Mary Cravets

Contributed by guest blogger, Sales Guru Jane Garee

Speaking gigs and presentations are a great way to get exposure and business but often you’re not allowed to sell from the stage (either a literal or a virtual one). Although speaking is a labor of love for many business owners, you still have to be strategic about leveraging your time and talents. Loving what you do is one thing. Loving it so much you don’t make enough money to live is another. That’s called a hobby, not a business.

So if you’re called upon to speak and then told you’re not allowed to sell, what do you do? Here are three simple things that will stay within the integrity of not selling, while still positioning yourself for additional and future business.

Offer something free – this is one of the most effective ways to get people to “buy” from you when you’re not allowed to sell. Essentially a verbal opt-in, make the offer irresistible, valuable and useful.  Come up with something specifically for your presentation and the people who attend (this can be done from the stage or any virtual speaking gig). This is the time to give away your good stuff so don’t hold back! If you’re doing this live, have them write, “YES” on their business card and place it in the basket that’s being passed around (make sure this happens). If you’re speaking virtually, have them send you an email with a particular word in the subject line. To avoid any problems with spam, let them know they will start receiving your emails AND they can easily unsubscribe at any time. This takes the pressure of the “dreaded on-going email I’m now going to get” away so your prospects are encouraged to take advantage of the offer.

Seed strategically – listen to any good speaker, and you’ll notice they do this frequently, and it’s such a part of their presentation it never feels likes selling. Seeding simply means you’re layering in testimonials and real examples of people who have worked with you and the results they’ve gotten. It also lets people know the ways in which they can work with you. Examples usually sound like; “One of my VIP clients saw her revenue increase by 35%” or “My workshop students tell me that the biggest result they see from working with me is their increased confidence”. This seeding technique does two things. First, it lets people know how they can work with you (VIP or workshop). Secondly, it shows them what possible results can happen when working with you. When you seed properly, you paint a clear picture of how something is possible and what that possibility looks like.

Create the beginnings of a love affair – People will naturally want to work with you if they fall in love with you, so make your presentation the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Who you are naturally should be dialed up just a bit in a presentation because it’s that little bit of “over the top” that spurs people to action. Whether you’re funny, lyrically poetic, bouncy, soulful or edgy, make sure that comes through in a powerful way. Your ideal clients will gravitate toward you; in fact, they’ll almost feel magnetically pulled, while your non-ideal clients will become very clear you’re not for them. That’s exactly what you want. You’ll get farther, faster, not by pre-qualifying but by dis-qualifying. The less time you have to take for people who are unsure about working with you, the more time you’ll have for people who know you’re the one. See? It’s the beginning of a love affair.

Ultimately, you’re selling yourself all day, every day and that’s the very definition of having to sell when you’re not allowed to sell. Whether you’re doing a presentation or not, the rules are pretty much the same. Provide something of real value, paint a picture of what’s possible when working with you and always, always be yourself. If you do this, your tribe will not only find you, they will buy from you, love you and celebrate you. That’s the genius of selling without selling.

A much sought-after speaker, radio show guest, feature article writer and author, Jane Garee is the Founder and owner of Lilyflower Entreprises. With over twenty years experience in three different industries as a top producing Sales Manager, she is known for breaking revenue and income records in the first year of a new business. Her presentations have been described as, “A cross between education and a stand- up comedy routine”. She is now on a quest to teach others that selling is not just necessary, it’s actually fun. You can visit jane at www.janegaree.com or email her at jane@janegaree.com.

This week has been unusually stressful, so I took time to clear my head with a hike in Sedona. As I walked, I glanced down at my feet, and it brought to mind a common question I get asked by clients – “How can I be sure I’m on the right path?”

My answer? Look at your feet. Trust me, this works whether you look at it philosophically or practically.

Philosophically. Personally, I believe that we have purpose in life, and that it is impossible for us to be on the wrong path. Look at your feet, and they will always show you exactly where you’re “supposed” to be.

Practically. Even if you don’t share my philosophy, look at your feet for a practical perspective. If you’re questioning your path, your any change in direction must start from precisely where you are right now.

This is a good mantra for pretty much any area of business, but today let’s focus on networking, shall we? Here are a few tips to help you feel confident about your business-to-business networking, and make it a profitable investment of your time.

