Expand Your Fempire Podcast #126 Transcript

Tips for Businesswomen to Effectively and Successfully
Sell to Other Women, Part 1

Welcome to Expand your Fempire with Caterina Rando, the podcast for women in business on a mission. Sharing ideas to support you to grow and thrive. Now here’s your host, Caterina Rando.

[00:00:00] Caterina Rando: Welcome back to another episode of the Expand Your Fempire Podcast. I’m your host, Caterina Rando, and I am blissing to be with you today. And the reason is because we are gonna talk about women effectively and successfully selling to women. I wanna talk to you about this because there are so many sales experts out there that are teaching women how to sell like men.

[00:01:05] And guess what? It doesn’t work for us. It doesn’t work for us as sellers and certainly doesn’t work for us as buyers. I am gonna share with you some of my insights, best strategies, ideas to support you to be way more effective and really have a lot more fun and enjoy the process of selling to women so much more, and as a result, you are gonna be so much more effective.

[00:01:46] This is my new, very important platform because after many, many years of selling exclusively to women and teaching women how to sell, I see what’s working. I see what’s not working. I see what they have been taught. That doesn’t work, and I do not want that to happen to you.

[00:02:13] Years ago, I’m going to give a keynote speech. I walk in the building, I run to get the elevator. This lovely gal holds the elevator open for me. Lets me in. I had not had a chance in my car to check my hair and makeup, and so I said to her, my friend, I’m about to go give a speech. Can you check my hair and makeup? Do I look okay? And she, she laughed and she said to me, “you look fine.”

[00:02:57] And then I turned around and I said to her, I said, “you know, you are so beautiful.” She was, she was a beautiful, striking woman, and I saw in that moment, her shoulders drop and this relaxation come across her face. I didn’t quite know why. Of course, she was one of the guests at this conference I was speaking at.

[00:03:30] We got to know each other a little bit that day, and she told me that this was the first women’s business conference that she had ever been to and that she was very apprehensive about going. She had had a, a job for a tech firm for many years, and so here she was now starting her own business.

[00:03:54] And she became my client. She was with me for several years. She’s now a thriving speaker, having a thriving business, doing amazing things. What I learned on that day, really quite by accident is what I call “the girlfriend strategy for sales.” And what I mean by this is treat every woman who you meet, like she’s your good girlfriend.

[00:04:29]  My point here is that when we see women as amazing people to connect with and get to know, and have fun with, and chat with and discover what’s going on and what commonalities we have together, it is a great way to start a business relationship.

[00:05:00] Now, I share this with you because as you know, nobody likes to be sold. And this is why as women in business, we often struggle with the aspect of sales and gaining clients because of course we don’t wanna be salesy.

[00:05:23] And the old school techniques, many that teach intimidation or teach going through long sales presentations with charts -do not work or interest your potential clients.

[00:05:42]  Have you ever been told, “Hey, my friend, you wanna get together for coffee?” Or, “Hey, I would love to interview you to find out what’s going on in your industry.” Only to be in a situation where someone pulls out their sales presentation and starts to talk with you and give you a sales presentation when you thought you were getting together for an insightful chat or a visit.

[00:06:13] This has happened to me a few times recently, and you know what? These sales techniques are actually doing the opposite. They are having people not trust us or trust the person who requests the opportunity because say, “Hey, my friend. I’d love to talk with you about how I might be able to support you in your business. Would you like to have a conversation about that?” Or support you with your health, or support you with your image, or support you with buying your house? Whatever it is, whatever business you are in, always be overt. Never be covert.

[00:06:59] Never ever, ever use a script. Never come across like you’re reading a script. This is inauthentic and it turns us off. By the way, sidebar, my friends, you know it’s the same for your speaking. Never sound like you’re reading your speech. Death alert.

[00:07:24] I got more for you. Here’s what else also doesn’t work.

[00:07:30] So many trainers and marketers, they’re teaching pain, pain, pain. Find the pain points. Push the pain points. Women don’t wanna talk about their pain to people they don’t know. This is why relationship building is so important first, and we’ll talk about that.

