Kat Millar

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5 Ways to Future-Proof Your Business

We’re in interesting times and things are changing day-by-day. More than ever we need to be investing in our businesses by keeping up with trends, the current technology that’s available to us as business owners, and making sure that we’re not getting left behind.

If you’ve ever had thoughts about whether you want to go into business full time, part-time or have a side hustle for yourself, then you’ve probably thought about the fact that the world is changing a lot at the moment.

You may have questioned what this means for business owners? We’ve always got to be up-skilling and keeping current, so here are 5 ways that you can make sure that you future-proof your business.

Number 1 – Be Tech Savvy

Technology is evolving at a rapid rate, and if we want to future-proof our business, we’ve got to be able to keep up with it. As a business owner, here are 3 things I recommend you’re on top of regarding technology.

1. Video

Doing videos is important, especially at the moment as we can’t run live events. It’s so important that you get your skills up to speed with video software, Facebook Lives, plus online platforms like Zoom, where you can have group chats and conversations online.

There are so many amazing functionalities with Zoom. I was crewing and assisting in a coaching certification course over the last six days, where there were about 70 participants on the Zoom call. The International Coaching Federation changed their rules during the COVID-19 season, to be able to qualify coaches online.

We are now in a world where people can coach each other in an online platform, and I was able to jump into the different breakout rooms and assist and help people by observing their 1-1 coaching. It went from 10 am to 6:30 pm for six days.

At the end, they did a poll and 79% of people said that they enjoyed doing the event online, more than they did the live event, which I found fascinating.

It’s so important that you stay up to speed with technology and you don’t have to be a total tech whiz either. There are so many programs that are really user friendly, but you’ve got to learn it.

2. A C.R.M System  

I also recommend that you make sure that you have a C.R.M (a customer relationship management system). It’s so essential to being able to email your clients in a professional and effective way.

Using a platform like Mail Chimp, you can separate out your audiences, segment your email list and target different people for different needs.

You can automate your emails and link it all to your other platforms.

And you CAN have a really automated business that runs smoothly and streamlined without losing a quality client experience.

3. Funnels

You also want to make sure you have landing page software. I love using ClickFunnels, it’s by far is the one that I find most user friendly, and it has most functionality for what I want to do.

I host my webinars, online course, and landing pages for 1-1 sessions, freebies, and events on ClickFunnels and it’s all automated and synced to auto-responders.

Funnels are life-changing! They allow simple automation and save LOADS of time.

I never thought that I would be the kind of person that would sit down and learn how to create marketing funnels, but I’m so grateful that I have because now I’ll get an idea, create the landing page in the funnel and everything is all set up.

I can do it in about 45 minutes now from start to finish. From an idea that I have in my head, all the way through to having the funnel set up in less than an hour.

4. Online Calendar

Automation is key with business. You want to make sure that you’ve got an online calendar that people can easily book in with you and also change appointments. I use Calendly and really like the functionality of it.

It saves loads of time going back and forth with people, and means people are more likely to book in because they’re doing it on the spot, rather than waiting for you to get back to them. It’s a game-changer.

5. Online Payment Processing

Having an effective online payment system is something you need when looking at automation, so you can take payments from people – and not end up being a bank! You don’t want to chase people for money. You want that system to be seamless.

You want to be able to send invoices to people, and it’s all done in an automated way rather than manually, so you save loads of time.

I promise you the technology is there, you can do it, but you do need to up-skill in that area.

Automation is an important key for how we future-proof our business. There can be a lot to learn, but if we don’t we’re just going to be left behind.

Number 2 – Build Your Personal Brand

Building your personal brand is so important.

A brand isn’t a logo, it’s not your pretty colours. That’s part of your branding. The most important thing in branding is that you’re showing up that you are giving value, and that you are helping people.

You are providing value with your content, your videos and through your writing.  It takes intentionality.

You always need to be visible, out there and talking to your people. There’s a tribe of people that you are here to serve.

You need to grow and develop your community and be a community leader. Step up as a thought leader. You have skills, knowledge, experience, stories, hard work and personality that makes up who you are and your brand.

No one is like you, as no one can do it the way you do it. No one has got your unique D.N.A, your unique mission here on this planet.

People are struggling and you can help them. You help people by showing up to your Facebook group and to your communities online, jumping onto video so that people can connect with you, giving value to your community – it’s all part of building your personal brand.

