685 – The Importance of Automated Sales Engagement with Autoklose’s Shawn Finder

0:28Welcome to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. like this one. That includes your free PodVerified score, free PodVerified guest training, a free media kit builder, and so much more. It's the first ecosystem of its kind built by podcasters who genuinely want to help guests thrive and grow in podcasting. Visit podverify.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. With us right now, Sean Reyes. Sean, you are the CEO and founder of The Leadership Leverage. You are found on the web at seanreyes.com. That is S-H-A-A-N-R-A-I-S.com. We've got that spelling. We've got the links in the show notes and everything.

1:10But Sean, it's great to have you. Thank you very much for having me, Josh. I'm just happy to be here and serve whatever capacity I can. Well, let's do it. And before we get to talking about your superpowers, you always love learning what leaders do for fun on the outside, what they keep themselves busy with, what they're kind of geeking out on lately? What have you been passionate about or what have you been into lately? Oh, man. Well, I'm an enthusiast when it comes to physicality. So I love what we call sun and fun and sand with the brand. So I love to swim. I love to go out anywhere the sun is.

1:44I try to follow the sun, Josh, and I love that morning workout, man. Like that's setting the tone for the day every single day. I absolutely love it. I'm using the superhuman now. It's a little bit I've heard of that. And you're in Myrtle Beach too. So I also have a question about what can you do in Myrtle Beach that might be unique from a fitness perspective? From a fitness perspective, you can run on the beach and coming from New York, that's impossible. So for me, it's like following the sun, finding that beach morning, running on the beach, working out, even pushups next to the salt, the sand, getting the earth in your hands.

2:20It's a completely different environment. I think it sets the tone for your life. You know, there's a big thing with electromagnetic energy and the pulses coming from your phone. So anytime you have a chance to connect with nature, I believe it jumpstarts not only your neuropsychology and your body, but I think it rewires your emotional state as well. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, absolutely. You know, even if someone just, you know, I've as someone and I think a lot of folks that are founders might have busy brains, Sean, and even just being able to just sit and just stare at a tree, stare at the water. You know, I go out and look at my turtles and fish and I just I intentionally don't bring the phone out there.

3:05I have no plan. No, you know, just to just to be. And that moment just it really does reset me. And for someone that has a very active brain, it was not easy at first. No, it's very hard to focus. Yeah, yeah. Well, Sean, thank you so much for that. And tell me about the work that you do. By the way, you also have a podcast. It's called Branding You with Sean Reyes. But tell me about the work that you do. Well, it's personal branding and leadership development, Josh. So we help leaders and founders, people with high levels of what we call the three E's, education, experience, and expertise, translate that into impact, income, and independence, what we call the three I's, through visibility, credibility, and profitability.

3:51So it's helping them become more seen, come from behind the camera, and get in front of the camera, right? Because a lot of founders are in the weeds, they're doing the work, they're phenomenal at what they do. We work with a lot of surgeons, maxillofacial, we work with dentists, engineers, construction workers, and they're great at what they do. But as their competence goes up, for whatever reason, their confidence comes down. They're experts at what they do. They're super great in the work. But when it comes to marketing the work or speaking about the work, they're humble. They're underspoken.

4:25We help them become, instead of overlooked, we help them to become overbooked. Why do you think that is? It feels like a Dunning-Kruger thing going on, if you know what I mean. Yes, sir. Definitely. And the reason is because there's left brain and there's right brain. And pardon me if I speak sometimes to a high level education, but I have three master's degrees myself. So just bear with me. It's the left brain competency. The more they become deep experts at what they do and deep thought leaders that actually do the work, their left brain becomes extremely developed. The attention is there. The attention is not on the right brain, which is communication, artistry, using eloquent language to communicate what they do.

