The Fierce Business Babe Podcast Ep 131: My 3 Biggest Sales Mistakes
Today I am going to be diving into how you can love selling in your business and my three biggest sales mistakes that I have made over the years so that you can avoid making these mistakes and love selling daily in your business.
My 3 Biggest Sales Mistakes
By: Melissa Lin
Today I'm going to be diving into my three biggest sales mistakes that I have made over the years and I may even add a few bonus tips for you at the end. You probably know that I absolutely love selling and if you're wondering why it's because I know that selling is serving and helping others get more of what they want, which is to start or scale their online coaching or service based businesses. Now, the question is how do you feel about selling? If you're not quite in love with selling like I am or sales yet, don't you worry, we're going to be diving into some sales today.
Start with a Sales Mindset
Okay, here we go. Now, before I share my three biggest sales mistakes, I do want to touch on mindset just for a minute because mindset is so huge, especially when it comes to business and sales. So we cannot become better at sales until we change our beliefs and our stories around sales, because they directly affect how good we are at selling, believe it or not, they do. For example, if we believe that promoting is bad, you will subconsciously avoid doing it. So check in with yourself, take a second or two right now, check in with yourself. How do you really feel about selling? Do you feel that it's sleazy? Do you beat around the bush when asking for the sale? I know some people do, you know, do you avoid following up with people so that you can avoid potential rejection? Like how do you feel about it? What does your stomach truly feel about selling and sales?
Now, however you do feel about selling, you know, that was brought to you through an experience or a story that you've told yourself. So how about we start to shift and reframe some of them? You know, selling is helping, it truly is, selling a serving. Money is an infinite resource. People can get it back. They can always get more of it and you're not taking without giving, right? You are giving them a life-changing service. You're not stealing from them. You're not robbing from them. You're not forcing anybody to do anything. So start to shift your stories and reframe, for example, like I am not sleazy. I am also a salesperson, right? Reframe those stories. Get rid of the stories that just aren't serving you anymore. Life is so short. Let's start to shift. Let's start to reframe right now. Just keep in mind, you know, promoting yourself is necessary to run a business. You are here with the business. It is absolutely necessary and without promoting, nobody will know that you have anything to offer. Nobody will know how they can buy something from you and therefore you won't have a business. You'll just have a hobby or an idea.
So if we think that we're ripping people off or that our services aren't enough, we're not going to want to promote. Then, if you do get on a sales call, you're going to avoid handling objections because deep down self-consciously you think that they're right. So start with a sales mindset, your sales mindset, before we start tweaking any of your current strategies, right. If you were going through sales right now. If you're hopping on sales calls and you're following scripts, you're doing all the strategies really ask yourself how you actually feel. How do you feel about the service that you're selling? How do you feel about your sales mindset? If those feel off at all, right, that feeling in your stomach, then we get to work on those, if you don't truly believe in your offer and what you're selling, you're not gonna be able to sell very well. That's just how it's going to be at the end of the day. If you, you know, feel that sales is sleazy, you're also not going to do a great job at selling, right? There's so much happening subconsciously when it comes to that.
Mistake #1: Reading the Script Verbatim
Now, here we go for real this time. So my three biggest sales mistakes that I have made. Over the many years that I've been running a business now, mistake number one, I remember doing this the very beginning. I probably did this about the first six months or so I was doing sales calls in my business. My mistake number one; reading the script verbatim, reading my sales script verbatim and having it printed it out in front of me. Like I remember printing out my script and having it in front of me, I had things highlighted for what I was going to say and giving some space for me taking notes on what they were going to say, which I definitely feel is, you know, that is important. Take notes on what you know is happening in the conversation, pain points, pleasure points, struggles, where they want to be, that type of thing. But, you also don't need to read your script word for word. The reason why it was a mistake for me was I was too focused on me. I was way too focused on myself on the sales call and I was not shining my flashlight or focusing on this potential client in front of me. When we're worried about what we're going to say, or maybe what we're going to forget to say, you know, or maybe we, you know, don't want to miss X, Y, Z, on this, we're focusing on ourselves. When that happens, We get to turn it around, focus on your potential client, because when that happens, you're not stressed about what you're going to say. You're not going to say anything wrong, cause you're focusing on them. You know, determine whether your program would be a good fit for them, help them determine what it is that they truly want, help them determine what it is they truly need or don't need. That's what the call is about.
