Episode 29

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Published on:

1st Jun 2024

How can mastering storytelling become your ultimate sales superpower? Insights with Stephen Steers.

Episode 29  Frederick Dudek (Freddy D)

How can mastering storytelling become your ultimate sales superpower? Insights with Stephen Steers.

In this engaging episode of the Business Superfans Podcast, host Freddy D chats with Stephen Steers , the entrepreneurial spirit behind Context Selling. Stephen shares his evolution from childhood ice pop salesman to sales strategy guru, emphasizing the transformative power of storytelling in sales. They explore how personalized communication and a deep understanding of client needs can turn prospects into superfans. Despite a technical hiccup during a pivotal Bosch presentation, Stephen’s integrity and adaptability shine through, securing the deal. The duo reflects on sales as a journey of personal growth, resilience, and the joy of creating mutually satisfying partnerships. Tune in for a dose of inspiration and practical tips on becoming a sales superstar!

Discover more with our detailed show notes and exclusive content by visiting: https://bit.ly/3V9bkvc

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Mentioned in this episode:

Business Superfans Accelerator

Attention business owners, are you looking to transform your employees, customers, and business allies relationships and elevate your brand to new heights? Join the Business Superfans Accelerator today. Led by me, Freddie D, this dynamic mentorship program empowers you to turn your stakeholders into passionate superfans. The ultimate brand advocates who actively promote your business. Imagine a community of dedicated supporters promoting your products or services, not just through word of mouth, but as proud champions of your brand. With exclusive access to monthly Q& A sessions, brainstorming opportunities, and valuable resources like online courses, playbooks, and much more. This program is designed to provide you with the tools you need for sustainable, profitable growth. Don't wait. Every moment you delay allows your competition to get ahead. Sign up now at bizsuperfans. community and start unleashing the potential of your superfans today. Your brand's transformation awaits. Let's make business growth your reality.

Business Superfans Accelerator



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Transcript
Freddy D:

Hello, Stephen, welcome to the business superfans podcast.

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Glad you could join us.

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Stephen Steers: Thanks

for having me Freddy.

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It's great to be here with you.

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Freddy D: So tell me a little bit about,

your background and what led you into,

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the sales world that you're in right now,

where you've been consulting numerous

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companies all over the world and been

traveling to a multitude of countries.

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What got you there?

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Stephen Steers: How many of errors

that's what I like to say, I got some

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near death experiences in there I

had some really tough roles, but I'd

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say first and foremost, I suppose

we should start at the beginning.

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The first thing I ever

sold was ice pops as a kid.

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So if you ever know those Costco.

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Bulk hundred ice pops.

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I got those in high school

for three or 4 a pack.

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I would freeze them in my fridge

cause I was allowed to have one and I

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would sell them for a quarter a pop.

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So I'd profit like 10, 12 bucks on a pack.

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And that was how I would have

my candy money or whatever seed

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money for little silly projects

that led me to go into yard sales.

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Where I would buy things that I

thought were cool and interesting.

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And then I'd post them on Craigslist

because Crescent's was coming up.

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And that's how I started to pay off.

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My student loans was with buying and

selling things on Craigslist when

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there weren't other jobs to have.

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So fast forward a couple of

years here, graduated college.

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I got into the construction business

was the first serious, actual

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real quote unquote job I had.

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And I was In field project manager.

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And so my job was half to go on

site and half to be in the office

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and make reports for my boss.

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And so one day I was at the

Baccarat hotel and suites on sixth

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Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

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And the building was basically finished.

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So nobody there was wearing

much construction gear.

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We're just walking and doing

reports and doing punch list stuff.

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The project's basically over.

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People have moved into their

30 and 50 million apartments.

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So I walked the entire building from the

ceiling, from like the rooftop, all the

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way down to the construction entrance

took me about three hours with my foreman.

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And we get to the construction entrance,

which is a triple height floor and

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he's shown me pictures on his phone.

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We're having a laugh.

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And then he taps me on the shoulder

and I take one step forward towards

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the door and a cement block falls

directly where I was standing.

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Literally missed it by that much.

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Freddy D: Holy coly.

