Podcast Episode

Transcript:  

Hello and welcome to the sales Show. I'm Maree Kirkpatrick, your sales and business strategist. I'm a mum, a wife, and a multi-business owner myself. With over 15 years experience in sales and business, I have worked with startups all the way through to multimillion dollar. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Today we are talking about how the fear factor impacts your income, and this podcast idea came about as I had a little bit of one of those fearful moments. During the week, I have been up-leveling the business and growing and scaling things, and sometimes I get a little bit wobbly when things like that happen.

And so it's purely just fear for me when that fear happens. There's a few things that I do that I'll give you some tips and advice and you know, some things that you can potentially do to help you, but I want to start off by, Acknowledging how fear shows up in business. Because some people say, and this goes for both men and women, like a lot of men will say, I'm not fearful of anything.

Like, I'm not worried about that, but it shows up. Fear shows up in so many different ways when it comes to business, so it can show up by. Dropping your prices before someone's even given you an objection. So maybe before when you're writing the proposal, you're putting it together and you think, oh, this is probably a $30,000 job, but let's do it for 20 so that they'll take it.

That is pure fee. Pure fee. When it comes to. Your pricing and dropping your prices without even having a conversation with the potential client about it. Another way that fear shows up, and I find this happens quite regularly, is that people have this fear around having these sales conversations. They don't want to have the sales conversations, they just want to talk about their product or service.

And if someone buys great and if they don't, Oh well next. So if you find that you hate having these sales conversations, have a bit more of a deeper dive into that and understand what it is that you are worried about and is it really fear that is driving that? Another way that people have fear show up when it comes to their business is they will do a whole heap of marketing.

They will show up, they will sell things. They will be out there for a little while showing up, and then all of a sudden they go into hiding and they just kind of puff off the face of the earth, or they don't put anything on social media for a little while, or they don't engage with their community. I've seen that happen a little bit as well.

And this can be all based around fear. We may not even be consciously aware of it, but it is fear and that's how it can show up in your business. Another way that people, I see fear show up when they're in business is that people don't follow up. They're worried about annoying people, upsetting people.

They don't want to seem pushy. They don't want to seem like they're just after people for their money and things like that. So they won't do any form of follow up or anything along those lines, and it needs to be understood that that is fear. What would you do if fear wasn't in the way? What if you were actually able to acknowledge that fear and say, oh man, this like fear is showing up in different ways.

There's also things such as fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of the unknown. I've spoken to some business owners, and I've had this conversation multiple times as well in our house. It's this fear of if the business grows too big, I'm going to be busier. I'm not going to have enough time for my kids, I'm going to lose a relationship with my husband.

It's like the business is just going to absolutely drain me. That is absolutely more ways of fear showing up, fear of the unknown. What happens if I grow the business and it becomes a multimillion dollar business that runs out of control and I just completely fall in a heap. That's fear. That is more ways that fear shows up.

But fear can also prevent you from taking risks. It can prevent you from showing up and saying, Hey, I think I would be great at this. Let's have a conversation or give me a shot at it. It can be fear can also stop you from taking or trying new things, so you just keep plotting along with the same ways that you do stuff.

Time and time again, and everything's just nice where you're not pushing yourself out of that comfort zone. You're not stretching yourself. I went out for dinner with my beautiful girlfriends a couple of weeks ago, and I was saying that I'm wanting to do things that make me more uncomfortable and stretch me out of that comfort zone.

And one of my gorgeous friends said, wow, I haven't done that for ages. I haven't pushed myself. Out of my comfort zone and seeing what's beyond that. And she runs her own business as well, but her business, we've built her business so that it is very automated and she doesn't have to do a whole heap or step too far out of that comfort zone to grow it to the next level.

And so I found that really fascinating. And I've had moments in my life where I just think, oh gosh, I can't take anything else on. Everything feels hard. Everything feels out of my comfort zone, so I'm just going to sit where I am. But do you know what that does? That stops you pursuing your biggest goals, whether that's income goals, whether that's lifestyle goals, whatever that is for you, having that fear and not wanting to step out of your comfort zone can really.

Stop you getting to where it is that you really want to be. And I think when it comes to business and sales, it is so much about mindset and personal development. There's nothing more that will teach you about yourself than having to sell and to be running a business. But what I don't want to happen is that you let fear stop you doing exactly what it is that you really want to do and taking your business to that next step.

So if you are finding that you're dropping your prices before someone's even had a conversation with you about it, or you are hating having these sales conversations in fear that someone's going to say no. Or that they're not going to like you or that they're not going to buy from you. I want you to really understand that there may be a subconscious level of fear going on for you, and the first thing you need to do to move through that is to acknowledge the fear.

When I was having my moment of like, everything's hard and I'm not good at this, and. I actually, what actually came up for me was that I'd undercharged for this potential project. Now, when I was putting together the plan and the proposal for them, I was like, yeah, this is going to be great. If they take one of the options, fantastic.

