How to Build a Repeatable Sales Process That Consistently Closes Deals [Endless Customers Podcast Ep. 130]

This transcript has been generated by AI and not checked for accuracy. 

00:00:00:04 - 00:00:22:00

Allison Belles

It's been shown that only about 30% of organizations had their sales process documented and not only documented, but consistently followed by their sales teams, which leads to inconsistent sales performance, which ultimately impacts revenue. And that's why we have to talk about, like documenting your sales process and using assignment selling throughout. It is key.

00:00:22:02 - 00:00:39:11

Bob Ruffolo

You're listening to the Endless Customers podcast, brought to you by the team at Impact. Ellis customers is the proven system to become the most known and trusted brand in your market. You want to start to learn the principles of endless customers and how you can implement them in your business. Pick up a copy of Endless Customers, the national bestseller.

00:00:39:11 - 00:01:01:04

Bob Ruffolo

Wherever books are sold. Ready to start implementing endless customers in your business? Talk to impact about how our coaching program can help you implement endless customers to success. And if you want experience endless customers in person, do not miss our upcoming conference! Endless Customers live in Chicago March 30th through April 1st, 2026. Registration is now open. And now onto the show.

00:01:01:04 - 00:01:03:07

Bob Ruffolo

Here's your host, Alex Winter.

00:01:03:09 - 00:01:09:21

Alex Winter

If you've ever looked at your sales process and thought, this feels messy and I'm not sure how to fix it, well, you're not alone.

00:01:10:02 - 00:01:13:17

Alex Winter

Most companies don't actually have a defined sales process.

00:01:13:19 - 00:01:18:18

Alex Winter

They have a set of habits, individual styles, and steps that vary from person to person.

00:01:18:20 - 00:01:25:22

Alex Winter

Buyers notice the inconsistency. Teams feel the confusion, and leaders can't always see where the deals are stalling or why.

00:01:26:00 - 00:01:37:08

Alex Winter

That's why I'm excited to talk to executive coach Allison Bellis. As a coach, Allison spends a lot of time helping companies slow down, map the real buyer journey, and build a process that is clear, simple, and consistent.

00:01:37:10 - 00:01:46:17

Alex Winter

In this episode, she'll share what she sees before the work begins, the steps that create clarity fastest, and the moments when teams finally realize what a real sales process feels like.

00:01:46:19 - 00:01:48:18

Alex Winter

Hey, Alison. Welcome back to the show.

00:01:48:21 - 00:01:50:08

Allison Belles

Hey, Alex. Always good to be here.

00:01:50:10 - 00:01:54:11

Alex Winter

It's great to have you. I love chatting with you. You have a wealth of experience and knowledge and

00:01:54:17 - 00:02:01:06

Alex Winter

some real hands on experience with clients, which is going to be a big part of our talk today in today's episode. So let's get right into it.

00:02:01:08 - 00:02:09:08

Alex Winter

The focus is obviously about sales, but can we talk and just start off by discussing like when you start working with companies and you integrate with a lot of companies.

00:02:09:10 - 00:02:20:02

Alex Winter

What signs tell you that their sales process isn't actually, like, working or where it's supposed to be, even if they may think that it is doing pretty well. Like, what do you what do you typically see?

00:02:20:04 - 00:02:45:05

Allison Belles

Yeah. Surprisingly enough, Alex, this probably seems like a ridiculous thing to say, but if they don't even have their sales process documented, surprisingly enough, we see that anywhere for like 40 to 50% of most businesses in that midsize range actually don't have their sales process documented. Therefore, it can't accurately be followed by all of their sales team members, which is great, right?

00:02:45:05 - 00:03:20:20

Allison Belles

Some companies have built their businesses with smaller sales teams who live by tribal knowledge. Right. But we know that when companies need to scale, they have to have that sales process documented. And then not only documented, but that we're tracking the conversion rates from stage to stage, and then also documenting the fears, worries and concerns, objections, reasons that people don't move from one stage to another so that we we can put in the not only just like content, but we can even train our teams how to handle those objections throughout the sales process.

00:03:20:20 - 00:03:31:08

Allison Belles

So there's a nutshell answer for you, Alex, of the reason when we come into companies and typically start with their sales process, those are some of the big red flags.

