What comes to mind when you hear the word sales? Is it fear, sleaze, anxiety, or other negative feelings? So many nutritionists and dietitians struggle with selling confidently. I know I used to. This episode is meant to help you make selling easier and maybe even something that you enjoy.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 122 OF THE FED AND FEARLESS PODCAST

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Why It’s Important to Learn Sales as a Nutritionist

Sales isn’t something that’s typically taught in nutrition school. Most nutritionists never have to sell because they work in settings where clients are provided or they take insurance, which doesn’t require much selling.

But if you’re thinking about starting your own nutrition business, selling becomes essential for success. Whether it’s one-on-one sessions, group programs, or online services, you can’t build a thriving cash-pay business if you don’t learn how to sell your services effectively and confidently.

Authentic Selling Isn’t Scammy

A big mistake I see many nutrition business owners make is selling something their ideal client doesn’t actually want. To have a successful business, you need to offer something that your ideal client already wants. This is why authentic selling isn’t icky or scammy—it’s simply a service. The selling process is making sure that your offer is something that your ideal client already wants.

Effective Sales Strategies

Now, there’s a lot of ways that you can do this.  I’m not going to go into a ton of detail because we cover this extensively in our NBA program. But part of it is attracting the right people to actually get on these calls with you. Those that actually already want what you’re selling.

The reason why this can be a challenge for a lot of nutrition business owners is because what you are selling isn’t necessarily always what the person wants.  If you’re trying to sell them what they “need” and you don’t even think about what they ACTUALLY want, they’re going to start feeling like you’re trying to sell them something that they don’t want. And that’s where that awkwardness can come in.

You have to meet the client where they’re at. And a lot of times that means you need to be speaking to the obvious symptoms and the obvious problems that they know that they’re having.

A lot of this comes down to choosing a niche.  You need to know how to select and describe your niche effectively. Speak to the problem that your ideal client already recognizes and wants a solution for.

If you’re awkward on a discovery call, your potential client will feel it too, which can lower your conversion rate. And without sales, you don’t have a business, which is why learning sales is so important.

That’s why  we’re going to go over the five step sales process that I teach inside of the NBA program.

The 5-Step Sales Process

Connect

The first step of the five step sales process that we teach inside of the NBA program is to CONNECT with your potential client.  You do not want to just dive straight into “So why are you here? Tell me about your problem” without having at least a little bit of an opportunity to connect with the person as a human.

Listen and Learn

Once you have effectively connected with the person, then you’re going to get into the LISTEN AND LEARN phase.  Your goal is here is to figure out what their main problem is,  assess the severity of the problem, and knowing  how serious the person is about solving the problem. Part of it is figuring out if you can even help the person.  You want to make sure that they actually want the problem solved, that you can solve the problem for them, and that they’re aware of the severity of the problem.

Transformation

Offer

Close the Sale

Got a question you’d love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why sales are important [3:00]
• Why selling people what they already want creates an authentic experience [8:15]
• Getting to know if a client is right for you [19:10]
• Talking about the transformative nature of what you do [23:45]
• How to decide what to offer a potential client [26:00]
• Closing the sale by addressing objections [29:00]
• Knowing the specific problem you solve [34:30]

QUOTES

“If you’re going to be taking cash, you absolutely have to get comfortable and confident with selling in order for your business to be successful. You literally cannot have a successful business if you do not learn to sell your services.” [4:40]

“You have to be selling something that your ideal client already wants. This is exactly why authentic selling is not icky. It’s not gross. It’s not scammy. It’s a service.” [8:45]

“We’re not trying to put words in our potential client’s mouth. We’re not making them feel a way that they’re not already feeling. We’re using effective questions to elicit this during a sales call.” [25:36]

LINKS

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