But imagine if they take all three. And when I jumped on a call with them and they took all three and they were questioning me about does my price include everything? And, and I'm like, yep. And they're like, oh, okay. Great. I knew in the bottom of my tummy that I had undercharged. However, the fear that I had, it wasn't the fear that I had undercharged, it was the fear that it wasn't enough, and there's a difference between that.

For me not charging enough is. More along the lines of, okay, I can raise my prices. There's potential for room to move for the next project that comes up, or something along those lines. But for me, the fear that came up was, it's not enough. And it doesn't matter what price tag I put on things or what it is that I'm doing, it's never enough.

I've never done enough. I've never said enough. I've never charged enough. All those things that come up is all underlying fear. And so one of the things that I did was I called one of my amazing friends and said, oh my gosh, this is coming up for me. And we talked through it and being able to have those people around you that can support you and talk you through those sort of things and really allow you to delve deeper into it rather than avoiding it is so.

It's such an honor and I'm so grateful to have those people around me. If you don't have people like that, that can't truly understand, you know, maybe it's you are in business or you're in sales and some of your friends aren't in that industry, it can be hard for them to understand exactly what it is.

It's kind of like when people have kids versus people that don't have kids and they go, oh man, I'm so busy, and. You are someone that's juggling business, juggling kids, juggling work, juggling all of it, and you're like, oh, you don't even have kids to deal with. You know? So it's having those people that are in your corner that completely understand the full picture of business and fear and everything that comes up with it.

So what I want to do today is give you a few tips or ways that you can acknowledge the fear and move through it. Because as I said before, we don't want it to stop you taking those risks, trying new things, pursuing your goals and having the life that it, that you truly want to be having. So my first thing is, as I said, acknowledge and accept it.

I know that's hard. I know it can be really confronting, but having someone to be able to pick up the phone and say, Hey. They've said, yes, I'm really excited. I should be feeling over the moon, but what's really coming up for me is this, this, and this, and it doesn't feel great. And so being able to talk through it, acknowledge it, and find some solutions around it is a really great way to help you move through it so that you don't get stuck in that space.

Another thing that I want to acknowledge when it comes to fee and business and growth is it's a natural part of the process. I don't know any business owner that has grown, their business, has extended themselves, that hasn't gone through some aspect of fee or had moments of self doubt or moments of self sabotage, or moments of like, is this price.

Right. Will I annoy them? Is it too much money? Will they say, no. Am I good enough for this? All of that comes up. It is absolutely a natural part of the growth process and that fear is there to help us grow. It is there to up-level us, to move through it, to give us the opportunity to learn something new, to let go of things, and to step into that new stage.

I also want you to take action despite your fear. And uh, you may be sitting there going, yeah, that's all good for you, Marie. But when I have fear, I have anxiety where I get the sweats or I get clammy or I completely shut down, or I just want to sit on the couch and watch n watch Netflix and do nothing, eat cookies.

One of my clients we were talk about the other day, when she's stressed out, she's like, I just want to sit on the couch. And eat brownies that are freshly baked. I'm like, great. You can sit there and eat the brownies, but that's not going to get you any closer to where it is that you want to go. If anything, it has the potential to send you backwards from a mindset perspective, from a weight and health perspective, and running away from that fear doesn't change it.

So I want you to take action despite your fear, and that can be just by setting small goals that align with what it is that. You are wanting, so sorry, small tasks that align with the, the goals that you are wanting. So for me, my beautiful friend had said to me when I was going through this little moment recently had said, so what have you done in the past to move through this?

Like when you've sent a big plan or a proposal to someone, or you've stepped out of that comfort zone, what have you done in the past to move through it? And I was like, I don't know. I just kept kind of going. And she was like, okay, so do that. And I was like, but I can't, like I'm really stuck there. And she was like, okay, so what else can you do?

And I was like, okay. So I just kind of thrilled out there that I, I don't know, like I can just manifest stuff or something will happen or whatever. And she was like, great, go with that. And so what I did was I came home, I was talking to her while I was driving safely. May I add hands free? Was all set up in through the car.

Um, But when I got home, I sat down and I was like, what can I do differently here? And so I sent a few emails, I did some journaling, I put on some music and danced with the kids. I did things to help me move through it. And so don't just sit in it, do things that are going to move you through it, even if it's just small.

The other thing you can do, which I've mentioned multiple times, is seek support. Find people that will build you up and help you through that sort of stuff. It can be friends, it can be family. If you find that you don't have the right friends or family around you to support you through it, there's always professionals or therapists or people around professional industries that are there to help you move through things.

I remember I was seeing a amazing psychologist. Nine years ago now, um, after having quite a major car accident, when I was pregnant with my son and the car accident, put a whole heap of fear and even, um, some P T S D in there. I didn't want to get in the car, I didn't want do anything. Everything hurt.

