the C-suite. You now have an opportunity to dazzle your dream prospect with your brilliance and intimate industry and company knowledge during the interview.

Your podcast has done its job. Now it\u2019s time for you to do yours. Sell to Sarah!

And your sales strategy should be a blend of traditional sales tactics like scheduling appointments, making presentations, providing proposals, evaluating your sales team\u2019s workflow in your CRM, and so forth \u2014 AND \u2014 employing some digital marketing tools, too.

So after your interviews with your Dream prospects, you share the insights and wisdom collected from your guests through research guides, eBooks, webinars, and tag your guests in social media so they can feel the love \u2014 and \u2014 the appreciation you have for their contribution to your community.

My Predictive ROI team and I call this process creating \u201cCornerstone Content\u201d and it plays a vital role in the long term success of your\xa0Trojan Horse of Sales\xa0strategy.

So whether you are comfortable writing articles, recording audio, or being in front of a camera \u2014 you should\u2026without a doubt\u2026interview each of your Dream 50 prospects with the result outcome being \u201cCornerstone Content\u201d that you can share to build your platform \u2014 AND \u2014 relationships you can build, nurture, and cultivate over time so your Dream 50 prospects truly KNOW you\u2026they truly LIKE you\u2026and most importantly\u2026they TRUST you.

And all the while\u2026you are also sharing your message publicly through your platform\u2026and then an interesting thing begins to happen.

You \u2014 yes, YOU as the business owner become known \u2014 you begin receiving invitations to be a guest on podcasts, you get quoted in the media, perhaps an agent or publisher approaches you to write a book, you are asked to speak at an industry conference, and on and on.

All of this content forms the foundation of your thought leadership \u2014 and it is thought leadership \u2014 true thought leadership in today\u2019s world of biz dev that separates the progressive market leading companies from the wannabes.

In a future solocast \u2014 I will share some specific strategies and recipes you can use to create cornerstone content as well as how you can plug it into your\xa0Trojan Horse of Sales\xa0strategy.

But for today\u2026I want you see how the sales process in your business likely needs to change \u2014 and how if you put a\xa0Trojan Horse of Sales\xa0out in front of your business \u2014 and get clarity around your Dream 50 prospects \u2014 how you will improve your entire sales pipeline from end to end.

I wanted to get you thinking about that.

To take that thought process even further\u2026I am going to share a story of how the strategy of the Trojan Horse of Sales changed every aspect of biz dev for my core business, Predictive ROI \u2014 and in the process \u2014 took us to a completely different level.

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in the middle of May 2015. I was sitting at my dining room table looking out the front window at my daughter and her friends having fun at our neighborhood playground.

All was well outside \u2013 but not inside. I was under a great deal of stress.

We had a just lost a major client. And although every business experiences this pain from time to time, what made this particular loss so painful was that we were overstaffed.

The loss in revenue made our reality even more excruciating.

I had purchased the domain name OnwardNation.com about 12 months earlier but had no idea why. No strategy; I just felt compelled to make the purchase.

Funny how God whispers the seeds of inspiration into your ear sometimes and then just lets them sit until He is ready for them to germinate into some remarkable.

That Sunday must have been germination day. As I sat there at my dining room table, I remembered the OnwardNation.com purchase and made the decision that we would create and launch a daily podcast using that name.

Next, I crafted an enthusiastic, optimistic email explaining that Onward Nation was the solution we\u2019d been seeking to turn Predictive ROI lead gen and sales activity around (mind you, I had zero strategy, only unbridled optimism).

In the email I set an aggressive launch date of June 15th. I closed the lid to my Mac Book, and somehow felt good about the decision (or chaos) that I had just initiated.

Why chaos, you ask?

Well, I should probably share that the decision to create and launch a podcast in 30 days was made in complete and utter ignorance. I knew nothing about creating or launching a podcast.

Sure, I had been a guest on a couple of podcasts such as EOFire with John Lee Dumas and ReLaunch with Joel Boggess. So I knew how to put on a headset and open Skype, which comprised my entire body of knowledge in the podcast world up to that point.

Now let\u2019s fast forward to launch day, Monday, June 15th.

Remarkably, we launched on schedule and the first day of Onward Nation ran smoothly. We aired three episodes on launch day:\xa0Episode 1\xa0with Scott McKain,\xa0Episode 2\xa0with 10-time New York Times best selling author Don Yaeger, and\xa0Episode 3\xa0with real estate mogul Stacey Alcorn.

All three guests are rock stars and Onward Nation was off and running.

Several weeks later, I attended my Agency Management Institute mastermind group. By then, Onward Nation had aired 47 episodes, daily downloads were steadily increasing, and we had scored top rankings in iTunes.

I was feeling proud about our accomplishments. We had gone from zero to 60 in about 3.5 seconds. Not bad.

But we were missing a vital outcome: Revenue!

My mastermind group \u2013 all exceptional agency owners from across the country \u2013 asked me how I was going to make money from Onward Nation. Excellent question, but I had no idea of the answer. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I said. \u201cBut we will figure it out.\u201d

Then providence set in.

