Student Interview$2k/mo to $15k/mo

All right, three, two, one. Hey, everybody, Harry Whelchel, here. Today I have Bryce T. We're going to be talking about how Bryce went from $2,000 a month to $15,000 a month in sales in less than three months. About two and a half months, right?

Correct, yeah.

Nice. So let's dig into that, but before we kind of get into the weeds on that, Bryce, why don't you tell everybody a little bit about yourself and your business and what you guys do?

Yeah, so for my consulting business, I work with people who are bookkeepers and accountants to really help them grow their business both with their sales, their offers, and their marketing.

That's awesome, man. So how long have you been doing that?

I've been doing consulting for probably about a year and a half very consistently. I'm working with this new niche for about about three months.

Okay, awesome man. Awesome. And what do you think makes you unique in terms of somebody who can help accountants and bookkeepers with their marketing.

Just that I've owned an accounting firm for a pretty long time with my local partner is just being able to kind of communicate that I can help them and I'm not too far ahead them is really the reason... The main thing and the reason why they sign up with me.

Oh, interesting. All right, so you've been running your own practice for a little while locally and so you have that experience to draw on that you can help other clients with. Is that what you're saying?

Correct. Okay, very cool. How did you get into accounting yourself originally?

Just always I like the stability of it. I'm a person who likes stability as far as income because I run a lot of online businesses in the past, but it's always like the boom and then the crash in a lot of cases for me. So the accounting has just been one of those things where you get a client, they stay on with you for multiple years so it's just easy.

That's awesome man, that's awesome. So let's go back to the beginning and kind of when we started working together. Before we were working together what was going on in your business? What sort of problems were you looking to solve?

Yeah, so when I first came to you there was a couple of problems but the main one was about lead generation. Specifically, I was like LinkedIn is not delivering me enough sales calls fast enough for my consulting, so maybe I should try Facebook. And I saw you... I saw you actually a long time ago on a Facebook group but it didn't really like click or have any meaning. So I just figured maybe this guy knows a little bit about Facebook 'cause he's obviously the Facebook guy or something like that, whatever I was thinking.

What was going on with LinkedIn at the time, like what were you trying to do on LinkedIn?

Yeah, I was trying to get the sales call volume up. So I was sending out a lot of direct messages, but it was kind of like the people I was getting on the phone, it was just very infrequent. It was like maybe one to two strategy sessions per week and it just wasn't translating. The number of connections that I had to clients just was not really good.

So we're you doing a lot of cold outreach?

I was doing a lot of cold outreach but I was doing... As we'll talk about later more like qualification in the outreach.

Got it. So once someone connected you were trying to qualify them kind of right away?

Yeah, I was more trying to see if they were struggling in their business and that kind of turned some of the people off, but I didn't know that at the time.

Got it, okay, I got it. So you were trying to get the lead volume up to get more calls. Were there any other problems that you were working on at the time?

Yeah, there was a problem that I didn't realize was a problem. It was the cash collected. So I would be able to bring in $2,000 or maybe $3,000 a month but I was getting payment plans of $300 a month or $500 and it would just take me forever to actually recoup the cash. So I was just like, "Oh my goodness, it's not meaningful enough," you know?

So you might be getting somebody to commit to more revenue and you were making in theory like $2,000 a month, $3,000 but you're really only getting a portion of that in terms of the cash coming in?

Yeah.

Got it, got it. Was that frustrating?

It was demoralizing, man. 'Cause I saw other guys, just other people in general and they're talking about how much money they were like making and I'm like, "Dude, what's wrong."

Yes, yeah, that would be really frustrating. Like you do all this work. Why do you think it was hard to get the cash in at the time? Looking back.

I didn't have a structure for asking. So it was kind of, "Oh, I can't do the full price." Okay, and then I'll just guess off the top of my head what I think they could afford. So if somebody at the whole call had been talking about how broke they were then I'd be like, "Oh, I can you do $300 a month for the entire duration of the program." So I have one guy he's like pay me $300 a month until next June, basically. Oh, yeah, and then people were not really activating.

They weren't doing the work. They weren't getting results.

It was like... Not even that, like people would just pay me money and then disappear like that instance.

Yeah, so you weren't actually doing the service with them sometimes or like seeing them see progress with your help?

