Tackle Sales Like an IKEA Pro: The Essential ADKOFL Method

There’s nothing like that feeling when you get off a sales call knowing you've nailed it.

Imagine, you’re buzzing from the conversation, feeling confident that you've expressed your expertise just right. You send the follow-up email, and the reply you get is enthusiastic and positive.

Deep down, this is why you started your business.

So you could connect deeply with clients who truly understand and value what you offer.

But let's face it, every sale isn't like this.

Sometimes, no matter how skilled you are, landing the client feels like climbing a mountain - and it’s not just any mountain, it’s Everest.

Trust me, you're not alone.

Every day I encounter clients who, despite having a solid sales background, find it challenging to sell their own services.

Why?

Because selling an object and selling your own expertise are worlds apart.

If you've been feeling this disconnect in your sales process, it's time for a change.

You shouldn't feel like you're pitching your soul every time you interact with a potential client.

In this episode, I’m going to reveal one framework that can transform your sales conversations - making them smoother and more effective.

Imagine if you could handle sales without the heavy emotional toll.

Imagine if you had a structured yet flexible approach to follow that brings clarity and ease.

This is what my IKEA "ADKOFL" framework is all about.

By the end of this episode, you’ll feel more in control of your sales interactions and see an increase in your client conversions.

Short on time? To discover the five most crucial shifts you need to adopt right away, fast forward to 00:02:33.

This could be the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for.

Listen in and let’s make your sales process as streamlined and satisfying as putting together a perfect piece of IKEA furniture.

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If you're a coach or consultant - find out how to attract your ideal clients

This is for your if you're working in the coaching and consulting space and want to attract your ideal clients, buying your higher ticket offers, so you can make more money, quickly, and will less time input, so you can focus on sharing your gifts with the world!

5 Components Of A High Ticket Offer

Katie McManus: 00:00:00

Let's get you mastering your sales conversations.

Katie McManus: 00:00:03

Hi, I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and money mindset coach.

Katie McManus: 00:00:06

And welcome to the Weapon.

Katie McManus: 00:00:09

Even my clients who come from a sales background need to be retrained on how to sell their own services.

Katie McManus: 00:00:17

This is because selling your own services is like selling your own expertise, your own time.

Katie McManus: 00:00:23

It's like selling your soul.

Katie McManus: 00:00:24

In some instances, it's very different to sell your service than it is to sell a house or a luxury car or a fancy handbag or software.

Katie McManus: 00:00:36

As a service, they are worlds apart.

Katie McManus: 00:00:39

Mainly because when someone rejects you, when you're selling an object or something that's separate from you, well, you can rationalize that they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting the thing.

Katie McManus: 00:00:51

You know, if you're a real estate agent and you're showing someone houses, like, no, I don't want this house because it only has three bedrooms and I wanted four.

Katie McManus: 00:00:59

Cool.

Katie McManus: 00:01:00

That has nothing to do with me as a human being.

Katie McManus: 00:01:03

That has to do with the house not having enough bedrooms.

Katie McManus: 00:01:06

Got it.

Katie McManus: 00:01:07

Or maybe you wanted a craftsman instead of a mid century modern.

Katie McManus: 00:01:11

Okay, cool.

Katie McManus: 00:01:12

That has to do with the quality of the house, not me.

Katie McManus: 00:01:15

But when you're selling your service, when you're on the phone with someone or on Zoom and you're explaining what you do and you're just being yourself and they say, no, I don't want this, there's no external object that you can point at to say, oh, well, it was just this they didn't want.

Katie McManus: 00:01:33

It feels like a personal rejection.

Katie McManus: 00:01:35

And there's a reason why we have so many love stories in movies and in books.

Katie McManus: 00:01:41

Because the stakes are really high.

Katie McManus: 00:01:43

The stakes are heartbreak.

Katie McManus: 00:01:46

Being rejected, not being wanted.

Katie McManus: 00:01:49

That is really hard for the human spirit to deal with.

