A new business. A new mindset.

A salesperson and a social impact entrepreneur walk into a bar…

While this sounds like an elaborate joke this is actually how this story began.

I’ve been creating sales strategies and training sales teams for the last six (plus) years and have had a lot of fun doing it, but there always seemed to be a question from my clients that I couldn’t support with.

“Can you do the sales work for us?”

For years I was under the impression that if I wasn’t the person doing the work then I couldn’t support my clients, but I was being very shortsighted about an opportunity that had been staring me in the face for years.

In Dec 2021 I wrote an article in the Sussex Business Times that stated that there will be a rise of the outsourced sales teams. My view at this time was that there would be an army of freelancers, harnessing their skills and having a go! This has turned out to be true, but not the exact path that I have chosen to walk, although I do work with these people. (Hi and thank you, Harry Jones !)

A new business, named Second Voice Pro has been carefully thought through and built, and here is the top-level journey to how it happened, and who has helped me get here…

Purpose

I had no true purpose when it came to work.

I’m a salesperson, so I am naturally only looking at the next month or quarter for my own business, and see things in a very literal way. Value added to the client. Revenue secured.

I am a simple creature and a product of my working environment for the last 23+ years.

So when I had a coaching session with Jude Schweppe to help find my purpose (I was sceptical), I uttered a few accidental words that had obviously been festering in my subconscious. These words opened something in my mind, that have been unable to close off ever since.

You can ask me about them when you speak with me next.

(Thank you, Jude!) ??

Boldness

Nothing worth having comes easy.

I’ve been a solo consultant and trainer for a long time, and the lone wolf lifestyle suits me, so understanding how the business world looked for me beyond this, was both a challenge, and scary.

During a skills swap conversation with Nick Shuff , he told me (amongst many other useful nuggets) that in order to really grow, I needed to “Make a decision to go so far, that you can’t come back from it”

Basically, stop playing it safe and have a go.

This helped shift my entire mindset.

(Thank you, Nick!) ??

Validation

As I formulated this new idea, I recognised that my previous efforts of creating new service lines and offerings had often been short-term solutions that distracted me from my core service.

I needed proof and I needed perspective.

Without the business community and kind people who have offered their time to help me ‘break’ the model, it would all be a theoretical punt.

Silicon Brighton members and its founder Steve Rackley , have helped put me in contact with some incredible people who would tell me straight. Including Steve himself. People who will tell you straight are hard to find. Keep them close!

(Thank you Steve and all) ??

Support

If I’m going to do this, then there is no way that I will be able to do this without the knowledge and experience of others.

I slowly built out a group of trusted advisors and friends who would help steer the business (and me), in order to make sure the gaps in my knowledge weren’t a risk to the opportunity.

I am excited to introduce you to these wonderful humans in due course, so keep your eyes peeled.

Solo Realisation

“I don’t want to, and I can’t do this on my own”

Words that kept flashing through my thoughts.

One of my trusted advisors is a well-known face from the Brighton business scene and my good friend, Sara Osterholzer .

Over the past year, we have supported each other and earned each other's trust, as well as having a great impact on our respective businesses.

Sara is a powerhouse. She is considered, pragmatic, practical and highly organised. She is a confidant and an accountability buddy. She is SO much more than all of this, but when I knew I needed to pop the question, I did.

“Will you be my co-founder?” - She said yes! Thankfully, or I would be toast already.

(Thank you, Sara!) ??

The Brand

When I try to build websites and create logos, I have a great talent for making them look very mediocre (Canva is a good friend!).

Meeting Daniel Cushing has ultimately forced me to think about, and see Branding, wry differently.

It is the one thing that holds the entire commercial function and proposition of a business together.

Dan and I have, and are, working on a number of clients together to help elevate their business through powerful points of differentiation, value-based communications, and sales tactics.

Doing this for our clients is one thing, but doing it for my own business is much harder.

Dan and his team are very patient but exceptionally talented, and the branding and positioning are all down to ParaStudio. With more to come!

(Thank you, Dan!) ??

The Solution

Your all-star sales team awaits. Hand-picked, trained and managed by us, aligned to your sales strategy and bought into your brand. Prepare for more sales, more time and fewer headaches.

Built off the back of 25 years in sales leadership, Second Voice Pro enables your business to move at speed, selling sooner, up-skilling faster and maximising revenue opportunities.

But we do this with a difference…

Our People

We will be working with education establishments, government agencies, charities and career support organisations to help and support underprivileged people and under-represented communities break into the world of sales, in a format that offers a world-class training solution, ongoing performance coaching and a career path that will change their trajectory, should they wish to follow it.

Salespeople aren’t born, they are taught, enabled and coached.

So if we can do a small part in helping people create a career for themselves, while simultaneously delivering excellence and high performance for our clients, then we have successfully merged the worlds of a salesperson and social impact entrepreneur, who, at the beginning of this story, did in fact walk into a bar… ??

Second Voice Pro is open and operational and we are excited to speak with growing B2B organisations who are looking to build out their first sales functions.

You can read more about our business here , and if you have any questions at all, I would be delighted to speak with you and share our story, while helping you plan yours.