How to have 'no pitch' sales conversations

Hi! You’re here because you’re a woman who runs an independent consulting business, and you want to learn how to make it more profitable. In our world, that means doing more of the work you love, with the clients you enjoy, and getting paid for your value, not your time.

Here, you'll discover effective strategies to implement in your consulting business, as well as hear inspiring stories from other smart and successful women who are also running their own consulting businesses. Along the way, you’ll learn that you can build the consulting business you want, that lets you live the life you want, and you’re not alone. 

I'm glad you're here! Let's dive in.

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One of our Academy members, (let’s call her Sarah), really hated sales conversations. In fact, even the phrase “sales conversation” made her toes curl.

She was so worried about having to pitch, coming across as “salesy,” and damaging her relationships, she found herself talking too much.

I told Sarah what I’m telling you… you don’t need to pitch in a sales conversation. 

Alan Weiss, in Value-Based Fees, says: ‘One of the greatest mistakes consultants make is to hurry through what they believe to be the ‘preliminaries’ in order to get to the ‘deal’ and the proposal.’

The problem is, if you’re worried about getting the sale or trying to fill the awkward silences, you’ll miss the opportunity to really connect with your prospects.

When you get comfortable with sales conversations, you ask better questions and listen to the answers, making the sales process much easier (and more effective).

You shouldn’t be racing through the conversation to get to the pitch and get out! The trick is to ask thoughtful questions that uncover the value your potential client is looking for.

Because this is gold dust you can use to inform all your touch points, price effectively, and create a proposal that meets them exactly where they’re at. 

In The Academy, we follow The Comfortable Sales Conversation System. 

When Sarah used this system, she realized she didn’t have to pitch. She relaxed. In fact, she actually started to ENJOY the sales process.

And although she didn’t get a yes every single time, the clients she signed were the people she wanted to work with. 

Plus, she learned a lot about the value her clients were searching for and that meant she could uplevel her sales process and services. 

Sales conversations don't have to feel 'icky', and when you approach them with the right intention, you will both enjoy and succeed at the process.

To your success,

Leah

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Hi! I'm Leah Neaderthal. I'm a sales coach for women consultants and the founder of Smart Gets Paid.

When I left my corporate career and started my first consulting business, I learned three things very quickly:

1- It’s 1000x harder to sell your own stuff than to sell someone else’s.

2- Marketing is not selling.

3- I had no idea how to sell.

I needed clients, but I didn’t know how to actually get them, and I was terrified of coming off like a used car salesman. It made me doubt whether I was even cut out to run a business.

So I taught myself how to get new clients in a way that feels authentic, allows me to be myself, and that works consistently. I now teach these techniques to others. Because I know it’s possible to learn how to land clients, and actually feel comfortable doing it, once you know how.

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Whenever you’re ready to start landing higher-paying clients, here are three ways I can help you.

1. Listen to the Smart Gets Paid Podcast

You’ll hear me chat with my actual clients as we tackle their biggest challenges in getting new clients, and you’ll learn sales strategies you can use today in your own business. It's the only podcast that can help you land higher-paying clients in your B2B consulting business. Listen on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.

2. Get your copy of Referrals on Repeat

If you’ve gotten clients through referrals or word-of-mouth, and you want to start getting referral clients more consistently, get your copy of Referrals on Repeat, and start getting more referrals coming into your business today: smartgetspaid.com/referrals

3. Break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business with help from my team and me.

Learn the proven, step-by-step system women like you are using to get more of the clients they want, get paid way more for their consulting contracts, and build confidence that they know what they’re doing to get clients. Send me a message here on LinkedIn with “Breakthrough” in the first line and I’ll get you the details.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready to start landing higher-paying clients, here are three ways I can help you.

1. Listen to the Smart Gets Paid Podcast

You’ll hear me chat with my actual clients as we tackle their biggest challenges in getting new clients, and you’ll learn sales strategies you can use today in your own business. It's the only podcast that can help you land higher-paying clients in your B2B consulting business. Listen on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.

2.  Get your copy of Referrals on Repeat

If you’ve gotten clients through referrals, and you want to get them intentionally instead of waiting around for referrals to happen, grab our 5-step system to help you fill your pipeline with referrals consistently. Get your copy of Referrals on Repeat today: smartgetspaid.com/referrals. 

3. Learn a proven system and implement it in a community of like-minded women running real consulting businesses. 

You've gotten this far without a sales strategy... imagine what would happen if you had one. Learn the proven, step-by-step system women like you are using to get more of the clients they want and get paid for their value, not their time. And get help from me and my team every step of the way. Send me a message with "Clients" in the first line and I’ll get you the details.