Like it or not you are selling all the time. Nobody really gets thrilled or excited about having to sell because there seems to be pressure involved with sales, then you have to handle objections and that just seems much too pushy! Women entrepreneurs avoid sales like the plague, they don’t want to sound pushy or be judged, they’re scared to death of failure and the fear of rejection. It seems that everyone these days is using a heart based selling model however, I will tell you sales is all about being able to make someone feel certain and comfortable enough to say, “Yes!”
In my first book, From Bankrupt to $900 a Day Selling Mops I looked at sales as a spiritual practice and I still do, to this day because your business will only grow to the extent that you do. It is your ability to invest and learn what you don’t know, how to sell to yourself and how you sell products and services. How you do this will determine how you take your business to the next level. You can’t grow a business without sales and you can’t grow your sales until you master the art of handling objections. It’s tricky because here we get into psychology on how the mind actually operates and make decisions.
People are literally buying your confidence and in doing so have to overcome the fear, all of the reasons they are selling themselves out of saying yes, their very own idea of sales people and many other fears, phobias and past negative buying experiences. To be successful at sales means you have are also a master at handling sales objections and that’s what I want to share with you in this chapter. It is the missing piece to saving yourself a ton of mistakes, heartache and frustration and I really believe that I was put here on earth to master sales and teach women how.
Mastering sales is a key component to taking your Power Back because you are selling everyone all the time! Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, you’ll gleam some gems out of this chapter. Let’s dive into how to handle objection because once you discover this last part about sales your confidence will go through the roof!
Most people when they hear the dreaded, “I have to think about it,” excuse or “I don’t have the money,” objection they end the conversation right then and shoot themselves in the foot!
The sale only begins after the first objection is heard. People are never telling you the truth when they start to object. Rather they are simply letting you know that they are not convinced and not certain enough to say, “Yes!” They are hiding behind the objections to be polite. That’s why I teach entrepreneurs in my $10k in 30-days program, the art of sales and how to handle objections. I just got a text from a client today. Nicole said, “It works!! I just closed 2 new clients into my group program today WAHOO! Thanks.”
Selling is definitely the hardest thing to master in the entrepreneurial game because it is literally equated with death to the Ego or mind.
I have another client Andrea, who decided to go against my advice. She raised her prices on her older clients, instead of going out and finding new clients to raise her rates. Well that didn’t work out too well, they all balked and she was left feeling worse and feeling upset because her clients walked out on her.
Once people have an idea of how much you charge, making a significant boost or increase on your clients will fail 99 times out of 100. I’m speaking on coaching, consulting or service provider wise. These established clients will never be convinced that you are worth 3 or 5 times as much as you were just a day ago right?
Attracting the right clients and having a practice or calendar full of clients is like having a basket of delicious ripe guavas to eat! The other day I grabbed a guava off a tree and sank my teeth in getting it all over my face, the fragrance, the color, the texture, everything was divine!
This can be the experience you have working with the right kind of client. More often than not entrepreneurs struggle to attract clients. Instead, they settle for anyone that comes along, they lower their rates because they are desperate and then their confidence suffers. That’s why I teach sales attraction systems to help entrepreneurs attract clients, or potential clients; we’ll call them leads and attract them consistently so you can pick and chose the best, ripest most delicious ones and never have to settle!!
Here is the deal - you must pre-qualify people first before you spend any time having a sale’s call. Some of these people will never be ripe guavas, either it’s not the right time for them, they are still green, some are full of bugs, maggots, rotten, moldy and some no matter how many days you leave them in a brown paper bag in the kitchen will never ripen into a yummy Guava, no matter what!! When you have a system in place for generating leads, first pre-qualifying those leads then you can pick and choose only the ripest in the bunch!
Another reason why leads don’t convert into sales is because your potential client doesn’t feel the necessary pain to make a decision to change. It doesn’t mean you suck at sales, it means they aren’t really ready yet. Think back to a big life change that you decided to make. Didn’t it take some kind of major pain; your back was up against the wall before you made the decision?
Feeling and understanding the pain of not solving your problem and how that looks and feels down the road is crucial to helping your clients decide. It’s not pushy. Sales is simply helping people make a decision to solve a problem.
I have sales scripts I use and mostly follow loosely although there is one question I never skip, “What will happen if you don’t do anything to change your situation?” It is very important for people to see, feel and understand the impact of NOT solving their problem. Be careful here, most are in total denial, they’ll say, “Oh, well I will solve it one way or another. I am smart and positive.” Well if they are that smart, why are they taking the time to talk to you about it?
