6 Things That Kill a Sale & How to Overcome Them

Hey Friend!

I’m so pumped to talk to you guys today about the sale. This is one of my favorite topics. I’m obsessed with sales and marketing. I absolutely love sales. And I believe, let’s see, I have 13 years of experience in sales. Actually, if I go all the way back, my very first job was at a retail store, where I already started my training in sales and marketing.

If I go all the way back to when I was a kid, I was definitely that bossy little seven-year-old who got people recruited into the drama club with me so that I did not get the tree role but the lead in the play and bossed everyone else around.

For people who love sales and marketing, it’s truly just a method of leadership. It’s a method of leading people to something you actively believe in.

I remember when the keto diet was all the rage, and I thought it was like the holy grail. I had lost, I don’t know, 15 pounds or something on keto, and I got every single person in my family on the keto diet because I absolutely swore by it.

I’m no longer on keto. My friends ask, “Are you still doing keto?” I’m like, “No, now I just eat clean and workout.” And they’re like, “What the heck? You got us on keto.” Anyway, no shade to my keto peeps.

Listen, the point of the story is that when you believe in something and can speak to that something with excitement, leadership, and authority, other people will be interested in what you’re selling.

We are constantly marketing the things that we love, but when we get into the posture of selling something that is ours, like our coaching offer, podcast, or course, we experience a weird mindset shift, and we get all kinds of weird.

So today, we’re going to do a deep dive into this exact topic: the sale. I’m going to give you six things that could right now be killing your sales. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

1 – Desperation Will Kill A Sale

I’ll never forget 2016. My network marketing business had crumbled. I was trying to figure myself out and turn my life back to God. I was having an identity crisis, and when I looked at my life, all I saw were the bad things.

And on top of everything, the money was gone! This was also how I had defined worthiness for literally my entire life, so you can imagine the headspace that I was in. It took me to this place of desperation. I had the hardest time selling anything that year. I tried to sell everything.

• The last lingering bit of my MLM inventory.
• A book about something I can’t even remember.
• A little mini-course.
• I even tried to create Amazon merch t-shirts.

This was not a drill, folks. I was absolutely desperate for any kind of money. And that desperation just continued to kill sale after sale after sale.

Why does desperation kill sales? Inauthenticity. The second we smell desperation, the second we smell inauthenticity, we‘re out. Desperation has a really strong stench, and I think you can smell it from a mile away.

It’s an icky urgency. I love urgency, absolutely love urgency. If you guys were in my boot camp, you heard me market with urgency, but it was an invitation. It was not a creepy, pushy, sleazy, weirdo-selling style. Desperation is immediately going to kill your sale.

If you are in a place of desperation, I need you to sit tight and get with God because He has a way for you. He has the provision and the favor, and He also has whatever situation you are in.

It’s going to take surrender and relinquishing to allow Him to help you through this desperation, and I remember how hard that was.

2 – Confusion Will Kill A Sale

The second thing that kills a sale is confusion. Are you confused about what your podcast is about? Are you confused about what you’re actually marketing to people?

Here’s an example of confusion.

Hey, friends. So, you know, we’ve been working on your identity in Christ and your mindset. And we have been really helping you with some purposeful work and figuring out how to live your absolute best life. So, if you want to work with me to just drill into whatever makes you feel the best, you’re going to have a really incredible life that’s going to be centered around God. You can just head right over to my email address, which is linked in the bio, and then we can pop on together, and I will give you coaching.

Are you confused? I just confused myself.

• What was I even talking about?
• What would I actually be coaching you on?
• I had you go to some weird link, elusively, somewhere in my bio. What does that mean?
• You had to work so hard to understand what I said, and now you’re completely distracted.

Your two-year-old needs you, your son has soccer practice, and you’re clicking around on Instagram. So, as you can see, confusion will immediately kill your sales.

Try This Approach Instead to Avoid Confusion

Here’s an example of absolutely zero confusion. Are you ready?

Hey, friend. I know that we’ve been working on this podcast with you to clarify how to utilize macros to grow your muscle mass. Listen, if you are having trouble with what you should be eating and how to set up your macro app, I want to meet with you and do a custom macro planning session.

In 1 hour, you’ll walk away with a week’s worth of food that’s going to help you generate actual muscle mass and a step-by-step tutorial on how to utilize your new macro app so that you can track every single micronutrient, and we can actually get those gains going. Head to macroplancoaching.com and book your call now.

Are you confused? You’re not confused. You’re like:

• I know what she teaches.
• I know how she’s going to fix my problem.
• I know why I would pay her for this call.
• I know what I’m going to walk away with.

I’m so here for that! So here’s an example for you guys. Again, this is inside my program, Podcast to Profit. 

Actually, I have nine methods of marketing and selling. You’ll get the templates. So, if you love the way that I market and sell, you can utilize my over 13 years of sales experience and plug them into your own business. It’s a breath of fresh air.

3 – Bad Branding Will Kill a Sale

Okay, the third thing that kills a sale is bad branding. This is so hard for me because I remember not having the money to invest in a website creator or even have my own podcast art professionally done. I did everything myself. And friends did it show!

The first thing people will do to determine whether you are legit is to look at your brand.

Here’s what happened to me. I’m good at sales, right? So people would come, be interested, and inbox me. I would send them to my website, and I would never hear from them again. Why? My website killed the sale.

The fact was my brand was confusing, distracting, and did not look professionally done. My podcast art was obviously homemade. If you’re going to choose to invest your hard-earned money with someone, you want to know that they are legit.

