Episode 13: Discover Your ‘Selling Style’ to Book More Clients!

Discover Your ‘Selling Style’ to Book More Clients!

Have you wondered why sales can be so difficult? It may be that your ‘Selling Style’ isn’t meshing with that of the people you’re talking to. Yep, Selling Style is a thing, and we’re not talking about ‘sleazy’ or ‘not sleazy.’ Join Pamela as she unpacks the different selling styles, and how this can multiply your sales.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The primary selling styles and how you can discover YOUR style.
• How to shift your selling style, when you need to, to connect with an ideal client.
• The #1 mistake people make when trying to sell using the wrong style, and how to overcome that.

Timecode Guide:

03:15: Pamela defines the different Selling Styles and provides examples to help you work with each type.
09:28: How to shift your selling style when you need to, to connect with an ideal client.
17:18: Discover the #1 mistake that people make when trying to sell using the wrong style, and how to overcome it,

Podcast Transcription

Episode 13: Discover Your ‘Selling Style’ to Book More Clients!

What are the Different Selling Styles?

Intro (00:00):
You’re listening to ‘A Profitable Impact.’

Pamela (00:02):
Have you wondered why sales can be so difficult? It may just be that your selling style isn’t meshing with the selling style of the people you’re talking to.

Gene (00:12):
Welcome to ‘A Profitable Impact,’ where every single week we help experts like coaches, healers, course creators, and other online professionals to expand their reach, to increase their impact in the world, and to be well-paid for their extraordinary skills and talents. My name is Gene Monterastelli, and I am the lead coach in Pamela Bruner’s Impact Accelerator coaching program. And please welcome, my friend, my colleague, and the CEO of Attract Clients Online, Pamela Bruner. How are you doing today, Pamela?

Pamela (00:41):
I’m doing great, Gene. And we get to spend today talking about one of my favorite subjects, which is sales. But not just any kind of sales – authentic, heartfelt, and very effective sales.

Gene (00:52):
Absolutely. I love being in a circumstance where we are doing selling in a way that is really coming from who we are and making a difference in the world. As you listen to our conversation today, and you hear us talking about sales in this particular way, if you’re in a circumstance where you feel like you’re struggling to connect with your authentic voice when you are selling, we would love for you to have a conversation with one of our coaches to help you figure out how you can show up in a more authentic way in your sales conversations. If you’d like to sign up for one of those conversations, all you need to do is go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, that’s BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, and you can get an opportunity, absolutely free to have a conversation with one of our coaches about sales or wherever you’re struggling currently in your business.

Pamela (01:37):
Today we’re going to talk about selling style, which is actually a thing. And when I talk about selling style, I’m not saying, you know, the 1950s “and there’s more!” kind of cheesy, sleazy, pushy, crazy stuff. Instead, selling style is a particular way that you relate to purchasing. And getting your selling style down, and knowing what it is, and being able to read the selling style of the person you’re talking to can make an immense difference in your sales.

Gene (02:10):
And I think this is really important, Pamela, because we hear this all the time from our clients. This idea that sales is sleazy as if it is this tricky formula that I’m going to use and I’m going to say magic words, that’s going to make you work with me. And folks that are working from a place of authentic transformation don’t want to be tricking people. And so I think this conversation is so valuable because we recognize the fact that when we are having a conversation from an authentic place, we’re just offering something that we think is really valuable, and it’s not something that is quote unquote, “salesy,” that people get really caught up in.

Pamela (02:46):
So, let’s talk about the things that we’re going to cover today. First, I want to talk about the primary selling styles and how you can discover your particular style. And then I want to talk about how you shift your style when you to, to connect with an ideal client because an ideal client isn’t necessarily someone who’s got the same selling style as you. And then finally, the biggest mistake that people make when they’re trying to sell and they’re using the wrong style and how you can overcome that.

Gene (03:15):
And I think, Pamela, before we jump into this, using the term selling style is probably something people aren’t super used to. So, why don’t you kind of define that term for us as you give us some examples so it’s easier for us to engage with that particular idea.

Pamela (03:29):
Yeah, you bet. So, the interesting thing – and this might make the whole concept feel a little more, both comfortable and understandable – is that selling style is really buying style. Whatever your buying style or your purchasing style is, it’s going to inform the way that you sell. So, when you think about how you buy – and now I’m going to talk about it in terms of buying styles, I’m going to go through the various buying styles and these will probably make sense to you either because one of them will resonate or because you have friends or family members whose style is crystal clear to you.

