Podcast Episode

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, beautiful humans, and welcome back to the Sales show. I'm your host, Maree Kirkpatrick. And in this episode, I want to touch on a myth that I feel a lot of women in business come across. And it's that they're not great at sales and that some people are just really natural and born to be salespeople. But that's not them.

What I see is that this quietly sabotages so many smart and capable and powerful women in business. And so today in this episode, I want to show you why this is absolute rubbish. I could almost put my money on the fact that this is costing you income, it's costing you your confidence, it is playing on your mind, and it is completely untrue. I think that this idea that sales and these natural born sales people are born came from a really long time ago where society would tell you that that you needed to be really confident, you need to say certain things that you needed to be an extrovert. And all of this is just a polished version of what we think.

So confident people, extroverted, fast talking, charismatic, unshakable, gift of the gab. All these things that we think, oh, that person is such a natural born salesperson, or it's definitely for them, but it's definitely not me. Or, you know, I hear people say, oh, that person could sell ice to Eskimos. And if you are a woman in business and you feel like you don't have those qualities, or you're introverted, or you're analytical, or you're like, you're emotional, which me too, then you look at this stereotype and you think, that's not me and I need to go and find someone else like that or I'll find other ways to sell. So we kind of push away our sales because we, we don't want to be that salesperson, or I'm just not a natural salesperson.

And so the challenge that we have with this is that you're comparing yourself to these performances, right? Not the skill set, because sales is not a personality trait, right? Like, no one is born coming out of the womb as this natural sales person. It is absolutely a skill and a skill that you can learn as your time goes on. So let me make this a little bit more personal for you because a lot of people will say to me, oh, Maree, you're just so natural at this.

You're just so good at it. Can you just come and sell my stuff for me? And I probably could come and sell stuff for you, but here's the difference, because I Always smile at this stuff. And I think, wow, if only I could get across that. It's not necessarily personality trait or behaviour style, it's that I have been training in sales for over 17 years.

17 years. Now for some of you, you've probably trained in your crafts longer than that. You may have been in business longer than that. You may have been studying what it is that you do for more than 17 years. But I've studied in it, I've invested in it, I've pulled apart conversations, I've pulled apart different sales skills, I' reviewed recordings, I've refined my language, I've updated positioning, I've dived deep into psychology, I have tested different messaging.

I failed, I've recalibrated, I have tried all the things and I've done it from a place of I want to learn for my people, right? So it's not something that has just naturally come to me, it's something I've really worked on and I've built and I am still building it day in and day out. A lot of people think that I'm a really big extrovert and I'm not. For those that know me quite well, I'm a complete introvert. And so I'm constantly like educating on myself, educating myself.

I'm constantly fine tuning, I'm sharpening my skills. Because the difference isn't this talent, it's about commitment and wanting to constantly learn and update and try new things. So what you're actually seeing when you think I'm a natural salesperson is that you are looking at someone that has been crafting her skill set for so many years. Okay, so it's not, wow, she's just so natural at selling. What you're actually seeing is repetition.

You're seeing exposure, you're seeing dealing with the mindset that comes up when it comes to selling. You are seeing someone that tries things and figures it out, figures what's worked, what hasn't. So that's pretty much it. That is what sales is. And when I look at really good salespeople, they have had hundreds of conversations, they have tried hundreds of things to get their sales processes and strategies nailed.

They have built the tolerance to hearing no and putting themselves out there. They have learned to detach from the individual outcomes and that knowing that sales yes is personal, but not taking it personally. So it's about refining that messaging over time. Time. But a lot of the time we only ever see that polished version.

We don't see well. I don't tend to share with People that awkward for sales call that I ever had the shaky voice that I have sometimes when I am pitching something or talking to someone about a completely different offer or a big deal, or when I catch myself over explaining when I or when other people I see under charge, like that's a sign of nervousness and that lack of skill set there, not having that skill set also sees that launches flop or that business decreases when our mind goes a little bit wobbly. And so when we label people this natural born salesperson, that's not what it's about. It's about that sales really is that skill set that you can learn that, that you can identify a problem for someone and figure out what you need to do to solve it. It's about showing people the value in what it is that you do and showing that the cost of them not solving it and how many other people they may need to try before they find that solution for them.