Number 3 – Extend Your Network

At the moment, we’re not going to in-person business breakfasts, seminars, workshops or conferences, but we’ve got an incredible opportunity to network in the online space.

What I recommend that you do in order to position yourself as someone who is a thought leader, has influence and adds value, is to start running your own online events.

There are a whole lot of things you can do – like a webinar, summit, Facebook challenge or one-day online workshops.

This helps you raise your positioning which can open up opportunities for you to be a guest speaker in other people’s spaces.

I’ve done about seven of these during this pandemic season. People have asked me to come on their podcasts, and I’ve done a range of summits and talks.

Put yourself out there by showing up online with value, so that you’re more likely get invited to be a guest speaker about your expertise.

It really gives you exposure and expands your reach. It puts you in touch with other audiences and networks. If you don’t have a big email database, then you want to tap into other people’s communities.

The reason I get invited is that people have gotten to know me, because I’ve built a Facebook group and a YouTube channel and I’ve consistently put out content. That’s when you start to really extend your networks and people start inviting you to speak and introducing you to their networks.

Number 4 –  Develop Your Key Skills  

There are five main skills that I recommend that you develop if you want to future-proof your business.

1. Marketing Skills

Marketing skills are so important and investing in these skills will only help your business.

Be honest and rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 regarding how good you are at marketing, how good you are at attracting clients and running Facebook adverts. If your skills are on the lower end of the scale, then invest in some marketing training.

2. Sales Skills

How good are you at having sales conversations and being able to connect, engage and influence people? How good are you at getting money into your bank account by these conversations? If this is an area you are lacking in, then up-skill in sales.

3. Copywriting Skills

Having the ability to write in a way that draws people in is a key skill. How good are you at writing landing pages, sales letters, emails, captioning your social media posts? Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. If you are on the lower end, then up-skill in copywriting.

4. Your Ability to Present

Your ability to speak on camera is key. Being engaging, building rapport and connection is important for future-proofing your business.

Being able to stand up in front of a group and present is a skill that if you can do it, you will easily be able to get clients  and you will also position yourself as an expert authority.

5. Technology Skills

Developing your tech skills is so important. Learning how to create funnels, put together landing pages, set up Zoom, synch your emails and calendars are important tech skills that are needed in business at this time.

I recommend that if things aren’t working for you, if you know that you’re not making as much money as you want to and don’t have as many client’s as you want, then commit to up-skilling to future-proof your business.

5 –  Build a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset embraces challenges. It loves a good challenge! That’s the entrepreneurial mindset. When problems come along, you don’t get dramatic, you don’t get emotional, you don’t get stuck in the problem, you don’t blame others and you don’t make excuses.

You are on! You’re switched and when the challenge comes, you know you’ve got this! This is a growth mindset. There are a lot of people that start in business and don’t make it, because they’ve got a nine-to-five mentality. They’ve got a fixed mindset.

It’s so important that we keep up-skilling and investing in our businesses, because businesses are an asset.

If we continue to invest time, energy and money, we will continue to future-proof our business.Want to know how to apply these strategies to your own business, so you can attract new paying clients?

I’m running a FREE half-day online workshop on Saturday 23rd May ‘Attract New Clients With Ease’.

I’m sharing my proven 5-step Client Attraction Formula. It’s been tried and tested and it works.

Click here to learn more

Hope to see you soon!

Take care,
Kat xo

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5 Of The Best Ways To Market Your Services At The Moment

I think you would agree that the way we do business has changed dramatically for many of us recently!

Things are shifting and changing in the online world and the way we do our marketing.

When it comes to business, we need to be able to roll with change, be flexible and be adaptable in order to keep growing and succeeding in our goals.

It’s important to make sure that we keep up-to-date with what’s happening in business and in own individual industries so we don’t get left behind.

Here are 5 of the best ways to market your services online during these changing times:

Number 1 – Consistent Content

 

The first way that I recommend that you market your services at the moment is by doing consistent content. There are three main things that you’ve got to make sure with your content.

The first one, you’ve got to make sure that it’s original. So you don’t want to just be reposting other people’s posts you don’t want to just be putting up quotes.

You need to be making unique content that is in your unique voice, using your tonality  and stories of your experiences.

That’s why people will follow you as opposed to just downloading information from the internet, they want to get to know you, they want to know your skills, your experience, your knowledge, your unique combination of personality and style.

Make sure that your content is original, relevant and targeted to your ideal client and niche.

