Episode #128:
Tips for Businesswomen to Effectively and Successfully
Sell to Other Women, Part 2
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In the second of this two-part installment on women selling to women, Caterina shares the importance of embracing the Five Love Languages in your business and why the second sale is more important than the first. This episode is jam-packed with guiding principles on the value of relationships, practicing flexibility with your clients, and having lifelong views of potential clients. You don’t want to miss it!
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Expand Your Fempire Podcast #128 Transcript
Tips for Businesswomen to Effectively and Successfully
Sell to Other Women, Part 2
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 because we are continuing our discussion on women selling to women.
[00:00:47] Yesterday I was on a Zoom call with many of the women who attended our Bliss Retreat in January of this year, we meet every month on Zoom to have a check-in, to visit, to connect. We do it on a weekend. There were women who did it from their cars. There were women that did it from international locations.
[00:01:20] It’s important for all of us to stay connected. Why? Because women love and value so much relationships. We talked about this a lot in part one. I invite you to listen to that episode if you didn’t, and today we’re gonna continue our discussion.
[00:01:48] One of the things about women is that we have many responsibilities. We are managing our home. We’re often the caretaker for elderly parents. You know it, you’re a woman, you got a lot going on.
[00:02:06] One of the things we appreciate when we’re considering a purchase, a product, a service, we appreciate flexibility. We appreciate going outside of normal business hours or having something dropped off instead of having to pick it up, or, we appreciate a modified payment plan, meaning if you normally go three payments, you’ll go six or you’ll give us a payment hiatus one month if we need it.
[00:02:49] Women want to be accommodated when we have a special request when we would prefer something done outside the norm.
[00:03:01] You may have seen a video I did on my Facebook page a while back for Jana Carrick Designs. Jana is the creator of the Forever Dress. It’s a great dress. I have two of them. You can wear it anywhere and look fabulous.
[00:03:20] Anyway. The first time I bought a dress from Jana, I said to her, “Hey, my friend, I’m getting ready for this cruise. Um, you know, I, I don’t, I don’t know if it’s gonna get here in time.” And she sent it. It got to me like super fast within a day, really a day and a half. And I felt taken care of. I felt she responded to my needs.
[00:03:46] She never used the term “policy or this is what we usually do.” By the way, the word policy. This is our policy that is the opposite of women successfully selling to women. We want personalization. We often need personalization based on our life and our lifestyle.
[00:04:11] And the other thing to know this is really important. You know, I of course teach women how to sell to women and to everybody, but especially women selling to women. And I strategize with women in business on their overall businesses. And I often say to women, “It’s not about the first sale, it’s about the second sale.”
[00:04:44] The only way we get though, to the second sale is getting that first sale. Doing a great job. Under-promising, over-delivering with whatever the product or service is. Then though, we also have to ask for the second sale.
[00:05:12] I mentioned this because if you’re not flexible on the first sale if there’s a request or something that would support this buyer, potential client with the first sale, sweetheart, you’re never gonna get to the second sale. And remember that we’re looking for long-term and lifelong clients.
[00:05:44] These women that were on the call with me yesterday from the Bliss Retreat, some of them have been my clients for years. Some of them have been my clients for years and years and years.
[00:06:00] I got a thank you note last week from a woman that was with me at our speaker retreat the week before. It was a thank-you note for coming on my retreat. Now, let’s not forget she paid the full fee. She sent me a thank you note. And in that thank you note she said, “I am your client for life.” Warmed my heart to no end.
[00:06:35] And guess what? That’s not the first time I’ve heard that. I recently had another client tell me, “Caterina, you are my coach for life.” I have had women tell me, “Caterina, I will be on every retreat you will ever do for the rest of my life.”
[00:06:53] I am telling you this because it’s not just about giving massive value.
[00:07:00] It’s about women feeling seen, heard, gotten, knowing that they matter, knowing that you see that they have massive value to bring if it’s in a service business to business situation.
[00:07:17] I want you to remember all of this because all of those things have to happen before the first sale. And so this guiding principle of being flexible, being accommodating, when you are working with a woman to bring her on as a client the first time, will support you to get the second sale and the third sale and the 20th sale.
[00:07:48] That looks all kinds of different ways. Sometimes it’s delaying the first payment. Sometimes it’s a hiatus for a month when things are tight. Sometimes it’s starting with a very small deposit to accommodate a financial situation. Sometimes it’s delivering things early or adding in a bonus. To accommodate a second need when they don’t have available revenue for a second sale. Let me give you a perfect example. I was talking yesterday with one of the women that was on my speaker mastermind retreat a couple of weeks ago, and she’s very interested in coming back for another speaker mastermind retreat because with speaking, like with sales, like with writing, the goal is not just to learn some things, the goal is to master these skills.
[00:08:57] She recognizes that she wants to come back for another Speaker Mastermind retreat. I said, “of course, I’d love to have you,” because really, I designed the program that they come back year after year, after year. Why? Because I’m not looking for clients. I’m looking for long-term and lifelong clients just like you.
