Why over-eager helpers lose sales

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Why over-eager helpers lose sales

When it comes to earning the trust of your intended clients (so you can inspire them to buy), we all know it’s important not to be an over-eager seller.

But did you know being an over-eager helper can also cost you sales?

So how do you strike the right balance between helping and selling to maximize sales?

Recently, my ten-year-old daughter, CeCe, shared her frustration about something going on between a group of friends at school. Right away, I saw a potential solution.

“You know what you could try…”

The immediate blank look on her face told me I’d jumped in too soon to offer advice. What she wanted was for me first to show understanding.

We often make the same classic mistake when earning the trust of potential clients in hopes of inspiring them to do business with us.

Broadly speaking, we can divide the process of earning a prospect’s trust into two parts.

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3 Reasons Your Customer Base is Not Growing

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3 Reasons Your Customer Base is Not Growing

Want to scale your business beyond the limitations of offering one-to-one services?

Create an online course or group program, right?

Well, yes. But a scalable offer alone won’t get you to your desired level of income, impact, and freedom.

Your entire business model also needs to evolve. That’s why I always work with my clients on three areas of their business.

  1. Positioning: how you are perceived in the mind of the audience you serve.
  2. Platform: the marketing messaging and channels you use to reach that market and attract new customers.
  3. Products: how you deliver your value proposition to the market.

All three need to be scalable. Today, I want to talk about your platform.

I see coaches and consultants make three common and costly main mistakes when scaling their platform to grow their audience and customer base.

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4 things for consistent business growth

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4 things for consistent business growth

Have you ever participated in a mastermind or coaching session where you got excited by the suggestions and advice, only to realize later you didn’t know where to begin to implement?

Hearing the divergent thinking of a group can break open a stagnant business, help us rethink our assumptions about what is possible, and offer a new perspective when we’ve been banging against a locked door.

But then those ideas require action.

When I created the Catalyst Mastermind, it was essential to me that it would be a whole-package kind of experience. It’s not just talking to smart people and hearing their ideas.

A mastermind also needs to give you tools (worksheets, checklists, concise and timely training, etc.) to help you implement the ideas.

It needs to give you support between the group calls so that you don’t get derailed the moment a question arises.

It needs to supply you with a shot of motivation and focus when you’re struggling to find them.

It needs to connect you with people who can help you.

That’s why my Catalyst Mastermind gives you:

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How to find support to realize your vision

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I struggle with the word “accountability.”

It sets up this external pressure that sometimes works but creates more anxiety for some. Yes, I said it.

Accountability is not the end all be all of accomplishing your goals. External motivation has its limitations.

And yet, there is an alchemy that happens when we have involved others in our goals, and it propels us to reach them in ways we would never have managed on our own?

Why does the gym buddy make me show up at the gym? Or why does the book club make me get through the book that took some patience but was SO worth it?

Why does co-working help me write the book that gets relegated to “later” when I’m on my own? Why do I sometimes meet deadlines when someone expects my result, but not when I have a self-directed deadline?

On my best days, it is not my people-pleasing character trait (I’m working on it) that makes me show up for someone else. It’s the connection, relationship, commitment, and camaraderie. And I’ve found that I REALLY need it.

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One of my biggest mistakes as an entrepreneur

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One of my biggest mistakes as an entrepreneur

2016 was a rough year for me, even more so than 2020, and dealing with the pandemic. It was the beginning of a couple of years of deep physical and emotional anxiety.

As my inner turmoil increased, my connection to the world diminished.

Go to that networking event? No way, too exhausted. Meet that friend for check-in and chat? I’d just feel inadequate. Put me out there on social media? No. Thank. You.

Unfortunately, this is common when someone deals with mental health challenges: they isolate themselves. Perhaps it’s due to shame. Perhaps it’s because of a lack of energy. Maybe it’s both and more.

As time went on, I isolated myself both personally and professionally more and more. Work opportunities started to dwindle (increasing my anxiety and continuing the cycle). Engagements and invitations stopped coming in. Fresh ideas and inspiration withered.

Bit by bit, my inner chatter told me I was getting less relevant than ever, which fed my sense of fatigue and self-doubt.

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