When I say “sales calls,” what’s the first thing that pops into your head?
Fear? Anxiety? Dread?
For SO long sales have gotten a bum rap and I want to turn that thought process around, so you CAN totally sell AND be pushy without being sleazy!
Yes, you read that correctly, you can be PUSHY and still make sales in a not so aggressive way. I like to call it, being professionally annoying (it’s the key to sales).
It’s all about finding a happy balance!
Being pushy IS important, but you also need to remember those other little secrets that make being professionally annoying work.
Let Your Passion Show
We all have dream clients, customers, or investors, that we are dying to work with. We often start by admiring them from afar, or spend time daydreaming about what it would be like to work with them. When it comes time to actually reach out, some salespeople & business owners freeze up.
This is where your passion for your chosen career comes in.
If you are in love with what you’re building or creating, and you know that the only way to grow is to reach out to your dream investor, you do it. You don’t let ANYTHING hold you back!
Talia Goldstein, a guest of Success Unfiltered, hit a really tough time. She had been lucky enough to find a business partner that she loved, but when this partner decided to leave the company to return to corporate America, Talia was devastated.
She was left handling the operations side of the business, something she hadn’t ever had to manage before, AND to add insult to injury, she had just had a baby 1 week earlier.
I’d bet some of you would have curled up in the fetal position and called it quits.
Not Talia. She is and was deeply passionate about her company, Three Day Rule, and refused to let this be the end of it. Instead of curling up in the fetal position, she went 10x’s harder to learn what she needed to do in order to take her business to the next level.
Talia ended up approaching Match.com saying, “I have something that you don’t have, and that you may find very valuable.” Ultimately later down the road after many follow ups, Match.com invested in Three Day Rule and it became the high end matchmaking site for them.
This is the life of a startup. It’s an up and down roller coaster ride and it isn’t for everyone, but when you have a passion for what you’ve created, you will do WHATEVER it takes to make your dreams a reality.
Make Your Customers Feel Special
This is an easy way to increase how pushy you’re being, while also letting your prospects know how important they are to you.
What do I mean?
I reach out to every single person that connects with me on Instagram. That might seem pretty unbelievable but it’s true! Not everyone responds back but I get a pretty good response rate and I love it.
I get the opportunity to get to know my community, learn about them and their businesses and my circle gets just a little bit bigger, and as an extrovert, this is really important to me.
Do you want to know the number one thing that gets people to respond to me?
Using their name in the messages and sending video messages! There is no sweeter sound to someone than the sound of their own name. For me to take the few extra seconds to find their name (not everyone has it listed), and send them a direct message asking about them, with their name in it, I’ve increased my chances of them responding and me connecting with them. And as a bonus, spend 2 seconds recording a personal video message and see your connections grow even more!
Not all of these individuals are my ideal client, but, using their name makes them feel special. I am genuinely interested in them and in what they have to say.
By making a prospect feel special, you are leading them to want to learn more about you and what you do, and possibly buy from you in the future.
Don’t Forget The Secret Ingredient
Being professionally annoying will get you where you want to go, I promise! It will get you the investments that you’re looking for, it’ll get you the sales you desire and it will get you the high ticket clients that you can’t wait to work with, but…
You MUST follow-up!
Like Talia said in her episode, you have to check-in once a week. Take time to call them out of the blue just to connect.
This is the secret ingredient that has helped me make my podcast, Success Unfiltered, a success!
I’ve had some pretty AMAZING guests on Success Unfiltered, but they can be really difficult to get a hold of.
I don’t give up until I get a firm NO. This might actually mean that I am emailing or calling a prospect 4 or 5 times, without hearing back. That’s okay, because as entrepreneurs we are busy people, and they may not pay any attention to you, until they notice your persistence. So, until I hear a definite NO, I keep contacting them.
Even then if I still get a NO, I’ll still check-in from time to time, just in case they’ve changed their minds, because there have been plenty of times where that original NO, is now a YES!
If that doesn’t prove to you that the secret ingredient is in the follow-up, I have NO IDEA what will. All I can say is try it. Take one prospect and go follow-up.
Maybe it’s the client that you’ve been dying to help. Call them, say hello, start following them on social media, commenting on their posts, send them interesting articles you talked with them about. Anything, especially if it is off-topic from whatever you’re selling, build a relationship.
Just remain persistent and be just a LITTLE more pushy, because you won’t get anywhere without being polite and pushy.
In Conclusion
Being professionally annoying ISN’T a bad thing, it’s what is going to take your business to the next level.
I’d love for you to use these tips and put at least one thing into action today. Just decide who you want to work with and then get to work.
Leave me a comment on how you were just a little bit pushier today! I would love to know!
