Written by: Edmund Ellison, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Being visible in business is important yet not everyone feels comfortable being in the spotlight. I remember working with a client who found it difficult to do sales calls and present their offer online.
She told me in a meeting, ‘I just don’t feel good enough to close sales. I end up talking myself out of it.’
Why do so many business owners hate selling?
Most business owners that I’ve worked with have told me that they started their business because they were passionate about an idea or vision which would help others and if you’re reading this then I’m guessing that’s likely true for you too.
Typically, business owners are subject matter experts in a specific area yet when it comes to selling themselves or the value that their product/service offers, they struggle.
Since more and more potential clients are on social, they know they need to show up and connect, yet it terrifies them.
Sometimes, this can be a training issue. They might not know the best approach or strategy, and this is something I can help them with.
What makes me different as a trainer and coach are that I also offer advanced hypnotherapy. Using hypnosis, I’ve found that all too often, many business owners don’t believe in their ability to sell themselves and then find it difficult to build trust to connect and convert.
They don’t know where or why this started for them except that they have an inner dislike of being visible and will do anything they can to avoid it.
I’ve made a list of the common objections that I hear during initial discovery calls when I ask potential clients why they don’t like selling or procrastinate with showing up.
The usual suspects
I’m just not good at that;
I don’t like to be pushy with people and force them to buy my product;
I hate confrontation and getting into an argument about price;
I don’t feel like I have enough expertise to ask for higher prices ;
I panic when I do outbound calls, jump on presentations or webinars – it terrifies me because I wonder if I’m good enough to ask for the business or that I’ll make a fool of myself;
Your flight radar
In programming, it’s common practice to build in an exit condition for repeating loops. How else does the program know when to exit the application?
But, what if you’d been operating on a repeating loop without an exit strategy? In fact, there’s a good chance you already are.
Our brains are designed to remember things and just like when you take a picture, the date, time and location are stored; so too are the emotions.
So, let’s imagine for a moment that a teacher or parent told you that you were not good enough and wouldn’t succeed; this can create a mix of emotions which can then impact on our flight radar.
Our brains have a limbic system aka the monkey brain. This acts like a radar to keep us safe, scanning for threats.
When a threat is detected, the metadata is stored in our version of a database which is called the amygdala. This links the feelings and emotions to the event.
The trigger effect
Now let’s bring it call together. You need to do a sales presentation for a client and start to notice that your mind is racing. It’s a week away and already you’re fixated on it. Your stomach is already feeling a little sick and you’re nervous. You’re thinking about what might go wrong and potentially how to get out of it. You’ll want to prepare everything right down to the last detail so that you feel in control, right?
Well, here’s what is happening behind the scenes. Your money brain has detected a threat. You might not remember the event, but the feelings are coming back, and your mind is trying to push you away from this because it remembers how you felt at the time; and it wasn’t good.
So, all those years back, a simple event such as a teacher making you feel that you’d never be good enough imprinted and become a part of your operating identity. Now even years later, the idea of doing presentations feels terrifying because secretly you may not feel good enough. Your confidence was impacted.
Is your fear of selling manifesting as something else?
Most clients will tell me that they just don’t like selling and it’s not for them. When we dig deeper, I usually find these themes:
Lack of confidence
Feeling of being icky or salesly?
Fear of rejection?
Fear of criticism?
Here are 5 things you can do right now to start showing up:
Understand – getting clear on what triggers you is important. You’ll start to notice a pattern quickly when you must do specific tasks or events. Journal how you feel and what caused you to feel that way;
Meditate – when you start to notice a feeling of stress interrupts the pattern by meditating. Remind yourself that there is no danger associated to this event and that you’re safe. Visualise yourself doing the event or activity while feeling good;
Evaluate – make a list of all the activities you need to do to generate sales for your business without thinking about whether you actually like doing them or not and rank by priority;
Accountability – find an accountability partner who can hold you to taking action;
Practice – by doing a task in a safe environment such as a group it can boost confidence and take away some of the feelings you’ve associated with that task or event.
How can hypnosis and accountability coaching enhance your sales performance?
When I do advanced hypnosis, I show clients how the emotions associated with memories is causing them to feel, act and behave in a certain way. This empowers them to take control by reframing and releasing. I then work with them through accountability coaching to set goals and take action to increase sales.
If you’d like to learn what’s holding you back so you can finally feel good enough to show up authentically and charge your worth, then book a call.
My Facebook group is a great place to go live, get accountability and support. Click here to join.
Edmund Ellison, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Edmund is the Founder and Chief Impact Officer of Impactful Today. He has 15 years of experience in global learning, performance, talent, and people development. He is an award-winning high-performance mindset coach and executive contributor for Brainz Magazine who empowers business owners & leaders to remove mindset blocks using his CLEAR Impact model and methodology, so they can increase confidence, visibility, and profits.
