Recently I surveyed my community about what they were struggling with most in their business. The #1 topic they chose?
SALES.
I hear this so often. In fact, it’s exactly why I created my Value-Centered Sales™ program.
Because I think a lot of people see sales as their issue, but they don’t know how to do it in a way that feels good to them. They don’t know how to step back from the “ick” factor, and step into their power. They need a different way to do sales as a service-based entrepreneur that actually wants to be about service.
I also think that often people mislabel “sales” as their challenge when it’s usually a small, underlying challenge within the process that they’re not looking at.
Let’s talk about how to identify what your problem is, how to figure out where in the sales process you’re experiencing challenges, and what to do about them.
The first piece of this is getting your mindset in check and being sold on yourself first.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…
YOU HAVE TO BE SOLD ON YOURSELF FIRST.
If you’re not… the sales scripts, the exact words to close the deal, etc. simply don’t matter. Too many entrepreneurs cite “sales” as their challenge, but really it’s their confidence in themselves and their offers that are impacting them the most.
If you’re not your own biggest fan, no one else will be. If you aren’t excited about what you’re selling and what you have to offer, it’s a VERY far jump for your potential clients to be.
This is also sometimes the hardest part of the sales process, but I promise you, without it, you’ll continue to struggle with sales in your business.
I’d love to challenge you to write down 10 REASONS that you’re sold on yourself and the service that you provide. Keep this front and center… use it in your marketing, review it before your sales calls, and GET SOLD on you and your offers.
Once you have the right mindset around sales, it’s time to dig into the actual sales process.
The sales process starts with your marketing and relationship building. It involves getting people on the phone, having sales calls, and closing the deal.
However, most people don’t identify which PART of this process they’re actually struggling with, so they feel at a loss, and don’t know how to fix it.
It is transformational when we finally identify where the breakdown in our sales process occurs because then we’re empowered to fix it.
So use these questions to walk through your process to figure out where your challenge lies…
- Are you building relationships? Are you creating community and serving others?
- Are you putting out regular value-based content AND selling/marketing your offers?
- Are people responsive to your content and marketing/sales offers?
- Are you giving your audience a couple levels of pricing options and allowing them an opportunity to get to know you first?
- Are you getting people on the phone with you? Are you booking free calls or discovery calls?
- Are people showing up to your calls?
- Are you structuring your calls well and giving value?
- Are you getting a lot of objections? If so, what are they?
- Are people that say yes following through and signing a contract/paying?
All too often I see someone’s problem lying in the 2-4 range, but they’re concentrating on the 6-8 range to solve it, or vice versa. So today I’d love to challenge you to go through these questions and identify where your main issues lie, so that you can be more prepared to work through them, and get your sales process back on track!
Once you’ve identified where your process is breaking down… here are ways to proactively fix it!
**If your process is breaking down early on… make sure you’re giving your audience what they want! I mentioned this last week, but there is so much power in knowing what your people want from you, and being able to give it to them. Focus on your marketing and content, and actually sharing what you’re selling.
**If your process is breaking down in the middle… I often recommend going back to basics… start with a low priced offer, get testimonials, and get your audience purchasing. We need to identify if your audience isn’t buying because you’re only offering a really high-priced program (and they don’t know you well enough) or because of some other reason. Testing a lower priced offer if a great way to figure this out
**If your process is breaking down at the end… I’d recommend recording your calls AND practicing with someone else. I personally do practice discovery calls with a lot of my clients so they can get direct feedback on THEIR process, rather than trying to follow one specific script that makes them sound like a robot.
These aren’t all encompassing but they’re a great way to start getting that sales process back in shape without feeling like you need to tweak #allthethings. Focus on where your current challenge is and tweak the RIGHT thing.