Why Making Sales Feels Difficult
Old-fashioned sales practices are being replaced by purpose-driven business owners that focus on their prospects and clients first — not on the business’s bottom line. This type of business owner strives to provide a solution that is tailored specifically to the consumer’s needs and wants.
Your goal as an entrepreneur is to match your product or service with what people need at this moment in time.
How you feel about selling will also influence your ability to sell. This is especially true if you are selling your own services, for example as a massage therapist, IT consultant, or coach.
If you think sales is sleazy or manipulative, then of course you’ll find selling yourself is difficult. Those negative beliefs about sales do not align with how you feel about yourself or your services.
Have you ever asked yourself things like:
- Am I worth what I’m charging?
- Who am I to know that my service will really help people?
- What if they say ‘no’?
How quickly can you recover from a setback, a storm of criticism, or a launch that flopped?
Be aware of these thoughts, as they can trip you up when selling. For example, if you doubt your worth, it’s going to be hard to talk about and believe in your pricing. Or you’ll price your products and services so low that they will be seen as worthless.
Can you see how these internal questions prevent you from selling successfully? If you don’t value yourself and your work, you can’t expect customers to see the value in what you’re selling.
Every business person doubts themselves at some time or other. If you’re not willing to try again after a setback or you are not confident in yourself or your services, your ability to sell your services and grow your business will be affected.
Change Your Thoughts, Grow Your Business
You have probably already heard the saying, “Your thoughts create your reality.”
If you catch yourself questioning your work, turn those self-limiting beliefs into self-supporting beliefs through positive affirmations. For example, you can turn those previous questions into:
- I’m worth every cent of what I’m charging.
- I’m an expert in my field and I know my service helps people.
- It’s okay if they say no. My offer isn’t right for everyone.
You know that you want to serve your customers and help them solve their problems. Remind yourself to think about each sales interaction as ‘serving’ or ‘problem solving’ rather than ‘selling.’
Remember Your Past Success
If you started your business years ago, you’ve certainly had success with enrolling clients. This is proof you can sell. But it’s easier to remember the sales ‘“ailures” and forget the wins.
One way to turn this perception around is to remember your past sales successes. Those were the times you signed up a client, with payment in full or on a plan.
Review your past sales conversation and answer these questions:
- What was the situation?
- What led up to the success?
- What skills did you use to bring success?
- Where there any negative consequences? (E.g. the person retracted, cancelled the contract, etc.)
- If so, why was that?
- What might you do better next time?
One thing is certain: Not everyone will buy from you and some people will say no. For many business people, this can be tough to take in. You may feel rejected, angry, or disappointed when it happens.
5 Ways to Build Resilience as a Small Business Owner
Since rejection is inevitable, find a way to handle it that leaves you feeling confident, not discouraged. This might be easier said then done, but you can do it with a change of mindset. Here are some tips:
- Let go of taking it personally.
It isn’t about you. When someone says they don’t want to buy from you, it’s the offer they’re rejecting, not you as a person. - Reframe it and put it in context.
Think of all the exciting and interesting things going on in your life and in the world. Someone saying ‘no’ one day to one offer is nothing compared to that. - Learn from it and identify the skills you want to work on.
Perhaps you didn’t get the match quite right between what the customer was looking for and what you were offering. Practice with an outline or a script to work on your active listening skills and asking powerful questions. - Use any feedback about your offer.
If a customer questions the price or the features, then use that information to rethink how you present the value of your offer. How does the transformation your service offers compare to your rates? - Be in gratitude for the new relationship that could lead to sales later.
They may not buy this time but if you establish the right connection, you leave the door open for them to come back.
Everyone experiences setbacks. It’s the choice you make after you fall down that makes the difference. Highly successful business owners are able to acknowledge their self-doubt, and cultivate ways to bounce back to build RESILIENCE.
What do you need to change about your mindset to make selling easier for you? What are your next steps?