Hello!
My mom was going to a monthly meeting for the National Speakers Association, which my parents have been involved with for a long time. Since I’m starting up a business and have been thinking I’d like to be a business owner someday, she let me come along. Especially since the topic for this meeting was sales which is always a good thing to learn more about and definitely helpful with my business, and the guy speaking would be really good.
I was really looking forward to spending the day with my mom! It was so much fun! I learned a lot of great things and it was a great experience being exposed to it all. I also had a lot of fun with my mom. They had us go to the Milwaukee Public Market for lunch which was my first time going there- it was so neat! I loved the vibe! We split an order of poutine and a Philly pizza (with white sauce, beef, peppers, etc.). They were so delicious! We had a nice conversation with one of my parent’s friends at lunch. At the market we also bought a giant chocolate chip cookie and a giant frosted brownie- we split the cookie during the afternoon sessions and split the brownie at home that night. All the food was so delicious!
After the meeting we went to Ikea! I had never been to one. Mom needed some things for her office and she was really excited to go! I didn’t know what to expect, but it was a lot better than I was thinking! I loved it! We looked around and shopped for several hours and ended up walking away with some good things for my Mom’s office and some new things for my room! I loved Ikea and the vibe and getting to pick out things. I’m excited to go again!! It was especially fun to do it with my mom and have that one-on-one time with her. For dinner we tried out the famous Ikea Swedish meatballs, neither of us have had them before. We had it along with mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and a bit of lingonberry jam. They were yummy, it was a cafeteria style so that made it not as nice. They were still pretty good though!
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? I really liked the guy that was speaking because he was very confident, bold, talented, and had a funny, straight faced, “cool”, sharp way of putting things and talking to people. I also loved how in-depth he went with all the content and just the content in general. I have not been exposed to stuff like this before and I enjoy this information! One other thing I liked was the way he taught all the information- he used a big double sided white board and drew and wrote out stuff as he went. For the kind of info and graphs he was sharing, that was really helpful and I liked that style of teaching and the graphs!
I also loved the building that the meeting was in! It was such an inspiring space and I love the premise of it, being a place for entrepreneurs to work.
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? It was awkward being there because people didn’t know who I was or why I was there. So it was uncomfortable. In this case, it may not matter as much but I know in other areas where I have trouble socially, I need to take the initiative and put myself out there. But I also need to get over myself and stop thinking about what others are thinking of me, it’s probably less often and not as bad as I think.
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? Mainly just the experience in general and being exposed to all this language and other business owners. I’ve been around it a lot from my parents so I could mostly keep up and it was just really cool being so surrounded with it all- it was like that on steroids!
Most of what he was referring to selling would be services. So it’s not as relevant to my product selling business. But there were a lot of things that stood out and new things I learned or have never thought about it in that way before.
For a few things in particular I liked hearing about how they sell the results. If you buy a shovel or a drill, you’re buying the hole. There were some whole processes he gave for figuring out what they really want and for figuring out if you’re the right match for them. The best question to ask is “why?”, then “how?”. Small, general questions are always good, especially if you have no idea what someone just told you. Say, “Interesting, tell me more.”.
I also liked learning about the sales funnel, and I liked when he went through all these different products and services speakers can offer and what exactly they’re selling. For speaking, you’re selling your time. For consulting, ideas. Coaching, results. Events, the experience. There were several more and that was really fascinating. Speaking may not be the best way to make money. He said that you’re in the business of sales, not speaking. Then they made the point that if one of those things gives you a lot of money but you hate doing it- you can pay someone to do it for you! I also thought it was interesting when he was talking about how you should sell it before you build it. That is an interesting thought about my hats.
Finally, a line he said at one point got my attention… “You can get paid to do the things you love: it’s called being a business owner.”
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? I am definitely excited to learn more about business! There were a lot of great things that I learned, even if it doesn’t necessarily help my current business that I’m going to be starting. I love the conversation of business and I’m excited to learn more.
Thanks!
Lucy
