When I was growing up, I wanted to be a superhero. Maybe you did too. Or, maybe you wanted to be a lawyer, doctor, teacher (and, of course, astronaut). I’m willing to bet there was one profession you didn’t even consider – sales. How many kids lie in bed at night thinking to themselves, I can’t wait to grow up so I can sell, sell, sell… ?

Pick ten of your friends and ask them to choose the first word they think of when you say “sales”. We’ve done this with groups of professionals dozens of times, and the top choices are “slimy”, “pushy“, and our personal favorite – “ugh”!
It seems like “sales” is a dirty word.

This is a problem because, for many of us, selling is a critical part of our job! We’ve changed the name to sound more professional – “business development”, “client acquisition”, “practice building” – but let’s call it what it is – sales.

“Ditch the Pitch” for Better Sales Results

Selling efforts often focus on “hit ‘em over the head” techniques – the “sales pitch”, scripts, and one-way communication. When we talk at people, instead of engaging with them, we’re accidentally sabotaging our opportunity to really help them get what they need. We’re putting prospects in a position to say yes or no (usually no), interact or ignore, participate or tune out.

We’re not encouraging engagement or a desire to continue the conversation.

Buyers Need Your Help

Today’s sophisticated buyer doesn’t need more information – she is already overwhelmed and starved for time. Buyers need someone to lead them to cut through all of that clutter and separate the data, details, and the noise for them.

Maximizing every selling opportunity is how we get better results in less time with less effort. (Unless you were the kid who dreamed of being a sales person when she grew up, then better results faster with less effort is for you.) The more closely we align how we’re selling to how buyers make decisions, the more efficient and effective we can be.

Here’s what one of Nancy’s clients – a financial advisor named Shawn Tydlaska – said publicly about the Nancy’s impact on his sales:

After implementing Nancy’s suggestions, Shawn’s conversion rate skyrocketed to 75%…in just eight weeks.

Shawn, like thousands of others, realized that he needed to adjust his focus to leverage the time, money, and energy spent on getting leads by converting them to paying clients. He then had more time to spend on where he really gives value…advising his clients!

Sign up for Nancy’s free three-part mini-course and make your sales conversations more productive today. (Superheroes welcome.)