Elyse Archer (00:02):

Welcome to SheSells radio. I am so excited about today’s interview because if you’ve ever wanted to find sales success, by doing things that feel good and full of integrity to you like relationship building, always doing the right thing for the customer. This interview is for you. And I know, I know it’s sounds obvious that that’s how we find sales success, but I think you and I both know that that’s not always what’s taught or what we think we have to do sometimes to close the sale. And today I wanna flip any limiting beliefs that you may have on their head about how you can find success in sales. So my guest on the podcast today is a member of our she sales unity. She’s a member of our 10 K club and now our 50 K club too, which is so exciting and is someone who I just love and adore and have so much respect for. And her name is Amy Knisley. She’s the vice president of distribution partners for Highland capital brokerage. So in the financial services space and some of the passions and strength she has that I wanna dive into today with her so that you can start incorporating these same skills in your own customer acquisition strategy is creating memorable experiences and customer advocacy. So Amy, welcome to shoe sales radio. It’s so much fun to have you here today. Thank

Amy Kniseley (01:19):

You. I am beaming with a huge smile to be here. Thank you, Elise. I’m excited.

Elyse Archer (01:26):

I’m so excited too. And so here’s what I wanna dive into first and foremost is I know you’ve got a long and tenured history in financial services, which means you’ve been doing this since you were like five, uh, cuz you’re still here. <laugh> you’re young, but I am, I am curious, like, was this always the dream for you? Like how did you get into this industry and then how did you get into the sales space in particular? Yeah,

Amy Kniseley (01:49):

So it’s, it’s interesting. Uh, my background is cer certainly not commoditized that’s there’s just no question, but I grew up on a small farm, uh, in Wisconsin, a pig farm at that and oh my gosh, my parents. Yeah, my parents, my grandparents had a insurance agency like a captive P C did some life insurance did some disability, um, agency and you know, time passes. My parents ended up buying up my grandfather. Um, so it went to my, my father and my mother. And that was my first job when I was like 12, you know, taking notes on the carbon copy papers for those that remember, you know, like the, the white ink in the yellow copies filing papers. And that was, you know, around what, 12 or 13 years old. And so just like through osmosis, I think, you know, I grew up with them working on commission only, you know, so in my mind it was like they did appointments at different times and it wasn’t an eight to five job and it was, you know, you do, you do what you have to do like that type of mentality.

Amy Kniseley (02:47):

And you know, I just, I, I learned some amazing lessons from that, just foundationally on, you know, my work ethic and, and like my principles and integrity. And you’re always putting people in the right spaces, um, you know, that meet their needs and then, you know, fast forward. Um, yeah, I, I, I rejoined the insurance industry, but more on the independent side. And that was at a big carrier up in Minneapolis, you know, in my early twenties. And so, you know, time passes and you kind of make your way through the different, the different areas of business and, um, and D different business lines and gather licensing and all these other things. And yeah, so here we are, you know, here I am in Highland, like almost 20 years later, you know, and, and really finding, um, a stride and a new found passion for the business. Um, and my approach, you, and, you know, Theia channel and the registered space is I’m ju it’s just so much fun, you know? And, and, and I’m, I’m, I’m so happy that here I am, and I’ve been able to gather all these experiences, but that’s, what’s put me here today. I think still enjoying what I’m doing. So,

Elyse Archer (03:54):

Gosh, I love that. And I like, what’s fun to me about these interviews even with clients. So I feel like I know well is like I always get to learn something new. So I love that journey from pig farm to being this like financial services boss that you are. It’s just, it’s always fun to me to hear about the back story and a bit of the origin story there. And so I’m kind of curious, I feel like just knowing you, and so seeing how you work with clients, and I’m actually like, I’m a customer of yours too. We bought life insurance from you years ago, because I just felt like I trusted you. And I felt like you had a different energy than so many people I had talked to in your space. So I know two of the things that you’re really passionate about that I wanna kind of dive into here are creating memorable its experiences and then customer advocacy as well.

Elyse Archer (04:43):

So tell us a little bit about how, from your perspective, how do you create that memorable experience for clients where it’s like, they just, they love you. They wanna work with you cuz there are, there’s a lot of options in all of our spaces, right. But in the financial services space, there’s a lot of options. And yet you’ve got a really strong retention rate. You’ve got a strong customer acquisition rate. So how do you do things differently that draw people in and just make them feel so seen? And so, so yeah, so seen by you.

