[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to Big Ticket Pros, the podcast for agencies, coaches and high end service providers who know what it takes to thrive in competitive markets. I'm your host, Josh Thomas. You can find me on all social media at jt literally. Our guests share insider tips, strategies and sometimes cautionary tales to help you close bigger deals and scale your business faster. Big Ticket Pros is sponsored by Conversational Funnels, the new way to close deals in 2025 that doesn't rely on any of the old traditional methods everyone hates. We use this method to book 121 qualified sales calls in 10 days without any ad spend, outreach or social posting. Download the free step by step blueprint that shows exactly how we did
[email protected] Once again, that's conversational funnels.com Today's guest is Eric Brown, a 24 year Special Forces veteran and former Green Beret. He has led complex operations across 12 countries, excelling in crisis management, team building and strategic planning. As the founder and CEO of Imperio Consulting, he applies his military expertise and business acumen to help C suite executives and leadership teams build trust, navigate challenges and achieve exceptional outcomes. Eric, welcome to Big Ticket Pros. What is the big piece? The best piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out in your industry?
[00:01:26] Speaker B: First, thank you for having me on the show. I appreciate it. Happy to be here.
That's a great question. What's the biggest piece of advice?
The biggest piece of advice I'd give to someone starting out is to focus on building trust and delivering value.
People don't buy products or services. They buy solutions to their problems and confidence in that person providing them.
Be authentic, listen more than you talk and always make it about how you can help and not what you're just selling.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Speaking, like from my heart right there, man. Like I, I got you. I'm right there with you. And it's, it's one of the hardest lessons to learn because when we start out as entrepreneurs and we've got this great idea and we're going to make all this money and we're focusing on the, the shiny buttons and gadgets and our product, we don't realize that still to this day, despite all of the technology that's out there, Eric, we're still buying. A human is still buying something from another human.
[00:02:31] Speaker B: That's right. Yeah, I completely agree with that.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: And, and what do we do to.
In a world that's increasingly automated and faceless, and we're more and more isolated and we're keeping our Phones buried in our TikTok feeds, which is probably going to be banned soon if it's not already.
What do we do to maintain that human contact so that we even have a chance to build trust?
[00:02:58] Speaker B: I think it could come down to like four points, you know, especially with all the tech and I'm a big proponent of tech, I'm not anti tech at all, more tech the better.
But I think you come with that human interaction. We do that within my company, Imperial, quite a bit about getting back to the basics of having those face to face conversations and truly understanding your team and what makes them.
And when it comes to the selling side, the four points I was talking about, you got to understand the value, right? They're not just investing in like whatever you sell, they're investing in something that's going to solve something for them, right? Something that's going to solve a challenge for them.
The other thing that comes with that personal touch, you got to build that trust, you got to be authentic. You got to show you know what you're talking about and that you truly care about what their success is, right? So you gotta build trust. That's one thing a computer can't do, right? A person does that. The other thing we do with Imperio and I think some other folks, especially with yourself, with big ticket items, you gotta tailor your solutions.
A lot of folks can offer that off the shelf solution and sometimes that's, that's what you need. But when you're talking about high ticket, high dollar, huge impact and it's going to really make a change in their business, you got to have a tailored solution for that person.
And lastly you got to look at that long term vision.
You got to make them understand it's not just a transaction, they're investing in a relationship and a vision for the future where you're going to help them solve the problem challenges that they're facing.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I love that kind of, kind of dissection of exactly what needs to be happening and, and really first and foremost, above all else, we've got to be solving a problem not only that they have, but that they're aware they have and that they're willing and driven to do something about.
How many times have we run into somebody where I have a, I have my offer, my solution and it solves all the problems, it just doesn't solve any of the problems that's going to move somebody out of their chair to do something about it.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a big point I find, especially when I was first Starting out, you know, I was so ready just to like blow out everything I could say of how I could fix everything that they had going on.
Instead of just taking a, what we call and switch forces, a pregnant pause and actually listen to them and see what they're trying to solve for. And that's what I do now. I make sure that we're going to be value added and the service we provide solve something they need to solve for. If not, let's not waste anyone's time. We're not the right company for you. We'll find the right people that can fix that problem for you. But what I make a focus on now is to truly understand what you're trying to solve for. And can we do that for you?
And it's hard sometimes with people because I'm sure you get this the most is like, hey, I like your product. How much does it cost?
And they're so focused on nothing.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: It doesn't cost anything because I don't even know if I should sell it. I don't even know if you should buy it.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Right? The other thing I was like, well, I always tell younger folks, well, how, you know, how you answer that question, how much does it cost if you don't fix it?
Right. How much does that long term cost over time? Right.
And you're right, you gotta get focused on having that conversation, make sure we're gonna be a fit and then we can work together and help, you know, you solve whatever challenge you're facing. And we can do it the best way we can.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: You know, it's interesting, I was just interviewing somebody on a, you know, probably the, the episode just previous to this, if you're listening now, and we were talking about automation and AI, but using it not to take the personal aspect away, but to actually get more personal with this relationship. Because we're in this world where we're getting increasingly separated and distance from other human interaction. But sales still happen human to human. We're still talking to a person, we're still making a decision with a person.
We have to find a way to invest that time and energy to really understand if we can solve somebody's problem or not. Because where marketing and sales is going now is skewing far, far, far to the right towards authenticity and truth and honesty, realism and not fantasy and hyperbole and all these things that it has been for so many years before that.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel you on that one. We preach a lot about how with Imperio, we teach and provide a service that has practical Application. While we understand the theory of what's going on, we're not bringing you theories, we're bringing you things that you can put into action that day.
