Unlocking Sales Success: Transforming Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs into Confident Leaders

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. This is Joshua Kornitsky professional EOS implementer and your host here on Cherokee Business Radio. Got a great. Excuse me. Got a great guest here in the studio with me today. But before I get started, I want to make sure that everybody remembers that. Today’s episode is brought to you in part by our community partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel, David, Inc. please go check them out at diesel. David. Well, again, I have a great guest here in the audience here in the studio with me today for the audience to hear. I want to introduce Jeff Durkee. Jeff is the founder of Durkee Sales Solutions. And, um, you know, let me tell you a little bit about him. For for almost four decades, Jeff’s been helping small owner led businesses grow with intention. His background spans senior sales leadership, hands on sales management, and working closely with entrepreneurs who built their companies from the ground up. Today, he focuses on helping business owners who are wearing simply too many hats, which we all know what that’s like, and he helps bring them structure, clarity and confidence so that their sales efforts can scale without them losing sight of why they started their business. Welcome, Jeff.

Jeff Durkee: Thank you Joshua. I’m so happy to be here. I appreciate you having me on.

Joshua Kornitsky: Uh, it’s a joy to have you here. Um. It’s really we we met kind of in an unusual circumstance through through a third party, but it doesn’t matter. And what I can tell you and what immediately struck me was kind of the the breadth and depth of your experience. So let’s let’s start with the origin story. Tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to the level of of understanding that you have now.

Jeff Durkee: Well, ironically, Joshua, it’s not a straight path, but I guess, uh, never, never, never are. I kind of came into sales kicking and screaming, believe it or not. I used to be in emergency medicine, and I had a family member who was in the children’s products industry, and he had things changing in his career and his business, and his company was sold, and he decided he was going to start a sales repping agency up in the New England area where I was living at the time. And he came to me and said, you know, I want you to do this with me. And I said, absolutely not. I had this vision of what sales was, and I said, no, that’s not what I want. Um, and I said, you know, you’ve got your own kids, you’ve got your son has his MBA, and I’m an emergency medicine. I said, what do you want with me? And he said, you’re going to be good at this. You’re going to really like this. And obviously, over 38 years later, he was right. Um, started as an independent sales rep up in the New England territory, did that for 14 years, always working in the children’s products industry. So the things you need when you have a baby, whether it’s strollers, car seats, cribs, all that good stuff. Um, and then, uh, at one point, a company that we were helping to launch here in North America, um, said, you know, we I want you to be my, my, my executive sales leader for the company. So that’s what got us to the Atlanta area. My family moved down here about 24 years ago, and that’s what I’ve been doing since I’ve been a VP of sales level, helping small and medium sized brands that, you know, they they’ve established themselves somewhere around the world and we’ve found them to be unique and interesting. And they were ready to come to North America, and we helped build them here in the North American market.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that’s really more than a sales role.

Jeff Durkee: It is. It absolutely is. Um, there’s there’s branding aspect to it. Um, you know, and being, of course, an executive sales in a, in a company, you’ve got the, the sales management responsibilities as well, which is the unique thing about, you know, doing what I’m doing now is I don’t have all those other sort of responsibilities. It’s a it’s more a focus on being able to work with those small and medium sized businesses. But, uh, yeah, there there was definitely a lot involved with building brands, that’s for sure.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so it sounds like you’ve got the the front line experience. It sounds like you’ve got the sales management and even the sales leadership experience. And then you evolved into strategic experience. How did you get to where you are now? Where you’re helping other organizations?

Jeff Durkee: You know, it’s funny, we, um, unfortunately realized that we needed to close the business that I had been working for for the last 22 years. And when that came about, it’s, you know, naturally, we get reflective and and one of the reflections I had was that I really enjoyed helping these small businesses because in the children’s products industry, Joshua, it’s, you know, there are big companies, but the companies we worked with, um, they were small companies. They were moms who had invented a product. I mean, the expression we use is mompreneurs, you know. Right. Um, and and moms and dads. And so what we were able to do by helping them be successful in North America was really life changing for them. Um, it’s not like you’re a cog in a machine in a giant corporation, and, you know, you hit a sales number and you get a bonus and a pat on the back, right? This is truly life changing. And so going forward, I knew that’s what I wanted to continue doing because for me, that’s that was gratifying. I mean, it’s helping people and that’s what I really enjoyed.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you’ve mentioned working in the children’s product space, but is that the only space you work in now?

