Posts tagged “business success”

This article will cover 5 general guidelines or sales tips for graceful sales conversations, reasons to never say “you have to invest or you’ll never get anywhere,” what to do after they say no (if they say no), and final no-nos.

General Sales Tips

To start, here are 5 guidelines for graceful sales conversations:

1) Check your energy. Before you have a sales conversation, are you experiencing positive emotions? You might reschedule if you feel in a funk, tired, annoyed, or anything like that. Or do whatever you can to get to a better place (mentally, emotionally, physically) before the conversation. Even in emails and other text forms of communication, your energy can be felt by the other person. If they feel the negativity, they’ll want to run away from you.

2) Ask permission to coach someone. If they’re not paying you to be their coach yet, ask permission to coach them. I sometimes forget this if I’m being honest.

3) Speaking of honesty, speak your mind. But if you think speaking your mind may offend them or put them on edge, it’s helpful to ask, “May I share with you what I think is going on?” or something like that. Don’t ask “May I be honest?” and then say something that is more than anything, an opinion or view of yours based on your belief system.

4) Offer support to work out the financial part. You may say something like, “If you would find it helpful, I would be happy to discuss ways for you to make this investment.”

5) Don’t be the dick who says this… “You have to invest in coaches and other resources or you won’t get anywhere.” And don’t look for a ‘sneaky’ variation. Although I believe in the value of investing in myself, it’s even a little gross to me when people repeat it during live stream videos and in other formats that address an audience larger than one. But it’s most certainly a no-no in one-on-one communications in my book.

Reasons Why That Sentence in #5 Should Never Pass Your Lips

Here are the 6 reasons why you should never use that sentence (“You have to invest in coaches and other resources or you won’t get anywhere”) in your sales conversations:

6) If they don’t believe that, they’re probably not your people, so you tellin’ ’em is just not moving this along.

7) You’ve just hurt their feelings or made them angry. The person hearing or reading those words from you will feel like you’ve insulted them. You’ve just sentenced them to failure instead of showing them how they could succeed with your program or service.

8) It makes you look desperate. These are the words of a pusher. You’re pushing, trying to get them to buy, and for what? If they weren’t fully self-assured about wanting this, do you really want them in it? If you’re making the kind of money you want to make, telling them this makes it sound like you need this sale desperately. Like, to pay bills and live through tomorrow. Not a sexy vibe.

More Reasons Why Potential Clients Go Running When You Say The Thing in #5

9) It feels like you’ve just said, “You’ll only succeed if you work with me this way” and “All other work you’ve done has been for naught.” When you say something like this, you assume you know this person has said no to every other investment opportunity that’s come their way. You’re ignoring all the books they’ve read, all the programs they’ve bought before, all the coaches or other service providers they’ve worked with.

10) If you’re using words like this, I’m taking it as a sign you’ve bought into whatever money story they told you. You let them sell you on their own powerlessness or lack, and you think you’re saving them by telling them this. Wrong.

11) It ignores where they’re at. Sure, they might not have everything they desire in their business, their life, their relationships, or whatever area your solution is intended to improve, but they may also be really proud of how far they’ve come and when you belittle their progress, you belittle them. Don’t alienate people by using this phrase. I heard this from someone whose group program I decided not to join and it felt really icky to read those words.

Next Steps After the No in Your Sales Conversations

Here are 4 next steps you can take when someone tells you no:

12) Get actionable feedback. Ask them, “Could I add anything to make it a no-brainer?” Maybe you can add a very simple feature or bonus that makes it so ridiculously valuable. Perhaps you do that and the next ten conversations you have all end in a quick, passionate “YES!” Alternatively, maybe they thought your offer was too complex. “Was there anything in the structure that scared you away?” Ask if you dare.

13) Ask if there was anything about your copy and/or discussion(s) of the solution that made them decide to say no. Maybe there’s language you can adjust to make it a really easy YES for the next person.

14) Thank them for their time and for considering your solution. You can say something like: “I look forward to working with you when the time is right! I trust there will come a time when my work will have its greatest impact on your life.” Something like this is so graceful that it really makes your prospect appreciate you.

15) Politely let them know that if they change their mind (before X date) it’ll still be available. (Particularly for group programs and courses, etc.)

Final Sales Tips: Things to Never Do

Here are 2 more things I suggest you NOT do in your sales conversations:

16) Tell them “I wish you luck.” That’s code for “F&C% you.” Don’t go there.

