Sales Coaching for Entrepreneurs with Ana Red
In this episode of Blueprints for Coaching Insights, co-hosts Kirsten Graham and Jeanne Willson are joined by Ana Red, founder of Secret Art of Sales. Ana brings her extensive experience as a business consultant and coach to the table, sharing insights on Sales Coaching for Entrepreneurs that can help you excel in sales and grow your business with authenticity and effectiveness.
Tune in to explore Ana's journey from the early days of consulting to becoming a leading sales coach and discover actionable strategies that you can apply to your own business.
What You’ll Discover in This Episode:
Ana also discusses how the evolution of the internet has shaped modern sales strategies and offers her perspective on the future of sales coaching.
Subscribe to Blueprints for Brilliance for more episodes that offer valuable coaching insights and strategies for entrepreneurs and business owners.
Listen now and unlock the secrets to transforming your sales approach and achieving business success!
Transcript
Welcome to blueprints for brilliance, coaching insights, a
podcast by coaches for coaches.
Our guests share their hard-won wisdom to help you grow your coaching
business and create a life of success.
So get ready to unlock the blueprints to your success.
Welcome to our podcast episode today.
We are really excited.
We have a special guest and I have a special co host.
My co host today is Sue Rich and his company is Grow You Now.
And he's just an amazing all around person.
I love when he comes to visit.
We also today have Anna Red.
And she has a company called secret art of sales and a welcome to the podcast.
And we would love it if you would tell us a little bit about you and
what inspired you to become a coach.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
I've been looking forward to this moment.
Actually, I became a coach before we were called coaches.
I was a business consultant back in the s and you wouldn't
believe what I was doing.
I was actually, since it was the early days of the internet, I was
helping small business owners set up either their home offices or
the computers in their businesses.
In their business office and along with even creating their really ugly websites.
They were just horrible, but it was what was available at the time.
It was just, they didn't have any bells or whistles, just a really ugly
background and really garish words.
But that was the beginning.
And of course it just changed.
It evolved throughout the decades to where I am now.
Yeah.
You really had to evolve from the nineties to now we're changing weekly.
Yes.
That's amazing.
And I love that you were so far ahead of the curve setting up home offices
back then not everybody even had a PC.
I don't know.
Just getting them.
They were just getting them.
And it was just, it was an in between.
It was moving from DOS to AOL.
Earthlink was the place that housed the websites.
It was a brave new world.
So tell us a little bit about what you do now in your company, secret art of sales.
Okay.
Let me move back a couple of decades again.
In the two thousands, I actually ran.
A women's networking group, professional women.
And this was a lot of fun.
There was a gentleman's club before that was what they call strip clubs, right?
There was a gentleman's club, which basically meant no girls allowed where
gentlemen would very wealthy bankers and businessmen would have their cigars and
their brandies and have a beautiful view of downtown Miami, of the Bay area and
stuff now where all the celebrities live.
And I decided that I was going to become a member.
And start holding women's banquets, breakfasts,
networking groups in that space.
And the owners of the club love the idea.
And I became friends with all the wives of the gentlemen that lived
there, but that were members.
Probably some of them did live there.
Yeah, basically they were there all the time.
I always thought that it was cool to help people.
And I always had that kind of in the back of my mind saying this is something
that I have to revisit at some point.
So anyway, a few years ago, right before the pandemic, I joined a
group to publish a couple of books.
And in that group, it was self publishing, but in that group, I met, A whole bunch
of female entrepreneurs who were coaches and they all had amazing backgrounds.
I was in a group that had doctors of different types, therapists, you
name it, just amazing professionals, women of all walks of life.
That were professionals and just needed to share their message.
Guess what?
There was something that they all had in common.
They were really lousy at sales.
And I've been a sales professional, I think, since I could walk.
You know, I don't think women were necessarily brought up to and taught
to be good salesperson people.
There's a certain aggression.
That I think they're afraid of and it's not necessary.
It's not necessary to be the pushy person that they deem as the
stereotypical salesman or bro marketing.
You don't have to be that way.
You don't have to be that way and nothing to say against Mr.