Yeah, because I used to sell only a course and then have some coaching calls on the side if they so chose to but then I would get people they had to pay the full price upfront, and then they say I told my wife I'm so excited. Then you never hear from him again or it'd be such a low amount they were just like, "I don't care."

That's interesting, man. That's super interesting. Did that feel weird to sell to somebody putting in all that effort in and then not talk to them again?

I mean, no oftentimes my sales are like with strangers so it's really in my opinion a short sales cycle. So it's almost like you didn't really get a chance to meet them but it also slow me down because I wasn't able to get testimonials so I was getting like some money, but it was like it's still just as hard to get new people in the door, you know?

Yeah, you weren't getting any benefits from past work to use in your marketing.

Yeah.

Got it. Okay, so there are a couple issues it seems like. So it's a number of leads, the cash collected in the sales and then a service delivery, getting the results, kind of now like when we think about which of those things do you think was the biggest problem looking back in hindsight?

You said it was a big struggle?

What do you think... Looking back, which of those problems you think was the biggest problem now having more hindsight? Still the leads?

I actually think it was more about both the closing on the sale and then having predetermined negotiation steps and risk reversals.

Got it, got it.

Yes. All right, so more of a sales problem than a leads problem.

Yeah.

Well, let me ask you this, on the leads front did you try to generate leads through Facebook? Had you tried doing it some before we started working together?

When I first got into consulting I did but it was kind of like it's harder to go and find based on job titles on Facebook. And I was just like it's kind of sending the friend request and I'd get blocked by Facebook and I was like, "Ah," so I moved over to LinkedIn.

I see, so you're used to using LinkedIn sales navigator, LinkedIn search functionality to find people by job title and you we're trying to do the same thing on Facebook and then it was blocking you when you did that too much?

On Facebook, yeah. And then, I'm sorry, another problem that I remembered was since I wasn't finding much consistent success in any niche I was like just boom, I had like nine LinkedIn accounts at one point for all different niches.

For different niches?

Yeah.

Wow, man, what other niches were you trying out?

I tried out... Life coaches was the main one. Therapist it got moderately good success in. Financial planners, health coaches.

All over.

Yeah.

So more of that kind of like that shotgun approach and just trying a bunch of different things all at once and seeing what sticks?

Well, it was more like finding the right group of people who my experiences would connect with. It wasn't really that I couldn't get them to get on the phone in the other niches. It was just that once we got on the phone I would talk about let's go make some more money and then the life coach would be like, "I don't want to make money, I want to help people." And I just couldn't really relate to them.

Got it, got it. Okay, interesting. Well, where did you first hear about me?

At first saw you in this group a long time ago but it didn't really click at all. I saw you again, there was this guy who's kind of a rival for me and he every couple of months he'll send out just a direct outreach that's kind of interesting or weird. So I checked out his profile and I see you went on his screen I'm like, "Okay, what is this?" And then he's talking to you and he's like, "Yeah, I was going from X amount of dollars, now I'm at like eight times more or nine times." And I'm like, "What if that guy can do it and this is the guy who showed him how to do it." I was like, "It can do for me."

So you saw another client of mine who was really happy he had done really well and he was calling me out and basically you had been following him and have been, is it a friendly rivalry?

I mean, it's more just someone that interviews, it's more of like this guy can't be doing great. And then you see this guy doing great and it's like, what?

Got it, you were skeptical of that.

No, no, I wasn't skeptical of that, but it was like every couple of six months they'll send me a message and it's like terrible message outreach. Like it's just like... And then he used to have this profile picture of like... It just didn't look good branding wise at all. So I was like, "How is this guy doing anything?" And then I see you on the interview and he's like, "I'm doing," and I'm like, "What?"

Got it, got it, got it, got it. So is that what pitched your interest or was there anything else that kind of really got your attention?

No, it was really just that. I was just like, "If that guy can do it and you're the one who helped that guy out, let's hop on the phone call and see what's up."

Cool, cool, man. So I'm sure there's a ton of stuff we've been working on together, but at a high level maybe can you speak to like two or three things that have really improved in the last few months as we've been working together?

Okay, actually I wrote down a bunch, but, yeah, so the main ones-

Just at a high level.