Two of our Onward Nation guests got in touch with me and asked, \u201cHey, could you do that for me?\u201d

\u201cDo what for you?\u201d I asked.

\u201cBuild me a podcast!\u201d they said.

Like any enthusiastic entrepreneur in need of revenue, I said\u2026achem\u2026\u201cYes, we can!\u201d

So my team and I stripped out the branding and content from the Onward Nation system and replaced everything with our client\u2019s branding, episodes, content \u2013 and voila! We launched two more podcasts and earned $26,000 for our effort.

Rock solid awesome!

Now, a smart businessperson would have said, \u201cHey, we might be onto something here. This could be worth pursuing.\u201d

But I didn\u2019t say that.

Instead, I returned to thinking about how we were overstaffed and needed to grow revenue. Ironic, isn\u2019t it? I often say that if God wants me to get the message, He needs to take out a billboard or hit me over the head with the brick. Subtlety is lost on me.

In late October, one of those clients (Drew McLellan, host of the\xa0Build a Better Agency podcast) said to me, \u201cThe podcast you built for me is awesome. And Onward Nation is awesome. Why in the world are you not building more of these?\u201d

In my brilliance, I said, \u201cFor who?\u201d

Drew rolled is eyes and said, \u201cThere have to be more Onward Nation guests who would love to have a podcast of their own!\u201d

He took the lesson he was teaching me deeper, adding, \u201cLook, here\u2019s what you do. You create a Silver, Gold, and Platinum Elite package\u2026you charge this much, this much, and this much, and get out there and sell them to guests.\u201d

Brilliant!

My team and I immediately got to work creating the packages Drew had recommended.

And then providence struck a second time. On November 17, 2015 \u2014 I interviewed Wendy Keller, literary agent extraordinaire, for\xa0Episode 106\xa0of Onward Nation. The conversation started out lovely \u2013 just what I had envisioned.

Then, suddenly, I felt like I\u2019d been punched in the stomach and the air knocked right out of me. Wendy told her emotional and devastating story about the tragic car accident that she and her husband, along with their two children were in while on vacation in Europe.

Her children were killed, she was critically injured, and her life was changed in an instant. My legs felt weak. In shock, I didn\u2019t know what to say.

Wendy had to be the strongest person I\u2019d ever met. After continuing for a few minutes, she paused and gave me a moment to catch my breath. Then we continued the interview. I was captivated by Wendy\u2019s courage, her commitment, and her resolve.

What could stop this woman?

When we finished the interview she turned the tables on me, asking about Onward Nation.

Why was I doing it?

What was the end game?

I told her I was planning to write a book that distilled all the wisdom collected during the episodes of the podcast. I could practically feel her smile on the other end of our Skype connection.

And then she asked me a life-altering question: \u201cHmm\u2026 Why don\u2019t you write a book about how business owners can use podcasting to grow revenue and their business? That\u2019s where the real opportunity is for a book.\u201d Bam. Providence!

Quick side note\u2026Wendy is the one who gave me the idea and push to write\xa0Profitable Podcasting\u2026which we released a few short weeks ago\u2026and it became a #1 New Release on Amazon.com in just 18 hours and is currently rolling out to retail stores.

So\u2026back to the story\u2026following the interview with Wendy, my Predictive ROI team made it a vital priority to accelerate the sales of our newly minted Silver, Gold, and Platinum Elite packages. We were on a mission to create a bone fide monetization strategy.

Our goal was to grow revenue, and at the same time, create a compelling proof of concept for the system that would eventually become this book.

We grew podcast-related revenue to $223,000 between November 17 and December 31, 2015 and built a sales pipeline of $380,000 during Q1 2016. We scaled our production and sales teams and created step-by-step documentation of our system.

And now we predict $2 million in podcast-related revenue during the next 12 months.

We accomplished this thanks in part to several amazing mentors who stepped into our path. We listened to them, and we did exactly what they recommended \u2014 and \u2014 we put the\xa0Trojan Horse of Sales\xa0to work and built a complete business development system around the entire process.

But your story of growing your business, expanding your platform, and building a nation of true fans can be just as amazing if you put the right sales strategy to work for you.

So in my next solocast\u2026I will take this lesson deeper with more of the \u201cHow to\u201d \u2014 but for now \u2014 I encourage you to take some time to consider the \u201cWhy\u201d and how the game would change for you and your business if you were open to the possibilities of what the next level of biz dev may hold.

In the coming weeks, I will share our full blueprints or \u201crecipes\u201d for success with you. I will share each and every step we took along the way in complete transparency.

Not a single step will be hidden from you. It will all be here, in plain sight.

So before we go\u2026before we close out and I say goodbye\u2026I just wanted to say thank you again.

Thank you for listening\u2026thank you for making Onward Nation what you listen to and study.

Thank you for making Onward Nation part of your daily routine \u2014 please know \u2014 I am grateful for your time and I encourage you to drop me a line at\xa0stephen@onwardnation.com\xa0if you ever have any questions, concerns, or feedback on how we can get better.

Let me know what you think of the show \u2014 thumbs up or thumbs down. I want to know because that is the only way we can get better.

Until tomorrow \u2014 onward with gusto!