Unleash Your Hidden Advantage With Author Patty Block

[00:00:00] And this podcast episode, we have Patty block with us. She has empowered women business owners who are experts in their fields. To turn up their power to price, sell and run their business on their own terms and our book, your hidden advantage unlocked the power to attract right fit clients and boost your revenue.

[00:00:23] Patty reveals a new perspective and proven practical solutions. Guiding women to unleash their inner power to run their business with less stress. And more joy. Achieving a more profitable future. So let's join in the conversation with Patty block.

[00:00:43] Are you looking to improve your sales skills without compromising your values? Welcome to Sales Made Easy, a podcast for business and personal growth. Join Harry Spaight, author of Selling With Dignity, your Formula for [00:01:00] Life-Changing Sales Results as he hosts sales experts and business owners who share their journeys of personal growth and business success without resorting to pushy sales tactics.

[00:01:10] Now, here's your host, Harry.

[00:01:14] Harry: So Patty Block, welcome to the Sales Made Easy podcast. What's the

[00:01:19] Patty: good word? Well, I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for having me. And, um, probably the most exciting thing next to the fact that I have my first grandchild. That is by far the most exciting thing. I have, uh, a little grandson and I'm actually gonna get to see him tomorrow, so I'm.

[00:01:39] Patty: Super excited about that.

[00:01:41] Harry: Oh, congratulations. That's, uh, that's worthy.

[00:01:45] Patty: Thank you. And, um, people had said to me the first time, you're a grandparent, you won't believe what you feel and. You can't understand that until you experience it. Wow. So I have to say that is so true and [00:02:00] it is so special to have, you know, it's like taking the love you have for your child and multiplying it exponentially and it's really an interesting phenomenon, I think.

[00:02:11] Patty: So that's been the most exciting thing most recently. And then also I, uh, released. My first book, which is called Your Hidden Advantage, and I have a wonderful launch team. We're doing a six week launch period, so it's unusual in how we've structured and how we're implementing the book launch. And I also have a three day intensive program that I offer.

[00:02:36] Patty: It's based on the book and it's DES designed for women business owners and. That, uh, the book itself is very focused on helping women generate more revenue with less stress, and I have a very specific way of teaching that. And of course I'm super excited about the book and very proud of it. I've put a lot of time, energy, [00:03:00] and money into it.

[00:03:00] Patty: Mm-hmm. But I'm also so proud of my launch team. I have almost 75 people on the launch team. They are just it. My heart swells every time I talk to them, interact, think about them because they're the ones that are really promoting the book and my work in the world. And so that's a huge, huge piece of what I'm most grateful for right now.

[00:03:29] Harry: Yeah, you, you've got a lot going on. So, uh, thanks for taking some time and, uh, joining me on this, uh, conversation here about sales and growing your business. And there's this, I, I've gotta believe your mind is going in a lot of different directions at this point when a book is just coming out, but you've been helping and serving people for a good number of years.

[00:03:55] Harry: I think I saw that you started your own. Entrepreneurial journey, [00:04:00] I think in 2006 or so. Is that right? But you left the corporate, or I know you were, you did some lobbying or something. But for people to leave a job and get into do their own business, it's not always successful. So can you tell us a little bit about the journey from where you were prior?

[00:04:21] Harry: Just starting your own business and how that's evolved over the years and then how that's led to a book. That'd be pretty cool to hear.

[00:04:29] Patty: You bet. And it's interesting because when we're growing up, I think we believe that life is a straight line and it never is. Right. I don't know anyone whose life has been a straight line, but I don't think we're very well prepared for that.

[00:04:46] Patty: And I wasn't. So I knew my parents' expectations grow up. Get my education, get married, have a family, raise my family. If I had a career that was great, but it [00:05:00] wasn't expected of me. Excuse me. And where are my brothers? There was so much pressure put on them because they were raised to be breadwinners and I was not.

