You're Being Judged For Being Pushy

I know that loads of people hate the idea of selling. So much in fact, that I repeatedly hear coaches saying that they don't sell, they simply have great coaching conversations that lead to clients. That's selling. Tell yourself whatever gets you through the day, but that is definitely selling.

What Is Selling?

Selling is the transfer of a product or service from the current owner/person with the knowledge, to someone else, in return for payment.

Another way of looking at it (and one I much prefer) is that selling is simply a mutually beneficial conversation.

Let me make something crystal clear; nothing happens without a sale.

Let me explain.

In our western society, we pay for just about everything. I used to say that air was free, but these days we have air-conditioning all over the place and so even air is paid for sometimes.

When you get up in the morning, put on your dressing gown and wander downstairs to make a cup of coffee; there have been several sales in that scenario. You bought your bed, your dressing gown, the carpet for your stairs, the kettle, the coffee, the cup, you pay the water bill... I could go on. There are very, very few activities that haven't involved a sale somewhere.

We Don't Mind Selling When We're Buying

When we are the consumer, we don't have these qualms about selling. We simply see it for what it is - good customer service. Can you imagine if the person on the supermarket checkout didn't want to tell you how much your bill came too, because she 'didn't like talking about money?' Or if the waiter didn't want to give you your bill, because he felt it was being pushy. Clearly, those situations would be bizarre.

So why do we struggle so much when we are the seller, not the buyer?

We Fear Judgement

At the core of our concerns is the idea that other people will think xxxxx (insert whatever particular mind monkey you have here).

People will think that we're salesy, or pushy, or too confident. People will judge us and find us wanting. Our old colleagues will see what we wrote or hear what we said and think that we've sunk this low.....

I have two comments on this. One is that most people aren't judging at all, they're too busy being concerned with themselves. The other comment is that those who do judge are going to judge you anyway.

They'll judge you for having your own business and failing, or for having your own business and succeeding. So why worry? There's nothing you can do to stop them, but why would you give them the power to stop you?

If you'd like to learn how to sell coaching comfortably, to people who have actually asked you for more information, then let's talk? My diary is here.