Katie McManus: 00:01:52

It's hard in romance, and it's hard in business.

Katie McManus: 00:01:55

If you are starting your business, growing your business, and sales is still really hard for you, it feels like a massive emotional lift and you feel zero confidence doing it.

Katie McManus: 00:02:06

Know that you're not alone.

Katie McManus: 00:02:08

This happens for most people.

Katie McManus: 00:02:10

Like I said, even my clients who come from a sales background, I have to retrain them on how to sell their own services.

Katie McManus: 00:02:19

It's hard.

Katie McManus: 00:02:20

And there are a few things a lot of people do that actually makes it harder to a get the sale and to feel good about it.

Katie McManus: 00:02:27

So in this episode, I'm going to break down what those things are that are making selling difficult.

Katie McManus: 00:02:33

And I'm going to talk you through the simple shifts you can make to feel far more grounded in your sales call to understand the rejection is not about you and to get more clients right off the bat, we got to ditch the pitch.

Katie McManus: 00:02:52

Pitches don't work.

Katie McManus: 00:02:53

When you're doing a service, you jump into a sales conversation with someone and then immediately whip out your slide deck.

Katie McManus: 00:03:02

What did you think I was going to say?

Katie McManus: 00:03:04

To go through what your offer is, you're going to have a much lower yes rate, meaning fewer people are going to say yes to working with you.

Katie McManus: 00:03:13

Pitches are dead.

Katie McManus: 00:03:14

There are a few reasons for this.

Katie McManus: 00:03:17

Number one, watching a slideshow about a thing is boring.

Katie McManus: 00:03:21

As f.

Katie McManus: 00:03:22

Have you ever gone over to someone's house for dinner and had them tell you, oh, yeah, I did this huge presentation for work this week and then been like, oh, my God, can I see the slides that you did?

Katie McManus: 00:03:32

Oh, my God, can you do it for me?

Katie McManus: 00:03:34

No, of course not.

Katie McManus: 00:03:35

That sounds awful.

Katie McManus: 00:03:37

That sounds like going through a meeting, like a bad meeting where you don't really understand what they're talking about.

Katie McManus: 00:03:44

And I know as the person who's selling the thing, it feels like something that makes you look credible.

Katie McManus: 00:03:50

It feels like something that facilitates you convincing this person to buy your stuff, to buy your program, your service, whatever.

Katie McManus: 00:04:00

And it feels like a checklist, right?

Katie McManus: 00:04:01

So you don't miss anything.

Katie McManus: 00:04:03

They might care about all of it.

Katie McManus: 00:04:04

And what if you forget to mention it?

Katie McManus: 00:04:06

But it's boring.

Katie McManus: 00:04:08

I have never in my life sat through a slide presentation and walked away, remembering even a fraction of what was just presented to me.

Katie McManus: 00:04:18

Most of the time, my eyes are glazed over, and I'm just nodding when I sense it's the right time to nod, because I don't want to be rude and leave the meeting or end the call early, but I can't wait to get away from it.

Katie McManus: 00:04:32

The other side of it is when we present slides, when we have a PowerPoint presentation and we're pointing to something other than us, we actually create distance.

Katie McManus: 00:04:43

And so it makes sense that folks who are just starting to sell their service or who are trying to branch out into bigger deals will try to use a slide deck because it makes it feel less vulnerable.

Katie McManus: 00:04:54

It's almost like this armor that you put up.

Katie McManus: 00:04:57

It's like this wall, like, oh, cool, here's the thing that you're going to reject.

Katie McManus: 00:05:00

Just like you rejected that house and that car in that handbag, you can reject this instead of me.

Katie McManus: 00:05:06

But when you're selling a service, that wall, that armor, that distance, all it does is kills connection.

Katie McManus: 00:05:13

And there's this huge question that I get all the time from clients who work with me who are just starting their business to clients who have been running their business for five years and who want to scale.

Katie McManus: 00:05:23

And it's.

