7 Things I’ve Learned (the hard way) about Enrollment Conversations

When I first started leading sales calls, I basically sucked. Big time.

I had no idea what I was doing…but more importantly — I had no idea whom I was supposed to be.

I was scared sh*tless (excuse my language) that I’d come off as stupid or pushy, and I thought I was supposed to show up as a know-it-all, emotionless salesperson who spoke with slick words and shiny-sounding surface ideas.

Luckily, that tactic failed pretty immediately, and it freed me up to do the real work of mastering enrollment conversations — of going deep to truly connect with my prospect and to lead sales calls that not only yielded business, but gave both my prospects and me a sense of integrity, empowerment and a knowing that something sacred and transformational had happened on that call.

Since then, not only have I come to love enrollment calls, but I’ve trained hundreds of entrepreneurs (as well as my own sales team) to have successful & high integrity enrollments.

Here are 7 of my favorite things I’ve learned about sales over the last 12 years:
(I’m sharing in shorthand because I know you don’t have time for a megillah)

1: Level the Playing Field

One of the biggest snafus that soul-centered entrepreneurs get caught in when it comes to enrollment conversations is that you step into it not feeling on equal ground with your prospect. You feel “less than”, or in some cases “more than” the person you’re speaking with.

When there’s an uneven playing field, there is miscommunication, misalignment, energy leaks, and it’s basically impossible to make the sale.

But if you can come to the conversation truly understanding and believing that both you and your prospect are to be respected, are to be honored, and are on equal ground, that’s when deep connection can happen, and that’s when sales magic is in the air.

2: Stand Up to Your Biggest Fears

If you bring a Fear of Being Pushy, or a Fear of Making Others Angry, or a Fear of Charging Too Much or a Fear of (Insert ANY Fear here)….even though you won’t speak about that fear to your prospect, I guarantee you that your fear is absolutely, 100% a part of that conversation.

The fear actually takes on a life of its own and becomes a third party in your conversation, silently sabotaging you and your ability to convert your prospect into a client.

That’s why it’s so vital to stand up to your biggest fears before you actually get on the phone, so that you can leave them in the corner of the room and not bring them into the call with you.

3: Help your prospect be seen and heard

More than anything else, what most people want is to be seen and heard. Not just in a surface way, but truly and deeply.

Because when someone feels seen and heard, they feel understood. And they feel cherished. And they feel validated.

If you are focused on yourself, your own anxieties and fears, and on the story you’ve created about making the sale, you simply aren’t able to be fully present to your prospect.

Instead, get out of your own way, and ask questions that will help her feel truly and deeply seen and heard.

4: Identify your prospect’s obstacles

A nice, friendly and connected enrollment conversation isn’t enough to make the sale. In order to make the sale, you need to help reveal to your prospect that she has an obstacle that’s big enough, annoying enough, and persistent enough that she needs outside help in overcoming it.

5: Articulate Your How (How you will create results)

The #1 biggest mistake that I see entrepreneurs make in the enrollment process is not being able to connect the dots for their prospects to help them see how your work together can take them from their obstacle to their vision — what they truly want for themselves.

In other words, to have a successful enrollment conversation, you need to be able to articulate to your prospects exactly how you will help them create the results they want for themselves should they choose to work with you.

You need to do this in a skilled way — in a way where you don’t give away the whole kit and caboodle right then and there, but at the same time you really paint a vivid and vibrant picture of how your work together will help them reach their goals.

6: Speak the Total 100% Honest Truth
When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I was literally too scared to share with my prospect what I really saw was blocking her and what I really saw she needed.

I thought I needed to stick to being polite and telling her “what she wanted to hear.”

It turns out that a much more effective sales technique is to be yourself and tell the whole truth as you see it. Because when you’re 100% honest, your prospect knows it and feels so much more seen by you. Trust is created.

7: Work with your prospect’s Resistance Archetype

Because fear is part of human nature, and resistance is the way that fear usually shows up, you can count on resistance sometimes showing up in the enrollment process.

This is nothing to freak out about or have you quit the process. It’s just resistance, and it can be worked with.

But to work with it, you want to be well-versed in your prospect’s special brand of Resistance and how to work with that particular Resistance Archetype. In my many years of leading enrollment calls, I’ve met the Judge, the Flake, the Know It All, the Confused One and the Victim — these have been the Resistance Archetypes that have shown up the most.

Work with these energies, and you will be able to lead your prospects past their objections into their excitement to work with you.

Okay — I hope you enjoyed this quick, down and dirty look at some of the most important enrollment lessons I’ve learned.

If these lessons have gotten you excited and you’d like to learn more about leveling up your coaching and facilitation skills, download the 5 Facilitation Case Studies at http://joannalindenbaum.com/facilitation-mastery-case-studies

With love,
Joanna

Originally published at joannalindenbaum.com on January 26, 2018.