Own Your Expertise – The Key to Standing Out in Sales

Foreign and this week I'm going to be covering off a subject that I think is so, so important when it comes to those in sales.

And a lot of time this is also related to confidence.

And the topic I'm going to cover today is about how to own your own expertise.

And let me talk a little bit about why I think this is such an important area and also why I think it's something that people don't do enough and they should do.

And when I get lots of, I get lots of questions and thoughts that come in from different people and one of the things that always comes that strikes me as being really obvious in, in, in my world, but maybe not obvious in other people's worlds.

People will say to me, oh, well, I'm an expert in such and such in doing this, this and this, but I'm not an expert in sales.

And I always say to people, you know, wow, but you're an expert in that subject area whether it's manufacturing for IT companies, whether it's security systems, whether it's HR for, you know, publishing companies, I don't know.

There is a, there is a huge amount of knowledge and experience and away and details that you'd have built up in your industry.

And too often most people are really blase about that.

They're really forgetful about.

Oh, it doesn't, as if.

So it doesn't really matter, you know, what I've done doesn't really matter.

They have knowledge in that space and it does, it does have matter.

It doesn't have importance.

And what I want to talk about today is how, how to own your own expertise and to do that in a way that doesn't make you out to be a, for want of a better phrase, an arrogant dick, but makes you out as being someone that's an expert in your and what you can then do to try and showcase that and help that become stronger and help that, you know, with your sales activities that you do.

And I think it's, as I say, really, really important.

So the first thing I'm going to say to you is what is your unique value?

What is your selling point?

What is it that you bring that's different.

And one of the first things I encourage people to do is to, and I have these conversations with customers but I encourage you to do it as a person that's listening to is what is your expertise?

What is it, you know.

And it's great exercise to do to write down, get a piece of paper, Write down the 10 things you know about your industry or your specialist area.

So let's say you work in the insurance space and let's say you work specifically in a specific type of insurance.

Maybe it's in certain type of technical insurance, for example, and maybe you know a certain amount of information related to how risks are conducted in that insurance area.

I want to write down what it is that you feel that you know, what you, what have you built up in your career, what do you write that and write down five ideally, but 10 ideally, things that you know about your industry.

And the reason it's good to write down 5 or 10 is if you can then push forward and write down 15, 20, 30, it's even better.

But I want you to start realizing the things that you actually know know.

Now you might say, oh well, actually not much of that is very useful or valuable for other people.

But let's leave that for the moment that the reality is you may not think it is, but a lot of the time people don't know half of what you know.

So I mentor a group of investment managers at the moment and one of the things that I say to the all of them is that they know so much about the financial markets, about things like interest rates, what's going to happen with the economy, what's going to happen or not, not what's going to happen.

What's going to happen with certain stocks.

They've got this so much information because they consume it and they're involved in it day to day.

And I asked one of them the other day, I said, how likely is it you think that your knowledge is known by other people?

And they were like, oh yeah, well everyone knows what I know.

And I was like really?

I'm not sure that's the case.

And I would probably argue that some of the stuff they were knowing that they were talking about, about unit trusts and, and growth rates, I was like, I only think like 1 or 2 out of 20 people would know that.

So invariably you become you.

We know more than we think we do.

I know more about sales than a lot of people in day to day business life.

That's not because I'm an arrogant person, it's just because it's become my specialist area.

So the key thing is what is your specialist area?

What do you know?

And remember that you bring something unique to that.

So there's knowledge and there's also how you apply and share knowledge.

And again, I go back to myself.

For me, I have knowledge around sales.

I'm growing that every day.

I want to learn every day.

But I want to use and share that in the most open way possible so that people can come better and get better results.

But you will have a certain amount of knowledge that you've built up and it's really important that you write down what that is and then you write down what's the, your unique selling point.

How is it that you go about sharing that?

Do you go about sharing that in a written format?

In a blog, for example?

Some people write a written article every week.

Some people will write, do a video, some people will do a podcast.

But the reality is there'll be an area where you've got some unique knowledge or some knowledge.

And then your unique part of that is how do you take that out to the market?

And the bit of this, which is, you know, I'm not a big woo woo person, but no one is you, you bring a uniqueness to it.

And someone might say, oh, I'm really introverted so therefore I'm, I'm, you know, what I share isn't really relevant or whatever.

Well, maybe your, your perspective on it is the introverts view too, you know, financial services.

Or maybe your particular way that you do this is the quiet person's view to financial services.

