0:00

There. I want to talk to you about

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what to do when you hate selling.

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Because I know that you probably feel like selling is

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not your favorite thing and you wouldn't be alone.

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So let's talk about why you don't like selling.

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Because when I look at all the reasons why

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people aren't growing their business fear of selling, fear

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of being spammy, fear of action, you're worried about

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somebody saying something horrible to you.

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You don't want to be pushy, you

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don't want to look like a pest. You don't like it when people are

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really spammy and salesy with you.

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So there are loads of reasons why you and lots

0:43

of us struggle with the idea of selling because we

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seem to have this idea that selling is like something

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that's really horrible, that's done to you.

0:53

And where, when old vacuum cleaner salesman used to put

0:57

the foot in the front door and not let you

0:59

close the door, there seems to be this absolute fear

1:03

that selling is going to be a really bad thing.

1:06

And heaven forbid somebody thinks of you as salesy.

1:10

And yet we are sold to every day, all the time.

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The things that you're scared of, the bit of

1:17

selling that you're scared of is when you've seen people doing it badly, you don't like the pushy

1:22

people, you don't like the spammy people, you don't

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like the people who make you feel like uncomfortable.

1:29

That's what you don't want to be. And that's brilliant.

1:32

I applaud you. I'm glad you don't want to be like that because you don't have to be.

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But like I said, the truth is that you're being sold to all the time.

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You just don't realize it. So every time you are on social media and you see

1:45

a picture of something that you like, you're being sold to.

1:50

Every time you scroll your feed and you

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see a testimonial and you think, oh gosh, that sounds like me, you're being sold to.

1:58

Every time you walk past a shop and you look

2:00

at the messages on the shop windows and the stuff in the shop windows, you're being sold to.

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Every time you read an email for a business, even if

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it's not a sales email, you are being sold to.

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Because what they are doing by putting their stuff

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out where you can see it, by being visible

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either in real life on the high street or

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in your inbox or on your social media feed,

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what these businesses are doing, businesses just like yours,

2:28

is they're helping you to see what they sell.

2:31

They are helping you to see how they do

2:34

business and they're just putting themselves out there so

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that you can see whether they're a good fit.

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You don't need to be overtly salesy to get sales.

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Selling is part of everyday life.

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And let me just reframe this whole selling thing.

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What I believe absolutely, and I use this a lot,

2:56

is that selling is helping when you help somebody to

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see whether they are a good fit for you.

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That is selling. Selling is helping and helping is selling.

3:08

Okay, think about it.

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Why do you buy when you are scrolling your feed,

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when you are searching on Google, when you're walking down

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a town high street, why do you buy it's?

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Usually either because, you know, you want to buy

3:23

something like I need a new handbag or I

3:26

need something for the dog or I need whatever.

3:28

So you've got a little mental shopping list and you

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go looking for it either in person or online.

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Or you see something when you're out or online and

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you think, actually I wasn't looking for that, but that looks really nice, I'm going to get it.

3:44

That will do for this or going to treat myself.

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So either way you will see something

3:50

and you decide that you want it. And either way, what you're actually looking for is

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not for somebody to come out and kind of grab you by the lapels and go buy this.

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That's not going to work. It's never worked.

4:02

It might have worked for vacuum cleaner salesmen in the 1920s or something, but

4:06

even then they weren't very popular. But that's not what works.

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You know that you don't buy from people like that.

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What you're actually looking for when you are buying something is to be helped.

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Because what you need to know is, is it right for me?

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Is it what I'm looking for? You're looking for information.

4:25

You are looking for recommendations and reviews.

4:29

You're looking for descriptions and examples

4:32

and maybe measurements and maybe suggestions.

4:36

You're looking to find the right option for you and to

4:41

make sure that you buy the right product or service.

4:45

Right? That's what we do when we're buying something.

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Whether it's something we're already looking for or we

4:50

just happen to see something and think, oh, let me go and have a look at that.

4:53

We're trying to see whether it's right for us.

4:56

And none of those businesses that we see when we're out

5:00

and about or we are scrolling our feeds, they're not spamming

5:03

us and putting their foot in our front door.

5:06

They're just being findable.

5:08

They're showing up where you are looking.

5:11

They're being helpful. They're giving you information so that

5:14

you can make a decision. They're making it easy for you to

5:18

buy and you can do that.

5:23

Selling is just helping. It's about being findable and giving people enough

5:27

information for them to be able to buy.

5:31

Helping is all you're doing and

5:34

you're selling without overtly selling.

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So that thing that you're scared of, of being

5:39

seen as a pest or a spammer or being

5:42

rejected, all of those things, they don't come into

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it when you're selling, it's a different vibe altogether.

5:49

So when you share a photo of a

5:52

product that you're working on or something that you've just finished, then you're helping people see

5:57

it and accidentally you're selling it.

6:01

So I often will scroll social media and I

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will see something that appears in my feed and

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they might say, oh, look what I've just finished.

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And there might be no sales message.

6:14

They're just sharing something they've done. And I'll go, oh, that looks really nice.