Jeff Durkee: No, I mean, you know, through your, your profession that, you know, sales is a process. Sure. Uh, obviously there’s a sweet spot there, um, in terms of understanding the wholesale distribution, retail, that whole, um, model of business. Um, that’s that’s easy for me, if you will. Um, and, and my first client is in a similar situation where it’s a Korean company that wants to come to North America in the children’s product space. So that’s, you know, that’s where I’m starting.

Joshua Kornitsky: But it’s not where you’re constrained.

Jeff Durkee: Exactly. Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: So. So what are the types of things? Just speaking from a general, um, sales counseling, for lack of a better word, because I imagine. Well, let me not imagine. Let me ask what what draws a company to you? What is it that they’re usually looking for when they when they want to talk to you.

Jeff Durkee: You know, with small and medium sized businesses? Joshua. It’s it’s there’s usually some kind of a bottleneck, uh, something is preventing them from growing, like, they really want to grow. Um, and, and oftentimes it’s you have a small business that is founder led and the founder, the owner is wearing way too many hats. And I know that song. Yeah. You know, and they just kind of can’t get out of their own way. But they can be very, very successful. You can go very far based on a great product or service that they’ve created and their enthusiasm and, you know, in sales that enthusiasm sells. And so they they grow to a certain point. And then sometimes those sales plateau and they go, oh my gosh. Now what? You know, because they don’t have a sales.

Joshua Kornitsky: Because momentum can only take them so far.

Jeff Durkee: Exactly, exactly. They don’t have that stable, repeatable sales process that they need to continue to grow. So those are the kinds of things I hear. And, you know, I like to approach sales the same way I approach so many things, which is trying to help people. And the only way you can help them is to find out what the problem is, is to listen to them.

Joshua Kornitsky: Is there are there specific size organizations that that you believe you’re well suited to work with? What’s the range size wise?

Jeff Durkee: I think from a revenue standpoint, I like to say anything from sort of 2 to 50 million. But the sweet spot is probably really 5 to 10.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so, so successful enough that that they understand how much they don’t know. Yeah. One might say yes. Um, because below that number, it’s not that they can’t succeed. They’re on their path. They’re on their way. But I imagine, uh, are the are the problems different? Say at 2 million versus 10 million?

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, when a business gets to 2 million. Oftentimes they’re looking to hire their first sales person. Um, the owner realizes that they can’t continue doing that, uh, which is a great realization in and of itself. Um, and again, that’s a space that I can help in. I can help with hiring a sales person, um, bringing up a sales leader. Sometimes there’s a small business of five people and someone who’s been doing a great job selling the business is ready to to promote them to a sales management or sales leadership position. And that’s also something that I can help train and coach, if that’s necessary. Um, but yes, you do typically see, you know, sort of 2 to 5 million. There’s big changes. And then once you go up above five and above ten. You know, those are those milestones where things really change.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so so let me ask you directly, because you touched on this and I hadn’t had a chance to ask you, Jeff, what do you do to help companies now. So, so that we understand anybody that’s listening, anybody that we share this with, they know what it is that you’re able to help them with.

Jeff Durkee: Right. And the first thing is always asking Joshua, you know, I love to sit with small businesses and say, you know, why am I here? What is keeping you up at night? What are your pain points? Right. And frequently these owners will start to really just unload on you. And I love that because in all of that, you pick out the real key things that you know. You’re making your notes and saying, okay, I’m understanding what the problem is. And from that I develop a solution. You know, there’s no cookie cutter solution. Sure. You know, you shouldn’t. I don’t feel that you should look at business that way in terms of one solution fits all. It’s kind of what are their pain points? What is their business model.

Joshua Kornitsky: As it relates to sales for clarity?

Jeff Durkee: Yes, yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: So process training? Yes. Um, are you able to. Are you able to sell for them?

Jeff Durkee: I generally don’t, you know, when people ask what I do, that’s kind of where I stop.

Joshua Kornitsky: And not a gun for.

Jeff Durkee: Hire, right? I’m not the knock on the door salesperson. Now, obviously, if you’re traveling with reps, coaching them, things like that, you’re going to be selling, or if you’re at a trade show, you’re going to be selling. But I’m not the front line of defense for, uh, for for selling for a brand. But yeah, the process.

Joshua Kornitsky: And you really shouldn’t be either, because if you’re if you’re behind the scenes helping it become efficient, creating the process, um, getting it to the place it needs to be in order to grow and succeed, you’ll have to understand the sales cycle and the sales process, but you may not necessarily need to be within it. Now, that being said, that’s that’s because you’re on the outside. Anybody that’s on the inside has to be part of that process.

