| First, yes, smarmy is in fact a word, defined by Merriam Webster as: “of low sleazy taste or quality; revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness.”
Second, if you’re an entrepreneur, sales is your life blood. If you’re not selling, and selling well, you’ll go broke and out of business.
I don’t make this stuff up: “According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as reported by Fundera, approximately 20 percent of small businesses fail within the first year. By the end of the second year, 30 percent of businesses will have failed. By the end of the fifth year, about half will have failed. And by the end of the decade, only 30 percent of businesses will remain — a 70 percent failure rate.” (The True Failure Rate of Small Businesses, Entrepreneur, 3 Jan 2021).
Money is the number one reason service-based entrepreneurs fail (and that’s true for all small businesses). The money is going to go out. To stay afloat and then prosper, you have to find a way to make the money come in faster than it goes out. And that way is sales.
The truth is, most entrepreneurs don’t enjoy sales or even want to be viewed as salespeople. After all, you’re above that. You’re an expert who thrives in your personal genius zone.
And let’s face it, we’re all walking around with a consumer target on our backs, with everyone, it seems, trying to score a hit on us. How long into a conversation does it take you to realize that someone is trying to sell you something? Usually, our sales radar kicks in pretty quickly.
The reality is, though, is if no one is buying your genius, you’re sunk.
What’s the balance? How do you sell and sell big without being that person who is always trying to “hook” the next fish?
First principle: Stop trying to get clients or even attract clients. One of the lines in my business mission statement says, “I spend time with good, extraordinary people.” And adding to that, “I serve good, extraordinary people.” The best sales strategy involves creating relationships and then serving people who will frequently but naturally become our clients.
I frequently have conversations, which some might consider sales opportunities, in which I do not once bring up the topic of my contacts becoming my clients. I create relationships through service. As appropriate, I help people to see where they are succeeding and where they need to improve. In many, many cases, they say, “I really need to work with you.” If people do not end up signing with me, I’m still creating good relationships. Every relationship with a good, extraordinary person makes my business stronger, even if they never become a client.
Second principle: Adopt the mindset that you do not need the money. Seeming desperate to get a sale is almost never productive. Here are five ways you can tell if you are a desperate salesperson:
1. You chase anything that fogs up a mirror. You can’t serve the whole world and provide quality. You have to identify your target market, your ideal clients, the ones whom you can truly serve in a beneficial way. Oh, and please stop calling me your avatar–that’s just creepy.
2. You have become a discount freak. It’s not profitable to be constantly offering coupons and “specials.” Coupons are best applied to commodities, not to services. As a service-based entrepreneur, you are not a commodity. Remember, no one else offers what you bring to your clients. Don’t discount yourself. Charge your worth and create perceived value.
3. You are sucking the oxygen out of conversations. Listen more than you talk. If you are talking, it’s impossible to find out what your prospective client actually needs, what pain point you can address for them. It’s not about you. Ask “interested” questions, not “interesting” questions. Everyone wants to know that they are being heard and understood.
4. You are 100% available and flexible. You can’t be everything to everyone. Set your prices, define your services, and protect your time. Years ago when I signed my first $10K client, I thought I had struck it rich, but to get the sale, I made myself 100% available. I ended up working for about $2.00 an hour. Set your fees, and set your limits.
5. You are not okay with a NO. When I talk to a prospective client, I say up front, “If this is a “No” for you, that’s perfectly okay for you and perfectly okay with me.” If they decide not to sign, say, “So that’s a no – for now.” That client may very well return when they are truly ready for your product or services.
How do you transform out of desperation mode? When you own that you are in business to serve people, you will never seem desperate or smarmy.
I’m a car person. I actually love spending a day at a car dealership negotiating the price of a fine performance car. I’ve shopped for used cars and new cars. The “stereotypical” used car salesman is loud, talkative, and pushy. Why? They make very little on each car they sell–they are desperate to get a sale because they must sell a certain number of cars just to survive. New car sales people are more willing to let you dally over your decision because they will eventually make a nice commission if you buy. At an exotic automobile dealership, I once felt as though I were begging them to sell me the car!
Approach your sales like a luxury service-based entrepreneur. You’ve got the goods that people need.
If you truly are financially desperate to get a paying client, go get a part-time job to supplement your entrepreneurial income while you build up your business. Because you will almost assuredly end up in the 70% who fail if you are selling out of desperation.
Final word – service. You have mad skills and powerfully helpful products and/or services. Make it your goal to use them to serve. If you do, you will find that mysteriously (not really) many of those you serve will become your paying clients and the greatest ambassadors for your work.
|
To Your Abundance,
Beth Strange
www.BethStrange.com
 
Qualified Elite Level Strategy clients will be joining me for a 4-Day ELITE LEVEL INTENSIVE aboard a luxury yacht in the Florida Keys. You DO NOT want to miss this! Message me for details at Beth@BethStrange.com |
|
 |
|
|
|
P.S. When you’re ready, below are some ways you can work with me to achieve ever higher levels of abundance. Please complete this Application to request an Initial Strategy Session
9EP, the Elite Percent Mastermind: If you are an elite-level performer and leader with new heights to achieve, you belong here with other extraordinary, good people who are performing at–or who are on the cusp of reaching–elite percent levels within their sphere. 9EP is for you if you are committed to exponentially increasing ABUNDANCE in your professional and personal life–abundance of time, money, satisfaction, relationships–however you define abundance. Limited to 9 Elite Percent Mastermind members and entered by this Application and invitation only, 9EP Mastermind requires a 9-month commitment.
Elite Performance Strategy: For service based entrepreneurs and elite performers. When you are ready to work with an expert Strategist to make the kind of exponential progress that would satisfy you and bring abundance into your business and your life. LET’S STRATEGIZE. I assist extraordinary entrepreneurs and elite performers like you to think and plan even bigger and overcome roadblocks to abundantly idyllic lives and businesses. I bring the experience, the training, the credentials and certifications, the scientific and strategic processes, and the expertise. You bring your ready willingness to try, to plan, to work, to change, to do, and to dream big, exciting, and fulfilling dreams. You will develop insights, breakthroughs, discoveries, and STRATEGIES. You will experience RESULTS. Together we will powerfully face and tackle your plateaus, your stress, your roadblocks, your overwhelm, your inferiority, your fears, your fatigue, your excuses. Abundance Strategy is NOT for the faint of heart. We will dive DEEP. We will work INTENSELY. We will strategize POWERFULLY. Apply here.
Elite Level Branding Package: This is an exclusive opportunity for global brand expert, Beth Strange, and her team to assist you with the initial definition of your Brand Identity. Define your brand, develop your logo, design your business cards and letterhead, build your website. All done for you! We make it easy and fast to Red-Carpet-Roll-Out your brand to the world.
|
|
|
|
