73: Your Fear of Being "Salesy" is Why You Aren't Making Sales

One of the main things I coach my 1:1 clients with is marketing and sales and if I had a dime for every time someone said “but I don’t want to be salesy” to me, I would probably be able to retire by now. 😜

Here’s the deal —I get it. No one wants to come off like a slimy car salesman and we aren’t going back to 2017/2018 where we are DMing all our friends from high school (been there, done that). But if you want to make sales and book clients, you have to talk about your offers and services and in this episode, you're getting a little pep talk from yours truly on how you should start thinking about sales so you can start making them. 💸

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Transcript

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Speaker 00 1:31

One of the main things I coach my one-on-one clients with is marketing and sales, specifically visibility and conversion. And if I had a dime for every time someone said, but I don't want to be salesy to me, I probably would have been able to retire by now. Here's the deal. I get it. No one wants to come off as a slimy car salesperson. And we don't want to go back to 2017, 2018, when we were DMing all our friends from high school, then they're done that. But if you want to make more sales and book clients, you have to talk about your offers and services. I hope this episode is a little pep talk that you need to get you out of your head and sharing your offer with the world, because the truth is you You would be crazy not to. Welcome to the Virtual Assistant School Podcast. I'm your host, Kate, a teacher turned entrepreneur, mom of two, and I teach women how to use the skills they already have to make money from home as a virtual assistant. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you'll get step-by-step strategies, behind-the-scenes insights, and hear honest, unfiltered conversations about making money and growing an online business so you can stop feeling stuck and start taking action toward your goals. Whether you're looking for a flexible side hustle or want to take your business full time, this podcast is for you. Building a business or starting something new can be super overwhelming at times, but here you don't have to do it alone. So grab your coffee or make another cup and let's dive into this week's episode. Okay, raise your hand if you can relate. You want to have more leads, you want to book more clients, you want to make more money, but But you quote, don't want to come off as salesy. End quote. Is your hand raised? Because I'm willing to bet 90%, if not more of you are raising your hands right now. And listen, I get it. We have all been. on the other side of a bad sales experience, right? Like an icky car salesman, maybe someone going door to door selling solar panels and they blatantly ignore the no soliciting sign on the front porch or the random DM you got from the girl you went to high school with and you haven't talked to in over a decade. Yeah, we have all been there. But here's the thing. Not all sales are good sales and not all sales are bad sales. either. Sales is actually neutral. If you think about it, it's really our thoughts and experiences that shape how we view sales. In fact, I actually heard one time that if you have a bad experience with a salesperson, you call them a bad salesperson, but when you have a good experience with a salesperson, people just call them a good person, right?

Unknown 4:32

And

Speaker 00 4:32

they don't even recognize that they're being sold to, or if they do, they actually are delighted to be sold to because the person has a solution for their problem and they aren't pushy or gross or weird about it because sales doesn't have to be that way. But here's the deal. If you're afraid of selling or you quote unquote, don't want to come off as salesy, you are going to miss opportunities because what will happen is you just won't sell at all. And not selling at all is directly correlated to you not booking clients or making sales. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? You have to talk about what you are selling to get people to buy. If someone doesn't know what you have to offer, how will they ever know that they can buy it from you if you have a product or hire you if you are offering a service like being a virtual assistant, copywriter, etc.?

Unknown 5:28

?