Yeah, just at a high level is like negotiation and closing. That's the biggest one for me. And seeing some of your videos inside of whatever you do that you shared with me and actually seeing the stuff I was going through was normal. It wasn't just that people were just didn't like me. Okay, other people have the same thing going on and just kind of watching that every single day.

So, basically, like better closing techniques, ways to kind of sit with them and not just where you're just hopping up the phone if they had objections before?

No, it was more like it would turn to like an argument. I'd be like, "What?" It doesn't make sense why you don't think this makes sense and we would just...

It became more adversarial, like antagonistic and you didn't have tools to basically partner with them and figuring out how to make a deal work and solve this for them.

Yeah, I couldn't call them down.

Got it, got it. And then I basically give you examples of me live doing sales and so those examples were really helpful to you kind of seeing it?

Yeah.

Got it, got it. Why do you... Okay, I guess, it's just funny like it sounds like what you're saying is... You see the theory that I teach and stuff but even with the theory and it making sense you're still doubting and still skeptical that this is actually how it happens for other people, is that fair?

I didn't have any reference experiences. Like there's not a lot of people online posting like there's guys posting for different niches and different things but it's like it's the same person going through the same kind of closing that I am supposed to be doing and seeing that, okay, these guys are giving you the same kind of objections and resistance. Okay, so that means that it's not just me. That means we can fix this.

Yeah, no, and there's nothing wrong with that. I just think it's so true we can get theory, but then if we see it live it's just so reassuring that it's not something wrong with us, it's like just the way things are and it makes it so much more real and it allows you to basically embrace the techniques and be like, "All right, this will really work if I mastered this and I learned this." Does that make sense?

Yeah, and I guess the third thing which it wasn't a lead problem. It was more like hearing from somebody the details and why you do different things at what stage. For example, a lot of people will talk about like something called quick chat or whatever and I was like... When I first got started why would I ever get on the phone with someone if there's no mention of them giving me money, it doesn't make sense. So I would just one call close people and the people who were like me who were action takers they would pay on the first call. But for everybody else it's like, "No."

So you figured out ways to basically take more prospects and actually turn them into leads. Like you found how you can basically get somebody on the phone and not always, but sometimes that person becomes a lead even if they're not a lead and really interested at the beginning of the conversation, is that what you're getting at?

Yeah, I think you'd call it like you're creating leads 'cause it's like-

Yes.

Yeah, most of my clients now they don't necessarily know they have a problem until I talk to them and then say, "Oh, maybe you do have a problem."

What is that like? I mean have you seen that happen firsthand where somebody comes on and you think they have no intention of being interested, but then you can kind of like create that problem or identify that problem that it already existed that they weren't aware of?

Yeah, that's most of my calls now. It's more of like either they want a certain outcome or a certain type of client that they don't know how to get and I'm able to show, "Okay, cool." Well, the clients you're getting now even though you have like 10 or 20 of them they're not really adding up to any significant revenue. Here is how you can get this better type of thing and they're like, "Oh, you can do that?" And then we transitioned to more of a sales call.

What has it been like to learn how to do that? Is it fun? Is it empowering? Is it interesting?

Yeah, it's really cool to be able to do it because like... Before I was scared I was gonna like run out of leads. That that was my biggest thing but now it's like any person who's in the accounting space or a bookkeeper or even the entire world if I can teach them how to do this stuff is like someone I can go and get to pay me.

Okay, this is one of my favorite insights with this stuff 'cause it's like you go from this scarcity mindset of like, "Oh, there's only so many leads of like only 3% of people are in the market at any point in time for your service." Like there's all these kind of myths. I don't know if it's myths or misconceptions about marketing, but once you realize you can literally create leads you just there like so... You know there's so much potential and there's so much abundance. You just have a lot of confidence and peace of mind. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah.

Have you felt any of that?

I mean, yeah, 'cause now one of the things that I'm like trying to get better we've had conversations about is learning how to qualify and get more people who don't want the exact output or outcome that I'm trying to give to still be open to doing a sales call. Because like some people don't want to get a super high paying client they want to get a lot of little clients but they're struggling to do so. So now that I'm getting so many, like yesterday I had about four calls I did, the day before I had about five. Last week I probably had about... It was like 20 quick chats and it's just like now if I can just kind of keep that momentum going and keep learning how to get the ones who want the smaller result to get them on the phone easier then that's where I think I'll really be able to kind of scale and kind of go to the next level.