Amy Kniseley (05:14):

Yeah. That’s an interesting question. And it’s something that, you know, I’ve, I’ve kind of taken bits and pieces along the way, you know, so it’s, it’s, it’s something I’m still probably perfecting or working on and finding new ways and new approaches, but you know, really it starts with the alignment. You know, I, I was asked, I was asked just a couple weeks ago, you know, like something about how do you close sales, right. Or something about closing and selling. And I was like, I don’t close anybody and I don’t anything.

Elyse Archer (05:43):

That’s an interesting, so, okay. So, so give some more perspective on that. Yeah. Cause I think that

Amy Kniseley (05:47):

Would cause it’s like my, and, and you know, I’ve, I’ve learned some of this from you too, so it’s, I, you know, I’m so thankful and grateful for you, but like my only job really, or my only, um, the only role that I have when I’m talking to customers or per, or prospects or perspective people or even current customers is to be present, be available, um, truly, truly hear and listen to them and understand. And now yes, I use my credibility in my background and all those things. Right. But, but a lot of times I don’t even have to ask them things. They just tell me because I’m here for them. You know, I, I, I take an emotional approach in our business and the financial services space specifically, you know, I think there’s a lot of emotion that’s missing. A lot of people focus on numbers and sales and you know, it’s like acquiring these clients and are they, are they buying this?

Amy Kniseley (06:39):

And are you selling this? And I’m like, no, I, I, my only job is to provide them with the best, the best information that I can and really whatever that could be a product. It could be a opinion. It could be, gimme your thoughts on something. I mean, it it’s all over the board at this point right now, but, um, and it’s just providing them with the best information so they can make the best decision based on them, their firm, their advisors, their, you know, if they wanna grow and retain and scale and, and you know, what, what their strategies are and I’m not going to be for everybody. And I’m okay with that. And, um, you know, but if I just take that approach and just really, you know, I’m here for them and I’m here to help them achieve success sometimes with, or without me. That’s okay. That is totally okay.

Elyse Archer (07:25):

Yeah. Which, and so, from what you’re saying, the biggest thing that I’m taking out is that abundance mindset in sales, where it’s like, I’m genuinely committed to this person achieving the best result. I’m committed to giving them all the information they need to be successful. And here’s, but here’s what I wanna know from you because we have, so we’ve got a mixed audience listening and some people are in corporate where they are maybe pressure from higher ups to like, you’ve gotta hit this quota for this month. We also have a lot of entrepreneurs listening and they have sometimes self-imposed pressure of, we gotta hit these revenue goals to, you know, to keep payroll or whatever they’re doing. So how do you reconcile? How do you reconcile that abundance mindset and not putting pressure on the customers when there may be either internal or external pressure to hit certain quotas? I hope that question makes sense, but I wanna kind of, I wanna dive in because I feel like you’ve probably seen the bottom line results of your approach. So, you know, it works and, you know, it creates more sales ultimately, but like how do you reconcile that in the moment, if there’s any sort of external pressure of, we gotta hit these numbers? Does that make sense?

Amy Kniseley (08:37):

Yeah, totally. So, I mean, listen, there’s still a balance, right? I’m still, you know, I still have some of those fundamentals. They’re still planning and they’re, you can’t just, you know, go in and be like, oh, you know, <laugh>, it would not thoughtful or intentional around a plan. Right. You still have numbers and you still have results to hit. Um, and you know, you still have to know a baseline of, okay, if I’m doing this right, what becomes of it. Right. But, but through the years, I’ve just gotten more savvy where it’s like, I don’t necessarily believe that I need to make a hundred outbound calls or a hundred reaches or whatever a day to a two, a certain, you know, a, a certain result. Now I believe in activity. And I believe in the right activity, in the right alignment. And I believe in timing.

Amy Kniseley (09:25):

Right. And I believe in really personalized approaches. And so, you know, I found that, um, through like my nurturing sequence or even like the, the, this kind a process that I have, you know, if I’m doing those things that are really meaningful to the other person on the other end of the line. So whether that’s you, or, you know, an internal person or a prospect or existing client, and I’m personalizing it with meaningful, valuable touches, um, I haven’t had to do <affirmative>, you know, the, the hundred, you know, the <laugh> the hundred dollars or, you know, the, the, the kind of more masculine type things that our industry really pounds, like if you’re not meeting your numbers, make 200 calls instead of 100. Yeah. Well, if I’m not meeting my numbers, that means, you know, what, I need better alignment and probably a little bit more on from a marketing perspective and my top, you know?

