Jasmine Star (00:00:01) - It's. Welcome back to the Jasmine Star Show, where we start with an ever present question that a lot of business owners might ask themselves from time to time sometimes. Do you ever ask yourself, Is it me? Am I just not a proper salesperson? I am here to tell you that you're not the problem. In fact, there are more people out there who want and need your offer than you could ever take on serving. There are more like supply and demand. Maybe you're in demand. There is a lot of supply. So I'm going to repeat that there are more people out there who want and need your offer than you could ever take on serving. So I'm going to start a little bit with a back story. 2016, I launched a $2,000 course. Now, it was a seven day cart open, and on day number four, I was looking at nothing short of a disaster. I had never launched a $2,000 course. I hadn't made a $2,000 offer in my career. I was like, Wow, I'm feeling excited, making big moves, going to hang out with the big kids and launch something like this.

Jasmine Star (00:01:22) - Wow. Okay. So we had spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads, and on day four, we were looking at sales and they were abysmal. I made a million mistakes. I felt humiliated and worse than all of that. I was panicked. I kept on telling myself, Well, just just prove I'm not ready. I will never be destined to ever sell or make a $2,000 offer. Like I didn't have that level of skill. And when I had made that decision, or when I realized that that was the story I've been telling myself, like I could never do that. I was in fact, living into the prophecy I had already like kiboshed my possibility from the outset. And things were so bad that, okay, here's a crazy side story. We got a bottle of wine, a bottle, I should say. We got a box of wine bottles. I think there was a total of six and it was addressed to us at our address, but it had no return address, so we have no idea if it was, in fact, like sent for us or maybe it was a mistake.

Jasmine Star (00:02:33) - I have no idea. But I am talking about like this box had six bottles of wine and the cheapest bottle of wine started at $300. Yeah, I know. Like, we're like, Wait, what the heck? Like, we don't. This box had thousands of dollars of wine in it. Okay? So we were like, Well, you know, not that big, expensive wine drinkers were like, Well, we got to save this for a special occasion. Like something amazing didn't happen and we're just going to put it away. And so we put those bottles away. And on day four, when I realized that I had made a massive mistake with this launch, with this course, with this offer, and I was just like, it's done. I was so sad and I was so depressed. And JD sat us outside by our fireplace and he opened one of those expensive bottles of wine. And I'm like, What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? This is not the special moment.

Jasmine Star (00:03:22) - And he told me that if we cannot open a bottle of wine to celebrate what we were learning, then we didn't deserve to open the bottle of wine. When we learned a lesson on how to succeed. Like we had to learn the lessons and what not to do again. And he wanted to mark it. And I remember being like, No, you're not doing this right. Like, that's a reward. Like, we shouldn't reward ourselves for making this decision. I wanted to, like, punish myself for this decision. And I look back at that instance in that memory and I'm like, He is living his life like he's living life right? Like, we need to celebrate the lessons and we need to celebrate these moments. As crazy as it was, I will never forget that moment. And it was that night that I had made a call to my mentor and I said, It's not bad. It's really bad. And I feel, again, humiliated. I feel I made way too many mistakes.

Jasmine Star (00:04:15) - And I told him that I was absolutely panicked. And he asked me one question. He's like, Tell me who you are in this moment. Just tell me what comes up for you. He's like, What is your truth? What is coming up for you? I'll never forget it was like 10:00 at night and I'm on the call with his brother being like, I'm having a freaking nervous breakdown right now. Not a nervous breakdown. I should be very careful. I was nervous and I was breaking down. So that was the truth of it. And he said, Tell me who you are right now. And I said, I don't know why this is coming to me. He's like, Tell me what is coming to you? And I said, I'm a fighter. He's like, Great. Then make the decision to fight. So I was making the choice to believe that I could find a way to sell this course if I showcased the value, if I highlighted the transformation, and if I showed up personally in this process.

