How often have you felt held back by fear when trying to sell in your product-based business?
Are these fears holding you back from achieving your business dreams?
Fear is an ever-present obstacle that every entrepreneur must face. Whether you’re just beginning your journey or you’re a seasoned professional, these fears can be the invisible barriers holding you back from reaching your full potential.
Today, I am diving into a topic I did in my free Facebook group, you can join here, and it’s one that really resonates with myself and those inside my group as well.
Overcoming the fears that holds us back in our product-based businesses.
The Fear of Perfectionism in Product-Based Businesses
One of the biggest fears that a lot of us struggle with is the need for perfection.
This can be especially paralyzing for those business owners who pour their heart and soul into creating products and services.
Recognizing the Perfectionism Trap
I have been in sales for over 18 years, and I still struggle with some of these fears.
I am a “recovering perfectionist,” and I have moved on from consistently battling the urge to make everything flawless before releasing it into the world.
For many product-based businesses, the pursuit of perfection becomes a barrier to action.
Embracing “Done Beats Perfect”
One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is “done beats perfect.”
This concept encourages us to take action, even if our work isn’t perfect, and to view it as a work in progress.
By releasing your product before it’s perfect, you create opportunities for feedback, which can be invaluable for improvement.
Actionable Tips for Overcoming Perfectionism
One of the things that has been so valuable for me and my own candle business is to put my candles out there and to get feedback from customers and to be able to take that feedback and to make my candles even better for my customers.
The Fear of Rejection in Product-Based Businesses
A big fear when it comes to sales, is the fear of being told no, the fear of rejection.
And this one kind of goes along with the fear of maybe what others think.
Whenever you’re selling something, whether it’s a product or a service, you are going to be told no.
And it is often very hard when you have a product that you have crafted and you have made with your own hands to remember that no does not mean that it’s a personal thing for you.
I have said to my audience a lot, no means often means not yet.
No means not yet.
And so, time and again, when you hear the word no, they just may not be in a space for to buy your product yet.
If you are in any type of sales, which spoiler alert, you are selling every day whether you realize it or not, whatever line of business you are in, you are selling every day.
You are going to hear the word no and you are going to see rejection every single day, and you have to get ready to hear that and not take it personally.
How often have you said no in your purchasing process too?
Overcoming Market Saturation Anxiety in Product-Based Businesses
I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has said the market is too saturated.
Raise your hand if you have ever heard that, especially in the candle industry. The market is too saturated. That is a big fear no matter what industry you are in.
And let me tell you something. No matter what industry you’re in, there is room for you, my friend, there is room for you.
You have a space and you have a unique gift that you bring to the table.
You are uniquely created to carve out space and to create a unique product for this industry.
No matter what industry you’re in, as many candlemakers as I have coached, every single one of you has your own unique take on candle making.
I have never seen never seen 2 candle makers exactly the same or bring the exact same candle to the table.
You all have your own unique niche, and so there is space for everyone in this industry.
And in fact, what you may not know if you have not done the research, but the candle industry is growing by 1,000,000 year-over-year.
So, almost every home in the world has candles. Therefore, when you hear the phrase, this market is saturated, don’t let that scarcity mindset set the tone for your business. There is room for you.
Challenging the Fear of Being “Salesy” in Our Product-Based Business
One fear I hear all the time is that we feel like we’re salesy. Or we just feel icky when we’re talking about our product.
Raise your hand if you have felt that before.
But I want to challenge you, and I firmly believe this from my depths that when you have a beautiful product and when you have created a beautiful product that benefits someone and brings them value, I want to flip the script on you here for just a minute that it is actually selfish to not share it with others.
I know I have at times, and that is a huge fear that can hold us back when we are talking about our product or when we’re putting our product out there.
It is actually selfish to not share it with others. You can do so in a way that is not pushy.
It is not an icky feeling, but you can simply connect with others and share how it will bring them value.
If they say no, you can allow them to walk away without chasing them like a lot of salespeople do.
Simply let them walk away.
But you have shared your valuable product with the world. And know that if they do say no, that means not yet, and it’s not personal to you.
Understanding the Buyer’s Perspective
Understanding and putting all of these things and these triggers from other people, these signals from other people in the right context is key.
Because we as human beings, what we do is we take them personally.
We take them personally because we created these beautiful products. They’re products that we crafted with our own hands, and we dreamed them up, and we’ve perfected them. And when someone says no, it hurts. We take it personally, but it’s not.
It’s not personal.
And so, all of these things create these fears that stop us from putting our products out into the world.
When we can learn that anything that is a no, or any of these signals that we get back from buyers are actually not negative things.
They’re not personal to us or even to our product.
We can learn to put them in the right context. And to take them for what they are and to understand where the buyer is coming from.
Maybe they have just had a bad day.
Perhaps they just don’t have the money right now.
Or they just don’t have a need for it right now.
And it can be that they will come back later and purchase.
It is not a personal thing that we need to put up a fear from talking about our product.
There is a statistic that it takes 7 times for a potential buyer to hear about your product to even think about purchasing from you.
90% of people selling their products will never talk about their product a second time to a potential buyer.
Let me say that again.
90% of people selling a product will never talk about their product a second time to a potential buyer.
That means they will never follow-up with a potential buyer, because they are fearful or they heard silence, and they let them stop that in their tracks.
They let that fear put up a wall and stop them.
And when you can put these signals or this fear in its proper context and not let it stop you, but let it fuel you, that is when success starts to happen.
Understanding and overcoming the fears that hold us back in selling is a journey, not a destination.
By embracing imperfection, normalizing rejection, debunking the myth of market saturation, redefining sales, understanding the buyer’s perspective, and transforming fear into fuel, you can unlock your potential and find success in sales, especially in a product-based business.
If this resonates with you, join the “She Sells Differently” Facebook group for more resources, live training, and a supportive community of like-minded individuals.
The journey to conquering your fears and finding success is much easier when you’re not alone.
Keep pushing forward and remember, every “no” brings you one step closer to a “yes”.
Resources:
The She Sells Differently Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/shesellsdifferently
Want to listen to the full episode? You can do so here.