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Stephen Steers: Crazy situation,

and I remember staring down at this

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block and the foreman says to me, not

everybody gets a chance like that.

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You're here for something.

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And I thought about that

very deeply in that moment.

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And I said, Hey man,

I can't come to lunch.

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I'll catch you later.

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And I just went on the two

hour walk around New York on

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my way back to the office.

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And I, and it came to the conclusion.

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I was like I'm going to die one day.

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If I'm going to die, I might as well

die doing the thing that I want to do.

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Or, at least be on the path to that.

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And I'd always wanted to be

an entrepreneur and podcasts

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were very new at the time.

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So I was listening to like smart,

passive income podcast and any business

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thing that I could remotely find,

it was just in my head and I was

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like I want to be an entrepreneur,

but I don't know what skill I have.

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And when I thought about it and sat down

and asked my friends and everybody else,

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you're like you're great with people.

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Maybe you should do sales.

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And so that's the first spark in my head.

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I was like I do selling

things, making money's cool.

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Maybe I should get into sales.

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So I've launched a campaign of going

to four to five events at night.

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I'm sorry, a week part of me in New York

that were startup or whatever related.

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And in about three months,

I had an offer to a startup.

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And I got a job as an SDR and then

I started by code calling and cold

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emailing journey with a lot of

errors and a lot of mistakes, but

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a lot of learnings and eventually

got promoted into an AE position.

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That company started to not do super well.

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So they let go of a lot of salespeople

started at another company.

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My first remote position.

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And then that company went belly up in a

couple of months because they built their

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platform on Facebook and Facebook changed

the algorithm as in diversify friends,

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that's a good thing for you to do.

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But luckily as it happened, when

I was working there running sales,

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they'd hired a consultant, a super

experienced consultant to work with

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me as we built out our B2B process.

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And I got along very well with this guy.

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He was massively helpful, and I let

him know that I got the ax from the

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place, sent him a thank you email.

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And he got back to me a few days later and

he said, Hey, I'm sorry to hear that, but

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maybe we should hop on a call and I can

help you figure out what's next for you.

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And so a half an hour call

turned into a three hour call.

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And at the end, he said, Hey, I have a

job for someone like you, if you want it.

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And that's how I got into consulting.

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I worked with him for a number of

years, cut my teeth and learned a lot.

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Okay.

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And then eventually I was ready to

scratch the proper itch and do what

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I'd set out at the beginning and start

my own thing, which is where I am now.

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Freddy D: And what is your own thing now?

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Stephen Steers: Yeah.

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I run a small boutique consultancy

called Context Selling,

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where we review phone calls.

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We review B2B phone calls.

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So the nexus here is The phone

call is the lobby to your business.

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If you want to build super fans,

they got to have a great experience

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with you from the very get go.

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And if they're coming to speak with

someone from your team, and you

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don't have that figured out the

right way, they're not going to

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be able to tell anybody about you.

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And they're not going to want

to because the experience is

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going to leave them wanting.

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So what we do is we review phone

calls with a 30 point rubric.

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That's everything that should

be in a good discovery call.

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Including stories, what stories you can

tell, where you should put the stories.

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And then I create those calls and then

coach reps or teams on the findings

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from those calls with the goal of

making your next call your best call.

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So I wrote a book called Superpower

Storytelling that informs a lot of

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the ways that I teach folks because

stories sell and they close the sale,

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but they never close the conversation.

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And if you want to build super fans,

you got to keep the conversation moving.

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Freddy D: Absolutely.

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Stephen Steers: What's the name of

that book and where can people find it?

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It's called Superpower Storytelling, a

tactical guide to telling the stories

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you need to lead, sell, and inspire.

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And you can get it on my

website at stephensteers.

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com or on Amazon, if you are so inclined.

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Freddy D: Excellent.

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So tell us a little bit of a

story of how your method has

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transformed some companies.

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Stephen Steers: Yeah, great question.

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So I can speak to two that

really make me extremely excited.

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There was a company in the podcasting

space, and I came over there to

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help them build out their sales.

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And so rewrote their entire series of

sales scripts, redefined their stories,

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trained our team on it, and we were

able to triple revenue in 12 months.

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Wow.

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So that's super exciting.

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And it feels really nice.