This is always one of the first steps that I take with all of my clients, to help them to make sure that they have nailed their niche – that their niche is really tight, because if you don’t have a tight niche, you’ll be competing with everyone.

If you’re a coach for example and you just call yourself a life coach, it is way too broad in general and it will be very hard for you to be a master, being an expert in one thing.

You also want to make sure that your content is consistent, regular and targeted to your ideal client.

If you stick to your ideal client, to your brilliance and genius zone, you’ll be able to post so much content because you know it and don’t have to research it.

Ideally you need to be getting on a camera. I know it can be scary but it’s a must in your business, especially in the age that we’re in, we cannot afford to hide anymore.

If you want your business to grow, if you want to get more pay clients, you need to be able to present yourself on video.

Number 2 – Client Attraction Funnels

 

A funnel is a process that leads someone from not knowing you at all, to nurturing them and them getting to know, like, and trust you, and for some people, eventually becoming a paid client.

If you want to automate your marketing and have a consistent stream of leads coming in, you need to make sure you’ve got a funnel that leads them through the process and we can do this in an automated way, while also providing an exceptional client experience.

Even though a lot of the steps are automated, you’ve got to make sure your client has an excellent experience.

I teach how to automate all of these steps in my accelerator program, so that you can start to remove yourself a bit from all the manual tasks and have more freedom.

Initially, it takes work to set up funnels where for example, you might set up a landing page and you offer people a great downloadable free guide, cheatsheet or checklist.

It’s something of value that takes your client from A to B. Your paid program is taking them from A to Z, but your free offer that goes into your funnel might take them from A to B.

Your ideal client opts in, they put their name and email in, and then you continue to nurture them and provide value.

This nurture process builds trust and establishes connection with your ideal client and as they move through the funnel, they become a paid client.

You give value to them through the process, through your emails, Facebook lives and other educational content that you create.

Social media activity has increased by 70%, according to one statistic that I read. There are SO many eyeballs that have migrated online.

And if you don’t have a funnel to capture people, you’re getting left behind. You’re literally leaving money on the table, and people that you can help have been left behind as well.

So that’s the client attraction funnel.

Number 3 – Crafted Webinars

 

With crafted webinars, there’s a whole specific way of doing it to get paid clients.

You need to create really valuable content and present it for free, but also it’s important that that you’re not over-teaching.  You show people a section of what you can help them with, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle.

In the webinars you show people how to get from A – B,  but you lead people from your webinar into making them an offer of your signature system or program which takes them from A – Z.

Make  sure that you’re really clear that if they want the support and accountability and if they want the online community,  it’s your signature program that they will get that in.

Webinars are so popular at the moment, and the people doing them are absolutely smashing it.

I did my first webinar in 2016 and it was one of the most scary things I’ve ever done. I actually found it harder than running live events because of my fear of technology.

But I pushed through and now I’ve done hundreds of them. I really love them and they are super effective.

If you’re willing to step up and learn you will be ahead of your competitors, because it requires you to face rejection, fear and self-doubt.

It’s not an easy path, but most of your competitors are taking the easy path, because it’s the path of least resistance..

Doing crafted webinars well can separate you from your competition and is a fast way to attract new clients.

Number 4 –  Create Community Online

 

If you’re a leader or a business owner don’t just hang around in other people’s Facebook groups. Have your own Facebook or LinkedIn group and build your own community.

Having your own group means you are building your authority and expertise. You’re positioning yourself as a thought leader and as a subject matter expert. And it’s also a way for you to find out what people are struggling with, what problems people have and what common goals and visions  people have.

These communities  become a really supportive, beautiful space. It’s not the easy road and you have to be consistent with your content and that means you have to show up, whether you feel like it or not.

It’s about making a commitment. When you do that, everything changes in your business. That’s when things started to change for me, when I got committed to showing up consistently.

Most of my clients now didn’t sign up straight away. (I’ve got 29 clients at the moment). Most of those clients consumed my content they watched me over time.

Only 3% of people are active buyers at any one time. 7% are interested and know that they need to solve a problem.

Which means that around 90% of people that see your online posts are not ready to buy. So having an online community allows you to provide value, nurture people and build trust and rapport over time for when people are ready to buy.

Number 5 – Create Facebook Ads

 

The price of Facebook ads is declining. According to the new New York Times,  Facebook ad prices have declined by about 50%.

According to some other studies I’ve read recently, Facebook ads are the cheapest they’ve been in six years.

