There’s a lot of misconception about sales and closing. It doesn’t matter if you’re in network marketing or not, this topic is important for any online business owner. I want to be able to equip you with the tools to be better at sales on Instagram so you can show confidently. 

When you know better, you do better. 

Sales and closing are different terms, different actions. Selling is something that you have to do all the time. It’s not the exchange of money, products, or goods. The sale is the decision that someone wants something. The close is when someone feels confident and good in their success enough to be able to comfortably separate from their money for something that they’ve already made the conscious empowered decision that they want. Therefore, you can’t have a closing without a good sale. 

Uncomfortable doing sales 

One of the biggest things that I hear about sales is people feel uncomfortable, and don't know how or what to say. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that a lot of these feelings are based on our own previous experiences that we're bringing into our present day. I think a more powerful way to address this is going to be recognizing in the scenario, why are we making it about us, if we're looking at sales, a service and we're going out to help somebody, a lot of these feelings that we have come because we're making it about us. 

We're afraid of what other people are going to think about us. 

We're afraid of what other people are going to be saying about us. 

So, pause when you feel weird or uncomfortable about selling. Start there, and look at why you are making this about yourself. Because it's about them. 

You have to sell on social media every single day. 

I see your content. I see what you post on social media saying “I'm not making any sales, I don't know what's going on.” But, when I immediately go to their social media pages, 99.9% of the time, they are not selling.

The reason why you are not making sales is that no one knows that you have something for sale. And without selling, there are no closes. Without closes, there's no transaction, there's no transformation, there's no money coming into your direct deposit. 

What does selling look like?

Selling is not saying “I have a challenge group open.” 

Selling is not saying “four spots left”. 

Selling is helping someone have belief

1. You being the authority 
2. You have the solution
3. That you're the person that they need to take action with. 

Do you think you're talking about your offer enough? Here's the thing, whether you're a coach, a service provider, a network marketer, you think that because people know that your partner with Beachbody that they know that you're selling. 

Wrong. 

Remember, the close is the transaction is getting someone to that point where they're excited to separate their money from something that they know they want. But if they don't know they want it, they will not close. If they don't know they want it. They're not coming into your DMS asking for it. And if they don't know that you have a solution to their problem, they're not going to come and buy from you. 

So when I see people that are struggling with sales, and they're not making sales, it's not a closing problem, yet, it's a selling problem. 

90% of you have a selling problem. 

And that's what's affecting your close, which is what's affecting the fact that you're not making any money. 

How can we fix the selling problem? 

You have to talk about how you solve problems. 

If you're partnered with a network marketing company, this means you have to stop hiding behind their products. And you have to start talking about what you bring to the table. What is your area of expertise? What are you really good at? How are you facilitating this transformation for someone that needs to be discussed and discussed in your content frequently? 

You need to stop making your content all about you. 

A bunch of people from Beachbody has finished nine-week control freak and their entire social media presence is all about them how they finish the program. They’re so proud of themselves and basically giving themselves a pat on the back. But, frankly, that is not selling someone on working with you inside of that program. You make your content solely about you and solely about the program that you finished is not selling people on the solution that you bring to the table. And it doesn't sell them on working with you or signing up with you.

Why?

Because just because you've done something does not mean that you are equipped to help other people with it. So when you hear people, who are not experts in sales and closing telling you just share your story, just use the products, that's not teaching you a sales skill, it's not teaching you a closing skill, it's not. So when that is your sole focus don't be upset when the close doesn't happen. Because it's not going to happen. 

When you're in the DMS chatting it up with someone, they are going to your page, they're looking at your content. And if they can't tell that you have a solution for sale or something to help them solve a known problem, they will not be interested. And so what ends up happening if you try to force a selling conversation. 

For example: When you're in the DMS talking to Sally about how you actually help people with hashtags. Sally goes to your content and sees that you shared some hashtag tips. You shared some success stories about your clients that love your hashtag tips, and you give her some action steps on what she can take and do. Now she's like “oh, wow, she is the real deal. She is an authority. She does have a solution. Now I want that solution. I want that outcome. Now I'm ready to work towards a close”.

Quick Tip: if you fix your Instagram feed content and your Instagram stories and content to be less about you and more about who you help and showcasing how you help them, I guarantee you will get more DM conversations to the closing process because people are going to your content and you can chat about how great you are in the DMS. But if your content doesn't measure up, they will not entertain it. 

How can we do better at closing a sale? 

Less talking, more listening. 

Because what ends up happening is you end up word vomiting features and benefits, and your accountability group and 30 servings of a shake, and you get this and you get these meal plans. That's not what people want. People don't care about how they want to know that you're the person that's getting them from where they are now, to where they want to be. The vehicle is not the “close”. The ‘how’ is not the primary focus of the close. 

Ask open-ended questions, and listen. 

• “Tell me more about why you want xyz”. 
• “If you had xyz, how would that change your life? 
• “If you had something that would help you solve a blank problem? How quickly would you want to get started on that?
• “Sally, if you keep doing things the way that you are doing them right now and you don't take advantage of xyz, what will happen?”
• “Is there anything standing in the way?”
• “Any question or any obstacle that's keeping you from getting started on solving this problem today?”

And you notice with each of these questions, they are closing themselves, because they're already sold. When we get to the close, they're not getting to the close conversation if they're not sold. And when you're good at what you do which you are, which is why you're here. Your content. And your interactions in the DMS work together to do the close. 

When you feel like you need to beg or convince or persuade, you're not closing. And you're ruining the sale. Because remember, selling comes before closing. And when you try to beg, convince, you've already lost and they've already lost because as a result, they're not getting what they need from you. 

So, when you feel weird or you feel nervous or you feel uncomfortable, stop yourself and say, “Kayla, why are you making this about you?” Because it's not about you. And when you take yourself out of the equation, you're able to focus on serving and doing what you've come out to do. 

What if they ghost in the Conversation? 

So if they ghost in the convo, this is when you get to look back, give yourself an audit and say, “where did I do something that maybe I can change up for next time? Or where can I learn from this?” 

But, remember people just ghost. And we don't have control over what other people do. What we do have control over is how we show up. And some people are not ready to solve their problem, they're not ready to address it, they're not ready to change. And that is their decision. 

Selling is showing how you can help them make a change using the product. 

So the products and this is another thing when it comes to my network marketers guys, you got to stop hiding behind your products. Your products are an accessory for the transformation you create. I don't 

People can buy the products from anywhere. You need to highlight the reason why they're coming to you. So selling is showing what you bring to the table and how you uniquely help solve their problems, right accessories, your business can run without them. And it's really important to build up your brand to represent that because you never want to be a business that depends on another company to run. 

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