Work Smarter Not Harder: Maria Bayer of Irresistible Selling

“People don’t buy what you do. They buy how you make them feel.”

If you are new to Cedar & Rush, Work Smarter, Not Harder (WSNH) is a column showcasing Chicago’s leading ladies – think CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and everyday women making a difference – and how they work smarter, not harder. I decided upon Monday so we can kick off the week as productive and as motivated as possible. If you love a particular piece of advice or have any tips of your own, please share by tagging #WSNH2015 on Instagram and Twitter.

Maria Bayer is someone I have had the utmost pleasure getting to know this past year. With over 13 years in corporate sales (and dominating her company in a sea of men), she now helps creative entrepreneurs book quality clients, faster, all while living a balanced lifestyle. Something we all struggle with.

It’s bananas how many “Aha” moments I had taking one of Maria’s sales classes this summer! Not only is her background top-notch, she offers real life takeaways you can apply immediately. Talk about working smarter not harder. Her following grows everyday; she offers the best advice on Instagram; and selected as an influential speaker at this month’s Toss The Bouquet Conference in Chicago. Yup. She’s the definition of a Boss Lady.

Before we jump in, Maria has a present for us! She is hosting a FREE webinar this Wednesday at 2 PM sharing How to Book Higher Paying Clients. I plan on being there too. Even if you aren’t an entrepreneur or in the creative field, her sales techniques can be applied to ANYONE – interviews, dealing with clients and co-workers, pitching to brands and gaining a new perspective towards money in general. Explore here to learn how to start your own business. Small businesses can benefit from comprehensive small business health and safety support from Avensure.

Also note, her Irresistible Selling Sales Program – an 8 week sales course held once a year – opens up for enrollment Wednesday, December 2nd. She strategically holds this during wedding booking season – so her students can apply lessons and bounce off real case scenarios during the course.

But enough rambling by me. Let’s let Maria take the floor! Her story is fascinating and I promise a good one.

Maria, I am so happy to have you! Can you tell us about yourself and business?  I’m a sales coach for creative business owners and the creator of “Irresistible Selling” – an online group coaching program designed to help creative business owners book more clients authentically and create a business and lifestyle they’ve always dreamed of. Use this seo tool strategically to elevate your website’s visibility.

Selling is something most business owners hate, but they know it’s the key to growing their business. I help bridge that gap by sharing my best-selling strategies that helped me survive in a male-dominated business when I was in corporate sales and win over $25 Million in business. When I discovered no one was teaching business owners these strategies, I realized it was the biggest reasons so many businesses fail in the first few years. They don’t know how to sell. And with customers increasingly wanting to make cashless payments, getting the cheapest card machine has never been more important.

I’m trying to change this statistic through my Irresistible Selling program, as well as my Facebook Mastermind group, Learn Collaborate Flourish, where we recently created a monthly Collabor-date Challenge. You can sign up here for an invite.

How did you get to your current position? I started as a finance geek. If you asked me 10 years ago if I would be doing this, I wouldn’t have believed you. I got here by way of 13+ years in corporate America selling software to Fortune 1000 companies. It was a crazy difficult fast-paced world where you were thrown to the wolves and had to sink or swim. Most people sank (and I did, too), but eventually I learned how to swim.

When I left my corporate sales career, a friend asked me if I would create a workshop for her photography group to teach them how to sell. This was a group of fabulously talented creatives, but they lacked sales training. Talk about not seeing what’s in front of your face! I had no idea there was a need for business owners to learn how to sell. This was a light bulb moment for me.

Once I heard the feedback from the workshop, I was hooked. Everything snowballed from there. I was then recruited to create a sales program for Design Success University, which put me on the map. The program was extremely successful, so later I adapted it to Irresistible Selling, which is the program I offer now.

What time do you typically get up in the morning? Our puppy, Gia, has taken over the role of alarm clock in our family and promptly wakes us at 6 AM to let us know it’s time for her to go out and eat her breakfast. I usually tell her to go back to sleep, which, if we’re lucky, buys us another 15 minutes.

How do you take your coffee and what do you typically eat for breakfast? I’m a cappuccino girl through and through. In fact, when my husband and I traveled to Italy 5 years ago (where he later proposed!), it was the first thing I ordered in the Rome airport when we got off the plane. It was soooo good. Breakfast usually consists of scrambled eggs, oatmeal, or a trip to Starbucks for a Spinach Feta Wrap.