[00:05:11] Patty: And that's okay. I mean, that's a, a factor of our generation, of our age of social standards. I get all that. However, I started a company doing political consulting and lobbying. Had that company for about eight years. Very successful. I really love the work. Not that I would do it again, but mm-hmm. But I love the work at the time, and I was a political consultant and a lobbyist, and all of a sudden I'm 35 years old.

[00:05:43] Patty: I have three little kids at home, a thriving business and a surprise divorce. So, When you think of it from that perspective, all of a sudden my world is turned upside down. I did everything I was quote supposed to do. [00:06:00] I wa I consider myself as I was growing up. And even now as a good girl, I'm a good girl.

[00:06:07] Patty: I do what is expected of me, and I'm a high achiever, so I don't wanna just do what's expected. I want to overachieve and there are so many of us out there. And that all is fine until we get the gut punch, which is what I got when I was 35. But I did everything right, quote unquote, and I did everything I was supposed to do and I still got the gut punch.

[00:06:36] Patty: So I realized that I needed to close my business because the lobbying required a lot of travel. And I needed to be home to stabilize things for my kids. At that time, my youngest was about two and he just turned 31. So I have raised my three children on my own. No financial support, no logistical or [00:07:00] emotional support.

[00:07:01] Patty: It was really on my own. But I also realized very early on that the most important thing was raising good human beings. And that everything else was gonna sort itself out. If I could just focus on that, and I don't want to imply it was an easy journey cuz it was not, but I closed my business and I went to get a job mostly because I needed health insurance and of course needed to stop traveling.

[00:07:28] Patty: And I worked for an international school as director of development and then I became director of operations. Was there for about eight years and the whole time I was there, I was planning this company, the block group, and took that leap of faith when my kids got a little older and more independent and started this company in 2006.

[00:07:50] Patty: So I've had this company about 17 years, and it has been, uh, it has grown very nicely [00:08:00] because, I've had specific strategies along the way, and for example, in 2018, I upgraded all my technology and decided to go completely virtual and expand my company nationwide. Of course not anticipating we were gonna have a global pandemic that was gonna force everyone to go virtual, but I was ahead of the curve in that, so I wasn't scrambling when the pandemic happened.

[00:08:27] Patty: So my company's grown nicely. I love working with women business owners, and it really is my purpose on earth. I feel like my first purpose was raising my children and my second purpose. Is in helping empower women business owners because running your business doesn't have to be that hard and you really can generate more revenue with less stress.

[00:08:53] Patty: And everything that I teach centers around that,

[00:08:57] Harry: that's beautiful stuff. I'm thinking, you know, with [00:09:00] your, you know, the way you're bringing up your, or brought up your children and. Probably, probably still adding a little advice here and there. Maybe, I don't know. But the, you know, the idea of I'm gonna take care of this priority first and, you know, going and getting a, or, you know, a job and excelling at that in the meantime, not letting go of your dream.

[00:09:23] Harry: So what I'm curious about is, was this a fight internally, mentally? Based on the way you were raised. I mean, we're same generation baby boomers that, you know, the, the perfect wife stayed home, took care of the kids, like to leave it to Beaver family or whatever, the Brady Bunch, you name it. And here you were as like a renegade, you know, doing your thing.

[00:09:50] Harry: And, you know, you mentioned it, how, you know, you, you were devastated or the, the gut punch. You know, there had to be a lot of fight in you, right? You come [00:10:00] across as this really mellow, chill, you know? But I gotta believe there's like, yeah, there's just some tenacity there, right?

[00:10:08] Patty: Yes, very much so. I. Um, you know, one of the things we all need to keep in perspective is when you have people depending on you, and if you take that seriously, you don't have that many choices.

[00:10:22] Patty: Hmm. Right. It wasn't like I could say, oh, I'm gonna take care of myself first, and then I'll take care of my kids. I didn't have that choice. I didn't have that luxury. So yes, it was a lot of emotional turmoil. We were back in court over and over again for a variety of issues. Was very expensive, very painful, but holding onto that issue of, look, my kids have to be healthy.

