IAM026- Sales & Marketing Professional Helps People Leverage LinkedIn

Jessica Koch has been a national Sales and Marketing Professional for more than 25 years. She has spent the last 10 years working with a consulting company, expanding the companies industries to include: National Government Accounts, Fortune 500 Clients, National Power Utilities, Hospitals, and Universities/Colleges. Prior to working with the Consulting Company, she worked with a Marketing Firm where she interviewed, hired, and trained a sales team for Fortune 1000 business-to-business promotions; including Washington Gas Energy Services, Verizon, and Disney.

She oversaw and assigned territories, and her team was consistently the top sales producer for the company. She has traveled and lived in numerous states throughout the country, as she is the daughter of a Retired Navy Service Member. Her family is active in her local church, and they enjoy hiking, camping, canoeing, time at the beach, exploring state parks, and just walking the Solomon’s Boardwalk on an almost daily basis.

Jessica also enjoys reading, scrapbooking, painting, sewing, and baking.

• CEO Hack: One Minute Manger
• CEO Nugget: Think about reciprocity and share what you know with the world (e.g. A LinkedIn platform)
• CEO ReDefined: Time freedom and build a legacy

Website: https://www.jessicaLkoch.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicakoch1/
Jessica's Store: Jessica Koch's Shop

Transcription:

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Intro 0:01

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:28

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jessica Koch of JessicaLkoch Consulting.

Jessica, it is awesome to have you on the show.

Jessica Koch 0:38

Hi, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Awesome. Well, what I wanted to do, is read a little bit about all the awesome things that Jessica has been able to accomplish and been able to do so you can get a little idea of all the great things that she's been able to do.

Jessica Koch has been named a National Sales and Marketing professional for more than 25 years. She has spent the last seven years working with a consulting company expanding the company's industry to include national government accounts, Fortune 500 companies, national power utilities, hospitals and universities, and colleges. Prior to working with a consulting company, she worked with a marketing firm where she interviewed hired, and trained a sales team for Fortune 1000 Business to Business promotions, including Washington Gas Energy Services, Verizon, and Disney.

She oversaw and assigned territories and her team was consistently a top sales producer of the company. She has traveled and lived in numerous states throughout the country as she is the daughter of a retired Navy Service Member. Her family is active in her local church and they enjoy hiking, camping canoeing time at the beach, exploring state parks, and just walking the Solomons boardwalk on an almost daily basis. Jessica also enjoys reading scrapbooking, painting, sewing, and baking.

Jessica, it's awesome to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Jessica Koch 1:51

I see am a well-rounded business professional mother of seven, you know big so the whole deal.

Gresham Harkless 2:00

We have to have all that on there. So we make sure we know exactly who you are. Could you expound a little bit more about your bio and tell us a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to get started in your business?

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Jessica Koch 2:11

Well, I did. As it says I actually spoke across the country, I worked with this firm for many years that helped reduce operating expenses for Fortune 500, as well as government entities across the country University. So I got to speak at many of their national conferences and genuinely what brought me to be the CEO of my own company was I was burnt out and tired. I was working for other people, literally made other corporations millions of dollars and group pipelines and manage and train sales teams. And often, sales professionals can be not always but often underappreciated and undervalued especially as you become more senior in this field.

You know, younger people will come in, and if you train them well, and that's what I was doing, it's very tempting for those corporations to pay them less and send them out to earn their skills and be on the street and it's more challenging for them sometimes even as the money is large, to pay seasoned professionals what they deserve. So I actually took a two-year hiatus, which I was able to do because of the kind of industry I was in. I had the savings and the ability to take two years and just spend it with our youngest daughter. Everyone says, Oh if you do what you love, you know, you never work a day in your life. Well, I thought for many years, I mean, I'm obsessed with life in itself, absorbing every bit of information on marketing and sales are on to that I could ever get my hands on only mostly because it fascinates and interest me and I love it.

But I hadn't seen where could I convert that into a business of my own that would make my heart sing, that would make me happy and bring me joy. So I would say to people volunteer because, with a little bit, I'm embarrassed to say it took a little arm-twisting for me to volunteer and share and teach a class for even the local chamber just because I was kind of done with the business world. I was honored, of course, to be asked and I just wasn't sure I wanted to get my feedback into the business market at all. But under the understanding that I was not going to join the chamber at that time. I wasn't working for anyone. I didn't have a business. I would go and teach this class.

What happened was a light came on for me and I experienced that pure joy totally to my surprise, sharing this information they held the class it was standing room only was one of the largest turnouts they'd ever had. The response and even the emotion during the class teaching the energy was reflected back to me from the audience and from the room. And for me that was it. I was fine as Viagras. I still kind of drugged my feet into opening a company because I still don't know what that would look like exactly. But again, I got asked because of the response from that seek at a women's conference. So I've had over 100 women attendees, I was on a panel, I suppose, one of the key speakers, I taught a workshop, and this bursting joy.