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely.

Joshua Kornitsky: You know, the it always amazes me when I encounter sales leaders who don’t know how to sell. Now, at a certain level, when you get to a chief revenue officer, that’s a pretty good sized organization. That individual oftentimes is way more data analytical than than they are sales focused. But there is still that strong sales leadership somewhere in the stack. The chief revenue officer just makes sure that the numbers are in the right column.

Jeff Durkee: Often it is. It is staggering. Sometimes when you see people in high levels of position in sales and they shy away from doing product demos, from actually selling. And, you know, I understand the analytical side of it and the data driven piece. But to me, it still comes down to, you know, what is it you’re selling? What are the benefits? Because that’s what people are going to want to buy, is those benefits.

Joshua Kornitsky: Why do I need this item? Whatever it is.

Jeff Durkee: Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: So let me ask this question because I, I think you can see a lot or learn a lot in the negative space. What is it that that is broadly speaking. And we’re speaking in generalities. Broadly speaking, what is it that that are what are some of the 2 or 3 most common misconceptions about? Let’s just call it the universe of sales that you often encounter?

Jeff Durkee: Um, I think and that’s a really good question, Joshua. Not one I often think about, but I think it’s it’s a matter of, you know, partly my initial perceptions of sales is that it’s about pushing and, you know, there’s something you can just train somebody to do, and then all of a sudden they’re going to be a salesperson. And, you know, again, to me, I always fall back on, listen to what the customer’s needs are and then see if your solution can solve those problems. And then we put those processes in place so the sales team can successfully meet the needs of the customer.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. So not everybody’s cut out to be a salesperson then.

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and that’s a big part of a business. And being at the level that I’ve been in, you see, and I know, you know, in your business the the old expression of making sure the right butts are in the right seats, right?

Joshua Kornitsky: I mean, right person, right seat is is everything. And and when it comes to iOS and process, other than establishing that sales needs a process, we don’t get into the weeds of it. That’s that’s what you’re for. Um, other than to acknowledge that in order to get a repeatable, uh, demonstrative result, if you’re going to do better with the defined process. Yes. So let’s talk about that process for a minute. And let’s talk about that process with right on the dovetail of right people. Right seat or right, but right chair. Um, I’m really good at selling, so I don’t need the process. Right. Isn’t that how that works? I mean.

Jeff Durkee: You know, it’s funny because sometimes, first of all, everybody does need the process, as you know. Um, and sometimes people don’t think they need a process. They’re good salespeople. They’re successful. Sometimes they don’t even know they’re utilizing a process. You know, they just don’t realize it. But there is a process. And, you know, with with small and medium sized businesses that I’m helping, it’s a matter of, you know, have you identified your ideal client? Which sounds so simple, but it’s really not. And it’s very important. You know, just identify your client. Uh, who really are they? What are your KPIs that you’re shooting for? You know, these are important steps in the process. The buyer persona. Um, who are the buyers you’re going to be selling to what? What’s important to them. So these are all the sort of building blocks of the process that I like to help these businesses put in place and measurable goals because, you know, again, you probably see it all the time where you have a business that’s grown four years in a row, 20% a year, and they just say, okay, we’re going to grow 20%.

Joshua Kornitsky: This is how this works, this exactly.

Jeff Durkee: We’re going to do it again. And I always I’m a nuts and bolts. I back into that stuff. I don’t kind of put my finger in the air and say, let’s grow 30% this year, right? It’s who are you going to do that with which customers? How many new customers do you need to hit this goal? You know, what products are you going to be selling or services?

Joshua Kornitsky: The math tells the story. It sounds like.

Jeff Durkee: Yes, I’m very much that way.

Joshua Kornitsky: So when you work with a with a client or someone that’s interested in working with you, how often do you just sticking on that theme of process? For one more question, how often do they have? I don’t want to say a formal process, but a process.

Jeff Durkee: They usually have somewhat of a process. It’s just not clearly defined and and not always in the right order either. There’s sometimes in small businesses they’re they’re a little bit scattered. And it’s, you know, a process is just that. It’s a process. There are steps you take to get from point A to point B, and that’s what I like to help the businesses sort of realize, identify and then put those steps in place. Because then if you do have that new sales person on board, they have a starting point, you know, they know where to where to start, what the process is. You know, what their client base is going to look like. You know where they should be focusing their energy, things like that.

