Closing the Sale – In Just 7 Minutes with Nikki Rausch

 Learn how to have that confidence in a sales conversation and move the process forward, and closing it Find out how to get rid of internal dialogue to help you establish a foundational rapport, so you do business with them and not to them. Discover the five-step selling process that creates curiosity so you resonate well with your ideal clients Resources/Links: Download your FREE eBook ‘Closing the Sale’. Click here: https://yoursalesmaven.com/invisible Summary Do you not have the confidence to show up and fumble words in your sales conversation? Do you have that negative internal dialogue that prevents you from creating genuine rapport with a prospective client? Have you thought of leading the sales conversation with curiosity, so you take everything further and earn somebody’s business to work with them? CEO of Sales Maven, Nikki Rausch, has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of selling. With 25+ years of selling experience, entrepreneurs and small business owners now hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically. Nikki has written 3 books, all available on Amazon. And she has a podcast called Sales Maven, which you can find on your favorite podcast platform. In this episode, Nikki shares how to sell and close sales authentically and approach it by leading with curiosity, treating clients with kindness and not with manipulation and trickery. Check out these episode highlights: 01:39 – Nikki’s ideal client: My ideal client, traditionally, is a woman business owner making between five and seven figures in their business, and they still don’t feel totally comfortable with the sales conversation. They struggle with what to say and how to say it. 01:57 – The problem she helps solve for her clients: A lot of times, it’s around confidence. They’re not sure, like, what’s okay to say? How do you say it in a way that lands really softly that lets the other person at ease and moves the process forward? 02:52 – Symptoms of her client’s problem: I think a lot of it has to do with that judgment piece, like, ‘Oh, this person’s judging me.’ What if they think, ‘Oh, I’m too aggressive?’ Or, ‘what if they think I’m just going to be a pushover?’ ‘What if they want to take advantage of me?’ So, a lot of it has to do with judgment; people are so worried, like, ‘What are they going to think about me?’ ‘Am I going to ruin the relationship?’ 04:22 – Mistakes her clients make before they see her: I think some of the mistakes they make is that selling has to be aggressive. And we’ve all been on the receiving end of somebody who’s been really pushy and aggressive. And because that’s so uncomfortable, they shy away from it. They don’t do any business development. They have all these people around them that they think, ‘Gosh, I could really help this person, but I don’t even know how to broach the conversation.’ ‘I don’t even know how to open it.’ 05:35 – Nikki’s one Valuable Free Action (VFA): I talked about curiosity; a lot of it has to do with the way you answer questions. Here’s a really simple example. If somebody says to you, ‘Hey, have you been?’ And you go, I’ve been fine. Well, that doesn’t create any curiosity. But if you can say something that opens the door for them to want to know more, instead of like, ‘Oh, I’ve been fine.’ What if you said, ‘Oh my gosh, you’ve been great. The podcast is growing every single week. It’s been really exciting.’ That allows the other person to go, ‘Oh, you have a podcast?’ ‘What’s it about?’ Now, I get to talk about my podcast. 06:45 – Nikki’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Download your FREE eBook called Closing the Sale. Click here: https://yoursalesmaven.com/invisible 07:03 – Q: Why you should never be afraid to say to somebody: What would it take to earn your business? A: Most people don’t think that your job is to earn somebody’s business, and you earn their business by asking for it. Most people won’t decide to hire you unless you give a really specific asset. So, never be afraid to say to somebody, what would it take to earn your business? Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “You have to have a rapport with somebody to earn their business. And I always say, sales is something that you learn to do with somebody, not to somebody.” -Nikki RauschClick To TweetTranscript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Nikki Rausch. Nikki, a very good day from Down Under. Whereabouts are you hanging out? Nikki Rausch 0:25 I am hanging out in the US. I’m in Idaho. I’m actually in Boise, Idaho. Tom Poland 0:31 Boise, Idaho. Yeah, I haven’t been there. But yeah, I heard only good things about Boise. It is. I’ve heard that. Folks, now you know where Nikki lives; you need to know what she does. She’s the CEO of Sales Maven. She has an absolutely unique ability to transform what is really a very misunderstood process of selling. Going to hear more about that in a moment. She’s got more than 25 years of experience selling, and working with entrepreneurs and small business owners. A lot of folks like that hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully. And here’s the kicker, but authentically. And a lot of people get themselves all messed up in their brain thinking they have to have some sort of slick, bend themselves out of shape sales process. But Nikki is going to share with you how to do it, so you feel like it’s really authentic. She’s written three books, all of them are available on Amazon, worth checking out; the title today is Closing the Sale. Nikki, our seven minute start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Nikki Rausch 1:39 My ideal client, traditionally, is a woman business owner making between five and seven figures in their business, and they still don’t feel totally comfortable with the sales conversation. They struggle with what to say and how to say it. That’s my ideal client. I can help them. Perfect. Tom Poland 1:53 Perfect. So, question two, what’s the problem you solve for them? Nikki Rausch 1:57 A lot of times, it’s around confidence. They’re not sure, like, what’s okay to say? How do you say it in a way that lands really softly that lets the other person at ease and moves the process forward? So, it’s all about being strategic in your conversation and being kind and putting the relationship first. So, teaching them those skills boosts their confidence, and suddenly they go, ‘Gosh, what I thought was hard about sales, now is easy.’ Tom Poland 2:24 Yeah, I’ve been in sales marketing for more than 40 years. I’ve never ever heard anyone use the word kind in that context. That, I think, is remarkable in itself. Let’s talk about…question number three is the symptoms. And we’ve got more than five and a half minutes left, plenty of time. What’s going on in the mind, or the sales meetings of your ideal clients before they find your solution? What’s happening with someone who goes, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s me. That’s what’s happening with me.’ Nikki Rausch 2:52 I think a lot of it has to do with that judgment piece, like, ‘Oh, this person’s judging me.’ ‘What if they think, Oh, I’m too aggressive?” Or What if they think I’m just going to be a pushover?’ ‘What if they want to take advantage of me?’ So, a lot of it has to do with judgment; people are so worried, like, ‘What are they going to think about me?’ ‘Am I going to ruin the relationship?’ So, that is what we got to get rid of, all of that negative internal dialogue. And when you can show up, you put the relationship first; you put the person first. I teach everything based on the foundation of rapport first. You have to have a rapport with somebody to earn their business. And I always say sales is something that you learn to do with somebody, not to somebody, and when you start to make that shift in your mind, like, ‘Oh, sales is something I’m doing with somebody, now it feels good.’ Tom Poland 3:41 So, does that make it feel more like a collaboration than a confrontation? Nikki Rausch 3:46 Yeah. If you think, you know, sales is about manipulating people. Well, yeah, of course, you’re not going to want to do that. That feels gross, right? And when you start going, ‘Hey, this is a conversation, and I’m just here to show up to be of service, find out does the person has a problem, a want, or a need? And do I have a solution for it? If so, great. And if not, I’m just going to bless and release the person and wish them well. Tom Poland 4:10 Listen, release. Good phrase, guys. Okay, thank you for that. Question four, and we got four minutes left; we’re on track. What would you say are some of the common mistakes that your ideal clients have made before they find your solution? Nikki Rausch 4:22 I think some of the mistakes that they make is they think that selling has to be aggressive. And we’ve all been on, you know, the receiving end of somebody who’s been really pushy and aggressive. And becau...