Overcome Your Fear of Sales—Reframe "Sell" To "Help"
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes that hard-selling can push clients away, advocating instead for a shift from 'selling' to 'helping.' By genuinely understanding clients' needs and building trust, professionals can foster long-term relationships, leading to greater success. Trust, rather than aggressive sales tactics, is presented as the true currency in client relationships. The speaker argues that helping clients, even when it means referring them elsewhere, leads to higher satisfaction, more creative freedom, and better outcomes. This approach contrasts with outdated, high-pressure sales methods, encouraging a more empathetic and service-driven model.
Takeaways
- 😊 The harder you try to sell, the fewer clients you get; selling should focus more on helping than pushing a sale.
- 💡 Survival instinct drives the need to sell, but it's important to change the mindset from selling to genuinely helping.
- 🤔 Viewing every person as a prospect or focusing too much on making money creates distrust and pushes people away.
- 😟 High-pressure selling leads to fear and loss of trust in the person offering services or products.
- 🔄 Reframe selling as helping; understand a client's needs, challenges, and decision-making process.
- 🙏 Sometimes helping means admitting you're not the right person for the job, referring someone else, or advising the client on better options.
- 🔑 Trust is the true currency in relationships with clients, and everything you do either builds or erodes that trust.
- 🤝 Building trust results in more business opportunities, higher payments, and more creative freedom from clients.
- 📉 High-pressure, aggressive sales tactics are outdated and often ineffective, especially in creative fields.
- 🎙️ The speaker, Greg Gunn, encourages listeners to check out The Future Podcast for more insights into creative business topics.
Q & A
What is the main point being made about selling in this transcript?
-The transcript argues that trying too hard to sell often leads to fewer clients because it makes people feel like they are being pushed rather than helped. Shifting focus from selling to genuinely helping builds trust and leads to better results.
How does the speaker suggest people should approach selling instead?
-The speaker suggests replacing the concept of 'selling' with 'helping.' Instead of trying to close a sale, focus on genuinely understanding and addressing the client’s needs, and offering help where you can. This builds trust and stronger relationships.
What are the negative consequences of focusing too much on selling according to the speaker?
-Focusing too much on selling makes clients feel pressured and can result in them losing trust. It creates a perception that the seller is more interested in closing a deal than in helping, which pushes potential clients away.
Why does the speaker emphasize building trust with clients?
-The speaker emphasizes that trust is the real currency in business relationships. When a client trusts you, they are more likely to pay you, give you more creative freedom, and stop seeking other vendors.
What role does survival play in selling according to the speaker?
-The speaker acknowledges that survival is a basic instinct and many people sell because they need to survive. However, they encourage rethinking the approach to selling so that it focuses on helping the client, which will ultimately lead to better outcomes.
What does the speaker mean by saying 'the harder you try to sell, the fewer clients you get'?
-This means that overly aggressive or pushy sales tactics tend to alienate potential clients. When a seller appears desperate to close a deal, it can come off as self-serving, which causes people to lose trust and walk away.
How does the speaker suggest you respond if you are not the right person to help a client?
-The speaker suggests being honest if you're not the right fit for the job. This may involve referring the client to someone else or explaining that they would be overpaying for your services, which builds trust by showing that you're not just after a quick sale.
What common cultural examples does the speaker give of bad selling practices?
-The speaker mentions 'The Wolf of Wall Street' and con artists as examples of the old-school, high-pressure, aggressive sales tactics that are often glamorized in popular culture but are ineffective, particularly for creative people.
Why does the speaker believe traditional high-pressure sales tactics are outdated?
-The speaker believes these tactics are outdated because they work in environments where the seller has leverage, but in most modern and creative fields, such tactics fail. Clients today respond better to trust-building and genuine assistance.
What is the broader lesson the speaker is trying to convey about business and client relationships?
-The broader lesson is that business and client relationships should be built on trust and helping, rather than pushing for sales. When you prioritize understanding the client’s needs and helping them solve their problems, the business results will follow naturally.
Outlines
🤔 The Harder You Sell, The Fewer Clients You Get
The speaker introduces the counterintuitive idea that aggressively trying to sell can drive clients away. While it’s necessary to sell for survival—to pay for necessities like housing and food—an overly pushy approach creates a negative impression. Clients sense the desperation, which leads to a lack of trust and pushes them away. The more someone tries to close a deal, the less successful they may be.
💡 Shifting from Selling to Helping
The speaker encourages rethinking the concept of selling by replacing the word 'sell' with 'help.' Instead of focusing on closing a deal, shift the mindset to genuinely helping clients. This involves understanding their needs, decision-making process, and the barriers to their success. By aligning with the client's needs and even referring them to others if necessary, trust is built, which leads to more meaningful, long-term relationships.
🤝 Trust as the Core Currency in Relationships
Trust is emphasized as the most important currency in any relationship. The speaker urges listeners to reflect on their interactions with clients and determine whether they are building or losing trust with every word and action. Listening fully to the client's problems and avoiding assumptions fosters deeper trust. Interrupting or presuming solutions without understanding the full issue can undermine trust and harm the relationship.
🚧 The Danger of Assumptions in Client Relationships
The speaker discusses the harm caused by making assumptions during client conversations. Cutting off clients, presuming solutions without hearing the full story, or acting with self-interest damages trust and can turn clients away. Instead, truly helping clients involves patience, listening carefully, and putting their needs first.