17) Badger them. It’s not bad enough that someone wrote to me “You have to invest in coaches and other resources or you’ll go nowhere.” To that, I simply wrote “Thank you.” Her follow-up may have been even more icky. She wrote, “What do you think?” She couldn’t see (or clearly didn’t give a fucq) that I was trying to end the conversation. Sometimes we make the mistake of continuing to “go at” someone because we think we’re being helpful. Realize that people have a “Power Down” button and will totally shut off if you push too hard.

Enjoyed these sales tips? Check out my 3-part series on overcoming Beginner Energy to achieve success in business!

What sales tips do you have to make sales conversations more graceful? Reply and let me know!

Let’s talk Success Mindset for Business. This post will show you what PRO ENERGY is. We’ll also talk about how it differs from Beginner Energy (the topic of the first post in this series).

For the first post click here >

In the first post of this 3-part series, we covered the problem that could be breaking down your sales and eroding your profits in business. The problematic mindset and way of being is called BEGINNER ENERGY. Post 1 covered the thoughts that are characteristic of someone practicing Beginner Energy, how to know if you’re practicing it, and other symptoms of it.

The first post also showed you how Beginner Energy is the imbalance of two traits critical to success. These two traits, which we’ll cover in more depth today, are: Curiosity and Confidence.

What is this Success Mindset you’re writing about, Rosella?

Characteristic of Pro Energy, the opposite of Beginner Energy, is a helpful balance of Curiosity and Confidence. Pro Energy is an innovation-friendly way of being.

When you’re in Pro Energy, you have a healthy curiosity buffered by a clear sense of knowing what you know. In Pro Energy, you can consume new information and effectively integrate it. This means assimilating it with your lived experience. Wisdom is the result of this integration of new info and lived experience.

How is Pro Energy Different From Beginner Energy?

Beginner Energy continuously moves the starting line so that you’re never past it. In stark opposition, Pro Energy has a very stable and realistic grasp on where you started and how far you’ve come.

When we practice Beginner Energy, we focus on our blind spots and areas of real or perceived inexperience. In Beginner Energy, we totally ignore what we’ve done, and more devastatingly, what we’ve done well. This means we can’t feel confident.

Beginner Energy looks like:

• Feeling like the next client you sign will be your first ever (even though you’ve already signed clients)
• Telling yourself you need more information before you make a move
• Changing the conditions for starting, which you can often recognize in the form of the thought, *When ____ happens, THAT’s when I’ll do ____*

Pro Energy looks like:

• Gratitude to clients 1 – 5 for the space to increase your skills, and excitement to see how your skills continue to grow with your next client.
• Knowing you can have what you want when you want it.
• Owning all of your past successes with a healthy recognition that what got you here may not get you there (while also owning that it might, and you’re never too far along to return to basics if needed!).

The curiosity of the Beginner isn’t the problem. That curiosity is what keeps us innovative! And… TRUE INNOVATION requires the confidence to act on fantastic new ideas. A person practicing Beginner Energy doesn’t usually have the confidence to pursue true inspired innovation (though they may force synthetic innovation). For the person practicing Beginner Energy, the biggest problem is their lack of confidence.

What Does The Practice Of Success Mindset “Pro Energy” Look Like?

The best example I can give of Pro Energy is my approach to my relationship. This is what it looks like to keep your curiosity while remembering your own successes.

I’ve been with my boyfriend for 9+ years, and I own that that’s a long time. I own that we both know some important keys to making a relationship last and with as much happiness, love, and respect as we have. We’ll share what we know with you if you ask. (Many a friend has benefited from our mutual wisdom.)

I’m a PRO at being in our relationship, and Chris is too. We know that no matter what is going on outside of us, we can ride waves together. We may not know everything, but what we do know has gotten us this far. That gives me confidence.

And though I’m a pro at being in our relationship, I stay curious. I know there are people who’ve been in their relationship longer than us. (Remember, of course that time ‘in’ isn’t everything.) When I meet a couple that’s been together 15+ years, you best believe I’m gonna ask questions! I’ll ask them what they think makes them successful. I’ll study their story (because success leaves clues!).

Something else to note here: I don’t ask these couples (or the individuals) to give me guidance in my relationship. I ask them what is true for them. After that, I contemplate what they share. And I decide if I am going to incorporate anything I learned from them into my relationship.

Recap of “You Need to Cultivate This Success Mindset for Business Women”

The business owner practicing Beginner Energy is not going to experience the success they desire. (For more on that, see the first post in this series.)