Robbins or anything, but you don't have to be that forceful.
Women have a different type of power and I always compare it to water.
And I said, look at the power of water.
When you admire the grand Canyon water did that and water is soft, but it
doesn't mean that it's any less powerful.
My mission is actually to help people find them.
It doesn't have to be a woman, but to help people find the power within
themselves to be successful in sales.
Without becoming something without compromising and without becoming
something that they don't want to be and so needed again I feel like there is a
lack of education and encouragement and there's also an aspect of Stereotyping
and women thinking like you said that you have to be hard and bro Marketing
and you have to become someone you didn't want to be use car salesman No offense
to use car salesman, whatever you choose to do, but that type of stereotypes.
I think what you do is so needed Thank you.
I'm hoping to help a whole lot of people And thank you for this venue,
because this is how people can find me.
Because I'm not one of those people that are going to be in your face.
For that reason, I have a question.
It seems that people misunderstand what sales or marketing is.
They think that it's being aggressive.
Why do you think people have come to that misunderstanding?
I think it's because of just popular culture and people
saying, I don't want to be sold.
And let me tell you, as a salesperson, I'm the worst person to sell to.
Cause say, if I do go and buy a car, the very first thing I'm going to tell That
are approaching me is I'm a salesperson.
You don't have to sell me because they try so hard and you don't have to sell me.
A salesperson before they even enter a place, they already know what
they want and what they're going to buy because it's how we're wired.
And I think that's true of most sales.
So if somebody comes up to you, Jean, and they say that they want
to purchase your services, They probably already know what you do and
they know what you're about because right now people do their research.
The internet has really facilitated that.
Yeah, and we love that 'cause we encourage our clients to, to do
video marketing and have a YouTube channel for lots of reasons.
SEO, the great beauty of SEO and getting found.
But it's also because it's you on the screen talking about what you know
and what you love and your passion.
So people see that.
Absolutely.
And then, Suraj, to get back to your question, I think that there are also
a couple of associations with some of the top salespeople of all time.
And those are prostitutes and drug dealers.
It's really difficult to beat them.
And number one, to deal with prostitutes first.
They give the customer exactly what they want.
And guess what?
That equals success in sales.
So, always give the customer what they want.
And then with drug dealers, they have a really great method.
They say, okay, guess what?
I have two books.
And this one you can have for free, but if you want the second
one, it's going to cost you.
And that's basically the typical drug deal lure is the first high is on me.
You're hooked and you come back for more.
It's a very effective sales method.
And it can be implemented, both sales methods can be implemented
in just about any type of sale.
And you can do something that is more elevated with the same method.
Wow.
I never thought about it that way.
Yeah.
And in my first book, I do discuss a lot of that.
Is it, why is this the number one sales job?
Tell us about your books.
The very first one is about selling insurance.
And actually I had a very dear friend that unfortunately she passed away,
but, and it had nothing to do with what she was doing for the book, but she
was a jazz singer and she used this book on sale, on selling insurance
to create a tour, a musical tour.
And then the second one is about journaling.
And I think everyone needs to journal, honestly.
It's so therapeutic.
And I had been a school teacher many years ago, and that's one
of the first things that we did at the beginning of every class.
And actually, I stole it from Julia Cameron, like the morning pages.
Just write it all out, and I would tell the kids that it was a high
school, and I would tell the kids that it was liquid drain for the brain.
We gotta get rid of all the clogs, so that the thoughts can flow.
And I think that's true of everyone for anything you do.
Let's get rid of the garbage.
And we have a lot of garbage.
Oh, goodness.
My head is full of so much garbage.
It's like amazing, but you have to know how to filter it and how to get rid of it.
And even just how to be completely? percent in the moment.
When you are dealing with somebody, especially in coaching.
So pivoting off of what you said earlier, there are two things.
One, give the customer what they want and two, give them something as a hook.
Even now understanding this or on your thoughts, these seem very foundation.
What are a few other foundational things that would help people who are your
clients or some other foundation things?
This is something that I actually based my, one of my very first
coaching programs on and it's clarity.