💼 The Rewards of Building Trust: More Freedom, Less Competition
Building trust leads to significant rewards in client relationships. When clients perceive you as trustworthy, they not only pay more but also stop shopping around for other options and grant you more creative freedom. The speaker notes that this approach works particularly well in creative fields, where trust and open collaboration are crucial.
📺 Misleading Cultural Examples of Selling
The speaker criticizes cultural stereotypes of aggressive selling, such as those portrayed in movies like 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' where high-pressure, manipulative tactics are glorified. While such approaches may work in areas where the seller holds power, they are ineffective in creative industries where trust and collaboration are more important.
🎙️ Promotion of The Future Podcast
The script concludes with a promotional message for 'The Future Podcast,' where listeners can hear intimate conversations and personal stories from well-known and new figures. The host encourages viewers who enjoy the YouTube content to explore the podcast, which offers more in-depth discussions and can be listened to conveniently during other activities.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Selling
💡Help
💡Trust
💡Survival
💡Agenda
💡Building trust
💡High-pressure sales
💡Client's needs
💡Creative latitude
💡Con men
Highlights
The harder you try to sell, the fewer clients you get.
Survival is the first instinct when selling, but it's important to move beyond that mindset.
If you treat every person as a prospect due to financial need, it can create a negative impression.
People can sense when you're more focused on closing the deal than genuinely helping them.
Transform the word 'sell' into 'help' to shift your mindset and build trust.
Understand the client's needs, decision-making process, and past challenges to offer real value.
Sometimes the best way to help is by referring the client to someone more qualified.
Building trust is the true currency in client relationships.
Every action and statement either builds or loses trust with the client.
Interrupting the client or assuming their needs before they fully express them breaks trust.
Being perceived as trustworthy leads to clients paying more, offering loyalty, and giving creative freedom.
Traditional high-pressure sales tactics, as depicted in media like 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' are outdated.
Creative professionals need a different approach that focuses on building trust rather than leveraging pressure.
When trust is built, clients are less likely to consult other providers and more likely to rely on your expertise.
Helping clients genuinely and focusing on their needs leads to long-term success in creative fields.
Transcripts
what you'll find out is the harder you
try to sell the fewer clients you get
[Music]
so there's a couple of things here you
need to sell you need to be able to pay
for
the place that you live and the roof
over your head for
food that you put onto the table and
survival is your first instinct and you
must do that
i'm not talking about that just yet but
let me ask you a couple of questions one
is if you look at every person as a
prospect
somebody to sell services to because
you're so needy of money
how do you think they feel what do you
think the impression is when you create
so i find that people who who try to
sell who try to close who
have a very clear agenda that they're
not really trying to help me
i get uh it's it's it pushes me away
it makes me fearful it makes me to lose
trust
in this person and if that's what
happens what
what you'll find out is the harder you
try to sell the fewer clients you get
so it's counterintuitive okay now
i want everybody who's listening to this
who's in a position where
your survival depends on your ability to
sell i want you to rethink the word sell
i just want you to change that word it's
four letters let's just
erase that word in your mind and just
help
so transform cell to help like i want to
help you
and i genuinely and with full enthusiasm
believe
that where you have a challenge i can
actually provide service
so but i want to understand what your
needs are i want to understand how you
make decisions i want to understand
what has prevented you from having
success up into this point
and if i can truly help you i will and
sometimes helping you is to say i'm not
qualified for this
sometimes being helpful to is to refer
someone else
or to say like you know what uh this uh
is you're you're going to overpay for
this i will charge you this amount
but you're gonna overpay me to do this
if you want you should call somebody
else for a lot less money
what happens then is what you do is you
build you build trust
and trust is really the currency that
we're working within right so
you have to ask yourself this question
everything you say
and more importantly everything you do
either loses or gains
trust in the other person's eyes
so ask yourself the next time you have a
call with a client
how many how deep is the bucket of trust
that you're building
versus the bucket of losing trust so
when the client says something and you
cut them off
when the client has even fully clearly
articulated their problem
and you already say i know the answer
like how is that possible you could know
the answer i'm still working through it
in my mind
how do you know i even need this so
these are all assumptions that are
really selfish and self-motivated versus
trying to help the other person
the most wonderful thing happens if you
help the other person
if you in their eyes are perceived as
somebody who's worthy of being trusted
they will not only pay you more money
they'll stop talking to other
people and they'll give you more
creative latitude than you've ever had
in your life
so it's counterintuitive and the reason
why is i think is because in popular
culture and media
we have too many bad examples of what it
means to sell somebody something
we have the wolf of wall street we have
con men con women con people
who run around saying that's the alpha
prototype
is sell sell sell high pressure
aggressive and
to me it's an old way of selling i think
it works in some areas
when the seller has a lot of leverage
but in most cases for creative people
it's really ineffective hi my name is
greg gunn and i'm the producer of the
future podcast
and yes we do have a podcast in fact
we've been having one for years and
that's exactly why i'm here talking with
you
you see it's really good and i think you
should listen to it
if you like what we do here on youtube
then you're gonna love what we do on the
podcast
you'll get to hear intimate
conversations and personal stories
from some familiar faces and others you
might not know about yet
plus you can listen to it while doing
something else and you won't miss a
thing
so if any of that sounds interesting to
you go visit thefuture.com
podcast or find it on your favorite
podcast listening app
i hope to see you there
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