Ryan Estis
Minneapolis
Author. Keynote Speaker on Sales Growth & Human Centered Leadership. Growth Lab Advisory.
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Articles by Ryan Estis
Conducting little sales experiments
Sustainable development in business doesn’t happen in a single leap. It’s built in motion, through small, purposeful tests that push us beyond what’s comfortable. That’s what little experiments are for. They’ve become a core part of navigating change, challenging my assumptions, and learning, especially when the path ahead isn’t clear. This isn’t about high-stakes bets or sweeping strategy shifts. It’s about something far more sustainable: making iteration a daily habit.
How to Thrive in Uncertain Times
Uncertainty doesn’t wait for permission. It shows up, uninvited and inconvenient. Markets shift. Clients hesitate. Headlines fuel anxiety. I’ve been here before. And I’ve learned this: Uncertainty doesn’t have to be a barrier. In 2008 and again in 2020, crises beyond my control became the catalyst for meaningful personal and business transformation.
Flip the script on the beliefs holding you back
Through my life experiences, conditioning, limited understanding, and fear of failure, I convinced myself I wasn’t cut out to start a business. I clung to that internal version of myself, and it afforded some false sense of security and a way to rationalise my decision to stay the course. I was also very wrong. As my dream beckoned, I summoned the courage to answer the call and take my shot. If you’ve ever thought, “That’s just not possible for me,” you’re not alone.
Retailers prepare for biggest Black Friday yet
Over the past five years, retail spending in Australia has changed significantly around December with the adoption of Black Friday sales events. In the US, Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving and in 2024, it will occur on 29 November. Research published by Roy Morgan suggested that Black Friday sales will contribute to an expected $69.7 billion period for retailers in the lead-up to Christmas, an increase of 2.7 per cent on a year-on-year comparison.
Pricing is the strategic weapon of your business
Pricing is one of the crucial strategic decisions that can easily be neglected. To me, it is one of the three most significant strategic decisions an executive makes, right up there with brand codes, target market segment, and position in the overall market. Your price manifests these decisions for your target market. Why? Price is a signal. It tells your market whether you are a premium product or a budget service. Price conveys to your target market what your position is in the market.
If only: Don’t be afraid to make an exhibition of yourself
Many people lost touch during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is little wonder there is intense interest in and demand for conducting and engaging with exhibitions of products, services, and applications. Social isolation and quarantines damage people's psyches. Most long to reach out, connect, and engage with people who matter. That includes clients, customers, suppliers, associates, and staff.
Improve trust in your business by asking the right questions
“How can I support you in your work?” On the surface, it seems like a simple question; however, when business leaders pose it to their staff, the impact on bonding can be mighty because it immediately encourages vulnerability and establishes trust. As a leader, it demonstrates you care about your staff’s well-being and professional achievement. Your employees can feel safe asking for guidance — no matter how difficult the journey ahead gets.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
I was recently told that jewellery retailers are frequently advised to emphasise the importance of storytelling and personalisation in their business because it’s a quality that consumers increasingly desire. It’s said that more now than ever, younger consumers, in particular, desire jewellery that reinforces their sense of individuality.
The art and science of storytelling in sales
“I understand - let me tell you a story.” These are some of the most powerful words we can convey. The invitation to listen is also my favourite moment in an exchange with a customer. This inflection point so often determines the outcome of a sales opportunity, which is precisely why storytelling is a critical competency for all sales teams.
Christmas and New Year are over, start planning for Christmas and New Year!
"Sure the pandemic has made it a tough year but we've increased our sales this holiday season. I know it's another 12-months away, but I'm going to review the sales reports and make a plan of attack ahead of time since some of our strategies worked like a dream.” Posted February 01, 2022 | By Josh Strutt You made it through the holiday trading period and might be sighing from relief.
Three steps to creating a great customer experience strategy
Puzzled? The key to customer engagement is always experience. Posted February 01, 2022 | By Steven Van Belleghem The best customer experience strategy encourages a bold vision and takes all staff along for the ride, writes STEVEN VAN BELLEGHEM. One of the most popular questions in my conversations with decision makers has to be about setting up a successful customer experience (CX) strategy.
Identifying the 10 key traits of a teammate employee
Posted July 01, 2021 | By Ryan Estis RYAN ESTIS discusses the most important characteristics in valuable employees who contribute the most to a business’ success. When I decided to start my business more than 10 years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure where it would take me – but I knew who I wanted to join me on the journey. My first employee was also my first friend in my first job after graduating from university.
10 Traits of a Great Teammate
When I decided to start my business more than 10 years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure where it would take me. But I knew who I wanted to join me on the journey. Lynn Mandinec was my first friend at my first job out of college. We started our careers simultaneously; I was in entry-level sales, and Lynn was an account manager. Our lives and career paths have included plenty of exciting twists and turns, but our friendship persevered. To this day, I am grateful she decided to be employee No. 1.