6:17

Let me find out more. So I will click through to their Facebook page or

6:21

their Insta, I will click through the links and maybe

6:24

go to their website or their Etsy shop and I

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will do my own little bit of research because they've

6:29

shown me something and I like it. And they're being helpful by giving

6:32

me links to go and follow. So whenever you share a photo of a product

6:38

that you stock or that you've made, you are

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helping me see whether it's right for me.

6:44

Whenever you share a review or a

6:48

testimonial, what you're doing is helping.

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It's not selling. You're accidentally selling without selling.

6:55

You're sharing helpful information because

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by sharing reviews and testimonials,

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you're saying, look, this works.

7:02

People love it. This is what other people think about it.

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So I can tell you but I sell it. So I'm biased, but this is

7:08

what my customers say about it.

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So it's third party. It's what we call social proof.

7:14

So you're helping people make a decision as

7:17

to whether it's right for them or not.

7:19

So you're selling because you're making it easy to buy.

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Whenever you answer a customer inquiry by text

7:24

or by email or on messenger, you are

7:28

helping people make the decision to buy.

7:30

So you're selling, but you're helping in the process.

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When you share examples of how people are using

7:37

your products and services, you're helping people make a

7:39

decision as to whether or not to buy.

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So you're selling without being salesy because you're helping.

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Do you see how this is going? And here's another one.

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When you make yourself referable by becoming well

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known for something, you are selling by being

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easily referable without even having to be salesy.

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So when I was looking at when I've been helping some

8:03

of my clients in my training course, we were working on

8:07

this with some of them, and I had a lady who

8:11

we decided that her referral phrase, I guess we're going to

8:15

call it, is, I help new build.

8:18

So new build owners turn their blank

8:20

garden into a piece of their holiday.

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So what she does is she works with new build owners

8:25

and they get like a patch of grass and some paving

8:28

slabs and she can help them turn it into a little

8:31

piece of Greece or a little piece of Spain or whatever.

8:34

That's one of the things she does. I've got another client who helps

8:38

nervous riders of a certain age. So she's dealing with people maybe my age to

8:43

get over their fears and enjoy riding again.

8:45

And she helps people become more confident with riding.

8:48

I've got another lady who helps menopausal,

8:52

women, menopausal, business owners with brain fog,

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it's a very specific thing. So, you'll know, if you've had

8:59

menopause brain fog oh my goodness. And you're trying to run a business.

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So she helps women with menopausal brain fog to

9:05

set up systems to help them run their business,

9:07

even when they're having a bad day. Do you see how these are really easy to refer?

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You will know if that's right for you or one of your friends and family, won't you?

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So that's another way that you can sell without selling, because you're helping.

9:20

You're making people go and go, oh, actually,

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I know that's what my sister needs. So everything that you do online and offline,

9:29

when you're talking about your business or you're

9:31

representing your business, is helping and selling.

9:35

It's showing people who you are and what

9:38

you do so they can make a decision and see whether you are right for them.

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So don't think about selling as being spammy.

9:46

It doesn't work anyway. Don't think about selling as being

9:49

these pushy, high pressure sales tactics.

9:51

They don't work on you, they're not

9:53

going to work on anybody else. Of course you're not going to do that.

9:56

Instead, you need to talk about your business

9:59

all the time with passion and excitement.

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Because when you talk about things that you're doing with passion and excitement, it's infectious.

10:09

Enthusiasm is infectious.

10:12

And people love the idea that

10:16

you love what you're doing. They love to see what you're up to

10:18

and you build a relationship with them. You turn from being this stranger on the Internet

10:22

to being this amazing business owner who sells fantastic

10:26

services or creates or sells beautiful products.

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And by talking about what you do, by sharing what you

10:34

do, you are helping people to make a decision to buy.

10:37

It's the same with when they're googling the

10:40

words that you put on your website, you're not there going buy buy buy!

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You're giving people enough information to be

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able to make a decision to buy.

10:48

And remember, just to reframe this.

10:51

Selling is not a dirty word. Selling is what businesses do.

10:55

If you're making things or providing services and not

10:58

selling, then you're not a business, you're a charity,

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or you're just a really nice person who's giving things away because you've got so much money you

11:06

don't know what to do with, and you're doing it out of the goodness of your heart.

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Every business has to make a profit. That's what makes them a business

11:12

as opposed to an expensive hobby.

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So selling is what businesses do.

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But it doesn't have to be bad selling. It doesn't have to be

11:20

spammy, horrible, uncomfortable selling.

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It is just helping. And remember that your buyers, your audience,

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they're expecting you to sell stuff.

11:30

They're expecting you to give them an idea

11:33

of what they sell, of what you sell, and they're expecting you to tell them the

11:37

price and they're expecting you to help them.

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So if they say, Is this right for me? They're expecting you to help them say yes or no.

11:44

It's right for me. Or it's not that's selling.

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It doesn't have to be horrible. It doesn't have to be the thing that makes you

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come out in hives or hide behind the sofa.

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It doesn't have to be any of those things. Selling is helping.

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It's actually just you sharing what you love.

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Helping people make a choice and giving people

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the right people a chance to buy.

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That's all it is. You can do that.