Ai rendering of a coffee mug with Alec Baldwin getting punched for saying Coffee is for Closers

Flipping the Sales Script for Personal Brands

“How do you feel about sales, and why is it hate?”

I ask that of my clients, and only with rare exceptions will I get any pushback.

Most people building their personal brand aren’t in it to become sales professionals (though they need to become proficient in sales).

Here’s a quick breakdown of why that is and what you can do about it.

Why Personal Brands Are Reluctant With Sales.

They are in it to serve, not sell. 

The concept of a sleazy salesperson has entered our collective consciousness, and now no one wants to be “that guy.”

We like Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock, not Glengarry Glenn Ross.

So sales get a bad wrap. Especially when the aspiring…

  • content creator
  • thought-leader
  • or executive coach

…finds fulfillment in just wanting to help others and make a good living while doing so.

So sales become the afterthought, if at all. We adopt an “if I just build it, they will come” approach to our business, not realizing we’re writing our own script, and it’s far from finished in post-production.

If you’re still searching for your happy ending with your personal brand and business, you must do something about your sales – your mindset, your pipeline, and your results.

What can you do about that?

I can identify with all of the above. I’ve been to that show and have the t-shirt to prove it. But now, I love sales and find almost as much fulfillment in the sales process as I do my coaching or strategy session days. So you can try doing what I did…

I flipped the script.

I realized that my reluctance to be a proficient salesperson with my business was because of the scripting I used around it. I bought into the sales is Coffee’s-for-Closers-Sell-A-Sucker-Wolf-of-Sleaze-Street mindset, so no wonder I wanted to avoid that at all possible costs.

But then I realized that sales weren’t my biggest problem. Believing in myself and my offer was the problem.

If I really believed what I had to offer would help my audience, then it would actually be borderline criminal not to do all that I could to sell them on it.

(Maybe borderline criminal is a stretch, but that’s what I needed to pull me from the other far side.)

I started to see sales in its rightful place – sales is service.

If you have value for someone else, selling is the process where you make them aware, answer their questions, overcome their resistance and objections, and help them take the next step to success along their unique journey.

So…

Did any of this resonate with you? If so, what part? I’d love to know in the comments below.

More than that, I would love to see you believe in yourself so much that sales turn into service and not some sleazy caricature it doesn’t need to be.

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