Ep425: Jessica Yarbrough – Don’t Outsource Your Sales

Andrew Stotz 00:02
Hello fellow risk takers and welcome to my worst investment ever stories of loss to keep you winning in our community we know that to win in investing you must take risk but to win big you've got to reduce it to join our community for free go to my worst investment ever.com and receive the risk reduction checklist I've created from the lessons I've learned from all my guests and yet my weekly email to help you increase your investment return also in the community you can get a super special podcast listener discount on my six week valuation masterclass boot camp. In the boot camp, you learn how to value companies like a pro and advance your career in finance, go to my worst investment ever.com to join our community for free. Fellow risk takers, this is your worst podcast host Andrew Stotz from a Stotz Academy, and I'm here with featured guests, Jessica Yarborough. Jessica, are you ready to rock? I am. I can just totally feel that from our conversation before we turn on the microphone or that recording. So let me introduce you to the audience. Jessica has quickly developed a reputation of being one of the best business strategists in and marketing and sales consultants, for entrepreneurs who want to sell high value products and services. Her background is in international business, and she has built multiple companies. Jessica is a genius at showing entrepreneurs how to build an expert platform, rapidly raise their value, build their credibility online and attract high paying clients. She is passionate about teaching and inspiring entrepreneurs and helping them grow their influence and make the income and impact they desire. And my goodness, we all need that. Just go download her case study that shows how she took a business coach from stagnant and a quarter million dollars to seven figures during a pandemic year. If you want to reach out to her you can reach her at Jessica yarborough.com or on LinkedIn. Jessica, take a minute in Philly for the tidbits about your life.

Jessica Yarbrough 02:17
Hey, thank you so much for having me. Well, as you mentioned, I am a business strategist, my background was in building multiple companies, I did take about a four year hiatus, as I mentioned to you, where I kind of walked away from a company I built and spent about four years traveling the world spending about a year and a half of that time in Thailand. Oh yeah. reside and, and really just deepening my relationship with myself and getting to know the world and all of that, and came full circle back to building my consulting business. When I got pregnant, my daughter was about eight years ago.

Andrew Stotz 02:54
Hmm. And let me ask you, I mean, from when I look at your website, when I look at your, what you do, it's really attractive for me. And I think for a lot of the listeners to think about how do we increase our income, increase our impact, you know, in this very difficult environment, doing everything by zoom and no longer like out in public is much? And I'm just curious, like, you know, how would you describe the secret sauce or the what is unique about the way you help people do that?

Jessica Yarbrough 03:26
Well, first and foremost, everyone should design a business around the life that they want to live. So if you're drawn to the grant cardones or Gary V's in the world, then my business model is not gonna work for you. If you dream of having corporate offices and 100 employees, that doesn't align with what I teach. So what I teach people is how to take your education background experience. So I'm working with people who have real experience, and translate that into an ultra high end service package that you can provide, codify your knowledge into a system that you can turn around, whether you're marketing to an individual small business all the way up to fortune 500 company and sell that knowledge for 50,000, you know, 100,000 quarter million dollars. So it's really about being able to make a huge transformation in that individual or that organization's life, and also being compensated richly for it. So you're working less time you're making more money, and you're making a huge impact.

Andrew Stotz 04:25
There's so much of what you just said that I liked. I mean, the first thing you just said was, you know, hey, if you like that, then you're probably not for me. And I think that's already a lesson for you know, everybody listening is that you can't please everybody. And you need to work with companies, customers, clients and you know, people that you hire that are aligned with your interests. So that's the first thing you know. The other thing is, I'm just thinking about some of the listeners out there who are forced into a difficult situation right now. Maybe they're an expert lawyer. Expert accountant expert in strategy, their expert in marketing, and they've always worked in the corporate environment and all of a sudden, that environment is shrinking. And now people are finding themselves thinking, oh my god, what am I going to do. And I'm thinking for the listeners that are in that situation, you know, your experience, and your products and your services are, I think, very valuable.

Jessica Yarbrough 05:23
Thank you. And for those of you listening, you absolutely can create a business around that knowledge, you can monetize it, but I intentionally built my business to be location independent. As you know, I spent four years traveling and I did not want that to change. Though it is different. When you travel with a child, it's much more resort oriented. But that was very important to me. So make a priority to build an online following. It doesn't have to be a huge following. You don't need to be, you know, the online guru with a million followers, what you do need to have is a network of people that is relevant, and is intimate, where you can build a real relationship and try not to get sucked into billing by the hour or charging low in like own the transformation that you can bring to them and put a high price tag on it, because you're worth it.

Andrew Stotz 06:13
I have to ask one last question, before we get into the big question. And that that is, you know, you kind of you have so much confidence to say that you can do it. Like that information that you have, or your experience is valuable. But I know it's myself in the past and even in the president times. And I know some of this is like, Come on, everybody knows what I know. And you know, come on, how am I going to do that? And so what would you say to that person that's just never heard someone as confident as you to say this can work?

