Ask the Sales Trainer … 

Dear Tish,
I don’t want to make sales calls because I don’t want to come off salesy.
From Squeamish salesperson

Dear Squeamish, 

I believe “salesy” is a mindset. What I mean is that your fear, your experience, or your expectation may cause you to believe that others will perceive you as insincere and/or aggressive when you are presenting your products or services.

Instead of creating the connections, you should be cultivating the things you say to yourself, such as, “I don’t want to call them back because I don’t want to bug them, I don’t want to seem sleezy, etc.” Therefore, YOU DO NOTHING and you suffer, which means your business suffers, and then you consider yourself a failure. 

Here are three things to do that will improve your sales mindset:

Stop trying to predict what they are going to say, how they’re going to respond and if they’re going to accept or reject what you have to offer. When you make these predictions, you won’t even initiate the conversation because you will have determined all that before one question has even been asked.

Think differently. What if you acknowledge the fact that you have the solution? You have the ability to solve a problem for the people that you are working with and for the people with whom you desire to work. 

Keep your eyes open for buying signals. Someone might be giving you buying signals and, because you’ve determined that you don’t want to bother them — you don’t want to be salesy — you’ll miss the buying signals and thereby miss the opportunity.

If, for instance, someone says, “I love the necklace you are wearing,” and you just happen to make jewelry, you miss the opportunity when you don’t say, “Oh, I made this. I have a business and I am a jewelry designer.”

They’ve already given you a buying signal. They’ve already told you that they’re interested in what you have to offer. I am not recommending that you say, “Hey, I’d love to sell you one!” Instead, you’d say, “I actually make these. I create custom jewelry.” And the next thing they’re probably going to say is, “Oh, my God, do you have a business card? Do you have a website? Can I ask you a little bit more about what you do? I have a gift I’d like to buy. I’m looking for something for a special occasion.” 

Respond in kind. You now have a conversation that’s very organic, that doesn’t feel salesy. 

Think about it this way: There’s an elderly lady standing on the street corner, looking for someone to help her cross the street. She’s already on the street corner, she’s already decided that she wants to get across the street. Would you walk by that lady and say, “I don’t want to bother her,” or would you say, “Hi, ma’am. Can I help you cross the street?”

Once again, you didn’t go to her house, force her to come to the corner, and then beg her to get across the street. She’s already on the corner, she’s already looking for assistance to get across. Your job is to help her cross the street. In your business, your job is to help your prospective clients to cross the street, help them to achieve what they already desire, and just don’t know who can help them. YOU have the solution.

Remember, salesy is a mindset. Reject that mindset and embrace the fact that you’re there to help the people who need you the most.

Tish Times is the founder of Tish Times Sales Agency. For more than 10 years, Times has been empowering business owners to create revenue-generating business connections, shorten the sales cycle and close sales with ease. You can find her at www.TishTimes.com.