What I'm saying is it doesn't have to be the stereotypical way.

There is always different niches and audiences.

I talk a long, I've talked a long time ago how, you know, Little's Coffee and Beanie's Coffee are two companies who in years ago identified it in the coffee market.

And the coffee market is worth billions worldwide.

They identified this, this sweet spot, little niche which was to do flavored, freezed or to flavored coffee.

They used to do these coffees that would, you know, chocolate, orange coffee and whatever.

And they created a niche within a niche that was their area and they built incredible successful businesses from it.

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Now back to the podcast.

So I guess my question is write down what are your unique knowledge elements?

And then write down what's your unique element that you bring to that and share it with me.

If you want to share it with me, send me an email at.

Hello, Ames White Business.

I'd love to hear from you.

Reach out to me on my, on my social channels.

James White Sales.

Love to hear from you and show me your uniqueness.

And then the question is we can then start to see, okay, how does that set you apart from, from different people in your industry?

What is it that you can do differently?

What is your slant on this that makes you different to, to other people?

And in so many, so many cases, I think people just think what they, they know isn't particularly relevant, but yet actually it's relevant in a specific area.

Let me give an example of that.

So one of the investment managers I'm mentoring at the moment, he was telling me that he's obviously, he's got a huge amount of knowledge in the financial sector, but one of the areas I thought, okay, well, how can we make this a little bit unique?

What is it?

It's your unique selling point.

And we went through his customer base and one of the best ways to sometimes do this is to go for your existing customer base.

We went through a custom existing customer base and we identified that he had a lot of people that were in the horse racing world.

So I was like, okay, so why, why can't your unique selling point be that you're the investment manager for those in the horse racing world?

And he was like, okay, I thought about it and I was like, well, the only reason that he's in an industry where he's got in his own company 100 other people that compete with him, let alone competitively, externally, lots of other competitors externally.

When he stands up at an event and starts to say, oh, well, I'm so and so, and I'm an investment manager and I'm the same, so same as everyone else.

I said, well, if you stand up and say, well, I'm an investment manager that specializes in working with the, you know, who has a particular interest in horse racing and the horse racing community.

I understand the, the marketplace and what's going on there.

And I, and I try and link some of what I do investment wise into this space, people go, oh, wow, that's a bit different.

I know someone that does that.

I know someone that's orchestrating.

You open up a conversation.

So what I think it can do is, is it can set you apart from others in your industry and enable you to, to do that.

So I really encourage you to write down the things that you know and then try and have a look at what is the unique parts that you bring in, into that, into that area and try and own your own niche if you like, own your own expertise in.

And then the beauty of that is once you've then started to own that area, what you can do is do two key things that can help you build from that point onwards.

So again, going back to myself, my area is sales.

I love sales.

I love about sales, I actually love about how you can turn prospects into customers.

So I focus on sales.

But what I'm also then looking to do is that means that when I get emails and newsletters and information that I can learn from.

So I subscribe to a number of newsletters where I learn about sales and business and consume that information, I look at it, I learn to develop, I go on courses, I attend events where I'm learning how I can improve my sales skills.

I listen to podcasts that enable me to get better at for example, understanding how to do cold outreach or how to, to be able to, to ask better questions or how to use phrases and emails that can open up the door.

So I, I, I, I focus in on that because that's my area.

So I'm able to build my skills and knowledge in that space but the other thing around it which is also interesting.

So for example, take AI.

AI is a huge growth area for us all.

Lots of areas in which AI operates.

I'm interested in it from a sales perspective.

So I'm doing a lot of work at the moment of how AI in sales is affecting lots of different stages of the funnel.

I'm doing deep research into lots of different parts of AI.

But if I was doing research into AI in general, massive area.

But because I focus it on the sales area, I'm able to start looking at some different tools and seeing what works and there are probably even niches within that area.

Sales is a big area, so it could well be how to do top of funnel sales or middle of funnel sales or account management sales.

There's different elements of it, but you know, you can start to dig in and be able to, to get continue involved in the process.

So when you start to own your own expertise and you start to know who you are and what you do, it enables you to build more your knowledge.

But then you can then start to learn and develop more.

But Also starts at the head of the curve and be the person that shares that knowledge in different ways.

And I've got countless examples of people that have owned their own expertise that we've mentored in the past.

A couple of good examples.

Take a lady called Katie Saywell.

Katie was, you know, Shift Success is a program I'm really proud to be a mentor for.

It's run by a great guy called Alexander Siri.

