Who Are You When You Sell?

Do you turn into “Meek Molly” when you talk to a prospective client about working with you?Do you become “Bulldozer Betty” by being overly aggressive and pushy?

Do you play “Avoiding Annie” and just skip the whole sales conversation all together?

I’ve played each one of these roles in sales, and honestly, none of them have worked very well.

It’s just the oddest thing how a confident adult turns into a child, an awkward teen, or a bully when faced with selling her services.

There are so many stories playing in your mind that stifle your personality and block your natural desire to help when money is involved.

Many of my clients would do what they do for free because they love doing it so much.  But bank balances don’t grow with free, and mortgages and groceries don’t get paid with free, so each of us must confront the reality of who we are when we sell.

Selling is the lifeblood of business.  Without sales there is no business. Even if you have a service business, you are still in business.  You still must sell.  If you want to grow your business, you have to get better at selling.

You no doubt know someone with a successful business who doesn’t have to spend very much time or effort selling.  She draws the clients to her almost effortlessly.  She is a shining example of the Law of Attraction.

But most of us are not like that.  We must actively learn to sell and sell well.  We have to get comfortable with making offers and asking for money.

Business is a spiritual path.  It pushes you to grow, stretch, and test your limits. It frightens you, makes you want to quit, and find the place within you that can’t and won’t quit.  It makes you look at where you apologize for yourself, where you chicken out, and where you decide to take a stand.

If you disdain the whole idea of selling, look again.  If you don’t sell, you are not serving.

Sales are at the heart of every business – every success and every failure.  Since sales is an integral part of this thing we call business, it’s time to step up and learn to sell as a service to others.

Dan Pink says that we are all salespeople in his book, To Sell Is Human.  He defines sales as the ability to move people to act.

Do you want to move someone to adopt a healthier lifestyle, have better relationships, make more money in their business, or enjoy a better life by using your product?

If so, you are in sales.  Here are some steps to get you started at being better at selling and serving:

1. Look at who you arewhen you sell and who you want to be.  If there’s a difference, seek out and learn the skills that will get you where you want to be.
2. Model people whom you admire and who sell well.  Notice that they are making a difference by being good at selling.
3. Examine your ideas about sales and be curious about whether they are valid.  If not, change your thoughts so that you know you are serving rather than manipulating when you sell.
4. Decide to stretch and become better at making offers and closing sales.

You do yourself and those you want to help a service when you decide that you are in sales and commit to getting better at it.  That’s the only way you will move and serve more people.