Let’s look at the critical but often overlooked aspect of business growth – sales. In this candid conversation, Ramon shares personal insights about his own business journey and why embracing sales, despite its potential “boringness,” is essential for sustainable success.
Key Points:
- Systematic sales processes are critical for growing beyond the initial stages of business
- Post-COVID business landscape has changed, requiring adaptation in client acquisition
- Identifying perfect customers and influencers is essential for effective sales
- Consistent follow-up is where most sales processes fall short
- The right mindset matters more than specific sales tools
- Sales should be viewed as a service, not a burden to customers
Don’t miss out – subscribe to our YouTube channel to get every daily episode | Also check out and sign up for our podcast
Embracing the Uncomfortable for Business Growth
Ramon begins by sharing a personal revelation about his business. For over twenty years, he enjoyed success through unsolicited business opportunities – speaking engagements, brand deals, and other opportunities that came to him through word-of-mouth and his reputation. However, the post-COVID landscape disrupted this pattern, forcing him to reevaluate his approach.
“Something changed, and I don’t know exactly what it was, but something changed, and those deals slowed down. My business has been dramatically different,” Ramon admits. This transition led him to an important realization: sustainable business growth requires systematic outbound sales processes, not just passive inbound leads.
Ramon emphasizes that while businesses can reach certain revenue milestones through hustle alone, scaling beyond that requires purpose-built systems: “Yes. You can build a business up to about a hundred thousand, maybe even up to half a million or so. But after a while, hustle alone doesn’t work.”
The Power of Doing What’s Uncomfortable
Throughout the episode, Ramon repeatedly stresses the importance of embracing discomfort for growth. He draws parallels to athletes, military personnel, and successful business figures who have all mastered the art of doing what’s uncomfortable to achieve greatness.
“You have to do what’s uncomfortable, what you don’t like, what normally you wouldn’t do. It doesn’t fit you so well to get where you need to be,” he explains. This perspective frames sales not as an unpleasant task but as a necessary growth practice that yields significant rewards.
Ramon’s raw honesty about his own challenges with sales creates a relatable moment for viewers who may share similar resistance. By acknowledging sales as “boring,” he removes the stigma and encourages viewers to see it as simply part of the business growth process.
A Systematic Approach to Sales
Ramon outlines a straightforward framework for improving sales results:
- Identify your perfect (or almost perfect) customer: For Ramon’s speaking business, this means events with 300-1,000+ attendees at major venues with professional production values – organizations with the budget to afford his services. He encourages viewers to define their own ideal customer profiles with similar specificity.
- Identify influencers: Beyond direct customers, Ramon emphasizes the importance of connecting with people who influence potential customers. “Not just knowing your customers, but knowing people who are the influencers of your customers,” he explains.
- Build relationships through conversation: Following his Celebrity CEO principles (generate awareness, build trust, earn sales), Ramon stresses the importance of nurturing relationships with potential customers.
- Master the follow-up: “Most people don’t follow-up enough,” Ramon emphasizes, noting that persistent, professional follow-up is often what separates successful salespeople from the rest.
- Make the offer: Quoting Kim Walsh Phillips, Ramon encourages viewers to actually make offers once they’ve built awareness and trust.
Sales as Service
Perhaps the most powerful reframing Ramon offers is viewing sales as service rather than solicitation. Quoting Shay Brown, he reminds viewers that “selling is service” when you genuinely have solutions that address customer needs.
“What you have to sell, Deborah, for the right fit audience is a service for them,” Ramon says, addressing one of his viewers directly. This perspective transforms sales from a potentially uncomfortable interaction into a genuine effort to help others.
Tools and Learning Resources
While Ramon mentions several CRM tools (Zoho CRM, Nimble, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive), he emphasizes that mindset trumps technology: “To make money in sales, the tool is secondary or third. It doesn’t even matter so much.” He encourages viewers to start with whatever tools they have available, even if that’s just a spreadsheet.
More importantly, he advocates for continuous learning about sales through books, YouTube videos, podcasts, and even formal sales training courses. The willingness to learn and improve selling skills is presented as a critical investment in business growth.
The Celebrity CEO Principles
Ramon weaves his Celebrity CEO principles throughout the episode, reminding viewers that his process remains consistent: generate awareness, build trust, earn sales. This framework provides a reliable foundation for approaching not just sales but all aspects of business growth.
He concludes with an inspirational call to action, encouraging viewers to “stop hiding” and embrace their potential: “We need people who will step up and stand out and make a difference. Who are tired of living a mediocre life.”
This powerful episode strips away the glamour often associated with business success to focus on a fundamental truth: mastering sales, however boring it might seem, is essential for sustainable business growth. Ramon’s transparency about his own journey creates an authentic connection with viewers facing similar challenges in their businesses.
Related articles:
How Boring Businesses Can Better Market Themselves(Opens in a new browser tab)
Successful Entrepreneurs Embrace the Hard Parts of Business(Opens in a new browser tab)