Jessica Yarbrough 06:50
Well, what I would first say is that we are blind to the things that we are brilliant at, you know what you think what comes naturally to you doesn't come natural to 99% of the world. And so it's really important to have someone outside of you who can shine that mirror and reflect back your own greatness, your own brilliance. And the other thing I would say one of the first things I have my clients do, because I run into this a lot, I have a lot of people who are VP CEOs, you know, and they still struggle with a little bit of that imposter syndrome, when it comes to translating that into, you know, can I really sell this for a quarter million? Yes. So one of the first exercises that have them do is what I call defining your biggest wins and actually going back and listing out what were the achievements that you made during your corporate career and owning them? Because sometimes people will say, Well, you know, I helped facilitate a deal, and it was worth 3 million for my company. Okay, whoa, now, are you really gonna charge $150 an hour for that? You know, or is that worth 300,000? Is it worth 75,000? And so really having you make take inventory, and not just say, you know, that was nothing, but really take inventory of the achievements and the winds that you had throughout your career is huge. And that kind of gives you that little spark to say, Oh, yeah, I am awesome. And to really think about what is that worth to an organization? And we can take this so many different ways. I mean, even one of my clients, she's a dating coach, Matchmaker, you know, relationship expert. Well, she charges 25,000, all the way to 65,000. That might seem like shocker, like how could she do that? Well, let me ask you this, what's the cost of divorce? A lot more than that. A lot more hundreds of 1000s to attorneys Not to mention lling the divvying up of your assets, not including the emotional pain and baggage and all of that. So if you can save someone's marriage, you're talking either half a million to multi millions of dollars, depending on your on, you know, who you're working with, and a whole lot of heartache and heartache and frustration avoided. So look at the ROI of what you truly bring to the table no matter what problem you solve.

Andrew Stotz 09:12
That's great. So for the listeners out there, you know, this is a great chance to build your confidence, number one, but also, you know, listen carefully to the words that she's using. She's talking about solving problems. She's talking about the benefit of solving those problems. She's also talking about she's used the word a few times transformation. You know, how do you carry someone or an organization through a transformation that is highly valuable stuff, so Wow, inspirational. I love it. And I think I need to talk to you after this call. And I want to, I want to encourage all of the listeners to go check out Jessica Yarborough just reach out to her LinkedIn said You heard her on the podcast. Well, right. Now it's time to share your worst investment ever and since no one ever goes into their worst Investment digging, we'll be tell us a bit about the circumstances leading up to it, then tell us your story.

Jessica Yarbrough 10:05
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, one thing I was excited to share is that I've literally never shared this publicly. This is something I've only shared it kind of a retreat with some of my clients, because it's kind of a crazy story. But what's really cool as a coach, and I've experienced this, but I've also heard all kinds of crazy stories now from my clients. So it's kind of like, entrepreneurship is a little bit like a boot camp, you know, you're gonna get dirty, you're lucky if you get out without a few scrapes, right, and bruises. So I had just kind of re ignited my business, my daughter was really young, you know, got back from my travels, I'd have some success, I'm selling high end services. And I had a guy reached out to me that ended up scamming me, him and his partner. And, you know, the first sign was that he was so persistent, and flattering, just so persistent and flattering. And he really, you know, just wanted to meet a buy in on this on their services. And it all sounded great. You know, it was a significant investment, multiple, five figures. And what they wanted to do was essentially take over the things that no entrepreneur wants to do, which is the marketing, build out sales, like we're gonna cover it for you. Like, imagine if somebody says, Listen, all you're gonna have to do is just do what you do best to your clients. And we're going to take this over for you. And so, you know, I had my reservations. I remember when I, you know, I mentioned it to my parents, I don't normally talk to them about investments, but for some reason I did. And they were like, no way. That way this is, I'll do it. And I was like, I'm a risk taker. You know, and I all believe in continuing, continually investing my business. And I've definitely used other agencies prior to this. But this one went even further. So I invested along with a group of probably a dozen people I know that were in the program. And you know, I remember I was on vacation in Mexico. And I remember asking like, Hey, guys, what's going on? And the guys were just like, Oh, no, just enjoy it. Have some margaritas, go swim with dolphins, we've got everything under control. And I was just like, Okay, this is strange. And so the way that I finally found out that this was really a scam was one of my friends happened to get on a sales call with them. She was interested in purchasing, you know, my services, she wanted to work me she knew I was in Mexico. They're handling all the marketing and sales now. Well, she got on the phone with them. And not only did they not sell her my into my program, they said, You know what, you're not a fit for what Jessica offers. But they pitched her the very program they had sold me. Wow. yet. And of course, I was furious. And she reached out to me and thank god she did because she was like, I just had the weirdest experience. They, you know, I, you know, I've been wanting to work with you. I got on a call with so and so and everything started go, you know, well, and then they just flat out told me I wasn't a fit. Well, of course, she was a perfect fit, you know, and she was my friend. Like she was perfect fit for the services. But then they tried to pitch her. So I went to them. I said, What's going on? They said, Oh, yeah, don't worry, we're gonna give you a percentage. And I was like, wait a minute, no, I don't want a commission for you stealing that client. And here's the thing. I don't know how many other conversations they had. So, yes, I ended up losing that the money from you know, the investment, but really, how much did I really lose in terms of the time, you know, this was several months that this went on where I was hands off, you know, they were handling everything. Plus, I only heard from that one person. And I'm sure there were many, many people that got on the call and they sold them and they you know, didn't sell them my program. So we're looking at probably six figures, you know, in sales last. And I think for me, what was worse than all of that of course, you know, the investment hurt but I was also like, wow, this is my brand reputation. This is my audience. These are my people you know, and if I knew in my heart that if they had close someone in into it I would have fulfilled no matter what that person whether I got paid to them or not because I believe you know, I'm a high integrity person. But it was just like wow, and turns out that this wasn't just me It happened to everyone to the tune of collectively millions of dollars for these people so it's essentially a Ponzi scheme.

