Get Hired, Get Referred, Get Clients: The Relationship Side of Speaking with Nikki Rausch

What if the most important sales moments connected to your speaking engagement happen before you step on stage and in the first few minutes after you step off?

My guest, sales strategist Nikki Rausch, has been my go-to coach for sales language, proposals, pricing, consultation calls, and follow-up for years.

In this conversation, we walk through the entire speaking engagement from the first inquiry to the conversations that happen after your talk.

Nikki explains how to make yourself easy for an event organizer to hire, plant sales seeds without turning your presentation into a pitch, and recognize when an audience member is giving you a buying signal.

We also chat about why your job as the speaker begins long before your scheduled presentation time.

In this episode, Nikki and I talk about:

• Why you should answer an event organizer’s question before asking for a call
• How to state your speaker fee clearly and keep the conversation open
• Nikki’s “rapport bank account” and why your presence matters before you reach the stage
• The difference between planting sales seeds and selling from the stage
• How to use client stories and Q&A responses to show people how you help
• What a buying signal sounds like after a presentation
• How to invite someone to buy or schedule a call while her interest is still high

About Our Guest: Nikki Rausch is a sales strategist, speaker, and founder of Sales Maven. With more than 25 years of sales experience and over a decade as a business owner, she teaches service-based entrepreneurs how to have confident sales conversations that lead to yeses, without feeling pushy or fake. As a Master Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Nikki focuses on the language and communication behind selling. Her approach is rooted in building rapport, recognizing buying signals, and guiding conversations in a way that feels natural for both you and the client. She is the author of three books, including The Selling Staircase, and host of the Sales Maven Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally. Through her coaching, programs, and speaking, Nikki supports women entrepreneurs in turning sales into a skill they can rely on, so they can grow their business with clarity and confidence.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/486/

Nikki’s website: https://yoursalesmaven.com/

Get Nikki’s free gift Follow-Up Made Easy Guide: https://yoursalesmaven.com/easyfollowup

Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/

Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

Learn more about our speaking retreat in Orlando: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/live/

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Nikki Rausch (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkirausch/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Carol’s episode on Nikki’s Sales Maven podcast: https://yoursalesmaven.com/blog/integrating-both-thought-leadership-and-lead-generation-into-one-talk/
• Episode 133: Authentic Selling at Your Speaking Engagements with Nikki Rausch
• Episode 34: Relationship Selling with Nikki Rausch
• Episode 483: How an I.D.E.A., Not a Topic, Makes You Easier to Refer, Pitch, and Book with Carol Cox

Join us for our three-day speaking retreat, happening in February 2027, in Downtown Orlando, Florida.

You'll create and refine high-impact Signature Stage Segments - the kind that set you apart as a speaker; practice onstage multiple times with our expert coaching and feedback; and professionally film your dynamic segments in front of a warm, supportive audience so you have edited video and a speaker reel to show event organizers what you can do.

Our retreat is limited to 12 women, so get all the details and request your place at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/live/.

Early bird pricing is on for a limited time.