Episode 86: Selling Yourself

Hello there. Welcome back to the podcast. This is episode #86. And if you ever struggle with selling yourself, then this episode is for you. I know that this is a topic that many of you struggle with, because I have clients who struggle with it all the time. They bring scenarios to me, and I just see this common pattern. So I decided to address it today. And before we do, I want to tell you a little bit about my background and give you some insight into how my thoughts about sales and selling were really created and how they shifted and my opinion of sales shifted over time. The thing is, I never wanted a sales role. In fact, back in my marketing agency days I was used to having a sales team to work with, they handled the sales and then I delivered the results that they sold. It was perfect. At least I thought it was perfect then. But over time, I got pulled into meetings with clients earlier and earlier in the process. So instead of the sales people waiting until someone became a client to introduce me, they started asking me to sit in on sales meetings. I listened to what potential clients were struggling with, what they wanted, and let them know that I could help. I gave them an overview of the approach that I would take based on my years of experience, and what they could expect in return. And the thing is, it all felt very natural. Maybe in part because at least in my mind, I had nothing at stake. My compensation didn't depend on winning or losing the client. I didn't have any sales comp, right. There's no sales commission, I was just there to help. 

As an expert on marketing I was brought in to advise these potential clients. And then the same was true once they became clients, because they often did when I was involved. And again, that's why the sales people kept bringing me in. They noticed that their conversion rates are going up if I was involved. And so then once they became clients, if the client would ask for one thing, but I knew they needed something else, I'd have a conversation with them. And I'd make a case for why something different was in their best interest. I was so sure that my recommendations were what they needed. And so my confidence was contagious. They would trust my recommendations and at least give them a chance because of how confident I came across, right? I was so sold on myself that it was an easy yes, for them to increase their marketing budget or to shift hundreds of thousands of dollars from one advertising channel to another. I didn't realize it then, but I was selling. It just didn't feel like what I thought selling should feel like. And that's because I was already sold myself. I believe that's the best kind of selling. The most natural, ethical and compelling kind of selling. And that's why I want to dive into this with you today. Because the first person that you have to sell is yourself. And once you do, it's not even going to feel like selling. 

So first you need to sell yourself on giving versus getting. This is all about showing up in a way that is not convincing, persuading or worrying about getting anything from them. The only thing that might feel anything close to convincing or persuading is fighting for what they want and showing them what's possible for them but it comes from a very different place. It's switching from needing them to buy, needing this client meeting to make this sale, needing to get the numbers into a program, needing to prove to yourself that someone wants this. And instead shifting all of that, to knowing that they need your help. It's going into a conversation completely detached from what you're going to receive, completely detached from what you want, outside of what's best for them. And knowing that they need you more than you need them. I want you to really notice your energy when you hop on a sales call, or when you sit down to write out marketing content, who are you focused on the most? Is it you? Is it your potential clients? When you're focused on them, when you're focused on helping and you're focused on serving, when you lead with that, all you're really focused on is what's in it for them. And you're so clear on that you're so sold on the fact that your offer is going to help them that that is what comes through, you're so sold on the fact that it's what's best for them, and your focus is removed from what you're going to get in return. So that's the first way you have to sell yourself, you have to sell yourself on giving versus getting and show up with a different kind of energy that's all about helping. 

The second way that you need to sell yourself is selling yourself on why it's a no brainer. Do you believe that your offer is irresistible? Do you know why they need your solution right now? Do you believe the value is far greater than the price? Are you clear on exactly what's included? And why do you understand the cost of not buying? These are all things that you need to know first, because if you're not clear on all of this, and you show up, not really fully believing that your offer is irresistible, or not fully really understanding what they're going to get and how it's going to help them. In other words, if you show up confused, then they're going to be confused. Confused buyers don't buy. And if you're not clear, then your communication will be confusing, instead of simple and compelling. So you want to get to a place where you believe that they would be crazy not to buy. That you believe is such a no brainer for them to sign up. That's the second way that you have to sell yourself. 

The third way is selling yourself through every objection, have heard this little story before about objections, and I want to share it here. If someone said to you, I don't like your pink hair, I bet you wouldn't care. You're not going to get upset, you're not going to take it personally. And the reason why is because you don't have pink hair. This matters because the objections that you accept are the ones that you believe. They're the buyer's thoughts that you accept as true. If someone came to you with an objection, and you agreed with them, that's when you would accept the objection. That's when you would get into your feels. You would question whether what you have is actually what they need. But if you don't even believe their objection to start with, then it's not going to matter. So you need to remove your own objections first. If you were selling this to yourself, what would your objections be? Because the objections that people communicate to you that you can't confidently handle, that you can't confidently address, those objections are difficult for you to manage  because there's a part of you that believes that it's true. There's a part of you that believes their story or there's a part of you that believes that the objection itself has something to it. 

So if you're selling a group program and your client, your potential client is saying that they want one to one, and they think one to one is better, you haven't done the work to sell yourself on why a group program is better. Or if you're selling one to one and someone is saying they'd rather have a group program. Are you clear on why one to one is better? You have to do the work ahead of time to really think about your offer, and all the things that people might say, all of the reasons that they may bring up to not move forward, all of the thoughts that they have about your offer that may not even be true and make sure that you're able to not again, get into a place of trying to convince and persuade but to be able to confidently communicate why that's not true and why that objection isn't something that they need to be concerned about. Because you know what's on the other side of working with you. You know what they want, you know where they are and you know that you can help them, you know that the objection is coming up is likely something around fear, right? And I'm not trying to say that you have to fight every objection, there are certainly times where clients will make up their mind. And the goal isn't to just push back to fight back. But it's about making sure that if they have an objection that isn't a fact, that you don't believe it also. Because then you're not helping them, you're not helping you. So you have to do that work ahead of time to sell yourself through every objection. 

So your work is to go sell yourself on giving, versus getting to sell yourself on why your offer is no brainer, and to sell yourself through every objection that you may hear. Because in order to sell yourself, your services, your expertise, in order to sell yourself as a personal brand, you have to first sell yourself. You have to believe that what you have to offer is exactly what they need. And if at any point you don't believe that that's true, if at any point you don't believe that they actually need what you have to offer something is better than you won't sell it. You'll only sell whenever you know that you can help them and you're in integrity because it's coming from a place of serving. It's coming from a place of helping instead of focusing on what you need. And that difference changes everything about the way that selling feels. So go get out there. Go help some people after selling yourself and I promise you selling can feel so different once you do.