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 being in some way, shape, or form, 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 getting people recruited into the drama club with me so that I did not get the tree role, but the lead in the play and bossing everyone else around.

Getting the Sale Is a Form of Leadership

So as long as I can remember, I have been this person who is really, really excited about sales and marketing. I believe that for people who love sales and marketing, it’s truly just a method of leadership.

It’s a method of leading people into 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, like, 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.

What’s the Thing You’ve Wanted to Do?

Listen, the point of the story is that when you believe in something and when you can speak to that something with:

• Excitement
• Leadership
• Authority

You will have other people interested in what it is that you are selling. And I want you to understand when you consider your friends or people that you speak to about stuff, you’re always selling all the time.

• Have you watched this TV show?
• This book was absolutely incredible.
• This is my favorite nail polish because it doesn’t chip.

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

I believe there are 6 things that kill a sale. We don’t want those 6 things. We want you to be able to:

• Make Money
• Have Impact
• Have Income
• Get People the Result That They Need

So today, we’re going to do a deep dive into this exact topic, the sale. Let’s go.

Testimonial

“Hey, Stef. It’s Lesley McShane from the Redesigning Midlife podcast. I was in your August 2022 cohort and I just had to leave a message and give you some results that I’ve had since I was in the class last year. When I entered the class, I had 11,000 downloads after about a year and a half of doing the show. I was happy to be over 10K, but I was on the fence about whether I wanted to continue.

So, your podcast spoke to me, and I joined the August 2022 class, and my numbers started to rise. So I set a goal. I’m like, no way, I’m not going to be able to hit 25K by the end of the year. And on January 1st, I hit that number 25K. So I’m like, what’s my next goal? So my next goal was 100K by the end of this year, 2023.

Well, I hit that in July. I was so excited. Then I’m kind of like, is it possible to be able to hit a true 100K downloads by the one-year anniversary of my taking your class?

I did and exceeded that. And it’s all because of everything I learned in your class: the SEO, the story mapping, the how-to name podcasts. You helped me, rename my podcasts and niche down, just all the things. So I just wanted to say Thank you.”

Praise Hands for You

Leslie, I am so over the moon for you. I mean, 10K in and of itself is a huge testament to staying the course, being disciplined and consistent in your podcast. But to then set a goal of 100K by the end of the year and to hit it only 6 months later, woo, girl!

I’m so excited. And to speak to what Leslie is talking about, my class is Podcast to Profit. It’s a 6-month group coaching program for those of you who have started your show and you’re ready to really elevate that podcast. You have to have something in order to optimize it. Once your podcast is launched, you can go get done in Podcast Pro University.

You’re going to then come into my 6-month group mastermind program, which is what Leslie graduated from over a year ago, and it’s going to teach you how to:

• Build Podcast SEO
• Get Seen and Found
• Organically Grow an Audience From Behind a Microphone
• Scale and Get Downloads

Downloads equal earbuds, folks. Like people listening to you, loving you, learning with you, and being inspired and growing with the incredible message and methods that you teach.

Ultimately, It’s How You Make the Sale and Money

Because when you have an audience who deeply knows, likes, and trusts you, they want to buy, work with you, and knock on your inbox looking for the things that you offer.

This is something I teach in Podcast to Profit. How to build your coaching offer and how to build your course. All the things that support that from your messaging, your marketing, your sales page, and your checkout page.

It doesn’t matter if you come in with absolutely none of that. We’re going to build it. It doesn’t matter if you already have all of those things. We’re going to optimize them together. You have coaching with me and my team. It’s absolutely incredible. You can go and apply right now at Podcast to Profit Mastermind. Let’s do this thing!

The Word Sale Doesn’t Have to Be Sleazy

We are here to talk about one of my favorite things, and that is sales. I love talking about sales and marketing, like I mentioned, in the introduction. Because I believe that sales are not natural for most people. I think that selling something immediately gives us a taste in our mouths or a memory of something traumatic we were exposed to.

Maybe you think of a sleazy car salesman, who is like so rude. Some car salesmen and car sales ladies are so amazing, okay? But you know what I mean. Like, pushy in-your-face marketing. I was part of network marketing for a long time, and I was taught one-to-one marketing, which was very pushy and in your face and, just ick! You know?

And so when we associate the word sales with what we believe to be true or our experience with sales, we can immediately shut down and be unavailable to that.

Put Your CEO Hat on and Embrace the Word Sale

But the truth is if you are going to become the CEO of an online business, which if you’re listening to me, that’s what I’m teaching you to do. I hope you’re here for it. And I hope you’re ready to rise to the occasion of absolute excellence in what is possible for you in God’s plan over your life in the purpose work that He has for you.

But we’ve got to do some work to actually bring that to fruition. And part of that work is putting on your CEO hat and doing hard things, including sales. Nobody gets to sit here and build an incredibly successful business without becoming good, and then great, and then excellent at sales.

So lucky for you, I am here to work with you. I’m excited about it. I think that sales are the most fun thing ever. I love them, and I’m here to teach you all the things I know about sales inside of my program, Podcast to Profit.

