Stop being like an annoying beach peddler pestering people, sliding into DMs & trying to sell your wares.
Here are 3 things you can do instead.
Have you been to Thailand? Bali? The Caribbean? Italy?
You’re on vacation, lying on the beach.
But you can’t get a moment's peace because you’re being bombarded with offers. Deals. Stuff. Alleged very good deals.
By Beach Peddlers peddling their wares.
Trying to sell you things you may or not want.
Things you likely don’t need.
With the promise that they are the ‘best price and best quality. And you think, ‘Maybe I do want this, but I want it on my terms. When I ask for it’.
The digital economy has made the beach peddler life this way for all of us on the daily.
Whether it’s
Instagram.
Cold Calls.
Twitter.
LinkedIn
Email.
Facebook.
Facebook groups.
YouTube.
Clubhouse.
TikTok.
Does it seem everywhere you look these days, people are peddling their wares? Sliding, uninvited into your DM on down the phone line, “Hi, my name is…. and I’m from….”.
And I’m not talking about legitimate adverts or sponsored stuff —
That’s akin to getting ads on TV (back in my day).
But people or companies,
Sending unsolicited messages,
Or DMs,
Offering goods, services or content in the form of a copy/paste standard non-specific offer—
With zero personalisation, nor showing WIIFM. Seriously?
Offering to help you without knowing anything you want, your priorities, commitments, conflict, or what you have in the pipeline.
Offering to help you create something without asking what you need, opening a conversation, using your name, or asking a single question.
Pushing. Being thoughtless.
Stuff you didn’t ask for.
Stuff you may or may not need.
I love a good sales pitch or personalised message and don’t mind outbound sales or being approached. Just not like this. At least look up my name and a bit about me—it only takes 90 seconds to do a quick 5-step background research on any prospect.
If this is you, your current sales approach,
Stop. Period. There is a better way to do outreach.
While people love to buy stuff,
They don’t love to be sold to.
Every one of us has something to sell.
Most days of our lives, we are selling our point of view,
Our ideas,
Our perspectives.
Every interaction between two or more parties, in essence, is a sales pitch.
But not all of them feel like it.
So how can we apply some of that to our businesses and professional lives?
Here are three easy peasy things you can start right now ⤵
ONE
Before you can be seen,
Learn to see.
See the other person you’re prospecting as a person;
A human being and a human doing.
Learn to see your customer. Know thy customer.
Learn to see your potential client. Know thy prospect.
Care, authentically.
Not just because you’re trying to get something from them or are waiting politely to talk about yourself or your business.
If you don’t know how to do this, stop! Stop trying to sell right now.
This is your area to make a must-learn and upskill in immediately.
TWO
Get genuinely curious about everyone you spend time with.
Your sister, your former boss, your colleagues, the members of your masterminds or the group/s you are in.
Not because you are trying to turn them into clients.
Serve people powerfully, and you will build your empathy skills.
Serve people authentically; some will make great referrals, and some will become paying clients.
Be insanely curious about people.
And offer to help them after you know what they want and need and what’s important to them.
THREE
Ask Quality Questions.
This fundamental is where you separate yourself from others.
This is where you demonstrate your empathy and curiosity to learn.
Have engaging conversations that leave people thinking.
It’s not about you telling them how great you and your company are; that’s old school.
Today is about quality questions you ask, listening to the answer, and being thoughtful, authentic and caring.
The quality of our questions determines the quality of our answers and the quality of our lives. This goes for our business relationships too!
Your goal is to take whomever you’re talking to, to a new level of thinking and insight. That’s how you stand apart.
We are past the time in the world when we learn how to handle our customer's objections or focus on our pitch. We are over old sales methods. They’re dead.
For the most part, it seems so much communication is insincere.
Inauthentic. A thinly veiled sales pitch.
Or waiting for the ‘correct’ number of contacts to develop trust and gain attention to start the sales or pitch process.
The key takeaway?
What we say, do and how we act speaks volumes to our prospects and customers. Our communication from that very first interaction leaves an impression, and each reinforces this and imprints on others. Trust and integrity can not be purchased; they must be earned — and they are one of your biggest commodities in business, revenue generation and sales.
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” ~ Will Rogers.
Kristy Bertenshaw — Storyteller in training! I love champagne, cats & coffee, but not necessarily in that order. I believe sales can be so much better. Let’s work together to get as many clients, customers and sales as you can possibly handle, and have fun doing it. Hire me to build your sales funnel and revenue. kristybertenshaw.com
