Today we’d like to introduce you to Catherine Brown.
Catherine, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I thought when I grew up, I was going to be a professional musician. I studied percussion, planning to be in an orchestra as an adult. That interest is what originally brought me to Houston, where I attended the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Although I finished college with a music degree, I realized that I did not want to compete in the music world. After graduating, I began to do temporary work, where I fell into working for a technology services company as a recruiter. I loved recruiting, and recruiting took me to sales; from sales, I realized the part of selling I enjoyed the most was actually getting in front of people and asking for meeting with people who are hard to reach. It turns out that a lot of people don’t enjoy initiating with other people for sales, so I realized people would pay me to do this for them. So, in 2002 I founded a business to business telemarketing firm called Initial Call, which I ran for over 15 years.
Initial Call was essentially a staffing company where we scheduled qualified sales appointments for corporate executives. When my husband got a job at Rice University in 2017, we moved back to Houston, and I feel like my life came full circle… we moved back to Texas and got to be back on the beautiful campus where he and I first met in college. I used my move back to Houston to finish organizing my sales training material, which I had begun writing the year before our move. I launched ExtraBold Sales, a sales training firm that specializes in teaching people to sell business products and services without the sleazy, cheesy tactics that a lot of people experience as customers. I teach corporate workshops, provide group coaching, and am a keynote speaker who speaks on the psychology of selling. My first book is forthcoming this fall and I can be found at extraboldsales.com
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, starting companies has not been smooth! With ExtraBold Sales, one of the challenges has been figuring out whom to serve. I think that a common business issue for professional services companies is that there are so many kinds of people you could work with. Since most people in the world do not like to sell, and actually, deep down they believe selling to be a pushy, dishonorable profession, I could have services for most of the population of the world if I did not pick where to focus my attention. So, I have had a number of attempts with different kinds of classes for different markets, different industries, etc. But my goal was to build a model for the business to grow easily.
Where we have landed is that our expertise is in working with companies with complex sales cycles and a direct sales force. What that means is companies that sell professional services of all kinds or who have expensive or technical products are a good fit for me to help. Financial services companies, professional services companies, and technology services companies enjoy working with us.
ExtraBold Sales– what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I think one of the reasons people enjoy working with me is that I am not afraid to have an honest conversation about what people do and do not like about salespeople. To many people, selling is a “necessary evil” to running their business, and we can discuss their feelings about sales without me making them feel ashamed about the fact that they feel anxious about having to sell. A lot of sales trainers act like since they (the trainer) like selling, you should too. But many, many people do not like it but have to do it anyway.
I have a good sense of humor. I make it fun and interesting to look at yourself and your limiting beliefs about selling and face them head-on. But, I also have a growth mindset, and I believe that just about anyone can learn to sell if they want to. One of the things that makes us really proud as a company is that we understand that people have to learn to sell well for businesses to thrive.
Business leaders want their businesses to thrive, because for most people, it is through their business and professional life that they fulfill their larger purpose in the world. Therefore, by extension, we feel when we help people sell better, we are making the world better through those companies one business at a time.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Such a great question! I think that the definition of success has changed for me over time, but one definition I am liking currently has to do with the book, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements. The idea is that there are five components to wellbeing for every person, and that if any of them are missing in your life, then it will feel like something is amiss. The book describes the term “vitality” as including the elements of work satisfaction, healthy relationships, peace with finances, good physical health, and a connection with your community. It has been interesting for me to look at those areas and think about how I am doing in those key areas.
Pricing:
- Corporate training starts at $6000 for a half day for a sales team and is customizable for a company’s needs.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4444 Center Street Houston, TX 77007
- Website: extraboldsales.com
- Phone: 405.274.0808
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/extraboldsales/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtraBoldSalesBiz
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/extraboldsales
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/extrabold-sales
- YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y8uqob2r
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