Jasmine Star (00:05:03) - So for every day I went live, I sent personalized videos like, honestly, I must have sent well over a thousand. Messages. And it was in three days, I was like, I'm going to fight. I don't care what it takes. I'm going to do everything. And I worked pretty much straight for three days. I'm like, But in those three days, like after the efforts on day one of those, we saw sales coming in and I'm like, Oh, this is working. And by day seven, the sales had soared and we ended up closing that launch with $355,000. And that's crazy. That's when I read that. When I think about that, when I say that, that's crazy to me. We went from this is a disaster. How are we ever going to bounce back to, oh, my goodness, what just happened? And it was in that moment that I understood the power of belief, that I understood the power of confidence. And when then I understood the idea, the power of selling the transformation.

Jasmine Star (00:06:02) - So in this episode, I want to walk you through three psychological strategies that will simply shift what you're already doing. Based on what I learned, all those years ago. So let's get started with point number one selling the transformation. It's oftentimes it's small shifts in your messaging that can make a big difference in your overall results. So whether it's through your content or your conversations, whether it's you want to say that again, whether it's your content or your conversations, a mistake that you might be making when leading to your offer is just listing off the features. Like this is what it has. Instead of painting a picture of the transformation of what it provides. So this is what it has versus this is what it will do. So why is that important? Because when you showcase the impact that your offer has on your customers, your clients, you're going to highlight its unique value proposition and then you're going to differentiate yourself in the market. So let's get into that. I'm going to give you a quick, tangible way to increase your sales by mapping out the transformation of your offer.

Jasmine Star (00:07:08) - Now, here's a little framework called FBI. See, you can't forget it. This is the FBI method feature, benefit and impact. So F is for feature. The features of your offer are the characteristics or qualities of your product or service. Now this is important for people to know, but this alone doesn't sell. Selling your features good. It doesn't alone sell B is for benefit. This is the benefit of your offer and it showcases positive outcomes or advantages that clients or customers get from the features. Mm Cool. Benefits benefits are closer, but the benefits alone don't close the deals. In fact, even if you're talking about the features and the benefits closer, but you're still not going to lock in that sale as easy as frequent and as lovingly as you want. Now here's I eyes for impact. The impact is the ultimate result that occurs in your customer or client's life as a result of experiencing the benefits. So the impact is what evokes emotion. And as we know, emotion is how we are making a buying decision.

Jasmine Star (00:08:18) - So it is the combination of FBI that really get somebody to say, yes, I need to buy that. So let's get into some industry specific examples. FBI for a service based business, let's say I'm a health coach. Let's say the feature of my program is a 60 minute one on one coaching call feature. Now, the benefit, the benefit of that feature could be custom coaching, digging into their unique challenges and their personal needs. Okay, but here's the judge. Here's the magic part. The impact, the impact of that benefit could be focusing on your specific health and body needs so you can achieve your goals in less time. That's the impact. Now we're like connecting the dots for a prospective customer. Now, when we put it all together in this program, we're going to combine the FBI. In this program, you'll receive a 60 minute one on one coaching call feature so that we can spend a whole hour digging into your unique. Yeah. So that we can spend a whole hour digging into your unique challenges and personal needs.

Jasmine Star (00:09:25) - That's the benefit so that you can achieve your goals in less time. We just walk that through service based business owner FBI method. Let's go now. Let's do the FBI method for a product based business. Let's say I sell jewelry Now a feature of my jewelry could be that it's made with hypoallergenic materials. Cool. Now the benefit of this feature could be that it won't irritate your skin or corrode or tarnish or maybe even rust over time. Great feature benefits, but what does this actually do Impact? The impact of this benefit could be that you could wear it more comfortably day to day and extend the lifespan of your jewelry line. Okay. So when we put that all together, we might say our jewelry is made with hypoallergenic materials feature so that it won't irritate your skin, corrode or tarnish or rust over time. B benefits so that you wear it more comfortably day to day and extend the lifespan of your products. Getting the most out of your money are impact okay for me, I am CEO of Social Curator and I sell a software as a service and we are an all in one platform for creating, organizing and scheduling and auto posting your content.