[00:07:50] Women buy from people they know, they like, they trust, they wanna talk to, they wanna hang out with and they know will do a good job for them.

[00:08:04] People that listen to us, people that make us a priority, people that treat us VIP.

[00:08:15] I remember many, many years ago I had a webmaster. And I called him to tell him that there was a mistake on my website about a date or something, was his mistake. He said to me, “Oh, Caterina, I can get to that in about three weeks.”

[00:08:33] Well, of course, that was the last time I ever spoke to him. Now, I may not be your most VIP client. You certainly wanna make me feel that way. And when I say me, I mean you and every other woman on the planet. We better feel like you are on top of doing a great job for us and that will keep us coming back.

[00:09:02] Super tip alert. Super tip alert. No one will ever buy from you or me, or anybody unless we have influence with them.

[00:09:17] Now, here is the challenge with this. The amount of influence that is needed by any of your potential clients is not the same as any of your other potential clients. I’m sure you’ve heard me say, and let me remind you here, that there are four kinds of potential clients.

[00:09:43] The insta-client, they meet you, they’re blissing. I met a lady last week at a speech I gave. She’s like, “Caterina, I love you. I love what you’re doing. You change my life.” That was surprising to me since she only heard me give a speech. She said,” I’m gonna fly out and meet you. I wanna work with you.” By the way, that is a clear indication that she wants to get to know me or somebody before she hires them. This is what I would call an “insta-client.” However, much influence I built in that speech, that was enough for her to be a yes.

[00:10:26] Some other potential clients of yours are slow cookers. They want three to six months. They gotta watch you for a while. They gotta take a look around, see who else you’re working with, see if you really deliver on what you say. That’s the slow cooker.

[00:10:44] Then there’s the super slow cooker. They take up to a year to get started with you. Sometimes they gotta get used to the idea of hiring somebody like you. Maybe they never hired a life coach before, or an image professional or somebody to do energy work on them or whatever it is that you do. Maybe they never hired anybody like that before and that’s why they’re a super slow cooker.

[00:11:17] And then of course there is the super, super slow cooker, and this is your gal potential client that takes more than a year.

[00:11:30] A couple of weeks ago, I did a workshop. There was women there that I met in 2015. Two of them, I got four clients that week. Two of them met me in 2015. That’s a long time ago.

[00:11:46] The other day I was looking at one of my client’s records. It said she started in 2014!

[00:11:54] We are looking for long-term and lifelong clients, and this is why it is so important for you to be hip to the fact that not everybody makes decisions in the same amount of time. And the reason for that is because not everybody needs the same amount of influence built by us before they say yes.

[00:12:21] Now, this is a very important aspect of sales to shine the spotlight on because if you, like me, are more of an “insta-client,” meaning when you choose to work with someone, you don’t need 10 months to make a decision. You meet them, you like them, they have what you need, you like the price, you like the offer. You are gonna get started right away. If you’re an “insta-client”, your challenge is you probably fall down with your follow-up.

[00:12:51] But if you are a more of a slow cooker or a super slow cooker. You know what your problem is? The challenge is that you sometimes don’t recognize the insta-client when she’s right in front of you.

[00:13:08] I was talking to a gal that I’ve known for years. She’s actually my client. She’s phenomenal. And I wanted to hire her, and I called her. We had a conversation and she said to me, “well, Caterina, did you see the information I sent to you?” I said, “oh, no, I didn’t see it.” She said, “well, let me resend it and then we can chat again.” I said, “my friend, no, we are talking right now. Tell me what’s in the information so I can make a decision right now.”

[00:13:41] Do you see what I’m saying? If you are not insta, you don’t think anybody else is insta. And what I’m saying to you is that about 25 to 30% of your potential clients will make an insta-decision. You have to be on the lookout for them.

[00:13:59] And really what I like to do is ask the question that will determine if somebody is insta or not, and here it is. I say to someone when I’m talking to them, I say, “would you like to hear about how I work with my clients? Would you like to hear about how you can get started? Are you interested in the June sales program or the September sales program? Are you interested in moving forward in the next few weeks?”

[00:14:30] These are questions that help you determine if they’re insta or not, because I want you to have more insta clients. I also though, want you to recognize that not everybody is insta.