00:03:31:10 - 00:03:47:23

Alex Winter

Yeah, that's that's pretty surprising to hear actually, because I would think that there would be at least a documented process that you need to have, like a sales script, like Jordan Belfort, like having people reading off the sheet, but like at least stages or something, right? So the big thing for me too, is when we talk about endless customers, we all know this.

00:03:47:23 - 00:04:02:22

Alex Winter

If you know anything about Endless Customers, we're trying to build trust. It's about being transparent and building trust. So how does having those stages clearly defined, like how does that translate for the end user or like the buyer that's going through this process of like the sales journey?

00:04:03:00 - 00:04:19:17

Allison Belles

Yeah. Well, well Alex, let me make it right back to you. How would you feel if you went to go work with a company, whether it was a product or service, and you knew that there was the potential that you could receive a different sales experience and somebody else.

00:04:19:19 - 00:04:29:17

Alex Winter

Yeah. I don't know that I would feel like it was inconsistent. I'd be, it would instantly put a taste in my mouth that like, maybe something's off with this company or they don't really have their stuff together.

00:04:29:19 - 00:04:52:08

Allison Belles

Yeah, right. So would make you will at least induce doubt. Yes. Right. To know that an organization that you're working with could potentially have a different sales process. And tons of people have experienced this in all different types of industries, right? Where if you get the new guy that's just coming in versus the veteran sales guy, right, you could have different experiences and sometimes say, you can even get different information, right?

00:04:52:08 - 00:05:21:22

Allison Belles

So I've even worked with clients because they don't have their sales process documented or clearly outlines, not even from scripts, but things start to go awry, right? Or even in the sales process, if we stop documenting just our sales process and we don't even follow through on the whole buyer's journey through to the completion of the sale, onboarding, install, a continued customer within the service delivery.

00:05:22:00 - 00:05:39:16

Allison Belles

You're not fulfilling your promises, and you could potentially even be breaking trust throughout their journey of working with you. If your sales process is fractured or is giving incorrect information because it's just not documented clearly for your whole team to work through.

00:05:39:18 - 00:06:00:06

Alex Winter

Yeah. Yep. I've experienced that before, and it's definitely a make or break, because when a buyer's in the decision making process, as soon as trust is broken, it's like on to the next one. That's instantly when my brain goes, it's like next. I'm done with this. And there's always other options out there. So that's these days with the way technology is going, it's like you can just move right along and.

00:06:00:08 - 00:06:00:17

Allison Belles

Yeah.

00:06:00:17 - 00:06:02:11

Alex Winter

It's a missed opportunity.

00:06:02:13 - 00:06:24:14

Allison Belles

It really is. And it's it seems so like I said, like elementary or just at a point where it's like me, I come on sales teams who know that you need to have your, your sales process documented. But a lot of times we lean into all of the excuses of there are so many other things to do than actually sit down and document the sales process.

00:06:24:14 - 00:06:48:04

Allison Belles

And so that is one of the very first things that we do here at impact is we sit down and we not only document the sales process right of those different stages, but we talk through every component of we've mentioned the fears, worries and concerns, but also what information needs to be conveyed in each of those stages as well.

00:06:48:06 - 00:07:06:10

Allison Belles

Right. And this can even be like I have clients like, but we're a one call close. Yeah, but there are still components of your sales process that happens from the moment they fill out that form or pick up that phone all the way through to your close and even after your closed. Right. Or what happens if you don't close them in the home, right.

00:07:06:10 - 00:07:33:14

Allison Belles

What does that process look like? And so truly sitting down and taking the time to not just write hype up in a Google doc or put into your CRM the exact sales stages, but truly thinking through what are the components that make those stages successful? And then those two things. One is, how do you set the conditions for really great sales stages?

00:07:33:16 - 00:07:57:20

Allison Belles

Meaning, how do you and your potential customer or client work really well, proactively and efficiently together to have the very best stage in your sales process? That makes setting the conditions right? That means letting them and you know exactly what's going to happen at every single stage in that journey. And the second part of it is getting ahead of those, and you're going to hear me say, you're going to hear market say it right.

00:07:57:21 - 00:08:18:20

Allison Belles

Those fears, worries and concerns. Those objections. Yes. Right. Yes. And the reason why we talk about those is you have the ability to set the conditions and get ahead of them, to not have people worry or wonder not only what's going to happen when I actually have them show up to my house for that appointment, or I actually get into that zoom room.

