EP # 210 - 10 Sales Secrets Every Service-Based Business Owner Must Know to Scale

Ready to transform your relationship with sales and finally scale your service-based business? In this power-packed episode, Maggie reveals the 10 non-negotiable sales principles that separate struggling service providers from those who consistently grow and scale. Whether you're avoiding sales or ready to master it, these insights will change how you think about selling forever.

What You'll Learn:

✅ The mindset shift that transforms "helpers" into confident sellers
✅ Why 95% of buying decisions are emotional - and how to use this ethically
✅ Sales cycle secrets for different price points and service types
✅ The trust-building formula that makes clients feel safe to buy
✅ How to turn objections into opportunities (they're actually good news!)
✅ The "selling at every touchpoint" philosophy that creates raving fans
✅ Follow-up strategies that build relationships, not annoyance
✅ Systems and processes essential for scaling beyond 6-figures

Key Takeaways:

🎯 "Sales is about helping your ideal client fulfill their need and desire - not convincing someone who doesn't want what you offer"

🎯 "95% of purchasing decisions are made emotionally, then justified with logic"

🎯 "Objections are just unanswered questions - they mean your prospect is considering buying"

🎯 "The predominant feeling clients need to buy from you is SAFETY"

Your Action Steps:

1. Audit your current mindset - Are you avoiding sales or embracing it as service?
2. Add sales content to your marketing mix (case studies, testimonials, how-you-help content)
3. Map your sales cycle - How long do YOUR clients take to decide?
4. Create a follow-up system that builds relationships over time
5. Document your sales process - No more winging it!

Episode Highlights:

• [02:00] Why "I'm not a salesperson" is sabotaging your growth
• [05:00] The psychology behind why people buy (Harvard study insights)
• [11:00] Sales cycle breakdown by price point and service type
• [18:00] The chiropractor example that shows "selling at every touchpoint"
• [23:00] Why you need documented systems to scale

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: "How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market" by Gerald Zaltman
• Maggie's T.O.P. CEO Framework for scaling service businesses

Ready to Scale Your Sales?
If you're ready to stop leaving money on the table and create a sales process that actually works, Maggie can help. Her T.O.P. CEO Winning Strategy and Continuous Success Formula helps service-based business owners establish proper sales processes and customer journeys for sustainable scaling.

Book your complimentary consultation → https://www.stairwaytoleadership.com/

Connect with Maggie:

• Website: stairwaytoleadership.com
• Email: maggie@stairwaytoleadership.com
• Follow for daily business tips on LinkedIn and Instagram

Love this episode? Please leave a 5-star review and share it with a fellow service provider who's ready to embrace sales as service!

Episode Length: 26 minutes
Best for: Service-based business owners ready to scale through strategic sales

Transcript

Audio Only - All Participants: [00:00:00] This week is all about sales. I'm running two sales trainings for two different clients, and I'm coaching my group and individual clients on sales, so I thought. It, there wouldn't be a better topic for Diamond Effect Podcast, episode 210 than sales. And today I wanna talk about 10 things that you must know, adopt, and almost integrate.

About sales into your business in order to grow and scale. Some of those things will be mindset. Some of them are more sales psychology process. But without those thin things, you will not be able to 10 x your business. So let's get started. One. If you are still in the mindset of I'm not in the business of selling, I'm here to [00:01:00] help my clients.

I'm not a salesperson, I'm a helper. I am against sales. You have to ditch that mindset. Every time I hear business owners new and more established say that. All it tells me is that they have limited beliefs about sales or they have beliefs that are not true and don't serve them. And instead of overcoming those beliefs and adapting something that does serve them, they're just justifying them by telling themselves they're not into sales, they're not salespeople.

Business is about sales. Without sales, you have no clients. Without clients who don't have business, and as long as you're in business, you will be doing sales. Now, that does not mean thinking of sales or yourself as a salesperson and equating that with the sleazy [00:02:00] car salesperson who's trying to get you to buy something you don't want or you don't need or something broken, doesn't serve you.

Truly. Sales is about helping. It is about helping your ideal client who already has a need or desire. To fulfill that need and desire to overcome challenges that they have with whatever you offer, with whatever service you offer. So it's not convincing somebody who doesn't want what you offer. It's about.

Showing somebody who wants what you offer, how your service is the best solution for them. It's truly helping them to make the best decision for themselves.

So instead of thinking of yourself that you are not a salesperson and you're not into selling, change the way how you think about [00:03:00] sales and start loving that because through sales you are actually helping your best clients get what they want.

