Sales isn’t manipulation—it’s service. In this episode, Tiffany-Ann Bottcher and sales strategist Christopher Filiipiack dig into what actually drives consistent revenue in service businesses: courageous, human-first conversations, a clear market/message/offer, and a simple, inspectable sales process. They unpack how to overcome fear of rejection, why founders should stay close to sales, and how to reverse-engineer revenue targets into weekly activity that compounds. If you’ve got a solid offer but inconsistent cashflow, this conversation shows how to turn conversations into clients—without feeling pushy.

What you’ll learn

• Why sales is the real gatekeeper of business success
• Authentic selling = courageous conversations + clear strategy (not scripts)
• A practical way to beat rejection fear and keep momentum
• How to reverse-engineer revenue into pipeline math and weekly actions
• What a “sales-ready organization” looks like (market, message, offer, systems, inspection)
• Why CEO-led selling accelerates learning, positioning, and big-ticket deals

Key takeaways

• Sales is an act of service that helps people get where they want to go
• Conversations > complexity: proximity to buyers beats perfect funnels
• Clarity moves cash: set the number, build the causes, inspect the pipeline
• Design for buyers, not fear: remove hoops that serve you (not them)
• Keep leadership close to the market: insights live in calls, not dashboard

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

About Christopher
Christopher Filiipiackis a sales consultant and coach for CEOs who turns founder-led selling into a scalable advantage. With a background in engineering, data analytics, and Fortune 100 consulting, he blends strategy, execution, and mindset to build Sales-Ready Organizations that sell consistently and profitably. Clients have achieved outcomes such as 12x revenue growth, 500% increases in deal flow, and fivefold growth in client acquisition. His core belief: selling is a loving act done for people, not to them—and when paired with clear strategy and disciplined activity, it creates financial, emotional, and lifestyle freedom.

Resources & links

• Christopher’s site & articles: https://www.christopherfilipiak.com/
• Sales Ready Assessment: https://www.christopherfilipiak.com/sro-assessment

Connect & Subscribe
If this episode helped you rethink sales, follow/subscribe to the Service Based Business Society podcast and share it with a founder who needs a nudge toward courageous, buyer-centric selling.

Creators & Guests

• Tiffany-Ann Bottcher - Host
• Christopher Filipiak - Guest

On this week’s episode of the Service Based Business Society, we’re ripping the bandaid off and mapping the small circle that quietly decides whether you scale or stall. Tiffany-Ann breaks down the six relationships every service-based founder needs: a truth-teller who cuts through the noise, a clean finance stack (bookkeeper → management accounting/CFO → tax strategist), a banker who believes in your vision, the right lawyer at the right time, an insurance pro who matches coverage to real risk, and a mentor plus personal believer to keep you moving when it’s hard. You’ll walk away with a one-page audit to find your gaps, a simple email script to re-engage your banker, and prompts to pressure-test your legal and insurance exposures—so you can make faster, smarter decisions and get to the good part sooner.

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Creators & Guests

• Tiffany-Ann Bottcher - Host

• Why a single truth-teller can collapse weeks of indecision—and how to invite unvarnished feedback you’ll actually use.
• The finance stack demystified: bookkeeping vs. management accounting/CFO vs. tax—and when each role pays for itself.
• How to sell your vision to your banker so you get better products, higher limits, and a real human who advocates for you.
• When to stick with a generalist lawyer and when risk demands a specialist (plus a simple triage lens).
• The overlooked value of an insurance pro who maps coverage to your actual exposures (not generic checklists).
• The mentor + personal believer combo: one sharpens your strategy, the other protects your stamina.

The Short List: Your Circle of Scale

1. Truth-Teller — cuts through nice-sounding noise
2. Bookkeeper → Mgmt Accounting/CFO → Tax — three roles, three outcomes
3. Banker — a person, not a 1-800 queue
4. Lawyer — generalist for routine, specialist for risk
5. Insurance Pro — coverage matched to reality
6. Mentor + Personal Believer — tactics + resilience

Apply It This Week

✔️ Name your truth-teller: DM one peer/vendor and ask for “the unvarnished version” on your top decision.
✔️ Map your finance stack: Who owns bookkeeping? Who interprets numbers (CFO/analyst)? Who handles tax strategy? Circle gaps.
✔️ Email your banker: Share a 12-month vision + ask, “What would we need in place to qualify for X?” Book a call.
✔️ Legal triage: List your next 3 initiatives; mark which deserve a specialist review and schedule it.
✔️ Insurance pulse check: Write your top 5 exposures (advice liability, subcontractors, vehicles, in-suite work, data). Book a coverage review.
✔️ Mentor & believer: Identify each by name. If missing, shortlist 3 mentors to approach and choose your personal believer (spouse/friend/coach).

If AI were a hire, this episode makes the case that it’s the team member everybody needs—from turning screenshots into calendar invites to booking calls via chat and voice, and even “training” your tools like you train a new employee.

What’s Inside:

• Screenshot → Calendar in one click. James’ “image-to-calendar” GPT converts event screenshots (title, date, time, location) into a Google Calendar URL you can save instantly—no manual entry.
• “Don’t invite your wife” (…unless you want to). How James cloned his GPT—one version auto-invites his wife, the public one doesn’t.
• From reminders to real conversations. HighLevel reduced no-shows with timely texts—and now AI can handle the reply to reschedule or confirm, conversationally.
• AI that books appointments (for real). Why chat and voice bots are already booking, collecting info, and getting people serviced—seeing it live changes everything.
• Choose systems for the right problem. When a client thought they needed job management, the real fix was pipeline automation in HighLevel first.
• Train AI like a teammate. Feed merge-field syntax, brand voice, and “how we say things” so outputs paste straight into your stack—just like coaching a new hire.
• Repurpose like a pro. A video-first workflow: wait for the transcript, then spin out descriptions, social posts, and emails.
• Mind the AI divide. Why $20/month on AI is the new table stakes—and how staying curious keeps you on the right side of change.

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Resources Mentioned:

Google Calendar GPT
The Marketing Show

About the Guest — James Hurst

Host of The Marketing Show, builder of practical HighLevel automations and custom GPTs that business owners actually use. A two-time ClickFunnels Dream Car winner and 2023 HighLevel Affiliate Bronze award recipient, James blends a software-developer background with hands-on marketing ops to ship clean, scalable systems.

About the Host — Tiffany-Ann Bottcher

Entrepreneur, founder of Bottcher Group, and host of the Service Based Business Society podcast. She blends strategy, systems, and tech to help service businesses scale with sanity.

Creators & Guests

• Tiffany-Ann Bottcher - Host
• James Hurst - Guest