Selling Isn’t Evil

We’re all doing it all the time. We sell someone on the idea of going on a date with us, we sell our kids on doing their homework or tidying their rooms and we sell our husbands on having a green drink for breakfast. (yeah baby!)

But the first person you have to sell is you. You have to sell yourself that it’s ok to sell, that who you are and what you have are worth it. You have to know it’s ok to sell, and that it doesn’t require you to also sell your soul or sell out. (Boy, no wonder we don’t like selling when it conjures such negative connotations)

First thing to get straight is that selling is about offering and informing, not convincing. Nobody wants to be a convincer, and no-one wants to be convinced. We want to make choices, informed decisions about what’s best for us. Selling, in my opinion, is about informing that decision.

Your job as a salesperson (and if you are a health coach, then you must also be a salesperson) is to help someone understand what your thing is and how and why it will help with their particular problem. Then get out of the way and let them make their own decision for their own reasons.

This requires that first and foremost, you give the person the respect of getting to know them a little, care enough to bother to find out if they even need your thing, do they even have a problem for which you have a solution? Grow some respect and trust between you and always put their needs ahead of the sale.

Secondly, this is not why you think your thing is great and the right thing for them, you have to help them see why they think it’s great. This often requires follow-up. You need to find out more about their situation, get to know them, ask about them, what they’re looking for, what is it they really need, what would work for them?

Follow up is, of course, crucial and a whole other article, but remember that a ‘no’ is not always really a ‘no. Sometimes it’s more of a “I don’t have enough information to fully understand why I should say yes”. Your job then is to walk the person through their decision process, coach them to help them get clarity on what their problem is – are they ok with not doing anything about this problem, how your solution answers the problem, why it’s different and what is its value? What are their concerns or blocks? Are those valid and true – if they are, end of story, thank them for their time. If they’re not, again, coach them to help them get clarity.

You are simply trying to get enough information from them, and give enough information to them, to help them make the best choice for them, in these circumstances. If you are not the best solution, thank them for their time, appreciate them and walk away.

Remember, what you have is a solution to a problem. You need to find the people who have that problem and want your solution. Clearly, that’s not everybody. So lastly, selling requires that you accept and are ok with, the fact that it’s a numbers game.

You can’t talk to 10 people and get 10 yesses. You may not even talk to 10 people and get one yes. And that’s ok!

Find your law of averages – how many people do you have to connect with to find ‘X many’ who will talk to you, ‘Y’ who will look deeper, and ‘Z’ who will buy?

Once you know that, you know what you need to do, and can make a goal – in order to find “Z” you need to connect with “X” many people.

The bummer is “X” is often a big number that instantly sends us into panic mode. Limiting beliefs flood in like rivers after a storm filling a lake that drowns all reason and vision. Breathe, don’t freak out, it’s a flood we can fall in love with.

There are people who can help, pieces you can recycle to make the job easier, there’s a rhythm and daily habit to it, you get better with experience and your law of averages improves J So less “X” to find “Z” yay.

But if you are afraid of selling, if you feel bad about charging for your thing, if you’re ok charging a low fee but can’t break into the next level, you have to get your head right. Reset your mindset and work out what your block is.

Because you have something someone wants and you should be compensated.

When my need and circumstances are just right for your thing, I will see the value in your offering, and it will be worth the cost to me, whatever you charge, because we are a fit.

I’m unique and special to you. Marketing is just sifting and sorting through everyone else to find me, and selling is helping me fully understand my problem and your solution and why we will make magic together.