Leah Neaderthal

This week I invited my friend and total badass entrepreneur Gretchen DeVault to share her own story about learning how to sell.

Gretchen runs Tiny Blue Sky, a full-service marketing agency for craft beverage, specialty foods, and emerging consumer goods.

She’s also the Co-Founder of Lean The F*ck Out.

What is Lean The F*ck Out? Well, you know “Lean In,” right?  It’s for women in corporate jobs.

Well, Lean The F*ck Out is for YOU and ME: women entrepreneurs who are leaning OUT of traditional careers to run our own businesses and create our own ways of living and working. ?

 

Onto Gretchen’s story…

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“Here’s the thing, I don’t think of myself as a salesperson. But a big part of what I do as an entrepreneur is selling.

I had a vision for a company and the only way to get to the goal was by selling.

Hindsight is 20/20 and the last couple years have been challenging.

After taking courses, listening to podcasts and reading business books I thought we needed to niche into a vertical. So we did. Without leads in the pipeline.

I thought marketing would bring the leads (I know better). We redid our website, created lead magnets and some pretty amazing content. I waited for the leads to roll in!

Crickets. Panic set in fast.

This turned to the thought: “Please don’t make me do cold calling.” That snowballed into negative self-talk about selling as a whole. After all, I’m not a salesperson.

? Then last week, on the Lean the F*ck Out podcast, we talked with Leah Neaderthal, founder of Growthworks Solutions, about sales as an entrepreneur. We discussed the fear that often comes with sales — particularly for women entrepreneurs.

I wish I’d had this conversation a year ago!

I recommend this episode for any woman entrepreneur who is at all intimidated by sales.”

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Here’s the interview she’s talking about: “Selling doesn’t have to suck: An interview with Leah Neaderthal”.

In this 35-minute podcast I talk with Gretchen and her co-founder Tera about:

– How to conquer your fear of selling
– Understanding the real value you provide your clients/customers
– Breaking down cold emailing and making it not suck
– How to avoid undercharging

 

You can listen on the LTFO site or here on iTunes.

Enjoy!

Leah

 

P.S. If you’re intimidated by selling, there are few ways you can work with me to gain authentic confidence and selling know-how, so you can sign the clients you want.

 

1. Get the free guide “The 3 Steps to More Comfortable Selling” – This guide and 3-day mini-course share three important strategies to make selling more comfortable and more effective.

1. Sign up for SIGNED – This 10-week course teaches you how to sign new clients comfortably and consistently, today and for the life of your business. You’ll learn how to build your sales pipeline, master the sales process, have comfortable conversations that move the needle, and get paid more per contract. Plus you’ll join the Private Coaching Community and get weekly live support from me and the community of entrepreneurs. Learn more and sign up here. If you’d like a free preview of SIGNED, reply to this email and let me know.

1. Work with me privately – If you’d like to work with me one-on-one to grow your business, reply back with “Private Coaching” and let’s set up a call.

As a sales coach for women entrepreneurs, one question I get a lot is, “What tools should I be using to help me sell?”

I’m always torn, because even though there ARE tools that can help you sell…

… they don’t help at all if you’re not able to have comfortable conversations with your prospects. That’s why my clients first focus on the conversation – being able to have comfortable, natural convertaions that build the relationship and move the sales process forward.

But there’s one disruptive tool that I use and I’m totally happy to recommend.

It takes no time to set up.

It breaks through the noise of email marketing, social media, and every other digital message we’re innundated with.

And the best part: it’s COMPLETELY FREE.

Want to know what this disruptive tool is?

A handwritten thank you note.

Every person who refers a new client to me gets a handwritten thank you note. It’s heartfelt, breaks through the email noise, and it’s memorable.

And it’s one of my favorite things to do in my business, because it means that someone has trusted me enough to refer their friends, acquaintances, and even family to me.

What about you, __? Where could you incorporate this disruptive tool in your business? Write back and let me know!

—

 

Two quick things:

1. It’s not too late sign up for TOMORROW’S master class:
   “Overcoming Selling Shyness: Gain authentic confidence so you can sign the clients you want”
   ?TOMORROW, Thursday, February 22
   2pm EST / 11am PST
   Register: https://www.smartgetspaid.com/overcoming
2. The March session of SIGNED is open for applications! But hurry – doors close in 7 days! Learn how to have great conversations with clients, build your sales pipeline, and comfortably sign the clients you want. Learn more and apply at this link: https://www.smartgetspaid.com/signed.

 

To your success,

Leah

Who is your biggest sales competitor?

If you’re a solopreneur, it might not be who you think…

If you’re a large company, your biggest competitor is another company in your industry. If you’re Airbnb, for example, your biggest competitor is VRBO.

But for most small businesses, your biggest might competitor might surprise you.

20-60% of opportunities AREN’T lost to other providers.

