Would YOU buy from you?

Here’s a question I asked on Instagram recently, would YOU buy from you? 

Confidence is what is going to sell your program during your launch. Not how many PDFs or meal plans you’re offering, but how YOU are showing up and conveying your message.?

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Are you helping your prospective clients to see you as an expert? Do they feel like they can trust that you will provide the outcome you’re promising? Or are you being kind of wishy washy about your messaging and afraid to directly ask for the sale??

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How you show up during Facebook and Instagram Lives matters. The words you use. The way you carry yourself.?

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Confidence comes with practice remember, there is no way to get to confidence without putting in the time. And this is exactly what I had the pleasure (yes, talking sales IS pleasure for me!) of talking with Michelle McGlade – business strategist, mentor and best-selling author – and I had an awesome in-depth conversation about how anyone, yes, even you, can sell like you were born to do it.

This article will focus on the tips, strategies and sales frameworks that Michelle provided during our conversation on The Business of Becoming Podcast. Head over to listen to our full convo and be sure to subscribe on your favourite podcast app so you don’t miss any of the awesome guests we have coming your way.

Confidence, Like Selling, Is a Mindset

Remember the last time you set yourself a goal? Perhaps to run that 10K marathon? To meet that goal, you’d train in order to build up your fitness levels right? Perhaps months before the marathon.

That process is very similar to building self-confidence in selling – it takes time and commitment. And the right mindset.

You have to want to succeed in selling your programs or services. If you believe you will succeed, you’re right. If you believe you won’t, you’re right. 

Train, as you would for a marathon, to have a positive attitude toward selling and you will succeed. Understand and try to get ok with the idea that it takes time and you won’t be great at the beginning.

But I know, easier said than done. 

So let’s begin with the basics. 

Sales 101

What does your sales process or framework look like? It’s different for us – health and wellness businesses – because we deal with symptoms, confidentiality, etc. 

So I went ahead and asked Michelle what our ideal sales process should look like and she shared some good stuff!

What Your Sales Process Should Look Like

The simplest version of your sales process should be taking a client from the first touch point through a process that turns them into a paying client. 

However, the biggest hurdle for most of us is the follow-up process. In particular, you need to identify the touch points that are going to pull a lead in and follow-up with them. That is a whole process in and of itself. 

The process is as follows: 

Meet the lead→ follow-up with them→ invite them to take the next step with you. 

There is a call-to-action component in the invitation. For a lot of practitioners, that call-to-action is a free consultation.

The Call-To-Action

According to Michelle, in a lot of cases, booking a consultation makes the most sense for health professionals. But it also depends on the kind of conversation you had with the prospect. It is at this stage that the process or framework becomes personalized?

You need to stop and think about the connection you had with the person, how deep or strong the connection is, and their level of interest in what you discussed. 

Did you discuss a consultation or an “I’d like to know more” kind of discussion? There is definitely flexibility and fluidity in terms of what you’re doing in the follow-ups. But the call-to- action is always going to be to work with you. So if that’s a consultation, or a booking, keep that in mind. It’s all about what that means for you.

In that sense, a sales framework needs to be personalized. Think of them like recipes.

Sales Frameworks Are Like Recipes

Michelle made a really helpful comparison to think of sales frameworks like recipes. She says that when she first wants to cook something, she starts off with a recipe. 

A recipe is like a framework because recipes are flexible but when you’re first cooking a new thing, you don’t want to be flexible. You just want to follow it from A-Z and then with practice, you can tweak things here and there to make the recipe work for you. 

But more on that later. We need to talk about the impostor syndrome that disrupts your sales process or alters your sales framework.

The Impostor Syndrome

We now know that following up is part of an effective sales framework. So why do a lot of health and wellness practitioners fail to follow-up?

It could be because they don’t want to bother prospective clients or feel weird about how many times to follow-up. 

According to McGlade, what’s stopping them is that they don’t have a process. Because of that, they’re unsure of what they’re doing and how many times to follow-up. And that all comes from a lack of confidence in what they’re doing and a lack of confidence in their ability to get results, even when they know that they can help clients. 

They know deep inside that they can serve people but are afraid to put themselves out there for fear of annoying them.

But isn’t it normal, especially for people who are just starting out, not to have that confidence?

Sales is all about serving people. So if you actually believe in what you’re doing, and that you can help someone, talking to them is your responsibility. It’s also your responsibility to let them know that you can help them and bring them to a decision. 

Indeed, all practitioners are coaches. And all coaching starts from the minute you have a conversation with a lead. 

