Speaker: [00:00:00] Somewhere along the way in your entrepreneurial journey, running a business got way more complicated than it needed to be. Between the advice that's built for eight figure companies, systems that felt unnecessarily heavy, and strategies that sounded smart, but didn't actually fit the way you work, you probably ended up putting in a whole lot of effort without getting better results.
Listen, business is hard enough. Can we not make it harder? So welcome to the Can We Not Business podcast. I'm Sam and I'm all about uncomplicating the strategies and work of running a business so it can not only be profitable, but also enjoyable At Oxo Business Services. I work with visionary doers who like to be busy.
But want that effort to create momentum instead of more noise. We're a back office agency that helps founders build support systems that actually work through US-based virtual assistants, [00:01:00] recruiting for key roles and tough love strategies that turn ideas into execution. Now, this show is for founder led businesses.
With small teams, or even no team at all yet, we're gonna talk about the behind the scenes decisions and real day-to-day work that shape your business so you can stop chasing the shiny objects, get out of second guessing spirals, and simply be more profitable. So let's get into it.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Today's guest is one of my favorite people in the world. We connected, I don't know, two and a half, three years ago, some amount of time ago. I can't believe it's been that long. Uh, she's also a mama like me, so she gets the chaos of life. But it's Miss Alicia Barr. Hi Alicia.
Aleasha Bahr: Hi, Sam. I'm so excited. Be here with you.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Uh, yes. Okay. So Alicia, I'll do a quick breakdown, but then you can kind of introduce yourself a bit, but so people can get to know you. Alicia is a like, make sales simple. [00:02:00] Wordsmith. over complicate it. Get curious in sales. Amazing coach, like she's written a book called Black Sheep Sales.
She owns being the outcast she owns. Do it differently and Make it work for you. And you are one of the first inspirations in my business of like. Maybe I'm trying too hard to be like other people. Maybe I should just be myself. Maybe that'll work instead. And it has. So, Alicia, give us the breakdown of what you do and like how you even decided to do what you do.
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah, so I mean, I had a long, I mean, eight to 10 year corporate career in sales, and then I opened my own marketing agency and I noticed that there was a. An issue with people being like, I'm gonna start a business. And they were like, oh, shoot, I have to sell, I have to sell my, my services or my products.
And they would try to go look for sales training, but [00:03:00] sales training was all really designed for this one type of personality that's like pushy and aggressive and that they, that just doesn't work for a lot of people. Um. So they were left with, with nothing that fit them. They either tried to force and like put on the show of being this other person or they just wing it and it's super unpredictable.
So there seemed to be this really big need for, um, business owners to have a strategy that didn't feel like acting like a douche bag, like a sales douche bag. And.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Guys, that is the subtitle, the tagline of her book, like Black Sheep Sales. What is it? Like, how to Close More Deals without Being a Douche Bag or
Aleasha Bahr: Yes, without acting like a douche bag. So, um, everybody has this perception of a sales douche bag, and it's valid and it's. It's based on the training that's available is for those people, those people who are naturally inclined to be like, I am [00:04:00] smarter and better than you, and you don't know what you're doing and that's why you should, um, buy my stuff.
And if you don't, you're really dumb type of vibe. Um, so the truth is that very little, like a small percentage of people respond to that and a small percentage of people actually are comfortable implementing that. So once I started getting into it, I saw that there was. Even bigger market for this, not just business owners selling their own services, but you know, for example, my husband, he took a disc test in the beginning of his career and it said that he was an sc, which is like this analytical, like methodical, slow person.
And uh, they told him, yeah, you can never be in sales. He's the top salesperson at his company. He, he sell, he makes million. He sells millions of dollars for his company. So it's just every type of personality can be really great at sales when they have a strategy designed around their strengths. So it gives me so much joy to share with people that they don't have to be any [00:05:00] different than what they are and that they're gonna be really good at this when.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Hmm.
Aleasha Bahr: They know what to lean into, and of course, what gaps to strengthen. And so the black sheep is basically not a douche bag in sales. So who doesn't wanna be that? Who doesn't wanna beep?
Samantha C. Prestidge: Can we have more black sheep please? Like, oh, I think one of my favorite like content campaigns that you did, um, was against the salesy Steves of the world and you had like your whole car salesman get up your mustache and you're like, dude, dude, dude, this is how you sell. And it's like, none of that works.