Predominately because so many industries have removed themselves from Facebook advertising, like travel, entertainment, hospitality etc.

I also heard recently of a guy who used to invest $1,000 and would get about 40,000 views on a video.

Now he’ll invest half of that, about $500 in Facebook ads and get about 80,000 video views.

So that’s about four times bigger.

You have a unique opportunity right now to maximise this at the moment.

You can build your email list, capture a whole lot of leads for a lot cheaper.

But soon the restrictions are going to be lifted and things are going to change, so there is quite a unique small window that we have right now, before prices start going back up.

The important thing is to make sure that you get your message clear, influential and that it lands to the right people.

So if you want to get more clients, I highly recommend that you pick at least one of these strategies and get going on it straight away.

Do you want to learn the best way to apply these strategies and attract new paying clients?

I’m running a FREE ½ day online workshop on Saturday 23rd May, ‘Attract New Clients With Ease’.

For more info about the workshop, go here

Stay safe and well,

Kat

 

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7 Reasons Why Coaches Struggle To Sign Up Clients

The restrictions might be starting to lift, however, the financial crisis could keep going for some time.

I believe that in this time in history, it is more crucial than ever to be able to sell our services.

Selling is the #1 way that we keep our businesses afloat.

Selling helps people to improve their lives. It enables people to get more of what they want.

It’s an incredible feeling if you are offering something to someone who is going to benefit and get a result that transforms their life.

Yet so many business owners avoid learning sales skills.

I believe that more than ever, it’s a time for us to serve people and make offers to people who need help.

Selling is not about convincing someone or changing someone’s mind. It’s about having good conversations and seeing if you’re the right match to work together.

Sales is the #1 way to increase the numbers in your bank account, which is going to give you more freedom and more choice in your life.

And the best part is that we get to do it while doing what we love and helping people!

Here are seven reasons most coaches struggle to sell their services…

Number 1 – Asking too few questions

Effective sales conversations come from asking effective questions. Unfortunately people have negative associations with sales. Effective selling is about asking effective questions. I call them power questions.

These questions open up your potential clients’ minds ways to overcome their limiting beliefs about themselves, about you and about what you’re offering.

Effective questions, help the person to come to the realisation themselves that they actually need, what it is that you’re offering.

We need to spend at least 70% of the conversation asking questions. This is not interrogating, but asking elegant questions.

Some examples of effective sale questions are:

  • Tell me what your life would be like if you solved this problem?
  • Tell me what it’s costing you to not have this problem solved?
  • How is it affecting you?
  • Why is it important to you to solve this?
  • How is this affecting your family, relationships and health?
  • If you could change, what would be your ultimate result?
  • What have you tried in the past, and what has worked for you?
  • What hasn’t worked for you?

By asking these questions, you’re really digging in and getting to know the person to find out if they’re a match for you and to see if that person really wants to buy what you have to offer.

Number 2 – Talking Too Much or Too Little

If people who are selling to me talk too much, it makes me want to get out of the conversation. Talking too much can kill a sale for you.

No matter how good your product and offer is, talking too much doesn’t give the person you are talking to time to evaluate their own needs.

I understand that we often talk too much because we are nervous and to fill the air. There is value in allowing breathing space for people to contemplate their needs.

Now talking too little can also kill a sale. If a salesperson is not talking much, it makes me question what they are not telling me and why!

Both talking too much and too little lead back to the base of using a sales call as an opportunity to build a relationship with a potential client.

Remember that relationships go two ways. Asking the right questions and listening to needs helps you both work out if you are a match to work together.

Number 3 – Coming Across Too Strong

There’s a concept that I teach called strength and warmth. Strength and warmth is the spectrum of how we need both sides to be compelling and influential.

There’s a great book called Compelling People. In this book, they studied influential people and found they had a really good balance between strength and warmth.

There’s a sweet spot in the middle of being both strong and warm. By strong I mean you are quite direct and confident. You’re telling the person that you can absolutely help them, you’re giving them lots of assurance. People respect it and feel safe.

You tip over too much to one end of the spectrum and it can come across very forceful and almost rude. Most of us are actually scared of coming across like that. And so, for most of you, I imagine that you’re not strong enough.

Number 4 – Coming Across Too Soft

The fourth reason that coaches don’t sign up clients is coming across too soft. If you go too much on the warm end of the spectrum you can come across quite fluffy and apologetic. As soon as there’s any sign that a person might throw an objection out at you, you accept it, because you’re scared of rejection.