Andrew Stotz 14:52
Yeah, that's that's like exactly what a Ponzi scheme is where you know, income that's coming in, you know, you just keep regenerating, but the people that put The initial income never get anything, or they get something from, you know, a little bit but,

Jessica Yarbrough 15:05
and people, some people in there lost so much more than I did, because they kept bringing people in at higher and higher levels. So I mean, I talked to one guy who lost literally his livelihood, and these guys are still doing it.

Andrew Stotz 15:19
Ah, so tell me the lessons that you learn from this experience?

Jessica Yarbrough 15:24
Well, one, I only work with people with a proven track record, I want lots of results. You know, it nothing new. I don't want to be the guinea pig. The other thing is, I should have done more research on the people themselves. And so I went to, I don't know if it's scam, calm or scam alert or something. Well, guess what, this is not their first rodeo. So one of the guys has had multiple companies doing something similar in a different shape or form under a different name. And there's simply nothing, unfortunately, like, here's the thing about scam artists, the FBI, they go after the big companies, you know, we're talking millions and millions and millions of dollars, this is nothing, it's not even worth their time. And they're going after these things that take years and a team of 100. And, you know, they're bringing, they're bringing down the mailbox, and it's it, they're not going after this the scammers out there who are so prevalent in all industries, right, whether it's financial or business or whatever, because it's not big enough for them to do anything about. Hmm. So, lesson learn. That lesson for me, was the power of discernment. You know, really looking at if someone's coming to me why, who they are, what is their paper trail online, I want to get a sense of their values, I want to look at their content, I want to get their website, you know, I want to look at their results, I really want to know, the values and the integrity of that person. And I've never made that mistake again. And I've worked with a lot of service providers.

Andrew Stotz 17:12
Wow, what a story. And maybe I'll summarize a few things that I take away. The first thing is, I just want to talk about the feeling, I wouldn't call it desperation. But the feeling of finding that supplier that's hitting the mark exactly what you need. Yeah, and you just needed so bad, you know, you needed so badly that you let your defenses down. And, you know, as a podcaster, I get messages every couple days, on LinkedIn, in particular. And from different people. And I can say one of the words that you use was persistent. These people are persistent. And they're, you know, coming at me so hard with, you know, selling this, you know, I can sell your podcast, you can do this, and you can get this and you know, and I'm just like, so it's so and you know, every podcast that would like to increase their exposure and all that and you got to think, you know, yeah, this could work. So I asked in podcasters paradise group that I'm in, I asked people, hey, I've been getting these messages, are they a scam? Are they real? Does anybody have an experience, and then said, All a scam. Wow. And so that's an example in my own case, thinking about what you've talked about. Because that then goes back to the point that you talked also about is do your research. And, you know, after interviewing so many people, and getting 500, also written stories of loss, I've categorized the main six mistakes, the most common mistakes, and number one most common, absolutely, is failed to do their own research. So, you know, for the listeners out there, I just want to, you know, remind you that this is the most common mistake that people make. And you know, one of the ways to do this is to look for a dissatisfied customer. And, you know, I do it, you know, as I'm sure other people do, when I'm looking at buying a book or a course or this or that, you know, obviously you're looking for high levels of reviews, rate reviews, and all that. But I mean, I always go to the negative reviews and try to find the dissatisfied customer and try to find out you know, more. And also I have another another guest of mine previous the viola Llewellyn who basically was getting about $12 million of funding for her business. And then the funding dried up and everything kind of disappeared. And what she said was that she didn't realize that she needed to talk to more people than just maybe here's a few references that Companies sent her. Like she needed to search out the people that were struggling. And that's the reason why I say, find a disappointed customer. Anything you would add to that?

