My client Nicole Darling hates sales! So much so that she decided to put herself through a 30 day immersion course in sales in order to move past this hurdle in her business.
Brilliant!
When something in business scares you, the best way to move past it is to embrace it.
For those of you who are like Nicole, and really dislike the idea of selling yourself, here are a few tips and a 30 Day Sales Challenge!
1. REFRAME IT! The way you think about sales might not be serving you at all. Think of it more like matching. Does the potential client’s need match what I offer? When I’m on the phone with a prospect I’m not thinking about “selling”. When we get to the end of the call, I may have recommendations that may, or may not, include my services. Sometimes, I have no desire to do business with people. When you think of it like “matching” you take “sales” right out of the equation.
Most of us would rather “buy” than be sold to. While I appreciate someone who is good at sales, I’d much rather feel like I’m in control and that they are simply laying out my options for me. (Kudos to Kevin Laurie, the owner of my local Toyota dealership for allowing me to upsell myself to an extra $15K over budget on Saturday). He didn’t sell me a car, he just laid out the options for me to buy. Genius!
2. DIVE INTO IT! If you don’t feel you possess sales skills, then get out there and get them! Nicole put together a selling library for herself and dove right into it. She read books, listened to recordings and built up some confidence, especially in selling on the phone.
Do you have a favorite sales book? I’d love for you to share it in the comments below. Mine is The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffry Gitomer.
3. ACT ON IT! No amount of knowledge is going to help you if you don’t get out there and do something with it. Which leads us to our 30 Day Challenge.
For the next 30 days, I challenge you to get out to your market and do the following:
- Email two (2) prospective clients each weekday for 30 days
- Call one (1) prospective client each weekday for 30 days
- Go to at least two (2) networking meetings in the next 30 days and talk about what you do. If you are not sure where to go, find your local chapter of BNI (Business Networking International) and join them to get some practice in.
By building momentum, I hope you will see that “sales” is not as scary as you think.
To let us know you are taking the 30-day challenge with us, and to share your ideas and outcomes, join us on HERE on our Facebook fan page!
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