They’re lost to “no decision”.

Your potential clients simply aren’t making a decision at all.

And when you’re a solopreneur, that’s the worst. It means your prospects go cold, go silent, or simply keep stalling until both of you lose interest.

All of which feels pretty crappy.

—

 

Has it ever happened to you? You’re talking to a potential client, things seem to be going well, and then…

Nothing.

No “you’re hired!”

No “sorry, we’re going with someone else.”

No “we want to work with you, but the price is a little high.”

Just… nothing.

—

 

So what’s the remedy?

Knowing how to command the sales process.

It’s knowing how to keep the process moving along.

How to un-stick prospects who get stuck or go quiet.

And feeling confident enough to take the lead.

All so you can lead your prospects from the first contact to a successful close, and avoid your biggest competitor – “no decision”.

Have you ever lost an opportunity to “no decision”? How did it feel? How did you know that the deal was lost? Write back and let me know.

—

There’s something else you can do too.

If you want to gain the CONFIDENCE to lead your clients and the SKILLS to command the sales process, join me next Thursday for my master class, Overcoming “Selling Shyness”: Gain authentic confidence so you sign the clients you want.

You’ll learn the exact approach I teach my clients, and you’ll walk away with steps you can start to take that afternoon to feel more authentically confident.

 

Register today!

 

Overcoming “Selling Shyness”: Gain authentic confidence so you sign the clients you want

Thursday, February 22

2pm EST / 11am PST

Free registration

 

To your success,

Leah

 

P.S. When you’re ready, head over to SIGNED. SIGNED is a 10-week, step-by-step program to help women solopreneurs and entrepreneurs learn to consistently and confidently sign new clients.

SIGNED is specifically designed for women business owners like you who are confident in the work you do, but who feel nervous, uncomfortable or unsure when you’re selling to new clients.

In SIGNED I reveal the exact strategy that I used to overcome my own fear of selling, master the sales process, and make 7-figures. I teach how to:

1) Generate high-value leads and build your sales pipeline

2) Create an easy-to-follow sales process

3) Position your business in a way that makes clients WANT to work with you

4) Consistently take leads from the first contact to a successful close

5) Get paid bigger numbers

6) Write winning proposals

7) Generate referrals and upsells

8) Master the crucial mindset shift that not only impacts selling, it impacts your business forever

 

Learn more and sign up at the SIGNED page!

Hey! You know that saying that starts, “Teach a man to fish…?” My client had a different take on it and how to use it for your sales efforts – read on to learn more.

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“I mean, it’s like fishing,” she said. “I just don’t know where to find the fish.”

We were on our first strategy call, and my client rattled off the places she tried to meet clients for her organizational development consulting business.

“Do I go to a networking event? And which ones? I hate networking! Do I do more on Linkedin? Should I be on Pinterest?” She was spiraling out.

I told her that I understood – the landscape of where to find leads can be confusing.

Then I said, “You’re right, it IS like fishing. But not in the way you think.”

Here are the two reasons why:

 

If you don’t know how to fish, it doesn’t matter where you go to find fish.

Let’s say you went to a networking event and met 50 people who were interested in hiring you. Or you got 100 new leads from your website tomorrow.

But if you didn’t know how to “reel them in,” (#fishingmetaphor) it wouldn’t matter where they came from, because you couldn’t ensure with any certainty that you’d know what to say to them, that you’d command the highest fee you could, or they would say yes.

 

But when you DO know how to fish, you can fish anywhere.

When you know how to sell, then you can find clients anywhere. You’re able to identify opportunities from the people you talk to, you’re able to have great sales conversations and move from the first contact to a successful close. You’re able to write winning proposals and get paid bigger numbers.

When you know how to do that, you can go anywhere and find clients.

—

So what can you do?

Instead of worrying about WHERE, focus on HOW.

Don’t stress about which networking events to go to, how many times to post on social media, or whether you need to be on Pinterest.

Focus on building the skills that will actually help you sign new clients:

1. Gaining confidence in your sales conversations
2. Leading a great discovery call
3. Building the relationship
4. Mastering the sales process

They are skills you can use to sign new clients, no matter where the leads come from.

That’s why SIGNED isn’t only focused on WHERE to get leads. Sure, in Module 4: Pack Your Pipeline, you’ll learn specific ways to create opportunities and build your sales pipeline.

But if that was all I taught you, I’d be doing you a huge disservice.

SIGNED starts with preparing you and your business to go out and sell – what I call “building the house and furnishing it before you invite people over.”

Then you learn how to own the sales process from end to end – from generating leads, to mastering the sales process, to pricing, to winning proposals.

Finally, you learn how to capitalize on your awesome work through referrals and upsells, and making your selling life easier.

It’s learning how to fish, so you can fish for a lifetime.