[00:14:45] Now, back to our hot topic of the day, women selling to women. We’ve just had this discussion about the four kinds of clients because nobody will ever buy from you, reminding you, until you have built influence. The challenge is we don’t know how much influence we gotta build with any potential client.

[00:15:10] And here’s what I also want to remind you: when a gal says to you, “not now not sure. Talk to me later.” Whatever she says that comes down to not moving forward. I want you to hear whatever she says, and I want you to translate that into you meaning you, the, the salesperson, need to build more influence with that person before she’s ready to buy.

[00:15:42] And guess what? It’s easy for you because you’re a woman and you’re good at relationship building.

[00:15:49] How do you do that? You invite her to your next workshop. Sidebar. If you’re not having your monthly free Zoom workshop, I’m sorry for you because that is the strategy that will have, you always have something to invite people to, where you will build more influence and that will have them keep coming back, getting more value from you and becoming your client.

[00:16:16] Now, I have other podcast episodes we’ve recorded specifically on sales. Listen to them, because sales is not just about the conversation, it’s about all these things we do. This is what we cover in our Thrive at Sales program.

[00:16:34] I want you to recognize that you have to master sales in order to thrive in your business. So please go back, listen to those other episodes. Let me give you a few more specific dos and don’ts of selling to women as I intended today.

[00:16:53] Okay, here’s something I know you would never do, but I just wanna remind you to never do it because I’ve had people do this to me, and you may have people do this to you, and it’s never gonna result in a sale.

[00:17:07] I’ve had people tell me I was stupid if I didn’t join their program. I’ve had people tell me it was a bad decision not to buy from them. People tell me I must be naive if I’m not moving forward. Super tip alert. Do not insult your potential client that will have you never, ever, ever get the sale. Love and kindness, you wanna sell with love and kindness and graciousness.

[00:17:38] One of the things I talk about when we talk about the the sales conversation is, look, if a woman’s busy and she’s distracted, graciously and happily reschedule. Because if you don’t have her full attention, she’s never gonna buy from you, or she’s certainly not buying from you today.

[00:17:54] Please be clear: love, kindness, this is what gets sales. Because when we get on the phone with somebody and we’ve all had so many sales experiences, not necessarily as the salesperson, as the potential client, and there’s this natural defensiveness that comes up because nobody likes to be sold. But when you get on the phone with somebody and you’re not trying to sell them, you’re getting to know them, you’re finding out what their needs are.

[00:18:26] You’re, you’re being a girlfriend, you’re visiting, guess what? They get off the phone, they feel good about their interaction with you. Do you know what that means? They’re gonna wanna talk to you again. Isn’t that awesome?

[00:18:41] Which means when you reach out to them again, they’re gonna talk to you, they’re gonna respond.

[00:18:48] I find it very easy to get appointments on my calendar to talk to people. You know, why? Because I only invite people to talk to me that I already have influence with. For the most part, when somebody is referred to me, I don’t have influence with them. That’s fine. I talk to them. I don’t try to sell them anything.

[00:19:07] I talk to them. I get to know them. I see if they’re a match. I give them some super tips. I share some resources. I invite them to my next workshop, and then I invite them to have a sales conversation.

[00:19:20] Okay, here’s another don’t, and then a do. Do not keep circling back to people with the idea that you will wear them down. No.

[00:19:32] Ask people if they want to hear from you again. “Would you like me to check back with you? Do you think you might be interested sometime in the future? Would you like me to invite you to anything I think that might be a good match for you?” Ask people if they want. If they say no, take ’em off your list.

[00:19:54] There’s a lifetime supply of potential clients for you, and you’ve heard every no is closer to a yes. It’s true.

[00:20:04] And here’s what I also want you to know. There’s enough pie for everybody. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Mary, Jane, Sheila, your competitors, so to speak. Don’t worry about that.

[00:20:19] Focus on your potential clients. Build great relationships with them. Treat them VIP. Sell to them with love and kindness. And guess what? They will be your clients. They will become your clients. If not now, later.

[00:20:38] Now let’s talk a little bit more about some dos.

