Queasy About Selling? Do These 3 Things Instead

If you’re an entrepreneur – you’re a sales person. There is no way around it. This can be quite jarring for a lot of brand new business owners. New entrepreneurs typically start a business because they are passionate about the problem they solve and want to work for themselves. 

What they forget, is that they have to sell. 

Lisa Sasevich, the author of Meant For More, is an international business coach who has made over $40 million in sales and supported over 15,000 clients across the globe on how to sell and not feel slimy about it. 

If you are feeling queasy about selling, Lisa is a master at giving you a new lens to look through. Here are her top 3 tips for selling your products and services, while feeling good about it. 

1. Focus On Outcomes, Not Deliverables

“When it comes time to make the offer, it’s common to switch into “sales mode” and focus more on the deliverables than on the outcome the client will get from saying yes,” says Sasevich. “To make the offer truly irresistible, try focusing 90% of your presentation on the outcome or transformation your client will enjoy and only 10% on the details of the delivery. Always keep in mind, they are buying the destination, not the plane. It’s a mistake to keep selling the plane.”

Go through your sales pitch, website copy and marketing materials to see if you are indeed selling the plane. If so, it’s time for a revision. 

2. Focus On The Cost Of Not Moving Forward

“It’s common practice to focus on features and benefits when selling. But that can quickly turn into white noise in your clients mind as it’s likely they’ve thought these things through and it doesn’t always strike a personal chord. If you want to hit some notes that they’ll take notice of and remember, focus on the cost to your potential client NOT accepting your offer,” advises Sasevich. “Make sure to include financial costs but take it wider too. What are the costs, including time, money, energy, frustration, missed opportunity, vitality… the list goes on. This is the key to high-ticket selling, and of course, it works wonders at lower price points as well.”

Opportunity cost is a real thing, so make sure you’re talking about how much it will cost if they don’t do business with you.

3. Put Them In Pursuit Mode

“When your offer is truly irresistible, it will invite pursuit instead of putting you in pursuit mode. And let’s face it, pursuit mode is not a powerful position for any of us. So how do you invite pursuit? One strategy is to make sure that you always include a limiter when you make your offer. A common limiter you can use in just about any situation is a time limiter. Time limiters include deadlines like deciding today, this week, this month or by our next meeting,” notes Sasevich. 

If you focus on the outcome, help them see the cost of not accepting the offer and then add a time limiter that designates a specified amount of time they have to accept the offer and receive special pricing, extra service or some kind of value added bonus that they’re really hungry for, it allows you to stay in service while they sort out their go-forward plan. 

“The key to using limiters without seeming pushy or salesy is that you always want to justify why you have that limiter with an authentic reason. For example, ‘If you’re ready to move forward today I can offer you a fast action scholarship of 20%. I always like to acknowledge my most decisive clients that way. It saves us a lot of back and forth and I’m happy to pass on that savings to you!’”

You simply can’t have a business without sales, but selling doesn’t have to feel slimy. With these tips, you can feel authentic and genuine in selling your products and services. Go sell!