And then with the AI, how, you know, how can that help you?
I think it'd help you get more personal by like analyzing the customer's data to understand their specific needs and preferences. Once you understand that way, it can allow you to tailor your approach to how you're going to fix it. So the AI is not going to fix it, but it can help you refine the process and the solution that you're going to provide to the client.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. And, and I want to talk about something that you, you've mentioned here in your show notes that, that I, I think a lot of people love to hear mission driven sales, how military precision translates to high end deals. And so I have not been in the military, but thank you very much for your service, sir. I appreciate that.
And, and I've. But I've always admired how every branch of the armed services stresses precision, procedure, SOPs and following instructions because those, those instructions are built to make the job get done efficiently and effectively. And so I'd love to hear how do you unfold this and translate all of your experience in the military to closing a deal specifically with the idea of precision in mind.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Right, yeah. Coming from my special forces background, especially in the Green Berets, planning out a mission and the precision that you need to do that is crucial. Right. It's not just on the successful completion of the mission, but those people to the left and right. Your lives depend on it. So that's why we look so are so focused on precise and meaningful actions. When you're doing it right, it doesn't matter. You could do a thousand things, but if those thousand things aren't what you need to do, it's useless. So it's more, it's better to be precise in what you're doing. So when we're talking about mission driven sales, it's about aligning your approach with that larger purpose or goal that resonates with you both. You, myself, right. The person's providing the service.
What I'm doing has to resonate with me to be able, be able to help you, your best. Right. And instead of just focusing on closing that deal, focus on solving a problem and delivering genuine value. Right. And developing long term relationships.
You got to connect that product just like you do in the mission, have success and at the same time improve their lives and address whatever critical challenge they had Right. So an example would be, if you're not just selling, in my case, a leadership development program, you're helping a company build a culture of resilience and collaboration aligns with their vision for the future.
Right. How that ties into their vision and goals.
I've been with a lot of companies. Maybe you have too, Joshua.
They don't even have a culture statement.
They don't have a mission statement.
I mean, they're making it happen.
But we found you have that culture statement and mission statement, especially achieving that together, it focuses the team that much more. And you can achieve so much more than just coming to work and just running at things without purpose.
Yeah.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: If you're going to run at something, you better have a reason for running at it, because you don't know what's on the other side of it.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: You know, take that. You know, it only goes so far. I don't even read a movie. Take that hill.
Right. And the younger soldiers, like, Roger, I'll take that hill.
And the more older soldier, you know, like, why are we taking a hill? Is that the right hill?
Should we take the hill next to it? Let's figure this out before we go.
Go get shot in the face.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Exactly. And, and so that's. And that's actually a good point because there's. There's a balance that we have to strike between taking a risk and fearing and risking the failure and, and also staying too far back and, and not taking advantage of opportunity.
And so I can see from the perspective of a Special Forces veteran that risk is your life, and we can't afford to make a mistake. Precision is essential to survival in business, there is a good portion of that, but there's also, you can take some calculated risks because a business failure does not necessarily cost you your life.
And so how do you strike the balance between those two?
[00:12:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it comes down to, like, striking that balance. So you're right. In Special Forces, the precision mission comes down, could come down to life and death. Are strategic implications where we used to always joke with our younger guys, hey, don't you end up on Fox or cnn, like, the critical failure there?
So. And we also teach that in our courses with Imperio about how do you calculate risk? And the big question is one, what risk you're taking?
And is it even appropriate to take that risk? Maybe you don't do it, take that risk at all. So it's measured, analyzed, and mitigated through, you know, preparing and adapting. Right. You can't just keep doing the same thing over and Over. You gotta be willing to adapt as you're moving.
So an SF or special Forces, we assess that risk by we understood our environment, we identified the threats, we had contingency plans and business, it translates the same way. You gotta analyze your market conditions, you gotta understand your competition, you gotta identify those challenges before they happen.
Right. And have your plan to make those critical decisions instead of just.
We always try to tell people be proactive, not reactive.
Right. So you can figure out ways to call it. When you're constantly in a knife fight, you can't think because you're sitting there just fighting targets. And a knife fight business can be the same way. If you're sitting there just constantly knocking down these little things you didn't think about. It's taken away from the bigger picture and keeping you from achieving your, your challenge.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Awesome. And so who do you serve and where can we learn more about that?
[00:14:30] Speaker B: We serve right now. Imperial Consulting. Mid sized enterprise companies, anywhere from 10 to 100 plus employees and you're looking at a revenue anywhere from 10 million to 100 million plus.
But we'll help anyone. If you got a challenge, we'll be there to help.
The best way to learn about us is at our website at www.imperio-consulting.com or you can follow me on LinkedIn.
I'm very active on there.
And for your listeners, Imperios I M P E R I O.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Very good. Hey, we're going to wrap up from here. Thank you to our guest Eric Brown for joining us. Share a little bit of wisdom about what it takes to thrive in competition and out there in the battlefield and bringing those strategies into your business. For those of you who want to learn more about Imperio Consulting, you can go to imperio-consulting.com that's Imperio with an I. And you can find Eric Brown on LinkedIn. You can learn more about what we do by going to bigticketpros.com if you're an agency coach or professional services provider that sells a bunch of expensive stuff, we'd love to have you on a future episode. Talk about how you get it done once again. If you want to learn about a new way, we're booking dozens of qualified calls per week with no ad spend. Download our free blueprint at conversationalfunnels.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Com.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: That's it for now. Get that big ticket punched.
