Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bill Walton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bill, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

I after working in sales and sales leadership for fortune 500 consumer products organizations, I realized that I cared more about developing people than selling the next truckload of my product. I always knew that I wanted to be a consultant, but I didn’t know what domain I wanted to practice in. I also had to think about where my expertise lies and where I wanted to be an “expert.” When I made the decision to enter into the world of training and development, I felt I didn’t know enough about the learning profession and went to work for several larger training and coaching firms to see how training was sold and delivered. I actually sold those services, developed clients, but also got to know the delivery network that was providing the facilitation in the classroom. These were 1099 employees living a great life. They were on the road from Monday through Thursday, they would send in their expense report on a Friday and have the rest of the weekend to relax. These experiences and connections shaped my vision of how I wanted to live and work. I hired an executive coach to test my ideas and give me a confidence to start my own firm. I spent a year and a half working with early-stage companies that had nothing – no messaging, no sales process, no sales aptitude. I figured if I could work with these people I could work with anyone. I knew in the beginning I would need a point of view and a unique approach to sales training. That was the hard part. I had to put myself out there with MY version. While I knew I needed to do this, there was also great risk and a lot of stress that came with that. I would say that the greatest accomplishment in my own practice has been the validation of my point of view and the ability to not just survive but to make a great living.

Bill, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a client acquisition expert and work with firms that have realized the need to grow beyond their current client base. I create enterprise sales learning that develops the talent to succeed in the era of value creation and artificial intelligence. While much of our work is custom, we have created a library of “just add water” training programs that help salespeople excel in the defining moments of the sales process. What sets me apart is that I am a businessperson doing training versus a training person operating in the business world. To sell my services I utilize and employ the very same techniques and tactics I encourage our clients to use. My clients know that I have their very best interests at heart, and I care about them and their people. Most of my students think I work for their firm! The work that I do is part of who I am. I have a deep-rooted joy of helping and the desire to coach others to be successful. I’ve done it on the athletic field and now I’m doing it in corporate America. I’m an Amazon best-selling author and the only consultant that is hired to teach business development at The Wharton School of Continuing Education. I am most proud of the fact that I knew what shifts and pivots to make to get to every level of my success whether that was additional education, deeper industry insights or access to subject matter experts.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been three major social and economic events that had the potential to ruin my business.
1. I started my practice eight months after September 11. Lucky for me I was living in New York City and I could build business locally after the dust had settled from that tragic event.

2. From 2008 to 2012 we suffered the worst recession our country had ever seen next to the great depression. I was able to pivot into other industries like Pharma to be able to take my skills and training to an industry less affected by the financial markets.

3. The third major shift was our pandemic. I had hundreds of thousands of dollars of business canceled but I never stopped trying to give to the sales profession and hone my ability to deliver training virtually in shorter bursts and lively interaction.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

A mentor of mine once told me to never turn down a speaking engagement. What he meant by that statement was that there is great value in being in a room with 50-1,000 potential prospects. But the other benefit is the need to shape a point of view and speak about topics that are valuable AND relevant to an audience. With my background in human behavior and years of experience, I have been able to share the “why” around my recommendations and provide the reasoning behind my beliefs and training approaches.

I’ve also make it a point to interview participants prior to delivering training. I do this to learn about the uniqueness of their job, but also to give them a view into who I am and provide additional coaching or insight. When I get to the classroom participants feel that they were truly heard and understood and buy in to the underpinnings of my training and recommendations. Many of my past participants engage with me to this day.

I think I also learned early on that no one is going to promote you with out your promoting yourself. I modeled the best in the business and leveraged LinkedIn and other social media early. I also live by the credo “a giving hand is always full, ” a motto shared with my by my mentor, John Orvos. It seems that the more I seek to help others be successful, the more comes back to me in gratitude and eventually more business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.billwaltonsalestraining.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebillwalton/

Image Credits

Bill Walton