Do you feel like you are holding yourself back from working on your business idea because you lack a specific skill? That didn’t stop Meredith Bell. When she made the leap from being a 4th-grader teacher to leadership development consultant she had no sales experience and had no idea how to sell services.
As you’ll soon hear, her lack of business acumen actually provided her with both a source of motivation and a fresh perspective on how to sell more effectively.
She’s been working for herself for the past 30 years and is currently one of the founders of Strong for Performance, online software that helps people become better leaders by making them more effective communicators.
A few lessons we covered in our conversation include:
- How to repackage your skills. Identifying your most marketable skills and how you can use them as an advantage in a new industry.
- How to sell when you have no sales experience.
- Increasing your value. You first need to value yourself by first changing your self-talk.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Listening.
- Self-awareness.
- Self-Directed learning.
How Meredith Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: 5am, sometimes earlier
- Core work habits: 1) forming relationships (she spends a lot of time on LinkedIn) 2) performing online demos of her online coaching platform 3) seeking out new partnerships
- Ideal work environment: Enjoys working from her home office.
- Self-reflection practice: Learning from past experiences by asking herself the following questions 1) What happened and how do I feel about it? 2) Why did it happen the way it did? 3) What were the consequences? 4) How would I handle a similar situation in the future?
- Work purpose: Improved performance based on improved relationships.
- Regains focus by: Sets a timer to focus on one task to minimize distractions.
- 90-day goal: Wants to set up more demos and to create more connections.
Inspirational Quotes
“I jumped out with no safety net and just started my business.”
“You can analyze things to death and then you won’t take the risk.”
“A key life skill for me is confidence in myself as a learner.”
“Selling is all about relationships and having conversations.”
“Accountability. Count on me.”
Coaching Advice
If you are a consultant who wants to stop trading your minutes for dollars by creating a passive income stream, Meredith offers this advice:
1) Take an inventory of your expertise and knowledge, so you can identify ways to repackage it in ways that can be sold on demand.
2) Hire a virtual assistant to help relieve you of administrative duties, so you can focus on your most valuable work activities.
3) Get clarity on which aspect of your work you enjoy most, so you can spend more time working on it.
Resources + Bonus Materials
Sales and Marketing Executives International