Overcoming the Fear of Selling

You don't have to be a salesperson to build selling skills.

Nor do you have to be an extrovert.

However, selling is a powerful activity and skill that virtually anyone can benefit from.

You need to sell when you ask for donations, when you want funding, when you're trying to find clients, or even when you want a promotion.

And at some level, you know this. What does hold you back is the fear of selling. And that's what we'll address here - how to overcome your fear of selling and take risks to ask for what you want.

Selling isn't just about asking people to pay or give you money in exchange for your offering; it can be a type of negotiation or barter to improve your life in general. The skills you learn to sell can be applied in other areas and in powerful ways. For example, by starting a business or selling digital products, too.

Now, let's look at how you can overcome your fear of selling without forcing yourself to be extroverted or pitching something you don't believe in.

What creates the fear of selling?

For most people, the thought of selling is uncomfortable.

You might have the image of persistent salespeople who use social situations to make you buy something and make you uncomfortable.

Or you might remember the famous 'Sell me this pen' from the movie Wolf of Wall Street.

If you associate these uncomfortable and negative representations with selling, you'd be understandably uncomfortable.

Let's look at some fear-based experiences one might face while selling:

• A lack of personal insecurity: feeling like you have to be 'good' at sales.

• Worrying that you're inconveniencing the other person.

• Fear of embarrassment.

• Discomfort at interacting with a stranger.

• Not having faith in your own offering, business, or something else.

• Lack of experience speaking and remembering your pitch.

And so on. The point is to realize that a fear of selling doesn't manifest as a single emotion or experience. It can be complex and consist of multiple issues.

When you break down the fear of selling, you'll likely find that many of your fears or blocks can be easily overcome.

Now, let's look at the practical steps you can follow to start selling with confidence and ease.

1. Learn more about the people you sell to

Selling something becomes easier when you know the person you're selling to.

Not only can you personalize your messages, but you can also feel more comfortable as you'll know about your buyer's needs and requirements.

You'll also feel good about selling since you're actually helping someone with what they need as opposed to pushing something they don't care about.

You can learn more about someone by looking up their interests and their role at work or by spending time getting to know them. The effort you put in will be rewarded with your buyer or lead feeling more receptive and open to hearing your sales pitch.

2. Believe in what you want to sell

No matter what your goal is or where you work, you can find something positive and valuable about what you want to sell.

Even a generic product or service can help others in some way. Look for something useful, positive, and meaningful in whatever you want to offer someone else.

For example, if you want to offer freelance services to a business, focus on the fact that many businesses need good freelance work. Such an offering helps them as they don't need to invest in full-time employment or tools to support such work. They could save money and grow through your services.

When you come from this mind frame, it changes how you feel about selling. Instead of feeling like you're trying to make someone hire you or buy from you, you'd feel like a professional letting someone know that you can help them.

3. Don't start by selling

Another reason why you may have a fear of selling is because it seems pushy. And sales does have a reputation for being aggressive because, traditionally, sales has been about getting people to buy as opposed to helping them with some need.

You can feel more comfortable selling when you contact your potential buyer or lead a few times before actually selling to them.

This could be through liking and commenting on their LinkedIn posts or by sending a few emails to share information. Or, if you have mutual connections, you could ask for an introduction. Personal referrals act as a bridge between strangers. Online testimonials increase conversion rates by 34%; likewise, having a mutual connection refer you will help you become familiar with your lead so they are more open to subsequent conversations.

It takes several touchpoints before a person buys from you, so persistence is key.

You want to start by just being friendly and offering information at first. Once your client has gotten a little familiar with you, you'll find it easier to communciate with them and have a future conversation with them where you sell something.

4. Sell without expectations

Selling becomes difficult and uncomfortable when you put pressure on yourself to achieve specific outcomes.

It doesn't help that sales exist with one intention - to get the buyer to pay up.

Today, however, there exists a new paradigm in selling. And it's okay to build a relationship with customers without getting a sale. Or to gracefully accept that this particular sale won't work.

What is important is for you to trust the process. If you've learned about your customers, believe in your product or service, and offer value to people, you will be certain to sell to people.

And when you let go of the outcome, you'll act and speak with confidence. This alone will make a dramatic difference in how people respond to any sales pitch you make.

Without the pressure, the discomfort of saying no, or having an obvious and explicit vested interest, you can have more real conversations rather than talking at people.

And soon enough, when you're talking to the right people and actually helping them, sales will happen on their own.

Over to you

The fear of sales is complex and can be broken down into multiple layers of issues and beliefs.

In the end, sales is a skill like any other, and you need to practice it often to become good at it.

Not to mention, it is a rewarding activity, and you stand to grow, make more money, and have interesting life experiences when you're willing to sell.

I hope this post has helped you look at sales differently and see how you can apply sales techniques in your own life.

So, work towards overcoming your own fear of selling and make changes to your life and your customers' lives, too.