Kevin Beales on Sales Tips, Building Trust and Winning Work Without Competing on Price

Welcome to Episode 9 of The Modern Compliance Podcast. In this episode, host Paul King is joined by Kevin Beales, sales leader, serial entrepreneur and founder of MySalesCoach, to explore how surveying and compliance businesses can level up their sales game, without the pushy tactics the word "sales" often brings to mind. In their conversation, Paul and Kevin dismantle some of the most common myths in sales, starting with the idea that great salespeople are simply "born with the gift of the gab." Kevin makes the case that selling is a set of coachable skills, and that success comes not from being liked, but from being trusted.  They also get practical with trusted techniques for sales success and advice for busy business owners. Kevin shares his thinking on choosing the right customers, defining an ideal customer profile (ICP), and reverse-engineering your sales approach from the kind of business you actually want to build.  Key Topics Discussed: • Why ‘born salespeople’ is a myth, and how selling is really a set of coachable skills. • Different tactics that work when selling locally versus nationally. • Why people buy from those they trust and respect, not those they like. • What it means to be a ‘trusted advisor’ in sales and solving the problems that matter. • Why sales discovery and asking the right questions is the highest-impact skill in sales. • The ‘need to be liked’ trap and how it leads to talking about yourself. • The perils of discounting too easily and avoiding difficult questions. • Practical techniques for uncomfortable conversations. • The powerful ‘Can I ask a difficult question?’ approach. • Defining your ideal customer profile (ICP) then reverse-engineering your sales approach. • Handling pricing conversations and avoiding the industry's 'race to the bottom'. • The red and green flags to watch for in a prospect. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction 00:52 – Are Salespeople Born or Made? 02:20 – Selling Locally vs Nationally 04:23 – Why People Buy on Trust, Not Being Liked 05:29 – The Doctor Analogy 08:01 – Sales as Helping, Not Closing 09:43 – The Power of Sales Discovery 11:07 – The "Need to Be Liked" Trap 13:31 – "Can I Ask a Difficult Question?" 14:44 – Handling Price Conversations 16:57 – Choosing the Right Customers 17:51 – Ideal Customer Profile and Lifetime Value 21:04 – Profit vs Revenue and Building to Sell 24:13 – Long-Term Contracts and Road Bumps 28:26 – Small vs Large Customers 30:42 – Mistakes Owners Wearing Many Hats Make 32:00 – Divorcing Yourself From the Outcome 36:22 – Limiting Beliefs and Imposter Syndrome 41:18 – Avoiding the Race to the Bottom 46:57 – Proving You're the Best Partner Before Price 48:58 – Red and Green Flags in a Prospect 51:48 – How to Work With Kevin 52:49 – Final Thoughts Links and Resources: Connect with Host Paul King on LinkedIn   / paulking1   Connect with Kevin Beales on LinkedIn   / kevinbeales   Visit the My Sales Coach Website https://mysalescoach.com This podcast was brought to you by Flow Mobile Surveying, an app that lets surveyors do 90% of their work on-site. Learn more and book a demo: https://flowmobile.app If you have any questions related to this podcast, email us at: https://flowmobile.app/contact This Podcast Was Produced and Recorded at Flamingo Heights Podcast Studio 🦩 https://flamingoheights.co.uk