What stops business professionals from acquiring new clients?

When business professionals don’t have the ability to bring in new clients, they have to rely on others to cultivate leads. While this model can be effective, it is obviously in your best interest to be skilled at bringing in new business on your own.

The Problem:

But the path to successful selling is blocked for many by one primary obstacle: the fear of humiliation. It is based on the misconception that selling requires that you be pushy or manipulative, and by doing so, you’re faced with the humiliation of being flatly rejected. This thought process is based on our own experiences and reactions to pushy and manipulative salespeople trying to sell us things. It reinforces our own discomfort of being rejected. Faced with the apparent obligation to engage in distasteful, aggressive sales behavior, it’s hard to imagine even giving it a try. The good news is there is a way of eliminating these undesirable sales outcomes and thus avoid the risk of uncomfortable rejection.

The Solution:

[wcm_restrict]The key to overcoming the fear of humiliation is to sell by being a “person of value.” That means every interaction you have with prospects is a beneficial experience for them. Keep offering value (i.e., connect them with others who could help solve a business issue, support their nonprofit endeavors, provide advice in your area of expertise at no cost) until your prospect sees the wisdom of hiring you. No high-pressure sales tactics, no constant hounding. Since prospects don’t feel compelled to duck for cover every time they see you coming, there is no moment when you feel rejection.

When every interaction is valuable, no one feels pushed or manipulated. When you are seen as a person of value, your prospects will welcome hearing from you. And, when you are confident about your ability to provide value without expectations, you will feel good about your outreach and be excited about connecting with others.

As you continue to offer value, you will find that your ability to identify more and better ways to be valuable increases. Your “selling” efforts will be constantly reenergized. Eventually, these interactions will result in new business. This strategy, of course, takes time but the quality of these connections will lead to stronger, longer lasting relationships than those created using the “pushy” approach.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Larry Kohn has been helping professionals with their business development since 1983. He has conducted over 33,000 coaching consultations with professionals in real estate, law, accounting, financial planning, architecture, engineering, consulting and a myriad of other professions. He has coached professionals in over 1,000 firms – all designed to make their marketing efforts more targeted, successful and enjoyable. He is the developer of the newly release BizDevCoach web app, www.bizdevcoach.com. Reach him at larry@kohncommunications.com.