Oh, don’t you just wish this stuff were easier?  Wouldn‘t it be lovely if every client in front of you came PRE-SOLD and threw tons of cash your way?  (Well, with good marketing that can and does happen!)

But there are times where you have to ‘work it’ a bit in the sales process.  You have to step up, be bolder, handle objections, and keep calm.  In this article I’m going to show you how you can blow it in these times.

Here are the three quickest ways to have your potential clients flying out the door!

1. Turning on your “Inner Used Car Salesman.” Or for some of us it would be by getting in touch with our inner “Lonely Dude in the Bar” aspect.  The truth is that we can smell desperation a mile away!  If you need the client more than you are willing and able to let them walk out, that energy acts as a repellant and will have your prospects heading for the hills.  Antidote: Be crystal clear about who the right and perfect client is.  AND be willing to say no and let them walk if they don’t fit that bill.  It can’t be about YOU.  You must be in service to them getting their needs met.

1. Selling them what you think they need instead of giving them what they want. Oh come on, we secretly all love when we are right!  (Particularly if you are a parent.  You are very likely used to knowing what your kids should eat, do, have, be, etc.  Until they hit middle school and they are convinced that you are the dorkiest person on the planet.)  So when your future client comes asking for one thing and you take them down a road they can’t see for themselves or don’t understand, you are at risk of losing them.  The antidote: Listen!  Even if you think they need something else, you have to acknowledge what they say and then weave in your solution as an add-on.  Even if you are right, you have to give them what they want.  This can be tricky.  I had a woman recently tell me that she really needs to get a Facebook business page up and that will help her bring in loads of clients.  Well, she doesn’t even have a personal page so I had to burst her bubble a bit!  But I did dive in and ‘get’ her request that she really needs visibility and we agreed on better strategies for that.  But if I would have taken her down the road of her needed what I think she needed and not honored what she said, there would have been a disconnect.

1. Talking too much. I remember being at  a networking group years ago and a woman approached me selling skin care.  She was “IN MY FACE” with how the skin was the biggest organ, the toxic effects of other products, etc.  Yikes!  We have all had those people who pratter on incessantly about THEM and THEIR products and how THEY solve problems, blah, blah, blah.  If you don’t want that precious prospect doing an exit stage left, you gotta zip the lip!  Antidote: Make it more about them.  In my How to Sell Without Feeling Like You Are Selling Your Soul program, I spend loads of time on step two which in learning how to connect them with their dreams for their life and business versus ram your solutions down their neck.  It just works better that way!

So now you know how to screw it up!

Wanna know how to do it right?

Check out my How to Sell program and learn the mindset tools to really be powerfully present in the sales conversation.  Click here to see what I’m talking about.  Because I really don’t want you blowing it!

Learning the skill to confidently sell your services is the best thing you could do for your business.

Uhhhh…I’m kinda frustrated. Why? Because while I’m feeling really great about the direction my business is going, two of my top trusted advisers are not in agreement with it. Normally I’m not a chick for needing much approval, but this fork in the road I’m at is probably very common so I thought I’d write about it.

The dilemma? Is it better to follow your knowing and passion….or should you listen to the people who tell you it’s not the right thing to do. (Especially when their answers are quite good and make sense!  And they care about you…  That’s the kicker in all of this.)

Do you go with what the marketers say is right, or do you align with truth, your knowing…your Spirit?

Let me give you some back story….

As I refine my offerings, I’m getting more and more clear that I am at my best when I’m blendingmy love of all things transformational with business strategy and mindset and bold self-expression.

Awhile back I was talking to my friend Nancy Marmolejo about what I was going to be offering next. I had a few possibilities in mind, but what struck me was how Nancy so powerfully did for me what I do for my clients….she ’felt’ the energy of one particular program and said, “OMG….you HAVE to do that because you are so passionate about it.” The topic is something I’m  totally committed to and it makes so much sense to me and the clients I’ve shared it with.