Katie McManus: 00:05:24

How do I describe what I do?

Katie McManus: 00:05:26

And I truly believe it comes from the fact that we've just figured out at some level that, like, what we do, the service we provide, the work we do.

Katie McManus: 00:05:36

That's so intellectual.

Katie McManus: 00:05:38

It's so in our head.

Katie McManus: 00:05:38

It's so innate to us.

Katie McManus: 00:05:40

We've just kind of figured out that not everyone thinks this way.

Katie McManus: 00:05:43

We've just figured out that this is, like, unique to us.

Katie McManus: 00:05:46

We have this way of doing this thing that is useful to other people.

Katie McManus: 00:05:49

And because we've gone through our whole life just assuming everyone knows how to do this thing, it seems so weird to try to describe what it is that's valuable to someone who doesn't think that way.

Katie McManus: 00:06:01

And especially when you end up in a conversation where someone has come to you and they're saying, hey, I'm interested in that thing you do.

Katie McManus: 00:06:07

We think, oh, God.

Katie McManus: 00:06:08

Well, I have to tell them what it is.

Katie McManus: 00:06:10

It's like someone saying, hey, I know you have a device that helps you go from one point to the other.

Katie McManus: 00:06:15

I'd like to buy it.

Katie McManus: 00:06:16

And you're like, oh, God, well, it's a bike.

Katie McManus: 00:06:17

Do they know how to ride a bike?

Katie McManus: 00:06:19

I have to describe what the bike is, right?

Katie McManus: 00:06:22

It's the wrong question.

Katie McManus: 00:06:24

Especially when you're selling a service, because people don't give a F what you do.

Katie McManus: 00:06:28

If you were a magic belly dancer and people paid you $7,000 to just do a magic belly dance, and they got the result that they wanted.

Katie McManus: 00:06:36

Do you know how many people you'd have lined around the block just telling you to dance?

Katie McManus: 00:06:41

God, your abs would be so sore.

Katie McManus: 00:06:45

Your neighbors would be complaining about the music and the jingling from your little jingle belt.

Katie McManus: 00:06:50

I think that's the technical word for them.

Katie McManus: 00:06:52

I don't know the word, but we're just going to say jingle belt because it sounds good.

Katie McManus: 00:06:56

People actually don't care what you do.

Katie McManus: 00:06:59

They care that you solve the problem that they have and that you help them reach their goal.

Katie McManus: 00:07:04

And all these things that we do to try to get clients using these kinds of practices, where we're describing our process, they're all manifestations of the same thing.

Katie McManus: 00:07:16

Convincing them.

Katie McManus: 00:07:17

We feel like we have to convince this person to buy from us.

Katie McManus: 00:07:22

And it's the furthest thing from the truth.

Katie McManus: 00:07:24

And to shift away from this, I want you to remember this acronym that I just Made up.

Katie McManus: 00:07:30

That sounds like a piece of Ikea furniture.

Katie McManus: 00:07:32

This acronym is AD coeffle A D K O F L.

Katie McManus: 00:07:43

And step one, the A is I want you to assume.

Katie McManus: 00:07:48

I know that saying.

Katie McManus: 00:07:49

When you assume, you make an ass of you and me.

Katie McManus: 00:07:52

Go ahead and make an ass of yourself.

Katie McManus: 00:07:54

Full permission to be the ass.

Katie McManus: 00:07:57

Because think about it.

Katie McManus: 00:07:58

Do you just willy nilly go and book sales calls with everyone and their mother for things that you don't even want?

Katie McManus: 00:08:05

Do you do that for fun?

Katie McManus: 00:08:07

Do you go to car lots when you don't want a car and go through the whole sales process?

Katie McManus: 00:08:12

Do you go on tours of homes and start drafting up offers with real estate agents when you don't want something?

Katie McManus: 00:08:19

Do you go to the appliance store and check out refrigerators when you're not actually looking for a refrigerator?

Katie McManus: 00:08:25

Probably not.

