About Steve Martinez

Hi, I'm Steve Martinez and I hope we can work together in the near future. You may have arrived at this page because you want to learn a little more about us before you invest in our selling solution. Well, that's fair enough and I can tell you that I'm not much different than most business owners trying to live the American Dream!

A Brief Family History:

I was born and raised in Southern California. My father immigrated from Mexico and earned his citizenship in World War II the hard way, risking his life for his country. My father was my first hero because he could do anything and he fed us with hopes and dreams. I am the middle child of five kids and the most important things my father taught me was how to live life without regrets. He also demonstrated the important's of family and how to work towards your dreams. Dad was also a great story teller with an infectious laugh and the life of any party. The best decision he ever made was marrying my mother who nurtured us with love. We were taught to live our dreams and our parents encouraged us to take advantage of the opportunities we had.

My Work History:

Dad started us working at an early age with his Saturday landscaping business. While other kids were taking it easy on weekends, we were pulling weeds and doing construction projects. We don't regret it because, we can fix just about anything around the house. After all, dad taught us how to build stuff and fix things all the time.

My first real job out of college was working in a print shop running a printing press and then managing a printing center. My major was in Graphic Arts and printing agreed with me. Operating a printing press and running a print shop was a great experience for me as a young man. The lessons of being part of a franchise and running an Instant Print Shop, taking care of customers planted the seed of someday owning my own business. Bill Levine and Steve Martinez

With strong recommendations from my employer, PIP #12 in Riverside California, I was hired in 1980 by Bill Levine, the founder of Postal Instant Press, the original "While-U-Wait Printers".

Bill Levine taught me the importance of following a success formula in a business. The franchise organization was successful because it followed a system. Bill he had a passion for helping people succeed and it was contagious. At one time, I was given the responsibility of managing five of his company stores. This was in addition to my other duties. This was Bill's way of motivating me to stretch myself and grow. A great life lesson that we can grow beyond our personal limits.

The picture on the right is of Bill Levine with me at a PIP Convention where Bill was honored for his leadership and vision in starting Postal Instant Press. His story is a great lesson in finding yourself in the right place and the right time and knowing you are in the right place to take advantage of the situation. I guess you could say that this is how I feel about my business right now. I have a dynamic opportunity to change lives with my systematic approach to selling. It works and I'm having fun making businesses more profitable.

During my career with PIP Corporate, one of my responsibilities was opening and supporting PIP centers around the country. This was a great opportunity because the franchise grew tremendously and I was promoted through the operations side of the franchise company and joined the marketing and program development department. Because of my printing knowledge, I was assigned the responsibility of rolling out a successful color printing campaign when the competition was only doing black and white printing. This was my first real taste of selling because I had to sell a network on the value and benefits of adding color to a menu of services and help launch a national campaign to promote this new service.

Unfortunately, the company changed. It went public and was bought out by a meat packing company. The focus of the company shifted to profit instead of helping franchisee's. This was not where I wanted to be. Since I had reached as high of a position as I could in the company and I didn't like the changes, I decided to resign. My decision was to join the world of sales. Selling was something I wanted to do and I sold printing equipment through the 90's for Multigraphics. Selling was good to me and I became a National Account Manager during a very tough period for business. I also worked for Danka and Ikon during a 5 year term where I learned how to sell copiers. This selling experience taught me more than I wanted to learn about rejection and but I survived and thrived in the adventure. This experience helped me develop my successful selling process and honed my selling skills for major accounts.

I was invited to return to PIP Corporate in the late 90's and rejoin the franchise operations. This move led me to become the National Sales Manager. I was more than delighted to share my sales and marketing experience. A few years later, PIP joined Sir Speedy under Franchise Services, Inc. There are many valuable lessons I enjoyed learning while with PIP and Sir Speedy. It was a fantastic opportunity to work with some great people and sharpen my business skills. The Sales Process

In 2005, it was time to leave. I guess you could say that I believed -- there was a better way to increase sales in business to business companies besides working with and motivating salespeople. I worked with too many business owners who would invest in salespeople only to see them leave in a short period of time. The business owners would be left with nothing when this happened. I came to the realization that the selling process is the key to success and focusing on the selling process is the right course of action for a business. I also realized that If I didn't start my company now, I would regret not doing so. I also wanted to honor my fathers life lessons and my mothers dreams for me. Besides, I had a solution that would streamline and automate the selling process for business which could revolutionize selling for most of the companies I was working with. This was a concept that would work in almost any business and this was my opportunity.