Amy Kniseley (10:15):

But so I just, you know, for me, it’s more of, you know, the numbers back in still with the activity and the right kinds of activity, but really highly personalized and highly give surprise and delight. Um, you know, go in with video, you know, you, you use video too. I mean, there’s a lot of things that, um, you know, I do a lot of text messaging, dilemma, voice messaging, and sometimes it’s a check in, and it’s like, I’m thinking about you, you guys were in, you know, Kentucky this weekend had that tornado. Everybody I knew in Kentucky, that was an advisor Saturday morning at like six 30. I didn’t apologize for the time either. I just said, I am checking on you, making sure you and your family are good. Just let me know thinking about you. It was so morning, first thing I did, you know, had some coffee.

Amy Kniseley (11:00):

And so I think it’s, it’s, you know, people say the little things, but the little things really make a difference, um, in any business really, but, um, really having a, a lens of truly caring and bringing an emotional aspect and really making sure that everyone really is in the most fair ripple spot, um, has just helped me tremendously. So I don’t lose track of the numbers. My activity’s still high. Um, I just, I just, she was alignment that the, like the who and the, when even, and the where, or, and the why a little bit differently these days, that makes sense. Oh,

Elyse Archer (11:34):

It makes so much sense. And that’s something where I’ve always felt so align to you with your strategy. And I think that’s part of why we work so well together because it’s like, there’s always different approaches in sales, and you gotta kind of know who you are and know what works best for you, but to your point of alignment, I found in my own career, when I do things more intentionally, when I do things that are, like you said, personalized, that are loving, that are, it’s like, you need half the activity if even that, that somebody else would, um, who’s doing things differently. Usually it’s probably more like 10%, but we don’t always, we, we don’t always share that publicly. Right. But it’s like that focus on alignment is so, so, so important. And the personalization too. So I wanna, I’m curious to hear from you, so you’ve got, I mean, gosh, you, so I said, you’ve been doing this since you were five. I was close. You’ve been doing it since you were 12 <laugh> what would you say is the biggest obstacle that you’ve faced in, in terms of sales, like in the sales world, what’s the biggest obstacle that you faced and how did you overcome

Amy Kniseley (12:36):

It? Yeah. So this is something that is probably one of, um, I would say soapbox or a passion point or whatever, um, whatever verbiage you wanna put around it, um, you know, in the financial services and specifically in like the distribution space that I’m in, you, you know, there’s, there’s a, there’s a lot of us, right? You have every, everything from a to Z in between, um, different value propositions, different size of firms, the list goes on. Um, and so what I believe one of the biggest obstacles is just in general is, um, really cutting through some of the, the, um, um, the perception that advisors and firms have around the distribution model. Because like I said, there are some amazing people in this business that really wanna do amazing things, and that are doing amazing things and that, um, you know, put consumer outcomes first and put advisors in their firms first, and don’t lead by commission and don’t lead by, you know, all these other things.

Amy Kniseley (13:38):

Um, but there’s a subset of people that maybe, you know, are on the opposite side and, and they water down the pool, right. There’s a saying that, you know, one bad apple spoils, a bushel and sometimes, and sometimes, you know, that perception, you know, may have, you know, rightfully so. You know what I mean? Cause they sometimes bad things of high happened and it sucks and it sucks for everybody. Um, and so that’s been a challenge because one of my, one of my passion points, my soapbox is one of my pillars is changing the perception of this distribution model. Like I am like over the moon about it because there are good people out there that wanna partner with, you know, with, for, and help them grow and scale and retain and, you know, and help with their long term strategy, you know, and, and implement risk management and do it in a way that feels good and that’s, you know, consumer focused.

