Overcoming Sales Insecurities and Building Authentic Connections with Darleen Priday of DP Consults

In this episode of the Revenue Accelerators Podcast, the host, Deep Trikannad, interviews Darleen Priday, the Founder and CEO of DP Consults. Darleen's company focuses on sales consulting, specifically empowering coaches and service providers to sell their own services authentically and empathetically.

Darleen explains that she has been in sales for over 30 years, but always hated the traditional sales approach. She loves helping people and connecting with them, so she operates in a more personal and empathetic way. As the Director of Business Development for P.3.Va, Darleen works with many entrepreneurs and hears their pain points regarding sales. She noticed that many entrepreneurs wanted someone else to sell for them, but she believes that they should be selling their own products and services. With these recurring experiences, she decided to start DP Consults at the beginning of the year.

Deep asks Darleen how she helps her clients and what their typical challenges are. Darleen explains that her clients often feel insecure and inauthentic when it comes to sales. They struggle with sales calls and feel defeated when someone says no. Darleen handpicks her clients based on fit, and most of them are small businesses or solo-preneurs who have built their businesses based on referrals. They lack the confidence, mindset, and processes to sell effectively. Darleen's goal is to give them permission to sell their own services and provide them with the necessary tools, such as talking points, objection handling techniques, and strategic partnership development.

Deep shares a personal anecdote about his own struggles when transitioning from being an engineer to a sales representative. He recalls an awkward sales call where he ignored a prospect's question and faced the disappointment of his sales rep. He emphasizes the importance of having someone like Darleen to help navigate those situations and avoid early career mistakes.

Deep then asks Darleen about her plans for scaling her business. Darleen explains that she currently has a day job, so she designed her offering to be very manageable. She only works with two clients per month to ensure she can overdeliver and move the needle for them. Darleen starts with a high-level business assessment, looking at all aspects of the client's business, and then provides them with a discovery call form, talking points, objection handling techniques, and cadences for follow-up. Her goal is to give them everything they need to sell for themselves in a month's time.

Darleen's main clients are coaches and service-based businesses, typically small and established businesses that need structure to scale. She finds her clients through networking groups and referrals from her extensive network. She participates in networking groups both online and offline, including weekly coffee clubs and monthly gatherings. Darleen appreciates the people she has encountered in these groups and the learning opportunities they provide.

Deep asks if Darleen focuses on specific industries, and she explains that her clients are primarily in the service-based industry, including coaches, life coaches, mindset coaches, and those offering website or marketing services. She has also worked with clients who didn't need her full program but benefited from her collaboration and idea generation.

Deep and Darleen discuss the challenge of overcoming the feeling of being a "used car salesman" when selling a service or product. Darleen emphasizes the importance of viewing sales as a conversation rather than a sales call and empathizing with the person on the other end. Building trust and maintaining connections even with those who don't become clients is crucial. She encourages her clients to be authentic and go with their gut instincts in sales, as there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

In closing, Deep asks about Darleen's plans for DP Consults. Darleen shares that she is enjoying the journey and has learned to let go of perfectionism and fear of failure. She has shifted her mindset to focus on what she can learn along the way instead of solely focusing on success or failure. This shift has made the journey more enjoyable and gratifying for her.

The episode concludes with a thank you from Deep to Darleen and the audience for participating in another episode of Revenue Accelerators Podcast.