Posted: 21st June 2016
The word ‘sales’ can often fill people with terror, yet it is the traditional concept of selling that most people associate with.
However, we are all salespeople – we sell a holiday location to our partners, we sell ourselves at an interview, we sell the concept of outdoor play to our children because we know it’s good for them. We do all this without losing ourselves or exaggeration – it’s simply an extension of who we are.
Your products and services have been created by you and so are unique (as you are). You may have discovered you had the solution to a problem, or experienced a life changing event that gave birth to your business. You can use your own life experiences to illustrate the points that you are making during the sales meeting. You can share stories and your personality to make people feel more connected to you. We are naturally attracted to the energy of the people who are truly passionate about what they do.
You can be yourself and make selling simply an extension of who you are! Being yourself in sales also means that you can attract more people who are like you as new clients. We tend to mix with people who are easy to get on with, and mirror ourselves in some way. You may find that the clients who contact you share the same personality traits, or have the same outlook on life, or the same work ethic as you. It can be really enjoyable working with clients who have similar standards and way of looking at life as you. These people are more open to seeing the value in what you do. Word soon spreads amongst their friends and family when you do a good job for them.
Reveal who you are When you are working for yourself you don’t need to put barriers up like you did in the corporate world. You can be more at ease and afford to take more risks in opening up to your clients. You don’t necessarily have to make out that your business is larger than it is, or hide that you work from home, or work alone. You can be authentic and reveal who you are. I’d like to ask you to do three things today:
In corporate life we get in the habit of wearing a mask to hide who we really are inside. We try to fit in with our peers and to conform to the way things are done by the organisations we work for. You can choose to take off this mask and reveal the real you. We all hate the cheesy salesperson that comes across as fake. By being yourself, you are treating people with respect, showing that you empathise with their problems and you are using a sales technique that is simply an extension of who you are. You come across to potential clients as honest and natural. You build stronger relationships, which in turn helps you to:
Be authentic in sales I tendered for a large project and went up against two big web design consultancies. One of these had offices in London and New York. (I was working from a computer workstation in my bedroom at the time!) I used my intuition to guide me at the sales meeting and acted on any intuitive signals I received. However, I thought that I had blown my chances as I had revealed who I was. I felt it was right to let them know that I had set up on my own and that I didn’t employ staff, that I mainly outsource work to other women in business. They liked the fact that I wasn’t a large business and that I could focus solely on each client’s projects (as I only work with a handful of clients at a time) and I was awarded the work. Being authentic means trusting yourself and being true to you. Opening up and allowing who you really are to shine through. Tapping into the power of your own intuition and letting it guide you. Selling with Heart means you can be successful by being true to yourself, trusting your intuition and combining this with good practical sales strategies. You can build lasting relationships and a strong business that grows and gives you everything you need. You profit from helping more people.