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There's another company in the

consulting space that works in

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the medical side of consulting.

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And by adjusting two or three questions

inside of their scripts and helping them

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always make sure to book the next meeting

on the call, we increased their close

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rates by 25 percent in three months.

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So those are two I'm really excited about.

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Freddy D: So, let's talk more about

the power of storytelling and how

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that really transforms the whole

conversation and creates superfans

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that in turn attracts more of the same.

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Stephen Steers: Absolutely.

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There's a stat I researched

when I was writing the book.

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And it says that 65 percent of information

is retained when shared in story form.

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So if you think about this, you can tell

people all the stuff that your company

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does, but if you can tell them a story

about another founder or another company

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that came to you, What that founders name

is, what their business was like when they

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came to you and the vectors that you've

been able to influence and change through

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methodologies and the results you got

them to, that's something I could take

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to my team, that's something I could take

to somebody else that I meet at a meetup

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or somebody in one of my many groups and

say, Hey, yeah, they worked with John over

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at lagavulin construction company, and

when we started working with John's team

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was flatlining, but what we were able to

do was help them understand for specific

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places that they were able to grow in.

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We doubled down, triple down, and we

doubled the goal that we had because

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we were super stringent about the

criteria where they weren't previously.

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And so now.

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They've grown their team.

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They've grown their

influence in the marketplace.

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And they're one of the best

known people in the business.

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Freddy D: Excellent.

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That's just amazing because when you

think about it, I look back in my sales

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career and share stories about other

manufacturing companies cause I was

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selling manufacturing software and how

the technology that I was marketing

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had transformed those companies.

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So that intrigued, especially the

executive management team, cause we were

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talking not about features and functions.

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We were talking about business growth

strategies, in a manufacturing world

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where I was at, which was a tool and

die, scrapping metal cost them money.

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Stephen Steers: Yeah.

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Freddy D: So we talked about, that

business part of the equation, but

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it was all about stories of how, this

company had those issues, they bought our

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technology and those issues went away.

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Stephen Steers: Exactly.

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And I think the other reason that

storytelling is super important is

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There's a quote I really like about it.

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It's by a guy named Horace and it

says, you need change only the name

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and you are the subject of the story.

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So if you're talking about great

results for a company in a similar

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industry, manufacturing, tool and

dye, et cetera, if you've gotten

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great results for these folks.

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I can see myself as

getting to those as well.

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And so it's a social proof

point because it's not just you

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saying, Hey, I'm great at my job.

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Buy my services.

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I'm great at my job.

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It's look what we did for John and

Sally and their family business.

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It creates a different emotional

space around the issues.

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And then furthermore, most importantly,

is stories enable you to sell an

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outcome, which is what people want

to buy from you in the first place.

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I don't care about the widget.

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I don't care about what language

your platform is coded in.

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At least not yet.

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I want to know that you've thought about

me and what you can help me to achieve.

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And I think a story is the easiest

way to get people to understand that.

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Freddy D: Yeah, you bring me a point

that was one of my techniques was

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with the owners of the company,

especially in a tool and dye shops.

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That was my world that I was

in for a decade and change.

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I didn't get into the features, it

spins this way, it turns that way and

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it's blue or it's green or the button,

the menu button isn't the right size

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or whatever, got out of all that stuff.

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We focused on, okay, Stephen, where do you

want to be in three years in the company?

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What's your goal for the company?

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What are the challenges

to get you to the goal?

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And the other part that I would

talk about is, okay, when do

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you want to be profitable with

this investment in technology?

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Because it's not about when

am I going to get installed?

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It's when do you want

to make money with it?

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So it'd be you and I on a marker

board, laying out all the steps that

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need to take place to achieve the

profitability and the goals you want.

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We worked it backwards, because you

got to run two systems simultaneously

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the old way, the new way.

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Okay.

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You can't just shut it off, you

got business to do, then you've got

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to get productivity and everything

else steps in the way and the people

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got to be trained and et cetera.

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And we would lay all that out and

be like Stephen, to meet your goal,

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can you give me that PO today?

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Stephen Steers: It's your goal.

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Yeah.

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Freddy D: You'd be surprised how

many deals closed that way because

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I emotionally, through the story,

in a sense, laid out the plan.

