Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson
Ready Set Collaborate is a podcast with a wealth of knowledge on networking, collaboration, and partnership, unlocking the secrets to successful teamwork and Innovation. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a creative professional, or just someone who can understand the power of networking and collaboration. This podcast is your go-to resource. Join us as we explore the stories, strategies, and insights from experts, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who have experienced the magic of networking and collaboration to achieve successful results.
Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson
Better Questions, Better Clients with Bruce Hill
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What if the fastest way to grow your revenue is to ask better questions and make buying easier? We sit down with sales pro, trainer, and author Bruce Hill to unpack the simple habits that turn conversations into clients and teams into consistent performers.
Bruce shares the Four P framework that runs his business: people, promise, process, and pricing. We talk through how to define who you can serve with excellence, articulate a clear outcome, build a repeatable delivery system, and set prices that respect both the client and the business. Along the way, Bruce explains why introverts often win in sales, how a single language mix-up can derail a team, and why listening is the most underrated competitive advantage.
We go beyond tactics to the habits that keep you productive when motivation fades. Bruce maps out his daily planning routine, the one-task rule that guarantees progress, and the mindset shift that treats rest as part of the business plan. He also offers four prompts to get unstuck—what’s going well, do more of, do less of, start now—plus a fresh take on customer success that makes renewals and referrals almost automatic. If you’ve ever wondered how to attract better clients, reduce friction, and improve collaboration without adding complexity, this conversation gives you a clear path.
Grab Bruce’s Better Questions Toolkit and learn the “questions path” to guide sales calls with purpose. Then tell us: what’s one question you’ll add to your next client conversation? If this helped you think differently, subscribe, share with a teammate, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.
Connect with Bruce Hill
website - www.askingbetterquestions.com
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https://www.facebook.com/Newskillsnewyou/
https://www.youtube.com/@newskillsnewyou
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Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. This is where ideas spark, connections grow, and collaborations fuse success. Tune in for inspiring stories, expert insights, and game-changing conversations. Let's build, connect, and thrive together. Remember, collaboration is the key to success.
SPEAKER_02:This episode is brought to you by Triple M Money Management Matters, helping you take control of your finances with confidence, clarity, improvement strategies to build wealth and secure your future. Triple M Money Management will definitely help you with your finances. Welcome, welcome to the Ready Set Collaborate Podcast with Wanda Pearson with Collaboration Sparks Transformation. Ready to attract your dreams clients without the stress, we're going to have actually Bruce Hill with us here. So with Collaboration Sparks Transformation, and I am excited to introduce Bruce Hill, an accomplished sales professional, three-time author, and experienced trainer who helps individuals and organizations improve performance, productivity, and profitability. So I'm going to just have this, but I'm going to talk about Bill Bruce's bio. So Bruce, tell everybody hello.
SPEAKER_01:Hello. Thank you so much for the invite. I love the title already set, Collaborate. That's been a big part of my success. It's just all the people that helped along the way. So including yourself. So I'm I'm thankful.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, thank you. Yeah, when I created this title, I was just telling Bruce, it'll be two years, two years' anniversary when I created this podcast. I always thought collaboration, and that's my key, that's my tagline. Collaboration is the key to success because it is. Oh, wonderful.
SPEAKER_01:I didn't even know that.
SPEAKER_02:That's how I created this. I said, okay, what can I name it? Ready, said and my marketing. She said, Why don't you always like to? That's it. Ready said collaborate. That's what we're gonna have our podcast. So that's how I created that. That's how I created that. Let's get ready to be inspired in challenges. We dive into the art of asking better questions, building stronger teams, and driving results. So, Bruce, welcome to the podcast. I am going to talk about your bio and then we're gonna get into some questions here. Sounds good? Sounds great. Okay, so Bruce empowers individuals and organizations to improve performance, productivity, and profitability in the areas of leadership, team building, customer service, communication, and sales. As a two-time president's club winner, whoa, go ahead, Bruce. Bruce is an accomplished sales professional, three-time author, and experienced trainer. His impact as a leader included serving as the president for the oldest Toastmasters club in Nashville and GTM strategy for tech startups. He became obsessed with personal and professional development when he discovered one new skill would change your life. I love that. Today he is working on his fourth book, Better Questions, Better Clients, with the goal to drive revenue through personal and professional development. Thank you, Bruce. I love this bio because I tell I remember working at IBM, we had to go to Toastmasters. Yeah. Let's learn that. And that's really getting you out of your uh comfort zone and being able to speak. Absolutely. But I am so proud of you, and I'm so happy that you're here with me to be able to explain what your uh your framework is. So let's dive into some questions. So, what is your 4P framework?
