Selling is Not Natural - Sell with Soul Instead

January 22, 2008

Do you find it challenging to tell people what you do or to discuss your fees or prices with potential clients? Does traditional sales language such as "front end," "back end," "up sell" - even "sell" - make you cringe?

If your answer is "Yes," consider yourself fortunate - you are yet in touch with your heart and soul. And rest assured that "YOU ARE NOT ALONE."

Why do you think selling is so hard? It's because selling is not natural - it goes against our desires to be genuine, to connect with others and to create authentic relationships.

Even though plenty of business owners today sell with incredible integrity and with their heart in it, the word "sell' still retains the energy of manipulation. The first definition of "sell" in Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is "to deliver or give up in violation of duty, trust or loyalty," in otherwords to betray.

You Don't Have to Sell to Succeed

There is a key to getting your products and services out to a wider audience that will sky rocket your success. It is natural, authentic and powerful and leaves everyone feeling good.
This key is not even in the same paradigm as selling. And here is an insider's secret - selling is becoming a dinosaur of our age.

Before I get to this key, there are three pre-requisites for its effectiveness.

1. You have to honestly believe in the value of your services or products.
2. You have to connect with your innate desires to be in relationship and to serve. AND
3. You have to be willing to be authentic.

Here's the Key You've Been Waiting For
The key is Soul Marketing. When you market with soul, the person in front of you is the most important element. You create authentic relationships with prospective clients and have a desire to add value to their lives.

You become a gift bearer. You offer prospective and current clients the benefits of your services and products. And you offer the gift of your authentic presence, caring and attention.

This natural key to success can be measured in both dollars and in soul satisfaction.

First, the real reason we are in business is to serve the greater good. As entrepreneurs, artists, speakers, writers or CEO's we do that by contributing to the abundance, fulfillment and joy of our clients.

Second, we each have a Spiritual Mission to fulfill. No one else can do what you do the way you do it. You may have the same product or service to offer but your way of offering it will be entirely unique.
If you know what your Spiritual Mission or Soul Purpose is, wonderful. Use this as the lens through which you do everything. If you don't yet know simply follow your passion for now, do what you love and create genuine relationships. You'll always be on the right track if you do.

And third, there is a specific population that you are meant to serve. You may have heard this called your target market, your ideal or your choice clients.

Let's call this population your ideal clients. They are the ones who are ready for your message, who will connect with you and for whom you will make the biggest difference. And imagine this - they're looking for you whether they know it or not.

You have to help them find you. You can only make a difference in their lives if they know about you, what you have to offer and how they will benefit. A part of your job is to make sure they know these things.

You were never meant to "sell" your services or products but to offer them with love and in the spirit of service.
Then There's the Money

Everyone in business wants to succeed and profits are necessary for most people to do so. Profit falls under the universal principle of increase. This occurs naturally in business when the transactions are authentic, in good faith and everyone benefits. One of your benefits is financial profit.

The money part of the transaction fulfills another universal principle, the principle of exchange. Exchange is a natural part of any relationship.

In business, money is simply an exchange for value given. It allows people to invest in themselves and in what matters most to them. And it allows you to thrive and to have a greater impact.

So forget selling! Market with Soul instead by creating relationships. Let people get to know you, what you have to offer and how they can benefit.

You have a mission, a unique message and services and products to offer. And you are meant to serve, to experience the joy of making a difference and to thrive with soul-satisfying success.

Market with Soul and have the time of your life.

Step Into Your Greatness ™. Forget selling and Market with Soul.

Reggie Odom ~ (617) 524-6153 ~ reggie@reggieodom.com ~ Jamaica Plain (Boston), MA

copyright © 2007 Reggie Odom.  All rights reserved.