Mark Wigginton understands the importance of asking quality questions and used them throughout his career as a salesperson, management consultant, trainer, and even as a jail counselor (that’s a long story). He recently retired as a Regional Vice President for Shipley Associates, a global leader in business development consulting and training. During his 20 years at Shipley, he grew his region to be the top performing in the U.S. by focusing on his customers.

A Certified Professional Coach and strategy consultant, Mark helps his clients learn the importance of customer focus, as well as how to advance the sales cycle, clarify goals and win more business! His professional training includes post-graduate studies in Business and Executive Coaching and an MS in Counseling Psychology. He is APMP certified as a Capture, Bid and Proposal Practitioner and is Shipley Business Winning certified. Mark is recognized by LinkedIn as a "Top Business Development Voice".

Social media links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/focusingonresults/

https://twitter.com/ManageYourFocus

Link to website

www.focusingonresults.com

Primary Topic: Introduction and Definition of Introversion

- Janice Chaka introduces the podcast and the guest, Mark Wigginton

- Mark describes introversion as the source of where he draws his power from in a world full of information and processing

Primary Topic: Mark Wigginton's Career and Work

- Mark discusses his transition from a career involving selling, training, and marketing to coaching and strategy consulting

- He mentions his experience in the mental health field and using his sales skills in his new role

- Mark introduces the "sales spotlight" concept, highlighting the importance of effective listening and asking insightful questions in sales and business development

Primary Topic: Misconceptions about Sales

- Mark addresses misconceptions about sales, particularly the outdated notion of needing to be visually extroverted

Primary Topic: Personal and Professional Development

- Mark shares how he transitioned from ineffective coping skills to becoming an endurance athlete, leading to positive changes in his business

- He emphasizes the importance of taking care of oneself and making healthy choices, leading to improved creativity and performance

Primary Topic: The Impact of Physical Activity on Creativity

- Mark discusses how engaging in physical activities, especially running, gives him headspace for creativity and idea development

- He highlights that mood follows action, emphasizing the correlation between movement and attitude

Primary Topic: Building Relationships Based on Values and Ethics

- Mark shares a story about maintaining ethical values by firing a customer, leading to a deep, trusting professional and personal relationship

- Janice acknowledges the importance of being authentic and working with people who share the same values

Primary Topic: Self-Promotion

- Mark provides details about his business, Focusing on Results, and how to connect with him on LinkedIn and via email

- He describes the services he offers, including sales strategy consulting and business development coaching

- Mark mentions working with individuals as they transition to the next stage in their careers or venture into entrepreneurship

Hello, and welcome to the travelling introvert career conversations. This is Janice and I'm here with Mark. How are you doing today, Mark?

Hi. I'm doing great, Janice. I so enjoy your podcast.

Oh, right. Why why thank you, sir. I appreciate that. So therefore, you know what the next Question is and the question is, what does introversion mean to you?

Yeah. Yeah. I do. I I have been thinking a lot about this as well As I've been preparing for our our chat today, you know, to me I think introversion is really, about where I draw my power from. I we all live very much in a world that's got lots of information and we're always processing information and dealing with That kind of issue and I have to really go inside a lot to really process that information for myself to listen, to use it, to come up with With Creative Solutions. And and to me, that's what introversion is about is is knowing what that source is of of power.

Oh, awesome. Alright. Thank you. And so can you tell us a little bit about the work that you do?

Sure. So, I wanna tell you, I I just changed careers. So, I'm a a boomer, So I've kind of just gone through the process of leaving full time work. I've spent most of my career in a role that involved either selling or training, You know, marketing, I had a stint at once for a big part of my career where I was in mental health, community mental health as well. And now I've made a Transition away from full time work, and I'm more involved in coaching. I'm involved in strategy consulting using the sales skills and sales background that I I've had, and have accumulated over the last 30 years or so.

Wow. Okay. So, you mentioned strategies. Are there any specific strategies that you would like to talk about that would be helpful for my audience?

Yeah. You know, I I think that there are some Really important elements of being an introvert that lend themselves to sales and business development. And, I I like to use the model that I call the sales spotlight. And it's just like in our conversation right now, whoever is talking, the spotlight is on that person. And in this situation, you ask me a question and the spotlight's on you for a second and then the spotlight comes on me as I answer the question. And what I've really learned is that by being able to listen effectively, being able to be quiet, Being able to ask really good questions, I can keep the the spotlight, the sales spotlight on the customer. If I can keep the customer talking, they're gonna tell me what's really important to them, And that's gonna help me develop an effective strategy to to win more business.