SPEAKER_01:So I'm actually really excited, but ha, we're working on it. Yeah, I've got it done here. Super excited. So the better questions framework is more than just a sales framework. That's the most obvious application, but it can be for business strategy, it can be for better hiring decisions, it can make you a more effective leader or coach. So if you're born into your team or if you're directly a coach, right? Life coach, business coach, etc., there's four questions that I run my whole business on. And it's based around the people, the promise, the process, and the pricing. So I asked first, who can I serve with excellence? And that was a light bulb moment for a lot of people. The first time I taught this workshop live, they're like, wait a minute. And we got stuck there, and we're doing the next session next month. You can visit, let's see, here. At the end, we'll give you how can you can tap in and get into the next workshop, just depending where you are and when you are. So, who can we serve with excellence? How is their life for business going to be different? Because they came in contact with you. And then how are we going to deliver results consistently? And last but certainly not least, once the price that makes sense for the business, it makes sense to the client. So we don't want to give away the result. We also want to make sure it's simple, make the decision to work with us easy. So I just asked those four questions over and over again. And what happens is we gain a level of clarity, we get a level of confidence, it improves the communication between the team, between the customers. Boom. That's a quick masterclass on the better questions framework and the four P framework.
SPEAKER_02:I love it, and especially with the four P's. But let's take it, let's go back here. Because I want to know how you discovered that one little skill can change your life. What was that moment like for you?
SPEAKER_01:It starts where all good stories start. They say, hey, everybody, y'all don't have a job. So they sold our division of the company. So even though we were the top performing branch in the region and one of the most profitable branches in the state, if you didn't have a job, you won't have a job. And right, bills still got to be paid. So I asked a really powerful question. Say, man, where can I work that if I do more, I get paid more? And if I work harder, I get paid better. And it ended up in sales. I ended up in sales. So even though working with me won't turn you into the killer closer or the master manipulator or the sales superstar, what I found is asking better questions gets better results. Asking better questions gets better answers. And that's obvious out loud, but that was a pivotal moment because when I started as sales, it was 100% commission. So you sold some stuff, you got paid. You didn't sell anything. Guess what? You didn't get paid. And that's where I realized that I didn't have any merit for showing up just to be there. You got paid for results. And so the better I got at serving, the better I got at adding value, the better I got at communicating, the better I got at helping, the more I sold. And so that skill absolutely changed my life. I ended up making more money and less time. That was really empowering. You could travel. People call man, Bruce, I got a flat tire, need some help. Hey, I got you. And that's when I say one new skill will change your life. It's not a cliche or fridge magnet, it's absolutely transformative. And one of those skills for me was better questions.
SPEAKER_02:I love it. And I love that's the title of your books, too. So better questions. What is it? Better questions, better answers? Clients. Clients, clients. Okay, yeah. No, I love that. So, how did your sales journey shape your passion for personal and professional development?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, that's a good question. What do you have to realize is that sales isn't about convincing people? I've found that introverts are actually better salespeople because they are naturally more attuned to listening. And I also realized that you could talk to more people and you'd accidentally hear yes. But if you got better at talking to the same number of people, you'll hear yes more often. How do you get better at hearing yes more often? And it comes from your personal and professional development, comes from your leadership skills, comes from discipline, comes from communication, and it comes from confidence. Yes, confidence is a skill. And I wrote a training on confidence for Microsoft, Georgia, and one of the things that I shared as I presented the proposals, I listen, this isn't unique to your position or title. It starts inside, and that's why it's one new skill will change your life. And I know that if I can change your life, I'm going to change the business. If I can grow who you are, I can grow the business. So personal and professional development has been integral to my success.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome. That's awesome. And that makes sense there. So what inspired you to step into authorship and training?