00:08:18:22 - 00:08:41:01

Allison Belles

But even if we're proactively getting ahead of some of those things that they may have heard, maybe they are some myths in the industry, or if it's the biggest one, it's just around cost. Like, how do we help educate people throughout our sales process to ensure that they truly are making the best decision for themselves? Because that is the customer that you ultimately want.

00:08:41:03 - 00:08:49:22

Allison Belles

It's that they feel as though they're making the best decision by working with you because they trust you, and they feel more educated and empowered throughout the process.

00:08:50:00 - 00:09:06:10

Alex Winter

100%. I couldn't agree with that more. Yeah, so it really sounds like the jumping off point. Your starting point is really mapping out this journey and clearly defining what that is. And every sales team, I'm sure in every business is a little bit different. So just getting that roadmap clearly defined so everyone feels like they can, they can follow the path.

00:09:06:10 - 00:09:27:13

Alex Winter

Right. But are there are there I have to ask this like you got my wheels spin. Are there are there like gaps that you see consistently with like every sales team you work with? Are there like common mistakes that people are making that you're seeing as they're mapping out this journey? Or maybe like they thought the journey was this way, but really, you know, like you're as you start to work with them, you see, like the clients are really wanting something that maybe they're missing.

00:09:27:15 - 00:09:40:20

Allison Belles

Yeah, I think there's, there's two, common issues that I see. And this is one is if sales teams are willing to say and do whatever it takes to close the deal, that's a potential problem.

00:09:40:22 - 00:09:41:06

Alex Winter

Okay.

00:09:41:08 - 00:09:59:14

Allison Belles

Right. So if you if sales teams are living in the world where all they have to do is close the deal no matter what it takes, even if that impacts the install team or service delivery teams, even if that means that we can't even fulfill those promises, right? That's one thing that I've seen and heard a lot of organizations have to work through, right?

00:09:59:14 - 00:10:18:09

Allison Belles

And typically that comes with that's just the way they've always done it. This is the way we've always done it, because we are tied to metrics that we have to hit. We have to close the deals and not truly leaning into. We want our customers and clients to make the best decisions for themselves, because that's what we want for ourselves.

00:10:18:11 - 00:10:43:20

Allison Belles

Right? Is we don't want to feel like we've gotten the bait and switch, or that we've been bamboozled by any means, right. So I think the first one is, and this is where even the documentation comes in or not, every sales team member is doing the exact same thing because they're only there to close the deal, not to truly invest their time and energy to be the guide and helping that client or customer truly make the best decision.

00:10:43:23 - 00:10:59:12

Alex Winter

Yeah, I feel like too, that in those scenarios, because I've been in those where like you feel the pressure from the salesperson that like they have to close this deal and you're like on the spot and it's uncomfortable. I don't like feeling like that. As the end, as the end user makes me. It deters me from wanting to buy from them.

00:10:59:14 - 00:11:25:01

Allison Belles

Yeah, yeah. Or any, you know, even if it's not just like closing the deal at the end of the stage, but sometimes we can feel like pressured or obligated in the beginning stages, right? Where if you are in the home services industry in particular, or even seen it with a couple, of B2B businesses, it's it's like, just get the appointment, kick them out, like just let them on the books because we know once we get them in there, we're going to be able to close them.

00:11:25:01 - 00:11:47:11

Allison Belles

We're the absolute best. We're going to be able to make them see the value, even if it's out of their price range. And they're very clear that it's out of their price range. Right? Every salesperson, at least when they are tied that to that mentality of just close the deal or just get them to the next stage instead of what truly is the next right best step for them.

00:11:47:13 - 00:12:07:15

Alex Winter

So how do you how businesses create content or how do you help like sales teams figure out what content is most important to tackle first to help like supplement these problems and to help figure out these stages like okay, this stage one, this piece of content goes with it. Or like we're going to assignment sell here. And then like how do you start to map that out people.

00:12:07:17 - 00:12:28:22

Allison Belles

Yeah. So really what we start off with is we start with all of the stages. So you just go through. Right. And it starts with, hey, if they fill out a form, if they make that phone call, however they come into and they hit that zero moment of true, right where they decided that they want to reach out to you, that they want to start a conversation right.

