3 mindset shifts to master (and actually enjoy!) sales in your coaching business
Many coaches tell me they despise sales. I’ve heard it many, many times in my teaching career – even from excellent coaches with years of experience:
- “I’m terrible at sales…”
- “I could NEVER become good at sales…”
- “It always feels so forced and awkward…”
- “I feel so slimy afterwards…”
As a business owner and someone who’s had the privilege of mentoring tens of thousands of people in how to build successful life coaching businesses that create lasting, positive transformation for others…
I can tell you that sales is always going to be a part of building a successful coaching business.
There’s no way around that. You absolutely NEED to learn how to sell your services to clients effectively, if you want to build a thriving coaching business that sustains and fulfills you.
The good news is, even if you despise sales and think you’re terrible at it, I can help you!
To start, here are 3 tips that will help you overcome your “allergy” to sales, start improving your sales performance right away, and get you on the fast-track to building a thriving, heart-centered coaching business that your dream clients are beating down the doors to be a part of!
1. Reframe “selling” as “sharing and recommending” (and ultimately, serving)
Have you ever told a friend about a great movie you saw, or restaurant that you tried and loved…
…and they went and watched that movie, or ate at that restaurant?
Well, that’s heart-centered sales at work!
In neither of these situations, were you trying to manipulate your friends or convince them that they needed to go and do anything.
You were simply sharing something you were passionate about, and that you genuinely thought could help them improve their lives.
Heart-centered sales is no different.
When you speak from the heart and from a place of service, you’re not having uncomfortable “sales” calls anymore…
…you’re co-creating fun, powerful enrollment conversations about how people can use what you have to offer to step into a greater life.
2. Start with your “Why” and people will buy
In 2009, author Simon Sinek gave a TED Talk called “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.”
This fantastic TED Talk went viral quickly after, and has received more than 11 million views to date. One of the most powerful teachings from that video was this:
“People don’t buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it.”
In other words, people care more about the purpose of the company than the products themselves.
Take Apple, for example. According to Sinek:
“If Apple was like everyone else, a marketing message might be: “We make great computers. They’re user friendly. Want to buy one?”
Here’s how Apple actually communicates: “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?”
Can you feel the difference?
The bottom line is this: People want to connect with people who share similar values. We all want to feel like we’re part of a tribe, and if a product or service helps us feel that feeling, we’ll be much more likely to buy it!
Here’s how YOU can integrate this lesson into your own coaching business…
First, get clear on your “why.”
Why does your company exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? What mission are you on, and what core values do you live by? What impact do you want to have on the world?
Then, once you’re clear on your “why,” bring it to your sales discussions with potential new clients!
Doing so will shift everything in your “sales” calls. Not only will you find it easier and easier to enroll new people, but you’ll also find yourself working with more and more of your ideal clients – people who care about what you care about, and want to have a similar positive impact on the world.
3. Overcome sales-phobia with “Fear Setting”
In another popular TED Talk, author, blogger and podcast-host Tim Ferriss shares an important tool that can help you overcome the fear of making difficult choices.
He calls this tool “Fear Setting.”
What is “fear setting?” Well, you can think of it as the opposite of goal setting.
Instead of setting a goal, and then trying to avoid all your fears about doing the things required to achieve that goal (which is what most people do), you instead look at the fear head on, and ask yourself three questions:
- What are the worst things could happen?
- How do I prevent each from happening?
- If the worst happens, how can I fix it?
The great thing about this tool is that you almost always realize your fears are unfounded.
By taking the “What’s the worst that could happen?” perspective, you eliminate knee-jerk anxiety and reactions. Most importantly, you’ll often realize that the worst-case scenarios you’re so afraid of are things that are unlikely to ever happen.
As the great Mark Twain once said:
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
Try it for yourself!
You may find all your worst fears just melting away…
How to master (and actually enjoy!) sales in the next few months and beyond
Sales is one of the most common bottlenecks to success I come across in my work.
So many people dislike it, avoid it and wish it would go away.
But if you follow these three steps…
- Reframe “selling” as “sharing and recommending” (and ultimately, serving)
- Start with your “Why” and people will buy
- Overcome sales-phobia with “Fear Setting”
… then I promise you, your sales performance (and your business) will begin to skyrocket!
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If you find these tips helpful, and you’d like to learn even more…
… then you can also download this FREE eBook: How to Enroll 10 New Clients in 90 Days or Less!
In this eBook, you’ll learn how to network and promote your coaching business like a pro, and launch your business to success.
You’ll also discover the eight steps all successful, heart-centered life coaches follow to build lucrative businesses and keep them growing, year after year.
Download and read it for free today.