So instead of having an open authentic conversation, you end up just being really fluffy and avoiding it. We need to be strong and we need to kind to help people through their limiting beliefs and rejections.

Building good rapport with the person is crucial. You can say something like, ‘I can feel that this really seems like a problem for you.’ ‘What other options do you have if you don’t go here?’ Help people solve their problem rather than just running as soon as there’s any sign of any doubt.

So don’t be too strong, and forceful and blunt and direct and don’t be too soft. Find that nice sweet spot in the middle where you’re having a genuine human conversation with another person to see if you’re a match.

Number 5 – You’re Too Expensive

Many people try and go quite high in their charging before actually testing the market. They put their price too high before they’ve actually got the experience.

Make sure that if you’re not signing up any paid clients, you might need to drop your price to get some results and some great runs on the board. If you’ve not got testimonials to back your service, then you’re going to struggle to sell yourself at a higher price.

Build up your client base and build your testimonials. Testimonials of your clients’ transformations are essential for your business. This may mean doing some free coaching sessions in return for a testimonial and to build up your experience.

Number 6 – You’re Too Cheap

You’ve got to be in the middle- not too expensive and not too cheap. If you haven’t had any paid clients yet, you might give a discount for the first three clients in return for a testimonial.

If you’ve been coaching for ages and you’ve got clients already, then this is different, but when you’re starting out, it’s really important that you get results and transformations.  Then you can do things like webinars because you can only to webinars if you’ve had results for people.

If you feel that you’re a bit resentful when you tell people your price and if you feel like you’ve dropped the price because you are desperate for sales, then you may well need to increase your price.

People won’t value you if you’ve priced your service too cheaply.  The biggest investment I’ve made into my business was a $17,000 business course.  Because I had invested, I turned up and did the work.

If you are too cheap, people will just think that you’re not good, so please don’t undersell yourself!

Number 7 – Having Too Little Confidence

When we gain confidence to charge what we’re worth, we can have great conversations with people and we can confidently communicate our value.

When we truly know that we’re providing great value to someone and getting them results, it helps build our confidence. I’m working with clients, every single day. Last week I had 18 clients and this week I’ve worked with 27 clients and I’m getting them results.

I’m giving people value and helping them and this gives me a lot of confidence. So you’ve got to be good at what you do and you’ve got to be able to communicate what you do well and with confidence.

To gain confidence you need to do lots of practice sessions. I’ve literally given hundreds of free coaching sessions to people and it built up my practice and it also built my confidence in selling and making offers.

The next thing with confidence is making sure that you’re speaking to the right person. It’s very hard to sell to someone who genuinely doesn’t need what you’ve got. I try and prequalify people beforehand through a questionnaire.

Only work with committed people because your reputation is valuable. Your reputation and brand is more important than money.

Make sure that you’re only having sales conversations with people who you know you can definitely get a transformation and results for. That is going to build your confidence.

If you want to know the best way to sell during these current times, I recently ran a FREE 90-minute masterclass called ‘Selling Equals Service’

It was a powerful session and I received lots of great feedback afterwards.

I talked through 5 keys to effective selling and shared a 6-step VALUES based selling framework that I personally use and share with my clients.

In case you missed it, I’ve created a replay which is now available for the next 48 hours. ?

? Grab Your Free Access Here

P.S. The content is a game-changer if you want to sign up your ideal paying clients, so don’t procrastinate – take action and watch it today before it comes down!

Enjoy!

Kat

 

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How To Overcome Your Own Objections To Selling

This week I’ve been having lots of conversations with people about sales and the beliefs people have about selling.

With the current economic climate, the topic of whether people should be selling, discounting or holding back and retreating is in a lot of people’s minds.

People are wondering “Is it appropriate to sell during these times?”

There are a host of limiting beliefs coming to the surface during this coronavirus season.

This is highlighting the difference between people who truly believe they have something valuable to offer

I don’t know your unique business situation, but I wanted to offer some ways of thinking about it to help you out.

If you’re a business owner and your service genuinely helps and serves people and improves their life, sales is key.

Sales is the ONE THING that will improve your financial position and give you more of what you love.

Sales are the key to bringing you freedom in your business and in your life.

Marketing, copywriting and presenting are all things we need to do well, but ultimately if we can’t get people to put money into our bank accounts, we will never be truly free. We will always be working for someone else.

