You're Going To Be Great At This!

In the noisy world of modern sales, standing out is no longer just about having a great product; it’s about creating a great first impression. In a recent episode of the "You're Going To Be Great At This" podcast, Elizabeth Brewington joins the conversation to dive deep into how professionals can effectively grab a prospect's attention. The discussion emphasizes that in an era of digital overload, the traditional "cold" approach is evolving into a more personalized strategy that prioritizes human connection over generic scripts. One of the foundational pillars discussed is the importance of pre-call research. Brewington highlights that generic outreach is often ignored because it lacks relevance. By taking just a few minutes to look into a prospect’s recent milestones, LinkedIn activity, or company news, you can transform a cold lead into a warm conversation. This preparation allows you to show the prospect that you have invested time in understanding their ...

In a world where automation and AI are becoming the standard, human-centric service is no longer just a "nice-to-have"—it is a competitive advantage. In a recent episode of the "You're Going To Be Great At This" podcast, Dave Gulas,  co-founder of EZDC 3PL and host of the Beyond Fulfillment podcast, tells us about how he makes customer service a priority while making the most of his competitors' complacency. We also discuss 3PL's (third party logistics) and how they help online businesses. He also  shared his philosophy on how to bake customer service into the very DNA of an organization. Dave emphasizes that you cannot provide world-class service to your clients if you aren’t providing it to your employees first. When employees feel supported, valued, and empowered, that positive energy naturally overflows into their interactions with customers. One of the simplest yet most effective ways to stand out is through responsiveness. Dave discusses the impor...

Networking is important for the success of our business, sales goals, and even personal relationships. Meeting people and building a rapport with them can lead to other introductions and referrals. But what should you do after a networking event to increase the odds of meeting your goals? Years ago, I would go to a networking event and hand out business cards like I was dealing poker. People would be polite and say "thank you" with an occasional "I'll give you a call". Of course, they did not call. Disappointed, I would question why I should bother and ask myself how this was working for other people. A coworker explained that I needed to be more proactive. Instead of handing out my cards (which are not cheap, by the way), I should be collecting cards from others, and following up on my own. This worked and I was soon booking appointments and getting some traction. Recently, I had Dorien Morin-Van Dam, host of the Strategy Talks podcast (a great listen) and we ...

I met Carl Willis a few years ago through LinkedIn and I immediately was struck by his generosity. He is always happy to get on a Zoom call or accept my invitation to appear on my podcast. He has even invited me on his podcast, as well as other online events like his webinar.  In this episode, Carl and I discuss working on skillset, and more specifically, communicating your business' mission online. Listen in and let me know what you think. And please subscribe/follow the podcast! Chris Castane s is a humorous speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. His new book, "Nearly Motivated" is available on Amazon. For booking information,  click here . His new podcast,  "You're Going To Be Great At This!"  is available on most platforms.   He's also the president of  Surf Financial Brokers  selling life and disability insurance in several states.

As someone who is self-employed, I have found that a great way to get my message out and to network with people I want to meet. By joining my local chamber of commerce, I've met great people, become referable and learned about all kinds of businesses that I didn't know existed. In an episode of the "You're Going To Be Great At This" podcast, I talked with Wendy Malenfant of the Little River (SC) Chamber of Commerce and we discussed the perks of joining a chamber.  I sincerely hope you find value in our podcast and ask that you follow/subscribe.  Chris Castane s is a humorous speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. His new book, "Nearly Motivated" is available on Amazon. For booking information,  click here . His new podcast,  "You're Going To Be Great At This!"  is available on most platforms.   He's also the president of  Surf Financial Brokers  selling life and disability insurance in sever...

I was pretty surprised when I saw that my last blog post was several months ago. Time really does fly when you're having fun, or in my case, just having a busy workload. In the last few months I've been on the road for an approximate total of 9 weeks. Needless to say I get less than motivated to work in a hotel room after selling insurance for 8 hours, so blogging isn't on my "to do" list. While driving in my car during these trips I try to make my time productive my listening to podcasts on business and marketing. I'm not sure if someone was trying to tell me something but over the course of a week or so, I heard 4 episodes on how starting a podcast can help boost your business. After mulling this over and considering my options, I decided to take the plunge and start one myself. I've had a YouTube channel for a while which is fine, but I wanted to do something a little different. So I decided to start the "You're Going To Be Great At This!"...