Pamela (04:07):
The first buying style or selling style that I want to talk about that I see so often is the Bargain Hunter. This is the person who says something like, “I’ll never buy it if it isn’t on sale,” or, “Well, I would never spend more than $X for something like this.” Bargain Hunters are always looking for a good deal. They want to know they got some kind of discount or special price. They want to know they didn’t buy it at full price. And there are a lot of bargain hunters in the world. Now, just because somebody is a bargain Hunter in one area, doesn’t mean that they’re universally a Bargain Hunter – and this is where selling styles or buying styles become so interesting to me –because you might be a bargain Hunter for a particular type of product or service, and you might be a completely different buying type or selling type for a different kind of service. For example, Gene, you and I have talked about the fact that you are willing to spend a great deal of money on bespoke custom suits, but you are a Bargain Hunter when it comes to like casual leisure wear – what you’re wearing on your days off.

Gene (05:17):
Absolutely. 100%. Yeah. The context makes a big difference in what I’m purchasing and how I’m showing up in the world.

Pamela (05:24):
Right. Because, with most things, you’re not a Bargain Hunter, and then there are a few areas in which you are. Me too. You know, I like a good consignment shop as much as the next person, but when I’m looking for high-quality things, when I’m looking for transformation and somebody to help me transform my life or my business, I definitely do not want to fall into the category of bargain Hunter. But a lot of people do, and just naturally default to “everything must be a bargain for me.”

Pamela (05:51):
The second style or type I want to talk about (because it’s so common) is what I call the Researcher. So, the researcher is someone who wants to know every single variation and every detail about everything they buy – you can probably tell from the way that I’m describing it, that I am not a researcher. Researchers are the people who, when you’re in a sales conversation and saying, “So this is the benefit you would get from my transformational offer,” or “This is what can happen when we work together.” The Bargain Hunter will say something like, “So, were are those 45-minute calls or 50-minute calls?” And, “Are there three of them?” And, “Wait a minute, what’s that seventh bullet point?” And they really want to make sure that they’ve got all the information. The Researchers are also the people who will say, “Well, you know, I need to talk to 14 other people who offer the same service that you do before I make a decision.” And if you are a Researcher, you’re going to tend to perhaps over-give information when you’re talking to a potential buyer.

Pamela (06:53):
The next couple of styles are, I think, less common, but you’ll see them. People who make purchases and then regret them and second guess themselves – so, the Regretter and the Returner – are styles that I see a lot. I used to have a friend many years ago who returned 40 or 50% of everything that she bought to a store. And I never really understood it – it just didn’t resonate with me. So, if you’re talking to somebody who says, “Well, you know, I signed up for this and decided it wasn’t right,” and “I got a refund and then I dropped out of this program or this offering in the first few weeks,” that kind of person is either a Regretter or a Returner. Either they are constantly regretting the choices that they’ve made and looking for ways out, or they’re used to returning things and getting their money back, and with service-based offerings, that can be particularly difficult.

How To Communicate with All Selling Styles

Gene (07:48):
And what I think is really interesting as you’re talking about this, Pamela, and I can see kind of where you’re going, as we start to think about this in terms of our selling style, is that we as humans communicate in the way that we like to be communicated with. And, we think that because this is the way I like to communicate and this is the way I like to be communicated with, therefore, that’s the way I’m going to communicate. How easy it is for us if we fall into one of these categories to only be speaking the language of the type of person who buys the exact same way we do, which can create all sorts of problems for us in our sales.

Pamela (08:19):
Absolutely. I remember a friend of mine telling me that she went to buy a car. And when she went on the lot, she was very clear with the salesperson that she wasn’t looking for the lowest priced car there. She had a very specific list of what she wanted in a car. And the salesperson (probably because they were not attentive or because they were used to dealing with a lot of bargain hunters) kept saying, “Well, you could get this for a great deal,” and “You can get this for a great deal.” And finally, she just left saying, “You’re not hearing me. You’re not hearing the kind of buyer I am and what I’m actually looking for.” And while that’s just one example, I’ve seen people be communicated with or communicate in ways that just weren’t relevant to the people that we’re talking to.

Gene (11:23):
If you love what you’re listening to and would like to learn more about how you can elevate your business and want to know how you can increase your impact in the world, I’d like to invite you to join a coach for a free breakthrough call.

Want to know more about how to attract your ideal clients online?

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Shifting Your Selling Style to Connect with Ideal Clients

Pamela (09:28):
Let’s talk about shifting your selling style when you need to, to connect with an ideal client. So, when you know these selling styles – the Bargain Hunter, the Researcher, the Regretter, or the Returner – you can start guessing about the style of the person you’re talking to. I think both Bargain Hunters and Researchers give themselves away just because of the way they talk. Bargain Hunters will talk about getting things very inexpensively. They will talk about, you know, looking for discounts. They’ll often ask for discounts. Whereas Researchers will be sometimes interrupting you, asking for additional detail, wanting to know all the ins and outs of something, not even when you just make your offer, but at other times too. So if you can guess these selling styles ahead of time, then it really helps you to know to speak to that style. As I said, I’m not a Bargain Hunter with transformation, but if I recognize that I’m talking to a Bargain Hunter, then I want to position the value and I want to position that this is a great value compared to other things. And while I might not use the word bargain overtly I want to indicate that that energy is there because that’s an energy that that person is looking for.

