29. Edu-selling: Sales That Feel Darn Good

This episode is about edu-selling (I'm pretty sure I made that word up!). It's how I write copy that smooths your sales process, and helps your sales calls close faster. 

And, on a more personal note, I tell a few stories about things I bought that felt really icky - like  the time I got got by a $6,000 coaching program I had no business buying (and only made $100 from what I learned in it lol).

This is a 'good, bad, and ugly' episode that you'll want to take notes on!

Key points covered in episode:

• What edu-selling is and why it makes people feel good about giving you their money
• Why my realtor who has sold millions of dollars doesn't consider herself a salesperson (and what that means for your business)
• The coaching program horror story that shaped how I sell everything
• Why renaming your discovery call could change the entire energy around it
• How to use copy to smooth the sales process

Additional resources mentioned:

• Episode about pricing transparency
• Submit a copy confession
• Trust recession episode

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• LinkedIn
• Website

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Transcript

0:00

Hey friends, and welcome back to Copy and the marketing podcast where you learn how to write copy that sells like you, but converts better. If you are looking for super specific episodes on how to write the copy that goes in every part of your funnel. Back up about six episodes. I just finished a series called Funnels 1 0 1, where I walked through everything from the opt-in page to the checkout page, order bumps, trip wires, even ads, nurture emails. And your welcome sequence to tell you exactly what copy goes into each part of your funnel. As we pull out of that, I wanna go back to talking about a concept, because I believe that copy sells content is words on a page, content is everything else, but you're specifically the words that sell our copy. And selling is not a four letter word. However, a lot of people get on my sales calls, buy from me and say, yeah, but I love that you never sold to me. And that baffles me because they spend thousands of dollars getting my brain in their business, but they don't feel like they've ever been sold to. Clearly. I have to close these deals somehow, and I think that over the years, sales has become an icky word. Everybody thinks sales and they think used car salesman, and that's just not the case. So today we're gonna talk about a topic that I love. I think I might have made this word up, and it is EDU-selling. It is educating people so that they are better and more informed customers so that they feel really good about giving you their money and that you feel really good about taking it because you know that you're actually just a really good fit. So let's jump in and talk about EDU-selling. Recently, I've been starting my podcast with copy confessions this week I didn't have any. So if you have a big old marketing, oops, or you had a little laugh at the mark, copy confessions, in my previous episodes, I encourage you to go to the link down below. It's a Google Forms link, and you can tell me about a big old marketing oops, that you had and have a chance to be featured on this podcast. So let's jump in. Let's talk about EDU-selling. I'm gonna start with a story. I was home in Iowa a couple of months ago and had dinner with my mom's best friend. She's a realtor. She's been my realtor in the past, and she is really freaking good at what she does. I've worked with a lot of realtors in the past, leasing agents and different people in the industry, and I find that it's so difficult sometimes to get a call back. It can be difficult to get somebody who remembers to put our. Things on the calendar who shows up on time, and this person is just really good at what she does. I love working with her as my realtor. My mom has worked with her as her realtor. My brother will work with her as well, not just because we keep it in the family, but because we've all had such good experiences with working with her. I've never once had a timeline pushback. She's just really freaking good. So we were talking when I was home and she brought up that she doesn't see herself as a salesperson, which is wild because she sells six and seven figure investments to and for her clients. She simply sees what she does as a service. She is connecting people with the right house for their needs. And she said, well, I don't sell because I don't push something on someone. I don't push them to get a bigger yard or a bigger house or to just buy it right now. I don't push back When somebody wants to try to cut a deal with the seller, I don't do any of that. They're the ones buying and selling. I'm just the liaison. And I thought that that was a really interesting perspective because she's been in the industry for almost as long as I've been alive, which means that she has sold millions and millions of dollars and still doesn't see herself as a salesperson. Another story recently, somebody got on my calendar. They told me about their project, which you have to do in order to get on my calendar. So then we talked and we discussed her project. She knew that she was gonna hire a copywriter, and at the end of our conversation I told her, Hey, I think that you need to get some strategy in place before we build out this entire project because I don't want you to need another copywriter a year from now. So I actually turned down the project temporarily. We are going to work together in about a month, but I told her that she had some work to do before we worked together. And she sent me an email and said, Sam, thank you so much for not selling to me on that call. I always hate getting on these discovery calls'cause I feel like they're not discovery, it's just somebody pushing their services on me. And again, I think it was really interesting because I said, you absolutely do need to work with me. You just need to work with me When you have your shit together a little bit better. And on that call, all I did was answer her questions and tell her how I operate. I told her what it's like to work with me. She told me what she wanted it to be like at the end of working with me, and we had honest conversations about those outcomes, but I know what she means. And I know what my realtor means is that we've all been in that icky stick situation where somebody really wants us to buy the thing. It is so clear that they want us to buy something or that