Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Wendy Y. Bailey. Called a “Force of Nature”, she is an internationally known thought leader and a sought-after coach and sales speaker for her fierce and dynamic dedication to inspiring individuals, groups and organizations. WendyY believes you must continually invest in yourself to enhance personal development as well as to grow you bottom line. For more information visit www.BusinessBeyondLimits.com
SmallBizLady: WHY IS SELLING SUCH A CHALLENGE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS?
WendyY: Selling is the blood line for any business. In order to excel financially, you must know how to be skilled in selling. Unfortunately, most small business owners go into business with the “build it and they will come” mentality. That just doesn’t work. We attempt to sell to the masses. We attempt to sell ANYTHING that we think people need and are willing to pay us to do. We lack focus and clarity and the necessary selling skills to be successful. If you want to grow your business, you must build confidence in your selling abilities to become a really great sales leader.
SmallBizLady: WHY IS IT WRONG TO SELL TO THE MASSES?
WendyY: Selling to the masses is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. When you’re clear about who you serve and what you do to serve them, your marketing and selling efforts will result in greater success. I call it ideal client clarity and the power of one.
SmallBizLady: WHAT’S IDEAL CLIENT CLARITY AND THE POWER OF ONE?
WendyY: Very simply, it says to create extraordinary results in your sales and marketing you must identify ONE ideal client, ONE core problem and ONE comprehensive solution. There is Power in those ONEs. Ideal client clarity means you have a strong, detailed description of your client avatar. The power of one ensures that you know the core problem that your ideal client faces. You also know without confusion the solution you offer to solve that problem. When you know this information, you can speak selling language that speaks to your most ideal clients, specifically. You become a standout in the crowded marketplace.
SmallBizLady: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SELLING LANGUAGE?
WendyY: My NLP training has taught me that there is an unspoken selling language that ties directly to our selling. Let me start by sharing a quick definition of NLP. There are three parts to NLP: 1-Neuro, 2-Linguistic, and 3-Programming. Part 1 or Neuro says that the brain processes every bit of information via the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch/feeling, and smell. Part 2 or Linguistic says that language has a broader definition that not only includes words, but it also includes pictures, sounds, tastes, smells, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and more. Part 3 or Programming says that these learning patterns are coded in us individually. Knowing this coding or programming allows us coaches to help our clients to achieve bigger outcomes, faster.
SmallBizLady: HOW DOES NLP LANGUAGE WORK IN SELLING?
WendyY: Building rapport and connection is one of the pillars of NLP. Accordingly, when you use language that resonates with your most ideal clients, selling or conversion specifically is far more successful. As a successful sales leader, using a mix of sensory language helps you build rapport and connection quickly which makes conversion possible. It sounds easy but I actually coach my clients on sales scripting that includes that language mix so they can sell more effectively.
SmallBizLady: WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN YOU SAY, “BUILD PROFITS THE PEOPLE WAY”?
WendyY: It’s because building rapport and connection focuses your selling conversations on the ideal client. It’s not about making the sale or closing the client. It’s about standing in caring, compassion and service as you walk your client through the process of working with you. It sounds simple and it is. It’s also a very natural way of selling. That’s why I say selling is transformational NOT transactional. Sure, you’re going to get to taking the credit card information and getting your client into your shopping cart, but that’s secondary to genuinely caring about your client and using language that speaks to that caring. Selling is about service before profits.
SmallBizLady: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN WITH SELLING LANGUAGE?
WendyY: I recommend that you first invest in discovering your own sensory language patterns. Then, you can learn more about other sensory language patterns so you can begin to incorporate those patterns into your sales script. It sounds very complex but it doesn’t have to be. I recently wrote a sales script for a consulting client that included stories and metaphors as tools to create resonance with his clients. It was his story, I just helped him bring it to life.
SmallBizLady: WHAT ARE OTHER TOOLS SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS CAN USE FOR SELLING?
WendyY: Whatever you can use that helps you create depth of connection and powerful rapport with your client is what you use. I use music, guided meditation, metaphors, stories, colors, quotations, videos, audios, poems and more. The sky is the limit when it comes to focusing on people first. The Rotary Club, an international humanitarian organization, was founded on the motto, “Service before profit.” When you’re fully serving your clients, that paves the way for your connections to be deep and powerful because your actions are focused solely on your client. People first and the profits will follow.
SmallBizLady: WHAT ELSE IS POSSIBLE AROUND SELLING WHEN YOU FOCUS ON PEOPLE?
WendyY: The possibilities are endless. As you continue to focus on ideal client clarity and the power of one, additional core problems your ideal client’s face will surface. This will give you additional opportunities to be a problem-solver with your next comprehensive solution. That’s a repeatable approach which creates a bond between you and your ideal clients that keeps them coming back to you as a creative problem solver. I call that a niche. You also create raving fans, brand ambassadors and heartfelt testimonials about your expertise. That’s an awesome way to position yourself as an expert!
SmallBizLady: IT SEEMS OBVIOUS, BUT HOW DOES THIS LEAD TO PROFITABILITY FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER?
WendyY: It may seem obvious but most small business owners struggle in this area. I read an article recently that showed failure rates for small business owners are on a decline. The article cites professional development as a key source for the decline. It means small business owners recognize the necessity to invest in acquiring necessary skills (like selling) that are not typically part of their skillset when they start businesses. I truly believe, if you want to grow your bottom line, then you invest in personal and professional development. Developing your selling skills by creating client-focused scripts paves the way for profitability. It’s because sales and marketing go hand in hand. The more you leverage the selling language in your email marketing, social media, blogs, videos and media appearance, the more you will sell and the greater your profits will be.
SmallBizLady: WHAT ROLE DOES MINDSET PLAY IN A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER’S SELLING ACTIVITIES?
WendyY: It takes a fair amount of “sweat equity” in all areas of your business to be successful. However, what I know now is that mindset is the key to EVERYTHING in your business. Your mindset is what inspires you to keep going when you feel like you’re failing or faltering. It is your mindset that challenges you to move past the obstacles that you encounter along the way. And, yes, it is your mindset that guarantees your ability to bounce back when you face a setback. Mindset is everything and that’s abundantly clear when it comes to ensuring your business runs in the black at all times.
SmallBizLady: YOU TELL A GREAT STORY ABOUT MINDSET, CAN YOU SHARE IT WITH US HERE?
WendyY: A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft and mushy. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the hard shell, she observed the hardened egg.
Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What’s the point, mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin, outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/1hZeIlz For more tips on how to start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
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