Listen, if we were meant to do this journey all on our own there wouldn’t be 7 billion people on the planet. When someone avoids answering the pain questions, keep asking them until they do. If people aren’t willing to answer that question with me, I know I am wasting my time on someone that will not take action.
Think about it, when you are sick you don’t care what it costs for help. When you have a split tooth, a broken leg or a bullet wound you go to the hospital and get the care you need because it hurts!
Unless your clients are feeling the pain of what it will cost them not to solve the problem - and really feel it -, they will not be motivated to part with their money. Pain doesn’t need to be physical;; there is emotional pain as well. People make decisions based on emotions and then decide with logic. This means that you must attend to both sides of the equation when talking to your prospects. I can always tell when someone is close to saying, “Yes,” because they begin giving me reasons why it’s a good idea to go ahead with it. They begin selling themselves.
At the end of the day, everyone wants to do business with people who know, like and trust them, who respect, honor and even cherish them! Why not?! To overcome sales objections and get the right people to the point of a yes, you must make sure they are certain about these 3 specific things or your sales will back fire!
Number 1 is they must be certain about your product; that your product is the absolute best. Number 2 they must be sold on YOU and Number 3 they must be sold on your company and the values of the company.
Whenever no one buys, it’s because they are not sure about one of these three areas. So it’s simple really, you need to continue making it certain that the buyers are totally 100% certain in these three areas and kabam, they will say yes! This certainty can only happen if your product or service is a right fit for the potential buyer.
A movie was made called The Wolf of Wall Street about Jordan Belford. He was caught embezzling millions for fraudulent stocks, went to jail and then redeemed himself by becoming a world famous speaker and sales trainer including how to handle objections Belford said you want to keep looping around and around again making certain your potential clients are 100% YES and certain on those three areas. Keep asking for the sale even though they might give you another objection it doesn’t matter. Loop back and make them feel certain that these three things are a YES and then bam they will buy. It’s only a NO when someone says it’s an absolute no.
When you hear a, “I have to think about it,” or “I have to ask my husband or wife,” this is usually just a great and easy way to test your confidence.
Remember someone is always selling. Either they are selling you or you on their story or selling them on solving their problems.
Another thing you must know is that the world is in such a mess because people are decision retarded. Really they are. People are running around being victims. Run by their Ego, too afraid to make a wrong decision and failure equates with death. In other words, the majority of the world is running around led by fear and all kinds of excuses and reasons why they can’t change.
Resistance!!! It’s deadly! Don’t let it rob you of your sale or your clients of their potential transformations! This also plays into their ability to decide on saying yes to your service or product. The very mechanism that people decide with is tainted. I tell people straight out, right from the get go, that the longer they take to THINK about the decision the more chance their Ego will take them out of the idea of saying yes. I teach people about resistance while I’m having a sales call and they don’t see it as pushy rather, they are thankful because this is the very thing they are trying to solve - overcoming resistance!
The Ego is always trying to protect with fear, so unless they do something different, nothing will change. That’s why I always recommend pressing, not pressuring. Be adamant with people about making a decision either way. Decide on either, Yes or No. Letting people off the hook without making a decision is not doing them any good. It’s allowing them to stay exactly in the same place with the same problems.
The sale only begins with the first objection.
People need to feel certain about YOUR product, YOU and your company before they can say YES.
Objections are not a NO;; they are simply a statement about, “I’m not 100% certain yet.”
Don’t let the Ego, resistance or the mind rob you of your sale and your clients of their transformations.
Mastering sales and handling objections, getting over your fear of failure and committing to learning what it is you don’t know can be absolutely transformational! If you’ve been shying away from starting a business or really diving into your business and taking it to the next level, then I suggest you make a decision right now to master it - no matter what. Beg, borrow and steal to get your hands on some fabulous sales training.
I have a free webinar you can watch online at TakeYourPowerBackNow.com under the $10k Formula. In the webinar, I teach entrepreneurs three simple steps to attracting more clients. I invite you to check it out. For a short time, it will be available as free training so head over there and check it out.
One of my successful clients Nicole, has mastered sales, is generating thousands in business each month confidently and consistently, had told her husband that they would be buying a house in California in the near future. Whereas before, they weren’t dreaming that in a million years they could be property owners of a house priced sky high. Now they love it there and now that Nicole is more confident about how to generate consistent income, she is showing her husband the possibilities that exist! Sales will change your life! It is the ultimate confidence building school and the only school I know where you are paid to practice!
If you’re a coach, consultant, healer, speaker, author, change agent, or want to be a sale’s expert check out my webinar training on how to BREAKTHROUGH fear and resistance so you can attract more clients and sky rocket your confidence and cash flow at TakeYourPowerBackNow.com.