Welcome to the Guide Culture Podcast. You’re with Kat. And I’m currently on the way home from the guy culture headquarters going home and I just was thinking about something that I saw on Instagram. So I’m just going to unofficially watch card combos with cat because this is arguably where a lot of thinking happens. So sometimes I like to think out loud. And that’s just what this is. Maybe you’re in the car right now, maybe you’re on a walk. But let’s just do that together. I want to tell you about something I saw on Instagram. And it was on someone’s page, who is quite a large influencer about, let’s say, half a million followers, pretty trusted, a great, great influence, good person, all this all things. And she had posted a question box that said, hey, if you have questions about this product that I’m talking about, just let me know. So someone asked a question in the question box, and it said, Do you sell this product now? I noticed that’s all you’re really talking about. And it caught my attention, of course, because they’re asking her if she’s selling this product. And she was she said, yes, I’m selling the product. You know, I’ve used it for a long time. And now I make a commission on it kind of explained herself. You know what I mean? 

And it just caught my attention, because the tone of this person’s question was, hey, is this like, do you sell this now? Because it’s all you are talking about. And it was kind of a negative not mean, just a little bit of a negative tone. And the reason it caught my attention is because what occurred in my mind is, how interesting is it that someone being loyal to a product is somehow a red flag, versus someone who’s kind of bouncing around product to product and making recommendations. And so I kind of want to present this thought something that for us all to reflect on and to really hash out is one like, can you trust salespeople? And maybe another side of the same coin is who is more trustworthy a salesperson or an influencer? 

Because what this person who was in the question box seemed to be wanting was, hey, like, I want you to tell me what works I just what you want to make money on, you know. And so it was just assuming that that is, what was happening, hey, since you’re making money, I don’t know if I can trust that you actually really believe this, you’re just making money. And I just want to kind of pose the idea that it actually can and should be both, right? Just because someone is making money on a product does not mean that they are less loyal to the actual result that’s getting for them, or hopefully anyone else that would use it. And that somehow being an influencer, meaning, kind of more casually, more hands off of a, you know, “I tried this product, it’s great for all these reasons. I love it. Here’s a discount code.” That seemed more trustworthy to this person. And hopefully, you’re hearing a little bit of the same tone of the problem that I’m hearing, which is why exactly is it. And I’m honestly thinking out loud right now. Why is it that as people were less trusting of a salesperson who’s loyal to one product than maybe an influencer who’s has multiple products in their arsenal? 

I just find that very, very interesting. So let’s just talk about how actually, being loyal to a product like a single product actually is the very thing thing that makes you trustworthy. Actually putting your flag in the ground for one brand, for one thing actually is awesome. It’s not a red flag, it’s not a concern. It’s actually the very thing that makes you worth buying from. Well, one, one reason why luxury lead to loyalty is that like, you can actually become like an expert at it, you can actually be known for it. It’s really impossible to be the expert at multiple things, or the master multiple things. There’s a saying, I just heard on a podcast this morning by Grant Cardone did not come up with this quote, but he said it. And he said, you know, if you chase multiple rabbits, you’ll catch neither. Chase two rabbits, you catch none. So it’s not like you can just be the master at all these products are all the services, really saying that you sell one thing actually is an amazing thing and allows you to go deeper on the specifics of the product. 

Let’s say that you sell makeup. There’s a ton to know about makeup, right? You can know the different formulations of foundation. Why is it? Why is the built in primer and this velvety texture beneficial for certain skin types? I mean, truly, once you open the can of worms of specifics within one product, it’s like oh my gosh, there’s not enough time in the day to make content for this because there’s so many facets to it. So that’s a really good thing. And that just shows that being specific is I mean, it’s a goldmine for selling one product. And it helps speak to more, more of what people need more of helping people overcome their own concerns with let’s say, the product like makeup or whatever, you actually can help them because you are the master at it, you’re the expert at it. Doesn’t that make sense? How you can really only go deep on one thing. 

And then two not only do you feel like the expert when you’re loyal, but you actually seen as the expert, because going back to this the comparison of like salesperson versus influencer and this is not all to talk negatively about an influencer. I’m just pointing out how it’s okay to sell one thing. It’s okay and it’s good. So how does it make you look like the expert? Well, if you’re looking at a salesperson versus an influencer, an influencer might be selling multiple products right? We’ve talked about this. So if you’re selling multiple things and you’re not really the master of any of them then you’re not known for anything. All you’re known for is the discount codes. Right and that’s fine if that’s you know what you want to be the dealer of discount codes and such like that because I’m sure that there’s there is a belief of connecting people with great products that’s fine the salesperson the heart there is “hey I am sold out on this one message on this one product on you know, this one kind of service or brand that I’m so committed to it.” And the byproduct of that of being consistent on message on brand. Is that people actually no you for that. 

