Sales as Service

Your Website Should Be Closing for You: Messaging Tips with Krista Walsh

• Tamara Smith • Season 1 • Episode 17

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Revenue isn’t just about reach—it’s about clarity. In this episode, I’m joined by website messaging expert Krista Walsh to talk about how your website can actually support your sales process.

We explore the shift from “here’s who I am” copy to content that meets your clients where they are—specifically in the moment they’re ready to hire. Whether you’re running a creative agency, coaching business, or service-based consultancy, this is your reminder that a beautiful website isn’t enough. You need words that work.

Key Takeaways:

  • Most websites talk at clients instead of speaking to them. The goal is clarity, not cleverness.
  • Treat your website like the bottom-of-funnel sales tool it should be—not a static brochure.
  • The best content starts with one question: “What does my client need to hear to take the next step

Sales as Service Challenge — Start Now!

Pull up one piece of content—your homepage, your services page, or even a recent email or LinkedIn post—and ask:

— Is this speaking directly to someone ready to take action?
— Does it answer their questions and reflect their mindset?
— Or is it still centered on you, instead of them?

Revise one piece of copy with your ready-to-buy client in mind. Small shift. Big impact.

Learn more about Krista: 

Links & Resources:

Grab your 5-Minute Sales Audit for a quick scan to show what’s working, what’s not—and one thing you can improve right away.

Have an episode idea? DM me on LinkedIn and let me know!

—
Tam Smith is a Sales Growth Strategist and founder of ST49 Sales Marketing, where she helps female founders and agency owners ditch feast-or-famine cycles with sales systems that actually feel good to use.

With 15+ years in sales leadership, Tam’s work focuses on building genuine relationships, crafting smart outreach strategies, and creating consistent client pipelines—no pressure tactics required.

When she’s not helping clients build reliable sales systems, you’ll likely find her rock climbing or mapping out her next adventure with her Supermutt, Ila, in Durham, NC.

SPEAKER_00:

My clients don't really want to work with clients at this like high experiential level who are just choosing them because they were available or because they were less expensive than somebody else. Like they want to work with people who specifically want to work with them and trust them as the expert. So in order to do this, you want to shape your website for that bottom of funnel. And so when you do that, your website becomes a lot more like targeted to this person. And you don't have to do all of this like nurturing content. You're really making a really clean, concise, powerful argument for why you. So the websites become leaner, they become more targeted, and you get on calls with people or get inquiries from people who are like, I'm pretty sure it's you that I want to work with, instead of potentially, you know, calls of people who are like, okay, I'm just sort of exploring.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Sales as Service, the podcast designed to help you change your mind about sales. Literally. I'm gonna help you change the way you think about selling. I'm Tam Smith, your host, sales bestie, and pitch partner next door. You're tired of bros with biceps telling you how to crush a million dollars in your sleep or battling imposter syndrome on your own, you've come to the right place. All you need to do is listen, then take action. No gym membership required. Let's get started. Quick question for you. How many new business inquiries did you generate in the last 30 days? How many were actually sales qualified? And how many of those converted into paying clients? If your results are inconsistent, or hey, maybe you don't even know how to answer that, we need to talk. That's why I created the five-minute sales audit. In just five minutes, you'll walk through a simple set of questions about your sales process. And within three business days, I'll send you a personalized video audit and a detailed PDF checklist. You'll see what's working, where the gaps are, and one low lift action you can take right now to improve lead generation and client acquisition. It's quick, it's actionable, and it'll give you clarity on what to fix next. Book your audit today at studio349.com backslash sales dash audit. All right, let's get into today's episode. And we're back. Tam here, sales growth strategist, and your host of Sales as Service, where we're rethinking how we sell by starting with how we serve. So my accent, it's a mix of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Southwest Georgia with about 15 plus years of Texas layered on top. So let's just call it the South. And some of the absolute best career advice I've ever received came from legendary Mississippi news reporter and anchor Bert Case. I was a freshman in college, home touring WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi, and considering a future in broadcasting. I was fortunate enough to meet Bert and I asked him what it takes to be successful. He didn't even pause. Young lady, there are three things you need to know in order to be successful, he said. And that's right, right, and right. And he was absolutely right. Every major shift in my career, from TV and experiential marketing to cosmetic retail and sales, has all come down to one thing: the ability to communicate clearly and connect with the people I'm here to help. That's what opens doors. That's what builds trust. That's what sells. So today we're digging into the words we use on our websites, in our outreach, and across the entire customer experience. But my guest is Krista Walsh. Krista is a website messaging expert who helps service-based businesses stop treating their sites like static brochures and start using them like the bottom-of-funnel sales tools they should be. We're unpacking the messaging mistakes that cost you conversions, the mindset shift from talking about yourself to talking to your clients and how to make sure your website isn't just pretty, but it's helping you close the sale. I know this is going to resonate with so many of you, whether you're running a creative agency, a consulting practice, or any kind of service-based business. Your website shouldn't just look good. It should work as an active align part of your sales process. Let's get into it. Krista, welcome to Sales a Service. Let's start here. Who do you help and how do you serve?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, I think my bio said it, but I will reiterate maybe in more regular people speak. Yeah. I work with service-based business owners. So sometimes they are solo and they're like a true expert in their field, like they provide a service or they are a consultant, perhaps. And then sometimes I work with more scaled up service businesses. So they have a team that's replicating the service for them, or they might have some other types of offers like a membership or things like that. But the the through line is that I call them expert-led because they are typically people who are really good at what they do. And that is pretty much why they've become so successful. It's not because of their marketing or because of their fabulous website or whatever. It's because of how amazing they are at what they do. So my job is when somebody is ready to amplify that more, and I call it like fully embracing your sought-after era. A website really comes in as that tool to qualify leads, possibly to increase volume of leads, to expand, you know, traffic to your website through your own visibility efforts or through like SEO work that I do with them too. And so we're really trying to shape their website so that it actively, you know, explains this answer to why them, like, hey, my rates are higher than average, maybe a lot higher than average, but there's a real reason for it and making them like the no-brainer choice.

