Most women start businesses for one of three reasons.
- More money.
- More time and control.
- More creativity.
Nope, if you ask many mompreneurs, they would tell you that sales is the one thing that they actually HATE about their business. And it shows. Most small businesses do not succeed, as we know, and part of the reason is than many never get cash flow positive or stay that way, long enough to stabilize and produce consistent income.
So, I'll risk an attack of the grammar police and say it again.
If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense. Without sales, what you have is not a business, to quote Mr. Wonderful, what you have is a hobby.
I know. Ouch.
But it must be said, because I want you to be successful. Gone are the days when you can start a blog or pick up an Avon franchise and have everyone eagerly supporting your endeavors. Without being able to turn strangers into prospects and prospects into deals, you will not be able to stay afloat as a company and isn't that the point?
That's why I invited the Savvy Sales Strategist, Monique Holmes, to join me and speak to my group of start up mompreneurs at our monthly meetup. Many of the women felt uncomfortable selling, and others just felt like they weren't very good at it. Some didn't even know where to begin.
With a simple request, we got a woman with sales certifications and millions of dollars in sales under her belt to give us some basic tips and I'm happy to report the number one skill she says we need to be successful in sales.
Communication.
A simple transaction of information is all that is standing between you and your business jumping off. You need to know what your customers want and need and they need to know that you have it. This equation sums it up.
Potential customer w/need + YOU with solution = Success
There is a special way to communicate of course. It involves listening more than you speak, 4 times as much in fact, reflecting what you hear your customers saying and making sure that you create connections rather than just focusing on closing the deal.
People like to buy, but they don't like to be sold.
As I listened to Monique, what became more clear to me is that communication starts in the mind. I've said it many times, but entrepreneurship is as much about personal development as it is professional and you have to invest time in making sure your mindset is fixed on making sales that are mutually beneficial for you and your clients. What some of us are doing is holding on to the belief that people don't want to buy from us, and so we set ourselves up for the fight, instead of leading the conversation from a place of seeking to understand. The win-win comes when we are able to solve a problem for a customer in a way that allows them to feel heard, understood and connected.
There were way more gems than I can share from Monique, but I'll invite you to listen to the whole interview here. Want to see what the sales strategist can do with your sales? She'd love to chat.
Keep up the hard work, your business and your family need you.