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You agreed, you put it together,

you gave me the timelines.

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So it's, your story.

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I'm just going to have you read it.

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Stephen Steers: Yeah.

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Freddy D: That's it.

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Stephen Steers: Do you know

the sales trainer, Tom Hopkins?

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Freddy D: Yes.

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I've met him.

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I've met him a couple of times.

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Actually funny story since we're

talking about stories I got

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one of his books and I lost it.

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So I sent him a letter.

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saying I was at this event that

he was at and I had gotten one

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of his books and I lost the book.

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He sent me a free one, mailed me a

free one with his signature on it.

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I still have it, and it was

like, that's a cool dude.

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Stephen Steers: I love that guy and

I think one thing I've been doing

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with my sales journey is just going

back, even closer to source material.

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Freddy D: Yep.

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Stephen Steers: I follow a guy

named Patrick BeDavid, he says

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he learned from Tom Hopkins.

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So I never heard this guy.

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Freddy D: I know patrick.

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Stephen Steers: So I was like,

Oh who's this Tom Hopkins guy.

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I look up Tom Hopkins.

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I read a couple of his books.

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He mentions like Dick Gardner and

P E Can't remember the other guy's

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name right now, but he mentioned

all these other folks and I go

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and get their books and I read.

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And I think what's really important

about that for me is once you can find

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those threads before there were gurus.

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But before this was a big

thing, it was like super niche.

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It was like, these guys were out here

testing all of these phrases, these

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words, these scripts, and the building,

these stories, and that just makes

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the methodology that much stickier.

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So I love that.

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But I mentioned Tom Hopkins specifically

on your point there, because.

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He says, if the prospect

says it, it's true.

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So everything that you've worked

with them on the board, it's

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like, here's what you said.

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And what I love about that

is it unlocks urgency.

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And I think where a lot of folks get

it wrong in sales is they want to

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establish urgency, which you can't,

they have to feel it themselves.

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And you have to be able to come up

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Freddy D: with that

whole mindset themselves.

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Stephen Steers: Correct.

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Freddy D: And that can be

buying, not you selling.

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Stephen Steers: Exactly.

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So sales is really about opening

doors and it's asking the right

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questions that create the space

for you to help them build a story.

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So why do you tell a story?

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The whole point of telling a

story is to better help your

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prospect tell their own story.

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And if you're doing that the right way,

like you do with outlining it on the

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board, they're going to not be able to

see it any other way, except, you know

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what, I got to do something about this.

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And that way you are a partner with a

long term vision for their business and

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that's how they become a superfan because

you've asked them the right questions.

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Freddy D: I would go one other

step is ,they would have the guys

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from the shop floor come in, they

would have management come in.

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I made sure I got everybody's name.

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Then I sent them all a thank you letter

through the mail that said, okay,

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Stephen, thank you for your time.

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I appreciate your input

in today's meeting.

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Hope you got a lot out of it, et cetera.

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We look forward to working with

your company, blah, blah, blah,

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but everybody got a letter tweaked

a little bit for each individual.

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We would win the sale and I would ask

what was the decision that helped,

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finalize everything and go with us.

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The answer always was we felt

after the sale you would provide

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us with the best support.

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Stephen Steers: Yes.

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Freddy D: That was really the seed

was planted with the thank you because

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Johnny in a shop floor, nobody ever

acknowledges Johnny, and for him to get

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a letter that says, thank you so much

for your time and participation in our

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meet, that when they had a meeting to

discuss which vendor they were going

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with , he'd say, I like these guys.

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Stephen Steers: That's how

I got my first sales job.

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I interviewed.

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I sent every single person I talked

to a personalized handwritten

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thank you note in the mail with

a piece of candy or something.

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And then I'm remembering one of the

larger software deals I sold with Gartner.

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I'll give you the quick story on that one.

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That one's a fun one.

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So when I was working at the software

company, I was on the phone with Gartner

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and I started that deal when I was in SDR.

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So I met them at an event, I

qualified them, they went dead.

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I got promoted in that time.

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And the whole sales cycle took 524 days

from qualified opportunity to close.

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So it was a slog, right?

