1.Jacob Hicks reveals the key to building sustainable sales systems for consistent growth.
2.Learn how to overcome the fear of follow-up and turn it into a key sales strategy.
3.Get actionable tips for improving your productivity and staying focused on your goals.
4.Discover how "chaos time" can protect your productivity and keep your week on track.
5.Jacob shares his Entrepreneur Sales Toolkit, packed with valuable resources for sales success.

Jacob's Valuable Free Resource (VFR):

https://jacobhickscoach.com

In today’s episode, Jacob Hicks shares his expertise in sales systems and mindset-driven coaching. He offers actionable tips for entrepreneurs and sales professionals on overcoming follow-up resistance and boosting productivity. Jacob also introduces his "chaos time" strategy to maintain focus amidst daily disruptions.

02:34 Ideal Client: Sales professionals (entry-level to advanced) and entrepreneurs setting up sales systems.

02:58 Problem Solved: Jacob helps clients overcome inefficient sales systems, mindset blocks, and lack of consistent follow-up.

04:12 Valuable Free Action (VFA): Follow up consistently with value-based communication to avoid coming across as a pushy salesperson.

05:10 Valuable Productive Action (VPA): Implement time-blocking for focused activities like cold outreach and follow-ups to boost productivity.

07:40 Bonus Material: Jacob shares his "chaos time" strategy to protect productive time from daily disruptions.

10:48 Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Access Jacob’s free Entrepreneur Sales Toolkit at jacobhickscoach.com, featuring resources on CRM selection, rejection handling, and follow-up processes.

(Note, this was transcribed using transcription software and may not fully reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Welcome to the Goalbusters Expert Peak Productivity Tips podcast, where top business experts get just seven minutes to answer five rapid fire questions about what they do and how they stay productive.

Each episode is packed with actionable insights to help boost your efficiency and achieve your goals. Let's dive in and unlock the secrets to peak performance.

00:22 ROBIN

Well, hello, everyone. My name is Robin J. Emdon, and I'm an accountability coach and author of Get Resultsology® - The Science of Getting Stuff Done. I work with people who run their own business, no boss, distractions everywhere, and never enough hours in the day. Together, we cut through the noise, sharpen their focus, and follow through on the big ideas that actually move the needle.

That's what I call The Momentum Formula. Do it today. Profit Tomorrow, and Repeat!

So if that sounds like the kind of breakthrough you've been looking for, then you're in exactly the right place. 

And speaking of being in exactly the right place, I am delighted to welcome Jacob Hicks as our guest expert today. Jacob is a coach and keynote speaker with over a decade of experience transforming lives and businesses.

Thanks to ten years in sales, Jacob has a knack for identifying what drives lasting success and delivering implementable strategies to help clients achieve it. Podcasters love working with Jacob because of his practical insights and engaging storytelling that leaves audiences inspired. (Talk about raising the bar). Known for his strong follow-up systems and mindset driven coaching, Jacob empowers clients across industries to overcome challenges, implement sustainable systems, and move forward with confidence.
Jacob, welcome to GoalBusters!

JACOB
Robin, thank you so much for having me. Happy to be here.

ROBIN
I'm happy you're here too. I'm really looking forward to this. Whereabouts in the world are you, Jacob?

JACOB
So I am in, Des Moines, Iowa, right in the middle of the US.

ROBIN
Oh, wow. Okay. So I'm guessing it's hot there today, but I'm probably wrong about that. I usually am.

JACOB
I think it's supposed to be eighty or ninety degrees today.

ROBIN
Oh, okay. That's not too unreasonable. That's fairly that's fairly moderate, I think. Alright. Anyway, I'm waffling on about the weather again. Shall we do the questions of what we came here to do?

JACOB
Let's do it. Let's dive in.

ROBIN
Alright. So I'll get the clock up on the screen.
Jacob, could you tell me, please, who is your ideal client?

02:34 JACOB – Ideal Client
So I do my best work primarily with, either true sales professionals, folks that are either entry level getting into sales or trying to get to the next level, or entrepreneurs who are setting up their sales systems to make sure that they are driving consistent success.

ROBIN
Excellent. Short and to the point which is perfect. That's what we like to see. What though is the problem or problems, which I'm sure it is, that you solve?

02:58 JACOB – Problem Solved
So generally, it's in setting up those sales systems. A lot of the time when people are getting into sales early on or building out their sales funnels in their business, they aren't setting up systems to make sure that they're building sustainable growth. A lot of the time, they meet somebody at a networking event, and then they have no real game plan in terms of engaging with that person or following up with that person later on. Or it's, struggling with mindset.

They think that, oh, if I reach out to this person because I called them once, didn't hear anything. I call them again. I'm probably bugging them. They probably don't really wanna do business with me.

A lot of times, that's just not the case. There are stats out there that show that eighty percent of business is one in at least five or more follow ups. And the bar is pretty low that business people and salespeople, one out of every two isn't following up more than once. So setting up those systems and developing a mindset that is both resilient and driven consistently is really key.

