So many entrepreneurs say that sales are their #1 struggle in business…. But 99.9% of the time it’s because they haven’t found a way to do it that feels good and fits them and their unique business.
I’m here to tell you that sales doesn’t have to be icky, sleazy, or disempowering.
Closing sales is not about being a “dancing monkey” trying to prove your worth, and it’s not about being a robot reading from a sales script. It’s about engaging in a conversation with real, empowered people who can make real, empowered decisions and showing them the value of the services that you provide.
Throughout my career as a coach, here are the most common ways that I see where people are missing the mark when trying to create sales in their business:
Note: I’m sharing these mistakes not to make you feel like you’re “doing it wrong” but instead to show you where you might need to tweak your sales strategy to make it work for you!
1. Having the wrong mindset
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you’re not sold on your services and value FIRST, no one else will be.
I see too many entrepreneurs say things like:
“I’ll feel more confident once I make my first sale.”
-or-
“I’ll finally feel good about what I’m selling once someone else sees the value and pays me for my services.”
This is the EXACT wrong mindset to be in if you want to make sales, and if you want to do it with ease. You can’t be looking for that outside confirmation, you have to create it for yourself.
How do you create it? Start giving yourself and others opportunity to experience your value and services! Start getting sold on yourself (mindset work) and start showing up and exchanging your services (the action).
2. Not following through on your sales process from start to end
The sales process is NOT just about the discovery call.
The discovery call? That’s just one small piece in the middle. Sales are a PROCESS – and that process starts way before the discovery call, and ends way after.
→ You need to know that you have a way to engage potential clients and start the sales process.
→ You need to know how you’re handling a discovery call and how to make it feel great for you and your potential client.
→ You need to know that you’re staying congruent after the discovery call ends and keeping the sale and/or engaging in sincere and authentic follow-ups.
That way you don’t feel like you’re throwing #allthethings out there and hoping that at some point someone buys.
3. Overcomplicating the sale
One of my goals with each of my clients is for them to have a replicable sales process (that works for THEM) so that they know, “if I do this thing, this reliably gets me a client.”
But one of the top reasons I see entrepreneurs not getting the sales they want is because they’re overcomplicating things.
They aren’t sure what works, so they try throwing all the offers out there, hoping that somebody will say yes to one of them. Or they try being on ALL the platforms and implementing ALL the strategies and using ALL the new tools.
The problem is that the more complication you add to your sales process, the less sales you’re going to make. Because when you’re doing too many strategies at once, you don’t know what’s working. When you’re changing things all the time, you can’t create consistency in your message (which can lead to not looking like an expert). And when you DO get a sale… it feels like a fluke rather than a direct result of a clear process.
Ultimately, overcomplicating leads to lack of trust in ourselves – and then we end up feeling like sales are a super hard game where we don’t know the rules… rather than an easy, replicable piece of our business.
The more you show up as you, commit to a strategy, and see that strategy through, the more results you’re going to get every single time.
4. Trying to force yourself to do sales a certain way
Making sales is NOT about scripts, one-size-fits-all, or icky sales tactics. It’s about creating a sales process that works FOR YOU. When it comes to teaching sales, I’m not about having you do it my way, but rather learning to identify YOUR way.
If you’re not making the sales that you want, it’s almost always because you’re not finding a way to do it that feels good and fits you and your business.
That doesn’t mean it feels comfortable or easy all the time. But it means that you’re following what works for you, your business, your clients, your services.
The strategy here is similar to how you’d approach fitness (or almost anything else in life). You have to find what works FOR YOU.
If you’re forcing yourself to go running (because you think you “should” or someone told you it’s the best way to get fit), but you hate running, you’re probably going to stop doing it (and your results will reflect it like WHOA).
But if you find what you actually enjoy, what works for you, your body, your schedule, etc. then you’re much more likely to keep showing up and sticking with it (and rocking that bikini like a boss).
It’s the same with sales.
If you’re forcing yourself to do sales in a way that feels icky to you, you’re going to avoid doing it! If you find a way you LOVE… you’re going to be making BANK.
Do you struggle with any of these when it comes to your sales process? If you do, I invite you to get on the waitlist for my Value-Centered Sales™ Mastermind to learn the art of empowered sales and create a process that works for YOU!