For me, once I started to make that shift and not focus on myself so much in the call, that's when everything started to click, that's when everything worked. So definitely one of my biggest mistakes when I first started, I do not read scripts anymore when I hop on sales calls and I definitely recommend you feeling so great about your sales process before hopping on that call, you can definitely have it in front of you and take notes. I always have my notebook, I'm always taking notes and jotting notes for myself of my call with that person, because they can potentially be a future client. So I want to make sure I have our notes for our beginning phone call.
Mistake #2: Being Attached to the Outcome
Okay. So mistake number two. Again, these are my mistakes that I made. And this one, I have a feeling you may relate to this, or some of you are going to relate to this. My second mistake in sales was being attached to the outcome. I know for many entrepreneurs, this can be very difficult to detach from and I want to talk about this for a minute, because this has a huge effect on how your business is going to run and how sales happens.
Now for way too many years, I did not understand that rejection had no meaning, like zero meaning towards my business. I took everything personally. Maybe you can relate as well. Like I'm an Enneagram type three, I am a recovering people pleaser and I took everything personally. Every “no” that came my way hurt. It like truly hurt me and I let it affect my day. Does it anymore? No, not anymore. I've been working on this for years to not let it affect me.
So big question is "What happens if we are attached to the outcome?" So here's just an example, just a random example. If you have, let's say maybe three sales calls booked back to back. If you like to batch your items, like your coaching calls, your sales calls, I love batching things back to back. So if you do as well, maybe you have three back to back calls and let's say you hop in that first sales call and they're just not the right fit. So it ends up being a no. If you are attached to the outcome and they don't want to work with you, or you don't feel it's the right fit, it's no, at the end of the day, it's most definitely going to affect the next two sales calls and probably the rest of your day, to be honest. So we get to detach. Know that them saying no or it not being that right time says nothing about you or your business. One thing we get to keep in mind is that we're not the center of our potential client's universe. So if someone doesn't follow up with you or get back to you right away, like it's not the end of the world. Just know when it's going to be the right time, it's going to all come together. The universe has its plan set in place. Does that mean we get to not follow up? Definitely not, but we get to detach from the outcome, from whatever does happen. As long as you, of course, are handling the objections and having those conversations, just know, if it is a no that's okay. All right. I've heard so many no’s. I still hear no’s today and that's okay. They're just not always the best fit for my program or I also may not be the best fit for them as a coach and that's okay as well, because I'm detached from the outcome. So start practicing detaching from the outcome.
Mistake #3: Justifying My Price
Okay, so we've got mistake number one, we've got mistake number two. Now, let's get to mistake number three, which I have a feeling you may also relate to. My mistake number three, back in the day, was trying to justify my price. Have you done this before? What was happening was when I was on sales calls, you know, after sharing about my program or offering an invitation into my program, sharing the investment, you know, I let the potential client soak in the price point. We don't need to start talking their ears off and trying to justify our price point and why it's that price.This sends off a negative energy and you don't need to justify your price to anybody, you're already worthy. You are already proven, your price is your price and you get to call the shots and you get to increase them whenever you want to.
So those are my big three mistakes. And if you relate to any of these, send me a message on Instagram. We'd love to chat with you about this. I've been there. I've worked through all of this and it's definitely taken me years to get to this point where I'm so obsessed with selling and just serving and love what I do so much.. I mean, I've always loved what I do, but getting into the point of loving to sell and knowing that selling is serving.