ROBIN
Yeah. That that kind of knowledge is really powerful when you understand that. And I know as I always say, you know, if they get to the point where they say stop, well, they were probably never gonna be interested in working with you anyway.

JACOB
Exactly.

ROBIN
That's fine. Respect it and move on. Alright. So what is one valuable free action that the audience can implement that will help them to solve that problem?

04:12 JACOB – Valuable Free Action (VFA)
So to follow-up well, you need to follow-up consistently, and people can struggle with that because they think that, oh, again, I'm bugging them. I'm annoying them. And the only time you're really bothering somebody with following up is if you are, you know, calling them and say, hey. Do you wanna buy my stuff?

Do you wanna buy my stuff? Do you wanna buy my stuff now? So follow-up consistently from a place of value. Answer the questions that you get from your customers or your clients all the time and send that via email and make sure that you're being really, really valuable to your clients even if they haven't decided to do business.

But do it consistently. Sending out a newsletter every week or, you know, once a month, whatever kind of sustainable for you is really important.

ROBIN
Yeah. Brilliant. Okay. Thank you very much. Now that we have a better understanding of what you do, Jacob, let's dive into GoalBusting, focusing on how to maximize productive time to achieve business goals. So could you share any tips or advice for someone looking to improve their productivity habits. 

05:10 JACOB – Valuable Productive Action (VPA)
So a couple of my favorite tips…
I think first and foremost, when it comes to business and just life in general, is taking time to work in your business and taking time to work on your business. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day whirlwind of, I gotta get back to this person. I gotta call these people. I gotta check-in on this thing.

I gotta set up this system and this other thing. It's really easy to get caught up in all of that. So it's taking at least an hour a week to say, okay. This last week, we, you know, posted these kind of posts on Facebook. What kind of response did we get? Are these ads being effective? Is this outreach being effective? It's really, really important.

And really, what it comes down to is determining, okay, it's really easy to get caught up in busyness saying, oh, well, I'm busy, therefore, I'm being productive. And a lot of the times, that's just not the case. So actually saying, okay. Are my activities day to day?
Sure. They're important, but are they the things that are actually driving me towards success is really key.

And one of my favorite things is to do time blocking. Is to actually say, okay. From, you know, nine to ten in the morning, I'm doing my cold outreach. From ten to eleven, I'm entering in my notes or following up via email. And actually honoring those tasks and saying, like, okay. I'm actually showing up and doing those things day in and day out as opposed to just saying, well, I don't really know what I'm gonna do today, so I'm gonna do this. It's not a great way to run your business.

ROBIN
Yeah. Absolutely. As I have to say to people, I mentioned it a lot in my book. You know? If you find yourself streaming videos or, playing games, that's an obvious form of procrastination.

But less obvious, but actually a bigger culprit is if you find yourself being very, very busy doing stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with your business outcomes.

Or maybe you think it's got something to do with your business outcomes like, you know, tidy my office because that'll create a supportive environment.

No. A tidy office does not build your business. Networking and talking to people, that builds your business.

JACOB
Yes. Absolutely. And doing that consistently over time will actually drive things over the long term. I mean, tidy offices is all well and good, but I mean, that can take, you know, half an hour or whatever at the end of the day. You don't need to do that during working hours.

ROBIN
No. You don't. I even knew one guy once who was like, yeah. I'm just building my office.
What?
You all you need to do is talk to people. I'm just building my office and then I'll be ready. Okay. Bye. Alright. So I digress.
Alright. So Jacob, what should I have asked you today that I didn't and your answer, please?

07:40 JACOB – Bonus Material
So the question I think that, would have been good to well, I mean, we talked a lot about, like, the whirlwind, right, like, getting caught up in, like, the chaos of the day to day.

So, I mean, my favorite strategy to kinda counteract that is what I call chaos time. So if you are a folks that like the time block, I set aside time specifically.

I like to set aside thirty to sixty minutes every single day for the fires that you get. Like, you know, John that's down, like, in the corner office that has the issues only you can solve or, you know, Stacy that calls you every couple of days with some new thing that's just burning the house down around her.

So the reason I suggest doing that is that allows you to protect the rest of your time. So instead of having your, you know, two to three time block get messed up and the rest of your day is messed up, that'll actually save you time. And over the course of the week, you don't have to worry about, oh my gosh, I need to come in on Saturday. I need a whole another day to get things done.

Now a more advanced strategy of that is if that's working well for you, actually dedicating time to the chaos every day, is do what I call an audit. So for, like, a week or two, write down everything that comes up during your chaos time and look for patterns. Look for the same things that are coming up again and again or the same people coming up again and again. And then you can actually time block for those specific people saying, like, hey.

Well, John's probably gonna have some new issue for me to fix for him. So from, you know, eleven to eleven thirty, every couple of days, I'm gonna have a John time block so I can actually deal with his issues.