[00:10:51] Patty: Emotionally healthy, physically healthy, and that is my top priority. Yes, I need to take care of myself, but I also needed to earn a [00:11:00] living. And while my business in political consulting had been very successful, we weren't living off of what I was making. And that is also a common scenario for a lot of women.

[00:11:11] Patty: They may have a partner and they're living off their partner's income, and of course that all works fine until it doesn't. . And that was the situation I found myself in was, yes, we were living off my husband's income. However, that only worked until it didn't. And then in I, I'm based in Texas. And in Texas there was no alimony and.

[00:11:39] Patty: The, and there was no child support. There should have been, but you know, I realized very early on that I was on my own and I needed to take care of myself and take care of my children and everything else was gonna fall into place. Because if it didn't, I was gonna make some really dramatic changes. You know, I could sell my house if I [00:12:00] needed to.

[00:12:00] Patty: I could move, I could move to a different place. I had those kinds of choices. It wouldn't have been easy. But nothing I was doing was

[00:12:07] Harry: easy. Right. Oh my goodness. I'm just, I can't even imagine. I mean, clearly, uh, that was a whole different era. No alimony or child support. What a different world. Um, yeah. So you're, what kept you going through all of this?

[00:12:25] Harry: It was there that some form of inspiration that just said, keep going forward, lady, or what

[00:12:31] Patty: was it? Well, I think you pegged it a few minutes ago when you said in terms of the tenacity and that I am a high achiever and I can certainly take care of myself. I can certainly take care of my children. That was never in question whether I had the capability I.

[00:12:49] Patty: The question was, could I financially afford to do that and raise these three children? Then I help them all get through college, graduate school, and launch their careers, and now they're all three [00:13:00] business owners. Hmm. So I help them in their companies, they help me in mine, and it's a very symbiotic relationship.

[00:13:07] Patty: And I have put a huge amount of time and energy. Into my relationship with my children. So it wasn't just the mother child relationship that was important to me. It was that family relationship that we are interconnected, we love and support each other no matter what. And that was such a, an important message.

[00:13:30] Patty: That's how I was raised, and that's how I wanted to raise my children. Hmm. So. I think that was part of it. I also have to say my parents were my biggest cheerleaders, and so they were, I, I'm proud that I never had to go to my parents to ask for financial help, but I always knew they were there for emotional support and we didn't live in the same city, so that was challenging.

[00:13:58] Patty: So it's not like I had people who could help me [00:14:00] babysit or take care of the children, but, They were always there for emotional support and so were my siblings and that. Again, that's that interconnected family. That is how I grew up. It's how I still am with my extended family, all my siblings and nieces and nephews, and I have raised my children that way.

[00:14:23] Patty: So we are a very interconnected extended family. And very sadly, my mom passed away suddenly about six months ago, and it was a huge shock because we, she was not ill. She was only 83. She was so happy. She was, she had a long-term boyfriend and my dad had passed away about 13 years ago, so my mom felt like she had a new lease on life and one morning she died.

[00:14:54] Patty: So it was a huge shock and a huge blow to our family. But I will also say [00:15:00] that I had finished writing the book and used a lot of stories about my mom and about my. Her influence on me and my relationship with her. And I realized when she died that in many ways the book is a tribute to her. And that really makes me feel good because I feel as though in some way that prolongs her legacy, that there are photographs, there are stories inside the book.

[00:15:33] Patty: It's not your typical business book because. I tend to think business books are boring, and I typically don't read business books. So when I wrote the book, it was with stories in mind and things that are very relatable so that women can understand you can take the skills you've developed as a daughter, as a wife, as a mother, as a grandmother.[00:16:00]

[00:16:00] Patty: You can take those skills and that innate ability and bring that to your business. And often we do the off opposite. And that is a pattern that I have seen for the almost 20 years that I've been working exclusively with women. And those memories really came flooding back to me as I was writing the book.

