Every business requires transactions at some point – otherwise we’d never earn any money. If you’ve ever attended sales training, you’ve no doubt learned about helping your customers get over the objections they have so that they can decide to work with or purchase from you. What I find more often is that business owners get stuck when they can’t get over their own objections. Those objections come in the form of the nagging voices in our heads!
What are the evil voices in your head saying?
As director of a chamber of commerce for many years, I had the pleasure of getting to know hundreds of business owners who shared their experiences as they founded and grew their businesses. Trust me, everyone has those annoying voices in their heads! And, they spoke the loudest when people were on the verge of a breakthrough to the next level of growth. Here are three of the things those evil voices said most frequently:
- “I don’t think people understand what I do.”
- “Lots of other people do what I do. Why would anyone listen to ME?”
- “Won’t people think I’m charging too much?”
People can detect self-doubt and lack of belief as surely as they can smell a fresh pot of coffee. It permeates your body language, it affects the way you speak, and sends a confused message. And for the potential customer or client, a confused mind says “no” to the offer.
So let’s silence the voices that utter those messages one by one! There are simple ways to address each.
- If you think that people don’t understand what you do, the fault does not lie in their understanding, it is in how you are communicating. Be concise. Be direct. Be clear. We get so immersed in our businesses, we might use language that is industry specific that the average person is not familiar with. Or maybe your introductory 30-second intro is too abstract. When I was at the chamber, I relied on Karen, my co-worker, to review what I had written, or planned to use. If her brow was furrowed or she laughed and said, “What the heck does THAT mean?” I knew I wasn’t being clear. Find yourself a Karen! Try your intro out on people and ask for feedback. Have them do the same with your marketing materials and website. People are always willing to help.
- Yes, lots of people may do what you do, but they are not YOU. You bring value to the table that others do not. You bring the value of your life experience with you, and that makes you appealing. Dress yourself in that belief the same way you dress in your clothes. Make it a part of what you’re putting out there.
- If you think you are charging too much, is it because you are out of range with others in the same field? Or are you marketing yourself in a niche that can’t afford you? Would YOU pay your rates? Did time, education, training and expertise bring you to where you are today? Then chances are you are worth what you are asking, and there are clients and customers willing pay.
- A little homework...join a networking group that is new to you. We all have a comfort zone. We have clients and colleagues who are supportive of us, and I am not suggesting that you leave a favorite networking group. However, when you go to a new group it is an opportunity for you to let go of what you THINK people believe about you. It is an opportunity to put a new/enhanced/improved/authentic you out in the market place. You may just find that when you return to your familiar stomping grounds that you do so with a new air of confidence.
Remember, your belief in yourself is one of the things that attracts people to you.
©2017 Angie Pohlman