YOUR AUTHENTIC SALES STYLE: THE EMPATH
THE EMPATH
As an Empath you love working with your clients! You love that deep sense of connection you have with them and the sense of fulfilment you get from seeing the transformation you can help them achieve.
The problem is that in equal proportion to how much you love the client work you dread the process of getting clients in the first place. Much more than you let on. So much so that you almost hide away and avoid situations where you might be required to sell or promote your services.
You might even be the best kept secret in your locality, or your sector.
WHERE YOU ARE
You avoid sales situations at all costs – making soup or cleaning dust mites out of the back of your closet are always way more appealing (not to mention urgent) than following up with that client who showed an interest last week.
You likely consider yourself an introvert or a Highly Sensitive Person. This makes it particularly difficult for you to “put yourself out there” to attract clients or have sales conversations. And nothing scares you so much as when someone tells you that you have to be “visible” if your business is going to work. You are happiest hiding out at the back of the room watching everybody else and you’d much prefer it if your clients came to you without you needing to do anything!
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news for an Empath is that this sensitive nature is actually what will make you brilliant at having authentic heart-centred sales conversations (I’m also an “Empath” if that reassures you).
You’re able to pick up on nuances and be sensitive to what is going on for your potential clients in a way that more thick-skinned sales people simply can’t. This means that you’re able to guide a potential client very sensitively to a decision about working with you in a way that feels supportive to them, rather than pushy and awkward.
All you need to do is learn a structure that feels comfortable to you, blend in your intuition and emotional intelligence, and hey presto!
It’s also practically impossible for an Empath to accidentally come across as pushy. You are so sensitive to the impact you are having on the other person it just couldn’t happen. So that’s one part of the sales process you don’t have to worry about too much!
YOUR CHALLENGE
The challenge for an Empath is that the sales process can feel particularly painful for you because you are so acutely aware of the client’s response and extra sensitive to any negative impact you might unintentionally have.
This makes you careful not to want to come across as pushy. So careful in fact that you actually find yourself avoiding sales situations, even where the other person is giving you clear signals that they might be interested!
And if anyone ever described you as pushy you’d be so mortified you’d probably go home and hide under the duvet for several weeks. And this is what causes you to hold back from sales situations rather than stepping up to offer your clients the help they so badly need from you.
Added to that, everything you’ve ever heard or learnt about sales flies in the face of your values and feels so out of alignment you know you could never do it. Just thinking about it gives you a knot in your stomach or makes you feel queasy.
OTHER FACTORS
So what does an Empath typically do faced with such discomfort around sales? Tries to run a business without actually selling of course!
But unsurprisingly that’s not really working out for you and the lack of clients is starting to knock your confidence. You’re thinking maybe you’re just not cut out for this business lark and it’s time to go back to a job.
As for the idea you could ever fall in love with sales? Well that sounds as likely as the proverbial pigs flying!
As a natural introvert you are not used to leading and guiding a conversation, so when you do get into conversation with potential clients you find that they end up taking the lead and the whole thing feels entirely outside your control.
But don’t worry, an Empath can easily learn how to sell. You just need a more empowering alternative to the traditional sales approaches. And before you know it instead of sales being that awkward thing you have to get out of the way before you can start work with someone, you can look forward to it as a first step in how you help them.
3 Tips to Boost Your Empath Sales Style
1.
TIP NUMBER 1
The first tip is to relax and stop worrying that you might inadvertently come across as pushy. Your acute sensitivity and ability to pick up what’s going on for others is an asset which means it’s practically impossible for that to happen – so you can relax about that like no other profile can!
2.
TIP NUMBER 2
It’s important for you to develop a clear Captivating Introduction, so that when someone asks you what you do you can answer immediately in a way that clearly communicates what you do and the value you can bring – and gets the conversation started!
3.
TIP NUMBER 3
Learning a clear structure to guide your sales conversations will give you a huge sense of confidence that you have it handled, and will mean that you can start to feel in more control of the process.
YOUR NEXT STEPS
You can get started here with my free training “The 7 Steps to Yes!” for authentic, heart-centred sales conversations.
It will show you how to guide the client gently and compassionately to a “Yes please!” – if that’s right for them.
Let me know how you get on!
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