One of my favorite people to point out I’m so glad she popped into my head just now is one of our alumni Guide Culture alumni,  Lindsay Mitrosilis. And she is just this beautiful, blonde curly haired sunshine. And she’s special as she is. She could do anything and I would just be like, oh, what she’s what she’s talking about. But what she’s known for what she has dug her heels in the ground for is LinkedIn. And I honestly would not be surprised if 80% of the people listening to this are like oh yes, I’ve seen her the LinkedIn girl because she used to be a hiring and firing coach and talking about not HR but just people things within the business industry. And even just me saying that to you right now probably feels general you’re like well, what is that like hiring and firing? Okay, cool. There’s like a million directions to go with that. Well, what she did, it was so brilliant was just to dig her heels in on LinkedIn. The girl will not stray, she will not stray and it is the most impressive thing. And so when you’re known for something this is what’s so cool not only are do come to mind, just like she came to mind for me. 

But it’s easy to recommend. If you want to be recommended by people who like the the service, let’s say that you are a copywriter. How can you dig your heels in on copywriting? And, and be the one that people like refer to? I mean, I know I have a copywriter that I love to tell people about and that’s one of our other alumni, Jess Jordana, and she’s incredible because that’s all she will talk about. She like will not stray from her message. And that just makes her really trustworthy. Because she’s loyal, I will be loyal. Do you see how this just trickles around? And staying on that message and just be willing to go hard on it even if people don’t understand why you’re being so stuck, okay? Like this girl, hey, why are you talking about this one makeup? Well, because it’s so worth it that people need to know about this, I’m willing to just go hard on this one makeup product. Which is where this all started, okay, on this girl’s Instagram page, rather than dilute the message by talking about many, okay? 

The third thing that being the salesperson for one product does for you is it actually gives you the ability to sell it. I mean, that cannot be overstated. It’s one thing to be the expert, that’s great. It’s another thing to be seen as the expert, right to be the go to, that’s awesome, too. But third, like it cannot be even overstated, that selling it is the goal, right? Because what is so common and almost becoming the norm is to just share about something to be casual, to not be too committed, because that makes you look weird or obsessive. And let’s just call it what it is sharing takes no skill whatsoever, it just takes a little bit of motivation to post about a product, right? It doesn’t take skill to actually persuade, and convince and shift perspective towards something. And to really stand for what you believe in so much so that you’re willing to, I don’t want to say bend over backwards in like an overly trying kind of a way, or forcing it kind of a way. But you’re really willing to do whatever it takes to help someone else see what’s in it for them when it’s the right choice, right? Especially in the in the day and age when content is so like such the way that people buy, you know, we are big believers in sales content. 

So taking this persuasive message that you could have, in a one on one conversation, really taking that public, and helping a multitude of people see what’s in it for them. We can call it casting the net, who is in this camp needs to be, you know, convinced this way. Let’s just use an example of LinkedIn again, since we’re just talking about Lindsey. So let’s just say that someone believes that, of course, LinkedIn is dead, because everyone’s on Instagram and Tiktok. So if you can just make enough, you know, Tiktok content, then you could not only could you attract a team of people who want to work for your company, but you could also be someone that like, you know, people want to recruit for speaking gigs. Honestly, I’m convincing myself Tiktok’s great. What Lindsey could do using sales skills and casting the net with sales content is say, “you know what, you’re, you know, it’s a good point, you definitely can create content that develops expertise, what LinkedIn does, specifically, is it helps more consistently and more clearly, demonstrate your beliefs to other groups who are qualified to buy from you.” 

Okay, so that she can just shift perspective that way, right? Toward LinkedIn. And that’s just a one little nugget, just one nugget of hey, you can have qualified people hire you for speaking gigs. Awesome. Okay, that’s like really what I want. So tell me more Lindsey, you know, and that just helps lean in when you can create sales content and actually persuade, if you are a, quote, loyal. And that’s just like the oxymoron here loyal to like many things, then you’re really loyal to nothing, right? That’s why it’s an oxymoron or irony. So I just, hopefully, you can see why that thing that maybe some people don’t like it, cause they just wish we just talked about a lot of stuff. Stay loyal anyway. Because that’s what helps develop your expertise, your deep product knowledge, which leads to enthusiasm, hello, which is translated into energy that sells. It helps people see you as the go to for that reason, because you stand out. You’re someone that just comes top of mind, because of that expertise in that just repetition of the same thing. Okay. Like yes, repeat, repeat, repeat the boring to your own self, so that people get excited. 