At this point, I still didn't have an official business. I was still getting many requests to consult and work with them. So it kind of took on a life of its own. But I can genuinely say and used to actually kind of even irritate me, you know, where it was, like, just do what you love, because I just couldn't really put my finger on what was that? What did that look like? What did that mean? And I feel immense and complete joy every time I work with one of my corporations. Now I do training. I'm developing some training videos, I do a webinar, and when I teach a class, I am bursting with joy. I mean, to the point of butterflies and excitement in my stomach that we're gonna do this again, not from beer or nerves, because I'm excited we get to do this again.

So I think my story found me almost.

Gresham Harkless 5:50

That makes perfect sense. And there's sometimes how it happens where the universe kind of pushes you in the right direction, whether you want to go or not.

Jessica Koch 5:56

Exactly,

Gresham Harkless 5:56

I guess. Could you tell us a little bit more about what exactly you do, what are your products and services for your business?

Jessica Koch 6:01

Oh, what happens is the door is open. Because I for all these years, almost from the inception of LinkedIn being on as a believing usable platform I have been on, I came in just a few years of their inception right after. And so I often start with training a corporation on how to use LinkedIn. I use that sort of as a social hub because it ties into Facebook and Twitter and then I'm developed. So I do some LinkedIn-specific training and webinars. I'm developing some training videos. But the other thing I'm providing companies is, like I said, a lot of times my introduction to that company is because of LinkedIn. But what I'm formatting is helping them link into multiple platforms with their content efficiently.

We're developing a marketing and sales plan, a sales and nurturing system, and a cycle while a process that's more uniform, I'm working with several companies that have locations in five different states and many locations and helping them to develop some cohesiveness so that there's a little bit easier accountability for the sales manager. These are things I designed and developed as I was, you know, actually doing the job for other corporations. So I kind of honed it and fine-tuned it.

I've done a lot of research on the psychology of sales, what moves people to action? What does this look like? So we're building marketing content plans as well to hook into several, usually between five and eight platforms is what I suggest to clients, depending on their industry.

Gresham Harkless 7:28

I want to ask you a little bit more about you, you, and your business, what do you feel makes your business and yourself unique? What's your kind of unique selling proposition?

Jessica Koch 7:36

Well, I think one of the things that I do uniquely, I don't know about it being a selling proposition, but it's kind of speaks to who I am. It tends to actually attract minds, I haven't actually had to pursue a lot of these opportunities they come to me, it's which is very unique and a little bit of a shocker for me from a sales professional. Because I've learned to beat the streets follow up all over the process, professionally persistent and not St. Like ride the line, you know, it's an occupational hazard, you know, right. But I think one of the things is I see my voice speaks loudly on and this is how I started volunteering my time.

So I'm doing a big event or a big workshop. We've filled and sold out tickets for a room coming out this Friday in the local library, where I'm teaching a workshop and the benefit is for the nonprofit Alliance. And for the chamber scholarship on to this chamber has lasted all the registration takes place there because the scholarship is going to benefit a nonprofit Alliance has lasted route all internally and all their nonprofits and nonprofits are coming for free for the business professionals that come paying. Then the proceeds are going to support this organization.

I've done many of those types of free training and free speaking events. And I think that has opened the door. So one of the unique things I teach is reciprocity and what I call cause marketing. I encourage every client that I work with based on their level of comfort and what organization or cause is important to them, and to the inquiry that in their marketing plan not to take advantage of oh, we're going to share so you should work with us. Because we as organizations and businesses and companies and even for myself, I talk the talk and I walk the walk. When we give it allows me to feel like our hands are wide open and it allows for us to receive and in business just comes because you know, you do the research, there's a lot of competition for about every industry out there. As humans, the idea of a sale and obtaining a client is moving them to action.

One of the things that individuals from a psychology but human being evaluates is whether are they connected to something bigger than both of us. That speaks to me and when there are two companies that can provide basically the same service and basically the same price competitively the one that's supporting the local humane shelter or the local homeless shelter or you know whether it's puppies or people or whatever makes their heart sing, that is what pushes that rises that other company up just a little bit for them to say, you know what I'm gonna go with them because I can basically get what I need here or here.

But these people are involved in something I care about, that's bigger than both of us. That moves them to action. So one of the things I think what's unique about me is I do that, and I encourage it, and it has seemed to be a recipe for success for me.

