Why I have always loved selling and why I believe in good sales and trade.
Since I remember I have always been what you consider good at sales, so is my mother.
No matter what it was, you could put it in our hands and we would sell it.
My simple and most intuitive answer without overthinking this too much, as to why, would be.
I have always naturally loved sales, and I never found anything wrong with it.
I grew into sales, due to my family background, and in my own experience, buying from me, makes people happy.
Each time I closed a sale, no matter if big or small, there was happiness, satisfaction and excitement coming with it.
Whether this would be selling little trinkets and my decluttered clothes on a flea market as a student, drinks in my club in London, (Yes, I owned and ran a club.), or as I do now, thousands of Euros for private consultations with me, we both go home happy.
Me AND the person buying from me. This has always been me and my sales experience.
Only later in life, to be truthful with you, it was when I saw what was going on in the coaching industry and that helping people sell, is a whole coaching industry in itself, I understood that there are people, who actually feel way different, about sales and trade and money than I do.
And whose mindset, which is the direct cause of those negative feelings, is way different to me and what I just perceived as natural around sales.
I will quickly recap what I feel makes someone bad at sales, and try to reverse engineer and put into concrete words why I have always loved and enjoyed sales and how I was born being a natural at it.
When I say good versus bad at sales, I do not mean to be judgmental or make anyone feel bad about themselves. I sincerely believe that this can change for anyone, as it all just depends on how you see sales and trade.
Here are the 5 reasons why I have always naturally been good at sales, what I think makes someone bad at it, and most of all what can be done about it.
1.) Pressure / don’t be attached to the outcome.
A desperate, pushy, unpleasant, pressured, inauthentic sales person trying to scare or scam you into purchasing something, is a disgrace to how beautiful sales and trade are actually meant to be, at its max.
Usually, whenever I got a whiff of that, I would just walk away and disengage from this type of sales strategy altogether.
The reason for this lies in the following four points of my article, so does the solution.
The only time I was really exposed to this type of negativity around sales was when I was looking for a business coach and social media manager/virtual assistant and some tec. support.
I found myself in these dreadful generic sales calls by female coaches who so desperately tried to create scarcity in me, were clinging on to a follow up call and peaked at their notes to implement the steps their probably highly paid and clearly wasted on, sales coach had taught them.
I felt really bad for them and at the same time it was interesting for me to see such a train wreck. I did not have the heart to be rude with them and just end the call right there. I sat through it and never got back to them.
In my sales experience, you need only a few minutes to know if you want to work with the coach. Sales, especially when buying personal services are a gut feeling decision. It is only later after that people find logical reasons to justify their choice - there is research on this. I learned about this during my degree in psychology.
The sales call is just to clarify specific questions the coach did not lay out on their website.
So there is no need for pressure in sales calls. My sales calls are usually just confirmation calls with women who already know that they want to be my client. And given the high fees it is natural to want to speak in person first, also for me I need to have a chance to choose my clients. And in less than 5 % we decide to not work together or I recommend a self study program first.
I have such a high conversion rate, because I have authentic representation of my Brand and service, and because I have 0 interest in creating scarcity, or have a woman buy from me from a place of fear because I scared her into what happens if she does not do this now.
I also do not follow up on you to work with me. You need to be empowered enough to come and get me all by yourself. Otherwise you will not last through implementing my tools and homework.
2.) Money - how you see it.
To me money has always been just the byproduct of happy sales and having a decent product or being totally transparent about its flaws. Money loves to flow to whoever is ready for it. Money is a symbolic energy of trade, and compensates you for the value you have already added. Nothing more nothing less.
This may be triggering for you, if you struggle financially right now. And this is not advice or a solution to get out of poverty, this speaks to reframing the way to see money in the context of sales, and helps you improve the energy with which you handle already existing money.
I am aware of the reality that many of us need to sell to make a living and can not afford to just be unattached to the outcome and not care if they have to provide for a family and have people and their salaries depend on them.
Yet, I still stand by all I say in this Blogpost. If this is a trigger, it is where personal work can be done to change things, and there is a whole coaching institute of sales coaching available at the click of a mouse.
3.) Understand the person and what they need. Enjoy advising them while they choose.
This is a gift I thank my mother for. I could see this play out especially when sitting behind my carpet, with piled on stuff while flea marketing. I would literally and regularly, look at a person approaching my pile, then pick an object out of my pile, show the person and often there the sales were already done; they smiled happy and often surprised, looking at me as if they wanted to say. “How does this girl know I like this?”And without even asking, I would usually explain, how I know, why I think this fits and what they could do with it.
(I would also be transparent about the condition of the object of course- but more to that in point 5) To me this was just almost like a game I enjoyed, guessing if this is what they want. I did the same when I had my club, I knew what the person would drink. I took bets on this from my barmaids btw. and I almost always won. These were fun times back then in London.