SPEAKER_01:

You set that up so well. You talk about treating the website as a bottom-of-funnel sales tool, not just a marketing brochure. Can you break that down a little bit for us? Like what shifts when you adopt that mindset?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So a marketing brochure website, I think this is like best practices advice, which it's sort of like, in my opinion, coming from like the online business course creator world, where you're essentially setting up your website to speak to everyone at every stage of awareness. So I think your audience probably understands what is what stages of awareness are, but correct me if I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_01:

For for the sake of the conversation, just at high level.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, so high level, it's like you're totally unaware. Like you don't know you have a problem. And so therefore, like you've you never explored solutions to it because you don't even know the problem exists, right? Then there's there's problem aware, you're like, I think I have this problem, but you have no idea like who, who or what would solve it. And then solution aware is you've started to like do some research into the market and you're like, okay, I see these different solutions. And then usually it's called like product aware or service. Like, this is where you're like aware of specific brands or people that can do the solution for you. So most website advice is sort of like, okay, let's take everybody through all those stages of awareness pretty much, or at least starting with the problem aware. Like maybe, maybe not the unaware people, but it's a lot of content around like, hey, are you struggling with this and this and this? Like a lot of like setup content to help people like become problem aware, like really like relate to their problems. And then you go into at the very, very end, or like maybe only on your contact page or in your CTA on your website, you're like, okay, hire me to do this. And in my opinion, this doesn't work very well for expert-led service providers who are charging more than average, whatever that means in your industry, because what you're essentially doing is selling people on the idea of the deliverable or the outcome and not on you specifically. So if you get to that point with somebody, they're probably just gonna be like, yeah, I do need this thing, but they're gonna go with whoever is available first or whoever is, you know, cheapest, maybe. And my clients don't really want to work with clients at this like high experiential level who are just choosing them because they were available or because they were less expensive than somebody else. Like they want to work with people who specifically want to work with them and trust them as the expert. So, in order to do this, you want to shape your website for that bottom of funnel, or another way of putting it, is ready to invest client, somebody who is already problem-ware, they're already solution aware. And now they are just trying to decide who is the best fit for them, like who can they trust the most, who feels like the no-brainer choice. And so when you do that, your website becomes a lot more like targeted to this person, and you don't have to do all of this like nurturing content. You're really making a really clean, concise, powerful argument for why you. So the websites become leaner, they become more targeted, and you get on calls with people or get inquiries from people who are like, I'm pretty sure it's you that I want to work with. Like you were speaking to me where I'm at, instead of potentially, you know, calls of people who are like, okay, I'm just sort of exploring. Like, wait, what do you charge? So hopefully that was a good explanation.