Speaker 00 5:29

Okay. So you might be thinking, all right, Kate, I get it, but how do I get over this idea of selling and like not seeing it as gross? And to be honest, that's the easy part, right? Like sales is definitely a skill. It's something that you have to work on. It's something you have to really practice that, but the getting over or like the mindset shift or the getting over kind of the, oh, like I don't want to sell kind of concept is really quite simple. You ask yourself two questions. Number one, what does this person need or want? And number two, can I help them? See, the thing about sales is that it will only feel gross if you make it about you and sales isn't about you. It's about them. What do they need and how can you help them? You've probably heard the tired phrase, it's not selling, it's serving. And to be honest, I kind of roll my eyes every time I hear that now, even when I was someone who used to say it because it makes it sound like sales isn't about service when really that's exactly what it is. Sales is serving, right? They're not mutually exclusive. It's not either or, you know, because when people need something or they have a problem and you can provide a solution for them by them buying it from you or by them hiring you, that's helping them. Right. And that is what service is all about. this goes for marketing on social media creating content all that good stuff messaging with potential client discovery calls email marketing in-person conversations you name it i want to give you an example a couple examples actually one example that is totally outside of business um that might help you kind of wrap your head around this idea so i was looking for a new bible I had had my eye on this spiral bound one, but I really wasn't sure about it because it wasn't a study Bible where there's like extra content inside of it. If you don't know what a study Bible is, it has just like more things in it that helps give context for, you know, that's kind of like the broad scope of it, I guess. Um, So the spiral bound one, it had a lot of room for note taking, which is something I was really looking for because I take a lot of notes in my Bible and my current Bible that I have, like pages are just getting filled with notes and I have no more room. So I really needed something with some wider margins. But I also wanted something that still had the study component that still gave some context because I think that really helps with reading the Bible. And so I texted my friend who has a spiral bound Bible and I knew she had it. So I asked her, Like you have one, right? And like, which one do you have? And she was like, yeah, I do. But honestly, I've been loving this other one. And so she sent me the link or like a screenshot to the other one that she's been using. And she was like, honestly, like depending on what you're looking for, I like this one more because it's, you guessed it, a study Bible and it has large margins, right? And a lot of place to take notes. Okay. So this solved my problem. Also, it was, it's a beautiful Bible. Actually, it's gorgeous. I got it today and I'm obsessed with it. And so it's just like, it just checked all the boxes. Right. And so I went ahead and bought it. Right. And that right there is an example of a sales conversation. Right. Carson didn't know anything. that she was like really quote unquote selling to me. She was just really giving me a recommendation based on what I was looking for and it sold me. Okay. Um, I mean, that's basically what influencers do on social media. The best influencers are going to show you a product that they love and how it solves a problem that they had, or it helps them get an outcome that they desired and And then tell you why and how it will help you too. And if you like them or you trust them, or you have this problem where you want the same outcome, you're going to buy it. That is sales. Okay. So another experience that was actually related to business and it happened just a couple months ago. was I before I moved into our new house which little life update we've officially moved into our new house in Idaho and I'm so happy we have been by the time this episode comes out we'll have been in for like six days like not even a full week yet but oh my gosh it feels like home truly like it's Oh my gosh, it feels incredible. And so I'm recording this episode right now in my office. I'm hoping it's not too echoey. We have a lot of stuff set up, but also a lot of the rooms are empty still. But before we moved into our house, we actually spent a lot of time just walking around our community. So we were staying in a little apartment And whenever the boys wanted to ride their bikes or we wanted to go on a walk, we would just pop over to the neighborhood that we were buying the house in because it's a great neighborhood for walking and biking and all the things. And so one day we were walking and we ended up in one of the cul-de-sacs and there's a couple of cul-de-sacs in our neighborhood that have a ton of kids. Like one cul-de-sac has like, 20 kids between all the houses and the other cul-de-sac has like 22 kids between all of the houses which is wild um but anyway I was talking with like a couple of the moms and some people that we had met a little bit and our kids are playing and one of the moms who is now like one of my best friends um she might be listening this podcast episode I'm not sure um But we were talking about, I don't even know how we got on the topic. She just said something about wanting to do something on the side or make money from home. And she is someone who is home with her kids. She is a stay-at-home mom and she also homeschools four children. She has four children. Not all of them are in school, but you get the gist. And she was just looking for a way to make money from home. And she started talking about it. She was having this conversation and obviously like my whole mission with your behind the scenes BFF and like everything that I do is about helping women make money from home. And so in that moment I was just like, Hey, you know, that's like exactly what I do. Right. And she was like, what do you mean? I was like, I actually teach women how to become virtual assistants because I was stay at home mom. I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I wanted to, you know, make money, um, from home, but also be at home with my kids. And so I became a VA and now I help other people do the same thing. And so she was like, no way. And so I ended up talking to her about it. We talked about it a little bit over like the next couple of weeks. And she ended up joining our last cohort for beginner to book VA. She was actually the very first person to sign up. She signed up like right at midnight when doors open, which was really funny. But like I said, now she's like one of my best friends. We live literally a block from one another. It's so awesome. Our kids, you know, two of her kids are really close in age to mine. And it's been such a blessing. And it's like, we just talk about how crazy it is that just that random day, that random conversation, I was like in her driveway and she was talking about the thing that she was desiring. And I have the solution for her. And so, a lot of people, they wouldn't look at that as sales, but to be honest, that is sales, right? I wasn't trying to quote unquote sell her. I was just telling her, Hey, I actually like have this that could help you. And I actually, this is actually exactly what I do. And like no pressure, like there's no, when it comes to sales, especially when you've been doing it as long as I have, I'm not tied to an outcome. Like I'm not going to be, you know, devastated if someone doesn't buy or like get my hopes up. Like, I'm just going to, I'm just not going to make it about me. You know, I'm going to make it about them. And that's the whole point of sales. Um, is that I'm going to listen to what it is they are talking about. And if I can help them, it would be a disservice if I didn't say, Hey, like, I don't know if you thought about this, but like, this might be something that can help you. If not totally cool.