That's awesome, man. Yeah, it's really common for people who are starting out in sales. The first thing they focus on is quality just like brute force, sorry, quantity like brute forcing, just getting in touch with tons of people. Like not necessarily expanding but just really aggressive kind of pitching up front and now you're realizing it's more important to have just fewer quality conversations and when you do that your pipeline gets full, right? And you're doing fine, does that make sense?

Yeah, because, I mean, right now I schedule anywhere from three quick calls on Facebook every day to... It can get up to, like yesterday I had about five people from LinkedIn who wanted to schedule for like a quick call. So it's like I can just keep getting as many as possible every single day.

That's awesome, that's awesome, man. What other takeaways or improvements have you met?

I guess just talking to people in general. Like so no matter what platform I do, for example, even email, like just cold email. Just starting a conversation like, "Hey, how are you doing?"

Got it, so rather than just being really thirsty and going straight for the call like building the relationship first and warming them up and then going forward is that what you're saying?

I'm still kind of weak on building relationships. I'm just good at getting people to respond to me and then just really quickly invite them. The point I was trying to make was like I can go on Instagram, Twitter, I can go on any platform I possibly want to if Facebook was to ban me or if LinkedIn was to shut down my account. So it's more of the skill of talking to someone.

Yeah, exactly, so you're seeing the pattern of how these conversations go evolve and that the platform isn't that big of a deal. It's like any platform that has a direct message feature, you could leverage this technique on if that makes sense.

Yeah.

Got it, got it. Nice, what about on the service delivery side? Any improvements there?

I'm starting to get a lot better at it. Even though I had the result for myself, it's like for some people it can be a little bit hard to kind of get them over the head and we're... Me and you are kind of working on that with creating like mindset modules for a lot of them because it's like... Like for some of my clients, as soon as they get in the program they get X amount of results and like they just start taking off. Then I have other ones who like they'll start getting some success and they'll slow themselves down. So kind of me how to get those not rocket ship people up to the success point and that's where I'm kind of at now and that's the only thing that's really stopping me from like kind of shooting off to the moon.

Yes, okay, yes. So it sounds like you've identified it and now it's fewer people that are in that category and you've got some tools that you're working on to improve that, right?

Correct.

Okay.

Yeah.

What about on the social proof side haven't you collected some interviews?

Yeah, that's what I was going next, yeah. So before I was actually scared to ask for interviews and like testimonials and stuff because I guess I hadn't really put it into perspective what my course and my program is about. It's about all business in general. So if they like went and started getting like business from a method, I didn't quite teach them I would be afraid of whether or not they would actually come and say that I actually helped them out. So we were talking to me on one of our calls and you were like just ask the person. And I asked the first person she said, "Absolutely, yes." So now anytime I'm with someone I get results.

How was that conversation? Was it a good one?

Yeah, it was standard. Just for me it was just as long as I say yes, that's all I needed was just a yes.

Yes.

So now anytime somebody gets results I just say, "Hey, let's hop on a call and let's do a testimonial." So now I have about, I got about six new ones in the past two weeks.

Have they been getting better over time? Have you been getting better at interviewing people and talking through the results they've gotten?

I'm getting... It's more about them like some of them are just better at speaking than other ones, so it's kind of getting better. I don't know if that's attributed to me or what exactly.

I'm sure part of it to you.

Yeah, 'cause I mean-

For sure.

Yeah, I used to do... I did probably about 500 interviews this year for a podcast. So I'm moderately good at asking questions and the follow up questions but trying to get better.

Nice man, nice. And have you seen those assets improve your sales process, your marketing, have you notice anything from them?

I haven't gauged it 100%. The last couple of calls that they've come on the call knowing that I'm trying to sell them something and then being okay with it. So that that's been the biggest improvement there and now that I have just varying levels of success, 'cause I used to have like one testimony that I had which was just a big result. The person got a really huge result, but all the other beginners were like, "I can never really get that level of success and it would turn off some of them." So now they have those varying degrees or this person just started last week and they already made $3,000. This person now is starting to be like, "Oh, I can do it too."

So you realize, yeah, it's not just about having one or two crazy outsized wins as interviews. It's like if you have some more approachable kind of like average Joe interviews, those actually make people feel more like you could help them if they're not shooting for the moon right away.