they want us to help them achieve their goals, probably of a commission goal. And I'll tell you a really gross story that a lot of us has probably been in is that when I bought my first coaching program. I didn't need it. I was in no position. I had no audience to launch anything to, and I thought because I was new to the industry that I was getting on a call to learn more about lead generation. I thought that this was a free offer that I was getting. I don't know. I was so green. This was back in 2018, 2019, before I went full-time in my business. And we get on this call, it was clear that they really wanted me to join their$6,000 coaching program. And when I told them on the call, no, I can't swing that right now. I'm not full-time in my business. I don't have an audience. I don't think that there's a clear ROI for me here. They pushed back and they tried to negotiate with me and they said, okay, if I can get my boss to do this for 4,500 and you can pay in full, will you say? Yes. Which this is also a common tactic in the used car world is and I say used cars because used car salesmen get a bad rep. I'm sorry if you're a used car salesperson. I love you. The world needs you, you have a bad reputation. I can't do anything about that. But this is common is that they make it up to a third party. It's this pie in the sky person who holds all the cards. So they get you to say yes so that you've already said yes, so that you can't say no later. You don't feel like you could say no later. And that's exactly what happened to me. And I say, yeah, I mean I have$4,500. I just still don't think that this is right for me. And he said, okay, but if we cut you a deal, you know the, the ROI will be there. And so I did end up buying, because I didn't feel like I could say no, I was young, I was scared. I did not know how the industry worked. So, surprise, the result of that whole situation is that I didn't create the course that they were walking me through because I didn't know that that's what they were doing. I thought that they were just teaching me how to make a bunch of money. I didn't know that I would have to. Create a course and try to sell it to an audience that I did not yet have. I didn't know that they were gonna push me to run ads that I did not need to run because I didn't know who my ideal audience was. And all of my writing, all of my sales tactics that I used throughout being in that program. It felt gross every time I sent those freaking emails. And so what ended up happening is I did sell that course. I sold two of them. I had priced it at a hundred dollars and I sold each one for 50% off. So I made a hundred dollars after investing almost five grand into that program. And what's even wilder is that I was coming off of a super successful career in sales. The year before that I had made over six figures in commissions in the first six months of the year. I quit that job in July, so my W2 for that year was over six figures. I knew how to freaking and sell. I do not know why the freak, I thought I needed this salesperson to tell me how to sell and how to sell a stupid course that I didn't even have. So. I say this to tell you that I got got, and I swore that I would never sell like that again because I knew the right way to sell, and I knew that that wasn't it. So similar to my realtor, I wanted sales to feel good, and that's exactly how I've built my business ever since. So then the question is, how do you sell without selling? I do it by educating, and that's what I call EDU-selling. I create all of the resources that people need to know that they're making the right buying decision. I educate them on what I do, what the process is, what their ideal outcomes could be, what other people's outcomes have been from working with me. I create all of this educational content about what it looks like to work with me and what happens to my other clients. I tell them how much it costs. I tell'em how long the process is gonna take. I educate them on what the whole process and what their outcomes are gonna look like. And then they get to make an informed decision on if that's what they want. I create a clean user experience by telling people what they need to know on my website, in my social content right here in my podcast. And I walk them through a process. I tell stories so that they can see themselves in that process. And all I'm doing is educating, and it sounds like I'm talking about myself here, but what I want you dear listener to hear is that this is exactly what we can all be doing. Is walking people through the process. I'll tell you a really good example of this. I went wedding dress shopping a couple of months ago, and one of the shops that I went to sent me an email before I got there with a form and said, if you have any ideas of what you like, you can link us to your Pinterest board. What is your budget? Most of our dresses are between X and Y pricing. Are you prepared to make an investment on this day if you find the right dress, or is it something that you plan to push down the road? It started as an open conversation. Two days beforehand, they called me and they said, Hey, we see that you don't feel ready to make the investment. That is totally fine. We are not gonna pressure you while you're here. Is there anything that is gonna change that decision? Like if you find the right dress? Is it a possibility? Okay, great. And do you prefer orange juice? Mimosas, coffee, tea, what? When you arrive? It was just this collaborative process of, they made it very clear that they were trying to help me find the right dress without making the sale. I think she even mentioned on the call that she was not commission based and that I wouldn't have that pressure, but that I'll be invited to make an order. And they educated me also on what the process was for buying a dress. I'm a first time bride, hopefully an only time bride, and I didn't know that some dresses take four to six months to be custom made and sent in, and then another four to six months to be altered. So she also educated me on that process. So when I walked into that room that day, I went from being nervous about having to change in front of somebody else and thinking that I was gonna be pressured to spend thousands of dollars on something I wasn't sure about. Instead, my mood as I walked in. Is that I was so ready to just be taken care of for the day and was open to the possibility of walking away, making a purchase. But I knew that if I made that purchase, I was gonna feel