00:12:29:00 - 00:12:51:09

Allison Belles

That's where you map out every single stage one, two, three, 4 or 5, and you put the nuances in there of the okay, well, if there is, not only do we go like appointments that you put in like confirmation, like confirmation email, like confirming the, the appointment. Yeah. Then you go into you should have a different stage for it.

00:12:51:10 - 00:13:18:07

Allison Belles

No call, no show. Canceled. Rescheduled. Like every single stage in there. Nuances should be included. And really just build it in a Google sheet is I just have all of them in one column of every single stage of their buyer's journey. Like I mentioned that goes past the actual sale, past just the agreement or the contract signed, but all the way through to how are they onboarded?

00:13:18:12 - 00:13:37:21

Allison Belles

How does your service delivery team, your install teams, how do you continue to work with them? So that's the first piece of it okay. Then we go through what needs to happen at each one of those stages, because we're not just throwing out the, you know, be a good salesperson and do what you need to do in the moment.

00:13:37:23 - 00:14:04:15

Allison Belles

But like, what do they need to be educated in? Like what are the most important parts for the the potential client or customer to know at that stage of the sales process? Right. So then once we get that, then we lean into like, what are the most common objections? What are the most, the most common issues that you see even happened after that stage that we can get ahead of during that particular point in time, right.

00:14:04:17 - 00:14:26:05

Allison Belles

So that's how we start to map it out and think it through. Then we start to go through, okay, what type of content can we send before and after each one of these stages of your sales process to help either get ahead of those fears and worries, concerns and objections. Educate them about the next step or what's going to happen?

00:14:26:07 - 00:14:56:23

Allison Belles

Or how do we help reduce the amount of time during that sales stage? This is where your 80% videos come in. Right. This is where your your what to expect videos like this is where when you're truly sitting down and thinking about okay how can I, how can we together that the conditions for a really great sales call or sales appointment and it's that education before right.

00:14:57:01 - 00:15:15:13

Allison Belles

Hey Alex, you know the drill, right? I am I get typically these five questions on our first appointment and so beheaded the head of this appointment want you to watch this video. And I'm going to give you the answers to each of these five questions. That way when I get into your home next week, Alex one you feel way more educated.

00:15:15:13 - 00:15:36:06

Allison Belles

But we can also get directly into exactly what you're looking for in your bathroom remodel, because you already know those most common five things that everybody asks. Yeah, right now, what's going to happen? Alex, if you watch that video and you have that information available for you, what's going to actually happen at the appointment?

00:15:36:08 - 00:15:41:08

Alex Winter

You're going to have a way more meaningful conversation and way more productive conversation. I would think.

00:15:41:08 - 00:16:03:09

Allison Belles

Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yes. And let's be real, guys, Alex isn't saying that because he has been working with impact for a really long time and knows and most customers and they ask you answer in an outright. But this is because that's the truth, right? This is what happens when we provide people education, when we lean into trust and transparency and we help guide them through the process, whether they work with us or not.

00:16:03:14 - 00:16:11:19

Allison Belles

We should be helping them educate themselves to make the best decision for themselves, their families, their business, their community, whatever it is.

00:16:11:21 - 00:16:39:20

Alex Winter

Preach. Yes, I love that. And it's true. I think that was the first reaction I had reading the book was there is beauty in its simplicity. It's like we're not trying to reinvent the wheel here. We're just trying to like, remove some of these speed bumps and hurdles that we've all felt and have all experienced at some point or another where it's like frustrating and you just want to you want to get to a place you have the trust to have a meaningful conversation and make a good, informed decision and then move on with your life, you know, like, that's that's the beauty of this, and I really believe in it.

00:16:39:20 - 00:16:50:21

Alex Winter

And when you when you work the system assignment selling is a beautiful thing. 1 to 1 videos, all the stuff you were just talking about from a content standpoint, the stuff really works. And we've seen it time. Yeah. And it's cool.

00:16:50:23 - 00:17:10:23

Allison Belles

Yeah. And that's what, you know when you leaned into it. Alex, they're like the 1 to 1 video versus one to many videos versus the videos that you're videographers making it. This is when I say you're sitting down and you're mapping all of that out. That's exactly what we're talking about. Right. And so what are the conditions in your sales process that warrants a 1 to 1 video?