Two, if you are not incorporating sales content into your online marketing strategy or organic content, whatever you do out there, emails, social media, you are not only leaving money on the table, but you're actually helping your competition get. Clients that you nurtured and attracted as your audience.

It's just when they have a need and want and you are not telling them that you can help them, they're going somewhere else to get it. So what is sales content for online and digital marketing? It's educating your clients on how you can help them through whatever services you offer and through the offers you have.

It's about helping [00:04:00] them to make a decision by answering their questions, addressing their uncertainties. Or objections. It's about showcasing case studies, client stories, testimonials to show that you can help people like them and how you can help them. I have clients who came to me with large online audiences way, way, way larger than mine, who were really good at marketing and creating great content and attracted .

High number of people was building the community, and yet the people that were in their community weren't buying from them. And it's not because those people didn't want to, but because my clients weren't incorporating sales content into their, overall. Visibility online. When we started doing it and we incorporated that in their strategy, not only they [00:05:00] started making way more money, but also they served people who already loved them and really wanted to work with them.

They just didn't know how.

You're working too hard to be sending great clients to your competitions just because you don't have sales content included in your online marketing, so you've got to change it if you're not doing it yet. Number three, understand that 95% of purchasing decisions that as humans we make are made emotionally, they're based on emotion.

And then we justify those decisions through logic.

This data is scientifically proven through a study of a Harvard Business School Professor Girl Zaltman, who wrote a book, how Customers Think Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market. A lot of decisions that we make are [00:06:00] subconscious and 95% of all purchase decision making really takes place due to the emotional connection that we have, not only with the brand or with the business that we wanna buy from, but to whatever is happening in our internal life.

And of course, the needs that we have, the challenges that we have, and the goals that we have.

So what are the. Key emotional, let's just call triggers that move us as human beings to make purchasing decisions. Definitely pain points and frustrations.

As human beings, we're not really liking a lot of change. We resist change. So usually we'll live with minor pains and certain frustrations because. The cost imaginary, even cost for us of changing is greater than just living with whatever [00:07:00] uncomfortable things we have going on. However, once that pain or frustration becomes really acute and really bothers us and we can live with it anymore, then we're more likely to seek solution and potentially, go out there in the market and invest our money too.

Make it go away. Also, what moves us is of course, our aspirations and desires. We all dream, we all want better futures for ourself. So if we believe that there's something out there that will help us, we'll go and invest in it. Other emotions that trigger us to, for purchase and movies. Fear of missing out.

So that's how trends work. If there is a trend for something and a lot of people start buying it and adopting it, that fear of missing out and us wanting it too is a great motivator and need for belonging, which is, goes [00:08:00] in tandem with, we're missing out if we're part of the group or our friends are already.

Purchase something or invest in something or have something we might feel like we don't belong if we don't have it. And that is sometimes moderators for people to buy as well. So understanding your ideal clients, knowing what moves them, knowing how they make decisions. It's an important part of your sales strategy.

It's an important part of you being able to help them. Number four, don't fear objections. Don't think that if the client has an objections, that automatically means they don't wanna buy from you. It's actually the opposite. Objections are good because all they are is just. Unanswered questions. If a potential client in front of you really didn't want what you offered, they would not have any [00:09:00] questions.

They would just say, no thank you. I'm gonna go. But when they have questions or they're not sure, that means they're considering purchasing your service, purchasing whatever you have offer. And they might just need more information. There's something that's not answered on your side. Maybe because you didn't give them enough information and they're not fully yet understanding how you can help them from.

Getting where they are now to where they wanna be, or maybe they misinterpreted something you said, and that is holding them back from making final decisions. And unless you ask questions or unless they tell you they will hold on and not purchase from you.

Then of course, depending on the types of services you offer and deliver, the higher the price of service and the more involvement on the client's side. The [00:10:00] longer it takes them to make a decision, the more information they need. So objections are actually a good sign. There are just questions that need to be answered.

The fifth thing you need to know, and it's indispensable for you to be able to scale, is to understanding your sales cycle. And with that understanding, of course, how your clients make. Decisions you need to become as the CEO of your business, a student, a scientist of your business. A lot of what we do in business, it's very sciencelike, it's logical or is repetitive and we can understand it.

Sales cycle is one of those things.