Having complete clarity.
As to who you are and what you do and what you deliver.
And if you have that clarity, that's a foundation for yourself.
Then from there, you can help others.
We always say to you that clarity is velocity.
You are crystal clear on what you need to do and how you're gonna get it done.
You can get it done fast.
It's when you're not clear on what you're doing, or you're not clear on how you're
doing it, that you start, it takes you a lot longer to get where you want to go.
And that's the basis of any discovery call as well.
What is it that you want?
Either I can help you or I can't.
But guess what?
If I can't help you, maybe Siraj or Jean can.
And I love that you said that.
That's how we like to work.
If we can't help you, we're not going to try and convince you that
what we have is what you need.
If it's not what you need, it's not what you need.
But I like to refer you to someone else who I think can totally help you out.
Exactly.
And that's where you're eliminating the ugly stereotype.
You're not going to try to be me.
And you're not going to try to be surrogate because we each have
something unique to offer people and we have different strengths.
And that's also another way that you can work together.
领英推荐
There's no such thing as, as bad competition.
Yeah.
I could never be either of you, but I'm really good at me.
I can tell.
Sorry.
One more question.
I'm very interested to ask this one.
You started off by saying that you were a consultant before, even
before the term coaches were around.
And how much of being a consultant helps?
When you're being a salesperson, because you're not selling when
you're a consultant, you're trying to understand what the customer
wants, and then eventually you give the customer what they want.
So how important it is to be a consultant is my question to you.
It's still sales.
Because I didn't do it for free.
When you do it for free, it's a favor.
And I have set up a lot of home offices for free.
And that was for my friends.
And it was a favor for my neighbors and that's okay.
But that's one of the biggest differences between, and I used to say this when
I ran the networking group, do you do what you do as a hobby or as a business?
Be very clear on that.
And if it's a business, that means that there's some money being transacted.
I love that.
He is a favor.
I think it's still sales.
And how do we get people, I believe your clients.
To not just understand, but also embrace this very important business
aspect, that there is a money transaction, else it's a payment.
I think that if you do a good job, people open their
checkbooks and ask you how much.
The trick is to get there, and if they see the value, then the monetary number
is really just a part of the transaction.
And they're happy to do it because they want you.
If you have what I need.
Okay.
It was one of my coaches that described having a sick child.
Let's say that you have a sick child and either use one of you, you have the cure.
Wouldn't I pay whatever it takes to have that?
I want my baby to be okay.
And that's where you can transfer into business.
Your business is your baby.
I think president Trump was calling his real estate, his babies, right?
Yeah, but it is your baby because you have given birth to this.
First, it was an idea, then it was a concept, and then it was a business.
And it is your baby, in many ways, when some gestate longer than others.
Mine, I think, was a bit of an elephant.
But it is your baby, so you're not going to give that away.
And you're going to, of course, put money into it.
And if somebody wants your baby, or wants to help have a baby, it's,
it's, there's a price involved.
But the thing is, why don't we start looking at it And this
is what I invite people to do.
Stop looking at it as dollars and inflation and whatever
negative connotations having a price to it involves.
See it as energy.
It's an exchange of energy.
I want to get your expertise.
Because what you know how to do would take me? years to learn and I need it now.
I need that solution.
I don't have that time.
I hope I answered your question.
That was long.
That was helpful not only for me, but the people watching this later.
I hope so.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Who is it that you'd love to work with?
Who's your ideal client?
Tell us about that.
Someone who can, who gets absolutely paralyzed at the idea of closing a sale
because they're just so uncomfortable.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
The more uncomfortable you are at asking for money or closing the more, or if you
just go through all these discovery calls, cause you have the following, you have
the leads, but you just can't close one.
That's who I want to help.
And there's a lot of people out there like that.
If you're ever in any Facebook groups, there's always people talking
about that closing the deal is the hardest for them for whatever reason.
And there's usually some kind of blocks or garbage, I think he said, or some kind
of clog in their past or in their head, or they just don't know when to stop talking.
And I used to, as a sales manager, I used to tell my agents, I said, stop talking.