The opposite of Beginner Energy — the success mindset every business owner needs — is called PRO ENERGY.

While the person practicing Beginner Energy keeps moving the starting line so they’re never actually in the race, the person practicing Pro Energy knows exactly what they’ve accomplished while remaining curious about other approaches. More than that about the difference between these two mindsets is written above.

I also shared how I practice Pro Energy inside of my successful 9+ year relationship. What can you take away from this example and apply to your business? Or, indeed, your own relationships or really any other area of your life where you want more success?

PLEASE COMMENT your biggest takeaway from today’s post!

Post 3 of this series will provide you with practical action steps to move out of Beginner Energy and into Pro Energy. That post is coming Friday, June 7, 2019.

Want notification when post 3 is live? Then sign up here:

After I publish the final installment of this series, I’ll send anyone on the list (you join by entering your details above) a pretty and printable ebook containing all the posts and bonus content.

In 2015, I closed the deal with my biggest client, who has paid me more than $45k in the years since. And after that? Shit got hairy and scary in my business. So why wasn’t my business growing steadily, let alone exponentially? My business got stagnant because of a practice we’re covering in today’s post.

In this first post of a 3-part series, you’ll learn about a mindset & energy that could be holding you back from big-time business success. We’ll look at the thoughts characteristic of this way of being. Then we’ll look at the imbalance you’re likely suffering of traits that are critical to your success. We’ll cover how to diagnose if this is indeed the cause of stagnation in your sales/profits. You’ll see that this is at the root of several common problems.

Read Post 2/3: “Success Mindset for Business: Cultivate PRO ENERGY to Win” >

Business Isn’t Growing? The Cause Is Probably BEGINNER ENERGY

The BEST way to stay exactly where you are is to practice BEGINNER ENERGY.

BEGINNER ENERGY is an attitude toward our past, current and future successes where we feel like we’ve not accomplished anything of note, and that there’s so much more we need to know to be able to accomplish anything. This attitude or energy is created by our repetition of disempowering thoughts and then reinforced by our life experiences (which are created by our thoughts). It is not a necessary or required attitude, and it’s not even a helpful one. Because Beginner Energy is the practice of powerless ignorance instead of empowered curiosity.

BEGINNER ENERGY is primarily a focus problem. When we practice Beginner Energy, we focus on our blind spots and areas of real or perceived inexperience, totally ignoring what we’ve done and done well, so that we can’t feel confident. It’s not even a problem of moving the finish line before you’ve reached it but of moving the starting line so you’re never actually in the race!

This is when we maintain that sense of every next client being the first client we’ll ever work with. (Have you felt that?)

Just Because You’ve Been In Business For Years Doesn’t Mean You Aren’t Practicing Beginner Energy

And here’s something really worth noting: BEGINNER ENERGY can surface and be practiced again at any level of your life & business. Because it’s not actually about you being a beginner at something but feeling like you don’t know anything.

REMINDER: Beginner Energy is created and sustained by the repetition of disempowered thoughts and the act of dismissing previous successes.

Already looking for additional reading? A few years ago I wrote on Huffington Post about other causes of sickness in your business (a.k.a. other reasons your business isn’t growing). Click here to read it >

The Thoughts of Beginner Energy

Beginner Energy is present in thoughts like the following:

• I’m nothing special.
• I’ve done nothing special.
• It’s crazy to think this will work.
• I don’t know enough. What else do I need to know?
• This just can’t work.
• Why isn’t this working?
• What’s it going to take?
• Is it too much to ask that I ____?
• What am I doing wrong?
• How can I possibly compete when she’s doing this, and she’s doing this?

When these kinds of thoughts pop up and you do not immediately dismiss them with intention, they repeat and repeat and become your energetic state: the state of BEGINNER ENERGY.

Beginner Energy is the condition that keeps you seeking inside of finding.

Rosella LaFevre, Success Coach and Long-Haul Master

BEGINNER ENERGY says “I don’t know anything,” “I need someone to tell me what to do,” and asks “Why isn’t this working?” It ignores questions such as “What have I done well?” Beginner Energy forgets that new info gets to be integrated with “old” info and lived experience. It thinks that others have the answers and keeps us perpetually in search of answers.

Beginner Energy is the condition that keeps you seeking inside of finding.