And I had this light bulb moment working with you where I was like, well, I had, I had admittedly paid for a sales group coaching program before I worked with you. And it was all about like how to help women close more of these like high ticket corporate
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah.
Samantha C. Prestidge: And then I took a step, like once I stopped the program, I kinda like looked at some of your content and I was like, this in [00:06:00] no way is like. Built for like any, anybody really. It's all of the salesy Steve strategies boiled down to this one cringey formula and then sold as like, oh yeah, this is how like any woman can like go close a corporate deal. And it was the worst, like it totally jacked up my entire sales game and my big compliment for working with you.
We were, you did like this audit and like I tried to have this fancy language and you were like, oh, so basically this, and you wrote out this sentence. And I was like, yeah. Basically that like real words, basic everyday words that anyone can read. And I would actually say in a conversation that that exactly, and I was so impressed with like how you simplified it and made it just digestible, which I think is an amazing superpower.
So tell us more about your process with clients and how you really help them take away all of those over complicated barriers in sales.
Aleasha Bahr: [00:07:00] Yeah, so I mean, my zone of genius is definitely messaging and positioning and strategy. So a lot of sales experts are just strategy and they are just the strategy that worked for them. So. Messaging and positioning is the hardest part for a lot of people. 'cause you're so close to it, you're like, I don't know what's so cool about my offer.
It's hard for you to remember what it was like when you were just getting into this and, and what you thought was cool about it. And you're so close to it that you, you tend to think that these things that are way deeper than somebody who's like at the beginning are cool. So when you explain them, the person's just like, I don't even really know what you're saying, um, the prospect.
So being able to give clarity on what actually is compelling about the offer, and you don't need to talk about all the things, right? You can just talk about. The result that you're getting somebody and the main ways that you're getting that result for somebody. So a lot of times somebody [00:08:00] who is selling their own services is gonna get stuck on deliverables because they think that it's valuable.
That's showing the value. Look, it's all this stuff included. It's this many meetings, and it's like these reports, and it's these check-ins, and it's these systems and nobody wants any of that. They want whatever those things give them. So meetings so that your n. Able to customize everything to you and move forward instead of staying stuck.
Um, you know, systems that work automatically and cut three hours a day out of your time, like whatever the result is, is way more important. So, um, simplifying that and, and also you spoke to something like getting curious. There's these softer sales skills. Um. That are necessary because you cannot script every way a conversation can go.
Yes, I show you what, how to position yourself in the market and, and what language to use in a simplified [00:09:00] way. However, it's also, so easy to get defensive and make assumptions in a sales conversation. And so when a prospect brings up something, that feels like. A personal attack or a concern about your thing, the instinct is to be like, well, no because, and say a whole bunch of stuff that proves the value of the offer and educates the person and tells them why that's not a concern.
And when you're a buyer and somebody does that to you. Think about it, you just feel sort of dismissed and invalidated. Like it was a real concern, like let's explore it. And so often the assumption that somebody's making about what the prospect is saying is wrong, so let's ask more questions about it.
And it didn't. It untangles it itself. It's so much simpler than this, like fighting to overcome somebody's concern thing.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Yeah, I mean I've been on like the buyer side of that [00:10:00] and as soon as someone like then kind of attacks my objection, then it's like, oh, well now I don't even feel like I can ask a follow-up question 'cause now I feel like I'm inviting an argument, so I guess I just will not have my question answered. Thank you. No, thank you. And you, you have an interesting term for this and you call it, I think, pitch weaving where you do like the curiosity and the asking questions like naturally up the objections and then also naturally dismisses the objections. So I'm curious on that, we'll just call this whole thing curiosity.
Like clients have you kind of seen maybe struggle with that concept the most and struggle to really lead into curiosity.
Aleasha Bahr: Well, I mean, I think everybody kind of struggles with it. Um, there are some people that are naturally curious. I am one of them. Like, I ask a lot of questions. I've always asked a lot of questions. People comment on it. Some people don't like it. Um, and this is one of those things like the, the underlying philosophy of black sheep sales is if it's.