1. Be there to listen. People are more attracted to people who are interested, rather than ones who try to be interesting.
2. For every networking meeting you schedule, block out time the same day or the following day to do your follow up. This way, it gets done!
3. Successful networking is about farming rather than hunting. Ever meet someone at an event who was a hunter? A hunter is the person who is trying to sell you their product or service before they find out whether you even need it. Don’t be that guy.
4. If someone is in the market for your service, don’t hesitate to transition into sales mode. I’ve watched business people who were so afraid of being perceived as pushy, they literally walked away from people who were ready to pull out their wallet and buy.
5. Have a long-term follow up system (e-newsletters are great for this!) so prospects and referral partners won’t forget about you!
6. Be yourself. If you like to reconnect with people you know, do that. If you like to meet new people, do that. Stay authentic and you’ll attract the best fit for what you have to offer!

All of this adds up to make for a much calmer, more fun experience – and one that will yield results in the long term!

It is amazing how success rarely looks like you expect. Case in point: I just successfully launched a huge new training program. And then almost shut down completely.

Yep. It’s the ugly truth coming at you here. It’s so important to me to pull back the curtain on the reality of owning your own business. So here it is…

After weeks of preparation for my virtual workshop, “What to do When Everything Seems Urgent” – writing a sales page, working with a sales coach, a business coach and a web designer, preparing course content, and administrative systems galore… here is what the day of the workshop looked like:

1. I gave the workshop while sitting on my couch, very prepared, but nervous as hell.
2. Results: great attendance, great feedback, great enrollments for my Boot Camp.
3. EUPHORIA!!! People enrolled! I’m profitable!!!!!
4. I’m REALLY tired (I was so excited I didn’t sleep the night before!)
5. Now I have to put the finishing touches on the materials. I’m even more tired.
6. Why didn’t more people enroll?
7. I still need to promote this to have a few more people enroll.
8. I’m exhausted… what was I thinking?

I went from nervous to euphoric to exhausted self-doubt in a matter of an hour. You know what I call this?

NORMAL.

Whenever you make a BIG stretch outside your comfort zone, your comfort zone wants to snap back to its original dimensions. And it’s a sneaky little sucker. It will use all the tricks in the book to get you to believe that this discomfort is harmful as opposed to what it really is: growth.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of thoughts that will creep in, “compliments” of your comfort zone:

1.Exaggeration:  “I’m tired. I don’t want to be tired ALL the time. I better stop this.”
2.Diminishment: “You only had 16 people sign up? You should have had 50. That wasn’t worth it.”
3.Judgment: “You’re a fraud. Everyone is going to find out that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
4.Pure self- doubt: “Who do you think you are?”

I honestly spent a rough few days with these kinds of thoughts myself. I talked to colleagues and friends, ate some chocolate, worked out, and watched mindless television. Whatever I needed to do to get through the latest expansion of my comfort zone.

What is your best strategy for dealing with this sneaky little sucker?

When my husband Adam and I were in the early stages of planning our wedding, we observed several couples who were stressed-out and complaining about planning their weddings. I was puzzled. I mean, you get to taste cake, play with flowers, and try on pretty dresses. What’s not to love?

In a rare case of foresight, we decided that we were going to have fun during the eight months of planning our wedding. If it stopped being fun, we either needed to adjust our attitudes, or ditch the deposits and go to Las Vegas for a quickie wedding.

So we focused on making it fun. We kept an eye on our attitudes. We didn’t let other people’s opinions swat us from our vision of our perfect day. We (or at least I) really didn’t want to get married by Elvis in the Hunka Burnin’ Love Chapel.

Guess what? It was a blast. All eight months of it.

But think of it – 240 days of planning for one day of fun. 99.583% of that time we were on the journey to the wedding, rather than at the destination. If we had let ourselves get totally stressed out for that 99.583% of time, we might never have even gotten to the wedding!

So my question to you is – do you treat your business this way?

Do you consciously decide to enjoy it on a daily basis, consider your opinions and priorities first, and create a plan of attack that is fun?

Too often, this is not the case. We struggle to do things the way someone else says we should, allowing ourselves to believe that if we suffer today, we’ll see a payoff later, and that we just need to work harder.

Don’t do it! You know what the business owner’s version of the Elvis Chapel is? Having to get a job!