Selling is scary.

Do you agree?

In fact, part of me wants to tell you that I actually hate selling but I’m totally working on changing that negative belief so I’m going to resist getting into that story with you right now.

Is your fear of selling the reason your business isn’t as financially successful as you’d like it to be?

I know that when I first started my coaching + strategy business it was like a whole different world opened up for me.  At least until I had to have my first sales call. Then I realized I had NO clue what the heck I was doing.

I thought it was something that I would just be able to do. I had no idea that it was a skillset that I was going to have to work hard on developing + improving because it didn’t come naturally to me

I was so scared of being called “salesy” and I wanted people to just ask how they could hand over thousands of dollars to me without me actually having to get on a phone call with them and talk about how I could help them.

A few months into my business and that wasn’t working well. I was struggling to reach my income goals each month and I just wasn’t connecting with my ideal clients.

I finally decided to just get over my fears and try out some calls. After all I was absolutely determined to not go back to a 9-5 even if that meant doing the one thing that scared me the most in my business.

That was getting on the phone and inviting people to work with me.

I proceeded to do 30 free coaching calls in one month and invited many of those people to work with me. This was an intense learning period and it worked. I went on to sell $12,000 worth of coaching services in just 11 days. That was the catalyst for me to really turn my business around and be able to support myself full-time.

Here are some of the exact steps I took to improve my sales skills (and increase my sales!):

1. Developed a positive mindset around sales

It’s really important to change your negative thoughts around sales — don’t say you hate selling, stop worrying about being “salesy”, and don’t only sell when you’re in a stressful financial place because it will make you feel desperate and pushy. Get excited about all that you have to offer others, stay connected to your strengths and how they will benefit your future clients, and stay connected to your intention which is to HELP people.  

2. Actually ask for the sale

So here’s the thing — people most likely won’t hire you if you don’t ask them if they want to work with you. I wasted a lot of time just waiting for people to ask to sign on with me and it didn’t happen. I would love the sales conversation confused and unclear about whether or not they were interested in hiring me but I never just asked them. Once I started asking my consults if they wanted to work with me, I started hearing yes. If you’re on the phone with someone and you want to work with them, then just ASK them!

3. Stop making a “no” personal

When I first started asking people if they wanted to work with me and I heard “no” from some of them, I would take it personally. I would turn it into something that it wasn’t and think it meant that they didn’t like me. I spent a LOT of time in their heads thinking a lot of negative things about myself.  But you know what? They weren’t true. A no is not a big deal and in fact many of those “no’s” later became “yesses” when the timing was better or when I had a program that was good fit for them.  A no is not the end of the world.

4. Talk less and listen more

The more you talk on the sales call, the more you’re going to feel like you’re selling. Give them an opportunity to explain what they need help with and ask questions but do not give directions on how they can fix it. If you’re talking too much and not listening for at least 80% of the call, then it will be hard to form a connection with them and to get a good understanding of what they need help with. People want to feel heard and listened to and that will be more likely to happen if you make sure that you talk less.

5. Follow up. Follow up. And follow up again.

Follow up is KEY to increase your sales conversions.There are many people (like myself!) who want some time to build relationships past the first call and process the investment that they’re making. If you hear a maybe or a no at the end of the initial sales call, and never follow up with them then you are likely missing out on a large percentage of potential sales. There are many people that I would have signed on with but they never checked in again with me so I felt like they really didn’t care. Selling is going to be much easier when you’re able to build a relationship over time and people can see that you’re trustworthy. If someone is not a definite yes at the end of your call, then you will want to create a follow-up plan to stay in touch with them over the next few months.

Questions? Comments?  Let me know below!