The [00:11:00] fit, it's a fact. And there's no selling involved. So if you don't like me asking questions, we're not a fit. If you need somebody who's gonna be really formal and kiss your ass, that's not me. I'm gonna be direct, I'm gonna be honest. I'm gonna be transparent. Um, so. I love seeing you, like really root into your fun personality in this podcast because it's gonna bring people who wanna work with you and have fun and love sas and a little bit of, you know, fire and like we all deserve to find the people we love.
If, if you want somebody who's gonna kiss your ass and be formal, you can find that and you should, you know what I mean? So. Um, curiosity is something that has always come natural to me. I would say for most people it is a new skill. I don't know why a lot of people learn to defend themselves. I'm sure it's something like in our upbringing, but,
Samantha C. Prestidge: oh yeah. Like if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Don't talk about politics, don't talk about religion, don't talk about this. And then you're like, well, what am I left with? Like, how, how do I get to know the other person if I can't talk [00:12:00] about any of the big things? So like, it's like all the personal stuff.
And now. Okay, now you're telling us, oh, I have to break those rules in a professional atmosphere as well, and then I'm supposed to get money from the person. By breaking those rules like that is a whole identity shift. I think
Aleasha Bahr: It is, it can be. So that's why we have those, weekly practices where we're practicing it in real time so it becomes muscle memory. , And it's a really liberating shift when it happens because you realize that. You're almost always assuming incorrectly what the person is actually saying. Um, you just ask a que like, you know, somebody will be like, it seems time consuming, for example.
Um, and you might be like, well, it's really not because, you know, we have these, um, step-by-step instructions and they're short videos, and then, you know, we meet and do this stuff for you. Instead of saying, well, how much time do you have? And they're like, oh, well, I mean, I have this much time. And you're like, well, that's more than enough time.
It just like isn't even an [00:13:00] issue.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Like dismissed, but like not dismissed in a, in a cringey way. Just like, oh, okay, like, let's move on. Right. It's just simplifying it, which is like, we could just end the podcast here. Just be like, there you go guys. Like, but no. I also wanna dig into, uh, uh, something else that you, you were talking about like people don't really. know the deliverables like they do, but like not really in the conversation, right? They wanna know the outcomes and the results. And I just kind of wanna pick on this a little bit because I also remember like COVID era messaging, positioning gurus that were all about like well have this value-based mission statement and then people would say these things when they go to network and I'm like, I have literally no freaking clue what you do. Like you have over. jazz, do your mission statement and what you do and the results so much that I'm like, I, I have no idea what this means. And so how do you then balance like the practicality of knowing deliverables with then, like the value-based phrasing of outcomes and results?
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah, so I mean, [00:14:00] for example, like when I go to networking, I could say so many things, so many things about what I do. Instead, I just say, I increase sales by creating custom playbooks and training your reps to run them. The outcome is increase sales, right? And then I give some insight into how I do that.
So whenever we, create stuff for clients that are value-based, we're still talking about what we're doing. We're just not talking about the deliverable of it. So for example, the first thing we do is I understand your business inside and out so that I can pull out the patterns. That mean the most to people, and put them in a really concise format for you to share with others that makes them wanna buy.
So I'm still sharing what the deliverable is, but I'm not calling it a kickoff meeting. You know what I.
Samantha C. Prestidge: I think everyone cringes at like, kickoff meetings are so important, right? The concept of them. But like no one wants, like if you say kickoff, they're like, oh, crap. Like, oh, I don't wanna do that at all. [00:15:00] Right.
Aleasha Bahr: Or like an initial deep dive. Nobody, nobody cares. So like what are they, what is the experience of the deliverable and the outcome of that deliverable? So it's kind of like, it's not necessarily not talking about it at all. It's talking about it in a way that lets someone have a tangible idea of what it is and, and if they want it.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Hmm. Now with that. I Well, 'cause what you're describing is like such an intimate personal understanding of the person and like what exactly they're selling. But you've also shifted to where you now help people like really train their own sales teams, which I. think like the most common objection at is like, well, no one can sell like me, right?
So we have this personal, intimate knowledge and then like, how are we, and like I can be curious myself with certain things because I know the questions to ask. I've been like the person that needs to delegate and I've also like seen. the hot messes of other founders and clients that need [00:16:00] to delegate.
So I'm coming to every sales conversation with like this year's depth and breadth of knowledge that helps me be more curious, like, and just know what questions to ask. So then how could you possibly teach someone else to do that? Like that sounds like an impossible feat almost.