Quickly walk us through your morning routine. After taking care of Gia, I’m usually checking email, social media and organizing my day. When my program is live, I’ll check our Facebook group first to answer any questions that were posted overnight. Since the class runs during Booking Season when they’re receiving a lot of inquiries, I answer those questions quickly so they can use the strategies immediately to book the client.

What is the best way to get your foot in the door of your dream job? Network. Trust your dream and the universe will make it happen, even if you don’t know how. And don’t get distracted by naysayers. My parents thought I was out of my mind when I left my finance job and went into sales. If I hadn’t followed my heart and gut, I would be stuck in a dead-end job and I would never have reached my big financial goal.

I was able to change careers by networking and following my gut. I remember literally asking someone I was introduced to, if he would provide a list of people’s names in various sales positions. I could interview them and find out what they liked about their job. That was the only way I knew how to figure out what I wanted to sell.

I called every person on that list. Every single person spoke to me. One of them was a man named Steve. He agreed to meet with me, and a week or two later, called me with a job opportunity he had heard about that was right up my alley. About a week later, I received a job offer selling software. The time between deciding to change careers, to doing it, was maybe a month or two. A lot can happen when you believe you can.

What resources do you use to stay organized and remember tasks? I automate as much as possible. I recently started using Acuity for appointment scheduling and I love it! It makes it so easy for people to make appointments with you, especially Collabor-dates!

What mistake do you see people constantly make that they should be aware of? They sell themselves short. They also think they have to say ‘yes’ to everything a client wants in order to book them (or even after). For example – discounting, giving services away for free, being at their beck and call, etc. I teach creatives the power of ‘no’. When they say ‘no’, more often than not, the client will book them. But what’s even more exciting, is the confidence gained by taking control and standing up for themselves and their worth. It’s hard to put a price tag on confidence!

How do you conquer your inbox? Let’s just call it a work in progress;-)

How do you format your emails? I like to write the way I speak. I ask how they’re doing and begin the same way I’d greet them in person. I am brief to make it easy for the other person to respond quickly.

How do you make time for working out and staying healthy? My goal is hitting the gym at least twice a week and walk Gia every day. After losing my father this year, I’m much more aware of my health and not taking it for granted. Now, when I work out, I think of it as investing in my health versus working out because I have to. I love working with weights but hate cardio. I tend to favor group classes where there’s a mix of weight training and cardio. You’d be amazed how motivated you can get when you see people older than you getting through a killer workout.

What are your favorite tips for keeping an organized workspace? File items you won’t need everyday. Keep your workspace as clutter-free as possible. I find when my office is cluttered, my brain is cluttered. It’s a work-in-progress, but I’m getting better at it.

Favorites:

• Favorite Apps: Gasbuddy (find the best gas prices near you), OpenTable (I can make a reservation in under 30 seconds!), Pandora (I listen to it at home, in the car, on my laptop, everywhere!), anything Apple, ShopStyle, ParkWhiz, Stocks (iphone).
• Favorite Resources: I literally google everything. And if I’m not at my laptop, I’ll ask Siri. Facebook groups are also one of my favorite ways to connect and learn, and I tend to spend the most time in groups that support creative business owners and focus on creating a community like Learn Collaborate Flourish and Creative Chics.
• Favorite Books: I’m a terrible reader, so if I can find it on audio, I’ll listen to it in the car. Some of my favorites are The Secret, Get Rich Lucky Bitch, Think & Grow Rich.
• Favorite Programs: Acuity for appointment scheduling, Amazon Prime (I get all of Gia’s treats and toys here), Skype.
• Favorite Websites: Google, Amazon, TripAdvisor, Nordstrom.
• Favorite Gadget: My iPhone and Macbook Air– I can’t remember life before them (well, I can, but I don’t want to remember!)

Maria, thank you so much for everything, including being here today. Such an honor to have a woman with a successful corporate career straight up kicking men’s butts! The world is so lucky to have you turn your own strengths into gifts to us creatives. I cannot wait to see where you go and I will see you at this Wednesday’s webinar. Can’t wait!

Want more? You can find all Work Smarter Not Harder posts right here.