Jasmine Star (00:10:36) - So let's break this down with the FBI method. A feature of social curator is that it has an AI social media manager, Dotty, who writes your captions in your specific voice for your specific business, in your specific industry. Okay, that's just a feature. That alone is not going to be enough to move people into the subscription. But what if we list the benefits? Well, the benefit of that feature is that we have on brand quality social marketing post written for you in less than two minutes. Cool. That's the benefit. Still not enough to move a lot of people off the edge and make the decision. But here's the impact. The impact of that benefit is saving energy, saving hours of time, getting a clear plan, showing up consistently. Why? Why does that matter? So you can spend more time doing tasks like nurturing leads or closing sales or spending time with your loved ones. So when we put this all together, Social Curator is your AI powered social media marketing manager Dotty, who writes your specific captions in your specific voice.

Jasmine Star (00:11:38) - That's the feature so that you can have customized quality captions written for you in under two minutes. That's the benefit. This way you could save your energy and hours of your time so you could spend more time nurturing leads and closing sales and or spending time with people you love. The impact. Okay, so when you're pairing the feature benefit and impact all together, you inform them of what they're receiving, how it's going to help them at what life would look like if they said yes to your offer. Hot dang. There we go. That's just number one, y'all. That's just number one. I remember how I said some three mindset shifts. That was number one. Number one was selling the transformation. Now let's dive into number two using persuasive language. Now, words can affect your mind in a lot of different ways, but some of the most persuasive words in the English language are you instantly because and new right? Like I tried coming up with a cool acronym but I was like you knew that didn't have a didn't have enough owls so you instantly because I knew like, seriously write those down.

Jasmine Star (00:12:45) - The more that you incorporate them, the more that people are going to have like their ears honed up. So let's break each of these down so you could use them strengthening your specific sales language. Now, I love when you can say you, but what is better is in like direct messages or in emails, if you could use their name, that right there, game changer. But in case you can't use your name or you're not familiar with it, you could say you now position and explain the power of using the word you. This is what we're going to write right here. Now, we can't call out our audience by name in all of our content, but we can use the word you now. The word you forms a connection between you and the reader or the listener. The viewer using that word draws a connection. So it encourages us, encourages me and you, encourages specifically you to visualize and place themselves in the shoes of the path that I want you to follow. Now, this is going to humanize your product or service with your audience, and then they're going to immediately think of your product and service.

Jasmine Star (00:13:43) - And they're putting themselves in that situation and they're going to say, wow, this is how it will be. The solution to my specific problems. When you say you. So I want to give an example like let's paint a picture here. I love a good example. Good Lord. I'm like, I got examples for examples. Now let's do an example with you. Are you feeling tired, stressed and overwhelm. Join our Mindfulness workshop to learn techniques that can help you manage your stress levels. Now let's use that same example without you feeling constant. Stress and overwhelm are mindfulness. Workshop offers techniques that can assist in managing stress. Levels. I mean, both are good, but one felt like I was having a conversation with you. Now there's going to be a difference. And I want to hone in on adding that word. You and these differences bring in personalization. You create a sense of personal connection, and it makes the content more relatable and engaging. And consumers feel like they're, you know, like you're speaking right to them.

Jasmine Star (00:14:41) - Now, I really love this because I studied this and I discovered what they call a reader focused approach by using you. The content shifts the focus onto the reader and their needs, and it highlights the benefits and solutions that are relevant to them. I love when business owners talk about how much they love their product and why they started the business. I love all of that, but I need you to also add why you love your business and why you started it, but what it means for them. That is called a reader focused approach. And then I think that when you use you, you're going to get a very clear call to action. So when your content addresses the reader with you, it naturally prompts them to take action. It's the difference between, Oh, that's nice, she's hosting a workshop and oh, I feel like she's talking to me. I want to go in response and register. Small little tiny differences have a huge impact. Now, to quote Dale Carnegie, he said, Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest, most important sound in any language.

Jasmine Star (00:15:45) - I just think about that when somebody says your name, if somebody you haven't seen in a while or casually had an introduction and they come up to you and they say your name, wow, it has an impact. Why? Because to that person, that is the sweetest, most important sound in any language. So when you use somebody's name, they feel significant. Now, to add on, make people feel significant. People love to talk about themselves, right? Let them ask good and relevant questions that are specific to them. There is a quote that says, Why do we love our parents so much? It's because they loved us first. Hm. So if we have a really great example of a parent who loved us first, how might we emulate that with the people that we meet? And I hope sometimes I have the opportunity to run into a podcast listeners, the podcast. It makes us feel like we're friends and I'm like, I love that, thank you. What I really want to do is express love by way of sharing what it is I have and sharing what it is I know.

