Building relationships with your audience and selling are not mutually exclusive.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Read that again. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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You can have great relationships with your clients and still make money. I choose to do both.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Many of the clients I work with come to me conflicted about this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a client tell me they hate selling, that it feels gross. And a big reason for this is because they’ve become accustomed to ONE TYPE of selling. The one that’s always in your face, pushy, and demeans you if you have any resistance to the offer (i.e., “Well, you must not want it bad enough”).
Just yesterday I onboarded a new client into the De•Coaching container who told me that I was the FIRST coach she’d spoken with who didn’t make her feel like a terrible human for having hesitation (in fact, one coach she’d spoken with was STILL blowing up her email with multiple messages a day egging her on and telling her that she’d get all the money back twice over if she’d just commit and trust the process – no wonder people hate selling, I would too if that was the only way it was done).
I’m going to let you in on a little secret, and I might regret this later for spilling the beans so candidly, but I close most of my sales calls in under 15 minutes (without ever needing to egg someone on).
4 Tips For Authentic Selling
1. Treat Your Customer As A Human
Stop treating your customers as just another number. Sales occur when your clients feel seen and heard. How do you respond when you’re treated as a number or just another sale? If you find yourself recoiling from this level of treatment, then why would you treat your clients this way? Instead, show up as the leader you are, and pave the way for your clients fueled by connection, compassion, confidence, and conviction.
2. Nurture Relationships First
Selling is more than just a transaction. It’s a journey for your buyer. It’s not about you, your offers, products, etc. It’s about your buyer’s experience from point A to point Z. Before you even begin talking about your offers, make sure you know who you’re speaking to (and not just in the broad “who” of your audience as whole, the actual HUMAN on the other end of the phone you’re talking to). Learn their name and get to know them, ask questions, and allow space for them to absorb what you’re saying in a safe way. THIS is how we cultivate and nurture those relationships. Sales are a byproduct of the relationships and trust you’ve cultivated.
3. Know And Trust In Yourself
Believe in your offer wholeheartedly. This is where the conviction really shines. Before you even begin a conversation, make sure you believe in your offers, the transformations they can provide, and the results they deliver. And never operate from a state of desperation. Desperate energy is palpable, and is a surefire way to turn off a client immediately.
Don’t waver in your resolve. Confidence and conviction generate conversions, where desperation leads to uncertainty and objections from your clients. That example I used above where the coach was incredibly pushy with my new client – I firmly believe that coach was operating from a space of desperation, and that was an immediate turn-off. Confidence DOESN’T mean pushy.
4. Shift How You Think About Selling
Selling does not invalidate the relationships I’ve cultivated, and it won’t invalidate the ones you’ve cultivate either 🎤[mic drop] It’s so important to shift OUT of the thought process that selling is somehow “bad.” You are allowed to be a kind and compassionate human AND still be a bad*ss business owner that knows her sh*t and can sell the heck out of it.
I lead with heart and focus on building phenomenal relationships with my clients, but I’m also a business woman. In fact, I’m a business woman that generated over $30k in the last 30 days. Do you think I could have done that had I NOT spoken about my offers or shared the value of working with me? No. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And just because I choose to sell doesn’t mean the relationships I’m building with my clients are somehow “less than” as a result. I genuinely love supporting the humans I have the honor of serving, and I stand firm in my values of leading with compassion, confidence, and conviction.
Have you been shying away from selling out of fear it would harm the relationships you’ve built?
If you feel less than confident in your strategy and offers, if selling sounds like an absolute nightmare, and if content creation is a slog – I hear you, and I’ve got you. I’m holding space in my De•Coaching container for you – you just need to hit this link and apply today.
Four women have made the commitment to learning, expanding, and challenging themselves in new ways inside the container, supported by the ultimate community. The women that enter the container cultivate a sisterhood unlike anything else. Only 8 spaces remain, and one of those spaces can be yours. I hope you’ll join us!
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