But my marketing advisers have a different spin on it. ”You are off track with your positioning. “You will confuse people.” “People think of you being about mindset….what are you doing teaching sales?”

Therein lies the dilemma.

And as life imitates art, my own process also imitates the thing I’m promoting. Always! We teach what we need to learn. So, as I teach people this program, which includes part of my 5-step formula, I too must live the formula. Step one is to know your value and own it in a big way. So here I am, having people I totally love and trust telling me that while there is value in what I’m teaching, in their minds, it’s the wrong thing. But what I know is that we often get where we need to go by fighting against things a bit. Not that I believe in a Universe that tests us….but I think it lets us say YES in bigger ways. (Example = How many times have you said, “I won’t take that kind of client any longer,” and the next day they call you!  Just a chance to clarify your NO and reaffirm your YES to what you really do want.)

It’s funny to me that as I’m getting ready to teach folks to stand powerfully in that moment when they will likely get an objection…here I am!  Getting objections!

Now I get to practice what I preach and use the mindset tools I’ll be sharing in this How to Sell Program.

And because we are all connected, that means if I’m going through this….so are you on some level. So let me give you some tips and ways to shift it for yourself if you can relate to this at all.

Embrace the space. Sometimes things just feel yucky! Period. All you can do is acknowledge what’s true, how you feel, and then just be in it. No running ahead or rationalizing it away. Just being with what is. That’s big time grown-up emotional intelligence at work.

Reconnect with your truth. Talking to Kristen, my amazing marketing manager was what began to shift it for me. She asked, “Therese, why is this work so important to you.” And I began to cry. Cry because of the women I know who have and are struggling because they don’t fully believe in themselves and can’t sell their services. Cry for the part of me who has also known the pain of that struggle. And cry because my soul is so aligned with the truth of the work that it touches me in a deep place. After our conversation, I felt loads better because I was back in alignment again.

Find your tribe. One of my advisors finally said, “Therese, the reality in this is that I’m Not Your Ideal Market so that’s why I’m not resonating with this.” When you are in this position, feeling kinda vulnerable…it’s critical that you find people who believe in you, see your vision, and can encourage and support you. And sometimes this may mean letting some other people go; at least temporarily. But you have to protect your dream and find the folks who will nurture that in you.

Set boundaries. Let’s face it…we all want to be told by someone what to do if it’s easy and we think they are an expert. But what if that ‘blueprint’ or marketing plan is WRONG? You have to be clear on what you will do and what you won’t do. Boundaries may look like you are keeping your voice in the marketing material, or committed to doing ONLY what inspires you, or saying no when it’s a decision only to do something to bring in some fast cash if it doesn’t feel right.

Have courage. Here’s what I know…if you have a desire in your heart, you will be given everything you need to fulfill that. It’s your job to stay in alignment with that and hold a strong belief that that’s possible for you. There is nothing more powerful than having the courage to act on the inspiration you get. That’s probably the most delicious part of my work with clients – giving them permission to act on the thing they’d love to do but have been scared to step out and in to it. It’s just sweet!

So there’s my story. I’m being a little more vulnerable today, but it’s fitting because of the How to Sell Program I will be teaching in July. This program is like taking all the work I do with people in how to powerfully own their brilliance and puts it into one little slice of a REAL WORLD example…the selling conversation. I’m not focusing on being the next Lisa Sasevich or Tom Hopkins. They are well known “Sales Guru’s” who are brilliant at what they do. My sliver in the selling pie is developing the mindset necessary for that moment when you have a client in front of you asking ”how much does it cost to work with you.” Because what I know happens for most is that there may be a little flash of guilt, fear, or doubt about the prices you are charging or the results you can get. And then, deal is done.  Prospect is gone.  And you have not done the work you were meant to do in the world.

This formula is more about who you have to become in the conversation and has actually much less to do with what you do. Much like life. I’m being squeezed a bit in service of getting this out there but it’s worth it.  That’s what the entrepreneurial journey does. It brings out of us our greatness and asks us to let go of old limiting beliefs.

I’m saying yes to that.  Will you?