SPEAKER_01:

When a little bit longer, but yeah, I mean, if it's made me kind of, I am thinking about my own website and others that I've seen is that we spend perhaps too much time speaking to the attraction problem solving versus the folks that are coming to the site inevitably probably already have have gotten through that. We don't need to go back through those steps and getting right to the how do we work together and spending more time on educating that person why like you are the right choice to solve that problem. It's not the all the upfront other stuff because they they're at that place by the time they engage with you. Is that kind of what I'm hearing?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, listen, all kinds of people are going to your website, competitors, people who want to launch a business like yours, you know, people who are just exploring and like they're like, wait a minute, what is what does Tamara do? Whatever. But in my opinion, like we don't really care about them because it's a huge lift to take somebody from like, wait a minute, do I have a sales problem? To okay, let me pay somebody. Most of my clients are at least in the four figures, many of them in the five figures. Like that just usually doesn't happen. Like this mindset came from the course world where it the the price point, the time commitment, the like intimacy commitment, frankly, is like a lot lower. So it's a lot more likely that a sales page would take someone through all of that. But like the expert services market is completely different and it just doesn't happen like that. So, yes, speaking to somebody who is already at your website because they're trying to decide whether or not to talk to you is the person I would speak to. I want to clarify that there is nuance here. Like, for instance, I'm working with one client right now. She's a consultant in the the AI marketing space, and this is an emerging field. So we are doing more education. We are doing some more like problem-aware stuff on her site because it's not a straightforward service where somebody's like, oh yeah, I need a bookkeeper or like, oh yeah, I need a trademark attorney. It's it's a little bit, it's emerging, right? So most people in her world like aren't totally solution aware yet. So there are nuances here. And I definitely work with people in that. And I also want to say, I'm not saying you can't do any pain point stuff or anything like that. Like you totally can. The the thing I want to make sure you do, if if that resonates with you, you're like, I really want people to feel like I get it. Like that's what the pain point should be for. But keep it light touch, keep it specific, keep it targeted, and spend the bulk of your time on your website on the the bottom of funnel stuff, on the like, okay, now that you know I get your problem, here is why me, right? Instead of like just doing that on like a tiny CTA or something.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's like kind of the same thing when you talk about just even when you're deciding for your business who you help and how you serve. You know, I talked to some people, well, well, you know, my solution can help everyone. Well, for the purposes of, you know, you've it you gotta get really focused. And I think even maybe, you know, there's a lot of us when we approach our websites and content and copy, it's like we want it to speak to everyone, you know, and go going back to you know, that that one person that you really want to work with and do business with and getting more focused in how you're messaging that versus you know, casting such a wide net with the copy and content.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Right. And I think we all start off casting a wide net, you know, and that's where this like basic best practice advice really comes through, where it's like, okay, like make sure it's clear what you do. Like I see this advice a lot. And that that is obviously like, yes, like if that's not clear, we've got a problem. But once you get to this point where you have like a specific person you're working with, you're dialed in on what you do, you know, you you really want to only work with those people who are like perfect fits, or you want to get more of those people in the door. Yeah, we need to do a lot more targeted thinking through our website than that.

SPEAKER_01:

So when someone lands on the website ready to buy or inquire, what are the key things that need to happen, or even let's say not happen for them to take action?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So I mean, key things that need to happen is they need to, they need to see that you are the person that can solve the problem that they have or help them achieve an outcome that they're looking for. I find a lot a lot of the clients of my clients, so part of my process is I interview your clients who have worked with you, who are in this, like the the type of person that you want to work with more. And a lot of them talk about like they're the reason that they're seeking to hire is a lot more like long-term thinking. It's a lot more like outcome, goal, identity shifting type of language, and less like I've got this urgent problem, I need it solved. So, whatever that that mindset that they're in when they're in the like the hiring mindset, ready to invest tomorrow, mindset, or I want to set this up for August mindset or whatever it is, figuring out like what kinds of things they're looking for and then meeting them at that place. So this is where it does get, you know, custom to you. Like it might be different for each type of service, each type of market. So I would say that's the biggest thing that needs to happen is is meeting somebody where they are when they're in this place. Other things that are a little bit like easier to wrap your head around, it's you know, making it pretty easy for somebody to reach out. We always wanna, we we do want to balance qualifying, you know, we it isn't we don't want it to just be like anybody book a golf my calendar, you know, without any questions or anything, but not making this making it like a a hidden link or something or like just an email that's like at the bottom of your footer or something, but like a really clear, like, hey, here's how you reach out, here's what's gonna happen after you reach out. And then throughout that process, you can have the qualifying piece in there. Yeah, I think I think those are the the two biggest things.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's funny, well, not funny, but you know, you think it's such a no-brainer, you know, to make it easy for people to know how to get in touch with you. But just from my own experience navigating websites, that is it's surprising to me how difficult sometimes it's made to know how to contact someone and what the next right step is. So I appreciate that, you know, it's you think it's like, well, yeah, no-brainer, but to point out, check and make sure that, you know, you remove as much friction from people to be able to work from you as possible. Because I I am just surprised in my own experience how hard some sites make it. And I also like appreciate too, I think that's a really unique step to you. Um, you know, I haven't heard of other content creators, you know, web strategy experts, you know, do taking that step to do the client interview and actually taking that voice of the client work and weaving it into, you know, letting it inspire and weaving it into the the website content. I think it's really genius on your part. So yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I it's really fun to do. Also, as like part of it, like I do collect new testimonials from them as well. So it's really fun to like launch a website with recent testimonials that are speaking to like what you're actually doing now. Yeah. So it's it's totally one of the best parts of the process. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

For business owners who feel like their website isn't quote unquote doing anything for their sales. What's the first place you recommend they look at or audit?

SPEAKER_00:

