Selling Without Selling is NOT Possible

BY Liz Wendling
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This Lie Is Killing Your Business

The biggest business-​destroying, money-​depleting lie that professionals believe is that they can sell without selling. Selling without selling is NOT possible. They believe that instead, they should listen, share, serve, educate, and be authentic. All of these elements are a part of selling, but this advice alone will not keep a business in business.

If you resist selling, your prospective clients will resist buying.

I believe that you can sell without being aggressive. You can sell without being pushy or salesy. You can sell without using slimy or sleazy tactics. And you can sell without selling your soul. But it is impossible to sell without selling.

Many people resort to calling sales something other than what it is because of the negative feelings that they have around the act of selling. Their mindset prevents them from stepping into a sales situation with confidence. When they change the negative associations that sales has in their mind, they can change their paycheck.

Many people may have negative feelings about the words budget and diet. People call them other things, such as a savings plan, future funding, healthy eating program, or lifestyle food plan to lessen the impact, even though the work necessary to accomplish their goals is exactly the same. Slap a different label on it, but you are still eating less, moving more. You are still spending less, saving more.

If you have a business and you want to stay in business, you must embrace selling.

I know that the concept of selling without selling is alluring for professionals who don’t like to sell. Selling without selling is enticing for people who don’t want to go anywhere near a sales conversation where rejection is possible.

Sharing, serving, listening, and educating is part of selling, but they only get you so far. These things aren’t enough to consistently convert an interested prospect into an invested client.

This would be like saying, All right, universe, I am sharing like crazy, why is my business headed for the ditch? Okay, I have been listening all month, and I still have no clients? Why are prospects telling me that they can’t afford me when I am oozing authenticity? I am serving, but no one is buying what I am selling.

The so-​called experts and gurus offering destructive half-​truths about selling without selling fail to mention the insight and proficiency that is involved in driving new business and closing more sales. They neglect to tell you about the strong skillset that is required to move a sales conversation to a successful ending.

There is no business model on the planet that requires zero selling. Subscribing to the no selling model is the quickest way to destroy your business.

The perception that sales and selling is bad is outdated. If you don’t like to sell, it means that you are doing it wrong. It means that you have not found a way to sell that feels good to you. It means that you have not discovered an approach that honors you and your prospective client. Stepping in with courage and determination into a sales conversation is the most powerful aspect of your business. And, it is how you get paid!

Selling is required if you wish to make a great living. You likely spend about forty-​five percent of your workday selling yourself or your products or services. Why not be great at it? Why not be so good at inspiring and motivating others to do business with you, that you prosper and make a great living?

The next time that someone attempts to sell you on the fact that you don’t have to sell in business, you have two options. First, run like hell in the opposite direction, or test that disgraceful myth for yourself, and watch the slow and painful death of your business.

If you lack the skills to connect with others, to build high-​trust relationships, to lead a powerful and purposeful sales conversation, and to close business, it does not matter.  What does close sales is a concrete understanding of the dynamics of human behavior and knowing what it takes to impact, inspire, and influence today’s consumer in their buying decisions.

If you continue to believe that you can sell without selling you will have to get used to ideal clients walking away and telling you that they have no money and that they have to think about it. You will have to get used to earning less income.

You can make a significant contribution to your bottom line if you don’t buy into the BS that you can sell without selling. Sales are the only way for every business to stay in business. Selling is required on the path to prosperity.

Once you find an approach to selling that works for you and fits you like a custom-​made coat, you will never want to be without it again.

 


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