Stop Being Sales-y (and sell more)

Stop Being Sales-y (and sell more)

TRANSCRIPTION

Hello and welcome to another episode of the “S” Word LIVE.

My name is Renee Hribar, sales strategist, TEDx speaker and author, and I am coming to you live today to stop being sales-y but still sell more. How do you do that? Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever felt. Oh, geez, I don’t want to send that email or I don’t want to send that PM or DM. I don’t want him to think that I’m being too sales-y if I post about it again. Geez, they’re going to think I’m being super sales-y. So if you’ve ever felt like, oh, goodness gracious, I don’t want to be sales-y. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever felt like that. So I have clients that tell me that they feel like that all the time. So if you have felt like that, you are definitely not alone. And having been in the sales world for the last 25 years, I can tell you that I work with a lot of experts and even women that have 10, 20, 30 years of experience in their field and have amazing offers to share with the world, still feel a little tentative that they might not be enough. So let’s dive into this topic is it’s definitely a thick one. So if you’ve ever felt. Oh, my goodness. I don’t want to be sales-y, but you still want to sell more. The idea here is to find that key balance between promotion, giving and inviting. Right. So let me ask you this. Have you ever had that? I know I do that. Uncle, I have an Uncle Jimmy who. Well, you know, no matter what he calls, it’s only when he wants something. He wants to borrow something. He needs to. He needs us to give him something. Right. So we don’t want to be.

Do you have anybody like that? That’s like that uncle or that friend or that person. You know, you don’t want to be that person who only sends an email when they’re launching a new program. You don’t want to be that person that you only see them in their newsfeed when they’re trying to sell you something. Right. So do you know anybody like that where you only see emails, posts or you only get a call from them when they need something from you? Let me know in the comments if you ever have felt that you know someone like that, because we definitely don’t want to be that person. Whenever I see my Uncle Tim’s number come through, I’m like either somebody died or he wants to borrow the truck. Right. I mean, that’s basically it’s like eye roll. So because most of us have that experience of feeling like that, that there’s someone in our life who is that way. We’re very aware that we don’t want to be that way. So when it comes to selling for ourselves as coaches, consultants, done-for-you service providers, agency owners, we are acutely aware that there is a fine line between over asking and not asking enough. The challenge is where is it? So I want to give you three key very specific milestones to consider when making that decision. And this is something that I talk to my clients about all of the time. So the number one  thing is definitely stop being too sales-y. In other words, don’t only communicate with people that are in your audience, in your group, in your email, social posts when you want something or when you’re selling something. So I have, for example, this one particular client who’s like, I’m not selling anything right now.

I’m like, OK, you still need to connect with your audience and communicate with them and continue to ask them questions to put in the effort. Right. We’ve all been in relationships where it felt one sided. Well, this is the same way. You and your audience, you are in a relationship. You’re welcome.

Congratulations. Did you change your relationship status on your social media? Hello, Irena. Hello, Erin. Nice to see you. Say hello as you join. Thank you all for joining live, whether you’re listening live or on the replay. Say hello for sure and help me along with answering these questions because it oftentimes feels like we’re alone, like we’re the only one that feels this way or the only one this is happening to. And clearly, I can tell you this other case. So that’s the number one thing is definitely don’t only show up when you want something. Number two, give value. Well, this is something I’m saying, but also have 300000 other people today said the same thing. Give value. What does that mean exactly? Well, I. Like I said before, I work with a lot of experts. I mean, they forget on a daily basis more than most people will ever know about the topic that they are an expert in. For me, it’s sales for Irena, it’s energy coaching. For Erin it’s Disney World. So those particular people that I work with, for example, they are so elevated with their depth and breadth of knowledge that when I say give value to them, they want to talk for thirty five minutes about a one on one topic.

When in reality, the person that’s on the other side in their audience, they really only need three or five minutes of that same topic condensed. And bullet point it out. So, for example, when I work with someone and even like these S-word live shows, I am giving lots of value. I’m giving you scenarios. I’m giving you questions to ask yourself. I’m giving you frameworks, perspectives to consider. That’s all important to begin the thought process, to make the decisions so that you can stop being sales-y and sell more at the same time. So this is giving value. This is my way. The “S” Word LIVE show is mine. When I work with clients, I call it anchor content and it’s something that I created and coined when I was figuring out how to teach women how to give value. What does it actually mean? So for me, I spend up to 10 minutes a week giving fresh live conversations, specific scenarios about one topic that I keep hearing over and over again from that week of working with my clients, one on one in my mastermind and in my programs. So that is what I’m doing. So what does it look like for you? It oftentimes is you framing a specific scenario, having an analogy, having a question that you have seen come up often that week with your own clients and work and then posing it to your audience saying, here’s a scenario.

What would you do? Have you ever felt this way? Here are some questions that I went through with my clients this week to help them come to the same conclusion. So in this case, with giving value, It’s oftentimes what you know, it’s hey, if you had this scenario, have you considered this? So in your case, what is that This? Maybe you have a freebie. Maybe you have a blog post. Maybe you have people that ask you questions in your audience. That is where I would start to give value. Say, here’s the question. Here’s what I think of it. Here’s why I think it’s so important. And here is what you should do next to be able to continue the conversation with me. And so that is what we call a call to action. And it’s always at the end of our blog posts, our podcasts and our livestreams. So that being said, that is number two, give value.

Now, number three, this is the one that everybody starts quaking in their boots about and that is invite, invite. Eventually you do have things to sell. Like my one client as I’m not selling anything right now. Hey, I get it.

You still are nurturing. You’re giving value. But when you are ready to invite sending out that email, posting that post on social media channels, PMing certain people and personally inviting them to do conversations about an offer you might have that is only appropriate when you’ve built the value and right.

When you’ve built that relationship when you show up. So you’re showing up consistently, giving value, having conversations, connecting with your people. This is why I love having a Facebook group. This is why I love having an email list. This why I love having an audience on social media, because I can continue to give value to you so that when I do have an invitation to a retreat that I’m running or a mastermind or a new offer, at least you’re willing to listen, because I don’t only show up just so offer you things, right.

It’s not always a hook and a bait and a switch and a hey, buy this thing, there is a ton of value. If you’re getting this too. If you’re getting this. I get this all the time. Hey, Renee, I learned so much from you from just your free content. Thank you so much. I’m already making progress. I can’t wait to see what your paid programs look like. I’m looking forward to being the net person in the future. So, like, that’s the kind of advice that I can give you. If you’re doing it right, there’s a little litmus test. If you’re doing it right and only inviting after you’ve given value, you will get conversations like that coming your way.

So hello. Hello. Irena. Hello, Linda. Nice to see you. Thank you again for joining me live. Say hello in the comments and as you follow along with these three key components to stop being sales-y and still sell more. Let me know in the comments or questions come up for you. Of course, you know, comments are comments and this will live a long time, you can always reach out. Guess what? Get on my email list. Even if you don’t want that freebie, get on my email as I email them all the time. Follow the bot that I have. I’m going to continue to communicate with you about giving value and the offers that come up when you wanna be the first to know.

And that’s what you should be sharing with your audience too. Hey, listen, I promise I will show up and give value. All you have to do is continue the conversation with me, and when you’re ready, we can figure out how we can help each other’s businesses. And remember that every person you’re connecting with in your audience isn’t always gonna be a paying client. Some of them are fantastic collaborators and connectors for other projects that you hadn’t even thought of yet. So be open to all the possibilities and continue the conversation. I’m so excited to see you here. Have a great week. And I’ll see you guys next week.