If you follow me in social media or read my weekly ezine, you probably have already learned I’m a pretty down to earth person.

What you see is what you get, whether we’re emailing about business or texting about getting our kids to a playdate. If you’re doing ab crunches next to me at the gym, I may go into a bit about gratitude (if I’m feeling it) OR you might hear some really un-evolved expletives. No apologies.
Being real and being honest seem to pay off, don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

For instance:

Like many of you, I sometimes struggle with the whole concept of “SELLING”. I’ve taken countless trainings, read books, tried to model myself after other people, but I never really felt good about it.

I nearly destroyed my business a few years back when I followed a business coach’s advice to “get on the phone and call 10 people a day and sign them up as clients”.

It may sound like a good strategy to some, but at that time my network was very small and I ended up calling people I didn’t know very well or met once at a networking event, then tried (unsuccessfully) to get them as clients. This was so foreign to me… but this business coach said this was what always worked for her, it’s a proven strategy, and that I needed to “stop being such a chicken shit and get on the phone, close clients, end of story.”

I sank into a huge funk.

Did I just step into a world where I didn’t belong? was my first thought. Is this how business runs?  I was coming from 12 years as an urban school teacher, we didn’t exactly have a cash register in the back of the classroom. I sold kids on doing their homework and sold teachers on trying on innovative teaching strategies. But now, I suddenly felt like this big faker trying to fit into the world of entrepreneurs. Every “I don’t fit in” story that ever haunted me through life bubbled up.

Not fun.

But wait… isn’t having FUN one of my big values in life? If I’m the Queen of my Castle shouldn’t this be fun and not feel like I’m getting squashed by an oppressive boss telling me to suck it up and deal?

So I came to my senses and just got out there being MYSELF.  I built an entire business out of being myself, Viva Visibility, which is all about getting yourself out there by standing out as THE clear choice to your ideal clients. I got into social media early on because I could ENGAGE people, not slam them with pitches. I got to mix in a little personal with the professional, add quirky bits of my personality to round things out and just have fun.

And guess what happened?

People started contacting ME.

“I’ve been following you for so long and I relate to everything you say. How can we work together?”

“I feel like I KNOW you. I really need to work with you. You get me.”

“You’re the real deal… I’ve been through all the gurus and I wish I’d just picked you first.”

Hmmmm, I don’t know about you but I’d so much be the pursued rather than the pursuer!

That’s been my M.O. for the bulk of my years in business, along with:
- Get out there and work on the know, like, and trust factor.
- Be likeable, genuine, and show people respect
- Never allow image or designer shoes to define or confine you (but always have impeccable style).  It starts from the inside.
- Galvanize positive people, let the haters drop off and find their place far away from you
- Align your business with your life purpose- and discover how amazing it is when it all clicks!
- Charge what you’re worth- when you build trust, nobody has a problem with your prices.

What I have learned over the years, is that persuading people to work with you doesn’t always happen as a result of a cold call or a premeditated sell. It unfolds over a relationship. It happens when trust is built. And you can make a lot of money this way… without anyone feeling manipulated or coerced.

I broke down exactly what is it that leads to people coming to me already pre-sold and ready to buy. What is it that I’m doing SPECIFICALLY?

The words Engage and Persuade popped into my mind.

ENGAGE because that’s the cornerstone for building trust. Engaging, making a connection, and building trust.

PERSUADE because through that trust, the selling takes care of itself. It does 90% of the heavy lifting for you, you get to come in and put the cherry on top.

I decided to create a unique training series on the topic.

It’s called Engage and Persuade: The Effortless Path to Sales Success.
create my own.

To learn more and register go to http://www.engageandpersuade.com/training

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2012 at 10:30 am and is filed under Business Building, Sales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.