Want to make more money? Want to close more sales?
If so, then here’s something important to learn: you don’t have to choose between selling OR serving. In fact, only when we make space for BOTH selling AND serving do our communities and our businesses thrive.
This means that for maximum income and impact, it’s super important to develop a mindset – and a sales process – that is open to giving value, serving our communities, and receiving abundance all at the same time!
There are too many people trying to make hardcore sales tactics work in the coaching / service-provider world. The problem is they just don’t fit what we’re trying to sell (i.e deeply personal human to human support… not fax machines).
We need to change the way we approach sales, which means we need to learn the difference between selling and selling YOURSELF. In other words, I am always available to sell. I am never available to sell myself.
What do I mean?
I mean that our self-worth isn’t for sale. Our VALUE as a PERSON isn’t determined by how many sales we make, how much engagement we get, etc.
However, in many ways we are selling the work we can do, the value we bring to the table, the stories we have, the experiences and wisdom we’ve cultivated, etc. So it can get REAL confusing and we can start equating our self worth to our sales if we’re not careful (which btw is a recipe for disaster for your sales goals and your happiness).
Let me give you a quick example of how you can shift your mindset around this:
- What are the 3 benefits of working with you? (Notice how this question focuses on the results you get NOT who you are as a person at your core!)
- What are the 3 things you love most about yourself? (These should be totally independent of who you are in your business and what results you achieve {though they MAY support you in business.})
The key here is separating the two, knowing the difference between the two, and having lists to reference when you need a reminder of either. Because when this shift is set in place, your sales process becomes a whole lot easier.
You reach out to old prospects with more confidence, you tap into your current network and let them know what’s going on and when you have openings in your business, you send a sales email to your list, or you follow up on a lead with more ease, flow, and joy. Why? Because you’re sold on yourself FIRST (which btw, is the first tenant of Value-Centered Sales) and then you can sell people on your services.
Once you shift your mindset around sales, it’s time to start executing so that you can both serve AND sell.
Ready for four of my (secret / not so secret) tips for making MORE sales, like RIGHT away?
1. Create an even exchange of energy.
We want to build our audience knowing that we’re going to pour into our community…and that in return our community will pour back into us + our business.
We support them with amazing value and support. They support us with clients, engagement etc. We allow them to ask questions, promote their services, etc. They let us showcase our expertise, sell our services, etc.
It’s only when we lose this even energy exchange that we start only giving (and feeling burnt out) or only selling (and losing our community).
2. Share value.
If you’ve been around here for a bit, then you probably know that content has been a huge cornerstone in my business. It’s taken me from a brand new entrepreneur with no network…to a multiple six-figure earner in under two years.
Through great, valuable content, I’ve learned that we can create connection, build community, and foster great relationships – three crucial pieces of a great sales process. So, what if rather feeling as if you must create content as a bonafide expert, you started believing that the ENTIRE goal of your content was to create a relationship with your audience? To start your sales process in a way that feels good?
3. Stay consistent.
One of the things that can hold us back, keep us stuck, or make us pick up and change directions before we ever really get going is a lack of consistency.
Or rather…we don’t create consistency BEFORE we see results. And, I get it. It’s scary to put ourselves out there when we’re not seeing the results. When people aren’t engaging, reaching out for discovery calls, or asking to join our groups. But, the problem with waiting to be consistent UNTIL we see results is that consistency BRINGS the results.
Showing up consistently for your audience, giving them value day after day, and claiming your right to keep showing up to serve WHILE SELLING…that is what allows your community, and eventually your bank account, to grow.
4. Ask for the sale.
If you want to stand out, build a community, make bank and make sales NOW…then you’ve got to ask for it baby!
I have SO many new clients that come to me to talk about getting support on their sales process and when I ask them how often they’re asking for the sale there’s a BIG LONG PAUSE that usually ends with “not very often”.
No shame here, but the truth is, you gotta ask.
I know, I know. You think “But I show up and give value, they should know”. But they don’t. It’s not how sales psychology works. It’s not how our brains work.
If you want it, you gotta ask for it!
Alright friends! When talking about a business that makes space for both serving AND selling, THIS ^ is what I think of.
Now, I’d love to hear from you: How do you both serve AND sell? Is there any part of your sales process that might need a little tweaking? What way can you do BOTH this week?