It's also about inviting someone to make a decision and how we actually serve people. I truly believe that sales is serving your ideal clients, people that you know you can help, showing them why they would work with you. But if you notice what's not on that list of you know, that skill set is being loud, is being pushy, is being persuasive, is manipulating people. Because the best salespeople I know and the ones that I love training to fine tune their art and their skill set are the ones that are curious, the ones that are calm, the ones that are willing to push the limit a little bit to push themselves out of that comfort zone even when it feels uncomfortable. They are the ones that are really great listeners and they're really great clear communicators because they have learned these skills, right?

They have fine tuned and learned these skills. These are not traits that people are born with. And so what tends to happen is people get stuck in this trap of well, it's not my identity. And so the uncomfortable part that I want to share with you is that when you say I'm not great at sales, I just don't like selling. Sales makes me feel really uncomfortable.

It's just I don't want to be pushy, I don't want to be icky. What you're actually saying to people is I'm worried about getting rejected. I don't really want to learn the skill of selling. I just want to feel safe and constantly be in that comfort zone. Or that you don't want people to think that you're pushy or greedy or hustling because sometimes it can feel uncomfortable.

But what I actually find is that when people move through that stuff, it's really freaking cool. And sales can become a really natural way that we have these conversations, a really natural way that we show people our value and how we can help them.

So if you keep thinking that you're not this natural born salesperson and they're not built for, for it, I really feel like it can keep you stuck. And it'll stop you from trying and going all out. So it'll stop you from creating the content that your ideal clients need. It'll stop you from being really helpful and really creating that connection. And a lot of people avoid that direct, hey, I can absolutely help you.

Like, let's sit down and have a chat. Because safety doesn't scale revenue, right? Like, safety won't build your business and avoiding sales won't build your business either. What will is that practise and that learning that skill set, setting up your sales strategy and your process so that you know exactly what steps you need to take, the way that you take people through your business. Over the weekend, I caught up with one of my beautiful clients and this is where I feel like sales are so sexy.

So I caught up with a client that I worked with about eight years ago and we've worked together on and off. You know, when she's needed to build new things or she needs a bit of a tweak up and her business is going beautifully, she's stable, she's growing, she's confident, she knows exactly what it is that she's doing, how she gets sales through the door, when she can turn on her sales on and off, depending on what's happening with her in her business. But when she was talking, what I noticed immediately was her language and, oh, I felt like a little proud mama. So the way that she was talking about sales, the way she was talking about her offer, the way that she can figure out the best way for people to move through her business and she was talking about her customer journey path and all of that sort of stuff is so beautiful. It's like, like what we did eight years ago she still uses to this day because she has learned the skill set.

So her business has evolved, her business has matured, her business has grown, it's done all of that big beautiful stuff that we want for our business, but the sales foundations are still there. And the way she was talking about, the way she has conversations and how she brings people into her business and can define her ideal clients and the people that she wants to work with versus the people that she doesn't. And it is just so sexy. It's so sexy when sales feels great. And when I was sitting across the table from her and witnessing it, it wasn't like, wow, she's someone that's really natural at selling.

It was like, this is someone that we have worked together to learn the framework. She's embedded it, she's practised it, she's made it her own. It's not about her being an introvert or an extrovert. It's not about her being a n born salesperson. It's that the sales training that we have done has helped her step into the business owner that she wants to be and into the business that she wants.

And it's absolutely reshaped the way that she thinks about business. I. I hear a lot of my clients say, you know, what would Maree say? Or, you know, I go back to the things that we spoke about and I'm like, I love it. The way that they structure their offers, the way that they are getting people to move through their sales processes, their customer journey paths and how it feels so easy and natural. And they didn't at the start believe that that was possible.

But after the work that we've done together, it's just become a part of how their brain works. And that, my beautiful people, that is when you know you've learned a skill, that's when you know that you have mastered it and it's got the longevity to carry you through life. I know that sales at times can feel really hard and especially in the beginning where you feel like you're stumbling over things or you're like, I just need people to buy from me. And sales feels uncomfortable in the beginning for that same reason that the gym feels uncomfortable, you know, that public speaking feels uncomfortable because we don't necessarily know the skills and what we need to do to get us to that place where it becomes natural. It feels like second nature, where it's not just this new something I've got to learn.

