People don’t want to be sold to. They want to feel understood. Lead with curiosity instead of commission breath to build trust fast
Joe Berriman, founder of Premier and Co
Joe Berriman has built his reputation on a radical idea: that the best salespeople don’t act like salespeople at all. The founder of Premier and Co has spent years helping trade-based businesses across Australia grow by ditching the hard sell and focusing on something far more powerful: genuine connection.
In a world where most business owners would rather hide behind their tools than pick up the phone, Berriman’s approach feels refreshingly honest. He’s not teaching slick scripts or pressure tactics. Instead, he’s showing business owners how to turn their natural expertise into their strongest sales asset.
“Sales can be a dirty word for a lot of small business owners. I get it. Nobody wants to come across as pushy, and most of us didn’t start our businesses to become full-time salespeople,” Berriman admits. “But here’s the truth I’ve learned after years of building, fixing and scaling trade-based businesses across Australia: everything comes back to sales.”
It’s a confronting message for an industry built on craftsmanship rather than conversation. But Berriman’s track record speaks for itself his clients regularly double, triple, and even quadruple their revenue by implementing his deceptively simple systems.
Redefining what sales actually means
The key to Berriman’s success lies in how he reframes the entire concept of selling. Where others see pushy pitches and awkward cold calls, he sees problem solving and genuine service.
“That doesn’t mean pressure tactics, spammy emails or awkward cold calls. It means learning how to communicate value in a way that feels genuine. Sales isn’t about convincing someone to buy what you’re offering. It’s about showing someone you understand their problem and helping them solve it.”
This philosophy underpins everything Berriman teaches. Rather than viewing potential customers as targets to be converted, he encourages business owners to see them as people with real problems that need solving.
“The biggest shift in mindset I teach is this: stop selling and start serving. People don’t want to be sold to. They want to feel understood. If you lead with curiosity instead of commission breath, you’ll build trust fast.”
It’s an approach that resonates particularly well with tradies and technical professionals who often feel uncomfortable with traditional sales methods. By positioning themselves as problem-solvers first and service providers second, they can leverage their natural expertise without feeling like they’re compromising their integrity.
The power of listening over talking
One of the most counterintuitive aspects of Berriman’s methodology is his emphasis on listening rather than talking. While most sales training focuses on perfecting the pitch, he advocates for the opposite approach.
“When I’m speaking to a potential client, I never lead with a sales pitch. I ask questions. I listen. I find out what’s not working and whether I’ve solved something similar before. I don’t need a script or clever lines because I’m not trying to ‘close’ anyone. I’m just trying to help them get what they want.”
This approach creates what Berriman calls “natural sales conversations” interactions that feel more like consulting sessions than sales meetings. “The best sales conversations happen when you forget you’re in one,” he explains.
It’s a philosophy that extends to how he teaches business owners to approach networking and relationship building. Rather than focusing on what they can get from each interaction, he encourages them to focus on what they can give.
“One of the biggest mistakes I see business owners make is thinking sales is about talking. It’s not. It’s about listening well enough to understand the real problem your customer is dealing with and then positioning your solution clearly and simply.”
Making it natural, not scripted
Berriman’s approach to initiating business conversations is refreshingly straightforward. He advocates for authentic, relationship-based outreach rather than formulaic sales sequences.
“I don’t come in with a hard sell. I don’t even think of it as a sales conversation. I just talk to people like I would a mate. If I’ve seen something that’s relevant to them, I’ll say, ‘Hey, I saw this and it made me think of you. Quick question…’ and go from there.”
This casual, relationship-focused approach helps business owners overcome one of their biggest hurdles: the fear of coming across as pushy or salesy.
“It’s relaxed, direct and outcome-focused. No fluff. No generic intro messages. If what I have to say isn’t helpful or relevant, I won’t say it. That’s the filter I use to keep everything natural and respectful.”
Reframing the sales conversation
For business owners who struggle with the concept of selling, Berriman offers a simple but powerful reframe that transforms their entire perspective.
“A lot of business owners, especially tradies and technical professionals, hate selling. They’d rather be doing the work than talking about it. So I tell them to stop thinking of it as selling. Think of it as serving.”
This shift from selling to serving isn’t just semantic: it fundamentally changes how business owners approach customer interactions.
“If you genuinely believe your service solves an important problem, you have a responsibility to share it. If you had the cure to someone’s pain point, wouldn’t you want to tell them about it? That’s all sales is. Help people get what they want, in a faster or better way.”
By reframing sales as a service to the customer rather than a benefit to themselves, business owners can approach conversations with confidence and authenticity.
“When you focus on the outcome, not the sale, it gets a whole lot easier.”
The human connection factor
Central to Berriman’s philosophy is the understanding that business is fundamentally about human connections. In an increasingly digital world, this personal touch becomes even more valuable.