Bonus Tips
Okay. So I mentioned at the beginning that I might have some bonus tips for you. So I'm going to go through just a few bonus tips for you because I know we were talking about sales calls and sales conversations. So I definitely went through my three mistakes and gave some tips and things like that. But here's some bonus tips because, why not? Why not share some more? So I want to go through just three ways to really raise your energy and have high vibes before a sales call or maybe a sales conversation. If you're selling in the DMs, which we do a lot of as well in most of our programs, we don't hop on sales calls unless it's for our higher level mastermind or private coaching. So here are a few things that I want to share with you. Just a few quick tips to get you ready for your next sales call or a conversation in the DMs. Cause again, sales is sales.
It's About You Liking Them
Now, remember when you're selling it's not necessarily about them liking you. It's about you liking them, right? This is where a role reversal is the win. You always get to choose if you want to work with someone, right. If someone comes your way and you don't feel they're a fit, you don't have to say yes to them. You don't need to work with them. Like you started your business and started this adventure because you wanted to work with dream clients.You wanted to love what you do when you wake up every single morning. That doesn't mean you need to work with clients that don't excite you. Not everyone's going to be a fit for you, and that's okay. You're not going to be a fit for everyone as well.
Now, we're available for those soulmate clients. I want to share an example with you. I Have so many examples and this example still cracks me up. I was on a sales call with a potential client that we had prescheduled. It goes in both of our calendars and I always share, like “My time is extremely valuable and your time is extremely valuable. Please ensure that you're in a quiet place, that you are fully attentive and are ready for this call” and this potential client answers the call and is literally at the grocery store and I could hear the checkout person on the other line. So I could hear that checkout person checking this potential client out, so I knew right away this was not going to be a perfect client for me. And that's okay. Definitely did not offer that person an invitation to my program at that time. Down the road, possibly. However, right at that time, if someone isn’t going to be willing to be with me fully, how's it going to be like in a program with me? So I get to attract and I get to work with so many clients. Again, it's also about you liking them. You get to interview. That's what your sales calls are for is that interview process.
Review Applications BeforeThe Call
My second tip is to review the applications before you hop on your sales calls with potential clients. Have it pulled up in front of you. I've always have notes written down. I like to print mine out. So I usually print type forms out and things like that. If we're about to hop on a sales call or if I'm chatting with someone on the DMs and pre-qualifying them for my other programs, I always have notes about them. Like in our lead tracker, I'm always taking heavy notes so that I really know, like, whether they're a great fit or not for my programs. Review the application and have it pulled up in front of you and get it ready to go.
Get Into A High Vibe State
The next tip I want to share is. Really just take a moment to feel into what it would be like to help them get to where they want to go. Get so excited because you're about to potentially transform their lives and create this huge impact for them. So go get excited about it. I love doing little things before sales calls, just to hype myself up, to get into that high vibe state, that high vibe energy. I love to dance, go on a quick walk, or lots of cuddles with Pearl. Do something that's going to make you feel good and get you into a high energy state.
Set The Tone For The Call
So this actually might be a fourth tip, but I'm going to go with it anyways because I can't not share. Uh, fourth tip is: when you get on a conversation or a sales call. Set the tone for it, right? When you get on the phone or on zoom and wherever you're hosting your sales calls, set the tone, right? You are the one leading the call, so you get to set the tone. It doesn't get to be all up in the air, you know? Greet the potential client and set the tone for the call with them, know what to expect. So they know what's going to go down on the call, set the tone for the call.
So, those are my big three mistakes I made in sales over the years. If any of those are things that you've done in the past and you relate to, send me a message on Instagram @TheMelissaLin, we can definitely swap more stories and tips to help you overcome these mistakes.
Thank you for hanging out with me today. I am always going to be your biggest cheerleader, so you taking the time to hang out with me truly means the world to me. Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram and share your biggest takeaways, opinions, anything. I’ll see you next time!
Topics we cover include:
Sales Mindset
Don’t Read Your Script Verbatim
Not Being Attached To The Outcome
Justifying Your Price
Bonus Tips
And so much more!
Times to check out:
(5:44) Start with a Sales Mindset
(9:33) Mistake #1: Reading the Script Verbatim
(12:27) Mistake #2: Being Attached to the Outcome
(16:06) Mistake #3: Justifying my price
(17:49) Bonus Tips
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