[00:09:19] She said to me though, she said, “You know, Caterina, maybe I should do the sales class because really I need help with my sales.” And I said, “Yes, I definitely want to support you with sales.”
[00:09:37] And the truth is my friend, yes, if you can’t sell, you can’t serve. Doesn’t matter how good of a speaker you are. I said to her, “Would you like to hear my irresistible, irresistible, irresistible invitation?” By the way, this is a very, very, very important sentence I want you to put in your toolbox.
[00:10:05] Before I make someone an irresistible invitation, I always ask them if they would like to hear my irresistible invitation.
[00:10:17] And the answer is that they always wanna hear it even when they have just told me no. Did you hear that?
[00:10:30] By the way, can you feel my bliss right now? Can you feel my positivity as you listen to this? Do you get that when I ask someone if they wanna hear my irresistible, irresistible, irresistible invitation, do you get that I’m feeling good and having fun and uplifted and uplifting in the process?
[00:11:01] This is what we call the “being” side of selling.
[00:11:06] It’s really important when selling to enjoy the conversation, to have fun with it, to absolutely be there, to serve and find a solution. And if you and the person you’re talking to can be uplifted in the process, you know what? They’re gonna wanna talk to you again.
[00:11:34] This is why I say women are so good at sales. Because we’re so good at conversing and connecting.
[00:11:46] After listening to this, if you do nothing more, then bliss on every sales call, you will get more sales. Because feeling good is contagious if we’re doing it right.
[00:12:04] Back to the irresistible invitation. I said to this lovely client, we’ll call her Sheila. I said, “Sheila, would you like to hear my irresistible invitation?” She said, “Yes.” I said to her, “You know what? When you come back next year for the Speaker Mastermind retreat. I will gift you this sales class.”
[00:12:34] Now you might say, “Caterina, that’s a big amount of money to give away.” Yes. Maybe. Remember though, I have a long-term view of my business. She will get so much value from that class that she will sell more, she will earn more. She will rave more. She’s already told me how happy she is being in the community, how much value she got from the retreat.
[00:13:09] Remember, it’s the second sale that super matters.
[00:13:16] By accommodating this client and her needs, hear that part. I didn’t just give it away to give it away. I gave it away because the truth is that’s what she needs.
[00:13:32] And what is my goal? My goal is to never, ever, ever sell anything to anybody they don’t need. At the same time, my other goal is to sell them what I know will super serve them, and the truth is that her next highest need is the sales class.
[00:14:01] The thing is though, by gifting it to her, you know what happens? I get the much bigger sale. And by her mastering her sales on top of her speaking, bing, bing, bing. We’re gonna have a client for life. Sheila is gonna be with me for life.
[00:14:20] Super tip alert, super tip, alert. The guiding principle we’ve just been discussing is that the second sale super matters.
[00:14:32] The other guiding principle I’m hoping that you are already embracing is having a long-term view of your business and a long-term view of the potential sales for any client and every client. And that my friend is all about the relationships.
[00:15:02] As a coach, as a business mentor, I hear so many stories of women that have invested big time in their business and they got no client care, they got no special consideration. They got no special attention when they needed it. When a husband was sick or, or there was a different personal need that took them out of a program.
[00:15:30] This is a big mistake for those coaches or consultants or mentors who said, “Hey, you signed a contract, sorry for you.” Because they only cared about the first sale.
[00:15:45] You’re super smart, you’re super savvy. You care about a lot more than that. You care about the relationship with the client, you care about them getting massive value, and you are having a long-term view of your business if you want to bliss in your business.
[00:16:04] Because you know what brings the bliss in your business? Let’s be very clear, I want you not only to thrive in your business, not only to have a solid financial Fempire, I also want you to bliss in your business. I want you to get up every morning, be so excited to serve your clients, be blissing when you’re talking to your team, be blissing when you are doing everything that you do.
[00:16:41] You know what brings you the bliss? Not only seeing client results, also seeing client transformation, more importantly, seeing their bliss with the work you have done with them. Seeing their bliss at the results, your support or service, or product has brought them.
[00:17:11] That will make you bliss more than any amount of revenue in the door. And this is why it’s so important to make sure that every client is getting outstanding client care, getting the personal support they need, and giving them even more value than they expected or anticipated. So that the second sale happens with ease.
[00:17:41] When I did my speaker Mastermind retreat a couple of weeks ago, before we left, with conversations that took about three minutes, every single woman except for one, had signed up for something else.
[00:18:01] Early in my career, I had a coach who was a very good coach. However, she was very rigid. You didn’t make a call, there was never any flexibility. The call never went one minute over. If you didn’t cancel 24 hours ahead, sorry for you, you lost that call. You signed a contract. Payments come out on the 20th. Payments had to come out on the 20th.
[00:18:35] There was no flexibility and I’m gonna tell you the truth, she was absolutely a woman who ran her business like a man because that’s who had mentored her.
[00:18:52] Now, she genuinely cared. She genuinely had a big heart, but you would not see it. I know this because we became very good friends. But as a coach, it was all business.