Oh, okay. So with sales being one of the things that you did a lot of. Can you tell me any misconceptions that people have about sales?

So you mentioned vacuum cleaners and knives. Were you ever was that door to door where you were in trade shows?

That was door to door. That was back in the day. So, yeah, that was in my college days. I I did the rounds like a lot of people did. I think back in those days of, the the the steak knives, the vacuum cleaners, and tear gas Mace for the, you know, for the, sororities.

Oh. Oh, wow. Alrighty. Okay. That is that is super interesting. And so with sales, you mentioned sort of that misconception and now that you've kind of Got more experience and are doing things differently. Is that something that you say no to?

You know, I think there is. I still, you know, I went through such a big change, when I really began to embrace, I think and accept the fact that I was more introverted, and I think I started saying no to to kind of lots of event. I'm very selective and was very selective about, you know, where I went, if I was gonna go to a trade show, if I was gonna do a presentation, if I was gonna do a workshop, I was pretty I really had to understand what the payoff was gonna be. I wasn't I wasn't just gonna go because I wasn't really going for the party. You know, I was really going to find

a way to work. Yeah. Oh, okay. And so is this something that you do now regularly that has sort of I know you've made a little career change but or job change that has improved your career in general.

Could you ask the question again?

Of course. Is this something that you do regularly that has improved your career in general?

And it was all it's all a result of being able to, to make healthy choices to cope, To accept my introversion, to accept my own processes and kind of move forward.

Wow. That's really interesting that you mentioned during those long races gave you More headspace, if if I heard you correctly, to

Yeah.

To, to be more creative and to think things through and process.

Right. Absolutely. I mean, and that's, I think, a big part of what I've learned to accept as as an introvert. You know, I'm still very out there and very public and, You know, I do lots of presentations and lots of workshops and and I'm in a kind of a very visible role, but where I develop the concepts and the idea is is on a long run, you know. It's on running, even a medium run, even, you know, getting out running for an hour, an hour and a half, you know, in the morning Helps me clear my head, helps me come up with new insights. I've got 8,000 voice memos on my iPhone, you know, where where I'm running along, and I'll I will come up with a particular thought that will then translate into something. When I was more actively involved in, You know, in commercial sales and and strategic selling, I could develop a whole campaign on a run, you know, and then I would get back Get back to the room, not even change my clothes, just get right to the computer, start getting on doing the research that I come up with, you know, while I was thinking the process through And develop a, you know, develop a full sales campaign for, Pursuit.

Do you run-in all seasons?

I do run-in all seasons. I also cross train. So, I live in Texas, so winter is not horrible down here. I do run-in all seasons. I've run a race in a blizzard, which was quite interesting and I do run-in all season.

Okay. Because then my follow-up this question was gonna be like, well, what do you do when you can't go running? Is there a time when you can't go running? It's like it's too hot or do you have to change the time of day?

You you have to change your time of day. I mean, I have to shift quite a bit. I run early, you know, down here. Well, down here, I mean, it's 80 80, 85 degrees through the summer. The summer here was was killer this year. But, yeah, you know, you run early or you cross Right. I have an elliptical, and I have a Peloton, and, you know, you just kinda do something to to move your body. I learned a little while ago, Within the last few years really, that act that mood follows action.

So, you know, just the fact that getting up And and moving changes kinda changes your attitude. If you're if you're stuck, if you're, you know, tired, if you're Depressed, whatever. Just kind of getting up and doing any movement will change your attitude. So that's my commitment to myself is that I get regular movement. And again, one of the payoffs is the creativity. One of the payoffs is managing my state more effectively.

Alright. And so being in sales and and the kind of work that you you do, have you made or can you tell me about a time, I should say? Oh, that sounds like an interview question. A time when you made a a connection that made a change in your life.

Yeah. Do you want that specifically related to a selling situation?

No. Whatever works for you.