Your job is to give prospective clients all the information they need to enable them to make a confident decision, whether it’s a “yes” or “no”. And sometimes, a “no” is OK. You want to actually count your decisions and not your sales. 

And if you can’t effectively bring someone through a sales conversion or through the process of having a conversation that leads them to a decision; it is a direct reflection of how effective you’re going to be as a practitioner for your clients. 

You may not realize this, but your prospective clients are subconsciously watching you and if you’re not walking them confidently through the decision-making process, they are thinking in the back of their minds whether you’re going to be a good practitioner for them; are going to give them results; and whether you are going to be holding them accountable when they’re not doing what they are supposed to be doing. 

Indeed, if you’re too scared to show up, why would people pay you to do anything? Why should they expect you to help or show up for them when things get tough? 

It’s not easy. But you can’t say that you can’t do it because you’re not as good as me, McGlade or anyone that you look up to. 

You can’t realistically compare someone’s 10 years’ of experience against your week or one month experience. 

That’s what I call the impostor syndrome. It is actually just part of the process when you’re going out on a limb and trying something new. Everything is uncertain when you’re starting a business on your own. Therefore, your subconscious feels unsafe and so you’re doing everything possible to work against yourself. 

That is why coaching works well as it gets you past that jump faster. You should find someone you trust to push you up the hill and help you to stop sabotaging yourself. 

You need to pay attention to the language you’re telling yourself. “I don’t have the money. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the experience.” Those are forms of self sabotage. 

I heavily invested in sales training over the years to help push me up the hill. I’ve paid ridiculous sums of money for proven frameworks because when you’re starting to sell something new, or at a higher price, it makes you nervous. 

That is why it is important to have processes and frameworks in place. The frameworks give you an element of confidence because you can actually count the steps that you need to take. 

Here’s a sales framework McGlade recommends. 

The Five Touch Points Sales Framework

So when you meet a prospect, get their contact information, what is the next step? 

1. Send a follow-up after the meeting or interaction. 
2. Two days later, send another follow-up. 
3. Three days later, send another follow-up. 

That brings you to the end of the week. 

1. Wait another five days and send another follow-up. 
2. Send the final follow up seven days later. 

What do you say in the follow-ups?

You have to make the follow-ups fun and interesting. If you haven’t heard from a prospect after two or three follow-ups, you can send them a message similar to, “We had this awesome conversation last week and we hit it off really well. I can tell you’re interested and I know I can help you.” 

Or even, “You must’ve fallen off the face of the earth, or must be really busy, or perhaps you’re not putting yourself first. So just get back to me.”  

Even better, “I haven’t heard from you, I’m sure you’re running around thinking about everybody else except for yourself. I just want to remind you that this is something you wanted to work on and I have this free resource that I want to send your way. I’m going to get in touch with you in another week to see if you are ready to get started.”

Make it lighthearted as these are people you’re building relationships with. It doesn’t have to be, “Book a call. Book a call. Book a call.”

You never ever want to do the used car sales approach. You want to build a relationship with someone who you genuinely believe you will help. The truth is that no one comes to see a wellness practitioner until they’re desperate. So you should approach them with that in mind. 

Are Free Consultations Effective?

Do you have a “click to book a consultation button” on your website or Facebook page? To be honest, I always get confused when I see that. To me, you have to sell a consultation like it actually costs money. You’re selling value and having to commit to a certain period of time, which equals money. 

McGlade also agrees. She says that you don’t have to offer a free consult. You can position it as an assessment that costs a certain amount of money. You can also offer it as a discount. 

McGlade has also found that the sales framework and call-to-action is different for a local business versus a virtual business. 

She used to have a local practice and would make prospects come to her practice if she were giving them something for free. If they were not interested in showing up in person to receive value for free, then they were not interested at all. 

The moral of the story is that you have to position your offerings as high value. You shouldn’t make it seem like you give it away to everybody and that it’s not worth anything. 

Beyond the Five Touch Points in Sales

Remember that building and maintaining a relationship with a prospective client goes beyond the five touch points. When they become desperate, you will be there. So in that sense, you are not going for the sale, you’re going for a decision. A “yes” or “no” decision. 

It is not a rejection. It is simply a “yes” or “no” right now. 

Hard Sales Truths: It’s Not About You and Fear is The Most Boring Thing About You

You’re passionate about helping people but somewhere along the way, perhaps due to hearing many “no’s”, you make it an issue about you. You have to pause in those situations and remember that you truly want to help people. 

Another hard sales truth comes from Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. In it, she says that fear is the most boring thing about you.

Michelle reminds herself that when she feels doubt, “If I’m not willing to do something about my own fear, how am I going to be able to coach others?”

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