[00:20:42] Do listen to what women have to say, and sometimes I’ll say to somebody, “tell me a little bit about you.” “Tell me a little bit about what’s going on in your business and share with me anything you’d like me to know.” Now, some people do that in a minute. Some people take 15 minutes. That’s okay. I am listening attentively the whole time.

[00:21:07] You know why? Because women share with you what’s important for them to have you know, and this is all information to support you in talking with them about what is important to them related to the service or product you are delivering.

[00:21:29] The more we listen to our potential clients, and really listen and listen to what’s important to them, and listening to what their challenges are, and listen to the solutions they’re looking for, bing, bing, bing, the more we can respond to them and share with them what we’ve got, that is a good match for them.

[00:21:51] When we talk about sales, We often wanna share the benefits of our product or service. I wanna make sure you do that. I also wanna make sure that you are sharing transformation.

[00:22:08] Now, what’s the difference between benefits and transformation? For example, benefits usually relate to results. It’s gonna improve your bottom line. That’s a result somebody can see. It’s gonna slim your waistline. That’s a result Somebody can see. Your house is gonna be organized. That’s a result someone can see.

[00:22:32] There are three things that are more transformation that women buy now, what is transformation? Here’s my simple way to say it.

[00:22:45] Transformation is how we be or become different in who we are.

[00:22:52] And three things that women love in this area: one is clarity, being clear. Women buy clarity.

[00:23:06] Women also love confidence and buy confidence.

[00:23:12] For example, a new manager might say to an image professional, “Hey, I’m getting a new job. I’m gonna be a first-time manager. I wanna make sure I am looking the part every time I walk into my new office.” That’s what she’s saying.

[00:23:30] What’s underneath what she’s saying is, “I wanna be certain, I wanna be confident that I am looking the part, which also means I need some clarity as to what is the best ensembles outfits for me to wear.”

[00:23:52] She’s buying clarity. She’s buying confidence in the midst of those services and that is transformation.

[00:24:02] Now, there’s something else women love to buy, by the way, that is not exactly transformation, but it informs transformation or it supports transformation and that is connection And community. Women love community.

[00:24:22] I’m gonna tell you the day I became very aware of this. Many, many years ago I was running a business development program and a development program for women that wanted to use speaking to grow their business. I had this lovely gal, one of several who had done the six-month business program. She had done the six-month speaker program.

[00:24:49] It was the last day of the speaker program, and she said to me, “Caterina, what else do you have? Because I love coming and being with all these amazing women.” And that was the moment I realized it wasn’t just about the education, it was about the community and the connection. There’s more. It was also about the ongoing support and the ongoing guidance and the ongoing encouragement and the container that kept them focused and in action. All of that was true. And that is what community provides.

[00:25:31] Do you have a component of community in your offerings? And if you do, talk about it when you’re selling and talk about it in your sales copy. Same thing with clarity and certainty, which is what I call it. Also known as confidence.

[00:25:55] I have so much more to share with you on this hot topic of women successfully, effectively selling to women. I’m gonna do this as a two-parter. Be sure to come back and listen to the next episode on this same hot topic, and I promise you there will be many more gems for you to embrace because I want you to bliss and thrive and scale and soar with your sales.

[00:26:28] By the way, if you have not been to one of my monthly free Zoom workshops, Run do not walk to my website, www.caterinarando.com.

[00:26:40] If you have not embraced all of our many free resources at caterinarando.com/links, go take a look. There are checklists, there’s videos, there’s eBooks. There’s so many resources for you to build your business.

[00:27:04] Also at caterinarando.com, you can listen to all the podcast episodes that you haven’t listened to yet. You can find out about our app. You can find out about our amazing sales program and speaking program. Our next retreat. So many ways we have to support women on a mission just like you.

[00:27:29] Before we go, let me remind you my friend, you have massive value to bring. There is a lifetime supply of amazing women to serve. And you know what? There’s enough pie for everybody, including you.

[00:27:47] Sending you love. Call on me anytime for any reason. Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. I’m here to support you to sell more, serve more, and most importantly, uplift more lives. Bing, bing, bing.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Expand Your Fempire with Caterina Rando.