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My first six figure deal for business

lines of Gartner, which felt great when

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it closed, but it was a slog on the

way, but we get back into conversations

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after maybe a year of me nurturing them.

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And there are big companies,

so they move really slow.

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And they said, Hey we want

to test this software out.

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Can you give us a license

for a month to play with?

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So I go to my manager and I was

like, Hey, they're looking for this.

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We might lose the deal if they can't

do this because it's competitive.

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And he's we can't do that.

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You got to find another way.

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So thought about it.

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And I was like, Hey, I'll be

down in DC on such and such date.

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If you guys want, I can come in and

bring anybody you wanted to the meeting.

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And we could play around

with the platform.

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You can ask me all the questions you want.

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That'll be better than you just

figuring it out on your own.

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And they're like, yeah, come do that.

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So booked a two hour, three

hour meeting with them.

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They invited maybe like 30, 40 people.

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And I'm also a scrum master.

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So I'm super curious

about how you build tech.

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So I would always join the early

morning scrums with the tech team.

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I'd come in early and just sit

with them because I want to know

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about how this product's built.

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If I'm selling it, I love to be able

to say, actually, no, that's not a

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feature on our roadmap because of X,

Y, and Z, or that's going to take this.

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And those guys appreciated it.

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So I made friends with

a guy named Dimitri and.

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He was the sales engineer.

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So he would assist on sales

if we needed certain things.

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So I said, Dimitri, I'm going

down for this big meeting.

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Can you be available for

30 minutes after this time?

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And he's yep, I got you, Steven.

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No problem.

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So we go through the meeting.

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And I make sure to mention, I said,

Hey if there's some technology

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related questions I can't answer,

I have Dimitri standing by.

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From a five to five 30 when we'll

call him with any questions.

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I can't answer, go through.

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There's only two questions.

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:

I can't answer, call up Dimitri at

five picks up on the second ring.

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Hey, what's up, Steven?

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:

How you doing?

361

:

And I said, Hey, I'm here

with X, Y, Z, his name.

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They have a couple of questions for you.

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:

They run through Dimitri

answers them flawlessly.

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:

We'll call him.

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We hang up with Dimitri and then it's

me and my main contact and I said,

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:

Hey, what did you, how did it go today?

367

:

What did you think?

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:

Any feedback?

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:

He's Oh, I think very good.

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:

We're going to have

some things to consider.

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:

We're going to get back to you and stuff.

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:

I was like, great.

373

:

That makes sense and I said,

just to clarify, this is a

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:

competitive situation, right?

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:

You're looking at our competitors,

our top two or three, and

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:

they're like, yep, absolutely.

377

:

We are.

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:

And I said, Hey, at the end of the

day, whoever you choose, they're

379

:

going to have a great product

that's going to serve your needs.

380

:

But we're going to come down and

see ya and Dimitri is available

381

:

on the line if you have questions.

382

:

And I saw his eyes flicker and

I was like, I know I got it.

383

:

And of course I won the deal.

384

:

It came in Christmas Eve that year,

which was a fun one, but I'd certainly

385

:

echo with you that personal touch, that

taking the time, that showing who you

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:

are before there's a dollar exchanged

is the thing that most salespeople,

387

:

most organizations don't bother doing.

388

:

And so I think it's actually

pretty easy to build those fans.

389

:

If you just think about the

other person a little bit more.

390

:

Freddy D: You remind me of a similar kind

of a story, but a little bit different.

391

:

Again, selling in the manufacturing

space, I had a reseller in Germany and we

392

:

did a presentation to a Bosch location.

393

:

They really liked the technology.

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:

The tagline I came up with was machining

intelligence and, decades later, now

395

:

we've got artificial intelligence,

but it was a relational database to

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:

add some smarts based upon geometric

shapes it would automatically create

397

:

toolpaths and stuff like that.

398

:

So it was state of the art stuff

and this division of Bosch was

399

:

interested and they liked it but they

didn't have the authority to buy it.

400

:

It had to be done by corporate.

401

:

So I flew back to the United

States, my reseller set up

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:

an appointment at corporate.

403

:

So now I'm flying back out and this is

only a 10, 000 sale cause they're only

404

:

going to buy one license initially.

