Posted: 11th May 2016
Fear affects us in selling situations – even networking generates fear in many of us!
The secret is to build relationships with potential customers by allowing your personality to shine through.
This article gives some guidance, aimed at helping us overcome our concerns about selling.
No matter how much we learn the technical skills of selling, we’ll still hold back if plagued by some of these common fears:
Then there is the fear of entering particular selling situations like networking, public speaking, writing articles and, the really big ones, cold calling and closing the sale.
Fear can stop you from doing the very things you know you need to do to build your business. Being aware of your fears is more than half the battle. If you ask yourself “What’s really stopping me?” then you can rationalise what’s going on and prevent the fear from running you. You can choose to take action in spite of the fears.
It’s important to realise that any rejection in the selling process isn’t personal. For instance, if you’re cold calling and you get a ‘No’, how can it be personal if the other person has never met you and knows nothing about you? So, bear this in mind next time you pick up the phone. They may be saying no to your product or service but not to you personally.
It sometimes helps to reframe selling as simply building relationships and having conversations. We can do this by talking to prospects and finding out more about them, exploring what they’re looking for before pitching in with what we can do for them.
Rather like dating, we don’t expect a proposal of marriage on the first date. A certain level of trust is generally required before people are ready to buy from you. If you make a point of sharing useful information rather than thinking of it as ‘selling’, the process will feel much more comfortable and natural. And remember, you don’t have to pretend to be someone or something else in order to close sales.
In fact, if we allow our natural enthusiasm and passion for what we do to shine through, we’ll find we make more sales and with less effort.
Shona Partridge set up Women Mean Business to provide coaching and training specifically designed to provide coaching and training to self employed women.