5:11So it's really balancing the left right brain hemisphere. We, on the other hand, are extremely adept at right brain communication. So we help them take their expertise and give it to the world in a way that is palatable, understandable, and extremely marketable and scalable. Yeah. Well, what is, and so branding, you know, is the name of the game here. So what do you see as maybe, is it that they're not owning their genius and they feel maybe shy or bashful around that? And so then that comes across in what they're communicating? Is that kind of what you see? Now, this is the beautiful thing, and it's the conundrum of the founders, I believe, that they are great when it comes to one-on-one interaction.

5:59A lot of their sales and their business comes from interacting with people directly. directly. However, when it comes to web development, when it comes to social media, when it comes to utilizing this thing right here, they shut down. That's what it is. It's mastering the platforms and the technology from IT to AI and how to make that attractive, relatable, and absolutely unbelievably compelling for people. They're not storytellers. They're fact finders and their doers. We put the narrative to their actual competencies. So we build the website, we build the social media, we teach them what needs to be done.

6:38And the beautiful thing about it, and this is one of the most high level things that I've experienced, instead of information, founders need implementation. So when we stopped telling them what to do and trying to educate them on it and actually started doing it for them, that's when they found success. So we become their team, become that branding and marketing engine within their organization. And then they're, they're, they can be the best at what they do, where they should be. Hmm. Do you find, um, does anyone ever give you pushback? Like, Oh, I can't say that. Oh yes, definitely. So the, the humility that they feel is a lot of times people don't want to tell their story.

7:20They're like, Oh, well, nobody needs to know that. And I don't understand why what happened between the ages of seven and 14 makes sense, but I come from a background of counseling. So I learned Erickson's biopsychosocial model, which is how you create rapport with your clients. And it's actually relating with them and it's telling a story that relates to their story. So on the about page or in the translation of your value, when you get what we call a series of yeses. So here's an example of it. My name is Josh Elleridge. I grew up in X. Everybody grew up somewhere. That's a yes. My parents divorced or went to college when and having parents is something that people can connect on.

8:03When I was 14 years old, everybody that watches it is an adult. They were 14 once i learned the d i learned the the skills of i learned the competencies of hard work integrity morals values principles people are agreeing with you yeah as they're reading it psychologically they're saying i was born i grew up i was 14 i had parents so by the time they get down to the call to action, it's just another yes. But people have a problem telling that story, Josh. That's the thing. They're like, I don't see how this factors into the fact that I'm an electrician. Well, this is the thing. None of them do.

8:46So this is how you differentiate yourself in your marketplace and you create those ties of affinity and what we call you become a novelty as opposed to a commodity. And it's interesting too, where people hear that and they say, I'm a father too. I believe in that too. I value that too. And it's almost like a cognitive bias, right? Where, you know, it's like, we don't realize. It's almost like, you know, I think a lot of tricks that mentalists will do, you know, it's like, yeah, but wait a minute, we all kind of, most of us believe like that. So, but yeah, you're right. And again, it's, I really love this human connection.

9:27So it's, it's, we're developing this human connection through our branding. And I'm noticing that like you make it really easy for people to get to know the humans in their company. And I think sometimes, you know, we might have this tendency where we say, well, I want to appear bigger than just me. Right. But people don't connect necessarily with things unless there's emotion and there's humanity around it. And I think especially now, you know, in the age of where AI is just kind of spitting out, unfortunately, a lot of slop. I think that people are craving more and more and more what is real.

10:13And what I know is that if it's coming from another human, it's real as opposed to just something that they spit out. Like, I'm a human. I deserve, you know, a human level of communication. Like I feel ripped off if someone just kind of gives me a copy and paste AI swap. And I'm like, man, I wasn't worth that amount to you. So I don't know, I'm sure you have some thoughts on this topic. Well, people want to do business with people, Josh. We've gone from an age of brick and mortar to click and order. And who do you want to do business with more than someone you can relate to? A friend. I trust a friend.

