Podcast: Play in new window
The other day, the LinkedIn app on my phone just started blowing up with messages. People were saying, ‘ Congratulations! Way to go! ‘ And I was like, What’s going on? It turns out LinkedIn had shared my 20-year milestone at SOCO Sales Training. It’s been 20 years since I started this company!Â
It’s been quite the ride for the past 20 years, and I’ve grown and learned so much in that time. In today’s episode, I share what it took for me to go from a one-man show doing pretty much everything to one of Asia’s leading sales training brands with a team behind me.
It Took 20 Years to Become an Overnight Success
The other day, my phone just started blowing up with messages. People were saying, “Congrats, way to go!”
I was like, hold on, what’s going on? It turns out LinkedIn had shared my 20-year milestone at SOCO Sales Training, thus announcing that it’s been 20 years since I started this company!
That’s just mind-blowing. And you know what? It hasn’t been easy. It’s been a long journey.
It’s funny because when I interviewed someone for a sales position the other day, they said, “It’s amazing how big you’ve gotten. You just came out of nowhere.” And I was shocked. It’s neat how many people tell me, ‘Hey, we’re connected on LinkedIn,’ and I have no idea who they are (Come on! I’m sorry, but there are over 20,000 of you!).
Still, I’m only getting started, and I’ve worked at this for 20 years!
The first ten years were tough. Back then, I was in Canada and did a combination of sales coaching and training on various topics. But honestly, I wasn’t focused and hadn’t found my groove.
Then, in 2008, I followed my then-girlfriend to the other side of the world, to Singapore, to pursue her career in interior design. It wasn’t until I got to Singapore that things started to take off.
I had that immigrant mentality, and I had no ties, expectations, judgment, or anything holding me back.
However, I had to start from scratch, letting people know who I was and what I did. But I hit the ground running.
I took every speaking gig I could, free or paid. A big turning point was when I did a public workshop for Singapore’s Straits Times Newspaper in 2009. It was great exposure because my face was everywhere in the paper. At the workshop, I met a sales director for Global Beauty, the head company for brands like Marie France Body Line and others. She loved my training so much that she engaged me to deliver my Social Selling workshop to all of their locations across Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
More so, I remember getting a deposit check from them, which wasn’t even half of the wholesale value; that was more money than I’d ever seen on a cheque addressed to me in my lifetime.
I still have a photo of myself smiling and holding the cheque somewhere on my balcony.
And that was when things started to take off. I got so busy in 2010 after I married my girlfriend, who brought me to Singapore; she left her job in interior design to help grow SOCO. With her passion for branding, marketing, and design added to the company, we grew even more and started working more and more across Asia. I found myself training trainers in Indonesia and Thailand to deliver the SOCO® Selling™ methodology because there was demand from those markets too. I’ll let you in on a little secret, our trainer in Thailand is one of the sales managers from Marie France Bodyline that I trained, and she’s an awesome trainer.
As we grew, we had to add more staff, and with the addition of more staff, we could continue to grow faster and faster. We’ve gotten so good at what we do that we’re now applying the same strategies we’ve used to grow SOCO to grow AMC NPO Solutions in Canada. AMC NPO Solutions is a training company that services not-for-profits that I bought from my father seven years ago before he passed away.
So while it’s been 20 years and one heck of a ride, I’m only getting started. We have a new sales trainer starting with us next month and are currently hiring sales reps. The company is growing so fast, and we’re serving some of the biggest brands in Asia. I can’t wait to share the lessons I learned from the next five years in business with you.
If you haven’t seen my slide deck on 20 Lessons from 20 Years in Business on LinkedIn, please do so and let me know your thoughts.
10 Years Selling In Asia
I moved to Singapore at the end of 2008- one of the things that I love most about living in this part of the world is the surrounding unique countries.
I was actually recently in Bangkok delivering a sales training program for a local Thai company. In fact, our local Thai trainer, Sasivee, will be providing the program in their native language, Thai, which is fantastic!
However, I’ve noticed that sales teams across the region and around the world struggle with the same challenges: How do we stand apart from competitors? How do we answer objections effectively? And how do we close more deals fast?
But each country has its own distinct challenges. How do they sell in that particular market? What are some of the subtle nuances of business etiquette in their own country? That’s why our corporate training programs blend a global methodology or framework with a local context. If you’re looking for sales training in Thailand or a sales workshop in Thailand, drop us an email, and we’ll be more than happy to help you.
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