Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nikki Rausch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nikki, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Despite having achieved great success in my sales career, I felt that something was still missing from it. With this realization came the courage to leave everything behind and embark on a quest to find out what really mattered to me. My entrepreneurial journey began when I started attending women-only networking events. What followed were life-changing encounters with ambitious female entrepreneurs who had found their “thing” while chasing after their dreams.
Through getting to know some fantastic entrepreneurs, it quickly became apparent that for many of them, money wasn’t coming in as easily as they’d like. It was obvious why; selling strategies and tactics weren’t a part of their repertoire! I knew from experience how vital these skills are when you want to make big leaps with your business. With passion burning inside me, I started showing women the secrets behind successful sales conversations.
When women are empowered to sell with confidence, the result is a powerful shift in financial stability and greater opportunity for creating positive change in their businesses, families, and communities.
Nikki, 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?
CEO of Sales Maven, an organization dedicated to authentic selling, Nikki Rausch has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of “selling”.
With 25+ years of experience selling to such prestigious organizations as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, and NASA, Nikki shattered sales records in many industries, receiving multiple “top producer” awards along the way.
Today, entrepreneurs and small business owners from a wide range of disciplines hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically, without being pushy or salesy.
An engaging and sought-after speaker, she shares the secrets of her sales success through illuminating keynote addresses and business-changing workshops. Her robust Sales Maven Society ignites game-changing outcomes for clients.
Nikki’s three popular books are available at Amazon. And her podcast, Sales Maven, can be found on your favorite podcast platform.
Services I offer include:
PRIVATE 1:1 COACHING: tailored specifically to you and your business
SALES MAVEN SOCIETY: monthly group coaching program
MASTER CLASS: deep dive virtual workshops on specific sales topics
SALES STRATEGY SESSIONS: 50-minute sessions over Zoom
Clients hire me to learn what to say and how to say it to uplevel their influence and income.
What sets me apart from others in my field is I teach a framework for how to have a successful sales conversation, it’s called The Selling Staircase. It breaks down an effective sales conversation into 5 easy to follow steps. This framework allows for each person to be their genuine self – none of this hit them over the head with pain points garbage.
Also, I teach that sales isn’t something you do to another person, selling is something you do with another person. It’s a collaboration. The idea that you have to convince people to buy from you comes off as manipulative and gross.
What I want most people to know about my work is that anyone and everyone can learn how to be effective in a sales conversation. This is not a “natural-born” skill for only a select group of people. Selling skills can be learned.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The most prominent story is when covid hit and all of my live/in-person speaking events and trainings were canceled. More importantly, many of my clients’ businesses were hit even harder by the shutdown.
As a way to serve my clients and support them in getting through the tough times, I started offering weekly group coaching sessions virtually without raising any prices. These extra sessions allowed clients to bring their questions and challenges and receive immediate advice and coaching so they could implement changes needed immediately.
One of the many benefits of these extra coaching sessions to my own business is that I had to learn how to demonstrate and teach selling skills in a new way. My overall ability to communicate was expanded.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson I had to unlearn was that when you have your own business, it isn’t just about what you’ve sold that month. It’s about the overall health and sustainability of your business long term.
As a professional sales rep, I was so used to the mindset of having to “start over” at zero each month. I’ve had many sales managers say, “It doesn’t matter what you sold last month; it only matters what you’ve done for me lately.”
Shifting my mindset to move away from this “hustle” mentality has been difficult. It wasn’t too long ago that I was disappointed by my monthly sales number because I missed hitting a benchmark by $2.50 – yes, that’s right, two dollars and fifty cents. The number I did hit was incredible and contributed to some significant growth in my business, but all I could focus on was falling short.
I’m a work in progress and continue to focus on my overall leadership skills, being the CEO of my business and not just a working sales representative.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yoursalesmaven.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/your_sales_maven/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yoursalesmaven/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerausch/
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/SalesMaven
Image Credits
Nikki Closser Photography