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah, it's a really great point, and it's something that does come up a lot and they're not gonna. To be able to sell as good as you, um, because they don't have all of that knowledge and expertise. But the simple fact is there comes a point where you just can't be the doing that. So somebody who's doing it, and this is the same with delegation, right?
If somebody's doing it 80% as good as you, but you get 20 hours a week back, that result is worth it and their time is a hundred percent focused on it. So it naturally increases sales anyway instead of it being a part of what you're doing and. They can be just as good as you, and sometimes even better if they have their, like a similar experience.
You know, it's about like who you're hiring, what experience they have. [00:17:00] In addition to that, they need to know what's different about how you do it. Just because they have experience, maybe selling it for somebody else. They need to understand what's different about your fulfillment and delivery.
So I put together these like cheat sheets, like I'm working with a, a marketing agency right now and she does full service agency, which is pretty crazy. Um, like she even does a creative studio that's in-house like a video production team. Um, and they go on site too, in addition to having S-E-O-P-P-C, um, paid social and organic social and website development.
And so having a cheat sheet for every service and why their approach is different about it and like what to communicate to the client about it. 'cause there are so many things you can say about web development, but let's talk about the ones. That are different in, in the way we do it. Like that's what what's important.
So you can kind of have these, you need these training materials. A lot of the time somebody's like, nobody can sell like me, but they also don't have any training materials. They just ask somebody to shadow them and they're not gonna be [00:18:00] able to, every conversation is different. So if they shadow you, like they're gonna have to shadow so many conversations, then pull together the patterns of what you said in the conversations in order to model them.
And it's way, way longer road.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Ugh. And that, I mean, even if you like, it's the same thing if you're, if so, if you tell someone like, oh, shadow me to learn this process. Like if you're in the field or you're at like just doing any process, it's like, well, you're not telling them why you're doing certain things. They're just watching you click the buttons.
Like that makes absolutely no sense. And so I love the idea of just like quick reference. Materials. And then also like if we go back to how awesome your husband is, like, cool, they're not gonna sell like you. That's totally fine. Like, let's find out their superpower in sales and how they're gonna connect to your customers.
And then just supercharge them to do that. Let them be their own little black sheep waving in in the wind, you
Aleasha Bahr: Yes. One of the biggest things that happens to salespeople is that they're [00:19:00] doing really well. They're exceeding their goals, and management is upset with them because they are not following the step-by-step process that they have. And it's like, why do you care? Like,
Samantha C. Prestidge: what is the point of the process if they're getting the results and like as like, I would get it if like someone is selling and hitting good numbers, but like they're overpromising and it's like messing with delivery or ops or something. But like if that's not happening and they just happen to be going about discovery or proposal conversations differently, why do we, why
Aleasha Bahr: Care. Yeah. Um, and so everybody should be able to embrace their style and they have a different one. And women especially run into this in sales because, , most strategies are designed for men and. Women have a natural emotional intelligence that is very powerful in a sales context. We read the room, we are trained to,
take care of people's needs. How is everybody [00:20:00] feeling? You know, are they feeling? Think about that in a sales context. What like so helpful to understand this person is not responding well to whatever, whatever I'm saying and I need to adjust or I need to ask some questions about why I am seeing that as opposed to just bulldozing through it, which is kind of like what a lot of the sales systems are.
They're bulldozer, they're not really. Taking in information from the other person and adjusting and customizing, which is what creates the best salespeople. So it's just like, it, it should be about performance. And as long as they're not overpromising or saying something wildly off. Um, one of the things I do love doing is, is helping somebody lean into that.
'cause you don't have to say it the exact way I would say it. We can say it any way we want, as long as it's accurate.
Samantha C. Prestidge: I mean, we could talk about douche bags all day and as long as like the customer's not pissed off, it'll be fine guys. Like fine. Um. No. So with that, I'm like, I guess I'm curious as well, like, We're hopeful that people can change so and so. I'm wondering if most of [00:21:00] the clients that you work with, like are they coming from a place of like, they were taught bulldozing strategies, they don't like it now, they want something different, or have you also worked with people that like they have been bulldozers and like that's kind of worked well for them, but like now they need to learn something different and , do you think it's possible for them to learn to no longer be bulldozers or is that just like ingrained in who they are?
