To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources - not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end." -Daniel H. Pink
Being able to sell effectively is an important ingredient for business success.
Want to make more money doing what you love? You’re going to have to sell.
Want freedom from your corporate gig? Selling your beautiful work is going to get you there.
Want to serve more people and transform lives? You better believe you’re going to have to sell to make that happen.
However you might feel about selling, if you want to build a business you’re wildly in love with that ALSO gets you paid, sales are going to be part of the picture.
Sales also happens to be one of the areas I find clients resist and avoid the most.
So often I talk to a client about their sales process, and they tell me they rationally ‘get’ the need but don’t want to feel slimly or like a used cars salesperson.
Which is why I’m all about heart-centered sales; it takes the ick out of sales and brings back the heart and service selling has always been about.
And, here’s what I always remind my clients that I want to remind you, too: we’re already selling our ideas in our day-to-day life outside of business.
We sell our husband on watching the kids while we take a nap.
We sell our friends on going to see the show we’re excited about or the new restaurant we want to check out.
We sell our kids on eating their broccoli before dessert.
We’re always selling, so when we say we don’t like sales or it makes us feel icky, it just doesn’t rationally add up.
I get that it feels entirely different when it comes to business because suddenly we’re selling OUR work and affixing a price tag to the problems we solve and the results we deliver.
It FEELS personal, so we make it about us, and we tell ourselves the story that selling is icky, pushy, and gross. We convince ourselves it isn't nice to sell. Then, we don’t sell effectively (or at all) and get the results to match.
Here’s my question for you, if selling is so yucky, what makes it ok when you ask your kids to eat their veggies because it’s good for them?
How is asking a potential client if they want to eat their metaphorical veggies because you think it will help them any different?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it's not any different, we’ve just convinced ourselves it is because we’re scared.
We’re scared of being rejected or confirming our stories about not being good enough. We’re scared of failing. We’re scared of hearing 'no' or being disliked.
Our brains are wired to avoid pain and run away from fear, and a great way to do both and allow our brain to chill out in its comfort zone is to remove the action that puts us at risk for feeling any of this discomfort. AKA selling.
It's super convenient to 'hate' sales and label it is icky and manipulative if we want to avoid personally feeling uncomfortable.
Does selling open us up to rejection? Absolutely. It also opens us up to sales, making money, and serving more people with our beautiful work.
We ought to let our brains know one of the best way to avoid failing in business is to embrace selling. We should really be running in the opposite direction of our sales avoidance tactics.
What if we started to notice what our resistance to selling is really about?
What if we start to catch the stories we’re selling ourselves about sales and get curious where they even come from?
I mean, have you even dealt with a used cars salesperson and had a bad experience?! I'm pretty sure this antiquated line is ready for an update.
What if we ask ourselves if the same stories hold true when we’re selling in our day-to-day life?
What if we stopped allowing our fear, discomfort, and stories to keep us from leaning into an essential part of building a sustainable and profitable business we love?
My challenge to you this week? Notice the times you’ve effectively ‘sold’ an idea in your everyday life, say going to that movie you wanted to see.
Get curious about what makes that selling different AND what makes these examples such an easy sell for you? Notice if you employ any icky or slimy sales ‘tactics’ (I'll bet you don't!).
Use this as evidence that you already know how to sell without feeling or acting like a used cars salesperson.
This is also all data for how you like to sell that you can bring over to your business. You can use what already works for you in your everyday life and apply it to your sales process and strategy.
This way, you’ll naturally bring the heart and feel more connected to selling. This will also help you find what naturally works for you and your communication style instead of trying to use someone else's formula (which is a fast past to feeling uncomfortable).
Here’s a fun bonus: when you begin to sell more from a place of service with heart, you also help more people transform.
Sales are a beautiful example of "it’s all about the money, and it’s not about the money at all."
It’s through the sales transaction, when we put some skin in the game and use our dollars as a representation for what we want and believe is possible, transformation begins.
The moment someone buys our product or service is the moment they’ve made a bet on themselves to change. It’s also when we’re able to show up and help our clients and customers solve their problems and get the results they crave.
In this way, selling can be full or heart and an act of service that’s just as much about the people we’re helping as it is our bottom line. And, there’s nothing used cars salesperson about this.
Here’s to selling with service and heart and your version of success.
P.S. Allow me to walk my talk!
Ready to create your own heart-centered sales process, so you can sell with service, impact more clients, and make more money doing what you love? I’ve got a few Heart-Centered Sales the Sell Coaching Intensive spots opening up this month with your name all over it!
These coaching intensives are the bomb dot com, and recent clients have gotten results like booking six high-end clients after one coaching intensive and piece of sales copy we crafted together, booking more sales (discovery) calls, and doubling their course launch sales goals.
Want in? Book a free coaching consultation here!