Jasmine Star (00:16:44) - So on that note, thank you. I appreciate you. I create for you. Okay, so now let's focus on the word instantly. Instantly the words instantly instant and immediately. Ooh, those are good. I just snapped. Hold on. Let me do it. A mic. Oh, yes. Okay. That triggers anticipation. SaaS companies. What I have if you have a SaaS company or membership or digital product, we kind of have an advantage here because you know what the customer is wanting to purchase. Ooh, that's instant. So my team and I can say with social curator, once you sign up, you're going to get instant access to our all in one platform for creating organized scheduling and auto posting your content. Now we can even say you can immediately create social post for your sales. Oh, it's a small difference where it's triggering in the brain. Now if you don't have an instant offer, let's get a little creative. You can create a free resource and give it away immediately when somebody orders your product.

Jasmine Star (00:17:42) - Or you can create an online community where you add your clients to connect and support with each other. And you could do that immediately. If you're a service provider, like maybe you're a coach, a consultant, maybe you're an accountant, you can send over a questionnaire of some sort that says you'll instantly get the questionnaire to fill out so I can start working on a custom plan for you. Now, the bottom line is that people want something as soon as they purchase, big or small. Next up is our persuasive Language series. You know, it's like out here being a teacher, Jasmine is the word because I wanted to focus on giving a reason. So even a weak reason has been proven to be more persuasive than giving no reason at all. So here's a real life example of how a weak reasoning can work. Now, let's say JD, my husband and business partner, maybe he was sitting on my favorite spot on the couch. Which of these two options sounds more persuasive? Number one, Hey, could you move to a different spot or number two? Hey, JD, could you move to a different spot? Because I really want to sit in that corner of the couch.

Jasmine Star (00:18:46) - Of course, giving excellent reasoning is better, but make sure, like, you give some sort of reasoning, even if you're like, I don't know why. Why can you not just say, Because it's amazing. Because I made it just in time as a result of the feedback that I've been getting, because I've decided to change the strategy of my business. When people feel like they're on the journey with you, it is very persuasive for them to have a deeper understanding. And when people have an understanding, they feel informed and when they feel informed and when they feel educated, they feel empowered to make that decision. So when customers understand your why the. A reason why you created your offer. The reason why it's on sale. The reason why you believe it's best they develop a deeper connection to your offer. And they're more empowered to buy because they're educated by your point of view. Last up is the fourth word. Our little persuasive word series. Here we go. Persuasive words when it comes to sales is new.

Jasmine Star (00:19:40) - We as humans, man, we are naturally attracted to the novelty, right? New experiences. The word new gives us a sense of excitement and curiosity, and it captures our attention. This piques our interest. This is exactly what you want in your business. The word new can imply things like fresh, different, exclusive, valuable. Now it's social curator. We launched our new upgraded platform and our customers, both our current users and new users. They were very excited to jump in and test all of the new features and benefits. Do you see how I'm saying like new here, like Gadget I'm teaching. So you're aware, right? So the words, the phrase new and improved can apply to software. It can apply to recipes, but research shows that this is extremely important with products because people kind of lose interest in items just after a couple of years. But, you know, like, man, if we can talk about the newness of it and why that matters, it shows continual innovation.

Jasmine Star (00:20:41) - It shows commitment to what it is you're doing and commitment to the product. So now it's time for a quick review. We've spoken about two psychological strategies that will improve your sales strategy. The first was selling the transformation. In the second was using persuasive language. Now it's time for our third and final piece. Communication and confidence. Okay. I want to chat a little bit about the power of being seen in person or on video. Now, I know people can turn off and be like, Oh, no, this is where I stopped listening. Okay, okay. But let's just chat about a few facts before you have an opinion. Let's lay out some facts besides the obvious human connection that is built face to face with somebody effective pitching how you sell and how you convince somebody. It requires clear communication. So how do we understand communication? Is it with words? Well, Albert Moravian, a researcher of body language, he broke down the components of a face to face conversation, and he found that communication is only 55% body language and 38% tonality and only only only 7% words.

