The SELLING POWER of just BEING YOU
I used to think that I had to behave and act a certain way when I was meeting and pitching to potential corporate clients.
Like I couldn't be myself, or risk coming across as unprofessional...or like I didn't know what I was doing.
I used to dress in suit trousers, a blouse and heels, as I thought that's how "people in corporate" dressed and they wouldn't respect me if I didn't dress in a certain way.
I used to be over-polite, smiled a lot, waited to be asked a question or given a cue to speak in the meeting and generally acted quite passively.
We were sooo accomodating, so grateful they had invited us in to speak to them and given us an opportunity to pitch our tiny little organistion to them.
Most of the time leading up to, during and after these meetings I felt deeply uncomfortable - which is hardly surprising as I wasn't being me.
Looking back it was like I didn't trust myself, trust what I knew, like I didn't believed in my expertise and knowledge, like I didn't have something valuable to offer them.
I approached these meetings with the little girl voice in my head..."please, please like us we desperately need your money to do the thing we're most passionate about".
Needless to say I made no impact or sales this way.
It was one of the most eye-opening lessons I learnt over the years with each meeting and pitch I went to, that it wasn't about presenting myself in a particular way, it wasn't about fitting in to their club, it wasn't about being a passive little girl and asking for the money....that is NOT the way to make successful sales.
I learnt the hard way, through a lot of trial and error.
But you don't have to do that, I'm here to share with you what I learnt:
#1 People invite you to be pitched to because they're interested in what you do. They're not being generous, or friendly, or doing you a favour. Like you their time is valuable and they don't want to waste it, so if they've been invited in then it's because they want to find out more.
#2 Whether you believe it or not they see you as an expert in your field, at least until you show them something different. So, if you don't go in believing you're the expert they won't believe it either. Trust in your experience, expertise and skills - you've totally got this!
#3 People buy people! So being yourself, opening up, showing your personality and a bit about who you really are is all part of building a relationship with them. (This was my biggest mistake for far too long). Show interest in who they are as people, ask questions, show you care. Be YOU.
#4 Meetings and pitches aren't your chance to bombard them with information, but an opportunity to learn exactly what they want and need - ask questions, explore the unknowns, find out what you don't already know. It's ok that you don't know what the acronym they just used is - ask!
#5 Adapt your language and offer to align with their specific needs, if you're prepared and have asked the right questions you can do this on the spot within the meetings. Knowing what you're willing to be flexible on
#6 It's like any great interview, you're both there to find out if it's the right fit for both of you. If you don't feel you can really address their needs, or solve their problem or they just don't feel like the right fit for your programme it's OK to walk away and say, "no, thank you".
There's more great lessons on what I've learnt selling to corporates as a social entrepreneur in my new Sell to Corporates programme, including a whole module on how to develop your perfect pitch, so you deliver it with confidence in a style that’s natural to you, with a step-by-step guide, that helps you hear "YES" before you've even finished pitching.
Join before 19th May to get two extra bonus modules:
>> BONUS #1 Build your confidence with sales and selling where I share the exact techniques and strategies I’ve used to overcome fear and the icky, uncomfortable feeling of selling, so you can get excited about sales too, AND
>> BONUS #2 How to make £100k/year from selling to corporates including the daily, weekly and monthly practices that have helped me achieve this in my own social enterprise (whether you want to make £1k or £10k these practices still work)
Find out more and join the programme here: https://www.shareimpact.org/sell-to-corporates