[00:19:09] And what I’m saying to you, I hope you’re getting from our discussion today, is that it’s all personal. And the more personal it is, the more women will buy from you.
[00:19:26] And on top of the genuine caring that we’ve been discussing and the personal attention, making it personal means you are accommodating to the best of your abilities when people have a request.
[00:19:45] Okay. Let’s talk about a couple more things. I think I’ve made this point very well.
[00:19:53] Women also care about social proof. This is what the studies show. They’re more likely to purchase something when other people they know personally have raved about it. We like testimonials. We like to read the reviews. And therefore if this applies to your business where you can get reviews, you can get testimonials, do it.
[00:20:28] This also says that somebody who is referred to you by someone who has influence with them is likely to become a client. However, you also have to realize that when somebody refers somebody to you, you, my friend, have no influence yet with that person. However, because they are personally referred, they are open to working with you. Your job is still to build influence before you ask them to buy.
[00:21:08] Now I’m gonna sidebar here and say, I hope you have your referral program in place. If you don’t, this is a priority for your business, a referral. Now, I know that if you’re in financial services or certain industries, they have rules about that. I know some networking groups are not a fan of it. I am a huge fan of referral programs.
[00:21:33] Why? Because when you have referral programs, you are more likely to have long-term and lifelong referral partners.
[00:21:45] Also, another thing, women like being in relationship on social media with the people they’re doing business with. And this helps us as service providers, as vendors to build personal relationships with our clients. Like, comment on your clients’ and potential clients’ posts. Share their posts.
[00:22:17] One of the things I do is when somebody sends me a friend request on Facebook, I don’t just look at their picture and click yes. I go and look at their page, and if they look like somebody I get to know, I say, “Hey Sheila. I looked at your profile. Usually, I looked at your website. I love what you’re up to.” If I can make a comment about a photo or a post I do, because now that’s personal.
[00:22:50] This is also very important for those of you using LinkedIn. I find it so funny when I get a, well, maybe funny’s not the right word, when I get a message in my mailbox on LinkedIn, “Hey, Caterina, wanna know if you’re interested in publishing a book?” Sweetheart, obviously you know nothing about me. Obviously, you did not even look at my LinkedIn profile. Of course, I’m not gonna do business with you.
[00:23:25] Very, very important to build relationships before the sale and after the sale, and this has people be more open to the possibility of being our client.
[00:23:43] The last thing I wanna talk to you about in our women selling to women part two discussion, is embracing the love languages in selling.
[00:23:55] Remember I said earlier that every woman you’re talking to wants to feel seen, heard, valued, welcomed, appreciated, get that she matters? She matters as a client, she matters as a person, and that you see her value.
[00:24:18] That ability to acknowledge people is one of the love languages, words of appreciation and acknowledgement.
[00:24:32] Now in this podcast, in episode 54, we did talk about a self-love plan of embracing the love languages, and I encourage you to listen to that. I’m sure we’ve talked about the love languages in the over a hundred episodes that we’ve recorded.
[00:24:55] What I wanna say to you though is embracing them in the selling process… words of appreciation and acknowledgement, gifts, acts of service. Just the other day, I sent a lead for speaking to someone who is not yet a client. That is an act of service, especially because I have tons of clients that are speakers. Her particular area was different than my clients.
[00:25:24] I, of course, frequently refer my clients for speaking, which is an act of service, which helps them get extra value in their investment, and of course, helps for the next sale.
[00:25:42] Embracing the love languages in selling is essential and also in our client care. Let’s quickly remind you of what those are. Words of appreciation and acknowledgement, acts of service, quality time, gifts, and physical touch. I think we’re back to hugging again. Hugging matters. Of course. I know you can’t do that via Zoom, but you know what I do via Zoom all the time, blow kisses.
[00:26:16] As we have had this discussion today, and hopefully you’ve already listened to part one of Women Selling to Women, what I’m hoping is that you can unlearn some of the things that you learned about business or about selling way back when, that didn’t feel good to you, that maybe prevented you from selling because you didn’t wanna be salesy. And so you just avoided sales.
[00:26:51] But the truth is sales is fun, and it’s awesome, and it is the gateway to having amazing relationships with amazing women because when they’re working with you, you really get to know them. And that will have you bliss. That will have them bliss and will all be blissing together.
[00:27:15] Bing, bing, bing. It’s my honor and privilege to be with you today and any day. Please join me for one of my upcoming workshops on selling or speaking. Join me for one of my upcoming retreats. We already have some in the works for next year. Women are already signed up. I’d love to get to know you and your business more.
[00:27:41] Remember, you have massive value to bring. There’s a lifetime supply of people to serve. Be loud, be proud about your massive value. Invite women to get to know you, have conversations with them. Invite them to be your client. Then you can sell more. Then you can serve more. And when you do that, you will uplift many more lives.
[00:28:08] Again, Caterina Rando, blissing to be with you. Listen to our other podcast episodes and hopefully, we will be together again very soon.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Expand Your Fempire with Caterina Rando.