Yeah, which is weird because I'm the opposite. I'm like, "Okay, cool." Nice, congratulations on the first on your first sales call, dude.

But, yeah, it's an interesting insight basically. Yeah, you need a variety of them at different success levels, different results 'cause then it allow you to resonate with different people depending on their goals. Yes, and the other thing that was interesting... Yeah, it sounds like so before you were kind of really, really emphasizing in your marketing that you ran your own accounting firm and you weren't really telling them you coached at first, but you're saying that now because you have the assets. They're more aware of that and they used to be really turned off by that but now they're not. They're more open to it. Is that what you're saying?

Yeah, 'cause they used to be in some of the niches I was in they'd be like, "Oh, are you a coach?" And that would be an instant turnoff. So it almost feels like you have to kind of trick them on the phone but now it's more like.. It's just different, I don't know exactly why maybe I'm-

Just being more straightforward.

It's almost like that question is even asked. It's like they don't even care or if they do ask it's either because they've already just bought a coaching program or because they're looking for a coaching program.

Yeah, got it, got it.

Yeah, anymore.

It's no longer a negative thing and nearly as much.

Yeah.

Okay, that's awesome. Awesome man, that's cool. So these are a couple of great improvements, sales process, closing, creating leads, and then getting more of these interviews. So just at a high level like why do you think you've had these improvements? Why do you think these areas have improved?

Just cause before I didn't have any structure. So it's kind of hard when you're in the moment to kind of like on top of freestyling how to present your contraption to the person and then also having to kind of guess what they can afford to pay is still not very consistent.

So you weren't systematic weighing things, like really tailoring things aggressively depending on what you were thinking in the moment on the prospect. Interesting, interesting, okay, cool. So, yeah, have helped ... Has it been helpful to kind of... Like I talk a lot about mental models like you've been building kind of like a mental model like a view of how marketing work and sales work and how this all fits together. Has that been helpful to kind of have those tools?

Yeah, pretty helpful to have those tools. Like I get my clients better results now. That's the main one and, yeah, my close rate right now is at 40% so that's pretty good.

That's great, man. That's a really, really good. That's awesome, that's awesome. So why do you think back when we were starting together and having our sales call why did you decide to do business with me?

It was really 'cause this thing... It just wasn't working. I just wasn't collecting enough cash, I couldn't get any leads and I was just like, "Dude, this is not going good."

Yeah, so you just knew something had to change.

Yeah.

And was there anything that kicked you over the fence? I mean, I imagine that interview that other client of mine how big of a role did that play in kind of like pulling the trigger finally.

I mean, it was just the thing that got me. I mean, the decision for me to go was like a two day decision. So it was like, "Cool, this guy is obviously like helping people out let me pay him some money."

Yes.

And you know what you did. You actually slowed me down 'cause you were like, "No, so first you got to do this quick call with me to see if I like you then you gotta watch this live video and then we can do the sales call," and then yeah.

I don't remember that but now it's coming back to me. Yeah, so you were really, really quick in wanting to talk right away and I kind of I wanted to learn more about you and what you're doing and did that turn you off or was that kind of interesting to hear or was that helpful?

In the moment it turned me off but it was actually very helpful for me.

Why was that?

Well, just because I don't know if I was truly ready to kind of move forward. I was more of just annoyed in life and with my consulting business.

Yes, you were like in kind of an impulsive mindset and if it was an impulsive sale maybe you would have said yes but if it was more considered, you needed to slow down and really understand what you're getting into.

I'm an impulsive person so there is... You know what I mean?

Maybe not.

Yeah, no, no, enough of that, yeah.

What were you gonna say?

It was just dealing with the investment, that's it?

Yeah, yeah, totally, man. So would you recommend others to work with me?

Yeah, definitely.

Why is that? The main thing is like just the sales aspect. 'Cause, if you're a consultant, part of your results come from both your ability to sell and then your ability to be able to teach other people to sell, too. So that's been the number one key. With all my clients we do mock sales calls on almost every one of my coaching sessions so that they don't meet to get a million leads in order to start making money. And like that right there... If nothing else that right there is the main reason why you should buy a course like this is because of that sales training and learning how to have an end-to-end sales process is what it's called, that's key.

Got it, so you've benefited personally from my sales training and then also some of it you're kind of tailoring it to your own clients and helping them with their sales?

