The power of communication: If people don’t understand your offering, they can’t buy it.
Interview with James Newell, Founder of Clear Sales Message
Tell us about Clear Sales Message. What do you do?
Principally, I teach people how to sell. Whether you’re looking to improve your performance or if you fear, hate or avoid selling; there are two key components that make the difference: Clarity + Confidence. Firstly, you need to be able to clearly and concisely explain your offering and (more importantly) why anyone should care about it. I call this having a Clear Sales Message™ Secondly, you need to know how to behave in a selling situation. This includes things like how to ask for the business or handle objections. I call this Selling Confidence™. When you have clarity of message and confidence of delivery, your conversion improves.
What is your startup’s origin story?
The business began quite organically, I knew I wanted to work for myself but wasn’t really sure in what capacity. After a 12 year successful corporate sales career, a friend suggested I “teach people how to sell” and that working for free to establish my offering was the best option. I Know there are mixed thoughts on working for free, but my first few free clients provided the insight that I needed. It became very clear that its difficult to articulate your offering, differentiate in the marketplace and answer basic buyer questions. This is your “value proposition”, but as many of the people I first encountered weren’t sure of the term, I coined the term “Clear Sales Message™” so anyone could guess at what I was doing and be right (or at least in the ballpark). That early work evolved into a methodology and then into the other elements needed to improve your sales performance such as how to name something, how to write a tagline, understanding buyer behaviour and more.
Had you been involved in the industry before this startup? What is your background?
Not directly. I’ve been in sales for 12 years, which qualifies me to know how to operate, but specifically teaching sales and running a consultancy were both new concepts to me when I launched.
Take us through a day in your life. What does the typical day look like?
I’m usually up early with the children as I often work from home (even without the pandemic) Mornings I have time set aside for client and creative work, I’ll then check emails and socials when I am done. Every day I endeavour to have a 1hr walk and listen to a book/make calls to get time away from my screen. The afternoon is much like the morning. I have creative work / client work to complete and then catch up on socials/emails. I’m trying to be as visible and available as possible on Linkedin so am often filming videos and connecting with people there long into the evening…
What has been the most challenging part of growing your company?
The most challenging part has been speed. I wanted to create a niche and dominate it as quickly as possible, so that meant writing books, creating online courses and launching a membership programme (whilst servicing my consultancy clients) as quickly as possible.
What has been your best marketing channel? What are some channels you are looking to explore next?
BNI -(Business Networking International) Networking and word of mouth referral has by far been the best source of business for me. When your potential clients are recommended to you and have seen examples of your work, it’s hard for them to NOT buy.
What apps do you use that you would recommend to others?
Buffer for social media posts. Google Keep for to-do list and ideas Google Drive for all work. I also have 6 separate, monthly backups of all of my books, courses, websites etc as if I were to lose any of them it would be devastating to the business.
Do you have a book, podcast, or Youtube channel you would recommend to other Entrepreneurs?
Yes, Sam Ovens is someone I recommend regularly. He produces long form videos (or at least he did as he’s been inactive for a while). His style is to cut to the chase, eliminate the noise and just get on with it — something that resonates with me massively.
What’s are your goals for your business?
I only have one goal and that is to be recognised globally for my work. I am in the process of moving beyond just the UK and Europe and into the US/AUS/NZ/CAN markets.
If you could go back in time to the day you founded your company, what advice would you give yourself?
To relax and have more faith in myself. It all turned out ok ;-)