He helps people, police officers become entrepreneurs and move away from the police force.

They're unhappy.

And I remember a number of years ago, Katie and a number of the guys in that space, I mean Mark Walsh is another good example.

Katie was, you know, well, what do I do?

What skills have I got?

What's my area of expertise?

And she had a dash and a dog and she basically trained this dog and she built this expertise and knowledge in that space and she was able to create a business.

And now it does create a business.

If you want to search for Katie Saywell, the dog's code.

Katie is the one of the world's leading dash hound dog trainers.

She runs a business.

She has partnerships in place now because she owned her area of expertise which is her dachshang.

She, she was always keen on.

She'd been in the working in the dog space for a while.

She built her expertise.

She was able then to develop her skills in that area and now she's become known as the expert in, in that space.

And Mark Walsh is another example who was in the police but became an expert in lawns.

So again people think lawns.

It was there remark.

Yeah.

Mark became an expert in lawns and now runs a brilliant business in Essex where he's growing.

He's helping people develop the making sure their lawns are the best that can be and people lot of money to ensure their lawns look fantastic.

So there's example of people that were able to pick an area that they knew they own their, they're able to own their own area of expertise and develop it further and then build businesses and a reputation as a result of that.

So I'm encouraging you to do the same.

So you know to, to be in a position where you can then own your space and if you do that, what you can then start to find is that people will then start to see you as the go to expert for that that area and they attract people to you especially if you then are able to create content so you create a podcast.

A A good example of it is my, is my podcast editor.

So podcast editor Darren Darren has Been in a position where he's, you know, had some, some, some.

Was a big lad himself in the past, started a podcast on big.

The Big, well, a Big, Big Big fellas podcast which talks about how people have lost weight to transform their life.

He's become an expert in that area.

So as well as his expert in doing his, his, his content and his, and the video work he does.

So I guess the key thing is just.

But when you pick your area and what you're good at and you then start to develop that, you'd be amazed at how that can build and grow from there.

And there are countless examples on social media now of people that have built such a reputation and space that they've become the go to people.

And you know, there's a guy called Francois who is a train enthusiast.

He's probably late 20s, he's incredibly passionate about trains.

He's got 5 million followers on social media.

He'll be earning half a million quid a year on social networks alone as a result of, you know, being able to just follow his interests.

So enables you to stay up to date with what's going on in the market.

And you can then create content, videos, blogs, whatever to share that insight and share your knowledge.

And you can, you can then be in a position where other people might want you to speak at their events or to be part of something or if it's your clients from sales perspective, the other key thing about this is that they're going to look up to you and think, whoa, this person knows their stuff.

So when you're talking to clients or prospects, it's going to elevate you ahead of others that you're competing with because you know your environment, you know what's happening.

And so if you're a day to day salesperson listening to this and thinking, well, know your market, elevate yourself in your market.

If that's an area that you enjoy and be a part of, elevate yourself in, in that market.

So look, I think the key thing here is don't be afraid to give away some value.

Go be able to, you know, be in a position where you can share what you know.

People will always buy your expertise.

I'm, you know, everything I share is on podcasts and on, on videos and in blogs that I've got.

But people still buy.

I'm still as busy, as busy as ever.

People still want to work with me directly because people always pay for that.

So, you know, be in a position where you can continue to share things and you'll be amazed at what, how you start to attract and become the, the, the, the, the, the, the lights around where flies will attract to because of your knowledge and what you bring and what you also can then start to do by building that expertise and knowledge is surround yourself with other experts in that space.

You network with other people in that environment.

You network with people that have got those skills and that enables you to really just build up, become the go to one of the, go to people in your industry, especially if you're consistent over a period of time.

But the one warning I also have for people here is don't just try and dabble something and expect the results in two, three months and hope that it works.

You've really got to commit to doing this, you know, you've got to commit over a period of time.

And one of the reasons why I go back to why I love Liam I do is two things really.

A, I want to help people.

My big desire is to help people and I want, if you listen to this, I want you to get, you know, support and help to, to become the best you can be in my.

I go to sleep, I can't tell you when I have vet messages from people and emails from people that say I've changed their lives and I've helped them do stuff that feels incredible.

For me that's the first thing.

But the second thing is, is being in a position where you, you, you feel like, you know, you've made an impact in the world.

And I know when I leave this planet I want there to be an impact and we all see these stories about how people that, you know, when they leave the planet, you know, what impact have you left?

Well, I know for me I want there to be thousands of videos and thousands of resources and materials available to help people still sell.