Aleasha Bahr: It's really hard. Um, I have had people because with the bulldozer strategies. A big part of that training is beating someone in the head with it, like repeatedly for a long period of time. Because it's so unnatural for most people that it takes a lot of repetition to create that muscle memory. So it has been really difficult.
They've been, they've been trained to find the pain, so at no point are they really finding what's going on in the. Insight into why something didn't work and how what they would do would be different. They're trained to find what, [00:22:00] how bad that is for you. And so it's been really hard for them to shift and, and, and realize I need to ask questions about this person's actual situation instead of just how I can manipulate them into buying.
So I, I, I have to say, I have not been able to successfully out-train that yet.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Wow, that's sad, but also like. If you're not an asshole, things will work out. You can learn the strategies, is what I'm hearing in that is like hope is not lost if you've never learned the bulldozing strategies. Like there,
Aleasha Bahr: Oh
Samantha C. Prestidge: totally
Aleasha Bahr: yeah.
Samantha C. Prestidge: a doable way.
Aleasha Bahr: And I mean, some people have just tried it and been like, nah, this doesn't work for me. And then that's great. Like you, right? So you were like, I tried it, it didn't work, it didn't align with me. I'm moving on. Um, I get that a lot. And that works really well. It's those people that, I mean like there was this big, uh, program Clients on Demand.
I don't know if you've heard of it. That's where I experienced the worst issue, um, because they really. They shame people into using it and they, they [00:23:00] kind of embarrass them and humiliate them on group calls for not digging into pain and stuff. And so that, those are the people that, it was really, I was just like, ah, you know, you're too far down that rabbit hole.
And maybe if I worked with them for a year, like clients on demand and just beat them with it, it, it could, could change. But I didn't ever go that far. 'cause usually when someone works with me, they, they get it like, you know, real quick.
Samantha C. Prestidge: It is light bulb moments. Like it is like, wow, why? Like, I was pissed off that I didn't find you in my first year of business actually. Like I was happy, but at the same time I was like, it was guilt and anger and just regret of like, oh, look at all the money I didn't need to spend if I just found Alicia sooner, you know? And, oh man, the client's on demand. Like those, I remember. Back in like, it was like 20 20, 20 21. There was someone that was selling this like course of how to sell on Facebook. And their whole thing was like, if you just figure out the one or two sentences that speak to their [00:24:00] pain and tell them how you're gonna solve it, you're gonna, and then you send like 200 cold dms a day, like, don't worry, you'll close your high ticket sales.
And I'm like, that sounds like. The most exhausting, worst thing to do, and like, why would I want to go through that at all? Like,
Aleasha Bahr: And then they, and then they shame you and say, well, you must not be serious about your success.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Yeah. Or like, oh, well you must not really understand your customer. I'm like, I don't understand your freaking process, dude. That's what I don't understand. Please. Okay. The other thing I wanna dive into. A little bit, which I, I think is such an important component of sales. 'cause I would also imagine, like if someone's coming to look for a sales coach, sometimes they're probably like at their wit's end and they're like, we've gotta start closing.
Like the tide needs to turn. And that really is like desperation. And desperation in any facet of life or business is how you very easily. Overcomplicate, right? Like if you're desperate for your marketing, like you're very easily [00:25:00] just like gonna find the wrong person to do your social media or the wrong person that like sold you some guru hack for cold email campaigns and like now you're paying bas of dollars for a shitty system, right? And like, okay, so like we know, like we can't be desperate when we're making business decisions. And yet desperation is the thing that creeps up. the easiest ways in like every sales conversation if you're at your wit's end. So how do you combat that really?
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah, so I mean it, it's so important to. Remind people of nightmare clients. So one of the first things that we do when we work together is defining your audience and your anti audience. Like who doesn't get results with you or who is unhappy with their results with you? And let's find the patterns in that.
What expectations did they have that aren't aligned with what you actually do? And we're gonna not. Take those people on, and we're gonna be really clear that [00:26:00] that is not us, like what is not included and what not to expect. Which naturally makes people feel safer that you're saying that because most salespeople don't share that piece of it and everybody's wondering, well, what aren't you telling me?
Lemme just tell you so that I can make sure that we're not walking into a nightmare situation here, because night some money is not better than no money. And. We've all experienced it. It drains your energy and emotionally and your time, and then you don't have that for other clients. So that shift in mindset about it being a fitting conversation really detaches the person from having to get a yes.
