The Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action
Plan Marketing
and Robert Middleton
-
Transform The Selling Experience -
Not
so thrilled about selling yourself and your
services?
Here's how to transform that experience.
Most
of us look at selling as an activity. There are
certain things you need to do and ask and say to
get the sale. Right? Well, only partially right;
when you mostly focus on what you have to do, you
usually won't do a great job.
This
is going to be the first in series of More Clients
eZines on selling as a lead-up to my new "UnSales
ToolKit" which will guide you through the
selling process from the inside out.
The
majority of Independent Professionals look at
selling as a necessary evil. All kinds of
thoughts and emotions come up regarding selling -
and most of them are not so positive.
Are
any of the following familiar to
you?
Selling
is manipulative and dishonest.
Selling
only results in rejection.
I
don't want to bee seen as pushy.
If
they really want this service, they'll ask
me.
It
takes forever for a prospect to say
"Yes."
Take
a moment and make a note of your dominant belief
about selling. It may be a variation on one of
the above. But now let's look a little more deeply.
It's not just the thought, but everything that goes
along with the thought.
Your
thought also triggers the following:
Feelings
- Inferior, confused, afraid, uncertain,
reluctant
Images
- Being rejected, being ridiculed, being a
failure
Body
sensations - Sweating, pounding heart,
shallow breathing
Behaviors
- Avoidance, nervousness, talking too
much
I
think it's pretty obvious that if your
experience of selling matches some of the above,
selling is going to be a struggle for you. Your
focus will be on what doesn't work, what you don't
like. And you will attract what you put your
attention on.
Here's
an exercise to shift your experience of
selling.
Imagine
an activity that you really love doing. You
approach it with enthusiasm and excitement. You
know you'll do it well. You're eager to engage in
this activity and it's very fulfilling.
So
pick an activity for you.
It
might be a sports activity, spending time with good
friends, cooking a meal, or working with your
best clients. It doesn't matter, as long as you
have very positive associations with that
activity.
Now
take a look at the experiential elements of this
activity:
Thinking
- What thoughts do you think about this
activity?
Feelings
- How do you feel when you do this
activity?
Images
- What do you see when you anticipate this
activity?
Body
sensations - What do you feel in your body
during this activity?
Behaviors
- What exactly are you doing in the course of
this activity?
To
really get the experience of this, you might
want to close your eyes and imagine fully
participating in this activity when you enjoyed it
the most.
Observe
how you are thinking, feeling, picturing, sensing
and behaving. Be aware of how much you enjoy
this experience. Notice how great it feels.
Experience it as deeply as you can.
In
the next part you'll transfer the experience of
your favorite activity onto the activity of
selling. Imagine a selling situation and then
map the experience of the favorite activity onto
that situation.
Remember
- you're creating this; you're making it up. So
create it as great as you possibly can. Imagine
sitting in front of a prospect, for instance,
thinking, feeling, picturing, sensing and acting
very much like you do when you're involved in your
favorite activity. Really recreate that experience.
Make it fun, exciting, engaging and fulfilling.
Did
you get into it?
Did
you actually start having positive anticipation of
enjoying the selling activity? Ultimately you
create what you experience. So why not create an
experience that is uplifting instead of
dispiriting? This is something you can do - a skill
you can learn.
OK,
now I'd like you to create a metaphor for selling
that ties into your favorite activity. In a
workshop I led this past week, participants came up
with the following metaphors:
Selling
is like a party where I've invited all my
friends and I get to interact with them in a
very personal, authentic way.
Selling
is like boating where I'm easily gliding
through the water and steering where I want to
go with virtually no effort.
Selling
is like making a beautiful handmade quilt
and then offering it to a good
friend.
Selling
is like tennis where we play hard but the
feeling is one of friendly
competition.
Selling
is like climbing a mountain. We go up
steadily, step-by-step, ultimately reaching the
peak.
Selling
is like playing jazz. It's a lively
interaction that consists of both planned
passages and free improvisation.
These
images and metaphors will be effective only to the
degree that you are able to embody them mentally
and emotionally before you engage in a selling
activity. Do this exercise (thought, feelings,
imagery and metaphor) right before your next sales
call.
*
The
More Clients Bottom Line:
If
you want to feel good about selling, you first need
to create the experience of feeling good by
adopting a powerful image and metaphor that
literally transforms your experience of
selling.
*
The
More Clients Blog - Please comment on today's
More Clients
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
*
Creating
Your Ultimate Outcome - A New Audio
Program
The
very first thing someone wants to know about your
business is "What's in it for me?" How you
answer that question often determines if they buy
your service or not. The answer you want to give is
your "Ultimate Outcome."
This
90 minute Audio Program on January 30th is the
first in our new monthly "TeleClass Expert
Series" which delivers a very specific
high-leverage marketing strategy via audio that you
can apply immediately to your business.
For
the price of an inexpensive business lunch,
you'll get proven techniques, ideas, resources,
and how-to action plans that will help you attract
more clients.
You
can attend this as a live TeleClass and/or get the
Online Audio. We'll even throw in a complete
written transcription. And if you like, you can get
a CD of the program as well.
For
complete details about the Audio Program
"Creating
Your Ultimate
Outcome,"
just click on the link below.
http://www.actionplan.com/expertseries.html
For
other Audio Programs in our
Expert
Series
click below:
http://www.actionplan.com/teleclasses.html
Until
next week, all the best,
Robert
Middleton
ACTION
PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More
Clients
www.actionplan.com
210
Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790
Contact
by email
©
2006 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You
are free to use material from the More Clients
eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include
complete attribution, including live web site link.
Please also notify me where the material will
appear. The attribution should read:
"By
Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please
visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com
for additional marketing articles and resources on
marketing for professional service
businesses."
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