00:17:11:01 - 00:17:41:22

Allison Belles

What's this conversation or the condition that you're trying to set that warrants a one day mini video or a generic video. Right. So here's an example. If it has anything to do with cost or money, if you are sending a contract to somebody in agreement, a scope of work, if you are sending anything where they have to interpret how you got to that number or how you got to that cost without a 1 to 1 personalized video, there is something fundamentally wrong with your sales process.

00:17:42:00 - 00:17:42:16

Alex Winter

Absolutely.

00:17:42:17 - 00:18:11:00

Allison Belles

Who? How? How can you send a contract that says, hey, Alex, this is going to be a who cares how much it is, whether it's 500 bucks or it's $50,000, right? If you are leaving it up for people to interpret it, they are going to get into a slew of different thoughts, the what ifs, they're going to start to Google stuff versus if you take the time and if you truly want to close that deal and build that relationship and build trust, you send them a 1 to 1 video, right?

00:18:11:05 - 00:18:36:06

Allison Belles

This is why we send bio videos the same thing, right? You can tell I'm getting fired up, right? Alex and I love the reason. The reason why we even send bio videos is because you want to see, hear and know the person that you're about to work with. Right. Whether they're showing up at your home and they're coming into your safe space or you're getting into a zoom with them and taking 50 minutes out of your day to have a conversation.

00:18:36:08 - 00:19:02:19

Allison Belles

People buy from people. Doesn't matter what industry you're in. That's why we say to lean into the trust building in those relationships, taking the time to make sure that you're guiding them through this process. And it takes the ability to pause your incredibly busy schedule, take a step back, and truly build what looks like the perfect sales process for you and your customers.

00:19:02:21 - 00:19:20:11

Allison Belles

And then you have to train on it, and you have to train on it, and you have to train on it, and you have to remind those veterans, right? Those one of my old dogs in your sales department, right? Yeah. To rein them back in. Right. They have to be trained. They have to make sure that they're doing the same thing as the young guns and the new ones that are coming in.

00:19:20:11 - 00:19:22:00

Allison Belles

That's who they're looking up to.

00:19:22:02 - 00:19:22:18

Alex Winter

Right?

00:19:22:20 - 00:19:23:03

Allison Belles

Right.

00:19:23:07 - 00:19:23:21

Alex Winter

Yeah.

00:19:23:23 - 00:19:49:05

Allison Belles

And and they're also I'll tell you one other thing here, Alex. The reason why this is also so important is because when you're working with your sales teams to figure out where people are falling off in their sales process, if we don't have it clearly documented, what's being said, what conditions need to be set right or what's actually happening during that specific stage, we're not going to be able to solve for it.

00:19:49:07 - 00:19:50:14

Allison Belles

We're just making best guesses.

00:19:50:18 - 00:19:54:22

Alex Winter

Yeah, you're just guesstimating, which never really works out very well now. Yeah, we need to.

00:19:54:23 - 00:20:13:06

Allison Belles

If we know that if everyone is following the same process. Right. That's what gives us the ability to say, is it the people? Is it the person? Is it the sales person, or is it the process? Right? What is it that's broken in here or what's working really, really well that we need to continue working with?

00:20:13:08 - 00:20:32:06

Alex Winter

Allison, I like that you said too that the other, the old dogs like you can't teach an old dog new tricks. You've seen this a ton. We've all seen this here an impact. And this is one of the coolest results of when you implement endless customers and you start working content into your sales process, and you clearly define these stages, some of these old dogs are super impressed with how effective it is.

00:20:32:06 - 00:20:46:07

Alex Winter

And they're they're usually the ones that get the most fired up. And then before you know it, they're they're crushing it. And they're even though they might have a ton of experience, it almost like it. It almost like reinvigorates their their spirit, their sales spirit. Again, it's pretty cool to see that.

00:20:46:09 - 00:20:52:03

Allison Belles

Oh for sure. I've never met a salesperson that said, no, don't give me more time back in my calendar to close more deals.

00:20:52:03 - 00:20:53:09

Alex Winter

Yeah, right.

00:20:53:11 - 00:20:55:15

Allison Belles

Right. So don't feel like, oh.

00:20:55:17 - 00:20:57:05

Alex Winter

Yeah, I don't want to, don't.

00:20:57:07 - 00:21:15:20

Allison Belles

Don't tempt me with the good time. But it's it's part of this too is when we're talking about those old dogs coming in, we need their knowledge. Like we need to hear from them. Boots on the ground. What are those fears and worries and concerns and how do you get ahead of those? Let's take that knowledge. And that's where we start to build our content.