Jasmine Star (00:21:55) - Communication is only 7% words. So ask yourself right now, how can I be seen? Like how might somebody be able to see my body language or hear my tonality for clear and concise communication? Like, how do I show up on my on behalf of my business in a visual way? If our body language can sell more than our words, how might we show it personally to make our sales efforts way more effective? Now, if you can't be face to face or get on video. Okay, fine, fine. You're totally against it. Well, at the very least, you can offer voice memos like let's share a little bit of a pro tip with voice memos. Now on The Daily, if you're reaching out to a prospective customer client, they're not getting voice memos via Instagram. They are probably like, Oh, somebody sends me a voice memo. I'm not sure if I want to listen to it. So if I'm reaching out and I've never sent a voice memo to a person, I will send them something via like a text in a DM and just say, Hey, I have some ideas around this, and then I'll send the voice memo.

Jasmine Star (00:22:54) - It's kind of like prepping them up. So they're excited to know what actually is in the Voice memo and a higher likelihood of them listening to it. So another example I like to share with communication is the difference tonality can make. Okay, tonality. When you write something, it's a little bit confusing to understand, but when you say something better yet, when you show something like on video, it makes a difference. Okay, so let's play a little bit of a game here. The phrase I didn't say you ate my sandwich has a different meaning when you emphasize a different word in the sentence. When you emphasize I, it implies I didn't say you ate my sandwich. Someone said it, but it wasn't me. Right where we put the tonality. Now let's switch where we're putting the tonality. When you emphasize the word sandwich, it implies I didn't say you eat my sandwich, but I said you drank my Lacroix and ate my chips. Where we put the emphasis on our tonality changes the underlying messaging.

Jasmine Star (00:23:57) - So if you're ready to show up on camera, if you're ready to do more doorknocking face to face, if you're ready to like call people, make those cold calls, like, how does this happen without being so confident? Better yet, let's ask a better question. How does someone gain confidence? Now, I have to tell you, I never got into the game or idea of speaking publicly. My very first speaking event was in San Diego. I was invited by two people in San Diego and they said, Hey, we host this really large photographer gathering and we would love to have you come speak. And I was like, Yeah, of course. And they told me on average they get around 50 to 70 people coming to these events. And I was so nervous and I had practiced. I mean, I'm talking about hours of putting together what I was going to say. And at the time, I was living in Los Angeles with my husband and drove an hour and a half to San Diego.

Jasmine Star (00:24:46) - Got there. I walked around this like the center, and I'm like, wow, a lot of people are going to be here. And then there were five people in the audience and two of them were the host. So apparently nobody wanted to show up when they didn't know who the heck was talking. So here's the thing. If somebody told me today, oh, that was a flop, that was a waste of time, that was so ridiculous that you wasted so much time speaking to three people in the audience. It might it might make me feel a certain way, right? It might make me feel bad, make me feel sad. Or if somebody said that, Hey, Jasmine, great job. It was awesome. You persevered. You're dedicated. That might make me feel better. Good, enlightened. But in both of those situations, what I am saying is me having an opinion or them allowing myself to shape the feelings I had toward that instance, that experience. I have to tell you, both of those don't serve me.

Jasmine Star (00:25:42) - Somebody saying something and it making me feel bad didn't serve me. Somebody saying something and it made me feel good. It equally didn't serve me why I gave my power away. I allowed somebody else's opinion to make me feel something. So your opinion? Makes me feel something. Your opinion dictated my emotions associated with that event. I gave my power away. Now what I want all of us to do is when we make the decision to show up, even if it's sending a voice memo, even if it's going live on Facebook, even if it's deciding to send a video to somebody via DM, you showing up changes the way you confidently sell. So I only gained confidence because I continued to show up. I didn't think about showing up. I didn't have judgments of myself, of showing up. When people decided to have an opinion of how I showed up, I decided to disassociate myself with their opinions. I didn't wait to become confident to show up. I showed up until I became confident. You don't get confident.