Why content is - still - king when it comes to marketing your business
Posted April 07, 2021 | By Simon Dell Content has always been important in digital marketing, but the landscape has now shifted, writes SIMON DELL, who advises business owners to focus on new ways of communicating online. Once upon a time, ‘content marketing’ was all about stuffing as many keywords as possible into a blog post and crossing your fingers the page would rank well on search engines.
Persuasive Communication: 5 Ways to Improve Your Skills
How much time do you spend every week presenting new ideas? Working on getting buy-in from your boss for a special project? Competing for new clients? We all spend an increasingly significant portion of our workdays drawing on our persuasive communications skills to build relationships, earn trust, and align to shared objectives.
Who Are You Becoming?
I have accepted and surrendered to the understanding that the world isn’t going back to the way it was before. Neither am I. Instead, I am asking myself: Who do I want to be in this “next normal”? That was the journaling prompt I used to move my focus back to the things I could control. It was my own personal mandate to summon more resolve and boldly confront the new reality of my situation.
What customers want next: Decoding the clues
Posted September 01, 2021 | By Jeannie Walters Jeannie Walters offers strategies for businesses as they adapt for the future retail environment – and rapidly shifting consumer behaviour. Human behaviour is notoriously difficult to predict; sophisticated modelling and data analysis can help, but these are typically based on past behaviour.
How to Conquer Burnout at Work
If you’ve been having trouble concentrating recently, you’re not alone. A recent survey conducted by FlexJobs and Mental Health America found that 75% of people have experienced burnout at work, with 40% saying they’ve felt it during the pandemic specifically. And according to a July MetLife report on the U.S. workforce’s mental health, two in three employers said they expect a mental health crisis in the U.S. within three years. We’re working three hours longer per day during the pandemic.
How to Embrace Objections and Build Trust With Prospective Clients
Welcome the resistance. In a selling situation, it’s often a sign of engagement and potential interest. If a prospective buyer has taken the time to posit objections and challenge you, then you’ve piqued their interest. You’re engaged in the opportunity, and it’s up to you to demonstrate how your value proposition aligns with their organizational goals and needs. In fact, objections are completely rational. Prospective buyers should be hesitant and reluctant.
The Pivot Back to Playing Offense
Around the country, including my home state of Minnesota, we are transitioning out of isolation at home. And as the country opens up, so is my business. For Lynn and myself, June 1 marked the moment we officially pivoted back to playing offense. Our moment of pause is over, and now that we have a better understanding of the demands of the new economy, we are confident and prepared to engage our marketplace with a new outbound strategy.
Show Up and Serve
Being a great sales leader has never been about driving quotas. It’s about leveraging valued guidance and insight to become a trusted adviser for both your clients and your team. In other words, it’s about service. And it’s never been more important to be of service than it is right now, as organizations navigate the re-opening of our economy.
4 Keys to Capture the Window of Opportunity
More than 33.5 million (1 in 5 American workers) have filed for unemployment over the past seven weeks as states move to reopen, a number we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. It hasn’t been easy, and it’s clear America is ready to get back to work. But that won’t be easy either. We are now navigating a recession/depression with a future that is anything but certain.
Meeting Customers Where They Are
“Why did you reach out?” It was an important question to ask a CEO. I had a sense, of course. I hadn’t planned to ask him that question during our initial phone call, but I am glad I did. I listened closely and learned a lot. His senior leadership team had only known growth together, and together, they were trending toward another record revenue year in 2020. Now, that isn’t going to happen.
How to Deal With Top-Performing Jerks
by Ryan EstisOn March 17, 2020 0 comments Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been very clear about what his organization does with its brilliant jerks: It gets rid of them. As he has said in the past about them: “Some companies tolerate them. For us, the cost to effective teamwork is too high.” Netflix aspires to develop a “Dream Team,” which they define this way: “A dream team is one in which all of your colleagues are extraordinary at what they do and are highly effective collaborators.
Working on Lombardi Time
I was sitting down for my first sales conference at my first job out of college and I took my seat just in time, nervous but excited. Our CEO, Tom Richey, kicked things off. He talked about the meeting agenda, his vision for our organization and then shared a principle I have never forgotten: “If you show up on time here, you are five minutes late.
Why You Need Your Own Personal Board of Directors
“It seems like there are opportunities you might be missing. Why don’t we schedule some time in the office? We can think that through and arrive a go-forward plan together.” I was enjoying happy hour on a recent holiday with two good friends, having a casual conversation about my business when this prompt to lend support occurred. It was needed. I was acknowledging out loud that I had arrived at a clear inflection point and was feeling a little stuck.