Joshua Kornitsky: So let’s say that that you and we’ll stick with the ubiquitous widget, right? You’ve you’ve met the the the reseller of widgets and you’ve talked with them and you understand sort of what their challenges are. Do you just sit in the back and hand them a piece of paper and say, these are the things you need to do? How how does the engagement move forward beyond once you sort of understand what’s plaguing that?

Jeff Durkee: Great question. And no, I don’t um, I don’t just hand them the plan, if you will. Uh, I think that’s what a lot of people think of when they think of consultants. And I it’s hard to describe what I do sometimes to people that don’t know. You know, they in general terms, yes, I’m a consultant, but I am an implementer too, in terms of I like to I’m going to I’m going to roll up my sleeves and I’m going to be there with you step by step, and we’re going to put this thing together and we’re going to make sure it’s functioning together. So I’m not going to walk away and sort of.

Joshua Kornitsky: Get in the business.

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely. That’s what I love, is getting in the business and really understanding what’s going on.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think that’s a real differentiator. So I am not a consultant. I’m a teacher, coach and a facilitator. I teach a system that’s very well defined, and while it is necessary for me to understand my client’s universe to a degree, I am not the expert in widgets. And while there are many widget wizards out there, that’s not why they engage me. If they want the discipline and accountability that iOS offers, I teach them that in the context of the universe within which they are experts. You have to go to a deeper level than I do, because you have to understand the dynamics of the product or the service, who, the who the customer is. And, and I imagine, uh, and again, I want to make sure I ask the question in the right way. I imagine, as you intimated sometimes, some of the process steps of our out of order. Do you ever encounter where they’re where they’re knocking on the wrong door, metaphorically that they’re talking to the wrong, either the wrong person or they’re presenting their product in the wrong way.

Jeff Durkee: Less frequently, talking to the wrong person. And a great sort of story that I’ll share, um, from my from my past career, which is, you know, children’s products. So in, in dealing with independent retailers, the mom and pop baby stores, you know, you ask them, so who is your ideal client in, in this part of the, the, the state and so forth. You know, every there’s demographic issues, things like that. So who’s your ideal client. And a lot of these businesses would just say, well, every pregnant woman that walks in the door is my ideal client. And it’s like, no, it really they really aren’t. And and you and I know as consumers, we shop in certain stores, we visit certain places because they’re what we like. We’re comfortable there. We we have a good experience there, not just because they have the service or the product or the widget or the right cup of coffee.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, a lot more elements at play.

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely. So yes, you sometimes business owners think they know what their ideal client profile is and they really don’t, as that’s just a great example of, you know, no, not every pregnant woman that walks into a baby store is your ideal client.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And I remember my my kids aren’t babies anymore. But just to round that thought out, I remember learning, uh, that there was, let’s call it the Cadillac of of children’s and babies, things that were so outside of our range of affordability. I mean, three and $4,000 strollers. I don’t know what a what a $4,000 stroller does that $100 stroller doesn’t do, but my kids no longer need them, so I guess I’ll have to live with the mystery. But I could see that as a perfect illustration of it. Well, you know a pregnant woman who rolls up in a limousine versus a pregnant woman who walks in the door because she walked from the bus stop. They’re probably not shopping at the same product level. Exactly. And that that’s sort of a universal truism across the board. You have to know the geographic, the demographic, and the psychographic profile of your clients or prospective clients so that you don’t represent the product in the wrong way or the service in the wrong way. Because correct me if I’m wrong, not only can it cost you the sale, it can offend.

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes, totally. And you know, in in a country as big as the US is, you know, you’re dealing with demographics that change from state to state, from city to city and.

Joshua Kornitsky: City to city for sure. I mean, look at Atlanta. You want to talk about a spectrum of just economic levels? No other state hundred percent.

Jeff Durkee: 100%. Yeah. So you have to know your customers.

Joshua Kornitsky: And is that something that you’re able to help your, your your clients with?

Jeff Durkee: Yes, absolutely. By, by kind of reverse engineering to use a kind of a crappy expression, I guess is in terms of, you know, what is it you’re selling? What product or service is it? Um, how is it going to benefit? Who is it going to benefit? And from that you can actually, you know, fine tune your ideal client profile, right? I mean, we sell benefits in sales. You sell the benefits of a product or service, not necessarily the feature of it, but it’s the benefit to the consumer. So from understanding what it is you’re you’re selling and what the benefits are, then you can kind of focus and hone in on who is your ideal client. So are you selling to the right person.