[00:16:24] Patty: So when I was growing up, my mom used to make these fabulous cookies. The whole house smelled good. It was warm, the cookies were gooey. And all my life, I watched my mom eat the broken cookies, but it wasn't until I was a teenager that I even thought to ask her, why do you only eat the broken cookies? Do they taste better?

[00:16:46] Patty: And she laughed and said, no, I eat the broken cookies. So you can have the whole ones. As I said, those memories came rushing back to me as I was writing the book because I was [00:17:00] struggling to put language around that pattern that I had seen in working with women business owners, and all of a sudden I realized that's what we as women are doing in our business.

[00:17:12] Patty: We are undervaluing ourselves. We're underpricing our services, and then we're over-delivering. And it is so common. I named it. It's the broken cookie effect. And what happens when we do that is our profit goes poof. So we are sacrificing our profit for a variety of reasons, and we're limiting ourselves.

[00:17:40] Patty: So it's. A very pervasive, very problematic dynamic. And once I could put language around that and realize that that spirit of self-sacrifice that we saw in our role models is actually hindering our businesses, [00:18:00] then women that I talked to could understand it better. And it lent itself to being a centerpiece for the book because my mission became, How do you beat the broken cookie effect and still take care of yourself and still understand how important you are, but translate that into the value that you bring to your clients so that you're pricing appropriately.

[00:18:28] Patty: And so that is very much what I teach when I say I can help you generate more revenue with less stress. It's not just the conceptual. We're gonna help shift how you think we are gonna do that. But uh, there's also the mechanical part of it. I'm gonna help you build your pricing model and attract your right fit buyers and shift your thinking and then talk about it in a way that is compelling and powerful.

[00:18:55] Patty: And that is probably the biggest challenge for women because [00:19:00] many of us are taught that we don't talk about ourselves, and that somehow that is bragging. But here in Texas, we believe it's not bragging if it's true. So again, all of those you, you can probably hear in what I'm describing. It's about empowerment, it's about speaking up, speaking out.

[00:19:22] Patty: It's about pricing for your real value and what you really bring to your

[00:19:27] Harry: clients. Yeah, this is, I totally can relate to the broken cookies cuz I like to cook and I'll probably call it the burnt piece of meat, uh, challenge because I'll take that right. And give someone else whatever. Right. So it's, that's what you do with your family.

[00:19:43] Harry: So, good stuff on the, and I can appreciate that and it's could go on for hours on that conversation about women and men. You know, the pay differences and so forth. But I mean, that's such a cultural thing where women get paid less. [00:20:00] But now when they have their own business, it's like, you know, you gotta let go of that stuff because it's, you know, we want the outcome.

[00:20:09] Harry: I personally don't care about the gender of the person that's providing the outcome that I want. So if you're going to do great work for me as a woman, I'm certainly not gonna pay you less. Then a guy doing the great work right is away, I think. But coming out of, you know, me not being a woman and not having those experiences and dealing with this for years and years and years, uh, I can't relate to that like you can.

[00:20:37] Harry: So what would be your, you wanna say something there? So I'm not even gonna ask the question. So you go, you got something there that came to mind, so let's go explore that.

[00:20:48] Patty: Well, the challenge is not that you would expect to pay less or you would choose to pay less. The problem is the women who are the service providers are gonna [00:21:00] ask for less if we ask for anything at all.

[00:21:04] Patty: Yeah. And a lot of times we end up, as I mentioned, over-delivering. So we're giving away our services and for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's because we're afraid that we'll make somebody upset. If we tell them there's an extra charge for something or if that's not in the scope of work, we don't want that conflict.

[00:21:25] Patty: So we feel like, you know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and do that extra thing cuz it's just so much simpler. And we think that about our pricing too. Yeah. Every woman I ask says, oh yeah, my pricing is fine. My pricing's fine because it's so much easier just to leave it alone. But. As I said, it hinders everything you're doing in your business because I believe that everything in your business flows from pricing.