And then thirdly, that repetition can actually be recasted in creative ways. In order to get people excited, right to get them in. Someone like Kathryn here might be like, oh, yeah, speaking opportunities with qualified, you know, leadership companies, Macy orJess, they might want to hear something different, like, hey, you know, they’re not qualified speaking gigs, but what they are is corporate teams that really want a sales training, being able to be connected with the right training groups, you see, being able to convince someone in different different ways. Okay, repeat but in different ways all the time. Now, what you might be thinking is, well, how do I do that? Like, how can I stand for what I believe in, be the go to, and like, actually persuade people to take action on what I’m doing? How can I actually get them to care? How can I feel like I’m saying the same thing in new and fun, different ways? 

Well, let me tell you actually, some really good news I did not even expect to tell you about when I started this car chats with Kat is something coming up very soon called Breaking Business Bootcamp. Because what’s happening is that everyone’s being sold the same playbook, this easy button, this, hey, just buy the software, just buy, you know, a sauna or buy a calendar system or just by, you know, this contract worker person, start a podcast, and like leads will come to you, sales will be made. Just start a course just create the course, just, you know, do a Power Hour, there’s all these easy buttons, like just do this, and you’re good to go. And what is not being mentioned is that in order for those things to work, being able to cast the net and sell, be the salesperson in every moment of those actions, do whatever strategy, do whatever action you want, being the salesperson for that, for your thing. That is what makes the biggest difference ever. So coming up is called Breaking Business Bootcamp, we’re going to break the game, break this cycle, break the strategy, and actually teach you how you can do this. 

You may be familiar with breaking business, because of the April masterclass that happened. And this is going a step further, it’s going to be a three hour bootcamp. With hour one, we’re going to break the game. Hour two, we’re going to break the cycle. Hour three, break the strategy. And you’re gonna get tangible takeaways that you can use to have your go to one expertise message that really makes a difference for people really, really excited about this, we’ve actually never done this before. The bootcamp is going to be some dollar amount that we’re going to give to charity. I honestly don’t even know the dollar amount yet. But the dollar amount is simply so that you place a bet on yourself. I mean, it might be $10, it might be $15, I don’t know, it doesn’t matter. The point is that you place a bet on yourself, you come for the boot camp. And you say, you know, I’m going to be the salesperson, I’m going to be the person people go to, and you dig your heels in the ground on your expertise, and you’d be severed about it because sales people are trustworthy, they absolutely are. 

And you’re going to learn how to not only embody that, but like act on it in a way that gets people to take action. And that’s what honestly, what we’re gonna learn in the bootcamp. I’m really excited about that. We really just finalized the content as I’m driving home, which I think is how this all came out of my mouth, sort of by accident. You’re gonna want to be there. You are absolutely going to want to be there. The details are in the notes of this podcast, because I’m driving, I’m not going to look at it. Okay, I’m going to be safe. So thank you for listening to this. Thank you for being bought in to what it takes to be the salesperson. 

We’re excited to see the bootcamp and just be ready. There’s some really exciting things happening. As you know, there is being a ton reinvented within Guide Culture. In fact, we are essentially burning down what we think of Guide Culture as what people think of Guide Culture as and rebuilding it to what it’s supposed to be for you. So you become the sales person that represents your brand, your beliefs, your message, the absolute best it possibly can. And that ultimately means that you get to leave a legacy. The way people think about you, the way your family looks up to you. And that’s a really big deal. So it’s worth burning down things that have not been working things that are not even things that have been working things that are worth breaking down for this one thing to be rebuilt. And it’s really exciting. So be looking out for announcements. The people on the bootcamp are gonna be the first to hear the announcement. And so be ready for that. And just keep your eyes peeled, because it’s about to get really, really good. 

Thank you for listening. Thank you for trusting us as a podcast source. And if this episode helps you let me know @theguideculture. I would love to talk to you about any of these things. And if you’ve been thinking about Guide Culture, the sales training, the summer cohort is starting in July. So just message us, say Kat, Macy, I have a question and we will absolutely just save time and see if it’s a good fit for you. Can’t wait to hear from you. Have an awesome, awesome day.