SPEAKER_01:My buddy wanted to write a book. And I was like, Man, that's a good idea. And a year goes by. And he said, Man, I should write a book. I'm like, man, do it. The world needs to hear your story. A year goes by. Man, I think I'm gonna write a book. I was like, man, I'd love for you to write a book. It's easy. He says, Man, how do you know? You've never written a book. And I was like, all right, fine. So I went and wrote a book. And I said, man, this actually is really easy. Shout out to Ria Vision Avance, shout out to Book Prophets Club. And so then I said, Well, I'm gonna write another one. And so the next year I wrote a second. And then I think third was a collaboration book. And this is the fourth one. Better questions, better clients. And guess what? My buddy still has not written a single page.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. It's funny because I said I would never write a book. I would never write a book. But one of my clients said, Wanda, God told me to call you. And I always said, see Nicole, I always talk about her. And I said, Okay, God told me to call you. I said, Okay, what'd he say? He wants you to be part of this collaboration book. And that's how I actually became start writing Audacity to Shine, was one of the collaboration partners. Oh, yeah. So I love the title because that's what really got me Audacity to Shine. We all have the Audacity to shine. So I liked it. So that got me going. And you know what? I was like, I don't know how to. I just told my girlfriend, I'm not gonna write a book. No, I'm not gonna do this. So God has a plan for you. You never know what his plans are. He has a sense of humor too, but look how he got me doing that. Podcast, right? Along with my third book that I'm coming up with. I'm sorry. See? Yeah, no, this is my fourth book that I'm coming out. Two collaborations, two books. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, it is in it. Once you start, you just can't stop.
SPEAKER_02:You can't stop. You can't stop. And actually, I have to say, Taria, she told me that I need to write this next book, Forgiveness, Walking Through Freedom and God's Grace. And she said, Money, you need to write another book. You need to do coaching. And I said, God has been telling me that. And she was like the confirmation that I needed to listen.
SPEAKER_01:Don't be like Jonah.
SPEAKER_02:I know, right? I'm just obeying. I'm just obeying.
SPEAKER_01:Let's just go ahead and do it right the first time.
SPEAKER_02:I know. And speaking of that, so you work with leaders and teams across different industries. What are the top two, three trait and high-performing teams?
SPEAKER_01:And this isn't he said, is asking better questions. Think about let's look at a team of insurance professionals. We'll use insurance. Talking to your client, and there's a lot of education to be done, but asking better questions is important to know. Hey, what do they need to know right now? Let's say you're talking to your team. Maybe they're underperforming, maybe they're frustrated, maybe there's a gap in their education. How do we know that? We're going to ask better questions. Maybe you're looking at investing in your business, that'd be software, tools, training, right? What questions you ask are going to change the decision you make? So what I see over and over again, and it stems for better questions, is their innovation as a problem solving, is their decision making. So number one is asking better questions. Number two is going to be leadership. And not again, not based on your title, but based on your behavior. And then the third one is going to be communication, speaking and listening, right? Both directions of communication. So better questions, leadership, and communication. I see that over and over again. Any industry, any level of experience, any level of success, those are all needed.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Yes. I love that because actually that was my next question.
SPEAKER_01:So what was the next question?
SPEAKER_02:In your experience, what role does communication play in team success? And what common mistakes should leaders avoid?
SPEAKER_01:I'll give you a real simple one. Yesterday, we were going to go to lunch. And I said, hey, I'm going to recommend Gusto. And he's Gusto. He's isn't that a payroll company? And if you look it up, Gusto is the name of a payroll company. If you're looking for HR compliance or payroll, I definitely want to recommend a company called Insperity. Phenomenal company. Highest level of service in the industry. Anyway, he says, wait a minute, why are we talking about payroll? I just want to go to lunch. If you look up Gusto with an exclamation point on it, then it's a restaurant that serves like healthy meals. And so we had it, and he was a man, this is really good food. He's I didn't know payroll could taste so good. One of my favorite movie quotes. What we have here is a failure to communicate. If a team isn't using the same language and communicating effectively, they're gonna end up going in a circle or backwards.