good about it. And I did make a purchase that day, and they were incredibly helpful. When I did make the purchase, they seemed surprised. They celebrated with me, and I felt that they were celebrating with me versus celebrating for themselves that they made a sale. She educated me all the way to the sale. So how can you do this in your business? You could turn your sales call into a scoping call, rename it. Everybody calls their discovery calls, discovery calls or sales calls, and I love that level of transparency. But what if you called it a kickoff call or a scoping call instead, so that people assumed that what they were doing during that call is making sure that you're a good fit, not being sold to it changes the entire error around that call. Personally, I call mine kickoff calls because I educate so well that by the time people get on my calendar, they're not trying to see if it's time to hire a copywriter. They know it's time to hire a copywriter. They wanna make sure that the timeline and budget fits their project. You could also use a CRM to automate some of your systems so that, like the bridal shop, you send out forms well in advance. It gives you the opportunity to review things in advance so that you go into calls with people and conversations with people already informed and they feel like you are spending their time well. You can also use scheduling tools to get additional information from your people. Also, all of the copy from your CRM and from your scheduling tools can be super on brand. Rather than saying, hello, you have an appointment at x time, on X date, you can say, Hey girl. Hey, can't wait to talk to you about your copy on this date at this zoom link. Adding that extra level of personalization helps people feel held so that it is safer for them to be educated and make a decision. I've talked about this in my trust recession episodes, but your brain is not open to making a purchasing decision when it does not feel safe. So you need to make people feel safe for them to make the investment in working with you. Other ways that you can edu sell within your process are statistics, especially above the fold. If you tell me above the fold on your, let's say, business coaching program, that 98% of business owners never make a hundred KA year. That's educating me. That is motivating me. That's telling me that you did your research. In the next line, you could say something like, but that changes here. So you have them labeled a problem that some business owners never make it to a hundred KA year. And then you start to align the solution that that's gonna change. You are in the right place. You've shown me that you know your shit and how to overcome the problem. Great. I feel that you are a safe person to work with. Another thing you can do in your copy is tell people common mistakes. You could say something like, quote, the biggest mistake I see dog moms make is walking their dogs at the wrong time. You'll have people leaning in because this is an aha moment. It has them asking questions about why, what's going on with my dog? What is the right time you're telling them? That you have authority in this space and you are educating them on what they can do better and what they can do better is likely working with you. Another way that you can hedge sell is having transparency in your pricing on your website. I have other episodes on pricing, specifically if you scroll back to episode 17. But yes, starting points on sales pages might get you fewer inquiries, but the ones that you do get will not be tire kickers. It will not be people hoping that you tell them the price or sitting through a half hour long call just to get sticker shock. Having transparency in your pricing, educates them on what it looks like to work with you so that when they do get on your calendar, they're that much closer to saying yes. And finally, user experience make navigating your sales page super freaking easy. If it's not, which is probably means that you're getting traffic, but no inquiries, you likely need to look into your design and your copy. But I highly recommend taking a full step back and looking at your overall brand strategy to make sure that you are educating your people and making it a smooth process. Again, from tech design and copy. So ultimately, what is EDU-selling? EDU-selling is just educating your people so that working with you seems like a natural next step. I gave you a couple of examples, but ultimately on your website you have a bunch of opportunities. You can give statistics, you can simplify the flow of your website. You can keep your CRM and your scheduling tool and your website all flowing together so that you create a trustworthy experience where people feel safe to make a decision. And of course, I'm always a fan of pricing transparency and keeping that human touch in everything that you do, including in the copy that's automated. Just because it's automated doesn't mean that it can't sound like you, but convert better. You want your people to feel really good about working with you. When they feel good about working with you, they shout your name from the rooftops, which means more referrals. They are also likely to be better, more fun clients for you to work with. And you didn't create this business to create yourself another job. You created it to make money and serve people even better. When you educate your people, when you are transparent, you build trust. You smooth your sales process and you run a more efficient business as a result. So yeah, we don't all see ourselves as salespeople. However, because we run our own businesses, we have to sell and selling does not have to feel icky. It is not a four letter word. If there's one thing that you take away today, it is that you can educate your people on what it looks like to work with you. And that can be just as effective of a sales tool as doing a hard sell, and honestly, probably feels a whole heck of a lot better. Of course, if you want your copy to sound like you but convert better, I can help you write it. You can inquire with me at nomadcopyagency.com/contact, or reach out to me on Instagram. You can find me at Nomad.Copy, and if this episode lit something up in you, leave a comment. And it helps more people find the podcast, and honestly, it makes me feel really warm and fuzzy on the inside. I can't wait to see you on next week's episode of Copy and where I will continue to tell you how to write copy. That sounds like you. But converts better. Stay well.