I would be a multi-millionaire if I had a dollar for every time, I heard someone say “I Hate Selling”!
But in fact, it’s the very reason I started my Sales Coaching business in the first place.
I’ve been a salesperson my whole life and started selling almond blossom posies to my neighbours when I was just seven years old. My corporate selling career enabled me to visit some amazing locations around the world, took me to some amazingly beautiful, fun events and set me up financially to live comfortably. So, when I moved ‘north’ to the sunshine, it was inevitable that I would put my expertise to good use in helping others to learn to sell, enabling them to enjoy the fruits of success as I had.
In moving to a new place, my first goal was to ‘network’ with local businesspeople and in doing so, have met some incredibly talented, focussed, business owners and entrepreneurs. There’s something that I found most of them had in common, and that is, they tell me they ‘hate selling’, lack the confidence to sell, or are reluctant to sell, and tend to avoid it at all costs. It’s ‘avoiding it at all cost’ that has me worried. Everyone loves marketing though, and I’ve met a plethora of digital marketers, social media specialists, SEO and website experts, who are all doing well in their business. You know why? All those other businesspeople are paying them a fortune to run campaigns and advertising that they believe will bring them a truckload of customers, so they won’t have to do any selling. The thing – marketing gets potential customers to your front door….selling opens the door, invites them in and engages them, so they keep coming back as repeat loyal customers.
Do you know that we all sell every day? We sell our thoughts and ideas to the people around us all day long. We’re using selling skills to influence people to take action, as we believe that the outcomes will be in their best interest. As a parent, you are negotiating and selling constantly (eat your greens, brush your teeth, wear your jacket…). When interviewing for a new job or asking for a pay rise, you’re selling yourself, when selling or buying a property, you are selling, and you would definitely be selling when you’re looking for a new relationship, and it doesn’t stop once you’re in one!
Some people are quite comfortable with these ‘selling’ situations, but totally uncomfortable with the concept of selling in a business sense. Thinking of the business owners I’ve met who say they hate selling; I think it’s because they don’t want to be like the Hollywood stereotype of a pushy salesperson. None of us wants to be like that, nor do we want to deal with a salesperson like that.
So – how do I help these business owners learn to love selling? We work together on ‘why’ they do what they do, and why their business exists. We set clear goals on what they want to achieve in their business and then focus on the customers’ goals and the outcomes that they create for their ideal customers. By reframing their thinking into the positive intent of how they help their customers improve their business or life, there’s a connection with their own heart-driven values, which aligns with their customers’ values.
By taking the time to get to know their customers and the problems they are looking to solve, they start to relax into the process. Focussing on their customer’s goals takes the pressure of ‘selling’, it feels more natural, and becomes a conversation which and creates human-to-human connections and builds trust.
Being totally organised and prepared for any selling situation builds the foundation for success in these interactions. Knowing your elevator pitch, believing in your product/service’s capabilities, practising or role playing calls, having collateral prepared, documenting potential customer objections, being comfortable with pricing and payment plans, as well as having a contract or service agreement ready to roll – all serve to give you the confidence that you are ready for selling situations.
When you are ready to invite your prospects in the door, and you are prepared to engage with them, they will feel welcome, valued and grateful for your insights and ideas about how they can improve their life or business. Nothing pushy or aggressive here. Simply professional business interactions with positive intent, focussed on improving outcomes for your customer.