Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to start your business?
In the last few years, there has been a notable shift in the way salespeople are winning business and some of the methods that worked in the past no longer work with the same effectiveness.
In the businesses I have worked within the last 5 years or so I noticed sales staff were ill-equipped to communicate with what I call “ the modern customer” Either they were still using old fashioned cold calling techniques, not utilising data correctly to understand their customers lifecycle or were damaging their company and their brand via the way they were using social media.
So after training hundreds of sales staff and multiple businesses in my 7 Figure Sales program, I decided to write a book called 7 Figure Sales Skills that addressed what I saw as issues with how today salespeople are trying to win business.
That only solved some of the problems. I also noticed that there was no one in the market that addressed some of the other issues today’s modern salespeople face such as having the right tools and automation available to communicate with their prospects effectively through the buyer’s journey.
That is where Sallan Global was born. We have created VIDCONTACT that allows you to record and send personalised video messages via email & SMS to your customers and prospects. KONVERTLI, our social media marketing, design and automation platform, as well as 7 Figure Sales Academy, our online training portal which is launching soon. There are many exciting things in development that I can’t talk about right now but the products and services that SALLAN GLOBAL will bring to market are made by salespeople for salespeople.
My company, Sallan Global helps individuals and companies through software solutions, sales and marketing automation and sales training to communicate with “the modern customer” wherever they are in the customer lifecycle.
Can you share the biggest challenges that you had to overcome since you started this business?
My niche is highly competitive, with many individuals offering either high ticket sales training, such as Grant Cardone and Dan Lok, or companies offering software solutions. Sallan Global’s goal is to create sales training and software automation that compliments each other. This is relatively unique and we are not trying to be all things to all people, but address what I see as the roadblocks to success for the modern salesperson, all under the one roof.
What advice would you have for other new entrepreneurs?
Number one is put your customers at the forefront of every decision you make. When you do that, you will be surprised how quickly you will generate momentum.
Number two is don’t follow what I call “the soundbite crew” Those “influencers” (and I use the term loosely) who drop the most generic words of wisdom that they have likely copied from someone else. Look for mentors who speak to your values and offer you genuine actionable insight.
Number three is its hard work. If you think you will gain real traction in business following the generic “soundbite crew” you may have some initial success, but if you are looking for longevity you need to put in the hard work.
How do you think that your consultancy will make a massive difference in people’ life?
My training and products are battles tested before they are launched into the broader market so I know they work. I use them myself. I train others who have gone onto to have great success with my products and training. That said, I serve my customer. They are always first. I’m not sure that is still the case with a number of the guru’s in my market. I like to provide actionable, relevant insight, frameworks and content that my customers can use.
Can you share with us a personal story of an emotional struggle?
After almost 15 years of sales and account management experience, across a range of industries, I decided to branch out on my own and start my own business.
My business partner and I started a wholesale company importing cleaning supplies from China, which we would sell to other wholesalers and end-users.
I’d get on the phone and cold call everyone I could, sales is a numbers game I would tell myself and the more people I spoke with, the better. I’d be disingenuous if I said we weren’t successful those first few years. I was able to win several major accounts, and we had taken the business from zero in sales to millions in revenue in the first two years. But there was a storm brewing. The perfect storm was the global financial crisis of 2008.
Being located in Australia, we sold our goods in Australian Dollars and paid for them in U.S. Dollars. The Australian Dollar dropped from 0.96 to 0.62 almost overnight.
This drop had increased our expenses by nearly $500,000 overnight. Needless to say, we had to shut the doors not long after. It got to a point where I was selling my household furniture just to feed my family.
I’d never felt so low. I could see the world had changed, and the Internet and social media in particular as a business tool was still in its infancy, but I knew it was the future. I rang an old friend, asking for a job, any job just to pay the bills and I had to start on the bottom rung again after years of consistent success. I realised the world was changing and if I wanted to connect with the modern customer I had to be where they were, and that was social media. After a significant period of time testing multiple theories and approaches, I devised what I now call The PACER Method, and it is the foundation for my 7 Figure Sales Academy training program.
What are your future plans?
Simply to continue to grow the business to positively impact as many people as possible. Sales seem like such a dirty profession to so many people. It is usually because salespeople don’t know how or when to sell so they come off as annoying or pushy. I want to be able to showcase sales as an honourable profession, by utilising my methods to communicate with and serve your customers.
How can our readers follow you on social media?