Katie McManus: 00:08:27

People don't do that.

Katie McManus: 00:08:29

At least normal people.

Katie McManus: 00:08:30

If you're not.

Katie McManus: 00:08:30

If you're one of those weirdos who does this and we have to have a different conversation.

Katie McManus: 00:08:34

So you have full permission to assume that this person came here because they want to say yes.

Katie McManus: 00:08:42

That this person booked a call with you because they believe that hiring you will solve their problem, will help them reach their goal.

Katie McManus: 00:08:53

Why would someone take a half hour out of their day to have, let's be honest, an uncomfortable conversation with you where they may need to tell you no?

Katie McManus: 00:09:05

Because people don't like saying no to other people if they didn't want your thing?

Katie McManus: 00:09:11

When I book a sales call with someone, it's because I believe that I want the thing.

Katie McManus: 00:09:15

Now, sometimes in the sales call, I realize the thing is not actually what I thought it was, or it's not a good fit for me, or it requires too much time or effort on my part and I need to find something else.

Katie McManus: 00:09:28

And that's okay.

Katie McManus: 00:09:30

That's absolutely okay.

Katie McManus: 00:09:32

But I walk into it fully believing I want to buy this thing.

Katie McManus: 00:09:36

The main key to confidence in a sales call is just simply assuming everyone who books a sales call with you wants to buy your service or your program.

Katie McManus: 00:09:48

So that's a D.

Katie McManus: 00:10:15

Don't convince.

Katie McManus: 00:10:17

Listen, you know how we were talking about the slideshow and how it doesn't work?

Katie McManus: 00:10:23

The reason it doesn't work is because you're usually blasting them with a ton of information that they don't give a fuck about.

Katie McManus: 00:10:28

Okay?

Katie McManus: 00:10:29

When I buy a car, the last thing I care about is the engine.

Katie McManus: 00:10:33

I could not give a flying F about the upholstery, the sound system.

Katie McManus: 00:10:39

I don't care about how special the tires Are.

Katie McManus: 00:10:42

I don't even know all the things that I do not care about.

Katie McManus: 00:10:46

But if a salesperson tries to tell me all this stuff, I will be bored out of my mind.

Katie McManus: 00:10:50

Do you know I do care about?

Katie McManus: 00:10:52

Is there room for my dog?

Katie McManus: 00:10:54

Will she be comfortable in the backseat?

Katie McManus: 00:10:56

Will she be able to safely jump from the backseat into the front seat?

Katie McManus: 00:10:59

Because that's where she actually likes to sit no matter how much I want her in the backseat.

Katie McManus: 00:11:03

Do the headlights work?

Katie McManus: 00:11:05

Are there buttons?

Katie McManus: 00:11:07

I really like a good button.

Katie McManus: 00:11:08

I don't like this like, screen thing.

Katie McManus: 00:11:11

There was a conversation on LinkedIn a few days ago where someone was talking about their son and how their son really liked flying planes.

Katie McManus: 00:11:18

Like being a passenger in a plane.

Katie McManus: 00:11:20

And the dad is like, oh my God, you could be a pilot and you could do this and you could do this and you could do this.

Katie McManus: 00:11:25

And the kid's like, okay, yeah, uh huh.

Katie McManus: 00:11:28

And he's like, but are there buttons?

Katie McManus: 00:11:30

Would I be able to press buttons?

Katie McManus: 00:11:32

And I so connected with this because the one time I drove a Porsche Macan, it was a friend's Porsche Macan.

Katie McManus: 00:11:38

The thing I loved most about this car was not how cool it was, wasn't how expensive it was or fancy or any of the features.

Katie McManus: 00:11:45

It was the fact that there are so many buttons.

Katie McManus: 00:11:48

It was like a control center.

Katie McManus: 00:11:49

And while you're driving it, it was so intuitive that the first time I drove it, I didn't even have to look.

Katie McManus: 00:11:57

I could just go and feel around all these buttons and press a button and the air conditioning went off.