Because that's when you get less yeses is if it has to be a yes because you're like forcing it and the other person can feel it. Instead of just really collaboratively discussing like, Hey, this is what I don't do and this is who I don't work well with. Is that your situation? Because I don't wanna sell you something that's not gonna work.
And they're like really safe. Feel safe enough to [00:27:00] be honest with you about it at that point. And. Once you've identified, they do have this stuff necessary, like, these are the clients I do my best work with. Is that you in a way that's not just, are you coachable? Which is like so vague. Um, like nobody knows and who says no to that?
It's like, do you have this amount of hours? Do you, are you okay with waiting 90 days for results? Like, um, you know, whatever the case is, knowing that we're gonna try to get you results much sooner. And if the person says yes, then it's like, great, it's just an easy sale. Like, let's do it.
Samantha C. Prestidge: go ahead and sign that. Okay. I have two examples here. Let me go on a little bit of a, of a rant Ted talk of like, this works guys. It works like there was, um, there was someone I met last like. Like of Q3, beginning of Q4 or something of 2025. they had a conversation and I was like, I actually, I was like, I don't think I'm the best fit for like what you're looking for. And like I don't take on a lot of strategic consulting clients on anymore. Most [00:28:00] of what we do is on the virtual assistant side. Like if I wanna do strategic consulting, it's like, I think that you're a really fun person also. You're like a really hot mess. And like if I walk away from you, I'm genuinely concerned. You know, like that's, those are my people that I'll do consulting with, right? And so this guy comes along and he like, explains this thing. And I was like, well, like these are the, I was like, you have a lot going on. I am genuinely concerned. You are fun. However, like these are the things that we would need to figure out if we worked together.
Like. I do not see that in any of the materials you've given me. And like, if you don't wanna figure those things out, like there's my kiddo in the background. I was like, if you don't wanna figure these things out, like. You're just gonna waste money with me and then you're gonna be pissed off. I'm gonna be pissed off.
Like, not a win-win dude. And like I left the conversation at that, that's what it was. And then a month later he's like, oh, so like here are the things, when, when can we work together? Like then it turned into a client chasing me instead of [00:29:00] me chasing a client. And I'm like, yeah, cool. Like, we've got the foundation, let's go for it, dude.
Awesome. Like, awesome client now. And like, uh, this is my A DH ADHD where I get to go do strategic consulting and like. Have fun. Right? And then there's, there's another example of, and this is more on the ops side, where I had a client that canceled and I went to, I have like these two friends that I text, which if you don't, if any listener, if you don't have like your business peers, best friends where you can go, like randomly bring up situations, like go find that.
I highly recommend having that. But I texted them of like. This situation happened, I think I need to like change this process. Like I just want it to be white glove. How could I offer more value to clients? And then those people stalked me and were like, well actually I hear like this person didn't do check-ins with you.
This person didn't do this. Like they didn't do a majority of the things that like the best clients do. So like why would you change your process to accommodate the one asshole client when like, this likely isn't going to happen again. I'm like, oh. [00:30:00] Okay, that makes sense. So if I bring that into my sales and my ops processes, I don't have to start overthinking everything else.
It's like, not cringey, it doesn't suck, you know?
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah. And you can feel so much more confident in saying worth it. 'cause when you don't clarify those things, you're a little gun shy. Right? And that con, that lack of confidence comes through like, I don't know, are you gonna be a nightmare? Like, I don't wanna over promise, I don't want you to think that this, and they can.
Feel that, and it makes them not comfortable moving forward, rather than you just being like, Hey, if you don't check in with me, then I'm not gonna be able to catch things. And they can lapse and go really bad. And so are you able to do that? And then you're able to point back to it later too. It's managing expectations upfront.
I mean, there's so many benefits to it. Uh, and it makes the other person wanna work with you more that you're like. I'm not gonna just say that I can do everything with a magic wand and that confidence when you hear somebody confirm, yeah, I'm gonna do that, you're like, great. Okay. And it's a [00:31:00] different energy that, that they can feel confident in moving forward with you.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Yes, absolutely. And again, like then they're, they're gonna chase you, which has happened more since working with Alicia. All that to say, if you're trying to figure out your sales and build your sales team, work with Alicia, cannot say that enough. Um, but I wanna pick on something that you
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah.