And for somebody like me, who doesn't like the silence, who
likes to fill in the gaps.
Yes.
I had been told that before too, and I was like, that's really hard for me.
I have to really practice that.
Silence.
I'll never forget.
I will tell you this story of one time I was traveling with a CEO
and it was for educational sales.
And we sat at the office of a very fancy private school and the person kept on
saying all the things, all the reasons why they just a million objections.
And at one point this man looked and he said, you know what?
I think you're right.
I'm not going to sell you.
I don't want to give it away.
He said, I'm not going to sell you this.
It just completely shocked the pants off this person.
What do you mean?
No, thank you for your time.
You're lovely.
I love this place.
This is amazing.
I love what you're doing here, but you can't have my product.
He left these people thirsty for it.
Because they wanted to be sold and they thought they were going to
get a great deal or the upper hand.
It was the CEO, it was his baby.
And this really was a product that he even manufactured it, everything.
And boy, did I learn from that?
Cause while they just kept on objecting, he just smiled.
And you know what happens with that?
The word spreads, wow, something, I let go of this opportunity and I'm
never going to be able to get this.
And there's something happens to people in that, but yeah, there's something
to be said to either just being quiet.
It's.
Or saying, no, you can't have this.
And that, and you're so right.
Because sometimes it'll be like, Hmm, I'm not sure this is right for you.
And all of a sudden they turn around and go, Wait, I can't have it now.
I really need it.
Yeah.
It's something incredible.
And you have to be careful with that too, because you might
really dig your own grave with it.
But every once in a while, it's cool to see what happens
and how that affects people.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So tell us a little bit about your coaching practice.
Do you work one on one with people?
Do you work with groups?
Do you have online courses?
Tell us a little bit about it.
I do one on one and I also have an online course.
I've shied away from groups unless it's just like a mastermind that
I'll do once in a while because I find that I'm projecting, of course.
I get bored to death with groups and a lot of times there are people I don't
really want to hear what they have to say and what's going on with them.
Or waiting or doing your thing and then feeling I'll have to stay.
You're a doer.
Yeah, it's not entertaining to me.
And I find that if you have one on one, you're really giving people a worthwhile
time with you and, and it's focused.
And maybe it's because I get distracted easily.
I don't know, but I prefer one on one or just self study.
Self study is fine too.
I say, here, do all this stuff.
Come back to me and check in.
Oh, we've one more thing is, do you have something that you'd
like to give our audience?
Yes, I do.
I've created a little sales guide and it's about the number one objection that
everyone faces no matter what you saw.
I have to think about it.
Let me tell you, people freeze with that because a lot of times it's
because you've been raised white, right?
And he's, Oh, you have to think about it.
Okay.
Let me let you think.
No, don't let them think.
Thinking is not a good thing.
It's a really bad idea because they don't know what they're thinking about.
So it's a little guide.
It's really brief.
Because again, I don't like to over talk.
It's very succinct.
And, and then they'll have the ability and all my contact information, if
they care to, to contact me directly.
And that's at the secret sales, the secret art of sales comm that's
with the in front of the secret.
And we'll put a link to that in the show notes.
And we'll also put a link to your website if you like, which is without the, yeah.
And if it's easier, they can always go to Anna red.
com.
There's also a way to get the free gift there.
Wonderful.
And they can learn more about me.
And I do wanna ask one perhaps final question.
Yeah.
Which is, if there's one tip that you want to give to this world to
make it a better, what would that be?
One.
Wow.
Be kind.
And that starts with being kind to yourself.
You're so right.
Oh, I love that.
Anna, this has been fantastic.
You are been such a lovely guest and inspirational, and I love
some of the things you did.
I love that you turned the gentleman's club.
Into a ladies networking group.
Oh, that was so much fun.
I have good stories I can tell you sometimes.
Absolutely.
Wonderful.
Thank you so much again, Anna.
We are so pleased that you came to join us today.
Oh, you're both lovely.
Thank you so much for having me.
Absolutely.
very much.
Thanks for joining us today on Blueprints for Brilliant's Coaching Insights.
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