What I love about social media is how it gives a small business owner the opportunity to meet people and also generate leads.  It gives you the opportunity to promote your business and open up doors which were not possible before.

While many people would think I am extremely confident, there is a part of me who is rather shy.  As a business owner what has been the biggest challenge for me is selling.  It is something I dread.  I tried it, hated it and avoided it. I tried getting someone else to help me with the sales aspect of the business but could never find the right person and got stuck on my own trying to do it myself.  I had help with other aspects of my business but selling was not one of them.  All my business would come via word of mouth and this was the only way I managed to get new business and keep a float but I want more, I want to live my dream life not just stay a float.

I have connected with lots of wonderful people online who I would never ever have met otherwise.  We communicate online, have chats via communities and then at some point if we are at the right place, at the right time we get to meet and that makes it even more worthwhile.

Social media has helped me tremendously because I have managed to generate lots of good leads.  My next challenge was converting the leads I generated into sales.  I would get lots of people who were interested in using my services but not knowing that there was a sales process to follow I was unable to convert them.  After a while this can be very depressing because you start to think, “am I not good enough”, “what is wrong with me” or “do I not offer value”.  Then the cycle gets worse because you start attracting everything you don’t want.

Having tried and tested so many things and reading sales books I had my doubts when I did a breakthrough session with Richard White and also attended two of his Accidental Salesman Masterclasses.  “Yes, I am a very hard nut to crack”  I was not convinced that it would help me because I just don’t have it in me to sell.

I then discovered that I had the whole sales process wrong and so it was not what I had to offer but rather how I was delivering when I got enquiries.  I would always be quick to offer solutions and ideas because its in my nature to generate ideas.  I also discovered just how simple the process was and not knowing what others do, it was an eye opener for me.  Sometimes I think we can complicate things when it is not necessary and do more harm than good.

What I learnt is a simple sales strategy that I can utilise and take with me everywhere I go.  I have some preparation to do in order to master the process and I also know that I may not get it right the first few times but I am now more confident and know that I will convert my future leads into sales, infact it has started happening for me already I am so busy that I don’t even have time to sleep but I do.

This  is a huge relief for me, knowing that I don’t have to rely on someone else to do it or even worse give up my business and walk away which would break my heart.

So watch out world here I come but please be gentle with me.

Romany Thresher

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