Good Morning

Welcome to the newsletter where we help you reach your FULL potential in mindset, leadership, and communication. Here I will share the experiences, and information I am consuming, with little takeaways you can apply.

Today’s topics:

1. The power of a target niche market/consumer

2. The mindset of winners vs. losers

3. Derek’s hot list

Let’s go!

Sales
Niche, Niche, Niche

I always thought that a niche limited your reach.

That was until I started my payment processing business.
Lots of prospecting calls with one goal: save clients $.
However, it can pretty difficult to get cold prospects to open up about financials on an intro call.

It’s the old sales adage: Know you, like you, trust you.
It’s hard to build trust on a discovery call.

Why?
Trust is established over time.
However trust comes much quicker when you share WHY/PURPOSE/VALUES/BELIEFS with a prospect.

Now we are onto something…

I did some thinking about my values. I love God, Country, and Freedom - so why not work with like-minded business owners.

There’s my niche!!!!!

With that I started Patriot Pay: payment processing for patriot-owned businesses. I partnered with social media icon Lindsey Graham (The Patriot Barbie) and together we are helping like-valued businesses save money, boost profit, and save America. Lindsey and I have committed to donating 5% of our Patriot Pay profit to conservative non-profits.

Since the inception of Patriot Pay, my phone is ringing off the hook because I found MY people. These business owners see the value in working with a payment processor that shares THEIR values.

So here is the main benefit of niching

A Narrow Niche Creates Deeper Demand

No longer am I selling, I am connecting with people like me. I can be myself, speak truth, and authentically create value for their business. Within 3 minutes on the call we get to a trusting relationship.

I relate with my prospect and my prospect relates with me at a deeper level.

Old Prospect Calls:
Lots of feeling one another out
Slow trust
A little awkwardness
Unclear value proposition
Varied sense of purpose

Patriot Pay Prospect Calls:
Friends immediately
Quick Trust
Clear and concise messaging
Appealing value proposition: Save money, boost profit, save America
Shared sense of purpose

TAKEAWAY: I encourage you to target like-minded and like-hearted prospects. Your niche = working with people like you. That alone builds trust FAST. Trust is needed to get a deal across the goal line.

Mindset
Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone

The only thing holding you back from your goals and dreams is mindset.

It’s all in the way you CHOOSE to think.

Things that get in your way are either stumbling blocks or stepping stones

Story Time: At Matthews Distributing Company, I was tasked to build our craft beer portfolio. I secured contracts with the biggest craft brands in the US, but there was one left for the taking: Stone Brewing Company…

After an intro call with Stone executives a year went by, and nothing happened. Through my network I learned that Stone was on the fence with Matthews Distributing Company. I stood the chance of a competitor picking up the brand.

Hearing this news naturally bummed me out.

But I had to make a choice - stumbling block (give up) or stepping stone (pivot approach). I needed Stone Brewing to see how serious we were about the brand…

This was an opportunity to get creative.

I created “We Want Stone in Our Store” petitions for our sales team to have signed by our biggest retailers. The team took STACKS of petitions, got them signed, then I emailed 100+ petitions to my Stone contact.

Within 20 minutes my phone rang…
It was Stone: “Ok Derek, never have seen this approach before, where do I send the distribution agreement”

Within two weeks Stone was everywhere in our market. We turned a stumbling block into a stepping stone.

Takeaway: Hearing that Stone didn’t want to work with us wasn’t a stumbling block, it was a stepping stone (no pun intended). I made the choice to get creative, demonstrate market demand, and prove a point. I love this story because it really shows that there are no failures in life, only findings. You have to be the person to make that decision 🙂 

Derek’s Hot List
This thing is AMAZING!

🤖Plaud Note: World’s first ChatGPT-=powered AI voice recorder, featuring a slim, portable, and sleek design. Your all-in-one credit card sized secretary.

🤖Rilla: Save money and boost productivity by eliminating outside sales ridealongs. This AI captures and summarized sales calls allowing managers to coach reps to increase close rates.

📕 The Terminal List: This is the most gripping book I have ever read. If you like thrillers, this book is right down your alley. Now on Amazon Prime Video starring Chris Pratt. Here’s me with Jack Carr. I have a man crush on him and I am not afraid to share it haha jk. He’s an incredible person. Check out his story!

I REALLY write these for your growth. All the calls and texts really mean a lot and truly make my day.

Let me know what’s on your plate and what I can write to help 🙂 

Have a GREAT week!

Derek