Using this sense for people, and tuning into their world helps you understand their needs better and based on that you can make a solid, sales ethical recommendation for them. Needless to say that is what I do in my 30 min. initial call and the gift of a highly trained and refined intuition is a must if you want to be a consultant/coach.
4.) Be in a good mood yourself / you need to feel good.
So personally I have a rule. If a salesperson “fait la gueule” [French for sulking / being in a bad mood] that is literally the words that come to mind, when I notice a bad mood in a salesperson. I am out the door and take my business elsewhere. I never questioned this much, and I won’t do so now. It just does not feel right to buy from a rude, grumpy person. I want to enjoy shopping and spending money.
I have a family business background in international trade in Southeast Asia and a huge base in Singapore. There is a Chinese saying, that a person who doesn't smile should not open a shop. If you dive into certain cultures, it will teach you that you should not make business with bad energy nor argue while you close a sale. I agree.
Being in a good mood in sales has always been easy for me since even in private life at a time, I may have been in a good mood. Sales and customers cheered me up and were my happy place. Same as I can say that I instinctively always walked away from an unhappy inauthentic sales person. Here is where I agree with sales coaches who teach women how to sell, when they say you should defo work on your vibe and energy. Oftentimes the best place to start here is to give your idea of money a critical overhaul.
5.) Have a good product / add value / believe in what you sell.
Or at least be honest about it, if it is trash :) I made hundreds in cash on flea markets and other sellers around would either envy me for it, or come to me and ask for my advice. My stand was definitely not pretty, not the most organised, nor did I have the best stuff to sell. Sometimes I did not even have a table, just a carpet with all my goods on it, and a single chair for me to sit on. But I sold out each time and drove home with an empty trunk and a heavy coin filled bag.
When I sold in Singapore for my family's trade house, I of course stood with pride behind the produce. In my current business now, I am even more so proud of what I have created myself. I 100 % believe and stand behind everything the High Class Women produces, be it the tiniest post on social media, the self study programs ranging from a few Euros to a few hundred (those change your lives btw.) or the private time with me. And of course I am always honest, if I feel any of my services are not a match for your needs.
Why am I writing this and how is this relevant to the High Class Woman Brand and Consulting Service?
Reason # 1
Writing it down simply happened, and I just allowed it. I do most of my work on paper, offline, in nature on a bench, while sitting with my pets. It feels nice to put these things into words, it is the first time that I am taking the topic of “sales + trade” out of my subconscious into my awareness.
(Usually we plug out neg- stuff from our subconscious, the things that we need to work on. That is the inner work, and I am a lover of it. But why not make a point to also pull out the nice stuff, bring it to our awareness and let it blossom? So it fills us with gratitude and appreciation.)
I am having such a happy smile and an open excited heart while I write all that.
Grandfather and Great-grandfather and your wives who always had your backs, so you could be the successful business men you were. I want to thank you and continue to make you proud in sales and in my business beyond.
Reason # 2
Besides indulging in happy journaling, I would love for you to have read this article before you take a 30 minute initial call with me, or even before you purchase a Self Study Program in my High Class Woman Boutique.
This should help you get to know me, where I come from and take out any notion of pressure that I need to sell anything to anyone, or that it would be a problem for me if you did not buy. The call is simply for you to make the best informed choice about your investment while you create the life you want.
Before writing this article, I would actually tell clients in initial 30 minute calls and that is very straight forward I know. That I am a happy, provided for wife, with passive income I have created years ago as a single woman. I do not need to make a living as a consultant. I do this and founded this Brand because I am compelled to put my life experience into a piece of art. Besides that I would NEVER ever sell my private time, the access to me, individual consultations, if we do not feel right together or if I am not certain and confident I am the right consultant for you and that I am able to help you.
No money can compensate me for putting up with that. I love my time and energy too much, it is our most precious asset ladies! And at this point in my life, I can afford to be very selective about who I am in touch with. I have created a life I love and have gotten so spoiled that I only spend time with people in private and in business that I like. Or I allow myself to make a quick escape and activate my energetic boundaries.
That is what it says on the booking form for current clients:
“I am excited about you and I look forward to seeing you in session”.
It is 100% true, and a given, otherwise I would not have signed you up as a client. I love and adore each single one of the women I consult. They are all amazing.
So rest assured if you are my client I like you and I am confident and certain I can help you and know I am the right consultant for you.
That is where the classical sentence often used in sales: “NO is also a Yes.” applies.
When you, or I say “no” we still say “yes” to what is best for both of us.
The call is, as outlined on the booking page, to make the best decision. In speaking to me you will gain the clarity you need and I can make my recommendations.
And I guarantee you this as always when it is me who does the sales, you and I will both walk away happy from it. Anina 💋