The New Sales Mindset (Author Interview)

  


https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1778168701

The New Sales Mindset looks like a fantastic book. Can you tell us a little about it?

Sure, I wanted my first book to be about building a solid foundation for success in sales. It was important for me to destroy outdated myths and misconceptions about the sales profession as a whole. I've noticed over my career that even the best salespeople and leaders often misinterpret the essential elements that make a great salesperson. The best in the business and the most influential all share certain unexpected qualities.

Often when someone is exceptional in sales, people believe they were born with this "natural talent" —when in fact, it's an acquired skill that has more to do with mindset than anything else. You don't need to be an extroverted, charismatic, "Born with it" closer to be a success. Like anyone else who has succeeded in their field, you need to have the right mindset.

I've seen the same thing happen over and over again. New salespeople come into the business with misguided concepts of what a salesperson is. Veteran salespeople get stuck in a rut and are unsure how to get out.

They think they're doing everything right—but when they look at their numbers, it's obvious something's not working. They try to learn tips and tricks to improve themselves, but it just doesn't seem to help.

There is a much deeper issue at play than just a simple lack of knowledge or skill. It is something more fundamental: a mindset problem.

Before you learn any more "tips or tricks," you need to adjust your mindset.

 

How long did it take you to write The New Sales Mindset?

I wrote The New Sales Mindset over the course of three years.

I have to admit that it felt like it took me even longer than that. Writing a book is an entirely different experience than anything I've ever done. It was a learning process for me. I've written quite a bit before, but there's something different about writing a book that I didn't expect. At first, I struggled with getting the text to flow from one topic to another. I had to relearn how to write long form. I spent most of that time editing and rewriting—and I'm glad I did! It's been an amazing experience and taught me a lot about myself as a writer.

 

What inspired the idea for your book?

I have enjoyed coaching individuals and teams for over 20 years. Helping expand their capabilities and being a part of their growing success inspires me every day. Writing this book is my first endeavour to scale what I have learned to a wider audience.

 

How did you come up with the title for your book?

When I started thinking about the book's title, I had a few ideas about what I wanted to cover. The original concept for the book was "Sales Fundamentals," which stayed as a placeholder at the top of the Word document for quite some time. I shuffled through a few names, but between the title and the sub-title, I knew three things were non-negotiable: Mindset, authenticity and ethics.

These three things help you stand out as a salesperson, and they're incredibly important to me personally. So, I knew that if I could somehow encapsulate those elements on the book's cover, it would be perfect.

That's how "The New Sales Mindset – Building an unshakable foundation of authenticity and ethics" was born!

 

What will readers get out of your book?

I wanted readers to learn how to have an entrepreneur's growth mindset with a professional athlete's discipline. What I hope readers get out of this book is a clear path to success on their terms—a path built on authenticity and forged with solid ethics.

You can master the customer experience and grow your business faster than you thought. And all it takes is a little bit of grit, determination, and a growth mindset.

In The New Sales Mindset, I write about how to use these three things to build a thriving career capable of attracting more customers than you ever thought possible—and then turning those customers into lifelong fans who will refer their friends to you for years to come.

You'll learn about the importance of having an authentic personal brand, how to develop a strong customer service ethos that resonates with your audience, and how to create a simple system for tracking your progress to ensure you're always moving forward in the right direction. You'll also get concrete examples of what works—and what doesn't—so you can see exactly how other entrepreneurs have achieved similar results with their businesses.

This book is full of actionable advice and practical tools that are easy enough for anyone with basic reading skills to follow along with but detailed enough that they'll help you reach new levels of success.


Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing The New Sales Mindset?

Writing this book was a learning experience for me. I've always been a writer, but I found that writing an entire book was different from churning out short content pieces. There were a few times that left me feeling like I had bitten off more than I could chew.

I started with taking articles I had worked on over the last twenty years and repurposing the content. I kept trying to Frankenstein these pieces of content into one cohesive, flowing book, but it wasn't that easy. Although there may be remanence of these short content pieces, I learned that it is faster and better to start fresh.

 

Can you tell us a little about your background?

Sure, I grew up in a small town Port Elgin, Ontario. My parents were both leaders in their own right. My father was a trainer at a nuclear power plant, a math and science genius. My mother was a hair stylist, charismatic and outgoing with the gift of gab. They both taught me different skills and helped form my foundation.

In my early years, I was unfocused and didn't perform well in school. After high school, without a clear direction to go, I moved around quite a bit. I moved from city to city and job to job. I found my way into quite a few entry-level sales positions to pay the bills. I finally landed in London, Ontario, where I found purpose and meaning. It was here where I built my family and formed my entrepreneurial spirit.

For a short time, I worked as a salesperson for an owner-operated web design studio. It was a very small operation. I mean, we worked out of a small room in an apartment and used a home phone number as our business line. I noticed pretty quickly that I could emulate this model myself. I started working out of my own apartment selling marketing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. I grew the company to have a few employees and worked on some great projects that I am really proud of. I transitioned out of that business into a franchise business with my wife. At the same time, I began working in the automotive sector in sales management and operations.

Sales and leadership coaching has always been my passion. I am excited to see where it takes me for the balance of my career. 

 

Where can readers find out more about your work?

The best place to start would be https://marcbaily.com. I have links to all my projects, including links to purchase the book. If you want to go right amazon, the link is https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1778168701

 

 

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