Katie McManus: 00:12:02

Magic.

Katie McManus: 00:12:04

Oh my God.

Katie McManus: 00:12:04

I still like.

Katie McManus: 00:12:05

It was one of the best driving experiences in my life because of that one thing.

Katie McManus: 00:12:11

That's what I care about.

Katie McManus: 00:12:12

Not this touchscreen crap, okay?

Katie McManus: 00:12:15

That requires me to take my eyes off the road.

Katie McManus: 00:12:16

I don't like that.

Katie McManus: 00:12:17

The other thing I care about, trunk space and is it going to be covered up?

Katie McManus: 00:12:22

You know, because I'm sorry, I'm very disorganized and I like to leave a lot of crap in the car because I know I'm going to forget and I don't want people thinking that, you know, there's valuable things in the car because there's usually not.

Katie McManus: 00:12:34

But I also don't want to take it out and put it back in and take it out and put it back in.

Katie McManus: 00:12:38

So I need, I need the trunk space to be covered so people won't try to break into my car.

Katie McManus: 00:12:43

You're never going to find that out.

Katie McManus: 00:12:44

These weird things about your clients, the things they care about, the questions they have, are there buttons?

Katie McManus: 00:12:50

Unless you listen.

Katie McManus: 00:12:52

So you need to stop trying to convince them of all the cool features of working with you and all the interesting things that you do.

Katie McManus: 00:12:59

Because chances are they do not give a fuck about most of it.

Katie McManus: 00:13:03

They care about the things that they care about.

Katie McManus: 00:13:06

And the only way for you to figure out what those things are is to listen to them.

Katie McManus: 00:13:10

So ad coeffle ad k know that no isn't bad.

Katie McManus: 00:13:22

A lot of the anxiety we get when we get on a sales call is around the fear that they might say no.

Katie McManus: 00:13:28

Because again, like we've already discussed, it feels like a very deep rejection of who we are and all the gifts we have.

Katie McManus: 00:13:37

It's like you were dating for 30 minutes and then they broke up with you because they didn't like you.

Katie McManus: 00:13:42

Oh, so sad.

Katie McManus: 00:13:44

But actually, hearing no is a really healthy thing to hear as a business person.

Katie McManus: 00:13:48

Right?

Katie McManus: 00:13:49

Not everyone who comes to you is going to be your ideal client or can afford to work with you.

Katie McManus: 00:13:54

In fact, if you have a solid offer that sells really well, chances are you're only hearing yes 25 to 50% of the time.

Katie McManus: 00:14:01

That's a really strong yes no ratio.

Katie McManus: 00:14:05

So out of every four people, two to three of them should say no to working with you.

Katie McManus: 00:14:11

That's a good sign.

Katie McManus: 00:14:13

Now, if your yes rate drops below 25%, we need to look at some things and it might be that we need to look at your sales process, we might need to redesign your offer, we might need to tweak your marketing, but it's just information.

Katie McManus: 00:14:29

It's just data.

Katie McManus: 00:14:30

It doesn't mean that you're not good at this.

Katie McManus: 00:14:32

It doesn't mean that your business is going to fail.

Katie McManus: 00:14:35

Our brains are these beautiful meaning making machines, right?

Katie McManus: 00:14:39

And that's the source of some of the most beautiful poetry and stories and art and music that we've had as a species.

Katie McManus: 00:14:46

Think of that part of your brain that sees something random throughout the day and it's like, oh my God, this is a sign I have to do the thing.

Katie McManus: 00:14:52

And then it completely changes your life.

Katie McManus: 00:14:54

That is one of the most beautiful things about humans.

Katie McManus: 00:14:57

It's also one of the most destructive things about us because we take raw data that someone said no to us and we make it all about us.

Katie McManus: 00:15:05

We make it mean something about how we're not good enough, we're not smart enough, we're not articulate enough, we weren't convincing enough, all the things.

