We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tish Times a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tish, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

For many years I would hear business coaches talk about the importance of knowing your “why”. I struggled with that question for a long time, because for some reason I felt as though it had to be a philanthropic or world-changing ideal. When I changed the question to “What do I want my legacy to be?” It was crystal clear once I shifted my focus. I have 3 amazing kids (now all grown men), 2 beautiful grandbabies, 7 fantastic Godchildren, and a host of people who I have the privilege of leading alongside my husband in ministry. Additionally, I have the most phenomenal team who help me run my companies and we are still growing. I want my businesses to prosper and profit so much that they are a blessing to my family financially, however, I want to leave so much more than money. I endeavor to live in such a way that my children, grandchildren, Godchildren, and others who may look up to me will receive a lasting impact from the words I’ve spoken to them and the way I lived before them. I want others to know that anything is possible when you couple your belief with action. I want them to be better, believe bigger, and take action because of the example I’ve set. Most importantly, I want lives to be changed for the better because I was on the earth and used my God-given words and talent to be a blessing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I own a sales agency. However, I never intended to get into sales. I started this company in 2010 as a career coaching firm because I’d been in the staffing industry for many years. I was hosting networking meetings to connect job seekers with hiring managers. The monthly events grew quickly and were very successful. Eventually, more entrepreneurs began showing up, inquiring how I’d developed the event quickly. One of the entrepreneurs in attendance asked to buy me breakfast and, after being seated, declared that she was hiring me to be her business coach. When I explained that I wasn’t a business coach, she insisted that I had what it takes to increase sales using networking quickly. I took her on as my first business client, and over the last 12 years, my business has morphed into a sales agency that supports companies that may not have the time to focus on sales or a team to delegate the sales activities. We perform all sales activities for our clients and act as an extension of their team.

Tish Times Sales Agency helps companies close more sales through prospecting activities, sales calls, follow-up sequences, appointment setting, discovery calls, & nurturing existing clients. We help skyrocket revenue for companies with a done-for-you sales solution. Our expertise is in helping companies to attract more leads, maintain an entire pipeline, and convert more prospects to clients. We love making introverted leaders who don’t love sales shine! We help our clients create long-term clients, not transactional interactions.

I am extremely proud of the people who work with me on my team. They are the most professional, talented, and dedicated people in the world. I am also proud of our tenacity. This industry isn’t the easiest, but we are extremely flexible and continuously learning and adapting so we can help our clients have the highest revenue possible.

A question I often get is “Does your company do sales only via automation or do you actually have people who pick up the phone to help close sales?” The answer is both. We have automation tools to help find leads for our clients and keep them visible, AND we have a team of results-producing people who make calls, send emails, and use a multitude of follow-up strategies to help our clients sell more products and services.

What I believe sets us apart from others who do similar work is the fact that we are relationship-focused. We don’t dial for dollars or make hundreds of calls to fill a quota. I would rather make fewer calls, connect with prospective clients, and build relationships that result in loyal, lasting clients as opposed to a few transient transactions. We want our clients to get more referrals because we’ve taken good care of their clients.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I have had to unlearn and continue to resist is that scarcity is a mindset. Although I grew up in a military family with a nice house and had all my basic needs met, my mother grew up very poor. We had a great life, however, unintentionally, my mother passed on many of her fears around scarcity and poverty. I don’t judge or fault her for this because we teach what we know until we know better.

Years of observing this mindset in action created fears in me that I didn’t even realize I had taken on. One of the many places this showed up for me was when I started my business. I was resistant to charging for the value I provided because of the mindset I had taken on. I wouldn’t hire employees when I really needed to because I didn’t think I could afford it. It took me a lot longer than it should have for me to hire a business coach, because, once again, I was fearful of spending the money.

A scarcity mindset is dangerous. Because I didn’t believe that I could be wealthy, I subconsciously chased wealth away. I have always been fairly good at selling because I love building relationships and serving people, I found that when I would earn more income, I would self-sabotage and the money would dwindle right back down to my real belief level. Because I’d grown accustomed to just barely getting by, even when I started making 6-figures, it was never enough. It’s been a journey, and as I said, I still have to remind myself regularly that I am worthy of wealth but, I’m grateful for the realization and the tools I employ to fight against it when it tries to arise.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I’ve been able to grow my clientele through consistent networking, speaking at events, and employing a flawless follow-up system. Something I hear people often say of me is that they hired me because I was very consistent with my follow-up. Often people think that they are bothering people by continuing to reach out after meeting a prospective client. I firmly believe that people are just busy. If someone says no, then you may not continue to follow-up. When someone doesn’t respond, however, it may just mean that they have not had time to get back to you. If I know someone legitimately needs what offer and I can help them, it’s important to me to create an opportunity to be of service. I use a multi-touch approach to follow-up that doesn’t feel weird for the prospective client or me. This habit has proven to work for my company and now I help other companies to do the same thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tishtimes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tishtimes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachTishTimes
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tishtimes/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/TishTimesCoach-Speaker-Trainer

Image Credits
Roshan Spottsville