Revenue Rascals | Sales Strategies for Business Growth

Getting a customer is only half the battle. Keeping them is where real businesses are built.  Michelle breaks down how the world's biggest companies spend less energy chasing new customers and more energy giving them a reason to keep buying. Using real-world examples, she shows how membership models and recurring revenue systems create predictable income. This method is vastly different than the "...

Now that we know how to build a 10/10 business model, how do we actually get customers? And how do we get them quickly? In this second installment of Michelle’s four-part series on building a local business from the ground up, she lays out a practical framework for landing your first 10 customers. Her step-by-step layout is perfect for anyone who needs to know where to start building their local c...

How do you actually start a 10/10 business? In part one of this four-part series, Michelle runs a live experiment of building a brand new local business from scratch, so you can follow every decision in real time. She uses the example of a senior concierge service; a relationship-based support business that helps older adults stay independent while giving their families peace of mind. Michelle bre...

Small business owners love to talk about sales funnels and marketing hacks, but almost nobody wants to think about the nitty-gritty legal matters — until something goes wrong.  Michelle sits down with business lawyer and longtime friend, Keren de Zwart, to look at the legal side of running a business, making it feel approachable instead of intimidating. They dig into the most common risk areas tha...

Michelle Terpstra sits down with Jason Kramer, founder of Cultivize and self-described CRM whisperer, to talk about the customer relationship management system. They look at why so many companies buy a CRM and then do nothing with it, and how to avoid that.  They unpack what it actually takes to build a process that runs without the founder carrying it all in their head. The case studies in this e...

What happens when the path you’re on no longer feels aligned with the life you want to build?  Michelle sits down with Carmine Del Sordi, founder of Pure & Easy Tea, to talk about how he started over in life at 50 years old. Carmine shares his journey from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship, and how a personal passion evolved into a growing tea brand. For Carmine, building a business was...

What if you could buy a business without spending a single dollar of your own money? Lee Smith has done it over 20 times, and he's here to break down exactly how.  Michelle sits down with Lee Smith, a business acquisition professional. Lee has bought, sold, and invested in over 27 companies across his career, building a portfolio of seven businesses doing $40 million in revenue, all without puttin...

As of early 2026, B2B sales quota attainment is low, with average figures showing that roughly 42% to 46% of reps hit their targets, down from higher averages in previous years.  Michelle Terpstra sits down with Bruno Cignacco, an international business consultant, researcher, university professor, and author with over 30 years of experience. Bruno introduces the concept of the prosperity mindset:...

If you've ever watched a golden sales opportunity walk right out the door, this episode will hit close to home.  Michelle Terpstra tackles one of the most common frustrations for local business owners: team members who are excellent at their jobs, but totally allergic to selling. The issue isn’t your team. It’s the system they’re operating in. Instead of pushing scripts or forcing behavior, Michel...

Imagine this: A landlord three states away is watching water pour through his ceiling. He searches, he calls, and whoever picks up first gets the job.  Michelle opens with that exact scenario to highlight and talk about what it actually costs when your system breaks down at the worst possible moment. Not because your team isn’t capable. Not because your work isn't excellent. But because you built...

What does it take to build a thriving travel advisory business from scratch — twice?  Michelle sits down with Ali Raymer of Picture This Travel, a former high school English teacher who went from organizing student trips to Europe to becoming the sole breadwinner for her family after selling $2.5 million in travel in a single year. Ali breaks down how the modern travel advisory model works—and why...

What if your biggest revenue problem isn’t a sales problem?  In this episode, Michelle sits down with Kurt Uhlir to discuss what’s really holding companies back from scaling their revenue. Kurt argues that one of the biggest and most common problems in companies today is leadership misalignment. As generations grow older, the disconnect between people also scales. He explains what TAM is and how t...

In the age of AI tools, clients think they can replace strategy with a software subscription. They are wrong.  Michelle runs two live roleplays around the most common AI-skeptic objections coaches, consultants, and service providers face right now. Scenario one: the founder who thinks AI outreach replaces sales strategy. Scenario two: the CEO who thinks a churn dashboard replaces a retention syste...