Katie McManus: 00:15:14

And then we spiral into this is never going to work.

Katie McManus: 00:15:18

Babes, slow the down.

Katie McManus: 00:15:21

It Just means a part of the process isn't working.

Katie McManus: 00:15:25

And that part of the process, now that you're getting the data that something is not working, we can go and start tweaking things.

Katie McManus: 00:15:31

We can change your marketing a little bit and see if that changes it.

Katie McManus: 00:15:34

We can update your offer or your pricing and see if that changes it.

Katie McManus: 00:15:38

We can adjust your sales process and see if that helps it.

Katie McManus: 00:15:42

You have to know that no is not bad.

Katie McManus: 00:15:45

It's just data and related to this.

Katie McManus: 00:15:48

Ed Coeffle.

Katie McManus: 00:16:38

Oh, objections aren't rejections.

Katie McManus: 00:16:41

And let me.

Katie McManus: 00:16:42

Let me break this down, because a lot of people don't know what this word actually means.

Katie McManus: 00:16:45

An objection.

Katie McManus: 00:16:46

Right.

Katie McManus: 00:16:47

So back to the example of me going and buying a car.

Katie McManus: 00:16:50

An objection might be, I don't like the touchscreen.

Katie McManus: 00:16:53

Doesn't mean that you're not going to sell me a car, because I hate this touchscreen.

Katie McManus: 00:16:56

That's not a rejection.

Katie McManus: 00:16:58

It's information.

Katie McManus: 00:16:59

If I'm saying I'm rejecting this model of this car because I don't like the touchscreen, I prefer buttons.

Katie McManus: 00:17:06

You as a salesperson, like, oh, I'm so glad you said that.

Katie McManus: 00:17:10

Because we actually have a model of this that doesn't have a touchscreen.

Katie McManus: 00:17:13

And it's actually less expensive because most people do want the touchscreen.

Katie McManus: 00:17:16

Cause it's fancy.

Katie McManus: 00:17:18

You're obviously not a very fancy person, so we'll give you some buttons.

Katie McManus: 00:17:21

Like, I want you to think about the last time you went and bought clothes and you got a bunch of stuff and you went into the fitting room and you tried them on.

Katie McManus: 00:17:28

You didn't stand there in front of the mirror in a shirt that you liked the idea of, but it didn't quite fit your chest very well.

Katie McManus: 00:17:37

Or pants that, like, were maybe just a little too baggy in the thigh.

Katie McManus: 00:17:42

This whole brand sucks.

Katie McManus: 00:17:44

I hate them.

Katie McManus: 00:17:45

Who's the designer?

Katie McManus: 00:17:46

I want to go and burn their house down.

Katie McManus: 00:17:48

No, of course not.

Katie McManus: 00:17:49

You're just like, oh, bummer.

Katie McManus: 00:17:51

Like, okay, I need a shirt that has a little more give here.

Katie McManus: 00:17:55

Or I need pants that are a little tighter in the thigh.

Katie McManus: 00:17:58

Or this color.

Katie McManus: 00:18:00

I like it, but it just doesn't do anything for my complexion.

Katie McManus: 00:18:03

Do you have it in a different color?

Katie McManus: 00:18:05

When people raise objections, they're helping you find the better option for them.

Katie McManus: 00:18:12

And in the moment, it feels like a rejection because they're saying, I don't like this.

Katie McManus: 00:18:16

This is the part that I don't like.

Katie McManus: 00:18:17

And when it's a service you're providing, it feels like they're saying they don't like your service.

Katie McManus: 00:18:21

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Katie McManus: 00:18:23

They're saying there's a part of this service that just doesn't fit me.

Katie McManus: 00:18:26

And sometimes there's no adjustment to be made.

Katie McManus: 00:18:30

That is the service, that is the program.

Katie McManus: 00:18:31

And if it doesn't fit them, it helps you sort for are they the right client for you.

Katie McManus: 00:18:36

Right?

Katie McManus: 00:18:36

This is a two way street.

