If you feel like a plastic salesperson one moment, while trying to convince a potential client to say yes, but a coach, practitioner or heart-based entrepreneur in the next moment, it can feel pretty awkward, because you're not being authentic. The good news is, with Heartselling™, you get to be yourself.
If you still think S-E-L-L is a 4-letter word and you don't want anything to do with it, it's time to make it a 5-letter word and spell it "S-E-R-V-E."
The reason so many Holistic Practitioners and Coaches have a tough time selling their services is that (1) they forget they are offering services and (2) the point is to serve.
How can you do this?
We recommend that you treat your potential clients as you treat the people who are already your clients. When you're with your clients, you show up to serve them, and it should be the same with potential clients. So your Heartselling™ conversations should be centered on serving the person in front of you.
How do you serve? You find out if what they are looking for is something you can help them with before you launch into your spiel about what you do.
When we meet someone new, we try to find out what is going on with them in their life and business so we can figure out how we can best serve them. Sometimes it means we recommend our own programs and sometimes it means we recommend someone else's products or services.
Wouldn't you rather share what you do with someone who has just said they need the exact thing you offer? This is what Heartselling™ is all about.
So in the Earth Element, you engage with potential clients from a state of service, and you ask questions to find out what they are looking for. This is what separates you from obnoxious, pushy salespeople.
Your job as a Heartseller™ is to care enough about what they want that you'll ask them what they want next in their life.
Yes, that's right. Ask them. While you may be very intuitive, the best way to find out what they want is to ask them. You don't have to guess. You just ask them. And we can almost guarantee that they'll love telling you. After all, how many people ask you "What are you looking for next?" and really listen to your answer?
The key to the Earth Element is service. Attracting clients is not about you and your services. It is about your potential clients and what they want.
This is so important that we want you to say out loud, "It's not about me, it's about them."
Only when you know what they want can you provide it for them. When someone shares what they're looking for, you can serve them by offering your services if what they're looking for is what you offer. If what you offer isn't what they're looking for, you can serve them by referring them to someone who does provide what they're looking for.
Either way, you serve the person in front of you. When you serve others in this way, you will find that people will naturally refer others to you.
This is the power of being in the Earth Element. There is enough for everyone, and your goal is to help people get exactly what they want.
But let's face it, it can be challenging to be in this state of abundance when what you really need are new clients so that you can pay the bills.
Here's a secret to stepping into abundance. Dream out into the future when you are very successful and have more clients than you thought possible. Make that dream as vivid as you can, and whenever you start feeling desperate, just imagine that you've already arrived at that place where you have more than enough clients and you simply want clients for the sheer joy of contributing to them.
So, your job as a master Heartseller™ is to be what marketing guru Jay Abraham calls a "trusted advisor." As a trusted advisor, you care more about your potential client than you do about making a sale.
There is an expression, "People have to know that you care before they care what you know." As a trusted advisor, you show your care by listening first and speaking second.
Being a trusted advisor is a sacred responsibility. When someone is considering signing up for your services, they trust that you have their best interest in mind. Putting your own self-interest before your client's is one of the most damaging things you can do to your business in the long-term.
As trusted advisors, we feel deeply honored when people call us or approach us at our workshops to ask us which program of ours we feel is the best match for them. We feel honored because our goal is to change the face of selling from selling to serving. When our potential clients trust us enough to ask our advice about what they should do next in their lives or businesses, it is very fulfilling to us.
We ask that you be a trusted advisor with your clients and keep their best interest in mind as you're having Heartselling™ conversations with them.
Here are some Earth questions to support you to serve as a trusted advisor. Earth questions are easy, open-ended, and designed to find out what your potential client wants.
Earth Questions/Statements:
- "What project are you most excited about and what are you looking for next?"
- "How can I support you in that?"
- "If I could help you with that, is that something you'd be interested in hearing about?"
- "What would most serve you right now?"
In our next post you'll learn about the missing ingredient in most Heartselling conversations, that when you put this in place, you'll find people leaning in and hungry to sign up for your services.
