AIGA Lunch+Learn: Wear Your Selling Hat with Confidence

Kathy’s Thoughts
Bradley, Olivia, and I were able to make another great Lunch+Learn session from AIGA Raleighand this time I was determined to bring the Canon 5D. I love my iPhone 4S but Sitti’s great conference cellar just doesn’t have enough lighting for a phone camera without utilizing a flash.

The topic this time around was selling, and we had the pleasure of having Dave Fellmen as our guest speaker. Take a look at the intro video provided by AIGA!



As a designer here at Burning Oak Studios, I don’t have that much experience with selling but it is something you must always have in mind when dealing with clients, whether you work at a studio or freelance. Dave spoke about knowing how to lose, important factors such as intelligence and courage, strategies, like vs. trust, suspects, prospects, clients and much more. He was kind enough to even go beyond the allotted time and expand upon dialogues, citing his own specific experiences as examples.

Bradley’s Thoughts
I’ve never considered myself to be a sales person, so attending this event was a really good idea for me to help increase my skill set. Listening to everything that Dave had to say helped me tremendously. The audience was engaged and asked some great questions, and Dave’s responses were filled with real world stories that were easy to relate to.

Dave talked about having courage and confidence in your ability, and building trust with your potential customer. We found that building that trust is the most important part about selling your services. You have to make sure that the person you are selling to is confident in your ability to deliver what they need.

Wear Your Selling Hat With Confidence was not only educational, but also inspiring and motivational. Next time I come face to face with a potential client I will have the confidence to sell my services. Keep these events coming AIGA Raleigh

Olivia’s Thoughts
As the new sales face in Burning Oak Studios, I found this AIGA Lunch and Learn Seminar very informative. Dave Fellman introduced the crew to some very simple methods of bringing in clients – whether it be stealing them away from someone else or providing them with something new and better. First and foremost, you must have a process of finding prospects, who are similar to your current clients, and how to contact and build relationships with them from start to finish.

He emphasized the difference between clients liking you and clients trusting you, and of course which one is better? TRUST. Trust will bring them back for more business and encourage them to spread the news about your business. Most of all, Dave gave some useful advice on managing conversations with prospective clients – have as much knowledge as possible about what you are selling, have the courage to talk to people about their business and their needs, and be willing to ask questions that facilitate conversation about how your services can satisfy their needs.

The members attending had plenty of questions for Dave and he encouraged reading his book Listen to the Dinosaur, which I purchased on Amazon right after the show!