Let's just talk a little bit on how long it can take your potential client to make a decision based on also what you sell, right? So if your [00:11:00] offer, your services are considered like one of those moderate purchases when it's a mid range. Items, so pricing around what clothing costs, your books, your cosmetics, so maybe your hairstylist or a haircut, or you offer, massage therapy or lower ticket items.

Then people, when they decide what service providers to go from for, they will compare a few options, but usually they don't. Overanalyze it and average decision time could take five to 30 minutes, maybe longer if they're just starting and they don't know anybody, in your range or in your area, maybe a couple of days.

So important thing is to understand that because that means you need to convey a lot of information to your ideal client in a very short time. At a medium where they find you, [00:12:00] right? So whether it's your website, whether it's a Google profile, whether it's online, you need. The most important information to be there to help the client make a decision in that short span of the time.

Now, if your purchases is of a higher cost, then it's an, or a very important thing for the person, meaning higher cost. If they were to lose that money, the client will think twice. Or if it's an important item, let's say in terms of an example for,

or it's an important service. So let's say, maybe not a quick haircut, but you're serving women and you're doing transformation. They're changing the color, they're changing the style. So the way they look will completely change. This is now not just about money spent, but about how they feel about themselves, how they look.

It's very important, right? That decision will take a client a little bit longer. That could take. A few [00:13:00] days to maybe even a few weeks, they will do more research reviews. They will compare prices. They'll take their time. So again, it's your job to, within that time, give them all the information and answer any of their questions and prove that you are the best solution for them.

And then if you are into the market of more higher end, services, major investments, things that also include more evolvement from the client's sides. Maybe you are into real estate, right? Buying homes, or you're into coaching like myself and consulting or whatever other high end services. When it's a major investment and also requires a lot of involvement on the client side, then the client takes much longer.

They do more extensive research they want, might want meet you 1on1. Get a feel of who [00:14:00] you are. They might need some financial planning. They might need to think budgets. And then here, an average decision time can take weeks, two months. Sometimes even a year or more, especially if you are in business to business services and now you're dealing with fiscal year and multiple decision makers.

Understanding that will allow you to create a sales process that is compatible with your client's decision making in that cycle. It will allow you to create touch points that are most likely to be of service to the client, to give the clients information they need. In order to move to the next stage of the decision making, the sixth thing you must know about sales and integrate it as you're creating your sales process, as you're really [00:15:00] thinking through how you convert potential clients to paying clients, clients that stay and refer and come back, is that the predominant feeling that the client needs in order to buy from you?

Is. Safety, your client needs to feel safe and therefore they need to trust you, that when they give you their heart earned money, they will get what they wanted and maybe more that they will get the results you promising them that they desire, that you will help them overcome that challenge. Way better, way faster, in a better way than if they were trying to do that on their own.

So how do you build that safety? How do you convey that your potential clients can trust you? First of all, you need to be credible, right? So the, your knowledge [00:16:00] being an authority in your market, delivering great service. So showcasing. Other clients, you've helped create that credibility. Second thing, you need to be reliable.

So you need to do what you say you would do at the time you said you would do it. And that starts with simple things. Sometimes we think that being reliable is delivering a service. One is clients purchase, but it doesn't start there. Being reliable might mean that if you had a quick chat with the client and you told them that you would follow up on them, on send them something, let's say the next day you actually follow through and send it to them.

Not next day, not next week. All that little things that you commit to, that you say. Can build trust in your clients if you are reliable and you follow through or actually take away from the bank of trust if you say one thing and [00:17:00] do something else. The third part to building trust. Is authenticity. So truly being genuine, being yourself and of service to the client.

And then combine all that and lead with value and leading with value is all about putting clients' needs first. Really focusing on them, understanding them. Not just talking about you in a sense how great you are and how you know you can help everybody, but connecting what you do to the needs of the individual clients in front of you that is going through the sales process with you.

Seven, adopting the philosophy of your selling at every touch point. That's a concept that I teach my clients

and that means that your selling doesn't end with a potential client deciding to work with you and paying your [00:18:00] invoice. It's just the start. Your selling continues in the way you onboard the client. Think about your client as a very excited. New student or new employee when they paid you, they have high hopes and they really are really excited that finally they made a decision to go after their dreams to, get rid of that pain or challenge that they have.

And they are full hopes you can help them, and you need to be able to capitalize on that high energy in the way you onboard them. I don't know how many times I've invested my money into different types of services, and sometimes the service provider took forever to onboard me, so I paid the invoice, and then I waited and waited, and my excitement went from here.