This blog usually has actionable sales tips and advice to help you succeed in your business. This time, I wanted to take a look at another part of your business, which is scheduling appointments or sales calls or whatever you need to schedule.  Having a scheduling calendar that your prospects can make your job so much easier. Instead of calling back and forth to pin a time to meet down, you can let your prospect/client pick their own time. According to FinancesOnline.com, online scheduling can lead to 26% more customers, so sharing your calendar is a real no-brainer. I have a Google calendar that I use to book appointments, but I have also been using Calendly and sharing it on my website and social media. The two calendars are supposed to sync up to avoid double bookings, but recently I discovered an issue.  I had blocked out a couple of days on my Google calendar for a business conference, but Calendly was still showing those days as available. After trying to find a way to f...

I try to attend networking events when I have the time. These meetings can be productive if you can work the room (or in this case, table) efficiently.  The group I had lunch with consists of about 25 people, some of which I have known for a while, but there are always new faces passing through. A few months back, one of the newbies was Angie Cowger. She and her husband own and operate Custard Stand Chili, selling their chili and chili soup to grocers across the southeast.   I managed to get her to have a conversation with me via Zoom a few weeks after meeting her and it turned out pretty well. Have a peek and please subscribe to my channel. Ch ris Castane s is a humorous speaker and former comedian who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. His newest book, "Nearly Motivated", is yet another humorous look at sales. For booking information,  click here.  As president of  Surf Financial Brokers   he sells life and...

Over the last few years I have realized that I really enjoy being a guest on podcasts. I've been featured as a guest on about a dozen and they have always been fun. The hosts are as diverse as their podcasts. One host was apparently in the Middle East while others were comedians or local entrepreneurs.  Recently I was asked to share my experiences on the Sales Hindsight with Patrick Kagan of the PK Solutions Group. I met Patrick through a group on LinkedIn and he has been a great supporter of my work, even contributing a blurb for my newest book, "Nearly Motivated".  He's an internationally renowned author and speaker as well.  We had a great talk and I wanted to share it with you. We discuss branding yourself and using humor, among other topics. Patrick is a skilled host and makes the podcast informative AND interesting.  Take a listen here and let me know what you think. Ch ris Castane s is a humorous speaker and former comedian who helps sales people succeed thro...

Are you leveraging social media to help your business? Are you posting daily and creating content like the "experts" say to do? Most importantly, are you getting results? I've tried using most of the more popular platforms for my insurance business, as well as my writing and speaking business. To say the results are "mixed" would be generous. This may be because I really haven't invested much into advertising on these platforms.  The way I see it, when Facebook, for example, allows me to set up a free page for my business, that is like a "free trial" to see if I can get any interest in my product or service. After nearly 15 years of this trial period, I have garnered little to no business.  One can come up with two arguments here. The first is why would you throw money at advertising when you haven't seen any returns. The other side is that "you could have done better if you had quit being a tight ass penny pincher." Fair enough. But ...

As an author of a book on sales I am asked to speak to groups of sales people. There are times, however, when I give a presentation to a civic group or some other kind of organization that isn't necessarily a sales group. For those I adapt my talk to let everyone in the audience know that they are, indeed, in sales. I will usually ask the audience who is in sales. A few hands go up. Then I ask who is not in sales and more hands are raised. That's when I break the bad news to them. They are in sales whether they think so or not. As the old adage goes, the first step is admitting you have a problem. It makes me want to put the audience's chairs in a circle and have a "sales intervention".  As discussed previously, we are all in sales in some form or fashion. Luckily,  basic sales techniques are easily transferable to other parts of our lives. Anyone who has tried to convince a coworker to try a different approach to a problem is in sales. Singles bars (are they stil...

In my first book I told the story of going on a call with my sales manager, Tom, who was obligated to observe each of the people on our crew every few weeks or so. Fortunately for me, the manager was pretty cool, even though he was a couple of years younger than myself. He had apparently gone to work for the insurance company not long after getting out of high school and had done well enough to get a small promotion. With that being said, these "ride alongs" weren't as horrible as I expected them to be. We'd usually take his car, which saved me gas money, because driving around in the middle of nowhere doing door-to-door sales could rack up a lot of miles and waste fuel. On our first stop Tom taught me an important lessons in sales. When making a sales call with a coworker, make sure that only one of you is doing the talking . The best way for this to succeed is to decide before going into through the door who will make the presentation.  If we decided that I was to g...