Communicate online without it feeling like you're selling

How do we communicate without coming across as 'salesy'?

In many aspects of life, we are all engaged in some form of selling, whether it's selling products, services, ideas, or even ourselves. Sales, in its broadest sense, involves persuading, convincing, or influencing others to take a desired action or make a decision.

In our everyday lives, whether we realise it or not, we're often in the business of selling. Think about it - in personal relationships, we're selling our qualities, values, and personality to make new friends or connect with potential partners. When we step into a job interview, we're essentially selling our skills, experiences, and what we can bring to a prospective employer.

Entrepreneurs are natural salespeople, pitching their business ideas and services to investors, customers, and collaborators. Even educators are in the game, selling the importance of knowledge, and how best to aquire and apply it, to their students.

Leadership? Well, that involves selling a vision and ideas to inspire and rally teams. Even when we're problem-solving, we're selling our proposed solutions to gain support and cooperation.

In essence, selling is about effective communication, understanding others, and presenting solutions that resonate with them. It's a fundamental skill that plays a role in various aspects of our personal and professional lives.

A healthy transaction is a mutually beneficial exchange that takes place between parties with a focus on fairness, transparency, and respect. I believe that this begins with a conversation.

When we communicate online, if we're not intentional about being conversational, we will come across as being transactional (salesy).

This is because we have to work harder online to build rapport and trust - we can't just blurt out what we want to say without considering our community, our content and our connection to both.

Here are some ways to intentionally build online conversations that attract, connect and engage the right people for your business.

1. Client Engagement: Focus on engaging with potential clients and like-minded professionals in a meaningful way. Showcase your unique value and let them come to you naturally as you solve their unique challenges along the way.

2. Relationship Cultivation: Build strong relationships over time. This is how you nurture connections, and they naturally evolve into valuable partnerships where you can help solve specific problems.

3. Value Proposition: Highlight how you showcase your unique value and what you bring to the table without the hard sell.

Deliver what your audience truly needs and address their pain points effectively.

4. Trust Building: Prioritise building trust and credibility. Your expertise and authentic interactions help current and potential clients feel confident in your partnership, ensuring you're their go-to problem solver.

5. Client Attraction: Aim to magnetise potential clients and peers through your expertise and online presence. Draw them to your services effortlessly as you work together to solve their challenges.

6. Consultation: Think of yourself as a consultant or advisor rather than a salesperson (even thought there will be a sale at some point). Guide your clients toward the right decisions and solutions, effectively tackling any problems that arise.

7. Solution-Oriented Conversations: Frame your interactions as conversations aimed at finding solutions and meeting your clients' unique needs. Focus on addressing problems and providing actionable solutions.

8. Authentic Interactions: Be genuine, transparent, and relatable in your interactions. Create connections that lead to business naturally while helping clients solve the issues they face.

9. Educational Engagement: Position yourself as an educator, sharing valuable insights and knowledge that clients will find compelling and informative. Empower them to overcome challenges effectively.

10. Strategic Networking: Engage in strategic networking and relationship-building activities to open doors and create valuable connections in your professional journey. You ideally want a bias towards more clients and potential clients in your online network, with a much smaller percentage of colleagues and opinion leaders.

Your approach should shift the focus from traditional sales to building genuine connections, offering value, and ensuring your clients have the support they need to solve problems on their terms.

By framing your content correctly, remaining connected to your why, and targeting the right people for your community, you'll find that your online communication strategy will be purposeful, professional and packed full of meaning!

Chat to us if you need help with this.

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?? Hi! I'm Tim Slatter.

? Helping financial planners keep in touch with their clients.

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? Making it happen, making it work; making a difference.

? Recovering Context Switcher.

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