—

If you’re ready to learn how to fish — to learn the skills to bring in clients no matter where they come from — you’re ready for SIGNED

Learn more about SIGNED at this link, and sign up today to get a BONUS coaching call with me. But hurry! This is a limited-time bonus.

I’m looking forward to it!

 

To your success,

Leah

She had just finished her story when she finally asked: “So what should I do?”

That day, she explained, she had run into an old friend. In catching up with the friend, my client talked about her business, and immediately the friend said, “Oh! You should talk to Jim. He could definitely use you.”

“So,” my client asked me, “should I have my friend pass on my contact info? Or should I just email that person myself and mention that my friend said I should reach out?”

I paused, then said one word.

“Neither.”

—

If you ran into a question like that, who would you ask?

If you were a commissioned salesperson in a company, you would ping your VP of Sales. Easy peasy.

But business owners? We don’t have anyone to ask.

There are no colleagues to turn to…

No other business owners you can ask…

And forget the bros in your co-working space…

So we’re stuck in a spiral of not knowing. Of doubt. And of fear that we’re about to do the wrong thing.

—

I spent years in that spiral.

All the while, I craved someone to whom I could ask the simple question: “What do I do in this situation?”

That’s why I’ve created a Private Coaching Community as part of SIGNED, where I provide real-time coaching on the new clients you’re talking to.

“How do I price myself in this situation?”

“My prospect got back to me with a weird question. What do I say back?”

“Can you look at this email?”

Because it’s one thing to learn the “how” of selling. But to go from learning to mastery, you need support to put learning into practice, in real-time.

So through weekly coaching calls in the Private Coaching Community, I’m providing support to help you close the clients you’re working on.

The Community is where I become your own personal VP of Sales. And it’s included in SIGNED

—

If you’re tired of wondering, “What do I do in this situation?” or “Am I doing this right?” then it’s time to get the support you need. Sign up for SIGNED today and you’ll instantly join the Private Coaching Community.

Plus, for a limited time, you’ll get A BONUS ONE-ON-ONE COACHING CALL with me. This call is only available for a short time, so don’t miss out – sign up today!

—

So what did I tell my client when she asked what to do: have her friend send along her contact info or just reach out directly?

“Neither. Ask your friend to connect the two of you via email, and then offer to write an email that she can cut/paste to introduce you. But she needs to introduce you, not simply send along your info. It’s the introduction that’s important. So give her the tools to do that.”

And that is what I would tell you too.

 

To your success,

Leah

 

P.S. Don’t forget the encore presentation of the “Overcoming Selling Shyness” class – this upcoming Tuesday, January 30th, 1pm EST / 10 am PST. Sign up today!

 

P.P.S. If you’re ready to finally learn how to confidently and consistently sign the clients that you want, get SIGNED today. You’ll get the complete SIGNED program, plus membership in the SIGNED community. Learn more and sign up today!

Well, the cat’s out of the bag!

Yesterday in my online class I announced that registration for SIGNED, my program for entrepreneurs to learn how to sign new clients, is OPEN!

SIGNED is for people who think, “I’m just not a salesperson.”

It’s for people who can advocate like a champ on behalf of their clients, but who feel weird promoting themselves.

It’s for people who want to raise their prices, but they’re not sure now.

It’s for people who aren’t sure if they’re doing sales right and who don’t have anyone to ask.

It’s for business owners like you.

SIGNED takes everything I’ve learned about signing clients and increasing revenue, and everything I’ve taught my clients to help them do the same…

And I teach you in weeks what it took me years to learn.

 

Simply put, it’s the course I wish I had when I first started my business.

—

Last year a group of students took SIGNED. Here’s what they’ve been able to accomplish:

✔ Increase clients by 82%

✔ Get paid 3x more for each client project

✔ Build 6-figure and 7-figure sales pipelines

✔ Overcome “selling shyness” and gain authentic confidence

✔ Reduce prospects “going cold” in the sales process

✔ Build great, comfortable client relationships and move the sale forward

✔ Shorten the time to sign new clients

You can head to the SIGNED page to learn more, but I want to quickly flag one thing: the limited-time bonus.

 

For a limited time, I’m including a bonus one-on-one coaching call with me. It’s yours to use however you want: get strategy coaching to close a potential client you’re working on, get help with your proposals or messaging, nail down your pricing and packages, or talk through anything that’s holding you back.

 

Here’s what one SIGNED student had to say about her coaching call:

From the first lesson, this program completely blew my mind. The lessons and exercises were great, but what really made the program special was being able to meet with Leah one-on-one when I got stuck. Being able to talk through my questions helped me get past what was holding me back, and now I’m so excited to move ahead with building my business.

This bonus is not available for long and I don’t want you to miss it!

Head to the SIGNED page and sign up today!

Leah

 

P.S. If you missed the “Overcoming Selling Shyness” workshop, I’m doing an encore next week. Stay tuned!