I’m not a natural sales person

I’m not a natural sales person.

Despite the appearance I seemingly project, I hate trying to convince people to sign up for, take part in or buy anything. I would much prefer that they approached me for said service or product. It doesn’t matter how much I believe in something, trying to “sell the idea” to someone else pushes me so far out of my comfort zone I might as well be sitting on the moon.

People always seem surprised when I tell them this, however I think that they are confusing my confidence with salesmanship. You see I’ve always had a natural confidence, I don’t get anxious or nervous about speaking in public or interviews nor did I fear my exams. They all fall within that cozy comfort zone of mine. We all have one don’t we.

Apparently, I’m not the only one – many people have said to me that one of the reasons they don’t want to take a risk is because it pushes them into a place they’ve never been before. This can be a fear of going to a networking meeting (fear of the unknown, fear of being left alone), it can be being afraid to take a risk (fear of failing) or even being worried that our other halves won’t approve of what we are going to do. I’ve heard many of these phrases over the last few weeks and months.

What changed for me? I’ve had many ups and downs over the years, far too many personal episodes that brought me down – but each and every one of them left me with a sense of achievement, a sense of coming into my own. I’ve read many articles about people ‘not giving a shit’ about the thoughts of others as they get older and I have to say I somewhat agree. I don’t let the idea of what others think affect the way I do anything.

So back to not being a natural saleswoman – I’ve been reading A LOT lately about network marketing. Having been in the industry for 9.5 years I can tell you that is much different today compared to when I first began my MLM journey. Countless are the times I’ve heard “pyramid scheme”, the ‘pitch’ I tried to give never quite felt natural enough to convince others to join me. My conversion rate was low. What has changed? Digital media has entered our world and it is huge – your network of friends can span the globe without you ever having met anyone. Sometimes your online relationships can feel more meaningful that the ones you have in ‘real life’. And…here’s the biggest change, it’s possible to project a lifestyle that people aspire to through all of these mediums we have available to us so that you can grow your business without ever having to ‘prospect’ another person.

People will sit back and watch you for a while, it’s not an over night solution to sales but a long term effort to consistently project the image you want for your lifestyle. Don’t put posts that are overly salesy on your social media, provide information people find useful or interesting and ensure that these people are interacting with you on a regular basis….soon enough your friends and their friends will see the opportunity you are presenting and want to become part of it.

I no longer have to worry about being salesy!!