Sales. Most of us have a bad taste in our mouths around the word sales right? This is because we've all had an experience of being "sold to" - where we can tell the other person only cares about their own agenda, and hasn't taken the time to find out what our needs are. We in-turn do not want to be perceived as "salesy" while offering our own products or services.
We need to see sales as being about service instead. A great sales mentor once told me, sales isn't what you to do someone, it's what you do for someone.
This rang loud and true to me. His point was that if you are really being of service, then the sales process is actually about finding out how and if you can help someone. If your service or product can truly help someone then it's your duty to offer it!!!
Imaging a surgeon holding back on recommending a surgery that could save someone's life because he didn't want to seem "salesy".
Take this seriously. You have value. Your product and service has value. The only time you will be accused of being salesy is if you're pushing something on someone that they don't need and that can't actually help them.
That is out of integrity.
We've all been there - where we're a little too focused on our immediate financial goals and really want a sale. That's okay, cut yourself a break and practice compassion for yourself. You are doing the best you can. The real trick is to be able to step away from that and the fear it brings, and enter into a sales conversation with the sole intention of "how can I help this person".
This involves a great deal of faith, especially if you are really feeling financial pressure. You must start reaffirming and believing there is a power bigger then you, showing you who you can help and how. When you can operate from that place, you can step into being of complete service.
Realize that your subconscious mind is trying to throw you off. The subconscious mind is designed to keep you safe. Putting yourself out there in business does not feel safe. It sees sales as dangerous because you can receive a no, and to the subconscious mind this translates to feelings of abandonment and not feeling loved. It will avoid this at ALL costs.
That feels horrible and not safe - warning bells are going off LOUDLY!!
The reality though is that staying small is not safe. Your business depends on you stepping out.
How this looks in business is - doing everything under the sun to avoid picking-up the phone and having conversations. Your subconscious is sneaky and will talk you into doing everything else but that. Think of it like the underlying operating system for every decision you make. If it feels unsafe, it will show you how to stay safe. Like work on a new program or marketing plan, balance your checkbook, redesign your website. IT will have an amazing reason for doing these things too so beware.
Don't get me wrong - those tasks I noted above are important, buy they can't ever be the sole thing you're doing and cannot be the focus of you day. Your day must be focused on reaching out and connecting with new people. If you do this daily, you will build momentum and exercise this muscle. It takes work and practice and it will absolutely not be perfect. I'm not sure it ever will to be honest.
What does this look like when you truly come from service? Last week two ladies in my Sacred Circle program, shared with me how they love how I do sales. They felt good when I thought enough about them to follow-up. They felt that I truly cared about them and wanted to help them. That's because I do. I care so much about people and their well being that I will help anyway I can. I'll meet them where they are financially, I'll offer extra sessions and I will do whatever it takes to help them get to where they need to be. I'll even consistently tell them they need to work on sales. One client even said it's helped her set the tone in her own sales process for negotiating large government contracts.
How cool right?!
I don't share this with you to toot my own horn, but so that you can get a feel for what people are saying while being on the other end of a sales conversation. I would not be able to offer my guidance and support to these people if I had not taken them through a heart-centered sales conversation. I can't tell you how many people have written to me after having one of those conversations, where we haven't ended up working together, but who tell me that conversation literally changed their entire life! Where business tripled and quadrupled after they became aware of their biggest blocks! How amazing!!! Again, they wouldn't have had those breakthroughs if I had held back.
The subconscious mind doesn't have the ability to reason, even though consciously and rationally it makes sense that you don't want to stay small. The subconscious only goes by feelings so we need to look at what feelings are being triggered deep down when you receive a no, or when you think about receiving a no. You need to become aware of your core wound. Shine a light on this, for darkens cannot exist in the light. See it for what it is and please reach out if you want some help on discovering what exactly this is. You can then use your conscious mind to make a different choice. You will start to see great results in your own business and see how these conversations are helping others. You will then start to reprogram what beliefs lie in your subconscious mind.
AND - please celebrate your successes! Someone said the other day money is love in business. I love this! It's just an exchange of energy, and someone is seeing the value you bring and wanting to pay you for it. Celebrate this and yourself! You are amazing!