Correct?

That's awesome, that's awesome, that's awesome. Nice man, okay, cool. So who do you think especially I'm a good fit for?

I think you're a good fit for someone who's already has like maybe a couple of clients or is very inconsistent and that's I think who's the main one. So whether it's like someone who's been getting $10,000 and then it goes to zero or someone who's at $1,000 and just keeps going up and down.

Yes, I think you're right. I found like people that have had at least a couple of clients if a little bit of success they understand what it takes but they're just looking to get better at everything rather than like learn it for the first time those people end up doing really, really well really quickly if that makes sense.

Yeah.

Awesome.

It's that consistency, yeah.

Yeah, generally getting that consistency up through organic. Okay, so why should someone listening take action right now?

Because chances are if you're listening you probably don't know how to get to the next level. So, I mean, it's one of those things like you rather want to get to the next level or you just don't so it's kind of take the jump, trust that when you jump it's going to be the right thing and your money is going to come back to you. It's one of those... Just one of those things that's hard to explain.

Do you feel like... I mean, like working with me you feel like you've gotten a ton of support like I've ever dropped the ball or like not giving you access or attention that you need?

No, pretty great support. I mean like inside of the messaging that we can do and the calls that we do together, so that's been pretty great support.

Awesome, awesome. Well, cool man. Well, what is your number one piece of advice for coaches and consultant.

Get a good price, first of all.

They should charge enough.

Yeah, they should charge enough, that's key.

Okay, charge more.

And the second would be just know what to do when someone says no on the sales call or strategy session.

I love it. Those are both really good pieces of advice. Yes, and pricing is such a strong level on growing our business ease of growth, right? And people don't really look at it as a tool often enough. That makes a huge difference if you're pricing appropriately. That's great. Well, cool man. Well, this has been so great talking with you like what is next? what's on deck for the next 30 days, 60 days for you?

Right now I'm just trying to make sure my clients get really, really good results 'cause that's just gonna allow me to keep getting more and more sales. And then when I decide to start going into advertisements, which I'm thinking is after I save about $30,000 it'll just be easier and easier to close with ads.

Nice, nice, man. That's awesome. So we're just gonna get... Kind of continue to get more interviews, more results and then build up a nice war chest of cash and then we can go from there plan.

Yeah, I'm pretty close to $30,000 so it might be like month and a half. It's just crazy, yeah, 'cause like out of that $15,000 I collected $12,000. So it's pretty good, you know?

How does that feel?

It feels a lot different but now it's like different problems with like how do I disperse in a different bank accounts?

Is it funny how like we... As soon as you solve a problem we get so... Human beings getting really used to the new normal so quickly. You probably like really used to now $10,000 a month and you're like it just becomes normal. Does that make sense?

Kind of, I mean, oh, yeah, nother thing was we stopped thinking in terms of like money goals. It's not just output, it just more of I don't want to take that credit card out of the house and get robbed. Now it has an additional of $20,000 in it.

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, that's fair. Totally, man, totally. Yeah, so your price is getting at is like basically worrying less about like frenetically worrying about monthly income goals and just more focusing on quality activities, quality inputs into the system and that like the more you focus on the inputs the more you get the outputs if that makes sense.

Yeah.

Cool.

I think the next goal is maybe a 30 grand a month. That's one thing I think I can do. Probably not like next month, but pretty soon.

I think that's a great goal for you, man, I really do. I think you're right around the corner. It sounds like you've gotten all the mechanics down if you're doing $15,000 a month and so it's just gonna be literally like doing more of the same, but just doing... It can maintaining the quality bar and just having more calls of the same process. And I think once you have a couple more interviews those assets will definitely help in terms of that next phase, so good stuff.

Thanks a lot.

Well, thank you so much Bryce for your time, man. If people want to learn more about you and what you're doing online how can they find find more about you?

You can type in Bryce T. I don't know which profile you're gonna see that's what you're gonna go.

On Facebook or LinkedIn?

Yeah, you can just type in Bryce T. and you will find me right then and there.

Awesome, well, good stuff. Well, Bryce, thanks so much, man. I'm having a blast working with you and can't wait to see what you do in the next couple of months.

Excellent, yeah, I can't wait.

All right, man, bye.

All right, bye-bye.