Amy Kniseley (14:28):

And so I think that’s probably the biggest thing that, you know, even at times still really bothers me. You know, I get recruiting messages to my phone. I right. So like, I, you know, so I get recruited just like a lot of these folks and you know, sometimes I’m thinking, oh my gosh, that’s the, the voicemail you left me. Ew. You know? Ew. Yeah. So like, I am super committed to being a change and being a voice and then being a, a woman and a mom and everything on top of it. Like, like there are good people out here and I’m one of ’em and I love what I do. And so that’s the, that’s probably the probably pretty emotional answer, but it’s the truth. Oh,

Elyse Archer (15:06):

Well I think, I think it’s so relevant too. And I wanna just go a little deep there cause I think so for whatever industry you’re in, if you’re listening, we’ve all, probably heard that objection at some point like, well, I worked with someone else who did yada yada, and I got burned or I didn’t get what I paid for. And I hear that too. Sometimes from clients, I hired a coach a while back and they didn’t deliver and yada, yada, and it’s like, it can be painful when we hear that. Right. Because we know there’s in any industry, there’s gonna be people who are kind of like the, I don’t know what term you wanna, like light workers, people who are really committed to creating change. And then there’s people who are just there for the buck. So how, how do you navigate that? What are some things you specifically do when someone says, oh, I’ve had a bad experience in your space? And I just don’t, I don’t, I don’t like it or I don’t feel like I can move forward with you. Like what are some specific things we can do if we bump up against that?

Amy Kniseley (16:00):

Yeah. I mean, number one, when someone says that to me, Elise, like it’s, whether I’m in person or looking right in the camera or whatever, it’s I get it. I understand. I know I’m listen. I didn’t, I’m part of the distribution channel. I didn’t create it, but I’m, I am committed to make a change and I’m committed to you and practices that I work with and, you know, I, I’m not gonna sit there and sell a bill of goods. That everything’s perfect. Nothing’s perfect. Right. But what I do know is that when someone makes a move to partner with a new firm or, you know, it, it should feel good and it will feel good and it’s my job and it’s my, um, it’s really what I owe my customers to make sure that alignment’s there. And they, they, they understand the credibility that the, they can trust me.

Amy Kniseley (16:50):

Like I said, I’m not gonna pretend everything’s perfect, but I am gonna do is, uh, you know, we’ll work our butts off <laugh> and we’ll, um, we’ll give you, and we’re committed to a different experience because that’s, you know, that’s, that’s how you do it. Right. And, and the interesting part about our distribution model is, you know, it it’s, you know, some, some folks would refer, refer to it as you. It’s kind of one of those things where it’s like, I don’t really want you, but I need you, you know, so it’s our, and then that’s okay too, because sometimes that’s where the relationship starts. But if you can, you know, it’s, it’s like a flower, if you can water it and put sunshine on it and, and, and, you know, talk to it now, but grow and you know, all these different things and, and just provide massive of value and sometimes overvalue right over deliver, and really just kinda even surprise and delight, you know, you can, you can start to change some mindsets and they start to come around of like, okay, like, like I get it.

Amy Kniseley (17:48):

You guys are one of the good guys, right. You’re, you’re, you’re great, Amy. So I think, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s just changing the perception and it’s, um, it’s just over delivering, you know, cause sometimes those you have to do, you know, because of their experience and you have to show them, you can’t just talk about it, you have to show it. And that comes in a lot of different ways too. But, um, yeah, so it’s really, overdelivering surprising and delighting and overdelivering and, um, getting them to a point to emotionally feel comfortable and visualize what it’s like working with with good partners.

Elyse Archer (18:22):

Hmm. I love how you said that. I love how you said that. And one of the other things that came up for me while you were talking was just thinking about, I don’t think I consciously do this, but as you talked about it, I was like, oh yeah, this is kind of, this is how we operate within our organization. I think it’s how you do it too. Is like every single connection point is an opportunity to make, to build trust. And that happens both before and after the sale. Right. And so just thinking about, regardless of what someone background is, regardless of what someone’s previous experience is, we can build trust, but just, it happens one interaction point at a time. And then to your point, thinking about how can I, how can I surprise and delight? How can I over deliver? And it doesn’t, it doesn’t usually take a ton.