[00:21:53] Patty: When you can hire who you can hire, the technology you use to support your business, everything flows from [00:22:00] pricing and the kind of revenue you're generating.

[00:22:04] Harry: Funny, I was listening to a young woman entrepreneur. And she was telling me, when I say young is like newly, a newer entrepreneur. Couple of years, few years, maybe five years.

[00:22:19] Harry: And she was telling me that when she first started, she just took her hourly rate that she was as an employee and started, you know, she went up maybe a little bit, but she realized quickly that that wasn't gonna pay the bills, right? Wasn't gonna cover the overhead and so forth. Right? So what. What do you suggest?

[00:22:40] Harry: Like if someone, a woman or male for that reason? Cuz I know a lot of guys struggle with the same thing, right? We had, we struggle with the value and people can get it for less elsewhere and you know, if they came out of an employee relationship or situation in life, they think whatever they earned [00:23:00] is enough to do it now.

[00:23:02] Harry: So they don't really understand revenue and profit and making investments in the business so forth like you just described. So what can help them, um, in a, the short version? I know they can go to you for more, but what might be a little way to get them started thinking a little bit better for that?

[00:23:21] Patty: So this is gonna sound counterintuitive, but one of the real keys is finding your ideal buyers.

[00:23:31] Patty: It's not about your pricing. And again, you can change your pricing. You can raise your prices. You can, you have the ability to do whatever you want with your pricing, but if you're not finding the right buyers, it doesn't matter what you do with your pricing. And if you can't effectively and confidently communicate with your buyers, it doesn't matter what you're pricing, you're not gonna get that far in the process.

[00:23:59] Patty: [00:24:00] And of course this goes back to sales as well, the idea of your ideal buyer. So I'm gonna make a distinction between a client and a buyer, and that is, I don't think an ideal client happens by accident. I think that happens when you find an ideal buyer. You're taking them on this sales journey so that they're ready to buy and they understand the value that you're providing.

[00:24:27] Patty: So, Once they become a client, then you can set and manage expectations and help them become an ideal client. And finding your ideal buyer is a critical piece because you have to make sure that you're selling to the people who do appreciate you. So going back to what you said a moment ago about finding people that can afford your services, or finding people who.

[00:24:55] Patty: Maybe they're getting competitive bids. If you are an expert in your [00:25:00] field, my belief is anyone who is price shopping is not your ideal buyer. So if you understand that, and if you accept that, then that means you have to define who is your ideal buyer. And it's not just demographics, it's not just, in my case, it's a woman business owner who's an expert in her field.

[00:25:24] Patty: Lots of accountants and attorneys and, and I work with people that are highly educated. Okay. So I have a really clear vision. Did you ever see the show, the X-Files? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Do you remember the character Dana Scully? Yes. Okay. If Dana Scully were a business owner, she would be my ideal buyer. Okay. Why so?

[00:25:49] Patty: So, So think about, she's highly educated. She's a medical doctor. She goes to work at the F B I. She has honed her skills. She's a high achiever. She [00:26:00] is someone who needs to see it to believe it, but she's open to new ideas. So if you think about that character of Dana Scully, she's very tenacious. She's very, um, loyal.

[00:26:17] Patty: She's very heart driven and she's tough on the outside and kind on the inside. Okay. That is a great description of my ideal buyer. When I put it in terms of, does that sound a little bit

[00:26:29] Harry: like you Patty

[00:26:32] Patty: it? It may. And you know that's not surprising either, right. Sometimes your ideal buyer is very much like you.

[00:26:38] Patty: Mm-hmm. Because you understand how they think. Right. Right. And some of the challenges they face. Yep. Just like I know the challenges I faced as a good girl. Mm-hmm. So, and if you think about the X-files, Dana Scully was struggling with her good girl persona in every episode. [00:27:00] So if I take now that ideal buyer concept and I put it in a fictional character, you now have a better picture.