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:

We're in corporate and we're

doing the demo and the software

406

:

crashes and, how fun that is.

407

:

So it came up to lunchtime

and they invited us to lunch.

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:

I says, no, I was in charge of

global sales at the time and I

409

:

said we're going to talk our tech

team and find out what's going on.

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:

We call and we find out

it's a repeatable bug.

411

:

During lunchtime we could

repeat it multiple times.

412

:

Once everyone returned from lunch

I said, first off, we found a

413

:

softer bug and we can repeat it.

414

:

We showed the bug and the softer crashes.

415

:

Came clean , we have an issue.

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:

We identified it, we'll take care of it.

417

:

But I also noticed that throughout

the whole presentation, because

418

:

this is brand new technology, some

artificial intelligence in the

419

:

machining, some of the eyes were

glassed over, because they didn't

420

:

understand it, we were going too fast.

421

:

So I says, you know what, we're going

to restart this whole presentation

422

:

all over and go step by step and

make sure that you understand it.

423

:

That whole afternoon, there was a

transformation, because they were more

424

:

interested now, because one, we came

clean, who usually comes clean saying

425

:

that we have a software bug, usually

you try to hide it, we admitted it,

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:

hey, it's software, there's going to be

some challenges, and we went through,

427

:

and all of a sudden the dynamics of the

room changed because, I acknowledged

428

:

and recognized that they were being

glossed over and they were not paying

429

:

attention anymore because they weren't

understanding what was going on.

430

:

The fact that I recognized it and

started the whole thing over by the

431

:

end of the day, everybody was happy.

432

:

They were thanking us, smiles

and conversation and we got

433

:

the order a few weeks later.

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:

I remember the owner of the

company tells me , you've spent

435

:

more money than we made on this.

436

:

I replied you don't

understand the big picture.

437

:

We got Bosch.

438

:

Stephen Steers: Yeah.

439

:

We're in.

440

:

Freddy D: Yeah.

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:

Now we can go market to all

the suppliers of Bosch and say,

442

:

Bosch is using this technology.

443

:

Maybe you guys should look at it.

444

:

That's exactly what happened.

445

:

Stephen Steers: Exactly what happened.

446

:

Yeah.

447

:

I can't see the forest for

the trees a lot of people.

448

:

That's great.

449

:

Congratulations on that, man.

450

:

The principles always apply, right?

451

:

Like the same there's a quote I love.

452

:

It says we need to be reminded

more than we need to be taught.

453

:

I think that's part and parlance why

sales training is so important because a

454

:

lot of people just tend to forget small

things, but also the stuff that worked in

455

:

the old school way with being in a room

with people being a person of integrity.

456

:

Walking people through things, admitting

your mistakes and sharing that value.

457

:

That's the game.

458

:

That is the entire game of sales.

459

:

And I think a lot of people

forget it's still the same.

460

:

It hasn't changed.

461

:

Has not changed.

462

:

Freddy D: Yeah.

463

:

Stephen Steers: People solving

humans solving human problems

464

:

in a business context.

465

:

It hasn't changed.

466

:

Freddy D: Nope.

467

:

I would always, when we would do a

presentation, I would go around the room

468

:

before we even started and say, Stephen,

what's your objective on today's meeting?

469

:

What are you looking to get out of it?

470

:

And then you circle back and

says, okay, did we address

471

:

what you're looking out of it?

472

:

So it's either a yes or no and if

it's a no, you go back and clarify

473

:

whatever, till it becomes a yes.

474

:

. But if it's a yes, then

that's a first by sign too.

475

:

Stephen Steers: Yes.

476

:

Oh, I love it, man.

477

:

When it works and the strategies are

aligned, man it's a beautiful blast.

478

:

It's such a blast

479

:

Freddy D: I try not to smile sometimes

in those events because I know

480

:

what's happening, and you just got to

481

:

Stephen Steers: A blue steel face,

482

:

Freddy D: Yes . It's just a

domino effect, and yeah it's fun.

483

:

I love it.

484

:

Stephen Steers: What is your

favorite part about sales?

485

:

Freddy D: My favorite part about sales.

