The Art of Selling

How to master the most important skill for success.

Most people roll their eyes when they hear a sales pitch. Why? Because most salespeople don't know the art of a good sale.

It's a shame, actually. When a sale is made right, it can be a wonderful experience for both the consumer and salesperson. Unfortunately, so many companies and people apply outdated communication and sales techniques when talking to potential clients.

Understanding communication is essential.

Most people who think they are good communicators aren't. They have trouble listening with the intent to learn and frequently try and formulate what their replies while the other person is still talking. Similarly, most salespeople will do the same thing, except they'll try and develop their pitch or clever responses instead of listening intently to their potential client's concerns, needs or general dialogue.

The art of listening. Being authentic and genuinely helpful.

The art of selling is also the art of listening, authenticity and helpfulness. How do I know? I've been in sales for over 20 years, have landed million-pound clients and have helped hundreds of people get what they need—because that is truly what selling is—helping people get what they need. The truth is, you sell every day, whether you are a parent, a business coach, a teacher, or an entrepreneur. Selling and negotiations are part of life.

So many people think they are helpful when they interact with leads, but when they open their mouths, they find themselves repeating the same pitch, the same facts and not addressing anything the other person has said. In other words, they aren't genuinely trying to help the other person—they're just selling to them.

The most successful pitches aren't pitches at all.

My most successful sales haven't been pitches at all. They've been authentic, carefully structured conversations that help someone address a need. While this sounds easy to achieve, it's not and requires practice and work behind the scenes. Instead of helping you perfect your pitch, I help you perfect your communication style. This communication style is useful in all facets of your daily life, but it also lands six-figure clients. My role as a life and business coach is to help & push my clients to go to the next level, to do better, to earn better, to communicate better and to live better. I am now called by many to be the top London life coach, and I am very glad about it. I was working incredibly hard for it. And I believe that being a life coach is the best job in the world. But before I can do my job, I need to sell the idea of working with me to my prospects. And because I have been practising selling since I was thirteen, more often than not, at the end of my initial consultation session with every potential client, I hear “How soon can we start” instead of “How much does it cost”. That is The Art of Selling.

The biggest clients have seen them all. Be better than the rest.

The biggest clients and business people in the world have seen it all. They can smell a salesperson from a mile—and, unsurprisingly, they aren't impressed most of the time. If you want to stand out, you need to change the way you view sales, communication and conversations. That's what I help my clients do. I work with them to apply scientifically- backed models of listening, dialogue and psychology to ensure they impress who they talk with sincere authenticity. It's not a trick or a mind-game. It's just being a better conversationalist and listener.