We spend a couple of months literally on sales because:

• You have to know how to convert your podcast audience into a buyer.
• You need to understand what should be said.
• You need to understand buyer psychology.
• You need to know where the copy messaging and marketing comes from and how to deliver it.
• You need to fix your leaky sales funnel because I guarantee you have something that is broken in your funnel that we need to fix.

There are all these different things that go into making your business highly profitable and highly successful. But let’s start with the sale today. I’m going to give you 6 things that could right now be killing your sales. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

The Number 1 Thing That Can Kill a Sale Is Desperation

Thing number 1 is desperation. So I remember when it was, like, 2016. I had no money. My network marketing business had crumbled.

• I was 60 pounds overweight.
• I had a newborn.
• I was having an identity crisis.
• I was trying to turn my life back to God.
• I was trying to figure myself out.

And on top of everything, the money was gone! Which 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.

• I tried to sell the last lingering bit of my MLM inventory.
• I tried to sell this book about something I can’t even remember.
• I tried to sell this 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 after sale after sale.

Don’t Try to Make a Sale This Way

And I believe that it’s because we’ve got the internet. We’ve got the socials. We are very well versed in how people try to get us to buy things now. And the second we smell desperation, the second we smell inauthenticity, we‘re out. And that desperation, it’s got a real strong stench. I think you can smell it from a mile away. It’s, you know:

• You Need This
• You Should Do This Right Now
• You’ve Got to Buy This Because

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 style of selling. 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 got a way for you. He has got the provision and the favor, and He also has whatever situation you are sitting in.

And it’s really going to take that surrender and that relinquishing to allow Him to help you through this desperation because I remember how hard that was.

I cover this in Episode 656 of my podcast. If you want to go listen and get a little help in that area because we have to we have to curb the desperation so that it‘s not coming through in the sale.

The Number 2 Thing That Can Kill a Sale Is Confusion

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 kind of have been really helping you with some purpose 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.

• First of all, what was I even talking about?
• Second, what would I actually be coaching you on?
• Third, I had you go to some weird link, elusively, somewhere in my bio. What does that mean?
• Fourth, you had to work so hard to even understand what I said. 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 about getting clear on how to utilize macros so that you can grow your muscle mass. Listen, if you are having trouble with what you actually should be eating and how you should be setting up your macro app, I want to get together 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. And again, this is inside my program, Podcast to Profit. Actually, I have 9 methods of how we market and sell. 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.

Number 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!

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

The first thing people are going to do to see if you are legit is go look at your brand.

• They’re going to go see what your podcast looks and sounds like.
• How is it set up?
• Do you have a homepage?

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

The 4th Thing That Kills a Sale Is Being Timid

Okay, the 4th 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 mean, for me, I really enjoyed going through these daily mindset focus cards with my homeschooling son. But you know, if that’s not for you, it’s okay. I feel like for him, it really helped. 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 zero things. You will make zero dollars when you can’t step into your confidence and have a confident headspace and heart space 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 right now to come and grab these. 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 go right now 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.

Number 5: Avoid Making Too Many Offers

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. The number 1, #ONE. 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?

The 6th Thing That Can Kill a Sale Is Low Energy

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. Not to sound New Age, but, like a lower vibration. You know what I mean, you’re chill and you’re peaceful. Some of my favorite podcasts are you guys. The ones that are like:

• You Bring It In
• You Speak Slowly
• You’re Well-Articulated
• You Bring This Essence of Peace About You

I absolutely love it! But when you’re selling, you have to amp up the energy. You have to amp it up. This is easier for those of you who are really a little bit more high-energy, but this 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 a skill you can 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.

Anyway, one time, this lady said, “All you ever say is, Woo Hoo!” I heard that, and I got so in my head about it that I stopped doing the calls. I would not coach them, lead them, 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 Have More Resources to Help You With Sales

So there you go, my friend. There are the, 6 Things That Kill a Sale. Go get them. I pray that this helps you, stretches you, and gives you all the tools that you need to really step into a place and posture of marketing and momentum.

There’s so much more where that came from. You can go right now and listen to:

• EP 648 | 5 Things I Did to Pass 100 Sales Per Month (And How You Can, Too!)
• EP 623 | Why My Simple Sales Model Makes MONEY
• EP 502 | Want to Make More Money? 3-Step Simple Sales Plan

And of course, hop on over to Podcast to Profit where I will actively help you to grow in this area. Lastly, come watch my Free Workshop where I’ll teach you how to grow your online business in less than 2 hours a week using podcasting. Watch right now at this link.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCAST

---

Before you go, be sure to watch the free workshop!

This free workshop is for you if you want to grow an online business in less time.

It will teach you how to explode your audience without the social media hustle, make consistent sales using a podcast, and plan, record, and launch a podcast with ease!

---

RELATED EPISODES:

LIVE COACHING! How to Calculate and Improve Your Sales Conversion Rate!

Don’t Miss These 4 CRITICAL Components of Great Email Marketing

3 SEO + Podcast Keyword Brainstorming Tools to Use for Fresh Content Ideas!

The Evolution of Leadership. Leading with Humility & Openness.

---

---

Join our Facebook Community!

Online Business for Christian Women with Stefanie Gass