I’m talking to all leaders, coaches, consultants, educators, thought leaders and subject matter experts. If you are a heart-based business owner, this is for you.

I want to ask you a question: what comes to your mind when I say the words ‘selling is…’? What’s literally the first things that come to mind?

If you hold the belief that selling is in any way negative, such as scary of difficult, that’s going to affect your ability to sell. If you feel like sales is hard, why would you do it?  You’ll avoid it at all costs. And then your business will suffer.

Your very first reaction to the words ‘selling is’ and the definition you give the word ‘sales’ is going to determine your success in business.

The number one asset that you have when you’re selling is confidence. If you’re not confident in how your product or service will help someone, no one will buy from you.

There IS a way of selling, that is enjoyable for BOTH parties; it’s authentic and exciting. It gives both parties more of what they want. But first, you need to sell YOURSELF on selling.

Here are 5 ways to overcome your own objections to selling:

1 – Write Down all the Beliefs you Have About Selling

Be honest about your current beliefs around sales and write them down. Do you hold beliefs that sales are difficult? Do sales equate to fear of rejection for you?

Two of the most important needs that we have as human beings is to belong and the other need is to be accepted and not rejected. The truth is that in doing business, you will meet people who don’t like you or what your business stands for.

If you’re not willing to be hated by at least one person, then you’re not cut-out for business.

If you are trying to be all things to all people and avoid rejection, you won’t take risks and being in business takes being willing to take risks. I challenge you, be honest with yourself about your core beliefs around sales. The first step to change is being honest about where you are truly at.

2 – Identify Limiting Beliefs and Objections to Sales

Number 2 is to write down any limiting beliefs or objections you have about sales. Some of these would have come into your list in Number 1.

Do you believe selling is hard or awkward? Or do you have definitions of sales that are positive and empowering? What objections to selling and limiting beliefs around sales do you have?

Now circle all the beliefs that are empowering and cross out any beliefs that disempower and limit you.

Consider reframing these beliefs. Where you feel selling is scary, write down what you want to believe that is empowering, like selling is exciting. Write down what the opposite is of the negative and limiting belief.

If you want to start seeing sales as enjoyable, write down all the reasons why selling is fun and exciting. It means you are helping people and you are also making money from helping people.

3 – Sell Yourself on Selling

Sell yourself on all the reasons that selling is a positive and not a negative. Selling is caring for others and helping people which brings meaning to sales.

The number one thing that you can do to increase your financial position is to get brilliant at sales. Where you’re at right now is directly in proportion to your ability to sell.

There’s many other skills we need in business such as copywriting, marketing and presenting skills, but selling is the one thing that directly brings money into your bank account.

If you don’t have money in your bank account it’s because of your mindset around selling and it’s because of your mindset around your worth and your value. If you truly value yourself and what you do then why wouldn’t you sell it?

This is why I love selling because I genuinely help people improve their lives every single day. I coach and encourage people and they improve their lives. This is the power of what I offer, so I will never stop selling because it helps people change their lives completely. It’s a win-win.

We’ve been programmed to believe that selling is a bad thing and we need to break that conditioning, People assume selling is about greed and money-grabbing.  If you’re offering something to someone who doesn’t need it, then you’re not really selling, you’re manipulating.

When you overcome your fear of rejection in sales, it can become fun. Reframe your beliefs around selling to understand that you are enhancing people’s lives. The money follows when you really want to help people.

4 – Write Down Why Selling Will Give You More of What You Want

You’re improving someone’s life by selling them your product or service. You’re helping others and in return, you are also helped. You are going to get so much satisfaction and joy if you can sell during a difficult period.

The financial crisis has not peaked yet. In fact, maybe in five or six months time, the government will take away its help and banks will stop putting pauses on loans. This is the time when there is government and bank assistance so it’s a great time to sell.

Think of all the people that you can help through the lows. There is so much opportunity for freedom at this time. And sales gives you the freedom to enjoy in life what you want to enjoy.

If I didn’t know how to sell I wouldn’t have freedom.  I wouldn’t be able to work full time in my business and be an entrepreneur.

Without sales, I’d be stuck in a job that I didn’t enjoy. I’ve been there and I hated life. I was miserable, depressed, moody and tired all the time. I don’t want to go back there.

I made friends with sales and I’m so glad I did as it keeps me living my purpose.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and for your business is to make selling your friend.