Elyse Archer (19:04):

I mean, it’s those little things, like you said, like the reach outs, when there’s something that’s gone on in somebody area or the, the personal, like birthday messages and all of those things. So those little points in time that we can use to shift, um, someone’s perspective and to create that memorable customer experience where they feel like you said, you’re, you’re gonna know by how you feel that you’re in the right place. So I love, I love that you shared that. I wanna ask you one other question before we, before we wrap up. So one of the things that’s been really fun about this podcast is I feel like I get to interview women from so many different walks of life. And you are a group of you are in a group of women who I have interviewed. Who’s probably not the majority on this podcast, but certainly a, a decent, a number where you’re a woman in a very male dominated industry. And you’re also in leadership in a very male dominated industry. And so I just wanna hear from you, any, any specifics, any nuances that you feel like have really helped you as you’ve grown in leadership as a woman in this very male dominated industry that you would, that another woman could take, whether she’s in that male dominated space or not, but things that you think have really helped you that you wish you had known going into it.

Amy Kniseley (20:20):

Yeah. Um, yeah. You know what it could have should a right. Like

Elyse Archer (20:25):

<laugh> I know, I know. And it’s like, we always, we, we learn, we like, gosh, that would’ve been helpful to know back then, but we’ve got, here’s what I know is there’s someone listening who’s earlier in her journey and we’re gonna help her out right now. So

Amy Kniseley (20:35):

Yeah, I think, um, one of the biggest things, yes. Uh, very male dominated industry. Um, but one of the biggest things that have helped me is, um, just doing so, um, continuously, um, you know, showing results, moving the needle, caring about people every to your point before everybody, I talk to whether it’s internal, external across the zoom, across the table, it it’s a chance for me to enhance our relationship and help them achieve success. So how can I help you? Um, one example is someone called me, uh, last week and was like, I know you’re busy. And I was like, I am never too busy for you. I am never too busy for you because number one, you are, you’re important to me. Number two, it’s, you know, you’re part of a team that, that, you know, is, is helping achieve success and like, I wanna help you.

Amy Kniseley (21:29):

So what you’re. So, um, so it’s, again, it’s really just listening and always putting that other person in a space to, um, be successful and help them, however you can, because what happens is it’s a trickle down effect or a snowball effect of, you know, pretty soon you have people saying, oh, well that was really awesome. Amy helped me, or that was really cool this, or, you know, and, and what happens is word travels <laugh> and you know, and so you start to create advocacy and you start to create, and, and, and I do it in a genuine way because I, I love these people, you know? So it’s not that it’s like a, you know, it has nothing to do with, oh, because I need something it’s just, I care and I want to help them. And I, and if I have anything that I can give them, let me do that.

Amy Kniseley (22:17):

Right. You have to make deposits, you have to make deposits. And, and so what happens is this, this, you know, effect of like, oh, I talked to Amy, she already helped me. Oh, Amy, oh, Amy. Oh, pretty soon. You know, Amy’s coming out of folks’ mouth just naturally because, you know, and then you have results and, um, you start to get a little bit more confidence and you start to speak up in little chunks. Right. Like, so if, if we’re in meetings or, um, zooms or whatever, you know, um, just really using my voice, but in a really like, still mindful and respectful way, but, you know, doing so with probably more of an emotional spin than most folks, sometimes scared to feel comfortable with because, you know, it’s, it, it’s not the normal in corporate to be, oh, so, you know, so vulnerable or so nice and so helpful.

Amy Kniseley (23:11):

And like, oh, but you’re not getting anything for it. Like, but I don’t, I don’t care. I don’t care. So whether it’s my boss, a prospect, someone on the op side that is near and dear to my heart, like, how can I help you? What do you need from me? And so I think, you know, but cause once you do that, like I said, you start to, um, um, you just start to see results and you start to see changes in people and, and those people are the ones that help you get things done. And you know, and so it’s kind of, and it’s, that’s probably a interesting answer for most, but like I said, for me, it’s just caring, caring about people because I can help them and they can help me. Right. We get a lot of great things done. And then using, using your voice as a woman, giving different perspectives, um, sometimes pushing the envelope, you know, and, and not, and not being fearful to do so because our industry needs and, um, people wanna hear it, believe it, or not, people wanna hear it. They wanna hear different perspectives and, you know, have a different take on things. And it opens up a lot of people’s eyes. So yeah. Using my voice and caring.