[00:27:10] Patty: Of who my ideal buyer is. Right? Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. That's great. And that's, that's something you, that every business owner can do today. Spend 30 seconds thinking about who is a fictional character from a movie or a TV or a book that describes your ideal buyer. And then figure out where you're gonna find them.

[00:27:34] Patty: Maybe professional organizations. I think one of the challenges that we have as experts is that we like to go where other experts go, right? So if you're an accountant, you're very likely involved in C P A societies, which is great, except you're going into a room of competitors, right? And that's very, uh, you know, it's, again, it's great from a learning perspective, but you're not gonna find buyers there, right?[00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Patty: If on the other hand, you are an accountant who specializes in helping expats, expatriates that are in the United States from other countries, then perhaps you'd build relationships with immigration attorneys. Perhaps you go to those kinds of professional events and associations, and then you start finding your ideal buyers instead of just going to the places where you're most comfortable.

[00:28:29] Patty: So again, Going back to your original question about how do you think about revenue and and profit and changing how you're doing things, in my view, it's not a one step thing like changing your pricing. If it were that simple, everybody would do that. We would all raise our prices every year and call it a day.

[00:28:52] Patty: Yep. Right? Yeah. But it's not that simple and there's a lot of psychology. Behind that. So that's [00:29:00] why I wanted to share with you, finding your ideal buyer is a critical piece. Making sure that your limiting beliefs aren't holding you back pricing appropriately for your target market, who you want to work with, not just the people who call you or show up.

[00:29:20] Patty: And. Then that fourth piece is of course that powerful communication and how you talk with people during the sales cycle and once they become a client, how you build those relationships, especially for experts, because we are building our relationships on a basis of trust, and we very much want to connect with our clients, but in a professional way.

[00:29:48] Patty: So those challenges when they all fit together, that's very much what I wrote in the book, is how you can take a stepwise pattern to address those four [00:30:00] pieces. And when you do and they click together like a puzzle, you are much more likely to start generating more revenue right away. Yeah. It was so

[00:30:09] Harry: beautiful.

[00:30:10] Harry: The, yeah, I can't add to what you said. It was just so good. That if you listen to this podcast and you're not a hundred percent sure what the ideal client is, and if your pricing isn't what you think it should be, you gotta re-listen to what you just said. It is so true. It's just, I've looked at this for years.

[00:30:29] Harry: It's like I. If the sandbox doesn't have the toys you want in, it's right, go find another sandbox. You gotta, you gotta find, you gotta swim upstream, whatever the analogy is that you want to use, but you gotta go, if you're looking for more revenue, you gotta go where the revenue is. It's really, you can't get revenue out of.

[00:30:51] Harry: You know, a tree, right? Or you know, someone that's really easy, that has no money. All these things that people say, and I've heard it over the years, [00:31:00] many, many times, people don't want to pay this price. They don't have money for this. It's like, oh, it's what kind of world do you live in? It's like, no, I'm not in that world.

[00:31:10] Harry: I'm gonna go find where I can be an influence and get rewarded for it. And that's really what I think is a huge key here. So, Great stuff, Patty. Uh, any final thoughts and where can people find more of you? Um, cuz it's a great conversation and people should find more of you already.

[00:31:31] Patty: Well, thank you. I'm so glad to have been here today and I hope your audience found this valuable.

[00:31:38] Patty: You can find me www.yourhiddenadvantage.com. There are several bonuses there that are companion pieces to the book. They are free, and I would highly encourage you to go to your hidden advantage.com, get the bonuses. Hopefully you will also want to buy the book. And then as I mentioned, I offer [00:32:00] intensive programs that are structured as a three day intensive so that I can help people implement what they're learning in the book and put it to work in their own

[00:32:09] Harry: business.

[00:32:10] Harry: Beautiful. Great stuff. We'll put it into show notes. If you didn't get it, make it an active link and that way, uh, you can get, uh, some more of Patty Block and her insight and wisdom and definitely worth it. So thanks again, Patty, for joining us. Much success with the new grandchild is a grandson or granddaughter.