It's like cool. It's just embedded into our language, into our business, into the way that we do things. And sometimes our nervous system, well, not sometimes, all the time. Our nervous system doesn't really like new things, but new doesn't mean if it feels uncomfortable, it doesn't mean that it's wrong, it just means that it's not practised. And so those first 10 sales conversations, or those first 10 sales strategies that you put in, or those 10 highly optimised sales emails that you send out may feel a little bit uncomfortable and the next may feel a little less weird.

But by 50 or 100, those natural, like those sales feel really normal and natural and you stop questioning yourself and the way that you're doing things. So it's not about the personality, it's about the exposure, it's about getting the confidence because you have tried it over and over and over again and it's about really nailing that skill set. And as I've said before, sales is absolutely a skill set that I believe every single person can learn. I believe that every single person can be great at sales because it's not a personality trait, it's not a behavioural style, it's a skill set. And so when you learn to sell, you gather the evidence, you gather the experience, then you refine it, then your confidence grows and then your confidence becomes this byproduct of repetition.

It's not a prerequisite. Like you can't go into something that you're not sure about feeling really confident, like, yeah, I've got this. So stop waiting for sales to feel natural before you sell. I want you to actually step into it and be like, what do I need to understand about sales that can make me feel more comfortable? Okay, so maybe it's a structure about how to have those sales conversations.

Maybe it is if you're an online service based business, it's like, how do we take people through that customer journey path? How do we get people from on our social medias all the way through to becoming paying members and what does all that sort of stuff look like? So I really want you to build the courage in sales and I really want you to be able to have really good, great, connected sales conversations. I think one of the highlights, and this happens regularly for me and it always stops me in my tracks. I've been doing this, as I said before, for a very, very, very, very long time.

And when I get those voice messages from clients that go, oh my gosh, I have just made a five figures sale while everything else around me feels really chaotic. And I think, wow, like imagine if every single person, every single woman in business, imagine if she knew that you just need to build the sales skill set and to really understand how sales works and how to help people make a really great decision. And then maybe one day someone will look at you and be like, wow, she's such a natural at sales. And you know what, you'll be smiling as well and you'll think, if only they knew, if only they knew. The awkward conversations you had, if only they knew, the nerves that you had.

If only they knew that sometimes you would be silently freaking out in your head and having a whole different conversation than the one that's happening in the room or the person that you're dealing with. But when you learn that skill set, you've built it. And so this is why I'm so passionate about it. This is why so many women in her sales club go into it going, oh, I know I need to learn how to sell, or I know that I need better sales within my business. But I don't want it to be pushy and I don't want it to be hustle y. I just want it to be really easy and I want to be able to build it, embed it, and for things just to flow.

And so that's exactly what we do inside her sales club. And every single woman that comes into her sales club is so different. Right? They're not always loud, they're not always outgoing. A lot of us are introverts.

Like, I'm a complete introvert. People like, oh, you're such an extrovert. Am I? No. I can be extroverted when I need to be because it's a skill set that I've worked on.

But it's not about being born to be in sales. I never woke up thinking, I want to be a salesperson. I was like, I want to help more people. How do I help more people? And a lot of the time for you to be able to help people, you need to learn to sell and show them how you can serve them so that they make a really great decision to work with you over someone else.

So when you really learn that skill set of sales and you let go of that, I'm not good at sales. I'm not a natural born salesperson. Everyone else is better at it than me. Everyone else seems to be really calm and clear on how to sell. And all of that.

Once you let go of all that and actually learn the skill set and master it and really keep working on it. And as I do nearly every single day in my business, I'm constantly watching other people sell. I look at, oh, did that work really well? Yeah, that was great. Let's look at implementing that somewhere or let's go and talk about that in the her sales club group where I share little tips and advice and, you know, on the spot moments of like, hey, ladies, have you thought about this?

So when you get that, it is absolutely a game changer. And I know a lot of people. Like, I hate the word game changer. But imagine, just for a second, imagine if in your business you felt really clear on what you were selling, how you were selling it, and it felt so good inside, like your body lit up every time you heard that ping in your stripe or your PayPal or your bank account, that you're like, yeah, this is cool. This is easy.

And I love it because it means you get to help more people. That is all for today's episode. If you've got any questions, please reach out at podcast at mariecopatrick. Com and I look forward to seeing you soon. Bye.