Take Ownership of the Customer Experience
I recently visited the website of a prominent sports apparel business to order some expensive Adidas for my 16-year-old. I’m a busy, working mom and have fully embraced all the advantages online shopping can offer. Over the past 10 years, I’ve probably spent thousands of dollars with this business and have grown to expect a certain level of service. Like most online retailers today, the purchasing process is simple and fairly seamless. I can almost predict the emails I will receive: Order processed.
How to recruit and keep top performers
https://www.chase.com/news/031119-recruit-top-performers wholesale bakery, Opera Patisserie, Diane Anderson, small business, entrepreneur, Chase, Small Business Administration, small business growth, small business loans, small business financing 07/02/19 Small Business Managing Your Business By Ryan Estis Posted: 07/02/19 Updated: 12/06/19 Fixating on your customer isn't strange—it's essential. At least that's what sales expert and Chase Business Insights Seminar speaker Ryan Estis recommends.
Customers crave the remarkable—can you compete?
https://www.chase.com/news/031119-customers-crave-remarkable Martin Patrick 3, MP3, small business, small business tips, retail, customization, customer experience, shopping, personalization, customer trends "" "" 03/11/19 "" Small Business Managing Your Business Expert Ryan Estis inspires business owners on how to get and keep customers. By Ryan Estis Posted: 03/11/19 Updated: 07/02/19 Fixating on your customer isn't strange—it's essential.
We Are All In This Together
“In 2008, all of the financial measures for our business were negative. We knew we had to significantly cut expenses and do it quickly. “The largest expense for our firm is compensation and benefits — people costs. “We set an objective to cut 10 percent out of total operating expenses in 90 days. We also agreed that we would do so without layoffs or letting anyone go.
Sharing Is Caring
How do I contribute value online? It’s a question I consider all the time. For so many years, I connected with prospects and customers like every sales professional. I focused on outbound calls and emails, and it worked. Until it didn’t anymore. How effective are unscheduled phone calls today? Are voice mails getting returned? Or heard? Consider less than 24% of sales emails are even opened (TOPO). I see this play out every week.
4 Keys to Grow Your Small Business in 2018
If you wanted to be a successful pro photographer 20 years ago, you needed to invest heavily in great gear, develop experience taking great pictures in all kinds of environments and find a connection to clients. But the world has changed, for photographers and anyone else running a small business. The barrier to entry is gone and the landscape is getting a whole lot more competitive. Anyone with an iPhone can take a quality photograph and that puts real pressure on the ability to charge pro rates.
4 Keys to Grow Your Small Business in 2018
If you wanted to be a successful pro photographer 20 years ago, you needed to invest heavily in great gear, develop experience taking great pictures in all kinds of environments and find a connection to clients. But the world has changed, for photographers and anyone else running a small business. The barrier to entry is gone and the landscape is getting a whole lot more competitive. Anyone with an iPhone can take a quality photograph and that puts real pressure on the ability to charge pro rates.
How to Deliver a High-Impact Sales Pitch
You’re escorted to the boardroom room with a big prospective customer. You stand to make the pitch. It’s go time — your time to wow the people around the table and win a big piece of business. Where do you start? For years, I started sales presentations with a lot of background about us — who we were, our capabilities, our process. Entirely expected and a total miss in terms of making an immediate and relevant impact with the customer! Fortunately, I had a major breakthrough.
Reinventing the Hospitality Experience with Crowne Plaza | Ryan Estis
I arrived in downtown Denver ready to close my week at the 2017 Crowne Plaza General Manager Service Training Summit. I was excited to work with this InterContinental Hotels brand that is evolving both its focus in the marketplace and its service culture. While checking in, I immediately scoped out my ideal dinner/evening jam session spot in the lobby bar/restaurant. Now all I needed was directions to the closest CorePower studio so I could squeeze in a late afternoon yoga class.
Getting Unhooked From Our Smartphones
How many times will you stop reading this blog post to check e-mail, text messages or social media? The heaviest smartphone users click, tap or swipe on their phone 5,427 times a day, according to the research platform dscout. The rest of us still touch the addictive things 2,617 times a day on average. That level of connection is wreaking havoc on our ability to focus on tasks that require more concentration than it takes to post a status update.
How to Build a Business and Life You Love
A close friend recently asked me to lend a little counsel to a solopreneur who just started his journey. He’s launching a wellness and nutrition coaching business, and like so many kitchen table entrepreneurs, he’s navigating the anxiety of leaving a secure corporate gig to do something entirely new for the first time in his life. Starting something new brings the hope of something great, but also includes plenty of fear and uncertainty. I’ve been there, and I was happy to lend a little support.
Do You Have Permission To Make Mistakes?