How Selling Magic started

On July 1, 2005, I was on a longer than usual layover in Dallas Fort Worth airport, from a delayed American Airlines flight. I sketched out the mission statement for my sales development company on a blank sheet of paper. The concept was simple, focus on the selling process and automate the sales actions salespeople should follow. The goal was to use tools like ACT and Activator with other software components and provide the important consulting factor that would help business owners integrate a complete sales management system including email marketing to improve business communications and business relationships. Here is what I wrote on that paper:

Our goal is to develop goal oriented partnerships with business owners and sales professionals. Defining a strategic, dynamic and vertical sales program which improves profitable customer relationships. We accomplish this by first learning and analyzing our clients goals, challenges and capabilities so we can formulate a customized sales system which takes advantage of communication technology for a successful outcome.

I resigned my position as the National Sales Manager for Franchise Services and left in November of 2005. I was fortunate to leave on good terms and didn't burn any bridges from a departure. Selling Magic is currently recognized as an approved vendor for sales development and my sales program has been endorsed and adopted in many PIP and Sir Speedy center associated with Franchise Services. Several additional franchise companies have endorsed the Selling Magic solutions including Kwik Kopy, Franklin Printing and The Ink Well which are part of ICED. Additionally, we are recognized experts in the field of sales automation with our push button selling solution.

Our success formula is simple -- Keep focused on the implementation of the Selling Process.

Our goals in business have remained constant from the beginning -- we want to get to the root of sales issues. From our experience in working with thousands of businesses, one of the key reasons for poor sales performance is that a businesses doesn't follow a proven sales workflow and they use outdated, traditional methods. At Selling Magic, we help businesses make the leap from traditional to revolutionary and dynamic sales strategies.

Steve Martinez, Author and Speaker steve at desk

I consider myself blessed in life because through my experience, I am now asked to speak and write on sales, the selling process, sales automation and the impact of balancing sales communications. Continuing my education, I became a certified mastermind consultant and work with other mastermind consultants to remain aware of sales and marketing trends.

You will find me listed with the Top 10 Sales Experts and my work is frequently published through ezine email newsletters around the world. This writing skill is an advantage when I create your customized sales action plans and sales templates.

When you want to inspire and motivate your audience with the power of the selling process and sales automation, we have lot's of stories to share. Our systematic approach to sales is revolutionizing businesses to become more profitable. For more information, contact us.

Personal Goals

Like many people, I enjoy quiet time with a good motivational book or writing about my journey through life. When the wild side captures my attention, I like to ride my motorcycle on escapes to no where in particular. On the family side of things, there is a thrill with creating memories with family and the simple pleasure of a hike. One of my create places to go hiking the Grand Canyon and the Napali coast of Kauai. Both of which I've made several times. On a recent visit to Kauai, my adventuring spirit motivated me to kayak around the Napali coast. I was later told it was the Mount Everest of open ocean kayak trips and it was a journey I'm pleased to have survived.

One of my goals is to hike the Grand Canyon with my Grand Daughter, Taylor when she reaches the age where she can appreciate the challenge of hiking. I have hiked with my friends and brothers on numerous occasions and it is one of my favorite ways to escape and revitalize my soul.

Yes, I believe in setting goals and I'm always looking for ways to enjoy a new hike or challenge. There are several challenges on my list. One of my goals is to travel cross country on a motorcycle and throughout Europe. Although I has traveled extensively on business throughout my career and logged over 1.5 million miles, there is still only one state that I have not set foot on, Alaska. Maybe this year.

Faith and Belief System

Last but certainly not the least, I want to affirm my position as a Christian. I briefly attended Pacific Coast Bible Baptist College and decided that the ministry was not my calling. I acknowledge Jesus as my Lord and Savior and give him the glory for my success. We regularly attend and support Crossroads Church in Corona, California.

Steve Martinez President and Founder of Selling Magic, LLC.

A Brief Family History:

My Work History:

How Selling Magic started

Personal Goals

Faith and Belief System

Steve Martinez
President and Founder of Selling Magic, LLC.