Gene (10:43):
And so I can see, as you’re talking about this, as we’re trying to recognize what’s going on, me selling something, I need to be able to talk about my products, my services, my offerings, through multiple different lenses. Even though I am a person who might be disposed to being a Bargain Hunter, I probably need to have a pretty detailed features list. Not that I’m going to use it every single time, but when someone brings it up and they’re doing those Researcher-type questions, I’m able to very quickly say, you’re absolutely right, and here’s the detail, and here’s the detail, and here’s the detail. Where for someone who is the more Bargain Hunting-style, being able to speak really clearly in terms of the value of the transformation I’m providing and seeing how the investment that they’re making, how far it goes. And so even if it’s not my disposition, I need to be equipped for all of those conversations.

Pamela (11:31):
You do. I just love the way you put that because that’s exactly right and very accurate. And when I talked about how to shift your selling style, one of the things that you can do is literally practice selling your offer in ways that appeal to each one of these styles. Now, in terms of the Regretter and the Returner – to me, Returners are just red flags. So, if somebody says, “I got out of this, I got out of this, this didn’t work for me.” I will probably challenge them in the sales conversation to convince me why they should be able to buy, because sometimes you just don’t want to sell to somebody. Sometimes it’s more of a hassle to add your name to their list of number of service professionals who didn’t work for them or, you know, returns of programs or whatever. The Regretter I think you can handle in a different way. Because often Regretters will look for one thing, and if that one thing is delivered in a different way than they were expecting, then that will give them cause to regret. And I think that you can, pre-frame the sale. Pre-frame them moving into working with you by saying, “Because you’ll get this because we’ll do this. Or because this, you won’t have any cause to ever regret your decision,” or “This is a decision that you can be really comfortable with for so many reasons,” and try to reposition that Regretter tendency.

Gene (13:00):
And I find, Pamela, with my clients when I’m dealing with Regretters, not only doing all of the things that you’ve just said right there (by pre-framing really clearly what the process is going to look like, what the possible pitfalls are going to be as we move through the process), but if I have identified someone as a Regretter in the sales conversation, I’m also going to make a note of that. Making sure that over the course of the beginning of fulfilling the program for them, that they’re probably gonna get a little more hands-on treatment from me just to make sure that I’m constantly re-reminding them of the value of what we’re doing. So they’re not getting off inside of their own head without full information about what’s going on, where they start regretting the choice that they’ve made.

Pamela (13:44):
I love that. That’s such a great, great plan. Great suggestion. I want to put in another note about Bargain Hunters here, because it’s common for people to think that Bargain Hunters are always looking for cheap things, and I don’t think that’s true at all. I’ve known and met Bargain Hunters who ran multi-million dollar businesses. And it wasn’t that they were saying, “Oh, you know, I only want to spend, you know, $50 in the Goodwill shop for a piece of furniture.” They were saying something like, “Oh, I got my Gucci pants on sale, 50% off.” So, don’t assume that a Bargain Hunter is going to be somebody who’s necessarily used to spending very little money. They’re looking for a bargain. They’re looking for a good deal. They’re looking for a discount. And positioning your offer that way can be valuable. Now, one more caveat about this, which is if you know, and, and it’s positioning that I take with my brand, and Gene, I believe you take with your brand as well, we take the position that we are not bargains, and that is a very solid brand position to take. However, that being said, it doesn’t mean that on a given day or for a given offer, it can’t be, “Here’s why this is a bargain. Here’s why this is a good deal.” It’s not inexpensive, but it’s a bargain because.

Gene (15:06):
And what you’re talking about there, Pamela, is this really important idea of how we are positioning the value of the transformation we are providing. And when we’re able to demonstrate that this is how big the transformation is in your life for the price that we’re charging you, it really is a great deal because you’re getting so much for what you’re investing here. And they might not be getting 25% off of what the retail price is, but we’re able to show them that it really is a value. Therefore it is a bargain which will appease them or that style that they have when they’re doing the purchasing and the shopping.

Pamela (15:43):
And another way to appease the Bargain Hunter is not with discounts, but with bonuses. So if you have something you can include that does not take your private time, and that does not create undue burden on you or your team, but if you have something that you can include that makes the value crazy good. I mean, this is a concept that we’ve pulled actually from infomercials. You know, when we used to watch the 30-minute infomercials and at the end they’d be throwing in steak knives and things like that, but they built the value up using those bonuses so the price seemed very reasonable, crazy good. So, I think you can do the same thing with Bargain Hunters of saying, “and it includes this and that is one of the things that makes it a bargain.”