486

:

It's an excellent question is when

everybody's happy that they made the

487

:

right decision, when they're excited

that they bought it and they're

488

:

excited to utilize the service.

489

:

So as an example, I landed a

very large government agency.

490

:

The story was they wanted a partner

that could deliver, that would

491

:

be there if they had any issues.

492

:

We've been there whenever

they've had any issues which is

493

:

infrequent and they're my superfan.

494

:

Usually we have a monthly meeting and

we spend maybe five minutes on business

495

:

and 15 minutes on personal stuff.

496

:

Stephen Steers: Real friends.

497

:

Yeah.

498

:

What about you?

499

:

Stephen Steers: There's a couple of

things, but I think, I echo what you

500

:

said, but I think it's the person you

have to become when you're selling

501

:

and you're selling with integrity.

502

:

I think that's it's knowing

what tasks you need to complete.

503

:

It's following up with people and

it's just being the person that

504

:

is resilient when things go wrong

and knowing how to handle it.

505

:

And I think like just being resourceful,

I think that sales is one of the only

506

:

things that I don't want to say forces

is the right word, but I'm going to say

507

:

forces you to have to be resourceful

with the way you interact with people,

508

:

the way you garner resources, how you

make your arguments for certain things

509

:

and how you help people see stuff.

510

:

I think it incorporates

every part of your brain.

511

:

And that's my favorite part about it.

512

:

Freddy D: I agree because like my story

with Bosch, I had to pivot and make

513

:

some adjustments, in a small window

of time, lunchtime, and that was it.

514

:

I had to regroup and turn this

thing around because it was

515

:

going south, it was tanking.

516

:

So it's also being observant and

watching body language, watching how

517

:

people are reacting to what's going on.

518

:

You've got to be on game.

519

:

Stephen Steers: You have to be the person

the room needs and be able to move the

520

:

room if you need to move the room, and

yeah, it's just, there's nothing like it.

521

:

I don't think there's any

profession that requires that much

522

:

of people to be on, that's fun.

523

:

Freddy D: I'd like to have another

show to really deep dive into phone

524

:

conversations, because that's your

specialty which can be very beneficial

525

:

to our audience, as people overlook

the importance of phone sales, and you

526

:

have to really establish a relationship

with somebody that you can't see.

527

:

Stephen Steers: Yes.

528

:

Freddy D: It's creating a superfan

out of that person over the

529

:

phone, and that takes an art.

530

:

Stephen Steers: It is.

531

:

But I'd say it's the biggest

thing you can do there is just

532

:

do your research on people before

you get on the phone with them.

533

:

And that's something I don't see

people do enough of spend 10 minutes.

534

:

Study their company, study the person's

LinkedIn profile, see what they're about,

535

:

be able to talk to them and come with a

potential solution for them before they

536

:

even get on the phone to show you're

like, Hey, it looks like you're doing

537

:

X folks that typically do X who we

work with are usually experiencing Z.

538

:

Is that consistent with you?

539

:

Yes.

540

:

I have some ideas, right?

541

:

Okay.

542

:

Just do your job

543

:

Freddy D: And learn personality types.

544

:

That's another one that we can

have a long conversation on because

545

:

you, you take a soft personality

versus a driver personality.

546

:

Someone that makes things

happen, they're oil and water.

547

:

Stephen Steers: Do you prefer the Brian

Tracy or are you doing Myers Briggs?

548

:

What personality tests do you like?

549

:

Freddy D: I don't remember the name

of it, but it was basically, there

550

:

was four quadrants and there was four

quadrants within those four quadrants.

551

:

So you had driver, expressive,

amiable, and analytical, and

552

:

then you get the same squares.

553

:

into each group.

554

:

Because everybody has a secondary

aspect, and this is way back when

555

:

they first started doing that stuff.

556

:

And it's a lot of fun because

if personality types and you can

557

:

tweak yourself and share the story

to their tonality that they need

558

:

you shortcut the whole process.

559

:

Stephen Steers: Yes.

560

:

Yes.

561

:

It's a beautiful game.

562

:

It's a beautiful science.

563

:

Freddy D: All right, Stephen, so

how can people get ahold of you?

564

:

Stephen Steers: I'm easy to find.