SPEAKER_02:That is so true. And I actually talk about the four C's. We talk about communication, commitment, compromise, and consideration. Those are my four C that's the four C's of me and my husband's marriage, but also in business. So I always talk about that. But no, that's great. And yeah, mistakes can be made, and I love it because actually we do have Augustos restaurant that we used to go to. It's a pretty good restaurant, not to be confused for something else. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, and it's very good. So you often speak about customer service as a foundation for sales success. How do you see the two connected?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, they're not, I don't even know if they're connected, they're the same thing. Peter Drugger says that the every business has the same purpose and is that to create and keep customers. One of my favorite quotes from Bruce Hill quote is make it easy for people to do business with you. The challenge you're gonna have today, there's so many options. People want guidance on what's the best option for them. And what's interesting, it doesn't always come down to the cheapest option. There is a group of people where the cheapest is just what they're gonna do. What I found is more effective is what's the easiest. No matter what the cost is, what's the easiest? So that's customer service, or we call it customer success. So that's helping our customers leverage the product or service they've paid for to the highest level efficiency. And what happens to make it easy to do business with us, we're invested in their success. It just makes sense for them to renew. It just makes sense for them to tell their friends. It makes sense for them to leave five-star reviews. So I talk about that. I have better questions about clients. We talk about, hey, what is a better client? And it's created by the level of service you provide. So it's interesting. You really, even on the cover, maybe on the back, let's see if I read the back of this. I think the word sales might appear like one time. It's really about that level of service.
SPEAKER_02:And that's so true. So, how do we define better clients?
SPEAKER_01:Man, you know what? I'm glad you asked that question. What page is that? Oh, here it is. Here it is. I would go to page 17. Page 17. The biggest and first priority is who can we help in the most impactful way? That's going to be your better client. So then the second question underneath that is who do we like working with? There's a group of people you like working with. You said earlier before we started that you work with different folks from different religious beliefs, political beliefs, because there's still that need there. Right. I imagine though, there's people that you're really excited to hear from. There's people that and connect with. Those are better clients. There's not, I don't want to get caught on the highest paying clients, but the clients that were meant, that was a good experience for both of us. And I dive into that a lot deeper in the book.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And that's uh, yeah, and that that you explained that very well. So now let me ask you something. So, how do you personally stay disciplined, productive, and motivated while balancing writing, training, and speaking?
SPEAKER_01:So I don't stay motivated. I ran out of motivation years ago. What's been really helpful for me is staying organized, use the calendar, have a plan before I go to bed, I make a plan for the next day. Every morning that my assistant will send itinerary for the day. And I'll say, hey, these are the most important things. So if I just do this one thing, that's still a successful day. So when I run out of motivation, my discipline is low, you're physically tired, you're emotionally tired, you're still productive, you're still moving forward. Then this one took me years to learn, but I'll share with you all. I made rest part of my growth strategy. One of my mentees, shout out, she just got married too. Cheers, cheers to her. She says rest is part of my business plan. And I was like, man, that's good. I'm gonna write that down. And it took me a while to live it though.
SPEAKER_02:I think it all it takes us a while to realize it.
SPEAKER_01:So that's where I stay more productive, is because I have the mental, physical, emotional energies, I learn how to rest. That's been a huge difference for me, has accelerated my success.
SPEAKER_02:I love that because I do the same thing. My calendar is very important to me. If I don't know what's on my calendar, then I usually look at it the day before and in the morning of just to make sure that I'm staying productive, organized. Because that that really is a big thing for even I tell my daughters they have to get on my calendar to babysit. I may have something to do.
SPEAKER_01:So simple as that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. So they got mad at me when I first retired, and I said, This is look, I'm not one to sit at home, not doing anything. This is what I'm doing. If you want me to babysit, you got to get on my calendar. So they understand that now. So the older one, she actually asked me back in January to babysit for October. Because she knows she knows. I love it. She knows it. So for someone who feels who is listening, who feels stuck in their personal or professional world, what is the very first step they can take today?
SPEAKER_01:You're you're gonna ask yourself three questions. Actually, let's call it four. You know, say what's going well. And that question will provide some insight that it's probably not as bad as you think it is. Now, maybe it is. Maybe it is as bad as you think it is. So the second question becomes, what should I be doing more of? And then once I take inventory there, I'm gonna ask myself the third question: what should I be doing less of? Sometimes things are getting away. Perfect example, years ago I stopped drinking soda pop. And I lost seven pounds before the week was over. And so sometimes it's not about being busier or doing more, sometimes it's about doing less. Less of the things that aren't working, less of things that are sabotaging. And then the fourth question is what do I need to start doing? There's something that you've been procrastinating on that you've been avoiding, that it would be beneficial to you, no matter how unpleasant, uncomfortable. I really need to get these push-ups in. I really need to go for a walk, I really need to fill in the blank. Those four questions are gonna help get you back on the right track.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. And that I that's true, because no matter what you're doing, we get off track and we got to get back on track. So tell us about your upcoming book. Better questions, better clients. What can readers expect?
