#46 | Building A Sales Pipeline With Steve Nudelberg

This week’s CWK guest Steve Nudelberg aka, ‘The King of Sales’, has been helping companies grow for over 20 years. The author, podcast host, “principal thinker”, and father shared the importance of serving over selling, giving with intention, and running a family business.

In our conversation we find out more about this fellow University of Florida alum’s approach to growth in work and life and why his clients rave about it.

Sales = To Serve (05:42)

I believe every one of us is in sales. Whether we know it or not, we’re selling ourselves at work for a promotion, and in our personal life for a date, etc. So why are we so often intimidated by the process? Steve says it’s because we’ve forgotten the importance of building relationships & serving others first.

“’Sales’ comes from a Scandinavian word that means ‘to serve’. If you build a tribe of people who know, like, and trust you, the right ones will come to do business with you. If you get good at building relationships, especially in today’s digital age, the world is your oyster,” he says.

Managing Your Expectations (09:57)

Even with the world as our oyster we should manage our expectations of what we can accomplish in this business ‘riddled with rejection’. Steve says just like a baseball player, you’re not going to get a hit every time. You’re not going to be a match for everybody and that’s ok.

To keep him consistent – and sane haha – after facing rejection, Steve created processes. “People expect there to be a lot of questions and theories in success but doing simple things consistently will take you far. That’s how I built my business.”

Three Things You’d Tell Your 20-Year Old Self (15:25)

In his book ‘Confessions of a Salesman’, Steve shares 27 of consistent practices you can do to excel. I was curious to know which of those he’d tell his younger self and the young people he meets to start today.

Here’s what he shared:

1. Do what you love, and the money will follow

2. Don’t feel pressured to follow a make believe ‘timeline’ for your life and don’t be afraid to change courses when you want to

3. Who you are matters much more than what you do

Daily Ah-Ha Moments (20:01)

If you’ve been joining CWK for any length of time you’ve heard me stress the importance of learning. I was excited to hear Steve felt the same way and looks forward to daily ‘Ah-Ha moments.’ For him, inspiration comes from movies, blogs, and everything in between, but getting the most out of what you’ve learned means first applying it and second sharing it with others.

Family In Business (30:23)

Steve talks a lot about his sons joining his business. Working with family is something I’m always fascinated by, so I had to know more about the dynamic!

“I worked with my grandfather and father, now my sons work with me. We don’t treat it as a ‘family business’ we treat it as a business period. It takes a lot of communication and consistency,” he shared.

Interested in starting or joining a family business yourself?

Consider applying Steve’s best practices:

–  Live your business, don’t just work it

–  Build a culture that is fun but also values performance

–  Don’t take shortcuts, push each other to be better at all times

–  Have clearly defined expectations, communication, and goals

Upfront Contracts (32:00)

Clear expectations, communication, and goals is what’s called an upfront contract.

Most people think the contract happens after the sale but according to Steve it happens before, and he’s right! Sharing the exact parameters of what to expect ahead of a deal is always the best approach!

The ROI of Giving (41:20)

Steve is a witness that giving with intention and not an agenda can lead to exposure beyond your reach. At the start of his career he joined every charity he could, and just showed up to help. He got noticed by board members and execs, that networking led to relationships and eventually to deals.

“The world is programmed like Yelp, which allows people to give honest opinions rather than taking a company’s word for it. That strategy of having other people talking about you on a regular basis will lead to major growth!”

Speed Round (45:02)

• What have you started doing or using lately that you love?

  VidYard, it’s the number one skillset businesses should use!

• What are your favorite social media accounts?

  Joe Mullings – we met on LinkedIn two years ago became friends and now we’re business partners – and Jesse Itzler.

• What’s the next thing you’re hoping to learn in 2021?

  Everything my clients want to learn, but specifically more about confidence and empathy

Homework: Tell the world something good and ask for the same in your conversations.

Next Week:

Our guest, Maximilian Rofagha created the app Finimize which is quickly changing the world of finance. Are you constantly saving articles to “read later”, trying to find the balance between being informed and feeling overwhelmed? Finimize cuts through the noise to give you the most important headlines in business in five minutes or less and cultivates a community to help you think through financial decisions. (think Tripadvisor but for finance) Such a brilliant idea!! I don’t want you to miss out so please pull up a chair and bring your best questions along.