Jessica Yarbrough 20:11
Well, for me, I like to always ask, you know, tell me the story about someone who didn't succeed, and why. So I just asked them straight out. You know, I want to know what what was because sometimes people are dissatisfied because of their own lack of initiative initiative. I mean, you know, I always look at reviews as well. And I always look at the negative reviews like on Amazon and whatnot. Sometimes you're like, I get that. But I really believe in these five star ones more, I'm gonna buy this book anyway. So I asked that. And then I'm looking for, like, lots of proof, not just one or two, not just highlighting their best story, but actually seeing it over and over and over and over and over again.

Andrew Stotz 20:54
So based upon what you learned from this story, and what you've continued to learn, what one action would you recommend our listeners take to avoid suffering the same fate? And I would like you to think about that person who is a bit desperate, they're struggling, they're overwhelmed, if they could find someone, for instance, to do their sales for them. It's a dream come true. And right, we've got to break through to them to realize, you know, stop and do this, what one action would you recommend?

Jessica Yarbrough 21:21
Well don't outsource your sales, which I know is contrary to what a lot of people teach. There's a lot other things you can outsource but Own your sales for a long time. You know, I even do my own sales. And I'm at a pretty high level, most people don't do their own sales at my level. And the reason why is because a salesperson is driven by commission. And they will, which can cloud their judgment of who's the best people to bring into the program, where if I know it's me, I I'm going to come from a place of integrity and that lack, and I will only bring in people that are going to contribute to the program positively the energy group dynamic, and that are truly the best fit that I'm like, I want to work with you, because this is a relationship and I know I can help you. So I don't recommend outsourcing your sales unless you have a volume based business. And then of course, you can't, but when you're doing what I do high end, it's high touch, I mean, you know, Own your sales. So that would be part of it. The other thing is, here's the common scenario. And I know it because I went into when to do it myself, you get to a certain point you're growing, you're getting that momentum, you're like hungry, you're a new entrepreneur, and you're just like, I want to scale to seven figures, right? This is really, really common. Well, you can't scale to seven figures right away. It's just it's not going to happen. And that's why you see some people that do it. And what happens is they break when their business gets to a million, they break because they've gained 100 pounds, they've divorced their partner, you know, they broke their health, their relationships, or they focus so much on acquiring new clients that they failed to deliver. So we want to scale sustainably, like there needs to be a balance between you're making more, and you're building your systems and processes, and you're ensuring your clients are getting the results. And like there needs to be kind of weight given to each of those. So even though it sounds so attractive, let me just outsource my Legion and sales. It's not a good idea. on LinkedIn, you're going to be hit up by dozens of people every month who say I can guarantee X amount of leads, people pay $3,000 or even 3000 a month for these services. And they fail not because the service is bad or a scam. But because they don't even have their offer messaging, right. They don't even have their pricing there. They don't even know who their client is. And so the Legion is just getting them crappy leads. So you want to do things intentionally. You want to prove and validate what you're doing is working and add step by step, then add this system then add this team member, you know, but keep it tight, keep the circle tight, so that you are actually scaling sustainably and not making these you know, investments and things that don't deliver any return.

Andrew Stotz 24:03
I think we've got the title for this episode. Don't outsource yourself. It could be great. It's a great, great message and you know, it's a message at least to force you to think and stop. You know when someone's really coming at you hard. Alright, last question, what's your number one goal for the next 12 months speaking of scaling, or

Jessica Yarbrough 24:24
you know, my number one goal is to continue in the same trajectory. We've been growing I have a really healthy work life balance. I have an amazing team that enables me to work part time. So my goal is more personal. You know, now that things are opening up more I'm ready to do more traveling again and continue to help my business my clients scale their businesses and keep my people happy and engaged. I mean, it's actually very simplistic goals. I don't have I'm not trying to go to eight figures in the next 12 months.

Andrew Stotz 24:59
Got it all right well listeners there you have it another story of loss to keep you winning my number one my number one goal easy for me to say for the next 12 months is to help you my listener reduce risk and increase return in your life. To achieve this I've created our community at my worst investment ever.com and when you join you get that special discount on my six week valuation masterclass boot camp. As we conclude, Jessica, I want to thank you again for coming on the show. And on behalf of a Stotz Academy I hereby award you alumni status for turning your worst investment ever into your best teaching moment. Do you have any parting words for the audience?

Jessica Yarbrough 25:39
No, follow your dreams and keep executing. You know, even if life knocks you down, get back up and go again.

Andrew Stotz 25:47
And that's a wrap on another great story to help us great grow and protect our well fellow risk takers. This is your worst podcast hose Andrew Stotz saying. I'll see you on the upside.