Selling with ethics

It’s time to re-define selling and sales in a way that feels right to you.

We often have an uncomfortable feeling about selling because of our past experiences, or perception of what selling is, for example seeing it as aggressive, pushy, manipulative, shameful, insincere etc.

Nobody wants to be sold to like that, and as a heart-centred business owner, passionate and focused on creating social and environmental impact (rather than making money for the sake of it) I know you don’t want to sell like that either.

So don’t.

There’s no rule book that says you have to sell that way or any particular way.

It’s your business, you’ve already defined the ethos and ethics of how you want to operate and create impact so why not apply this to your sales strategy.

If you don’t want it to be aggressive, pushy or manipulative then don’t let it be.

Create sales within your own ethos, ethics and values such as honesty, openness, transparency, fairness, mutually beneficial, and in a way that recognises your customers equal worth (equality).

You can define how you sell in your business.

You can make that choice.

You can be empowered by the way you choose to sell.

I find by doing this it makes sales a much more enjoyable activity that I'm not ashamed to do and unsurprisingly it helps me generate more sales.

Here’s my top tips for getting started with sales, aligned with your ethics:

Write out what values and ethics you have that are aligned to your business and what you want to apply to your sales approach.
Go through your current sales approach, and think about which parts just don’t feel right to you. Which bits do you least enjoy? Which parts aren’t aligned to your values / ethics?
For each part that isn’t aligned, ask yourself what would I need to do differently to align this to my values, ethics and the approach I really want to have?
Ask yourself what experience you want your customers to have whilst you’re selling to them
Get creative. You don’t have to do what others are doing, or say works when it comes to sales. This is your business so you can do sales whichever way feels right for you.

My other top tips for making sales easier:

Ready-to-buy customers & clients - focus on selling to people who are dream, ready-to-buy customers and clients. What do they need to hear to know you are the best person to work with right now? Ready to buy clients don’t have objections that need addressing; they don’t have to get on a call with you; they simply want to know what results you can help them get, with evidence to back it up and a connection to you.
Simplify - make the process simple for customers (as well as yourself). When I see something I want to purchase I want to do it there and then, quickly. I don’t want to fill in lengthy forms, jump through hoops or even struggle to find the “buy now” button. What does your customer/client want? How can you make the process simpler for you and them?