Great question. I hear this all the time. Honestly, one of the biggest things is people just not using their website at all. So I that would probably be the thing to check. So usually it's like an emotional thing. Like sometimes it's like, oh, I just like the design and I don't like it anymore, or like it just doesn't represent me. Sometimes people are more clear about it. Like they're like, what it's saying is really outdated. Like I don't actually offer that anymore. Or the type of client that I was speaking to three years ago, five years ago is no longer the type of client I work with now. So you have this like inherent sense that you don't want people going there because you know that they're gonna get the wrong idea. So you don't link it anywhere really, or you like barely, you kind of are like, I hope people don't go to it. You know, that to me, that's kind of like me being like, well, you know, like Pinterest just isn't working for me. But like I'm I'm not on there. You know what I mean? It's like, well, of course, like, you know, like you made an account and you kind of just like let it go on its own. And of course it's not working for you. So that would be the first thing to check is just like, hey, like maybe the reason you think it's like a dead asset is because you've let it die. No shame. I'm actually in this place right now because I'm having a designer redo my site. So I'm just I'm not really linking to mine so much right now. So it's like I get it, right? There are periods that you go through. The the second thing is, you know, I'd probably look at your messaging second, like how well is it differentiating you? How well is it positioning you as the obvious choice? So you could start by like, hey, who are the people that you know serve a similar market, do a similar thing, and take a look at their websites. Take a look at your website. Like, is it clear, like what makes you different? Are you all kind of saying the same thing? Most people I work with have a sense inside, or they've they're able to articulate it in like short bursts of content where they feel more confident, just like putting stuff out there, like what their perspective is, you know, what their process is that is different, or like the way that they're embodying their brand voice or all of these different things, but they struggle with articulating it on something as overwhelming and permanent feeling as a website. So it's just not coming through there. And you sort of default to saying like the safe stuff that everybody else is saying. So that's what I would do. You could even like screenshot them and like upload them to chat and be like, hey, like, what do you think the differences are between these people? You know, including me, right? And just see what it says, you know, if you're struggling to be objective. Those are probably the two places I'd start, you know. Are you actually using your website? And two, like, is your messaging differentiating you, or is it just sort of selling the idea of your service and not you?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And to the point of like treating your website as an active asset that you're nurturing, uh, how do you recommend business owners leverage, you know, their website copy and the site itself beyond just the site, like in their other, you know, social media, email, you know, even sales conversations. How can they effectively, you know, make it a living asset in their business?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, I think what I meant by that is a living asset in terms of like you're letting it do its job as a sales tool. So you're you're linking to it, you're saying, like, hey, apply through my website, book a call through my website, you know, go to my website, somebody asks about your services, you're like, oh yeah, I totally do that. Here it is, you know, using it in your visibility efforts, like a podcast interview, linking to it there, stuff like that. But yes, you can also definitely, you know, take the ideas that you create through your website and use that whenever you're doing like bottom of funnel content on your social media. I know a lot of people will take like about page sections or like bio sections and use that as like a LinkedIn profile. Most of my clients end up with like a tagline that we used on their in their hero, and it just is a beautiful tagline. Or like a tagline that we put in the footer of their website becomes something they use over and over again. So yeah, there's a there's a ton, you absolutely full permission to like copy paste, use it other places or make it your own. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I wanted to point that out because so many of the conversations I have with business owners, they don't realize the potential of that to work for them beyond just the website. You know, yes, the the asset of people coming to it, you know, and and attracting the right clients, but being able to take that content and copy and leverage it, you know, it because it's done well and done by you, you know, it's beautiful strategic content that can, you know, work for them, you know, off that page in up to your social media, in their email newsletter, like in all of their, it doesn't have to, it's it's not just website copy, you know, it has legs and can be definitely be used in other pay places and leveraged in other places in your your sales process. What do you see the role of or how do you see the role of website content evolving? You know, just as buying behavior has become more very self-directed and trust-based.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I saw this question. Can you elaborate on this? Like, what do you mean by the buying behavior shifts?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I I think you know, that it is when people come to the website, like how are you evolving knowing that people just want to kind of it be more of a self-led, self-directed experience versus necessarily like needing that like direct high touch with having a like ending up on a sales call that someone could ultimately like book? I don't know if you work with, I guess is every is the goal of everybody that you work with to get them on a call, or is there some that people can actually go through the whole process on the site to actually like, okay, great, sign me up before ever actually having a sales conversation?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think it depends on the the client and the the offer. So for instance, I worked with a a designer earlier this year for like a show at website designer, right? And we're thinking about her site structure and she has several different offers. Like she has templates. Obviously, she doesn't want to talk to people who buy the templates, like she just wants them to buy the templates. She has like a middle tier offer, which is a website in a week that is like template-based. So it's more, it's not custom. I mean, it's customizable, but it's like kind of like a website in a box that she puts together for people, right? And so for that, she's open to chatting with somebody if they needed to. But yeah, we really tried to structure that one so that people could just buy that offer because it is, it's like very clear what you get. Everybody gets the same thing. The timeline is the same for everybody, the price is the same for everybody. But then she also has like the bulk of her work is this custom brand design and website brand strategy, brand design website creation. And this is a lot more custom. It's not everybody gets the same deliverables because some people don't need like photography art direction, some people do. And because it's so time intensive, it's like spanning on months and it's pretty intimate. She does prefer to talk to people for that. Like she doesn't want somebody to buy it and then they end up being like a nightmare or something like that, or being more positive about it. They're just like not in the right place to benefit for it. So it doesn't feel super good. So, you know, there are different strategies. Definitely with if you have offers that you don't want to talk to people about because of the price point or because it's so productized, yeah, this is where I would do things like, okay, here are the inclusions, you know, like here is the price. Buy now, you know, like do this inquiry form. I will send you the invoice, you know, things like that. If it's custom, I wouldn't, I would kind of do the opposite. Like I wouldn't be like, here are the inclusions, you know, here are here's the price. Like I would give people an indication of price, an indication of the elements that go into it, but I would more position you as an expert that people are coming to to be told like what they need. So I don't know. I mean, do you have research that says people want the more, like they want the like the the middle tier offer more? I'm just curious where this question was coming from.

