by Laura West
This weekend I am spending time with my two sons shopping. That’s is unusual. There are usually a million other things the boys would rather do than spend time with mom looking for clothes.
This time is different. Sam is excited about heading to college in a couple of weeks and Nick, just started a “big boy job” with benefits and everything. He’s still finishing up engineering degree while he’s working fulltime, but apparently, they come courting engineers pretty early.
So, we’ve been looking for clothes for their next adventures. It’s very exciting to see them grow!
Speaking of growth… how is your business growth going?
It is the one constant in your business – keeping an eye on those growth opportunities.
This usually takes the form of attracting new clients.
I talk a lot about creative ways to attract new clients, but what I haven’t talked a lot about is what do you do once you attract the conversation?
The sales conversation.
For many business owners this brings up feelings of dread, nerves and anxiety.
I used to feel like this too. I was super confident in my coaching abilities and marketing smarts, but the sales conversation made me feel a bit nauseous.
Let’s look at what really is going on when we go into that Doubt Vortex before a sales conversation…
Fear of rejection – We are afraid of the NO. This is usually what is going on underneath our fear of a sales conversation, what if they say no? OMG, what if I get rejected! First of all, if they are a quick no then they probably aren’t your ideal client. Second, there are things you can do so that by the time you have a sales conversation the right people (who are your Soul Tribe) already know, like and trust you. You’re not having to prove yourself and the chance of a flat-out NO is less likely.
You have to be someone you’re not – To be honest, most of us who are scared about our ability to sell it’s because we feel that somehow, we have to switch to being a different kind of person. I used to think I had to be smooth, uber-confident, majorly assertive, an answer for everything, and had to control the conversation type of person. People want you to be real. They also want you to be confident but not so confident that you override their concerns and questions. Your potential clients are going to want to feel a connection not that they are being handled by a testosterone driven salesperson who doesn’t listen. Let’s bust that false vision!
Doubt – We doubt our ability to be able to explain our programs clearly and we’ll get all tongue-tied.
We are scared of the objections – We’re afraid that we can’t handle the objections. We’re afraid they’re going to ask questions and then we’ll freak out and want to hang up. (Seriously, I’ve heard this panic from my clients before.)
Fear of being too salesy – I find that scares everyone to death! Somehow, we think we have to be pushy and convince people if we want to get a client. We know that isn’t really true, because we don’t like to be handled that way… and yet it often lurks underneath the surface. It takes the energy right out of a beautiful process.
Afraid we are selling our soul – We feel like we are selling our soul because we are charging money. Charging money and selling your soul are not related! You can be authentic and in high integrity and charge money!
These thoughts are good to identify so you can see how having these beliefs hold you back:
- You don’t ask for conversations.
- You hesitate and don’t appear confident.
- You don’t claim clients.
- You schedule sales conversations but spend a lot of time feeling scared and anxious.
The Big Shift
What if there was a different way? What if you could shift your selling experience and release all the disempowering thoughts that get in the way? There is a way to do this. You have to make a big shift. The big shift is that it’s actually not about the sale. So often we’re so focused on the transaction, “I want them to come to my retreat. I need to get this new client. I need another client.”
When you really shift, it’s not about the sale:
- It’s about the person.
- It’s about the relationship.
- It’s about how you can help them and be of service.
- It’s about how you can change their life for the better.
- It’s helpful to have a process for your sales conversation that is easy to follow and gives you confidence for the call.
In fact, I don’t even call them sales calls. I call them elegant enrollments.
I’ve created an easy to use, authentic process for sales conversations called Elegant Enrollment.
I led a training in June to my Joyful Business Studio members and they loved this!
I want to offer it to you too. (You don’t even have to join the Studio to get it!)
Go here to get your training video, Elegant Enrollment customizable script and objections worksheet – just in time to talk to your next potential client!
This one shift in upping your confidence in getting new clients will totally start kickstart your business growth!
I can’t wait to hear the results!
To Your Big Beautiful Amazing Success,
PS: There is something else I want to share with you. My colleague Karon Thackston is a genius copywriter and she has this great product called The Blogging Advantage. It will help you write blog posts easily. I’m a big fan of using your blog as your hub and repurposing blog posts for articles, newsletters, social media posts and quick videos. But first, you gotta write the posts. You can save 50% off The Blogging Advantage today with coupon code: BAFLASH!