Everything was too hard. I had a newborn baby when I was going through a huge court case with the insurance company. It was just, Horrendous. It was such a hard time, and one of my friends had said to me, you should go and see this psychologist. She's amazing. She lectures at my university. She's brilliant.

I was like, okay, let's give it a crack. And she was so good. She let me vent, but she didn't let me stay there. She, we mapped out the steps forward, and if it wasn't for her, I honestly believe I would never have taken the steps forward. To start my business. She made me set launch dates of When are you going live?

She made me jot down who we're going to talk to to get the business out there and to market it. All those sort of things was small steps to get me through that fee. And she was a professional that did it. She was someone that. We had a relationship with, but it was a professional relationship. It wasn't a friend or a family member.

So if you find that you need people to push you a little bit harder or to give you some special techniques or advice or strategies to move you through that, don't be scared about going and finding that there's no shame in going out and getting more help. I also want to leave you with this last note.

When that fear comes up, and it's something I've constantly gotta remind myself as well, and I've got beautiful friends that remind me as well, when that fear comes up, be kind to yourself. Don't hate on yourself, or let that negative self talk kick in even more about having that fear. Look after yourself.

Celebrate your progress. Look how far you've come and remember every step that you've taken to get there. The way to get to your goals is by taking steps. Sometimes they're big steps, sometimes they're small steps. But the most important thing for me is just to be constantly moving forward, constantly moving towards those goals and moving in that right direction.

So don't let. The fear factor impact your income. If you do find that it's showing up with dropping your prices, if you do find that it's F, you've got fear around having these sales conversations because you want people to like you and you're worried about being pushy and you're worried about being icky and all that sort of stuff.

Also make sure, obviously you know how to sell in a really connected way, but. Ho hold space for yourself to have those beautiful connecting conversations that then have the potential to lead into a conversation. Allow yourself to show up whether you are on fire or whether you are not, whether your hair or makeup is done, or whether it's not.

Whether you are having a high energy day or a low energy day of what I call a C B F day in, in the business, in life where you just. Could not be fogged. Allow yourself to work through that. Have some steps that you can do to move forward if you find that these fears around sales are coming up regularly.

What I would say is, and I probably should have mentioned this earlier, But when you have moments that that fear is not present, that is the time to set up your systems and your processes. So set up your sales process so that you have the steps that you need to take for having those sales conversations, the chunks that you need to focus on, the boxes that you need to tick.

And we're not talking about scripts or anything like that. We're talking about. The steps that are involved in a sales process. So how do you understand what it is that people are needing? How do you talk about your, your packages and your prices? How do you price your offers? And so one of the things that I like to do is to have a framework when it comes to my pricing so that I don't have to constantly have this fig, these frameworks are there, so that if I am in that, Fear-based space, that the framework is already there for me to work through.

It takes the mental load off it. It takes the stress out of it. It allows you to have that system to support you as you go through it. And it's really important to set up those systems and processes before the fear kicks in. Say for example, the little moment that I was having where. I had undercharged. I had the system and the process set up before that fee kicked in.

If I didn't have the system and process set up before the fee kicked in, I may not have even sent it. I may not have put together the program or the project that I think is best for that customer or that client. And I see this happen all the time as well in business where we have this great sales conversation, the person says, yes, I want to work with you.

And then we have fear on sending the invoice, sending the paperwork, booking in the time, and you just wait for them to say, oh, are we like on for Thursday? And you're like, oh yeah, sorry. Freaked out. Well, obviously you don't say that to someone. But that's, that can be another way that fear shows up. So set up those processes to support you within your business.

Have those processes set up on the, for the days where the C B F days kick in, or the days where everything feels really hard, but you know that you've got the system and the process there, you just need to follow it and run through it. So that is all from me today. Don't let fear stop you doing what it is that you are so passionate and you enjoy doing and really reaching those goals.

A lot of the time when people set those goals, whether it be Dec, November, December, January, new Year type stuff, that fear's not there. There's so much excitement and potential for the new year. But then as things start to roll on, that fear kicks in. And so make sure that you have the support, the systems, the structure, the things that you can do to move you through that fear.

Have an amazing day. I would love you to let me know how fear shows up for you in your business, if you're comfortable with it and how you move through it. Maybe you've got some tips and advice that you can send me for when I have those moments of, oh my god, freak out. Um, so have an amazing day and I will see you in the next episode.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Sales Show. Please share it on social media with your friends and make sure to tag me at Maree Kirkpatrick so I can personally say thank you.

If you would like to show me some love, leave me a review. I'd love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] and if you would like to work with me further or see any of the free resources mentioned on today's show, they can be found at mareekirkpatrick.com.

I truly hope this podcast provides useful information and so much value to you so that you can build a business with impact and income.