SPEAKER_01:

I I don't have any, I think it's just like honestly with the I don't have any data to support it, just honestly with just you know all of our digital tools and automations and AI to and people honestly like I am an advocate of the conversation. I you know, even saw a, I think it was a YouTube ad that the whole cell was like selling without ever having to talk to someone, which I'm not a fan, like I'm not trying to remove myself from the process like I've uh but you know, knowing that a lot of other businesses are kind of leading that way with wanting to make it more of a self-directed, self-guided, you know, as far as how is that impacting the way you when you write copy for that. I think it was really where it was coming from, um, is people just being able to self-guide, self-direct without ever after having to have a a conversation, just curious how it was impacting. No, no data to support it, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, so I mean, yeah, I I people definitely want that. I think it it definitely works if you can like make something productized. I'm like you, like the what I do is pretty like it's it's fairly intimate. Like I'm talking to your clients, like we're having long conversations, we're digging into things, it expand like several weeks, right? So I personally don't really want to work with somebody who refuses to talk to me first. And I, you know, I'm just one person, so I have limited availability. So that that's sort of like a way to filter somebody out who's not going to take it seriously for me.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, if I had something different that was more templated or something like that, yeah, I'd absolutely be like, yeah, buy it, you know, just you know Yeah, that totally makes sense to having something productized like that, and at least you know, creating other other streams, channels of income, you know, other uh opportunities for income. Yeah, I think that's really where that was coming from. Just thinking about different that's not dependent on the one-to-one, you know, high touch customized offer, you know, how you position strategically position the other channels of income in the business. But yeah, that was kind of weird. I don't I didn't know if there was a different approach or not, just curiosity.

SPEAKER_00:

There totally is a different approach, yeah. And it's it's really fun to think about that. And and also think about like if you do have different types of offers like that, how to make sure people aren't just choosing the cheaper one or the templated one or the faster one just because it's that, but they're actually choosing it because it's the best for them. So there's like a lot of thinking in terms of that. Yeah, I think that I think we're we're getting at a great question here, which is you know, like how how do you how do you think about things more strategically than just like, okay, I'm gonna like present them all evenly and be like, okay, choose, you know, it's it's really like guiding them into the right one very clearly.

SPEAKER_01:

I I think probably even for me, it's it's been very recently, you know, thinking about just how I'm structuring my own business and how I want to work, because I've put I've put a lot of pressure on myself when I see, you know, messages like that about how to completely remove yourself from the sales process or you know, sell directly, you know, sell it in the you know the DMs and the messaging. And I think I'm realizing I it's for me personally, it's just not how I want how I enjoy working. Because I actually have sought like a DM from someone that said, like, I am no longer taking sales calls. I just don't, I don't see a future for myself where I don't want to. I mean, maybe I could reduce it at some point, but I just don't see a future for myself in my business where I want to remove myself entirely from the process. Um, you know, again, maybe I have a you know a scalable way to work with me that doesn't require that, you know, conversation, but it has prompted me to think just in the structure of my own business, how I how I want to work and you know, the people that I want to work with value their relationship and the the conversation uh more than you know, it turning it into a transaction. So I think I guess it's probably probably the difference I was getting at is a difference between the driving to relationship versus having a transaction. And it sounds like a lot of the content copy that you writing is really, you know, it's building it, it's connecting, starting a conversation, creating opportunity versus it just being a hey, swipe your card here kind of experience.

SPEAKER_00:

That said, I have worked with people who like, yeah, they want to talk to people first, but they also want to be paid for that time. So like I have worked with some agencies, especially like in econ world and stuff, where the the first interaction is a paid interaction, but it's it's sort of like I don't, I don't want to do like sales calls, but I want to do like paid strategy sessions. So if somebody is really serious, like it's a fairly low lift in terms in like their world, right? Where if it didn't work out, like they would still get value from it, but it doesn't feel like I'm wasting my time on sales calls that go nowhere or something like that. Or you just want to only talk to people who are bought in already. I've seen I have had other clients who who have like like voxer links instead. So they don't like doing sales calls, they want to do like async communication. So it's still like relationship building, but it's selling people, it's like, hey, vox or me, right? And we're gonna like chat about it instead. So I yeah, I think there are ways to get around. I've thought about this too for myself. Like I kind of like the sales call thing. Like I like seeing someone, you know, but yeah, if you don't want to do that, there are ways to get around it that doesn't require you to give up the custom, like high touch nature of your work and like package everything if you don't want to, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So and I think I'm getting like just in my own business, you realize that, you know, you you're the one-to-one, highly custom work, you know, you're capped at a certain point, you know, you're you're one individual and you know, trying to think of creating a more sustainable or scalable model, you know, where that I'm able to, you know, build out systems to be able to continue to grow and not, you know, capping myself because of my own bandwidth and limits, really. Yeah, absolutely. We'll jump into the fast five now. These are five questions, rapid fire questions we ask with every episode. Your I can't live without it software app.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, my answer is boomerang for Gmail. Are you familiar with this? Oh, yeah. It's so changed my life. It did. It's so stupidly simple, but it's just like, oh my God, like, okay, someone wants me to follow up in a month. I don't have to remember. I just like boomerang it for a month. Absolutely. It's so helpful.