Even years to come when AI is doing more and more things, I still think we're going to need to sell and build relationships with people.

And I want my legacy to be there and to, and to be left with that and to be out there so people, you know, when I'm not here can, can access that so you can be in a position where you can make an impact in the world by having, you know, sharing your area of expertise.

But, but the final thing I'll say around this is be humble with it.

I always think those people that are up there in Arsenal being honest and think they're better than anyone else lose a lot of respect.

I'm good at what I do, but I know I can get Even better.

I know I want to be better.

I want to learn.

I want to pick up things from different people.

I continue to have a curious mindset to try and learn from different people I meet and engage, and I would want you to be in that same position.

So sorry to interrupt the podcast, but if you've got a sales issue at the moment that's really hacking you off, challenge me.

I'll help you solve it.

Reach out to me.

Drop an email at hello Amesworth Business, and I will help you solve your sales challenge.

There's not one I don't think I can't handle.

There's no sales issue that I can't resol.

I've seen them all over my career.

I want to help you solve yours.

So reach out to me.

Let's make sure we handle your sales challenges and fix them so you can get back to smiling again.

Now back to the podcast.

So, look, I think owning your own area of expertise is difficult, but I'd love to tell me, what is your area of expertise?

What's the one thing you know, if you listen in the car, then obviously don't do this now, but write down when you stop, what's your area of expertise?

Write down what's the one or two thing that.

That you know?

And maybe it's not in your work environment.

Maybe it's in your.

Your personal life that you know something.

In your personal environment, you.

You know, something that you want to create and build more around.

But what's your.

Your area of expertise?

What's your sweet spot that you know differently?

You're better than.

Not so much better than anyone else, but you've got an awful lot of knowledge that there are other people out there that want to hear or engage with that.

And there are so many stories of people that have, you know, expertise in certain places that can then share and build that.

And I want you to be able to do the same.

It can elevate your career, it can elevate your company, it can elevate what you do.

And don't just sit about you trying to be an influencer or trying to talk for the sake of it.

It's because you want to make an impact.

You want to help people, then it's going to work very well as a result of that.

So, look, that's the podcast for this week.

What do you think?

How comfortable are you about owning your own area of expertise?

Most people are going to probably tell me not very.

My question then would be, what can we do to change that?

What can we do to get you to feel no, your knowledge and expertise is worth sharing.

But let me know, let me know in the comment section.

Reach out to me as to what the challenges you face in this area.

But, but it's definitely an area that I encourage you to focus on and think about.

There are going to be lots and lots of people out there that don't know what you know.

How can you share that with them?

So what I was trying to do, I finished the podcast with an inspirational story I wanted to share a story this week of an incredible lady I came across a couple of weeks ago actually, who a lady called Kath Pendleton.

And Kath is a single mum from Wales and she got into swimming and you know, not quite sure what made her get into swimming, but she started swimming in outdoor lakes.

And the reason that I think Kath's an incredible story is that her journey has been, well, it's nothing short of breathtaking.

I think she got going swimming and swam the channels.

Not only did she, you know, you start swimming and then, but she then did something, you know, incredible, which I've never done.

I know someone that has done it in a relay team or actually I know two people have done it.

Izzy Weatherall's done it as well.

But she swam the channel.

But then she decided that she wanted to go and represent, you know, GB in the World Ice Swimming Championships and came third in her, her age bracket but then decided she wants to go on again and she became one of the first person, person to swim a mile in Antarctica.

So she was in the waters in Antarctica for over 35 minutes and most people can't even last a minute there and she swam a mile in each of the seven continents and I was like, wow, what an incredible story.

So Kath Pendleton from Wales, you know, search her out.

Her story is incredible.

Swam a mile in Antarctica.

If you think it's, it's, it's, it's cold in, in.

I've, I've done cold dips in, in, in Western Super Mares waters.

3 degrees and that's cold.

Let alone what we are.

Antarctica must be for 35 minutes.

But she did it and then proves that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.

So take inspiration from Kath Pendleton.

That's this week's inspirational story.

But hope you've enjoyed the podcast this week.

If you have, let me know please.

Again, thank you so much for listening and for watching.

If you watch it on YouTube, for sharing your, for telling us, helping me grow the podcast.

As ever if you've got any queries or stuff I can cover on the podcast, let me know.

Always happy to do that.

But until next week, thanks ever so much for listening.

See you then.

Take care.

So thank you so much for listening to this episode.

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It.