Katie McManus: 00:18:38

It's not just a one way interview where they're sitting here judging you, seeing if you're the right person for them.

Katie McManus: 00:18:43

You are also sorting for are they the right client for you.

Katie McManus: 00:18:47

Because let me tell you, there's nothing worse than having the like a business full of your wrong clients.

Katie McManus: 00:18:53

It's maddening.

Katie McManus: 00:18:54

Everyone feels like a pain in the ass.

Katie McManus: 00:18:57

You're going to feel like you're changing gears so many times in a day you can't get into a groove and you're always going to feel like you can't make anyone happy.

Katie McManus: 00:19:05

No one wants that.

Katie McManus: 00:19:06

So remember that objections are not rejections.

Katie McManus: 00:19:14

Next f the follow up, freak out.

Katie McManus: 00:19:18

I had this coworker when I worked at Equinox and her name was Emily.

Katie McManus: 00:19:22

We actually ended up being roommates and it was so much fun.

Katie McManus: 00:19:24

But she had this very quirky way of looking at the world.

Katie McManus: 00:19:27

She told the, the funniest stories that usually had her being in the wrong, but like, you know, in a charming way.

Katie McManus: 00:19:33

She always had this way of looking at follow up, right?

Katie McManus: 00:19:36

Because people would come into the gym and inquire about what membership was, how much it was, they'd get a tour and then if they didn't say yes or no, we would follow up with them.

Katie McManus: 00:19:47

Right.

Katie McManus: 00:19:47

Reasonably.

Katie McManus: 00:19:48

That's what salespeople do.

Katie McManus: 00:19:50

You follow up until you get a clear answer either way.

Katie McManus: 00:19:53

And we do these little pow wows where we'd meet as a sales team with our manager and she'd talk about how she'd call someone after they did a tour of the club and she designed with them that she was going to call them to follow up and they'd get upset that she was calling because some people are weird like that.

Katie McManus: 00:20:12

And her whole philosophy is like, listen, you came into my house, you asked for my time, you came into my sphere and wanted the things from me.

Katie McManus: 00:20:26

What is unreasonable about me calling you like you agreed to and me asking for an answer either way?

Katie McManus: 00:20:34

Now obviously she wouldn't say this to people in that way, but as she's, you know, debriefing it with us, this was her perspective on it.

Katie McManus: 00:20:41

And when you say it like that, it Sounds so reasonable to follow up with people.

Katie McManus: 00:20:46

If you're a consultant or a coach, chances are you charge anywhere from 200 to $3,000 an hour, depending on what you do.

Katie McManus: 00:20:54

If someone came in and booked a half hour of your time, took it away from, like, other paid work you could potentially do, other promotional work you could potentially do, and then refused to give you an offer and then got weird about you following up with them, like, what an asshole.

Katie McManus: 00:21:11

It's not unreasonable for you to follow up with someone to find out if they're a yes or a no.

Katie McManus: 00:21:18

And most of the time, when people want to sign up for the thing, when they're a yes, and they just haven't gotten around to saying yes yet, when you follow up, they see it as, oh, my God, thank you.

Katie McManus: 00:21:29

I've been meaning to call you.

Katie McManus: 00:21:30

You saved me time and energy.

Katie McManus: 00:21:32

And now I get to have this thing that I want or this service or this program.

Katie McManus: 00:21:36

Yay.

Katie McManus: 00:21:37

Following up is part of the sales process.

Katie McManus: 00:21:40

Now, one of the things I train in my programs is how do you follow up in a way that you're basically guaranteed to get an answer either way, there's practically no such thing as getting ghosted in holistic selling.

Katie McManus: 00:21:54

And if you're curious about those programs, then I want you to go to weenycast.com strategycall and book a call with me and we can talk all about it.

Katie McManus: 00:22:02

But for right now, in the process, the sales process that you have, give yourself full permission to follow up.

Katie McManus: 00:22:09

There's nothing wrong with it.