00:21:15:22 - 00:21:38:03

Allison Belles

That's our rewrite. The articles we build, our pricing pages. We build those videos based on the knowledge and experience. The folks that have been doing this the longest. Right. And then how do we help them incorporate it into their even if it's automations. Right. So this isn't something when sales teams are like, oh my gosh, now you're giving me so many more things to do right now, right?

00:21:38:03 - 00:22:01:16

Allison Belles

We're going to set this up in the ways that make it easiest for you. And you still have to be a salesperson. You still have to show up. You still have to send those follow up emails. You still have to nurture them if they don't close. When you ask me before you know, what are some of those things that you see that are like common missteps in the sales process or like when people are, working on building their sales team back up?

00:22:01:16 - 00:22:18:22

Allison Belles

Is, the other half, is it? They let leads drop off if they don't close on. I see so many clients where I just I have to shake my hand and my face gets all red, and I have to calm down because they'll tell me, oh, well, if we didn't close, then we just we don't we don't deal with them anymore.

00:22:18:22 - 00:22:19:17

Allison Belles

We don't work with them anymore.

00:22:19:21 - 00:22:22:02

Alex Winter

Really? Yeah. What?

00:22:22:03 - 00:22:25:05

Allison Belles

What? Yeah, I just I'm like.

00:22:25:06 - 00:22:27:01

Alex Winter

That's baffling, right? Yeah.

00:22:27:03 - 00:22:46:22

Allison Belles

Exactly. And it's mainly because they want to move to the next one. They want to go to the next challenge. They don't want to take the time. Right. Because it takes time takes time to follow up with people. Right. But we can't live in this mentality of, oh, I tried one thing or I tried the old way that it worked, and then we just let them go.

00:22:47:00 - 00:23:09:05

Allison Belles

We have to continue to educate people through that journey. And even if they've worked with another provider, right. Especially in the B2B space, we can always win business back and we can always help people feel as though they're making, especially in big home purchases and in our home services. Right? Is just because they weren't ready in that moment doesn't mean they're not ready at all.

00:23:09:08 - 00:23:19:05

Allison Belles

Yeah. So how do we help guide that conversation and move them to a point where they are ready to potentially make that big life home purchase for themselves?

00:23:19:07 - 00:23:38:13

Alex Winter

Well said Alison, good points. So I'm curious what happens when the sales team is bought in and you start to get these, you know, the, the different stages are clearly defined. They're starting to use this content from marketing. What what do you see typically happen from a results standpoint in like, how does it shift the tide?

00:23:38:15 - 00:24:04:00

Allison Belles

Yeah. Well, I think first and foremost it gives them all a clear path to follow. And we all know like clarity is kindness. And especially for new sales team members, that can be one of the hardest obstacles to overcome is only learning through tribal knowledge, only riding on ride alongs and listening to folks. Because then what you're doing is you're hearing it from multiple perspectives, right?

00:24:04:00 - 00:24:22:17

Allison Belles

And you're kind of forming your own sales process. That's where you get well, Jim does it this way, and John does it this way, and he does it this way. It has to be your company's way of selling. And so a lot of times it's like, wow, this this feels so much easier. I know exactly what to do.

00:24:22:18 - 00:24:50:01

Allison Belles

And then the other part of it is it helps create build automations in the CRM. And so I've had some sales teams where they've been doing so many things manually, but we're able to bring in the consistency and the simplicity of automations for them as well, because we have a clearly documented sales process. Right. The other part I would say is, I love hearing the salespeople tell me they don't have to spend as much time in the home, right?

00:24:50:02 - 00:25:14:22

Allison Belles

Or they don't have to spend as much time on a call. Sure. Or they've shortened the number of calls that they have to have because they've been able to educate them ahead of time or even after calls. Right. And so seeing and I know it sounds like I'm just regurgitating what the book says. Right. But this really is a shortened sales cycle because folks are getting more information, which they're going to do anyway.

00:25:15:00 - 00:25:16:17

Allison Belles

Right? They're going to Google it.

00:25:16:19 - 00:25:17:02

Alex Winter

You bet.