Gene (16:29):
And I think one of the really easy ways for us to do that, and for folks that have been in business for any length of time, you probably have a catalog of digital products that you’ve offered in the past. That for me to add one of my digital products, even a $750 digital product on as a bonus to a high-ticket package is really easy thing for me to do because it takes absolutely no effort for me to fulfill that thing other than giving you a link to download it from my server. But you’re in a circumstance where it actually is truly valuable. We’re not just saying, “throw things in there so it looks like it’s value,” but if you have this library of things that you’ve offered in the past digitally, there is true value inside of that. And it’s easy for us to add that in because it’s not taking any extra effort for us to add that.

#1 Selling Style Mistake and How To Overcome It

Pamela (17:17):
Exactly. Such a great example. So now let’s wrap up with the number one mistake that people make when trying to sell using the wrong style and how to overcome it. The biggest mistake I see people making with selling style or buying style is this thing that we’ve touched on during this conversation, which is assuming that everyone shares your buying style, assuming that you should use the selling style that matches the buying style that you have.

Pamela (17:46):
So, just like the example of my friend who went to buy the car and finally left in frustration because the seller assumed she was a bargain Hunter and she was not, if you keep focusing on great deal, discount, this is why it’s such a great deal, and you’re speaking to somebody who is not a Bargain Hunter. You may actually lose them. It’s not a situation where they’ll just say, “Well, of course, it’s a great deal. That’s not why I’m buying it,” but you will be selling it based on features or qualities that just aren’t important to them, which is something you don’t want to do. If you are a Researcher and you assume that everyone you’re speaking to os a researcher, what will happen with people who are not, is their eyes will glaze over. Ask me how I know. I’ve been on the buying-end of talking to somebody who wants me to know every single detail of what they’re selling. And I need it for, for me, for my personality, I need to know the salient points. I need to know the main things. And then I’ll figure out the details later. So if you are a Researcher, be very careful when you’re talking to people that you’re not over-explaining something that does not need to be over-explained.

Gene (18:57):
And as you’re hearing this, and as you’re thinking about it, if you’re still kind of rattling around struggling to connect with this a little bit, I am sure you’re all in a circumstance where you are used to talking about people’s love languages. And some people have the love language of time, and other people have words of affirmation or doing things for someone else. And you know the conflict that it creates in relationships when you and someone you’re close to have different love languages, and those aren’t matching up, and you’re not communicating those well. That conflict is the type of thing that we’re talking about here in the sales conversation. If the way you are talking is not matching to the person who is on the other side, it’s just really difficult to communicate and connect in that specific way.

Pamela (19:37):
Yeah. That’s a great way to wrap it up and bring it home. So, if this sounds great, then take a look, start making some notes, start thinking about what you said the last time you went out to purchase something. Did you want all the details? Were you looking for the discounts? Do you approach purchases differently depending on whether it is food or housing or clothing or transformation? And, do you have a tendency to regret your decisions or return? Just notice, what is your buying style? And that’s going to help you notice other people’s buying styles so you sell more effectively.

Gene (20:14):
And if you’re still in a circumstance, as you hear us talking in this conversation and this concept of buying and selling styles, and you’re still not exactly sure what yours is or how to communicate clearly to your potential clients, we’d love for you to have a conversation with one of our coaches, absolutely free. If you go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, that’s BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, you can have an opportunity to talk to one of our coaches to help you kind of sort this out so you’re communicating more clearly so that when you’re talking to the right person, you’re talking to them in a way that really resonates with them so you can create that partnership and you can help them to have the transformation that they want, that you love to provide.

Gene (20:54):
If the conversation we had today is something that really resonated with you and there are other people in your life who are coaches or healers or online providers of any sorts of information/transformation and you think that they would benefit from this conversation. Please pass it along. Just shoot them an email, shoot them a link to the show. It’ll make a difference for them, and it will help them to be more successful. If you haven’t also done so, please Subscribe to the show. For podcasts, podcasts are always free to subscribe. It’s not like Disney+. You can subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, basically everywhere you listen to audio. All you need to do is search for ‘A Profitable Impact.’ Click Subscribe. Click Follow. Turn on the notifications so every single time we produce some new content, you get it right away. If you have questions, you have comments or a topic that you’d like Pamela and I to talk about on a future episode, we would love to hear from you. All you need to do is go to AttractClientsOnline.com and click on that Contact link. For ‘A Profitable Impact,’ I’m Gene Monterastelli. And until next time, I hope you have an impactful week.

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Building a business as a coach or expert is challenging, especially if you’re trying to find your clients online.

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