 5 – Give Your Brain Evidence That Sales is Enjoyable

Prove to your brain that selling is enjoyable. Rather than just saying affirmations and trying to believe them, prove it by taking action.

People are always asking me how to find clients. I tell them that their clients are already out there, on their  laptop or on the phone. You need to reach out and tell them that you can help them. You need to risk rejection and risk someone saying no.

Just ask questions.

For example “Are you still looking for help with growing your business or with improving your home or losing weight?”

Ask people how they are going during this time and if they need help with whatever it is you do.

You can offer a free session, and just use it to give back to people.  About 90% of the sales conversations I have with people is them talking to me and me listening, coaching and helping them.

I don’t even think of these conversations as sales conversations, as I genuinely know I can help people.

It’s amazing the number of business owners that I talked to who are struggling to make money and they can’t afford to pay for Facebook ads. This is most likely because they are not having enough sales conversations.

 

If you want to know the best way to sell during these current times, I recently ran a FREE 90-minute masterclass called ‘Selling Equals Service’

It was a powerful session and I received lots of great feedback afterwards.

I talked through 5 keys to effective selling and shared a 6-step VALUES based selling framework that I personally use and share with my clients.

In case you missed it, I’ve created a replay which is now available for the next 48 hours. ?

? Grab Your Free Access Here

P.S. The content is a game-changer if you want to sign up your ideal paying clients, so don’t procrastinate – take action and watch it today before it comes down!

Enjoy!

Kat

 

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5 Stages of Mindset Change

 

We are collectively walking together through a crisis period, one that is filled with great uncertainty for many of us.

We are in a time of loss. We still have so much to be grateful for, yet we have also lost a lot.

And I believe important to acknowledge that and grieve the loss in a healthy way.

I think it’s wise to acknowledge and feel our feelings, whatever they are.

None of us have ever been through this. And many of us are struggling to adapt to the changes that have happened so fast.

Stress happens when our bodies feel fear and we don’t process our thoughts and feelings in a healthy way.

We can’t function and perform well for ourselves, our clients, our communities or our businesses if we live in a constant state of stress.

We can’t pour from an empty cup.

So the first step is becoming aware of what’s happening internally.

How we walk out this crisis is determined by the mindset we choose as we navigate through it.

I’ve recently noticed a cycle in my own thinking through this time, and also in the thinking of some of my clients and friends.

I have named this cycle the 5 stages of mindset change.

In this video and article I share the 5 stages in the cycle and how they manifest in your life, so you can determine how to move to the next stage and use this time to become more resilient.

Stage 1 – React

The first mindset change is to react. We are all reacting very differently to the circumstances around us.

There’s one thing we can’t control and that’s the circumstances around us.

The circumstance is neutral until we put thought and meaning to it. A circumstance cannot make us feel anything.

There are plenty of things we can control, like our thoughts, our emotions, our actions, and our results.

This isn’t anything new, this is well-known in the world of psychology.

This is the way our brain works and what happens when we realise that our reaction to a circumstance is within our control.

We might not control our initial impulse to react, but we can control the meaning we give to the circumstance.

We can control our thoughts about the circumstance, which then controls our feelings about it. Our actions and behaviours follow on from there.

Realising there is so much we can control is very helpful when we feel out of control with a lot of uncertainty in our lives.

We all react differently. Some people are in different stages.  If you think about the stages of grief, there is shock, then there’s numbness. I’ve definitely had some numbness where I’ve found I’m not remembering things and my brain is foggy.

Some of us do what I call going to ‘BED’.

B is for blame

E is for excuses

D is for denial.

We might rotate between blaming other people and blaming ourselves for how we feel. We make excuses. We can start saying that we are not going to achieve our goals or we are not going to move forward.

We can deny our feelings and the changes and almost ‘pretend it’s not happening. In this stage we are reacting to what’s happening rather than taking control of our responses. It’s like we want to just hang out until it’s all over.

Stress occurs in a number of ways and can show up in physical, mental, emotional and behavioural red flags.  We might feel irritable, moody and unmotivated. We might find ourselves over-consuming and indulging in bad habits. These are all symptoms of stress and occur in the ‘react’ stage.

Stage 2 – Reflect

In this stage, we start to reflect on how we’ve chosen to react. Some people never make it to the reflecting stage.

Have we chosen to retreat or advance, to become stronger and grow, or have we hidden from facing the reality of the crisis?

To reflect is healthy. Be open with yourself about how you are feeling and how you have been handling the situation.

