Overcoming Impostor Syndrome to Master Ethical Sales
In today's ultra-competitive business environment, hundreds of coaches and products may be promising similar results to yours. The power balance is inclined towards the buyers who are now overwhelmed with choices and sales channels. One effective way to differentiate yourself and grow your business is through creating an ethical sales culture: building a relationship with your clients and showing genuine interest in their stories, wants, and needs. By embedding an ethical sales culture in your business, you'll build customer loyalty, get more referrals and increase your long-term profit.
But there are a lot of barriers to developing an ethical sales culture, and one of them is Imposter Syndrome. Mark joined us as a guest on The Coach Tribe podcast to give you the answers on how to stand out and attract clients in today's ultra-competitive world, why you should start by focusing on building your sales skills over using marketing tactics, and how to develop a champion mindset.
Mark is a seven-figure business and mindset coach who works with struggling entrepreneurs to help them take their businesses to the next level. Tune in here to hear all the secrets!
Start with an identity-check
In your journey to becoming a successful coach, freelancer, or entrepreneur, you should start by analyzing who you are today and then define who you want to be tomorrow. If you already know this, fantastic! You're on the right track. But if you haven't asked yourself these questions, this is where you need to start: what do you believe today, and why do you believe it? Are your beliefs actual, or did they arise because of your environment? Through this, you'll dismantle myths and prevent the impostor syndrome from sneaking in. You can even work with a coach for effective results.
Studies show that we carry 80% of our thoughts over daily. Of all the thoughts you have in a day, 80% of them are from the previous day, only 20% are new. If your circumstances have made you think you're not good or skilled enough, you will carry these thoughts daily. And it will impact your performance and make you vulnerable to imposter syndrome. Therefore, tackling your mindset and those negative thoughts will make the difference between failure and success.
What is Imposter Syndrome and whom does it affect?
Imposter Syndrome is when you feel like a fraud. You feel like you don't belong where you are and have difficulty understanding that your work and knowledge brought you this success, not luck. Although you might think it only affects beginners it’s actually a phenomenon that affects many coaches and entrepreneurs at all levels, though not everyone talks about it. Mark has spoken to amazing coaches with multimillion-dollar businesses, some of whom still experience imposter syndrome. Sometimes, they believe they just got lucky and shouldn't be where they are. Regardless of how experienced or knowledgeable you are, there can be a voice in your mind who will try to make you think that luck brought you to where you are and not your hard work. Imposter syndrome can cause sabotage and make you stand in your own way.
How do I get rid of Imposter Syndrome?
The first method you can use to overcome imposter syndrome is a short daily exercise. Write down the good things you did for your clients. Be careful not to fall into the trap of asking: "Is this thing good enough?". We tend to be so critical of ourselves, and we don't give ourselves credit for the good things we do. If your actions positively impact your clients, be they short or long term, yes, it is good enough! You must learn to forgive, appreciate yourself, and remind yourself of the good things you are doing.
The second method views confidence as a state of mind, not a skill. Thinking of confidence as a skill would hinder our ability to recover after a bad experience. We'd beat ourselves up for it for a long time, impacting the energy and effort we are willing to put into the business. Instead, confidence should be a state of mind. Doing the core of identity shifting will allow you to remain confident no matter the circumstance. Of course, you'll be disappointed if a sales call doesn't go well, but you will not be questioning if you're good enough to be there; you'll not be questioning your product or service.
👉 If you need more tips to overcome imposter syndrome as a coach, check out this helpful article. And if you're ready to start monetizing your knowledge check out this valuable resource .
Sales skills are more critical than marketing tactics
In today's hypercompetitive environment, there are a lot of coaches offering the same service as you, and there are a lot of resources promising the same results as you, so to succeed, you have to differentiate yourself. How do you do this? By developing your ethical sales skills and understanding the power of the sales conversation. You're not here to add some numbers to an Excel sheet, you are here to understand human behavior and build an authentic relationship. You do this by understanding how you meet your client's needs and showing them why they need you to accomplish this. You can learn more about creating solid relationships that convert here.
Then your identity and honesty will transpire into your marketing. Your genuine passion for understanding your clients should be a constant, while marketing can be seasonal. The game's rules can change anytime: Facebook or YouTube's algorithm can change overnight, so you must change your marketing too. You should aim to position yourself better, make yourself unique, and offer a 5-star customer service. Changing how you spread the word about your offer becomes simple if you have your essence.
Defining your identity will be essential also when scaling up. Suppose your identity is focused on getting a deep understanding of your clients and genuinely trying to help them. In that case, whatever your means of communication, be it a podcast, a speech, or your copy, your clients will feel like you are addressing each of them directly. They will connect with you and help you achieve sustainable growth.
After finding your identity, check out these fantastic smart digital marketing tools to spread the word about your business.
Knocking over the sales barriers
Everyone has internal sales barriers, making them cautious. We can sense when an imposter reaches out and doesn't want to help us genuinely. We put the barriers up and make objections to the sale such as “I need to talk to my husband”, “I am not sure if I have time”, etc.
There are 3 sales barriers you need to overcome: the agenda, the meat & potatoes, and the objection.
The first barrier is your agenda. You have a plan in your mind, which is not necessarily a bad thing as you should come prepared, however it can stop you from going into the natural flow of the conversation. You are so set on a specific way to make the person sign up or buy your product that it affects your energy and ability to start the conversation in a friendly and natural way.
The second barrier is the meat & potatoes of the conversation. You are set on a premade list of questions you think you need to ask, so you try to push the prospect in the direction you want, trying to force the prospect out of their world into yours. Bear in mind there is a reason why someone accepted your call in the first place: there was already a conversation about a need, problem, or desire going on in their head. So, you need to find out what that is instead of trying to start a different one they might not need or want. Be an empathic and patient listener, and you'll be a great salesman.
The third barrier is the objection. You've made it this far in the conversation, but the prospect makes an objection – “I don't have time”, “I'll think about it”, “I need a second opinion”. How do you overcome it and make the sale? The bad news is that there is no secret recipe, no magic words you can use. The good news is that you need to overcome the first two barriers, and the objections will take care of themselves. After showing someone they can trust you and your product, you can apply strategies and tactics to close the sale. But these techniques are useless if the other person doesn't believe in you. As discovery calls can be tricky, we’ve put together a cheat sheet to help you do it right.
In the end, your goal should be to reduce friction by putting away your preconceived notions and focusing on understanding the person in front of you – their needs, wants, and desires.
That’s it!🙌 Grab a pen and paper, start writing down some of the good things you did for your clients, and watch how your shift in mentality will set you up for success.
This is just a summary of our conversation with Mark. For more tips & strategies shared, check out the entire conversation on your favorite podcast app or YouTube 🚀
