What does selling mean to you?
Whether you’re an established coach or an aspiring online entrepreneur, in order to be successful in the coaching industry, selling your program is a must and learning how to sell will always be part of the game.
So what does selling mean exactly?
Sa Tagalog, magbenta.
Or a straightforward, dictionary definition of selling would be:
“To give something to someone in return for money.”
However, no matter how simple selling really is, why are most people uncomfortable with selling?
If you feel that way, there’s nothing wrong. But before we even teach you how to sell, you must first understand what selling really means, study your own perceptions and know the common factors that hold most of us back from being successful in sales.
Below are the common reasons why you are afraid to sell:
- Wrong perception about “selling”
From way back then, I was browsing through job openings published in the Sunday broadsheet of Manila Bulletin. Being fresh from college (and didn’t know any better), I saw ‘Account Manager’ at sabi ko sa ate ko,”Uy pwede ito!”.
Pero sagot ng ate ko, “Ay wag dyan. Magbebenta ka lang dyan.”
Needless to say, selling was a looked-down profession by family and friends, and selling profession is perceived as the path paved for those who didn’t finish school and had no better options.
- Bad experience with pushy salespeople
One way or another, we all had bad experiences with pushy salespeople and their ‘switch and bait’ tactics.
While strolling at Megamall, my girlfriend (now wife) was lured and ‘kidnapped’ by such salesmen. For three hours, under a high-pressure environment, they push you to immediately buy and use your ATM or credit card to pay for whatever it is that they’re selling at that moment.
- Fear of rejection
Because we don’t want our egos hurt, as simple as that, nobody likes to be rejected.
Now as coaches, your mission is to help your clients get results (and not to overwhelm them with information and with many things to do).
And fact is, if you can’t sell, your coaching program is worthless. You didn’t accomplish your mission to help, and nobody benefits.
How can you help people if they are not enrolling in your program? And how can you make people join your program? Simple. By learning how to sell.
To overcome your fear of selling, we must redefine together its real and positive meaning.
Redefining “Selling”
Selling means educating people to make the right decision.
After ten long years, you’re now in the market for a new TV. So you visited an appliance store and you met several salespeople from different brands. As you go shopping, you have many questions lingering in your head.
Since budget isn’t the only consideration you have, you would appreciate knowing and learning all the TV features and benefits that you would need and want for your lifestyle.
One of the traits of a good salesman is he asks the right questions. Size? Is it for work or leisure? Do you like to watch Netflix or movies with it?
Once those questions are answered, you as a consumer, would already know the right TV set for you.
This practice is far from ABC, or what is known as ‘Always Be Closing’ in traditional sales, where each customer encounter is treated like a numbers game, instead of considering their unique needs.
So on the flipside, real and positive selling means there’s no force or manipulation, but rather giving them all the information that they need about your offer so they can make the best and right decisions for themselves.
Selling is a demonstration of how your offer will improve a prospect’s life in a tangible (or intangible) way
This is very important. Selling is not only about making money. More than that, it’s showing your prospects a preview of how your offer will change their lives.
Aside from tangible features that are easy to share, painting an intangible picture of how much their kids will enjoy watching cartoons in the afternoon, or the wife will be so happy to receive this wonderful gift, is what makes selling a worthwhile and purposeful endeavor.