Is your sales leadership pitch falling flat? Stop it from happening by shifting your focus to value-based pricing. Michelle takes on the challenge of facing other people’s sales objections head-on with some sales roleplay. Michelle breaks down real situations, using AI voices to demonstrate different scenarios in real-time and showcase what founders and sellers should do differently to increase re...

Here’s the truth: you don’t have a sales problem—you have a sales management problem. Michelle Terpstra sits down with Garrett Campbell, founder of Objectionly, for a conversation about sales, AI, and what it takes to build a high-performing revenue engine. Garrett shares the origin story behind Objectionly and the insight that sparked it: the difference between high-performing and underperforming...

What if the real reason your content isn’t converting isn’t effort, but that it sounds like everyone else’s? Michelle Terpstra sits down with Aurora Winter, serial entrepreneur, author, and founder of Same Page Publishing, to unpack what it really takes to stand out in a world flooded with AI-generated content. Aurora challenges one of the most common assumptions in modern marketing: that more con...

If you want to leave founder-led sales, here’s everything you need to know to build a successful sales team and avoid pitfalls along the way. Michelle Terpstra sits down with John Dinkel, the founder of LaunchPod Media, to break down what it actually takes to grow a business. John opens up about the mistakes he made while trying to step out of founder-led sales and the lessons he learned (good and...

In this episode, Michelle Terpstra breaks down a hidden factor influencing sales performance that most training programs overlook: your nervous system. After reviewing hundreds of sales calls, Michelle explains how she can often predict the outcome of a deal within the first minute —not based on the pitch, script, or offer, but on the seller’s physiological state. When a seller enters a call stres...

Michelle Terpstra is joined by Megan Hale, founder of Dream Money, to talk about what entrepreneurs need to really build sustainable revenue. Together, they explore one of the most overlooked elements of business growth: financial clarity. Most founders try to sell more to solve their financial problems, but Megan explains why that approach often misses the mark. Instead, she emphasizes the import...

Michelle Terpstra tackles a topic most founders experience but rarely talk about honestly: burnout. Drawing from her own experience after hitting a breaking point while building her company and moving her family across the country, Michelle reframes burnout not as a grit problem, but as a go-to-market problem. When a business lacks clarity around its offer, audience, and acquisition channels, the...

Michelle Terpstra is joined by strategist and systems expert Rion Westfall. With his expertise, the two have a conversation about business revenue patterns and how they can become one of your most powerful tools. Most companies unknowingly sabotage their own growth when they disregard these trends. Rion shares insights on how you can create systems that give your revenue a boost rather than make i...

Michelle Terpstra uses Clean Simple Eats as a live case study to break down what happens when a fast-scaling brand builds multiple growth channels, but doesn’t fully integrate them into one cohesive ecosystem. This is not a critique of the company. It’s a strategic breakdown designed to teach founders, operators, and consultants how to spot revenue leaks hiding in plain sight. Using publicly avail...

Michelle Terpstra is joined by branding strategist Shauna Smith of Marketing Muse 360 to explore why personal branding is more than a vanity project—it’s a growth strategy. Shauna gives her framework to help you increase sales while staying true to your brand, explaining how authenticity can boost your revenue and strengthen trust with your clients. Shauna introduces her “Invisible to Iconic” fram...

The traditional 9-5 grind isn’t for everyone. If you’ve ever thought about leaving the structured work life but don’t know how, Michelle shares a strategic framework to help make your transition even smoother. This isn’t vague  “follow your dreams” advice. This is grounded, experience-backed insight on how to prepare every step of the way, making sure you’re ready to take the leap. Michelle also l...

In this episode, Michelle is joined by Roee Hartuv for a conversation on AI pricing models and how to stay profitable as margins face new pressure. As AI continues to disrupt traditional revenue structures, comfortable pricing models are no longer enough. Roee and Michelle talk about how leaders can redesign pricing strategies to reduce risk while accelerating growth and revenue. Roee breaks down...