Samantha C. Prestidge: like, we were making fun of like when people are like. Their filter for clients is, are you coachable? And that comes up in so many like networking calls where I'm like, well, who are the people I should be like looking out for to send to you? You know? And I'm like, I genuinely wanna send you a referral. And then they say like, oh, well it's less about the industry, it's less about this, it's more about the type of person.
And like, and I'm like, well, that, that gives me. Really no clue who to send to you. And like it's all vague. And so I I, along with desperation, I think the next most common thing in sales and positioning and, and your specialty of like wordsmithing the heck outta things is like understanding who the ideal client is, [00:32:00] which sometimes feels like a cringey cliche 'cause we hear it so often. But I would love. Your perspective there, because the amount of people that I hear that are like, oh, it's industry agnostic, or like, I'll work with the solopreneur to like the thousand person company. I'm like, how? Like, are you changing your processes so much for that? Like that's very different. And like, I mean, I get that you can anyway, like I can go at a whole rampage, but I wanna give you the chance to answer my rant instead.
Like how do you approach that with clients?
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah, so I mean it, it is a real issue. People are so scared to, to niche down and, and you know the saying the riches are in the niches and blah, blah, blah. And you don't have to just niche down by industry, um, or demographic. You can do it with other. Qualifying things. So, um, when I work with somebody, one of the questions I ask is, what are the patterns and the people who are really happy with the results with you, and we talk about that.
Um, usually like for example, [00:33:00] people who check in. So when you hear in, in your case, but when you hear somebody say like, oh, well people who are coachable, like, let's get specific about that. Okay. What do you mean? Do you mean that they, um. Implement what you say. Do you mean that they appreciate direct, honest feedback and don't want a Yes man, those are gonna be a lot more specific.
Not that for a referral partnership. That doesn't help for a referral partnership, but it does help in your messaging. You can say for people. Who are not looking for a yes man and want somebody who's gonna challenge them for transformation, I am your person that person's gonna know. And the person who wants a yes man is gonna be like, nevermind the fact that I have in my LinkedIn headline, stop selling like a douche bag.
I've had people tell me like, this is so inappropriate. And I'm like, I'm so glad we know that we are not a fit because it's the least inappropriate thing about me. So like really being able to filter out those people. Gonna, in a specific way, is gonna call [00:34:00] in the right person with a stronger magnetism.
So being able to get specific about what the, like, do you want somebody who's really formal? Do you want somebody who's more open to being fun? Like we are not gonna be stuffy here. Like if you need to be safe in your brand or whatever, then we're not the one for you. So we like to have fun. We like to make you stand out.
We like to. Stop the scroll, whatever. Getting more specific about it is going to make all the difference. And the other thing is that sometimes people worry like, oh, well if I say I'm for this person, then I won't get this other person. Right? So you do wanna, like, having a certain amount of employees in a company is a really helpful criteria.
But let's say, but sometimes I do do this other thing. Well, you know what? Those people can still come in. Like, I know people who have been like, I'm just for women, and they have pink on all their branding and they still get men. And it's like, if that man is attracted to your messaging, it's probably a man that you're fine working with.
[00:35:00] Those people will still come in. You don't have to worry about that and you are gonna get more of the right people. So just do it.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Yeah, like, I mean I, a lot of my messaging is like more for like the established consultant, but also get consultants that are. Just starting out. Like they know what they want for their business. They know what they don't wanna be doing. It's like, okay, cool. Like let's plug in an assistant for you. Like Absolutely.
And it's, I, we had a guest, Ashley Connell, uh, with the PROWESS project, and she talked about like, yeah, you use it as a magnet, not a filter. Like we don't have to say no to people that don't fit the exact profile and like, just to have a little bit more fun with the coachable stuff like. First off, when I hear someone say, I want someone that's coachable, I'm like, do you mean like you want someone that like just does what you say?
Like, are we like a little narcissistic in our coaching? Because usually it's like, you know, I'm like, I'm like, what do you like I am also like, what do you mean by that? And like, I personally, coachable means a lot of different things. Like I'm very coachable by a personal trainer. That's like more of a bootcamp drill sergeant that's gonna[00:36:00]
Aleasha Bahr: Oh,
Samantha C. Prestidge: at me on what to
Aleasha Bahr: you like that? I hate
Samantha C. Prestidge: Hi.