To there, to disappointment, and then to worry about will they be able to help me because I haven't heard from them for a week. That's [00:19:00] not the experience you want for your clients. When you think about, or I'm still selling to them, that keeps you motivated and on point to keep elevating the client experience so it doesn't go from high to low, but it's just.

Going up and the client's just delighted more and more, which then confirms their decision of purchasing from you. So then from onboarding, it's in your delivery service delivery. As you're delivering the service, you are still selling the client on the fact that they made the right decision, which then helps them.

To come back, to leave a testimonial, to refer your, their friends, and their network to you. Suppose deliveries equally important. I will give you an example of. My husband, we recently switched chiropractors. Our chiropractor that we were with moved away way too far for us to follow her. So we had to [00:20:00] find a different, P practitioner.

We found a practitioner close by, and I have to say their customer journey. It is impeccable. You can see that they took it really seriously. They mapped it out. Like a true CEO, not just a service provider where not only how they onboard you or how they treat you, but also follow through after is great.

My husband receives little video messages from his chiropractor after certain appointments to check on him, to give him some feedback and so on. He hasn't even finished his treatment. He already got a little gift. Every time he comes, he's even more excited about working with his new practitioners.

That is the level. Of service you wanna deliver. Because guess what? Everywhere we go and there is a conversation about health and prevention and so on, we're [00:21:00] raving about our chiropractor. I believe number eight. Follow up is not you bagging clients, but it's you showing them that you care. It's you taking time to keep building the relationship and it's part of building the relationship.

If you think about business, it's all about relationships. As service providers, we usually work with our clients for an extended period of time. Or on a regular basis without building a relationship with your clients, there is no loyalty. And in the beginning, when they're still considering whether to work with you or somebody else follow up, is your opportunity to actually build that relationships and have touch points with them?

'cause let's be real. The best friendship doesn't happen with one coffee meeting, right? It happens over time with multiple touch points, and [00:22:00] it's the same with building strong relationships with your clients. Not only majority of sales and majority of clients are in the follow up, but also the follow up allows you to show that you are reliable.

That if you told the client, okay, I check in with you in a couple weeks, and you do that. That not only reminds them about you, but automatically puts in their brain, oh, that person is reliable. They said they would check in, they're checking in. It shows them you don't forget. You actually care them as an individual person that you are.

They're not just a number or another deal for you. It also shows that you think about them, that you are available for them because you take time to touch base with them.

Number nine. There is no scaling without you having an established and [00:23:00] thought through sales process where it's not just I'm winging it or I'm making it up as I go, and every time with every client it's different, but I have a sales process documented and I'm thought through.

I know every touch points, not only what I'm supposed to do by why am I doing it and how it benefits. To the client and also I have a client journey mapped out. So not just in the beginning a sales process, but after the client purchases the whole, their whole journey with me, just like the chiropractor I told you about in the previous point.

With that, I understand. How my ideal clients are finding me because I'm taking intentional steps to attract them through marketing. I understand my conversion rate, so how many of those who are interested are turning into ideal clients, and I [00:24:00] understand why that's happening. What can I do to increase it and how can I improve?

My onboarding process is on point, streamlined, and really tested out the referrals, the testimonials, the service delivery. It's all intentional thought through, streamlined and optimized because without it, there is no scaling. Without it, you cannot go to seven, eight, and nine figures in your business.

And number 10. Enjoy selling. Get to love sales as Splunk, as you will be in business. You will be selling even if you hire a team and you will have a sales team or marketing team that will help you with that. As the leader, you will be the one. Who need to motivate them, help them thrive. How can you do that when you tell yourself you [00:25:00] hate what your team is doing and how can you even build relationships with the clients if you hate the initial stages of building that relationship, it's like wanting to get married or wanting to have a serious partner, but then hating dating.

You can't create a serious relationship if you're not willing and have fun during the initial stages and date. So get to love sales and have fun with it.

Understanding your si, your client's psychology of selling and having processes, and that's how you get to love that. Now before we finish, I would like to challenge you to look at the 10 points I would talk about today. And pick 1, 2, 3 areas where you think you need to improve in your business right now, because those might be the areas that are actually preventing you from taking your business to the next.

Level, and if you need help with it, I'm [00:26:00] happy to do that in my top CEO winning strategy and continuous success formula, this is where I work with my clients to establish a proper sales process, proper customer journey, so they are ready to scale with everything we talked about today. All you need to do is schedule first complimentary consultation with me.

I'll share link to my calendar in the show notes. Have a fantastic week, and talk to you next week. Bye.