Elyse Archer (24:17):

Yeah. Well, and what I love about what you said is it’s really what I’m taking away is leaning into your uniqueness, which is such a core pillar of the, she sells brand, which is that alignment, like whatever it is, that’s your gift, which for many of us as women is intuition, caring, like speaking up in a different way than people may be used to hearing. You can trust that leaning into that is what’s gonna bring you success. And that even if it’s different from the model that you’ve seen taught, even if it’s different, from what you may hear about, there’s this one way to achieve success. And it’s saying this exact script and making this many outbound reaches, like leaning into the fact that what feels right to you, what feels aligned to you is always, always, always the way that you personally are going to achieve the greatest success in your space and that we can trust that.

Elyse Archer (25:13):

So I love that you shared that. I love that you shared that. Let me ask you one fine. Actually, let me ask you this. Let me ask you where people can, can connect with you. And then I wanna ask you one final piece of advice and this has been so good. So I would say whether someone is in financial services, whether they’re an advisor, whether they’re another woman in business, who’s like, I just wanna follow this chick cuz she’s amazing. And I wanna like model some of my strategy after her. Where’s the best way where people can connect with you and find out more.

Amy Kniseley (25:41):

Yeah. So LinkedIn, obviously Amy and Eisley, you can just search me. Um, I am on TikTok and um, my name there is Allstar mom four, because

Elyse Archer (25:49):

We love that. <laugh>

Amy Kniseley (25:51):

No, I just started that. So I’m, you know, I’m working on my consistency. Right. And then you could also find me on Instagram as well. Just search me, Amy Knisely. Um, but yeah, I I’d love to connect and help, you know, whoever I can. I, I, that’s what I’m here for. That’s what I’m about. So,

Elyse Archer (26:09):

And one of the things I would definitely say is follow Amy to see how she does video content. Um, especially like I love your videos you put out on. I’m not really huge on TikTok right now. My team is, is working on <laugh> that for me, but on LinkedIn and Instagram with like heartfelt video content, it gets a lot of engagement that stands out out. So definitely follow Amy for that to see how she does it. Cuz it’s really, really good. So one final question for you. What would you say? What would be your number one piece of advice to a woman who’s maybe a little earlier in her sales career and she’s looking to break through her first six figures and beyond what’s the one thing you think she needs to know in order to be successful,

Amy Kniseley (26:52):

Go for it, you know, go for that, apply for that position that you may feel like, Ooh, I don’t know, you know, um, you know, you only have, you only have something to gain <affirmative> right. So just go for it, whatever it is, go for it. You know, whether it’s opening your own business, applying for that position. Um, you know, like I said, when you think of what, when you do all the considerations there, you’re never in a bad spot, you either learn, you grow, you have an experience that gives you a little bit more knowledge, right. To that’s gonna help with the next convers, whatever it is, go for it don’t play small play big. Right? So like my big thing for 2022 is, um, I’m not playing small anymore. There’s no need I, there there’s no need because like it’s, it’s the world everything’s right there. So just go for it I guess. And, and, and everything that you want is on that other side of fear. And you’ve said that at least, you know, for years, but it’s so true. It’s so

Elyse Archer (27:50):

True. It’s so true. <laugh>, it’s so true. I love that. I love that. And just the dedication to like, there’s, I’m done playing small in any way, shape or form and realizing that you’re the only one who has to give yourself permission to do it, to like, it’s literally just us who have to give ourselves permission. So, right. Yeah. Thank you, Amy. Thank you so much for your time here for your heart and for how you’re modeling for so many women, how they can achieve success regardless of industry, regardless of background, by doing it in a way that feels good and feels in alignment to them. So I just wanna acknowledge you for that and say a huge thank you to you for being that model and then for sharing your gifts and your wisdom with us on the podcast today.

Amy Kniseley (28:36):

Thank you. I appreciate you so much. Yes.

Elyse Archer (28:39):

Oh my gosh. Love you so much. And to you, my dear listener, thank you much for joining in today and tuning in. I strongly encourage you connect with Amy on social. Uh, let her know you heard about her on this podcast and follow her for just a great example of how to sell and lead with heart and with integrity and with enthusiasm as well. So remember Amy’s advice go for it. So whatever that one big thing is that you’ve been holding back on that you’ve been like, oh, should I do it? Should I not? I wanna challenge you this week to go for it, to know that everything you want is on the other side of fear and to surprise and delight yourself with what happens when you go for it. So as always, thank you so much for being a listener of she sells radio. I am so grateful for you and I will see you next week on our next episode. Bye for now