Gresham Harkless 10:23

Awesome. Yeah, it's definitely important to make sure that you're giving and providing kind of an opportunity for you not even doing it from a selfish standpoint, but just doing it in order to try to impact and make the world a better place, so to speak, which is why a lot of people start their businesses and organizations.

What I wanted to do was kind of switch gears a little bit to talk about a CEO hack that you might have. This might be an app or book or just something that you do or use on a regular everyday basis that makes you more efficient and effective as a business owner.

Jessica Koch 10:49

Well, from a book standpoint, I would say, whether working with a client or working with a team, the One Minute Manager was phenomenal.

Gresham Harkless 10:59

I want to ask you for the CEO nugget. Now, this might be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, maybe even something related to LinkedIn that you have that you can give to other entrepreneurs and business owners to be more effective and efficient.

Jessica Koch 11:09

I would challenge people to really think carefully about that piece of reciprocity and what in the community they can get involved in on whatever level or share their knowledge about something. I'm constantly on a soapbox because it's so simple to write an article on LinkedIn. When you take the time to write an article on LinkedIn, you can insert a photo quickly put a headline can insert a video, you can do a voiceover video, or with a PowerPoint very simple to do training to share what you know about the world because you can make an impact literally globally because the way social media works LinkedIn is articles are living webpage.

That can be emailed, texted, Facebook messages, or LinkedIn messages, it is a living webpage of its very own and that URL can get sent anywhere. So if you take a few minutes to teach someone, something that may make their life better, or what's happening in your community, or whatever that is something, they can say, Oh, we could do that, we need that we should do that. This is what we're gonna do to start it not only do you push it on on the LinkedIn platform, which happens to have already a percent of the globe's millionaires on it as a platform. So Blanche Ruby is huge there, the opportunity for getting a message out or a story or a need is gigantic, but you can multipurpose that one ever, like a photocopy machine, pushing it out to Facebook, rushing out to Twitter, having that video living on YouTube, and having that YouTube description, hold the article so that you can be made an image, so it can go on Instagram, it can go on Pinterest, it can go Snapchat.

So it can have that URL embedded into the link so you're making a wave of a movement, sharing your knowledge or sharing whatever it is you have to share with the world that genuinely can make a global difference. The difference happens with small actions equaling a big result. So I would encourage people to write articles for one month for business and one a month for something greater than you are just sharing your knowledge with something that can impact something greater than you. I think that that will track it with business. But I think it's most important why we're here.

Gresham Harkless 13:14

Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. It's incredible. I like how you talked about, you know, being altruistic, making sure that you're giving, but you've been able to use the social media sites like LinkedIn to be able to do that because they carry such a large reach to be able to touch people across the globe as you mentioned. So I think that's a phenomenal CEO nugget that a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners can take into account.

So the last question that I wanted to ask you was really your definition of being CEO like on this podcast, we're hoping to get different types of quote and quote, CEOs, and kind of redefine exactly what that means. So I want to ask you specifically, what does that mean to you?

Jessica Koch 13:47

For me, it's going to be cheesy and cliche, but it really does mean time freedom ever made, I get to plan how his corporation is going to grow in that strategy. In my personal land, I'm doing it so that my success is not going 100% of the leverage to my time, so I'm not gonna be trading time for money. That is not the plan. For me, some of it is because that brings me joy, and I want to interact with clients. But when you do things strategically, you genuinely as a CEO, have the ability to decide when you're going to work and when you're not going to work. What do you want your income to look like? How do you make that happen? Does that involve you? Can you make it happen so that it does not always involve your direct interaction by fostering a good team?

There are different things that you can do as a CEO, they give you freedom. I think that that for me is the most important about owning my own company, and also being able to leave it as a legacy for my children. So whatever I build here, I am willing to my children I know there are some other business opportunities that have that available law, which is fabulous, but I feel like that's a have a checkmark army on what's important, is having that ability to build something that I leave to my children.

Gresham Harkless 14:57

I definitely think that's a phenomenal kind of insight into the definition of what it means to be a CEO. So, Jessica, I want to thank you so much for taking some time out of your schedule. I wanted to kind of give you the mic or the floor, so to speak. So you can give us anything additional, whether it be a word of wisdom piece of advice, or tell us anything additional about your business and then how people can get a hold of you.

Jessica Koch 15:15

So I have one quote, this is the Jessica Koch quote and it came because I was the mother of so many children. Now is later sooner, I always got the oh mom I'll do it later. So now is later sooner, do it now. That's a great quote from Jessica Koch if I do say so myself. Right. They can find me on my website, jessicaLkoch.com.

Gresham Harkless 15:39

Thank you so much for all you do and for taking some time out of your schedule and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Jessica Koch 15:43

Thanks so much. I love it. That's great.

Outro 15:46

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co.  I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless.

Thank you for listening

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