I teach you guys how to build a homepage in Podcast to Profit and give you a really affordable template option so that you can get that done quickly, easily, and super affordably. You do need to have some things that show you are qualified, some social proof, and it needs to be professional.

Your Brand Needs to Look Professional

If you cannot invest in any professional-looking branding, don’t have it at all. Don’t start a website if it can’t look professional. If you can’t get the podcast art to look professional, or you can’t invest the $20 to $70 to get art made, you’re going to hinder your sales.

Your brand does need to look professional. Some of you can do that yourself because you are gifted in that. And some of you, myself included, are not. I am not a graphic designer. I had a brand that was red and orange. Why did I do that? Because someone said, “Wow, I love your ketchup and mustard brand.”

You know what I’m saying? So bad branding will kill your sales. This is not to minimize those of you who have taken really audacious, incredible action. And you’ve thrown something out there. Take a step back and ask yourself if that could hurt you.

4 – Being Timid Will Kill a Sale

Okay, the fourth thing that kills a sale is being timid. Here’s an example of timid.

Are you looking for a way to help your homeschooling kiddo focus better? I really enjoyed going through these daily mindset focus cards with my son. But you know, if that’s not for you, it’s okay. I feel like it really helped him. And just in case you’re interested or curious, you know, those might be something to look into.

Okay, let’s talk about the topic. Did you notice what happened there?

• I got on meek.
• I got mild.
• I shied away from the actual sale.
• I didn’t give them an authoritative direction to take.
• I didn’t give them a link.
• I was timid.

Being timid sells absolutely nothing. You will make zero dollars when you can’t step into your confidence and have the headspace and heartspace to market with authority. You have to market with authority, okay?

The Difference Could Look Something Like This.

Friend, is your homeschooling kiddo completely distracted? Are they complaining 24/7? Oh, another computer lesson? I just want to play outside, Wah-Wah!

Listen, Mom, we’ve got these incredible mindset focus cards and focus exercises to redirect your homeschooling kiddo. I want you to come and grab these right now. Do not waste another day in your homeschool with a distracted child.

I want your kiddo to be laser-focused and lean into you as a teacher and as an incredible Mama who is right in the classroom leading them. So, right now, go to focusmindsetcards.com and grab them. I am so excited to help you uplevel your homeschooling kiddos’ focus.

You guys, I’m just riffing that from absolute air, okay? So love me. But my point is I had authority. I spoke from a place of knowing I related. So, don’t be timid. Get in there. Go all in.

5 – Making Too Many Offers Will Kill a Sale

The next thing that kills a sale is too many offers. So this looks like I’ve got a tiny offer. I can do this, I can do that, and I can coach you on that. Sure, I’m a lawyer. I can help you. I’ll come over and mail prep. What do you need?

This kind of starts a trend into desperation, but it’s also a trend into confusion. And this is why I teach my students to have ONE offer.

That’s one offer.

Listen to me: ONE offer!

Otherwise, no one does anything. They’re confused. You’re confused. No one is actually getting a result. So stop with the multitude of offers and get very laser-clear on what it is you want to help people do and how you can help them do that, okay?

6 – Low Energy Will Kill a Sale

The last thing that kills a sale is low energy. So some of you guys are reading this and thinking you are naturally lower energy. It is not to sound like New Age but like a lower vibration. You know what I mean: You’re chill and peaceful.

I absolutely love it! But when you’re selling, you have to amp up the energy. This is easier for those of you who are a little bit more high-energy, but it is hard for some people who aren’t that way.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You have to practice. Sales is, as with anything else, a skill you can learn and master, but it begins with starting. It begins with practicing.

• You Have to Refine
• You Have to Optimize
• You Have to Get Out of Your Head
• You Have to Be Willing to Fail

And then you have to be willing to look at the data and ask:

• What Worked?
• What Didn’t Work?
• What Can I Do Better?

You have to put your ego aside so that you can really learn what you need to optimize and what you need to do. One time, I hope that you guys don’t call me out forevermore. But when I was in my network marketing days, I would do these phone calls because that was before we really were utilizing Zoom. I would pump up the team, and I do all this stuff.

This lady once said, “All you ever say is, Woo Hoo!” I heard that, and I got so in my head about it that I stopped making calls. I would not coach, lead, or mentor them anymore. It was so negative, and I took it personally. I wanted to run and hide. It really hurt my feelings.

Not Everybody’s Going to Like You

If I could go back and talk to Stef in those days, there’s a lot I would say to her. But one of those things would be, “Look, not everybody is going to like you, and not everybody is going to like what you have to say.” So there’s that. But secondly, “Stef, you do say Woo Hoo too much, so stop it!”

I’d be willing, as old Stef, to receive that feedback and change my delivery so that I could be better. So I could be heard in a way that wasn’t so triggering to people by a small mannerism that might be annoying. So, make sure you:

• Amp up the Energy
• Be Willing and Excited to Learn
• Be Excited to Grow and to Get Better

In Podcast to Profit, you will learn how to pitch. You will learn how to articulate yourself and have confidence in your sales posture. Because that is critically important if you want to grow a successful business.

• You’re Not Going to Shy Away From It
• You’re Going to Lean Into the Growth
• You’re Going to Lean Into the Discomfort

The discomfort of doing something you’ve never done before because then you’re going to do it. It’s going to feel so much better and so much easier. I say this all the time. I’m going to say it again, “It’s only hard until it’s not. It’s only hard until it’s not.”

I pray this blesses you!

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