When I developed the Live It Love It Sell It methodology I showed business owners how to sell in a more authentic and heart-centred way.
Human connection and, more importantly, your Unique Human Proposition (UHP®) is essential if you want to fall in love with sales. I believe anyone can sell, but understanding the following areas of your personal power increase your potential:
- Using your natural abilities
- Reframing your mindset
- Understanding why you do what you do
- Appreciating why your ideal client needs your products or services
I love talking about sales with business owners like you because this is where sales are most genuine, honest, and authentic. Entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized businesses are fuelled by passion. That passion may be a need to help other people, a necessary lifestyle change, or to free themselves from a large corporate environment.
What’s your why? (Live It)
There’s no room on your sales journey for hesitation or doubt. You need to trust yourself and believe that your core strength, purpose, and passion drive your business strategy.
To love selling, you need to start loving yourself, and that’s where understanding your why is so important. It’s what pushes you through the tough times.
Let’s explore what you’re proud of, what excites you, and what lights that spark deep inside you. My why is my passion for sales done in a human way, but we’re here to discover what YOUR why is.
Strengths – part of your why is made up of your strengths and what you bring to your business. Now is the perfect time to brainstorm your top five strengths. Does that include courage, creativity, fairness, humour, integrity, leadership, perspective, good judgement, or teamwork? If you struggle to pick five, why not ask your friends or colleagues to tell you what they believe your strengths are.
Values – once you’re clear on your strengths, you can begin exploring what feeds your soul. Your values are part of what makes you unique (your UHP®). Think about a time you were proud of what you’d achieved and capture how you felt. What values were you honouring then? You can also reflect upon a time when things weren’t so good. What did that feel like, and what values did you abandon?
You’ll hear me talking about storytelling all the time, and that’s because it’s crucial to your sales journey. To be a great storyteller, you have to connect with your ideal client that includes your strengths and values.
I talk more about using the three heavenly hormones in your storytelling techniques in my post, The Power of Storytelling to Drive Sales for Your Business.
Step into your client’s shoes (Love It)
When it comes to your ideal client, it’s as important to rule people out as much as it is to attract the new clients you want to work with. Your message and the solutions you offer will be more powerful if you’ve identified who you’re here to help.
If you’re unsure who your ideal client is, you may want to check out my easy exercise in my post How Does Your Business Look to Your Customer?
It’s vital that you step into your client’s shoes and think as they think.
- What’s it like to buy from you?
- Why would they buy from you?
- What do you offer them as a solution?
Many business owners get stuck in an ever-repeating cycle of self-doubt at this stage. “I’m not good enough!” or “What if they think I’m too expensive?” However, take a moment to remind yourself that you are also a buyer!
Exercise: What were the last three purchases you made? Why did you buy them?
Let’s explore some of the reasons your clients may buy from you:
- Necessity
- Brand
- Knowledge
- Scarcity
- New product/service
- Recommendation
- Quality
- Desire
- Personal Gain/Goals
- Happiness
Can you relate to any of these in your own recent purchases?
Now turn that around to a selling perspective. If you were in your client’s shoes which of these words would resonate for them? Are you offering a ‘One-Time-Only Deal’ that fuels feelings of scarcity? Perhaps your services attract excellent social proof and word of mouth recommendations making you the knowledgeable expert?
My mantra is ‘Life skills are sales skills’, and you can tap into this as you understand your clients’ needs and wants. Use those active life skills during your networking events – watching body language, listening, and asking questions.
When it comes to selling, you can use the same techniques to understand what makes your ideal client tick.
Reach the right destination with a sales road trip (Sell It)
In Live It we discover your purpose (why) and build confidence in storytelling. In Love It we explore the mindset behind how you sell and why your ideal client buys from you. The Sell It toolkit is where you look at your sales strategy and take control of the sales journey to reach the right destination.
Let me ask you three simple questions:
- Are you visible?
- Are you curious?
- Are you helping?
Using the skills you developed for storytelling, you can now guide your ideal client along a specific road map.
You want to show your client you’ve walked the same path and understand what they need. Your experiences build trust. Social proof and case studies are fabulous ways to share other client stories to prove they are not alone.
Let’s review the above questions again. Are you visible? Visibility is essential. Without it, your ideal client won’t know you exist. But you now know exactly what to say to your ideal client that uses your authentic human connection. Be yourself first and foremost, and then make sure you turn up wherever they are (social platforms, blog, podcasts, networking, etc.)
Are you curious? After building trust through your human connections and storytelling, you then have the opportunity to meet with your ideal client (virtually or face-to-face). This is where curiosity comes into play. Think about your end goal for this meeting or discovery call (quote for a piece of work, sell a product, join a membership, etc.), and then be curious about the needs and wants of your client as they talk to you.
You know you have the answers to your ideal client’s questions, and you’re positive that you understand your client’s why, so are you helping? At the end of any meeting with a prospective client, you can use a few fabulous closing sentences that prove to your ideal client that you’re the person for the job. ‘I can definitely help you,’ and ‘What I’m going to do for you is…’ It’s fine to tweak these sentences to match the language you would use – remember the importance of being uniquely you.
Build relationships, not sales.
When you look to improve sales in your business, it’s great to embark on the Live It Love It Sell It road trip and learn how to use your life skills to make you a natural born seller.
What next?
Join my Sales Academy and build on everything you’ve learned in this post to create success in your business and improve sales. My article, 4 Reasons Why Joining a Membership Will Help Your Business Grow, gives you more information.
“I was gifted in meeting such a genius in sales, who shares my passion working on human connection and selling with integrity! In taking part is Jules’ recent programme, I was faced with changing an old outdated sales technique that no longer fitted with my own business. I had fallen out of love with sales, due to targets and ego driven Corporates I had sold ‘my soul to’. In that week, I found new alignment and upped my game. This led me to change my strategy! This was such a game changer for me. With my own business concept waiting for approval for Dragons Den, I will be turning to this slayer for guidance to its success!” Lucinda Harman, AXIM – South Africa
Join me in the Live it Love it Sell it Sales Academy for £47 a month (£360 per annum) and get all the support, resources, and community interaction you need.
Want to find out more? Schedule a virtual cuppa with me, and we can have a chat about the membership or my other coaching services.