Joshua Kornitsky: So perfect segue to the to the next question that occurs to me. Excuse me. Do ideal client profiles evolve? Do sales processes evolve? Is it once they’ve worked with you? Jeff where I’m going with this is once they work with you, is it? We put a plan in place and and thanks very much. And we’re all done. How does it is it a one and done, or is it an ongoing understanding of how their market, their model, their product, their service changes?

Jeff Durkee: What I found, Joshua, is so many companies, part of their evolution is their product mix changes. You know, they they start with a given product or service. But then as the company is growing, they realize that they need to keep freshening things up. There’s usually your owner owner in that business. He’s got more she’s got more ideas that she wants to pump into the business and create new products and services. So there is there is an evolution for sure, but hopefully you get a good process in place so that they can eventually not need me or get to the point where I actually can help them hire their their first sales leaders or executive salespeople. Um, you know, sort of it sounds counterintuitive, but making myself, myself, you know, dispensable.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, that’s but that, to me, betrays the honesty of your character. You’re not trying to stay there forever. You want to. You want to help them get their goals achieved and then set them up to succeed moving forward. I find that honorable.

Jeff Durkee: Yeah, exactly. It’s, you know, as the business grows, that’s hopefully where we can get them.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it’s it’s helping sell. It’s helping understand ideal client profile. It’s helping understand market. It’s helping understand process. It’s helping understand strategy. It’s even helping hire and recruit.

Jeff Durkee: Yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, that’s a lot. So when someone wants to reach out to you, Jeff, what’s the best way for them to get you?

Jeff Durkee: Best way to get me is just reach out via sales Solutions.com. That’s my website. Uh, it’s just sales solutions just like it sounds.

Joshua Kornitsky: And we’ll post the link to that. Thank you. We’ll post, uh, any of the social media that you use. We’ll have all of that when the interview goes live. Um, any other thoughts or any other points that, that, that you want to touch on that we haven’t touched on?

Jeff Durkee: No, I just, uh, you know, and again, this is something I know you’ve seen before too, is the first step is kind of getting that small and medium size business to say, hmm, maybe, maybe this could help. And I really appreciate when business owners get to that point, because that initial reach out is so important and it doesn’t hurt. You know, it’s hard.

Joshua Kornitsky: But it is it’s it’s just like on the iOS side, realizing that that you’ve reached a limit, that you need additional insight. I won’t say help. I’ll just say insight. It’s hard to pick up that phone.

Jeff Durkee: Yeah. And one of the things I love, Joshua is just having the conversations. You know, I love learning about other people’s businesses and their stories. It’s so much fun. And sometimes just in conversation with people, they go, oh geez, I hadn’t thought about that. You know, those aha moments happen. So reach out. Let’s have a chat. Let’s have a coffee. I’m I’m just I love to to talk with business owners and see if I can help. And if I can’t I’m not going. I’m not going to I’m not going to pretend. But if I can, I can.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think that’s fair. And I’m going to put you on the spot with one last sort of silly question, but but I’ll be very specific because specific is terrific, as we know, not for consultation, but to have that initial dialog. Jeff, does that cost anybody money?

Jeff Durkee: Absolutely not. Thank you for asking. Yeah. No, I’m more than happy. Um, I like to mentor people as much as I can, um, to, to kind of figure out if if there is something in the bigger picture that I can help them with, or if they they’re not ready for me yet.

Joshua Kornitsky: And I think that’s a perfect way to close this out because again, it speaks to I believe you. You bring a level of honesty and integrity that I actually know enough people to say is not as rare as people think. But it certainly is great to hear that there are people that are willing to help and willing to listen. Um, I can’t thank you enough, Jeff. We we will share all of your information that you want shared publicly so that folks know how to get Ahold of you. Uh, my guest today has been Jeff Durkee. Jeff is the founder of Durkee Sales Solutions. Um, honestly, he just helps small and owner led businesses grow with intention. And he’s got the background and chops to to prove it. So I thank you for the insight and the knowledge that you were kind enough to share with us today.

Jeff Durkee: Oh, thank you for having me, Joshua. It’s been a pleasure. It’s been great chatting with you. I you know, I just like to chat.

Joshua Kornitsky: I enjoyed it. I do want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you in part by the Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors defending capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David. Ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David, we’ve come to another end of another great Cherokee business radio. I appreciate everyone listening. My name is Joshua Kornitsky. I’m a professional implementer of the entrepreneurial operating system known as EOS. And your host. We’ll see you next time.