SPEAKER_01:So if you grab this book, let's say you're uh people leader, maybe you got a team of five, maybe you got a team of 500, maybe you're a business owner, or maybe you're an entrepreneur. You say, hey, it's just me. The goal, I kept it really short. It's just 120 pages. The goal wasn't to overwhelm you or impress you with how much I know. Man, I've lived I've lived a really full life, I'm full of gratitude. The goal is to get to some key points as quickly as possible that can help you as much as possible. And I know that if I can help work on you, we're gonna work on every person in your life, we're gonna work on your business, we're gonna work on your success. So you can expect a real easy read. Plenty of examples in there, some case studies. At the end of every section, there's a spot for some notes. Right now, it's not available digitally, and I'll tell you why. I want you to sit still. And that's so tough to ask, because I know life is missing. I think you should sit still. Just a few minutes, 10, 15 minutes, be present, learn and apply what you've learned, and watch how it impacts your life.
SPEAKER_02:That's good. That's good. So, what is your ultimate vision for empowering individuals and organizations in the next five to 10 years? Your vision.
SPEAKER_01:Well, the next I want to be aggressive. The next five years, I want to have 2,500 businesses, learn how to ask better questions. That's goal. That's the goal.
SPEAKER_02:That's good. That makes sense. So, last question, then we're gonna get into what you're doing here. So, how do you turn conversations into clients?
SPEAKER_01:That's a longer, not to avoid the question, that is a longer conversation.
SPEAKER_02:So we're gonna have to have you on again to tell us about one.
SPEAKER_01:So, page 85, we talk about turning conversations into clients. And it's really simple. I wrote something called the questions path. Trying to think of where I put it where you can grab it. If you visit AstingbetterQuestions.com, you can claim the bonus, just use code podcast, and you'll download the better questions toolkit. And so part of what makes a conversation a good quality conversation is the quality of the questions. And that actually might be the next one is better questions, better conversations. And having a specific order and purpose for the questions helps more of those conversations turn into clients. It's really so simple. If you can listen, you can sell. But a lot of people are too busy talking to sell anything.
SPEAKER_02:I love that. If you can listen, you can sell. I had to repeat that to everybody. If you can listen, you can sell. So that's a good one. Because sometimes we don't listen. We're talking so much that we can't hear what the other person is saying. So thank you for that. That makes a lot of sense. So listen, so how can people connect with you and learn more about your training or get a copy of your book?
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. I really appreciate the chance to share. I want to make sure that whether you spend a single dollar my business, that you can find some value. So askingbetterquestions.com is the best place to go, not just for the conversation as a client, you can claim a bonus for free. You can grab a copy of the book, and then it'll have all my socials as well. And towards the bottom of the page. So you can connect and your preferred social media platform. Really easy to find is AskingbetterQuestions.com.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome. And we're going to have that in the show notes too.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, perfect.
SPEAKER_02:So definitely share that with me so I can put it in the show notes. But wow, what an inspiring and practical conversation with Bruce Hill. From leadership and team building to customer service and sales, Bruce has shown us that one new skill and asking better questions can truly change your life and your business. So if you'd like to connect with Bruce, grab one of his books and be sure to check out the links in the show notes. So, Bruce, thank you so much for being on the show. It really is great because a lot of times we don't know how to start, but you're telling us how to start with asking better questions to get better clients, right?
SPEAKER_01:You got it. It's that simple.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Thank you so much. So once again, thank you for joining. And remember, collaborate is collaboration is the key to success. I'm Wanda Pierce, and this has been the ReadySet Collaborate. Thanks for coming in. Tuning in. I'm saying coming in, but tuning in as well. Thank you. Big thanks to Triple M Money Management Matters for sponsoring this episode. Ready to master your money? Connect with the experts who make money management simple. Visit Triple M today.
SPEAKER_00:That wraps up another episode of Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. I hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to help you build meaningful connections and successful collaborations. If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe, share, and stay tuned for more great discussions. Until next time, keep collaborating and making an impact.