Reflection allows us to GROW from this situation.

We can choose a growth mindset that takes what’s thrown at us and we can use it to become stronger, more powerful and more evolved.

We can live at the ’cause’ side of the equation.

Or we can live at the ‘effect’ side.

We all have a choice. We can choose to retreat or advance, choose to become stronger or diminish during this time. This all starts with reflection. 

Stage 3 – Recover

The next stage that a lot of people move to, is what I call recover.

In the recovery stage, we’ve reflected on how we’ve reacted, and then we start to recover.

We start to become more self-aware, self-accepting and accepting of the situation.

We may have been frustrated or angry at having things taken from us.

For example for me, I was so frustrated that I couldn’t use the gym! Going to the gym has been part of my life for 25 years and it was wired into my habits and lifestyle and even identity. It was a coping mechanism.

I would go from feeling frustration at not being able to go to the gym, to feeling guilt and beat myself up for being silly that it’s such a ‘first world problem’. Then I went to feeling compassion for myself for the loss. Even if it seems small and insignificant to someone else.

I’ve realised that I had to grieve the loss of that part of my life. That it’s ok.

Have you lost things that form part of your identity and are also a coping mechanism? If that’s you, I understand.

There is a sense of loss and grieving that comes with any type of loss of something or someone we’re used to.

When you start to recover, you look at the possibilities.

You ask yourself things like “How do I want to be in this season? What can I do differently? How can I meet my needs in a different way, now that restrictions are in place?”

Stage 4 – Reset

The reset stage is a stage where you need to have empathy for yourself and for others.

This is the stage to show yourself kindness, grace and compassion for what you’ve been going through.

This is where the rebooting and recharging kicks in and your creativity gets turned back on.

Recently, I’ve been wanting to plant some things on my balcony. I want to do some painting and I want to write more poetry.

I want to sort out my online systems and I feel more motivated to make changes, whereas in the first few weeks of this, I was feeling numb, confused, lost and a bit all over the place.

In the reset phase, we make empowering changes.

For example I’ve committed to a friend to meet in the park and motivate each other, go for bike rides and take the weights out.

I’ve committed to some non-negotiables of daily sunshine, nature and movement.

I’ve committed to showing up online, regardless of how I feel. I’ve committed to being productive.

The reset stage is putting in some routines, making sure that you have a schedule and keeping some sense of certainty.

Your brain is freaking out right now because there are so many unanswered questions. We don’t know how long this is going to last. There is so much uncertainty.

Having routine brings certainty to your brain. I need a sense of routine every day. I need to stop staying up late. I need to go to bed earlier and get up with a plan every day. I need to stick to my daily plan and weekly goals.

If you’ve fallen down and gotten off of the track, forgive yourself, pick yourself back up again and start showing up in a way that inspires you.

Stage 5 – Resilience


Resilience is your ability to bounce back from stress.

This is where we shift from the stress response to being strong.

Resilience is about acknowledging your feelings of stress and being kin

d to yourself and deciding to use them to grow.

When we are in the resilient stage, we feel strong, resourceful, creative and powerful.

But then something might happen and we find ourselves back in stage 1 as we react again and go back around the cycle again.

We’ve all been feeling certain levels of stress. It’s important to acknowledge that it is stress and that your brain doesn’t feel safe due to the upheaval we have all been experiencing.

When you feel stress rising up in your body, take a moment to do some stress relief actions:

* Deep breathing or meditation.

* Increase your movement and intake of healthy food.

* Externalising your thoughts – journaling, or processing with a coach or friend.

* If you have nervous energy and find yourself scrolling, find something to create something and do things with your hands.

Remember that comforting yourself is different to caring for yourself.

Most of all – be kind to you. You’re doing great, my friend. Even if you don’t think you are.

I know we all try to be strong and independent, powerful leaders, but we’re all going through this together. It helps us if we are open, honest and vulnerable.

When we face these feelings, it allows us to move on to the resilience stage more quickly.

You don’t need to rush to resilience. The by-product of reflecting, recovering and resetting will be resilience.

Love to hear your thoughts.

Are you a service-based business owner?

Do you need help setting up an online funnel, so you can attract new clients?

I’m offer a free 30-minute strategy session here

*First-time sessions

I’ll help you clarity your next steps to building your own, profit-producing marketing funnel, fast.

Looking forward to helping you get more clients online!

Take care and stay strong,

Kat

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