Selling without a Pitch

Can you sell without a pitch? I believe you can. I sell by doing good work, sharing value, and being kind. Not traditional sales techniques, but that's how I've built a loyal client base. -- Please leave a review and subscribe so you never miss an episode! Connect with me through your favorite platform: https://pods.link/aardvarkgirl -- In my opinion, selling is one of the necessary evils of running a business. Whether you’re pushing a product, a service, or both, you have to let people know you’re out there if you want them to buy. But many of us don’t like it, aren’t comfortable with it, or just aren’t interested in being salespeople. Is it possible to sell without a pitch? I believe it is. The stereotypical idea of sales involves the car salesman approach where someone is aggressively trying to convince you that you need that thing right now and if you walk away you’re ruining your life. It’s the barrage of LinkedIn requests where as soon as you accept, before any real engagement has occurred, the person sends you a message asking, or sometimes telling, you about how they can help you. Or in the current day where it seems everyone is a coach and has taken the same courses about how to sell, it’s the person who offers a free webinar where you join, listen to them talk for 30 minutes without really saying much, and at the end they offer their secrets if you buy their course or join their group – which, of course, is usually thousands of dollars but if you sign up today you can get it at a massive discount. And, even if you don’t, you’re going to get bombarded with emails and last chance offers until you have no choice but to mark as spam and wonder how you got bamboozled again, thinking you might get some helpful tips for free. It makes me cringe. Look. I get it. These are all proven sales techniques that have worked for a lot of people. I’m not negating that. It’s just not my style. It works for plenty of people, and I know that’s why so many people are taught certain things. Don’t let them go until they’ve bought something or committed to a time. Yep, sound advice. But I know that sometimes people need to take their time to think over a decision, and I want to give them the space to do that. I’d rather get a thoughtful yes than a regretful one, where someone ends up with buyer’s remorse and feeling like they were pressured into it. I’d even rather have a no than a yes that makes me look like a bully. I was talking to my good friend Eric about this the other day. He’s been in sales for most of his career, so I consider him to be an expert at the topic. It came up in the context of people who do the bare minimum but still expect to be recognized, praised and promoted. You know the type. They don’t want to do the work, but they want the rewards. And that kind of behavior reflects in how they are with people in general, not just in business. For me, it goes back to something as simple as the Golden Rule. Treat people how you want to be treated. It’s not that complicated. If someone reaches out to me about a job and I’m not available, or not interested, I’ll let them know right away and, if I can, recommend someone else they can ask. This accomplishes a few things. First, it leaves them with a positive impression of me. Secondly, it helps them in the next step. Hopefully my referral is available. I know how difficult it can be to find the right fit for the types of projects I usually do, especially when you’re working with someone new. A referral is always better than a cold call. Third, if someone I know and like gets the job, that helps someone else. So a simple, kind response just helped at least 3 people. I’ll also let them know they can reach out to me if they need any additional resources or if I can be helpful in any way. Again, that connects me with a good experience. Maybe the current job isn’t right for me, but maybe the next one will be, and chances are they’ll reach out again because of how I handled that