He slammed the T-square across my drawing table in a fit of rage. If his intention was to humiliate me, it worked. I was in the 6th grade in Industrial Arts class and mechanical drawing wasn’t my jam. I’d get behind, hold up “his” class and pay for my mistakes through shame and public humiliation. The message was consistently reinforced during my formative years. Do what you’re told. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t ask why. Follow the rules. Don’t screw up and you won’t get hurt.
The Cost of a Bad Hire
I was bragging and so very proud of my first hire as a rookie VP of Sales. I was sure this new hire would bring the same level of competitiveness to his territory that he did to the football field and I was happy to tell my boss how we were going to blow up the region. I had one more territory vacant. To fill it I traveled across the country for a full day of interviews. By late afternoon I was anxious because I only had one interview left and I still hadn’t met a desirable candidate.
How to Give a More Effective Presentation
I was sitting in the front row, anticipating the start of the sales kick-off meeting. In 45 minutes, the stage would be mine. I was following the CEO’s opening remarks. “We have a problem. We don’t have enough sales. We are capable of more.” That was an aggressive start, and the CEO never slowed down. His sales organization was coming off a year of significant growth, and he was issuing a very direct challenge.
Is Your Smartphone Addiction a Problem?
“You won’t have access to a phone or computer for the entire week.” I paused. Or to be more accurate, I said “no way.” I was exploring the idea of attending a personal growth retreat, but the thought of giving up technology for an entire week pushed me right out of my comfort zone. Losing my iPhone for 8 days was a deal breaker. After some soul searching, I decided to surrender to the experience and embrace the total technology detox.
Disrupt Yourself Before the Marketplace Does It for You
I was fueled by plenty of vodka soda energy and I wasn’t holding back. The time for holding back had long passed. Our division was facing massive disruption and the great recession had us staring down a pretty significant gap between our performance expectations and actual numbers. In short, we were in a bad spot with no clear strategy for a course correction. That didn’t sit right with me, and over dinner I let my boss know.
Prepare to Win or Prepare to Discount
“This is the max budget. Can we make this work?” We’ve been asked this question twice in the last 24 hours. I fully expect to be asked again several more times this week. We know it’s coming, so we’re prepared to respond. I also know that customers don’t buy on price. They default to price in the absence of value and a quality experience. So I wasn’t a bit surprised when the “max budget” moved north to meet our fee for services and both contracts got signed.
How You Can Leverage the Power Of Celebration
I love NBA basketball, and I’ve been known to express my passion for the game and our hometown team when there are moments worth celebrating. Case in point: My hometown, Cleveland, showed up in incredible fashion to support the Cavs NBA championship, and I was personally moved by the outpouring of enthusiasm. Last week I caught the Timberwolves vs.
Confronting the Fear of What Other People Think
The stories we invent from a place of fear don’t serve us. They aren’t the truth. They’re bullshit. The truth is, the future hasn’t happened. The decisions we make and action we take create the future. So what is one decision you can make right now that will move you toward the future you deserve? What is the next most important action to take? Go do that! Bold, decisive, intentional action is the antidote to fear. I couldn’t move. Fear of failure paralyzed me.
In One or Two Words, What Does It Take to Be Successful?
I was sitting in the front row Tuesday morning. We were an hour into the 2017 sales kick-off meeting and there was plenty of energy in the room to start the day. The 500 B2B sellers in the room were using a polling app to share their candid, anonymous feedback, so I was dialed in to the pulse of the room. The next question came up: As the word cloud started to form in real time, there was a wide range of answers.
Conducting Little Experiments
20 hours into the experiment I was miserable. All I could think about was food. I went to bed that night hungry, dreaming about BBQ ribs. I woke up seven hours later, feeling like I had been shot out of a cannon. I was a man on fire with laser focus and energy levels I cannot recall experiencing any time recently. If I didn’t have a lunch meeting scheduled, I would have absolutely continued the fast. I was conducting an experiment.
Kill the ‘Coffee Shopping’ with These 7 Ideas for Better Networking
The truth hurts. At the time it was exactly the perspective I needed. I like meeting new people, learning about their work and figuring out if we can support each other. Most of my business comes from referrals so having an open approach to networking makes sense to me. However, it’s easy to substitute “networking” for some of the hard, isolating kitchen table effort required of anyone trying to create something epic.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race [Podcast]
Did we get better today? It’s a question I consider every single day. I know that previous success isn’t a very good indicator of future performance. The world is changing too fast. It’s my responsibility to lead us down the dark alleys to see what is on the other side.
Disagree and Commit To Get Things Done
“Disagree and commit” is a principle I originally came across while learning about the leadership philosophy at Intel. The principle essentially mandates that leaders driving decisions show up prepared to speak their mind freely, even if it means heated discussion. Your obligation is to agree or disagree and to speak openly about your position. The conflict, tension and debate is healthy as long as people focus on attacking the ideas and issues, and not one another.
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