ROBIN
Oh, I like that. And look at that. We got that in just in the time as well, but I'm not gonna let it go there because I really like that. I'll let the clock run out. But the chaos time is something I'm gonna have to steal. I really like that.

JACOB
I'll let you have it.

ROBIN
Thank you. Too late. I've nicked it.

But the point about that is also that I wanted to make to is that we were actually talking about this briefly before we started recording. The amount of time it occupies in your mind, the real estate that it takes as well. Somebody does something and you're like, oh, jeez. I've got to deal with that.

And I love the fact, oh, yeah. I'll deal with it in the chaos time. Yeah. Alright. Yeah. I've got time allocated for that. And it kinda gives your brain permission to say, okay. I can park that now.

Because not everybody is like me and I'll but I'm one of these people that once once somebody's done that, it's like, well, I'm just doing this over here.

No. But I really wanna deal with that chaos over there. No. I've gotta do this over here.
Now I'm gonna have chaos time. Okay. I can deal with this over here, and I've got some time later to deal with that. Perfect. I like that.

JACOB
Yeah.
So, I mean, I've used it for years. It's one of my favorite kind of productivity strategies that kinda keep you focused. So, again, you're not you know, your whole week isn't getting thrown off just because John decided to call you with yet another fire.

ROBIN
Yes. Talking to fire. Just fire John. No.
Maybe that's not a practical thing to do.

Alright.
But I love that. Thank you. Okay. So, one final question, which is a very important one, which is how can people reach you, Jacob? And, also, is there, like, a valuable free resource they can get from you? Because I always think it's a very useful way to connect and find out more about somebody when they pick up things like that.

10:48 JACOB – Valuable Free Resource (VFR)
Yeah. So the easiest way to get in contact with me is, just through my website, just jacobhickscoach.com. You can also just kick me an email. Just [email protected].

I've got a lot of free resources on there for you. If you look at the, the top of my website, I've got what's called a growth hub where I've got, like, a handful of different resources and some of my favorite books too on just different, variety of, like, topics. Now one of my favorite ones that I just released, is what I'm calling my Entrepreneur Sales Toolkit. So if you're an entrepreneur or if you're, maybe a more entry level salesperson, you wanna kinda learn some of the basics. So that has a lot of great free resources in there for you to help you establish, like, what should I look be looking for in a CRM, and how do I deal with rejection, how do I build my follow-up processes.
All that kind of fun stuff is in there for you.

ROBIN
Yeah. Brilliant. Don't get me started on CRMs. Oh my goodness me. What a mine field. What an absolute mine field.

JACOB

Yes.

ROBIN
So if there's any advice on that gratefully received.
Jacob, it's been a pleasure. I knew it would be. It's also been hugely valuable. I'm definitely stealing the chaos period from you. That's now part of my life, and it's going in the next book. And since you can't copyright the word chaos, I'm not even gonna acknowledge you as my source… I'm joking.

JACOB
I'll just write it in my copy. Don't worry.

ROBIN
Yeah. It is brilliant. And it's a lovely it's a lovely tip.
Thank you very much for that indeed. Thank you for everything. It’s been amazing.

JACOB
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. This has been a lot of fun.

ROBIN
Yeah. I've enjoyed it too. Jacob Hicks, thank you so much. And remember, everybody, keep GoalBusting. Make your future self proud.

OUTRO
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Robin J. Emdon is the creator of GetResultsology®: The Science of Getting Stuff Done!, a research-backed system that helps solopreneurs beat procrastination, build momentum, and follow through on what matters most.

Robin was one of a small, invitation-only group selected for an intensive life-coach programme taught by Tony Robbins* and his faculty in 2001. The training was meant to prepare them for roles at his organisation in San Diego, but when that opportunity changed Robin stayed in the UK, launched his own life-coaching practice, and later stepped back to raise his two young sons.

Known to clients today as The Procrastination Slayer, Robin had a face-palm moment in 2019 when he realised it had taken him ten years to finish a six-year degree. That wake-up call launched his mission to master procrastination.

During the Covid lockdowns in 2020 he discovered that researchers had published more than 900 studies on procrastination in a single decade and pulled the most practical lessons from the strongest research and leading books to shape his momentum formula:

Do it today, Profit tomorrow, Repeat.

Peer-reviewed research from the Dominican University of California shows that working with an accountability partner can raise goal-achievement rates by up to 33 percent, a finding woven into every GetResultsology® plan.

Robin hosts The GoalBusters Podcast, now past 100 episodes, where he talks with fellow solopreneurs and uncovers the real-world productivity tactics behind their success.

From South Devon, England, he coaches clients worldwide, helping solopreneurs, creatives, and other no-boss professionals turn scattered effort into consistent progress and profit.

Want an engaging guest who sparks action or an accountability coach who keeps you on track? Book Robin for your show or request coaching details.

*Tony Robbins and Robbins Research International are not affiliated with, and do not endorse, GetResultsology® or its services.

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