How To Sell Without Selling Your Soul

There comes a time in your business when you have provided the client with an abundance of support, however you now reach the stage of having the selling conversation.

But how do you approach this stage with ease not trepidation, and more importantly without losing your soul? As we all know, this stage can reduce a number of business owners and entrepreneurs into a state of desperation and neediness.

The Direct Selling Association estimates the following statistics:

The average seller breaks down their time commitment as follows:

Selling the product or service: 44%

Administration and paperwork: 19%

Recruiting: 15%

Training (receiving and providing): 10%

Other related activities: 9%

As it states above, selling is where most people will spend their time for the obvious reasons. You market your product for the purpose of ultimately selling and generating profits. However, I encounter a high percentage of my clients have the hardest time with this particular part of their business and for some, it is the most uncomfortable part.

I believe that when it comes to exchanging time for money, the better your grounding and confidence in your business, the more effective your 'monetary' (exchanging money for services) conversation will be.

It is clear that the block to selling is that 'we get in our own way' with an overload of insecure thinking.

At times appearing desperate, discounting prices and refusing to let go of the outcome. Often the 'No, I'm not ready to buy' is experienced as an ultimate rejection of your product or service. In reality however, the client is either not ready to receive what your selling, or doesn't value it as much as you do.

There are times when we believe we have a superb product to sell which our clients could really benefit from, yet the concept of selling has often been identified with creepy, annoying and irritating.

We have all been at the mercy of some pretty creepy and pushy salesmen who demonstrated clearly that they had no intention of letting go of sale. It was clear that they were not listening to our needs, and they had more of an interest in getting their commission from the sale.

This is why when working with clients I prefer not to sell but to ask them questions such as "Tell me what's important to you" or "What are you finding are the biggest difficulties you face at the moment?"

It is always so important to attend to your client and listen carefully to what they're communicating.

This requires a different way of focusing on the clients, by placing the client at the centre of the equation and moving yourself out. What would it be like to ask your client what they wanted, rather than try to push them to what you think they should want? One method shows you are listening to their needs, and the other method shows a complete disregard for them.

You want to impact your client with what you have to offer, not put them off.

There is an average of 20 touches (contacts) a client will have with your business before they buy from you, therefore it is really important through those touches and contact that you communicate (non verbally) your value. I believe the better clients are familiar with you and the impact you can have on their lives, the less effort you will need to make in selling.

In fact selling is often challenging because ultimately the underlying question is, do potential customers feel this is of value to them? When we really want a service or product and feel it will improve or impact our lives, we are willing to pay the earth for it if need be, I know I have.

In examining value, it is important to reflect on what the client values and how much they are willing to pay for this. As a Coach, I continuously ask myself, 'How much would someone value my work with them? Ultimately my work with a client will impact their life and business, I would say the service has an incredible monetary value.

Think about the amounts of money people are prepared to pay for all the material things they own, surely their life and business is far more precious then a new car, designer handbag or shoes? The question is, do people value their life and business above material goods?

Once I have that answer, I can pitch to my client knowing what they value.

These are 8 Key Steps to Selling Without Losing Your Soul:

When meeting with your client:

Don't speak about you or your product for at least the first 30 minutes, ask about them.
Speak to your customer, not at them.
Find out what they value.
Take an interest in what they feel is important.
Talk less and listen more.
Share how your product will impact their life or business.
Share the benefits long and short term to your product or service.
If they're not ready to buy, continue to keep connected - remember they might not be ready now, but might be ready in the future.

The selling journey is about taking the client on a journey with you from first point of contact until you close the sale. Meaning they come to a clear ‘yes' or ‘no' with regards to taking on your services or product.

It's important to note that at times a client is not ready to commit to taking what you are offering, but might be ready later on in the year or could recommend you to someone else who does value what you offer. The key is to let go of the outcome, continue to give them value and keep connected.