Selling. Sales. Marketing.
Ugh. I have never been a salesperson. When I was in the first grade, my elementary school sent us door to door to sell jars of spices. The salesperson for the fundraising company had made a presentation to the entire school. We were to tell people we were selling “cry-proof onions” (dried onions) and other such cheeky claims. I thought it was stupid. My little brother, on the other hand, loved it! We’d set out together, and at each house, he’d trot out a cute little soliloquy that caused the people to smile and laugh and say, “Sure! I’ll take two! Oh, and one from your sister,” as I stood off to the side with a scowl on my face that would cause the devil himself to recoil in horror.
Yeah, selling and me never really got along. Fast forward to 2016, when I started my own business. Obviously, now I was going to have to sell my services. How was I going to do that?
Here are three philosophies on selling that helped me turn the tide and embrace it!
Christy Wright “Selling is Serving”
I had been in business for about a year when a revolutionary book was published. Business Boutique - A Woman’s Guide for Making Money Doing What She Loves by Christy Wright helped me move my beginning business forward by giving me the concept of “serving” instead of “selling.” In her book, Christy says, “The work of selling is more about building relationships with the right people in the right way” and also, “Don’t sell anything. Just share your heart.” When I was doing tax returns at CPA firms, I always felt sorry for small businesses that would bring in boxes of receipts but no other financial records. My heart went out to these folks. Their business was their baby, and they poured their heart and soul into it, but with no financial records, they were missing out on growth opportunities and tax deductions all over the place! By serving these clients with bookkeeping help, I get to help two businesses flourish - theirs and mine!
Zig Ziglar “In the heart of your sales career is honesty”
I’m probably showing my age here, but one of the biggest names in selling and motivational speaking for the last half of the 20th century was Zig Ziglar. He passed away in 2012 after an illustrious career spanning more than 50 years and writing more than 48 books on speaking and sales. I picked up a copy of his Secrets of Closing the Sale as I was learning to market myself and my business. The biggest takeaway I had from his writing is that honesty MUST be part of the sales process. He believed that if you truly did not believe in what you were selling, then you couldn’t sell it. This knowledge gave me permission to stop feeling guilty for not wanting to sell “cry-proof onions” back in the 1st grade!
He also believed the flip side: “If you believe your product or service can fulfill a true need, it’s your moral obligation to sell it.” I truly believe that every business owner needs and deserves to have good financial records and know where their business stands financially at any point in time. Keeping this knowledge to myself would be doing a disservice to anyone else embarking on the roller coaster ride of small business ownership.
Jack Canfield “SWSWSWSW”
I honestly don’t know much about Jack Canfield, but I heard a quote of his on a podcast and it has changed my view of sales ever since. The full quote is this:
“SWSWSWSW Whenever you ask anyone for anything, remember the following: SWSWSWSW, which stands for “some will, some won’t; so what—someone’s waiting.” Some people are going to say yes, and some are going to say no. So what! Out there somewhere, someone is waiting for you and your ideas. It is simply a numbers game. You have to keep asking until you get a yes.” - Jack Canfield
When you are selling something … anything, you will get rejected at least once, and often multiple times. Whether you are selling products from a cart on the street or pitching an executive in the boardroom, at some point, someone will tell you, “no.” No one likes to hear the word “no” but learning how to handle a “no” is critical to moving forward and on to the next sale. This philosophy has helped me dust myself off, put myself back out there, and find the next client who will be helped tremendously by my services. The client who will say, “What do people do who don’t have you?” Now THAT’S a good feeling!
Selling, in general, has gotten a bad rap because so many salespeople do not follow the principles I’ve mentioned above. If you are just starting a business, you are probably wrestling with these same fears. I’ll address more of these over the coming months, so sign up for my newsletter to find out how I’ve handled this aspect of small business ownership.