PSA: you’re not selling to yourself...you’re also not a mindreader.
Why does this matter?
One of the most common ways I see entrepreneurs push “hell yes” clients away has nothing to do with their strategy or sales script and everything to do with projecting their own stories and objections onto potential clients.
And, like a romantic partner will tell you, your attempt at mindreading doesn’t serve the relationship and tends to say more about what’s on your mind.
In business this looks like, taking your money story and assuming the same is true for anyone else you talk to.
For example:
I couldn’t afford this price turns into, they can’t afford this.
I wouldn’t trust myself to invest in this becomes, they don’t trust themselves to invest.
I’d never spend this much money on this turns into, they wouldn’t spend this much money.
I don’t think I’m good enough becomes, they don’t believe this offer has enough value.
This lackluster mindreading ability also shows up in business boundaries (or lack thereof).
For example: “I always feel like I have to say ‘yes’ when I really want to say ‘no’” turns into mindreading on sales calls that sounds like, “If someone is saying ‘yes’, I can’t trust them because they might really mean ‘no’.”
Mindreading and projecting your own ‘stuff’ (you know, all the human stuff the brain wants to hand you like your fears, beliefs, as well as stuff like your personal spending and buying habits….the list of what you can project goes on) onto potential clients during the sales process is how smart entrepreneurs push potential clients away.
I know some people label this ‘empathy’. But, putting what’s going on in your mind onto a potential client isn’t empathy, it’s making it about you.
And, look, I GET it can be really challenging to separate yourself out from the sales process, especially if you’re an empath or if you’ve experienced a not-so-positive sales experience yourself...if you’ve ever been coerced, been unable to afford investing in something, or you’ve been unable to hear your own clear ‘yesses’ and ‘nos’.
But, a loving reminder that this is *your* experience and not the experience of the person in front of you.
Remember, your business isn’t about you, the way you feel or what you’ve been through...it’s about the client in front of you, what they feel, and what they’re been through and supporting that person to make the best buying decision that helps them solve their problems and get their needs met (not yours).
When you mindread and project your own experience, it makes it hard to create space for discovery. After all, you’re already deciding what’s true for someone ahead of time.
Instead of assuming (you know what they say about assuming, right?! ) you know what someone is going through based off of what you’ve been through, listen and let the person you’re talking to share their own stories with you.
See if you can discover what the person in front of you actually wants and how can you help them get that.
This allows you to shift the focus off yourself (and your own limitations) and put the focus back onto the person you’re talking to so you can support them in making the best buying decision for them.
Wishing you your version of success.