Aleasha Bahr: that. I respond
Samantha C. Prestidge: no.
Aleasha Bahr: negatively to a drill sergeant. It makes me wanna be like, no, I don't wanna do what you're saying.
Samantha C. Prestidge: No, when I work out. Like I need you to, I respond to negative reinforcement, like make me feel like I'm a lazy piece of shit and I'll be like, I'm not, I promise, like I'll do the pull up.
Okay. I promise. But like, if you make me feel like a dumb piece of shit in my business, like no, I'm not gonna let you coach me to my dreams and my goals. Right? So like coachable. Whatever we wanna say, coachability, whatever the word is, like it means different things in different contexts for me. And so like, yeah, I need you to specify what that means for you, you know,
Aleasha Bahr: It's, it's way, way too vague. And I mean, working with you, I know what you mean. And this is the thing I want people to tell me when what I'm suggesting doesn't feel right, so that we can figure out what does feel right. So when you say like, I'm maybe not as coachable in my. Business in the way of the drill sergeant example, you are.
You're just like, I'm just not gonna pretend like that [00:37:00] advice works for me. I wanna share why it doesn't, in hopes that we can discuss a solution that does feel right. Which is what it should be like.
Samantha C. Prestidge: A conversation? You mean like
Aleasha Bahr: Yep. Look,
Samantha C. Prestidge: a regular back and forth, like real humans?
Aleasha Bahr: yes.
Samantha C. Prestidge: that what we're talking
Aleasha Bahr: An exchange. I mean, I think there are some people who just constantly say no and like put up a brick wall and it's like, why are we here?
Um, but that's not the case for a lot of people. And I mean, you can tell that I think in the sales conversation,
Samantha C. Prestidge: mean, I can tell in a sales conversation if like they wanna treat their VA like a task doer, and I'm like, oh, like, especially in people like, oh, no one's ever met my expectations before. I'm like,
Aleasha Bahr: red flag.
Samantha C. Prestidge: Like, ooh. maybe we're bad at explaining our expectations. Maybe like we micromanage without expectations and that's not true for everybody.
Like there's definitely people that, like you definitely can work with an assistant. You've just been like through a bunch of crappy assistants, like let's help you for sure. But yeah, like we've gotta figure out what are those red flags [00:38:00] that and the patterns and the people that are usually pissed off at us.
Like, when I interview VAs as well, I'm like, I don't wanna know your favorite manager. Like I wanna know the manager that annoyed you the most,
Aleasha Bahr: Ooh.
Samantha C. Prestidge: that pissed you off the most. Like, I wanna make sure you don't work with those people. So like, I need to know that.
But, okay, we're coming up on time. Alicia, I wanna, I always ask people this, so I wanna know for you, if someone is struggling like they. Feel like their business is a little over complicated. They feel like sales is a little bit messy for them. Like what's your baby step advice for them, like first step of simplifying and figuring it out.
Aleasha Bahr: I think the first step is really understanding the patterns and the people who are happy with results and the patterns and the people who are not, and the patterns and the people who say yes to working with you and the patterns and the people who say no, and, and usually the people who say yes know more or have more context for what you do.
And so you can use that as a way to create materials that that warm up a person in the way [00:39:00] you need 'em to be warmed up.
Samantha C. Prestidge: I, the way you're speaking though, like squirrel moment, I really just want like a beat boxing. Like if anyone knows Sophie Tucker, like I just want like a Sophie Tucker. Like patterns in the people, patterns in the like, you know, like I just want a custom branded song for Alicia of like patterns in the people, you know,
Aleasha Bahr: I love that I've been wanting to make a black sheep song.
Samantha C. Prestidge: dude. I am here for it. I will jam out to it for sure. Uh, as long as it's cool. If it sucks, I'll tell you. It sucks.
Aleasha Bahr: I, I appreciate that honesty.
Samantha C. Prestidge: There you
Aleasha Bahr: I need it.
Samantha C. Prestidge: coachable guys.
Aleasha Bahr: Yeah.
Samantha C. Prestidge: come on. Uh, all right, well, thank you so much for giving us your time and gracing us with all your fun non douche bag wisdom today, Alicia. It's been awesome.
Aleasha Bahr: So fun. Thank you, Sam.