In the 3rd post of this 3-part series, we’ll talk about how to stop practicing Beginner Energy. But for now, I’ll tell you that the power of a Sponsoring Thought to induce success totally eludes the person who practices Beginner Energy. And you can read more about how to use the Sponsoring Thought here >

The Imbalance Inherent in Beginner Energy

The person practicing Beginner Energy is overly curious in a disempowered way, and as a result, finds it near impossible to feel at all confident. Don’t get this wrong. Curiosity is as critical to your success as confidence is, but there’s a specific way to practice them to achieve your desires. These traits must be in a relative balance to move you closer to your dreams.

BEGINNER ENERGY is fundamentally a problem of incorrect focus. Overly focusing on what others do or consider the right way, and acting as if you don’t have the answers you need are two ways you practice incorrect focus. This is the disempowered version of curiosity. And it leads to loss of confidence. Like when your body leaches calcium and your bones get weak.

When you practice Beginner Energy, you lose confidence and you’re not fortified the way you need to be to receive your manifestations. This is why your business isn’t growing.

Enjoying this post on Beginner Energy? We’re going to talk in the next post about what the proper balance of curiosity and confidence look like in practice. In the third post of this series, we’ll talk about how to stop practicing Beginner Energy.

Diagnosing Beginner Energy as the Reason Why Your Business Isn’t Working…

You might be practicing (and suffering from) BEGINNER ENERGY if you…

• Aren’t seeing the profits you desire coming through your business (ESPECIALLY if you’re creating income through other work that doesn’t feel like your soul’s work).
• Invested in coaching, programs, and courses then saw little or no return on your investments.
• Need someone to confirm you’re “doing the right thing” (or you want a coach to “tell me what to do”).
• Downloading all the freebies and watching all the livestreams and failing to understand how that information fits in with or extends your own experience and knowledge.
• Haven’t signed clients in months. And that’s even though you’ve had spots “available” in your client roster, and you show up consistently.
• Feel like the next client you sign will be your first, even though it wouldn’t.
• Feel like signing a client at a new fee is starting all over again and you have thoughts like, I’ve never signed a client at this rate. This is a big deal.

Beginner Energy Can Cause These Common Problems For The Boss Woman Whose Business Isn’t Growing

BEGINNER ENERGY also leads to the suffering of:

• Zero or Little Profit in Your Business: Struggling to make sales, even if you’ve made sales before, and feeling attacked every time a business coach writes a post about expensive hobbies vs. profit-generating businesses.
• Shiny Object Syndrome: Like downloading all the freebies, taking all the courses, and always looking for a new answer to the question, “What am I doing wrong?”
• Impostor Syndrome: Feeling, always, like a big fat fake on the verge of being found out and thrown overboard by the others in your world.
• Lack of Clarity and Focus: Changing directions constantly, exploring new niches at random, and struggling to give a straight-forward answer about your business (even in your journal).
• Analysis Paralysis: An obsession with gathering more information combined with the inability to make a damn decision.

Recap of “Your Business Isn’t Growing. Could You Be The Cause Of Stagnation?”

In conclusion, yes, YOU could be the cause of stagnation in your business if you’re practicing Beginner Energy. (Actually… if you believe in Law of Attraction, you’re always the cause of everything you experience…) Anyway.

You learned the following from today’s post about the possible reason why your business isn’t growing:

• The boss women (and men) who practice the mindset and way of being called BEGINNER ENERGY are usually the same ones who aren’t making sales as desired. This may be the reason big-time business success eludes you.
• The thoughts that are characteristic of someone practicing Beginner Energy look like: I’m nothing special, It’s crazy to think this will work, and This just isn’t working.
• Someone practicing Beginner Energy experiences an imbalance of two traits that are critical to success. The first, which someone with Beginner Energy has too much of and is practicing in an unempowered way, is Curiosity. The second, which someone in Beginner Energy is not displaying much of at all, is Confidence.
• We’ve gone over how you can diagnose if you’ve practiced Beginner Energy, causing stagnation in your sales/profits.
• I have also outlined for you the common problems caused by the practice of Beginner Energy. These problems include Analysis Paralysis, Imposter Syndrome, and Shiny Object Syndrome.

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW: What is your number 1 takeaway from today’s post?

Post 2 of this series will show you the energy and mindset that are the opposite of Beginner Energy, so you can stop worrying about how your business isn’t growing. That post is coming Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

Want notification when Post 2 is live? Then sign up here:

After I publish the final installment of this series, I’ll send anyone on the list (you join by entering your details above) a pretty and printable ebook containing all the posts and bonus content.

Read Post 2/3: “Success Mindset for Business: Cultivate PRO ENERGY to Win” >