Unknown 14:41

Um,

Speaker 00 14:41

but you know, it's available. And so I think that when you're talking about your offer and what you have in a way that helps people solve their problem or get what they want most and is helpful, people don't think about it as sales because some people have a negative, um, around sales or it gives like a negative, they just have like negative experiences about it, but it is helpful and it is sales. And so many people will be quick to share like an Amazon find or something else that has helped them in their life. Right. With their friends or family. I know that I've turned so many of my friends and family onto the, um, have like a. Uncrustable like cutter that I use for the boys, PB and J's. Um, And it's like, Oh yeah, like this is, you know, make some crustables, but you know, from home and not as expensive and it's awesome. Like you should totally get it. That's sales. Right. And so many of us will be quick to do that because it's like, Oh, well this helped me and this is going to help you. But then we're scared. It's going to come off as salesy when it's our own business, right? Because a lot of times, honestly, you're making it about you. And that's not a bad thing. Business is very personal, especially... I should say it's not always a bad thing. It can be a bad thing. But most of the time, it's not on purpose and it's not a bad thing because business is personal, especially if you're a VA or you have a side hustle you're wanting to grow to help you either make ends meet or provide for your family. Obviously, it's about that. That's like your why, but your sales and how you interact with people when it comes to talking about what you offer should be about them. And when it is about them, it doesn't feel so weird because your mission is to help them, right? So here's the deal, friend. You need to talk about your offer. You need to tell people what you're doing. You need to tell people that you can help them. when you hear them mention a problem or something they want that you can help them get. And sure, not every conversation will turn into a sale or a contract signed, but you'll be top of mind the next time they think about that when they want to solve or when they want to solve that thing or they want to accomplish it, you know, stop letting fear of being salesy keep you from not making sales and remind yourself that what you have is good and there are people out there right now looking for it they just don't know that you have the thing right and it's up to you to make it known that you have the thing okay hopefully this episode gave you some encouragement and it helped you change your mindset around sales. And I'm expecting all of y'all to go out today and talk about what you do, whether it's posting on social media, it's telling a couple of friends about what you're doing. It's sharing with that person that shared that they were looking for the exact thing that you do. And you just kept your mouth shut because you didn't want to be weird. Okay. Go out there and talk about who and how you help. That is your mission. It's honestly your duty and responsibility to do that. If this episode was helpful and maybe you are seeing sales from a different light, if you could do me a favor and leave a five-star review, that would be so, so helpful. I am really leaning into creating content for the podcast over social media for now. Um, And the more people we can get leaving reviews and sharing about the show, the more people we can get listening to the show and it can reach the people that really need to hear this. So I would really appreciate that. And as always, I'm rooting for you. Chat soon.