565

:

I'm on all your social medias at

Stephen with a p h s t e p h e

566

:

n steers s t e r s underscore.

567

:

I would love to say hi

to you and he meet you.

568

:

LinkedIn is probably where

you'll find me the most.

569

:

If you like any resources about

storytelling, about call scripts

570

:

Or if you even want me to review

one of your calls, you can find

571

:

information on that at stephensteers.

572

:

com slash podcast, where I'll have every

bit of information for you there and

573

:

plenty of things to download that you

can use and put in your business today.

574

:

Freddy D: Excellent.

575

:

Stephen, it was a pleasure having

you on a business super fan podcast.

576

:

Great conversation.

577

:

And to all our listeners,

thank you much for listening.

578

:

And let's go out there and

become superfan superstars.

579

:

Stephen Steers: Thank you for having me.

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About the Podcast

Business Superfans Podcast
We're on a mission to turn employees, customers, and business partners into superfans! Imagine everyone rallying behind your brand, turbocharging sales, and driving our success into the future!
Welcome to the Business Superfans Podcast, where your path to building a dedicated community of superfans begins. Hosted by Frederick Dudek, also known as Freddy D, an international sales and marketing leader with over 30 years of experience selling to major organizations like Bosch, Ingersoll Rand, Banner Health, the State of Arizona, and many others. This podcast is your go-to resource for transforming your business into a powerhouse of loyalty, and advocacy, collectively accelerating profitable and sustainable success.

What sets the Business Superfans Podcast apart? We don’t just discuss enhancing customer (CX) and employee experiences (EX); we delve into the often-overlooked realm of business allies—complementary businesses, suppliers, and distributors. We refer to this experience as the Stakeholder Experience (SX). This podcast encompasses the entire business ecosystem, offering a comprehensive synergistic approach to creating superfans across all your stakeholder groups.

Each episode unveils insider strategies, cutting-edge tools, and real-world examples from various interviewees sharing their stories. These insights aim to boost your brand's visibility and cultivate a dedicated community of superfans ready to advocate for your mission.

We’ll explore the psychology of brand loyalty, uncovering the factors that drive individuals to become superfans and how you can harness this influence to build a powerful advocacy force. Whether you’re a startup aiming to establish your presence or an established business looking to revitalize your brand, the Business Superfans Podcast delivers actionable insights and inspiration to help you achieve consistent results cost-effectively.

So, why wait? Tune in to the Business Superfans Podcast and become the brand that everyone is talking about—among competitors, customers, and business allies alike. Become part of the movement and discover the key to creating superfans who will elevate your business to unprecedented levels.
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About your host

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Frederick Dudek

Frederick Dudek, author of the book "Creating Business Superfans," and host of the Business Superfans Podcast. He is an accomplished sales and marketing executive with over 30 years of experience in achieving remarkable sales performance results in global business markets. With a successful track record in the software-as-a-service industry and others. Frederick brings expertise and insight to help businesses thrive., he shares invaluable knowledge and strategies to create brand advocates, which he calls business superfans, who propel organizations toward long-term success.


Born in rural France, Frederick spent summers on his grandfather’s vineyard in France, where he developed a love for French wine. As a youth, he showed a strong aptitude for engineering and competed in drafting and design competitions. After winning numerous engineering awards, he became a draftsman working on numerous automotive projects. He was selected to design the spot weld guns for the 1982 Ford Escort car. That led to Frederick joining the emerging computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) industry, in which he quickly climbed the ranks.

While working for a CAD/CAM company as an application engineer, an opportunity presented itself that enabled Frederick to transition into sales. It was the right decision, and he never looked back. In the thirty-plus years Frederick has been selling, he has earned a reputation as the go-to guy for small companies that want to expand their business domestically or internationally. This role has allowed him to travel to over thirty countries and counting. When abroad, Frederick’s favorite pastime is to go exploring for hours, not to mention enjoying some of the local cuisine and fine wines.

Frederick is a former runner and athlete. Today, you can find him hiking various trails with his significant other, Kiley Kaplan. When not writing, selling, speaking, or exploring, he is cooking or building things. The next thing on Frederick’s bucket list is learning to sail and to continue the exploration of countries and their unique cultures.