Jasmine Star (00:26:47) - You become confident. Confidence isn't a gift that you're given. Only some people have the gift of confidence. Some people are lucky. No, confidence isn't a gift. I think confidence is a prize. You win it like you work for it and you get it. And guess what? You're only competing against yourself. You just need to be 1% better than you were yesterday. So what is the whole crux of this here? Like, how do we become more confident selling? Well, when it comes to confidence practice, do it often? Confidence is a trait that can be learned. I was not a confident person. I was probably the least confident person. I was unconfident in confident, under confident. I'm saying it all wrong because I was all wrong. But I stand before you and I'm telling you that confidence came on the back of practice and nothing else. So if this foolish, pathetic, poor person stood in front of people feeling awkward as all get out, knowing that I was not a gifted speaker, nor was I ever in the position to stand in front of people and teach somebody.

Jasmine Star (00:27:54) - And yet I did. I stand before you and I say it came because I did. It did not come because it was given. So I think that after that experience, what I've also learned is that customers and clients feel way more confident saying yes to you when they sense your confidence. So you're like, Well, after people would say yes to me, then I would get confident, Oh baby, we've been waiting a long dang time. When you're confident and you show up in that, people sense that, okay, so let's talk about what we covered. We covered the FBI method, sharing the feature, the benefit and then the impact. And then we wanted to make sure that we're sharing the FBI method instead of just listing your offer. This way you can still let them in on those amazing features and you're still showing the benefit of what it is that they're getting. But what you're really doing is showcasing the impact of your offer and you're leaning into the transformation. Talk about who they become and what they get, not just what is included.

Jasmine Star (00:28:55) - The second thing that we focused on was the most persuasive words in the English language and then how to leverage them in your sales strategy. Things like New Instant are it perks up. It lets people know that you're constantly innovating and changing as a better way to serve people. Thirdly, we talked about how to communicate clearly in the sales process and build confidence. I have come to believe that all those years later of me sitting in front of the fireplace with an expensive bottle of wine that was randomly, accidentally, maybe it was a gift sent to us and opened at life's most inopportune moment. I go back to that person and what I wish I would be able to tell myself then was, Hey, you deserve to make the sales for your business and you're more than capable. What I thought at that time was that level of offer. Somebody paying me $2,000. That was. Wait. Nope. It wasn't my business. It wasn't for me. It wasn't my time. Other people can do it. And I chose to listen to that story until I decided to.

Jasmine Star (00:30:02) - Not until I decided to say, choose a better story. Who are you? I was a fighter. I chose to fight. I chose to do everything I possibly could and tell myself a better story. I have to also remind you, as I reminded myself, there are more people out there who want and need what it is you offer than you could ever take on serving. This is it. There were more people who needed that $2,000 course than I could ever offer that I could ever serve. Now, I have come to believe that if we know that we are the thing that are in demand and we control the supply, hot dang. You now become a place of power, not a place of happenstance. Not a place of something happening to you. You are happening to it. Now, remember, you don't get confident when you show up. You show up to get confident. It is a practice. It is a skill. It is waiting for you to do the work. Now, the question I have for you is, are you willing to do the work? It isn't easy and that is why so few people do it.

Jasmine Star (00:31:09) - And of the few people who do it. The lion's share is theirs. The world is your oyster and the opportunities are endless if you choose to see it that way. I know your time is valuable. If you would be so kind to connect. This podcast was made in love for you by myself and by this team to say, How might your life get a little bit better, stronger, faster on the back of sharing the lessons that we have all learned as a little reciprocation? You know, I don't know what I would absolutely love. Would you be able to tag wherever you're listening to Are you on a walk with your dog? Are you doing laundry? Are you in the kitchen making auto abishola? Go on. Yes, yes. Show me those obits. Show me the outros. I want to see the Bolo. Okay. Take a picture. Tag me. I want to see what it is you do. Because I want to hear and know that it's not just me making this lesson about sales.

Jasmine Star (00:32:06) - It's you saying, I now know how the framework I now and know and I have the framework to three mindset shifts to getting the sales that my business deserves. Mm Thank you so much for tuning into the Jasmine Star Show. It is always an honor and a privilege.