Building an Early Foundation:
I never thought I will be doing what I am doing today. I never thought I’ll be an entrepreneur or a Sales Coach. My parents immigrated from America a long time ago and became entrepreneurs. I grew up seeing them work 80 plus hours a week and realized how hard it was to own a business. I never wanted that for myself!
By the time I graduated, my parents wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer while I went ahead to dive into B2B sales. I really struggled initially. I had little to no support and was on my own to figure things out. Eventually, I thrived. I figured it out, had success working in many 500 fortune companies, tapped into a new industry, became successful and got promoted multiple times. I led teams of 100+ employees and learnt a lot about sales. I was happy to see professionals seeking my guidance and suggestions on their sales strategies; I was even suggested very often to write my own book!
Soon enough, I got a chance to write an eBook which made me happy about how I was starting to create an impact outside my regular job. Next, I wanted to create something meaningful that would have a greater impact. Around 2017, when online courses weren’t that hyped, I decided to create online courses for professionals. I made a plan of action and just went for it! It took me about 2 years to build the course, I was nervous initially - what if I wasted two years building a product and nobody actually bought it? Nevertheless, I launched it and when I woke up the next day, I had made 2000 USD overnight. People started using my programme, got results and started emailing me with awesome reviews! It's been two and a half years now, we’ve been very fortunate. The business has grown and exploded, I got recognised for the impact I always wanted to create.
Beyond the Barricades:
Nothing is more important than how we view setbacks and failures in life. A lot of times when we get hit with failure or setbacks, it is so easy to internalize or blame ourselves and allow it to consume us. What I have found is that the more we learn from failures or these setbacks, the more we will win. Recollecting from personal experience, I’ve had moments of self-doubts and a fair share of lows in life. I was faced with a demotion during the 2009 US Financial and economic crunch. It felt frustrating and unfair that I took the team to its best, beat every other team with our performance but now I was undergoing demotion. I was dejected but at the same time, I knew that I had to do this or I’ll be left without a job. However, I showed up every day, giving the best that I could. I was determined to get promoted back into my role with my performance and abilities. I worked hard to create a distinctive mark that year and later got my position back.
Even though it felt like a failure back then, I learnt a very important lesson - setbacks set you up for the future, only if you’re willing to learn the lessons.
Evolution of the Sales Industry:
The most interesting element about evolution is that even though there have been overall changes, the core fundamentals of sales have not changed over time. In the last decade, with the advent of new sales technology, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Marketing has revolutionized the dynamics. However, what you find now is that the buyers have become more sophisticated. They know when they are being manipulated into a sales tactic, are in automation or are entering a sequence. Today, Consumers are certainly more resistant and numb to these tactics.
Sales professionals, on the other hand, tackle this by just using more emails to the sequence, trying to reach out, making cold calls. That doesn’t work because your success percentage does not change. What I see is, top companies and top leadership are more focused on making their sales professionals better at their job, utilizing tools simply as a resource and not as an entire plan of action.
This is also a time when you need to do more things to stand out as buyers are more resistant. All in all, the core fundamentals haven’t really changed, although there is more competition and noise around the industry.
Driving innovation with 'Venli Consulting Group':
We primarily work towards helping B2B Sales professionals and that’s what primarily makes us entirely different from the others. When you’re in sales, there’s one thing that you generate- revenue! If you can’t deliver revenue, you aren’t truly a coach that impacts! Having experiences with success tactics, my past situations and experiences can be learning lessons for aspirers. I was equipped to help people get successful results with the right coaching. We heavily market how successful our students are. While most companies try selling their courses, my students are the base for my organisation, I put them in the limelight.
Number one- I know what I’m doing. Number two- I can repeat it with other people. Three- I am very clear with what people want.
Sources of Powerful Lessons:
I think we have different seasons in our lives. Depending on the seasons, we need different types of mentors. Early on, I saw my father as the main mentor in my life. He was a very successful business owner and I learned a lot from him. When I first started working, I found due inspiration from one of my bosses but saw him more like a role model than a mentor. At that time, YouTube or podcasts weren’t really famous so I read a lot of books. I grew through these books- Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn etc. These pioneers have redirected my perspective towards life.
As I started progressing in my career, I consulted mentors for my professional growth. As a very process-oriented person, my work sometimes lacked creativity. So, I got myself a mentor who challenged me in every way possible and pushed me to work outside my comfort zone. In 2021, I have spent a hundred thousand dollars on coaches and masterminds. I’ll probably double up this year. I want to learn how to increase my business in sales, improve my marketing skills and expand the business setup and scale even more. I try my best to imbibe all the learnings from my mentors. If you really want to reach where you want to be, you have to seek guidance from pioneers who have been through these phases and flourished.