10:49I trust someone with the same values. I trust someone who has seen similar situations. If I go to a dentist, and let's just say the dentist has to put me to sleep, I'm averse to it. I'm not comfortable. I want to know this person whose life is in my hands. If I'm going to give anything over 20K, 50K, 100K, I want to know that I can trust the person and we have a shared value sector where they are like me and I can trust them and And it's in their best interest to do good business with me as opposed to glass, brick, mortar, no person at the desk, just take my card, swipe. Very impersonal, very cold.

11:32We're moving into this AI era of depersonalization. When you become hyper-personalized and hyper-relationship oriented, you become the outlier. Again, I had the privilege of being mentored by Jack Welch before he passed away. And one of the things that he said is speed of trust. Speed of trust will beat any marketing ploy, tactic, or strategy that there is. Ooh. I like that. I believe in that. That's what I do. 100%. Yes. Very good. Yeah. Sean, tell me about your podcast and what you talk about. It's branding you with Sean Ray's. So to our friend that's listening right now, you can just do a quick search in your podcast app, and you can add the podcast to your subscribe right now and start listening.

12:22Who do you talk to and what do you talk about? I speak to founders, leaders, and people who are influential in your vertical. So whether that's a mountain climber, I just, there's a French Spider-Man that I just had the pleasure of reaching out to and we're trying to get him on a podcast. See, branding you is about becoming the best version of your personal brand. Everybody has one. Very few people are very good articulators of that value. So I have thought leaders like Jay Abraham, Dan Locke. So we'll have you on like some really phenomenal people that know how to build a brand, know how to influence people and also connect on that human level.

13:03Because again, it's the human connection that starts the economic transaction. And, Sean, can you share just a little bit about when someone works with you? What does that look like? How do you engage with folks? And again, your website, we got that linked up. It's seanraes.com. So to someone who's listening, you can also follow along. I'm sorry, Sean, go ahead. No problem. It's okay. We have a 120-day proprietary process where the first 30 days, we get to know you. We want to know who you are. We want to know the things that you don't share with people, the things that are going to make you different.

13:38That next 30 days becomes a deep thought leadership space where my storytellers and my copywriters dig down into your competitors and find out what differentiates from you. And basically what we're looking for is their top. We're looking for their top so we can build a floor on their heads. We want to know who your competitors are, their best, their most highest value articulation and representation in the marketplace so we can begin there and branch off and go higher and go different. Instead of going wide, we go deep into your thought leadership. The third 30-day phase, we come to your organization.

14:18So whether I have a team going to Naples, Florida, I have another team going to Mexico within the next two weeks, because we're capturing the cinematic, the story behind the story. We want to capture the organization. We want to capture you with your organization, with your staff. Then we also want to capture you with your family and show the other essence, the human essence. And then within the last 30 days sequence of this 120 days, we actually put this thing together. So in 120 days, we hand back to you something that you never would have seen in yourself, never would have thought of yourself and didn't have to do yourself.

14:55And none of your competitors are doing so it literally crushes and demoralizes your competition in the most eloquent way possible. Sean, to our friend that's listening, where do they go? How do they engage with you? What would you recommend their next steps be? SeanRais.com. SeanRais.com or just jump on the link. So I'm going to share a link with you where they can actually get a brand audit, a free brand audit, where my team will be able to look behind the scenes, see exactly what they do, how they do, and walk them through a process that they can take then and do themselves or have us do it for them.

15:29I like it. Okay. Well, that link is all linked up in the show notes. SeanRais.com. Sean, thank you so much. It's been a great conversation. thank you for the work that you do and thank you for your energy it's great conversation thanks for joining us you're very welcome thank you for having me thanks for listening to the thoughtful entrepreneur if your goal is to grow your business increase revenue and build authority without gimmicks this show is designed for you each episode gives you practical insight from leaders who have turned trust and credibility into real business results if you value short thoughtful conversations that respect your time make sure you're subscribed.

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16:55Thanks again for spending your time with us. I'll see you next time.