Would it come as a surprise to you if I said we're all sales people? It's true.

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Every time you have a prospective client on a discovery call, you're making a sales pitch. Every time you send an email or write a blog post with an offer, you're making a sales pitch. Every time you write an opt-in page, you're making a sales pitch.

And you're probably pretty good at it, too, or you wouldn't be where you are today, would you? So why do we continue to think we're so bad at sales?

Sales Feels "Icky"

I hear this one a lot. You feel pushy or uncomfortable when talk turns to money. You don't want to force anyone into a decision. You secretly think your rates are too high (or maybe you don't deserve them!).

So how do you overcome the reluctance to sales? Here are 3 tips:

1-Practice Makes Semi-perfect

I'm going to be honest with you. Sales conversations are one of those things that gets better only with practice. But the good 銷售文案 news is, you don't have to be on the phone with a prospective client to get that practice time in.

Instead, use the technique self-help gurus have been advocating for years: Look in the mirror and talk to yourself. Practice saying your rates out loud. Practice your segue from discovery to sales pitch. The more you do it, the more natural it will sound, and the less uncomfortable you will feel when on a real call. Great salesmen practice their pitch!

2-Fix Your Mindset

What if you weren't selling anything, but instead were simply chatting with a friend about the incredible new product that was going to change her life? You're helping your friend to improve herself by sharing your experience with this new product.

That's exactly how you should think about selling your coaching programs. You're not trying to get your prospective client to spend money. Instead, you're offering a solution to his or her problems. You're genuinely helping them to overcome some obstacle in their life or business.

When you can turn your thinking around from "sales" to "helping or serving" you'll find it's much easier to have the sales talk.

3-Don't Be Afraid of the Follow Up

Most clients won't say yes with the first call, and maybe not even with the second. But good coaches know that many sales can be closed if you simply take the time to follow up. If you think you don't have time to follow up, just remember that a warm prospect is 10 times more valuable than a cold one. You've taken the time to warm them up with the initial phone call. So unless they aren't a good fit at all, keep in touch with them.

But you need a system for doing it, or it won't get done. Here's one you can incorporate into your marketing process:

Send a quick email and invite your prospect to:

As marketing guru Dean Graziosi says, "If you don't get your prospect's credit card, you're doing them a disservice." Be of service by helping them become your client.

Before I define professional selling. Let's look at some of the related professions. Below are some definitions of professions/occupations that relate to professional selling from Wikipedia:

What about the sales profession?

Notice in the above definitions, the profession is *not* defined as the individual. For example, marketing isn't defined as "people who market." Yet, the sales profession is often explained as "individuals who sell." Therefore, selling shouldn't be defined in this manner. Notice also, that the above professions are *not* defined by the activities of those individuals. In other words, the profession of advertising isn't defined as "placing ads on television." Therefore, selling shouldn't be defined in this manner.

Academically, selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales departments often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing individuals who specialize in sale specific roles. While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of the sales "profession" doesn't exist (until now with this article).

So the questions become:

A definition should provide a meaning. To determine the meaning of the sale profession, it is useful to determine what the sales profession *must* contain.

The following three tenets are required for professional selling:

Within these three tenets the following definition of profession selling is offered by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD):

Note: this definition was published by ASTD in 2009.

What does this definition accomplish?

First, it creates a definition of world class selling. An organization wishing to benchmark its selling effectiveness can leverage the above definition to clearly understand strengths and weaknesses. Without such a definition, most adjustments to the selling team are arbitrary and subjective. By understanding the system's view required for selling effectiveness, organizations can look at indidual sales team members as well as sales team processes and tools and how they align to the buyer.

Second, it allows for more consistent results in performance through the clear establishment of roles regarding who is "in" and who is "out" of professional selling. For example, if it doesn't involve a human agent, it is not within the sales profession -- it's a marketing function with a transaction (i.e., a "sale"). For this definition, sales operations, sales recruiters, and sales trainers are "in" the profession because they possess unique skills outside of their regular job titles. They posses knowledge and skill that is unique to enabling the definition.

Third, the definition lays the foundation for sales talent management/people strategies. With such a definition, sales development employees can create learning solutions that fit the unique aspects of a sales culture. At the same time, front-end recruitment strategies and more clearly tie to retention strategies.

Fourth, it helps organization on exemplary performance. By setting a bar with such a definition, organizations don't have to settle for mediocre sales effectiveness. They can use the definition to help bridge the gap between sales capacity and sales team competency.