Uncomfortable Selling Yourself Read This To Overcome It

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Uncomfortable selling yourself? Read this to overcome it. I coach many lawyers who are uncomfortable selling themselves. I can relate to their feelings because I was never comfortable selling myself. Then I learned there is a great difference between selling and helping clients. It was an aha moment for me. If you want to learn how to attract clients without coming across as a salesman, I recommend you start by reading this Harvard Business Review Blog:  The Most Important Predictor of Sales Success. Before you actually read it, can you guess what the most important predictor is? Then, take a look at this quote on what is not a predictor: I found that what most companies and sales training programs think really matters in sales is wrong. When training salespeople, they tend to propose one of two things: A sales process with methods and tricks which can move you from prospecting to closing, or a set of behaviors and character traits supposedly typical of great salespeople and worth mimicking. Neither approach gets to the most important predictor of sales success. I will leave it to you to read the rest of the blog and determine what is the most important predictor of sales success. If you are interested, I also recommend reading books and blog posts written by Charles H. Green. One of my favorite books is Trust Based Selling. To get you started I recommend reading an interview: Charles Green: Who and Why Clients Trust . As you will read, in the interview, Charles Green discusses three contrasts: I would point out three contrasts. First, trust-based selling is a practice, not a process. Second, it’s about relationships and not transactions; and third it’s about serving clients, not serving the seller. Can you get comfortable around the idea of trust based selling?   I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.