SPEAKER_01:

And even and I am fight, I cannot let go of the whole, you know, inbox zero mentality despite my best efforts. So just the ability to like snooze things that I just either don't need to deal with right then or can't deal with right then in that moment and just get it out of my line of sight has just like reduced my anxiety.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm gonna respond to this tomorrow morning. Bam. Like yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It's it's just and you get that little, I mean, good or bad, that little dopamine hit of, oh, check that off.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Out of sight, out of mind. I don't know. I did it. Like exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

Best advice you've ever received about sales and business development.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I had a mindset coach a couple of years ago who said something like that helped me like release the pressure of like signing this client that I'm talking to right now. And I think it's pretty common advice, but she's the one who told me it. And it was like, if it's not this, it's something better, right? So just like whatever my revenue goal, it doesn't have to come through this engagement right here. Like I can just like actually be present with this person and talk to them and trust that if it doesn't work out, you know, it will with somebody else. Morning routine must-have. This is my morning walks with my big Pippo mixed dog and my boyfriend. And we go to our local coffee shop and grab, I get matcha lattes, but he gets coffee, and it's just such a lovely way to start the day together before we go to our respective works.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a great way to start the day. Your walk-on song, the one song that always pumps you up.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I saw this question and the answer that came to mind, please don't judge me, but it's It Wasn't Me by Shaggy. I don't know why, but like that song hyped me like nothing else. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Going on the playlist.

SPEAKER_00:

Now I feel like I need to Google if he got me too'd or something because I I haven't seen that, but like, like it's an old song. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Like I'll leave a goody if you had. One hour, only one hour each day for business growth, how would you spend it?

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh, a good question. It would probably be some mindset thing. I mean, I do this every day. Like it's like checking in with myself, with my vision of where I want to be headed and like looking at everything that comes up and says that I can't get it. I do that every day because every day there's something. And I think it stops me and my tracks from like taking risks and and doing things that I need to be doing.

SPEAKER_01:

So I I love that you're very intentional and thoughtful about that. I think that fight for every business owner, you know, that that comes up. So that's just a great reminder. Just to like check in, remind yourself, like, you got this. Uh well, where can folks find you online?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So I am on LinkedIn, I am on Instagram, and I am on threads. Those are probably the best places to find me. And yeah, I'll just leave you with that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Awesome. Thanks so much for being here. This has been such a valuable, insightful conversation. And I think uh we'll give folks the opportunity to really like take that audit, look at your website, like where can you position it, you know, as a stronger asset in your business and your sales process. So thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, thank you for your lovely questions.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks again to my guest, Krista Walsh. I hope our conversation gave you a fresh lens on how your website can serve not just as a digital business card, but as a real part of your sales process. Because when someone is actively looking to hire, they're landing on your site with one core question in mind. Can I trust you to help me solve this problem? And that brings us to your sales as service challenge for this week. I want you to step into that moment, the moment your ideal client is ready to hire, and then pick one piece of content that could be your home page, your services page, maybe even a recent email or LinkedIn post, and ask yourself, is this speaking directly to someone who's ready to take action? Does it answer the questions they're carrying in that moment? Or is it still written from your perspective, talking all about you instead of theirs, their challenges, their fears, their goals? Then revise that one piece of content with their mindset in mind, with that kind of outward focus. Again, we're talking small shift, big impact. And before we go, a reminder to be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about Krista and where to find her, plus all the links and resources we mentioned today. And if you've got an episode idea or a guest you'd love to hear from, send me a DM on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear from you. And until next time, remember, sales is an act of service. It's about what you give, not what you get. And when you serve well, the ROI always follows. See you next episode. You've just listened to the Sales as Service Podcast, the podcast to help you shift your mindset around selling. If you liked what you heard, be sure to hit subscribe and share it with a friend because we're all about more sales awesome and less sales awkward. See you next episode.