00:25:17:04 - 00:25:41:22

Allison Belles

They're going to go on ChatGPT. They're going to they're going to find the information anyway. So why not just hand it to them and give it to them sooner and to help explain the information to that, to them? Yeah. So that's where sales teams a lot of times the other part of it too, is I've even seen the average ticket amount increase because we've educated people throughout the journey.

00:25:42:00 - 00:26:13:09

Allison Belles

Right. So that means because people trust us, because we lead them into education and that teacher mindset first, they're willing and open to hear more about those potential best options or better options for them besides just the basics, right? Or they go with us, even though we might be 20 to 30% more expensive, right? When we explain the factors of cost and what drives it up and what drives it down, people then are able to take that information and make a decision for themselves.

00:26:13:11 - 00:26:20:19

Allison Belles

Right. Yeah. You might be paying 15 to 20% more. But guess what. That roof has a lifetime guarantee on it.

00:26:20:20 - 00:26:42:14

Alex Winter

Yeah. What's trust it. Right. What is it. What's it actually worth. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes in my experiences when you try to cut a corner or save a buck, it ends up costing you way more in the long run. So it's bite me. It's bite me in the butt a few times where now I look for that. It's like the price is almost secondary to the trust and how I feel during the during the interaction or the exchange.

00:26:42:16 - 00:27:04:15

Allison Belles

Yeah. And all you're doing is it's just helping to explain to them. Right. Like that's what I love about, whether it is B2C or B2B, if you're helping explain a contract, like if you're helping to explain the different bids that they're receiving. Right. That's where like especially in a world of like RFPs. Right. Those can all they're templated.

00:27:04:15 - 00:27:25:12

Allison Belles

They're so similar. There are those nuances in there that we can help explain. And not just explain by submitting our proposal, but building a video that walks through the proposal that actually explains how we took the needs of the company and built the perfect plan for them based on what their requests were.

00:27:25:14 - 00:27:28:22

Alex Winter

That's a yeah, that's a game changer. I love that, yeah.

00:27:28:23 - 00:27:42:10

Allison Belles

And nobody else is doing it. That's the other part too, that we hear a lot of for sales team members is, one I love hearing too, with some of my companies that put me and I couldn't get them to respond to my plaintext emails. I couldn't get them to respond to my phone like my phone calls. But me.

00:27:42:10 - 00:28:08:22

Allison Belles

And as soon as I sent that 1 to 1 personalized video where I had their name, on a piece of paper, they watched the video and they called me back like, absolutely amazing. So this is really where, you know, I think in 2025 and going into 2026, we know that information is at every single person's fingertips. And now just at a completely different level than ever before.

00:28:09:00 - 00:28:19:12

Allison Belles

And so how do we build a sales process that follows alongside that, and allows our sales team members to still be the best that they can be, but educating folks in the process along the way.

00:28:19:13 - 00:28:38:01

Alex Winter

For sure, that's that's the focus. That's what needs to be for sales teams to be focusing on going into the new year and into 2026 and beyond. I think that you hit the nail on the head right there. So I have another question for you. And it still tracks with what we're talking about here. But Allison, you work with a lot of companies, B2B, B2C doing this.

00:28:38:03 - 00:28:51:02

Alex Winter

How does coaching play into this equation and how important do you think coaching is for teams when it comes to setting stages, setting the conditions, accountability and all the things that go along with like success? With this?

00:28:51:04 - 00:29:17:04

Allison Belles

Yeah. Well, it goes back to any process or any part of your life where you're in the weeds constantly, right? You are so ingrained in the day to day that it's difficult to be able to take a step back and take that 10,000ft view and be a little bit more strategic. Right. Sales teams tend to get really tactical really quickly because that's what they're built to do, right?

00:29:17:04 - 00:29:44:22

Allison Belles

They're built to close. So when we come in as coaches we're able to take a step back to help slow down. Some of these teams ask the hard questions and why don't we talk about that ahead of time. What would happen? What could happen if we talked about price or problems, or even the comparisons between yourself and the competitor that you know, that they're actively talking to?

00:29:45:00 - 00:30:08:03

Allison Belles

It's being able to come in, bring that clarity and what good can look like, and then also challenging sales team members, right, to to do something different. And even if like I have sales team members that are like, oh, I have an 85% close, right? Yeah. But what if it was 90, right. But what if it was 92, right.