Oh, okay. I've I've kind of kind of thought that through a little bit. And, I'm I'm There are 4 people that are really close to me in my life and the tie to each of those 4 people has been that there's been a personal connection. There's been a challenge that we've had to overcome, A common challenge that we've had to overcome together. And so that's one of the things that led to connections. In my business life, I think Part of one of the things that happened, it's actually kind of a funny story, years years ago when I first started, I was selling consulting services. I worked for a company that was Kind of a global business development company, and we would sell proposal support and things like that. And, so we'd have consultants that would go on job sites, And and one of the rules was if you were a consultant and you went on a job site, well, that customer belonged to the company, right, because they put you on that site.

And I had a situation where I had a client, and they had hired, one of the consultants around me. Right? They had they've gone outside of the company, and they brought that that person on. And, I made a decision that I was gonna fire that customer. And I went up to visit with her And, you know, it was hard because that customer is worth a lot of money, but I didn't I wasn't comfortable with those ethics. And I made a decision to go up there, and I was gonna fire her, and I Started telling her, working my way through that, and she stopped me about halfway through and she said, wait. You're telling me that this consultant came to us originally through you. I said, yeah. And and we're not getting that person through you? And she and I said, yeah.

That's right. And so she got up and walked out of the meeting, and she walked out and she fired that person and sent them home because they had been unethical in the way they had approached her. So that changed the scope of our relationship and we wound up having a really, really tight relationship. And as she progressed in her career, I progressed as a thought partner to her, and when she transitioned to a new company, I transitioned with her to that new company as a thought partner, as Somebody she could trust. And we built a relationship from that point that that we still have today, you know. We've both we've both kind of retired from From that business, but we still maintain that relationship both at a professional level and at a personal level. We've We've gone to dinner with our spouses together and all that. And and it all started from kinda having the courage to say this isn't okay.

That is a great story and and shows your values and shows now that you work with people who respect and have those same values.

Yeah, I mean, to me, that's really important. I think that comes back to your, What do you say no to? Question. You know, to really think about it, it's important to understand your values. And, You know, I think part of that is even understanding your own communication style. Again, we're back to talking about introversion, right? I think in the early part of my career, I would have never done that because I was so uncomfortable with myself and accepting accepting that part of me that had to retreat to regroup and go back out. And as I became more comfortable with that, I became more comfortable and more real with people around me, And I think that resonated with my client. They they knew they could trust me.

Yeah. Because you were being yourself. Right. Oh, thank you. So can you tell the audience where they can find out more about you or your business or somebody that you like?

Sure. Sure. I'd I'd love to. So the name of my business is Focusing on Results, and, my website is www. Focusingonresults.com. That's all one word. I spend an awful lot of time on LinkedIn. That's kind of my primary social media since I've been in the business so long.

And so it's Mark Wigginton. And, I'm sure it'll show up in the show notes, but it's w I g g I n t o n. There's Not a third g there, after the I n. If you look me up in LinkedIn, there's a lot of Mark Wigginton's in LinkedIn LinkedIn. So if you often, I come up as the top Mark Wigginton in the list. And if you look for the words managing focus, You'll see, you know, a little there's a little side statement there, and it talks about, are you managing your focus? That'll give you a clue as to me. And I'm I'm always happy happy to connect with anybody that's Interesting. And, Janice, you introduced me at the beginning.

It's Mark w, and, my email address is markw@focusingonresults.com.

I do

lots of sales strategy. I do lots of sales strategy consulting. I do business development coaching. I work with folks that are trying to set goals and make transition. And and right now, it's interesting. Right now, I seem to be working with an awful lot of people who are trying to kind of find their next stage. You know, they're they're trying to figure out, you know, either their next stage in their career or are they ready to just spin off and try to do their own thing and and move out of, Out of the corporate world, so I find that really interesting work as well.

Awesome. Thank you so very much. And, oh, yes. Surprise question, which I almost forgot. Is oh, yes. Is a hotdog a sandwich? Wow. My mind went blank.

A hotdog is a sandwich. And I told you at the beginning of the of the Call that I have heard your many, many of your podcasts, both the interviews that you do and the I love the practical elements that you do as well, the little 5 minute, 7 minute segment. Yes. A hot dog is a sandwich. It's it's meat. It's bread. It's vegetables. It's condiments.

End of story.

Done. Alright. Thank you so very much, Mark. I really appreciate it.