“People don’t buy logos. They buy people,” he emphasizes. “Your personal brand is more important than your business name. People buy from people they like, trust and connect with. That’s why your story matters. Your face, your tone, your energy and how you show up online and in person all impact whether someone wants to work with you.”
This insight has proven particularly valuable for the trade based businesses Berriman works with. In industries where reputation and trust are paramount, authenticity becomes a competitive advantage.
“I’ve worked with hundreds of tradies and service businesses. The ones that grow fastest are the ones that show up as themselves. Their story is front and centre. Their message is clear. They’re not pretending to be bigger than they are or hiding behind a polished logo. They’re real, and people respond to that.”
Berriman sees personal branding not as self-promotion, but as reputation management. “Your personal brand is just your reputation in public. You can either control the narrative or let someone else define it for you.”
The simple fix
Despite all the sophisticated strategies and psychological insights, Berriman believes that most businesses fail at something surprisingly basic: following up. “If you want to improve your sales today without changing your service, your branding or your pricing, there’s one easy fix: follow up.”
It’s a simple solution to what he sees as a common problem. While business owners worry about being too pushy, they often err in the opposite direction: not following up at all.
“Most people don’t lose sales because they’re too pushy. They lose them because they never followed up. If you check in, add value, and do it with a bit of personality, you’ll stand out from 90 percent of your competitors. Sales isn’t one big conversation. It’s a series of small nudges in the right direction.”
At Premier and Co, Berriman and his team put these principles into practice with trade-based businesses across Australia. Their approach is hands-on and results-focused, starting with a comprehensive business audit and building from there.
“At Premier and Co, we specialise in helping tradie businesses create structure around sales, marketing, leadership and delivery. Most of our clients come to us overwhelmed, burnt out and stuck in the weeds. They’re great at what they do but struggle to scale because they’re trying to do it all themselves.”
The process begins with immediate, practical improvements rather than lengthy planning phases.
“We start every engagement with a full business audit and build a 90-day game plan. Then we work with them weekly on Zoom, covering strategy, numbers, team performance and leadership. It’s hands-on. We don’t just give advice. We help implement.”
One of the first areas they typically address is quoting—a fundamental sales process that many business owners approach haphazardly.
“We also help automate and simplify their sales systems. For example, quoting is usually the first area we fix. Most tradespeople are winging it when it comes to quoting. So we build a process that makes quoting fast, consistent and profitable. Once that’s working, we move on to scheduling, onboarding and job handover.”
The connection between operational efficiency and sales effectiveness is something Berriman emphasizes repeatedly.
“Sales flows so much better when the back end is tight.”
The practical focus of Berriman’s approach delivers measurable results. Rather than vague promises of growth, his clients see specific, trackable improvements.
“We track simple, practical KPIs like lead volume, quote-to-close ratio, average job size, time on tools and cash flow. One of our clients 4X’d his revenue and hired three team members within 90 days. Others with multi-million-dollar businesses have stepped out of day-to-day operations and finally started scaling properly.”
But for Berriman, the most important transformation isn’t in the numbers: it’s in the business owner’s mindset.
“What unlocks that kind of growth is almost always a mindset shift. When a founder stops seeing themselves as the worker and starts acting like a business owner, everything changes. They realise their real job is to build the machine, not be the machine. That’s when sales, systems and leadership start working together.”
The leadership-sales connection
Berriman’s holistic approach recognizes that sales doesn’t exist in isolation. The way a business owner leads their team directly impacts their ability to sell and grow. “One client came to us working seven days a week. He didn’t trust his team and felt like he had to be across everything. Within six weeks, we’d helped him define team roles, roll out Monday toolbox talks, and introduce one-on-one check-ins. Not only did the team improve, but the owner got his time back.”
This connection between leadership and sales is fundamental to Berriman’s philosophy.
“Leadership isn’t just about managing people. It’s about creating the environment where your team can win without you. And when that happens, your business becomes a sales machine because your team becomes part of the value.”
Despite working primarily with trade based businesses, Berriman believes his insights apply across industries. The fundamental challenge (communicating value effectively) is universal. “Whether you’re quoting a job, building a brand, or onboarding a team member, it all comes back to your ability to communicate value. That’s sales. It’s not a dirty word. It’s your job.”
His final advice to business owners struggling with sales is characteristically straightforward. “So if you’re a small business owner and you hate selling, that’s OK. Just reframe it. Think service, not sales. Focus on understanding, not pitching. Show up consistently, tell your story, and follow up with energy.”
The key to success, according to Berriman, isn’t about selling harder. It’s about connecting better. “The best businesses don’t sell harder. They connect better.”
Joe Berriman is the founder of Premier and Co
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