Hi!
Alright, let's get straight into it while our coffee's still hot.
The Level Set: If sales makes you feel small, this issue is for you. The whole job is matchmaking. Here is what that means and why it takes the fear out.
Expert Insight of the WeekMost people carry a deeply negative association with sales. They picture persuasion. Manipulation. Talking someone into something they do not need.
Great sales works nothing like that. Sales is matchmaking. I know. I know. I've said this before, BUT IT IS TRUE.
Your job is to figure out whether a genuine fit exists between a client's painful, pervasive, urgent, expensive problem and your expertise, and whether the timing, the budget and the outcome they want all line up. When those variables align, everyone wins.
When they do not, walking away is the right decision.
From convincing →matchmaking
When you are matchmaking instead of convincing it completely changes the energy in the room. Instead of showing up subordinate or desperate, you show up as an experienced peer evaluating whether you are the right person for the engagement.
I said this to a room of a hundred-plus consultants at our Sales Intensive and I will say it here too: "It's like game sees game. We're looking eye to eye. You're not a subservient salesperson. You're a person with incredible breadth and depth and width of experience and expertise and wisdom to bring."
And you are not selling to a logo. You are not selling to Nike. Even if you are selling INTO Nike. It's scary as hell to be thinking about a company. But humans are what make up a company. So focus on being a person, and being helpful, and approaching with curiosity.
One tidbit to hold onto while you do: 50% of the buying decision comes down to whether or not your prospect likes you.
HEARR me™
Matchmaking only works when the person across from you feels heard. Every prospect is silently running the same questions: Do you really hear me? Do you understand me? Do you get me? Do you see me? Do you respect me? Are you curious, or are you just trying to shove a pitch down my throat?
I built a framework around those questions. HEARR me:
Hyper-personalization,
Experiential,
Accountability,
Relationships,
Results.
Design your offers, your marketing and your sales process around those five and you will win more deals, at higher rates, faster, with clients you actually love. I have yet to meet a business model or subject matter expertise these could not pair with.
| 