00:30:08:05 - 00:30:28:13

Allison Belles

Who would increase the things? Who would want that? And could the things that we're doing could induce more trust. Could it help improve your closed rate, which then in turn can help improve your referral rate? So having a coach come in to to bring that clarity to slow down sales teams to challenge you, but then also to hold teams accountable.

00:30:28:15 - 00:30:56:13

Allison Belles

Right. That's another big component in this of, you know, our sales leaders and our sales managers. It can be difficult with so many responsibilities, to sit there and not only hold sales teams accountable, all the other things that they have to do right, but also now to be held to this new standard. So to help set the conditions for that type of accountability and to show people what, what not only good looks like, but what great looks like as well.

00:30:56:15 - 00:31:08:00

Allison Belles

That's why having a coach come in can be a crucial factor in improving and building a more trust first sales process.

00:31:08:02 - 00:31:28:03

Alex Winter

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. So for people out there that are watching and listening to the show right now, maybe they're on the sales team, maybe they're a sales person, maybe they're an OG sales veteran, and they're listening to this conversation and they're like, this is this is getting them excited. What advice would you give them to, like, get started on the endless customer journey and to implement some of the things that we've been talking about today?

00:31:28:05 - 00:31:58:08

Allison Belles

Well, I think first and foremost, if you aren't documenting your sales process is the first thing that you should do, write it down. Right? And I'm not talking about the Google doc that you created ten years ago or five years ago. I'm talking about the current 2026 sales process. Document it and take the time to build. What are the things that I would love to get ahead of that I would love for the people in each one of these stages to feel more educated about.

00:31:58:10 - 00:31:59:17

Allison Belles

Write all of that down.

00:31:59:19 - 00:32:25:23

Allison Belles

Instrument and whether or not you're at a cost. A company that's implementing endless customers. Right now, you don't need a content manager. You don't need a videographer. You, as a sales person, can take the time to grab a quick page with jarred limb and start creating your own videos that help educate people through the sales process. Now, I hope that your whole company will want to implement that through the whole entire sales process.

00:32:26:00 - 00:32:52:08

Allison Belles

Sure, but there's no reason why any sales person out there can't start to educate folks and really think through every stage of their sales process and what they can do to help guide people, educate them so that every call feels really effective and really efficient. And they're assigning things in between those calls to move that process even faster.

00:32:52:10 - 00:33:08:13

Alex Winter

Yeah. Well said. Obviously, having a videographer and a content manager is the dream scenario, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't make this content without them. You got a cell phone in your pocket that I'm pretty sure shoots really high quality video and audio, so there's really no excuse anymore. I totally agree with you.

00:33:08:15 - 00:33:25:02

Allison Belles

Yeah, and I didn't mean that's low, you know, low hanging fruit. I think in there too. Right. You if you've got to go as a sales team, you got to talk to your sales manager about inducing your trust, especially going into 2026. Right. We can see now Google's got insane estimates and it is potentially even giving quotes. Right.

00:33:25:02 - 00:33:46:05

Allison Belles

Just right all directly in in the search. And so like how do we we help our companies start to build more trust in their sales process so that we can be that trusted in known voice, but also that people keep coming back to you and the salesperson. You just love referrals. So how can you be that educator?

00:33:46:07 - 00:33:55:20

Allison Belles

How can you show up every single time to where your potential customer or client knows that you're there to help guide them and not just sell them?

00:33:55:22 - 00:34:03:19

Alex Winter

Mike Drop and that was great. Nice job, Allison, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise. You really appreciate. It's great having you on the show.

00:34:03:20 - 00:34:23:09

Allison Belles

Yeah, anytime. Alex and I really want to challenge all those sales folks. Listen, my contact information is going to be available after this podcast. You can always find me on the Impact Plus website. And I really just want to challenge you to do something different than you've ever done before, to induce trust and see what the results are.

00:34:23:11 - 00:34:35:22

Alex Winter

Well said, and we will definitely be including your contact info in the description so people can check it out. If you have any sales related questions or really any questions regarding endless customers. Allison, thanks again. Really good to see you. Appreciate you being on the show.

00:34:36:00 - 00:34:36:14

Allison Belles

You too Alex.

00:34:36:15 - 00:34:41:23

Alex Winter

All right. For everybody out there watching and listening, this Endless Customers, I'm your host, Alex Winter, and we will catch you on the next episode!