Katie McManus: 00:22:11

What's wrong with it is their reaction.

Katie McManus: 00:22:13

If they get upset because they came into your house and asked you for information about your thing and said, yes, I want you to follow up with me.

Katie McManus: 00:22:22

And for the final letter in our weird acronym, our weird IKEA acronym, AD coeffle.

Katie McManus: 00:22:31

Elle Learn.

Katie McManus: 00:22:34

Do you know that there is no college degree that covers selling in the United States?

Katie McManus: 00:22:41

There are no college programs that are focused on sales.

Katie McManus: 00:22:44

And yet 50% of people who graduate college will end up in a sales role at some point in their career.

Katie McManus: 00:22:52

How insane is that?

Katie McManus: 00:22:55

We look down on sales.

Katie McManus: 00:22:57

We look down on people who are sales professionals because we see it as something that is, for some reason, not noble.

Katie McManus: 00:23:06

And when we get into these situations where we have to sell, we have this weird expectation of ourselves that we should know how to do this naturally, which is complete bull.

Katie McManus: 00:23:17

You have to learn.

Katie McManus: 00:23:19

There's nothing wrong with admitting you don't know something.

Katie McManus: 00:23:22

I mean, you know this.

Katie McManus: 00:23:23

You offer a service.

Katie McManus: 00:23:25

You teach people things.

Katie McManus: 00:23:27

You help them with stuff that's beyond their scope.

Katie McManus: 00:23:30

Why is it okay for your clients to hire you to learn from you and not okay for you to learn yourself?

Katie McManus: 00:23:38

What makes you so different?

Katie McManus: 00:23:40

As with anything, learning to sell, it's a skill building process.

Katie McManus: 00:23:46

By the way you've been doing it this whole episode.

Katie McManus: 00:23:49

You've been learning about how to be more confident in your sales.

Katie McManus: 00:23:53

Figure out a process that feels good to you and go and learn it.

Katie McManus: 00:23:57

Go hire someone who teaches it or read a book, whatever.

Katie McManus: 00:24:01

Because the only way to get better at anything is to learn and then practice.

Katie McManus: 00:24:07

But you can't not know how to do it and then practice not knowing how to do it.

Katie McManus: 00:24:11

I mean, you can and a lot of people do.

Katie McManus: 00:24:14

Let me tell you.

Katie McManus: 00:24:14

It doesn't go well for them.

Katie McManus: 00:24:16

That's usually when they call me freaking out that it's not working and then bring me in a little too late.

Katie McManus: 00:24:24

Not, not irredeemably too late, but just, they could have, they could have saved themselves a lot of time and energy and made a lot more money if they just brought me in earlier.

Katie McManus: 00:24:33

So go and invest in learning how to sell.

Katie McManus: 00:24:36

It'll make a world of difference.

Katie McManus: 00:24:39

And think about it.

Katie McManus: 00:24:40

If you bought a bike and you didn't know how to ride a bike, how confident would you be hopping on the bike and riding it to the store?

Katie McManus: 00:24:47

Not very.

Katie McManus: 00:24:48

You need someone to show you.

Katie McManus: 00:24:51

You need someone to keep an eye on how you're holding onto the brakes and how you're pedaling and how you're turning.

Katie McManus: 00:24:57

And you know you have to watch where you're going.

Katie McManus: 00:24:59

Be careful of the bush.

Katie McManus: 00:25:01

So when in doubt, just remember, add coffee and that'll help you be better at sales.

Katie McManus: 00:25:10

This acronym that I just made up, that sounds like a piece of Ikea furniture, I think it would be a bedside table.

Katie McManus: 00:25:16

Like one of those unfinished ones that like, is raw wood that you could like add a stain or paint little designs on or whatever.

Katie McManus: 00:25:24

Maybe, maybe use some wallpaper on the top that would be kind of fancy with some, whatever the applique is that seals it in.

Katie McManus: 00:25:31

Obviously very handy.