Tea with the Queen

[00:00:00] EMMA: You don't need longer sales conversations. You just need to be cleaner. I wanna tell you a little story about a 15-minute coaching conversation. Now, I know that sounds almost ridiculous. How much can really happen in 15 minutes? But sometimes the right question at the right moment can completely change the trajectory.
[00:00:21] Can I say that again? Trajectory. I can't even say it. Anyway, of someone's business. I've seen it. I've watched it happen right in front of me, and this particular client works with children and their parents. She does incredible work. She is knowledgeable, experienced, caring, and genuinely committed to helping families get the support that they need.
[00:00:41] And she came into a coaching session frustrated. She'd taken three inquiry calls over the previous week, and only one of those had converted into a client. Naturally, she was questioning herself. Was it her pricing? Was it her offer? Was she bad at sales? Should she be doing something differently? And you know, I hear this all the time, all the time.
[00:01:02] Someone has a couple of sales conversations that don't convert. They get a bit wobbly. They immediately conclude that they're terrible at sales. One or two disappointing outcomes suddenly becomes evidence that they're not cut out for business. We've all been there. It's a roller coaster. I get it. But if you've spent any time with me, you'll know one of my favorite questions, and the one I ask like a broken record is, "Where's the evidence?"
[00:01:26] Because often what we believe and what's actually happening are two really different things. And so we started digging around. Here's what we found fascinating. The problem wasn't her, tick. The problem wasn't her offer, tick. The problem wasn't even sales. Ah. The problem was the process. Let me walk you through what we uncovered.
[00:01:47] The first thing, she was conducting all of her sales calls over the phone. Sounds okay. Hey, at least she's doing calls. For some businesses, that might be absolutely fine, but [00:02:00] in her world, she's supporting children and their parents. Think about what a parent is doing when they reach out. They're looking for help.
[00:02:08] They're looking for reassurance. They're looking for someone that they can trust, and trust is much harder to build when someone can't see your face Parents weren't getting the chance to observe her warmth, her professionalism, and her genuine care. They were just hearing her voice. That's it. So our first change was so simple, move from phone calls to Zoom calls.
[00:02:34] Not because Zoom is magical, but because trust matters, and people buy from people that they trust. The second thing we uncovered was that these calls were happening in the cracks. You know the cracks I'm talking about. Five minutes between meetings, rushing from one thing to the next, checking emails beforehand.
[00:02:53] We've all done it, even me. Thinking about what might need to happen afterwards, physically present, but mentally somewhere else. And again, this is the thing I see. We're all busy. We're all juggling clients and families and, oh, my Lord, the email, marketing, admin, and a million other things. But when we're distracted during a sales conversation, people can feel it.
[00:03:17] They might not be able to put their finger on it, but they feel it. The energy is different. The attention is different. The connection is different. So we talked about creating space, treating those conversations as one of the most important activities in the whole business. Because honestly, without sales conversations, there ain't no business.
[00:03:41] The third issue was information overload, and this one is so common amongst service-based businesses, particularly women. We love a good chat. Well, we also care, to be fair. We wanna be helpful. We want people to have all the information so they can make the best possible decision, don't we? So what do we do?[00:04:00]
[00:04:00] We throw everything at them, every option, every package, every document, every possible pathway. And guess what happens? The person on the other end becomes overwhelmed. Instead of clarity, they feel confused. Instead of confidence, they don't feel certain. Instead of moving forward, they pause. Confused people rarely buy, not because they don't want help, not because they don't have the money, not because they don't see the value.
[00:04:33] They simply don't know what to do next. So we stripped it all back. One conversation, one recommendation, one next step. Simple, clear, easy The fourth thing that we discovered was that she didn't have a consistent sales structure. Every conversation looked slightly different. She was relying on instinct.
[00:04:59] Now, that instinct is wonderful and gets you to so many places. Experience is valuable, but structure, structure creates consistency. So when you have a framework, you know you're asking the right questions. You know you're uncovering the right information. You know you're leading the conversation somewhere useful.
[00:05:17] That's our job. And perhaps most importantly, the client, the customer at the other end, they feel guided. People don't come to a sales call wanting to figure everything out themselves. They come looking for the expertise. They want someone to help them make sense of their situation and show them the next step.
[00:05:36] That's exactly what a good sales structure does. And finally, we talked about follow-up, because follow-up matters. Not in an annoying way, not in a pushy way, not in a just checking in for the seventh time kind of way. In a human way, in a thoughtful way, in a caring way. People are busy. Life gets in the way.
[00:05:59] Kids get [00:06:00] sick. Meetings pop up. Priorities shift. Sometimes somebody genuinely wants to work with you and just doesn't get around to replying. A thoughtful follow-up can make all the difference, so we built that in, too A personal follow-up alongside a nurture sequence. Nothing complicated, just consistent.
[00:06:20] Now, here's the exciting part. Do you wanna know what happened next? The next three sales calls converted. Three for three. Yeah. Now, before anyone gets carried away, this is not me promising 100% conversion rate. That's not how business works. What I am telling you is that the changes worked, the process improved, the experience improved, the clarity improved, and the results, they happened to improve as well.
[00:06:50] And here's what I love most about this story. We did not touch her pricing. We did not redesign her website. We did not rebuild any offers. We didn't create a new marketing strategy. We didn't spend thousands of dollars on advertising. We simply improved the way she was having conversations. And I think there's a little lesson in here for all of us, including myself.
[00:07:14] When results aren't where we want them to be, our first instinct is so often to change everything. We create a new offer. We change our prices. We redesign our branding. Our breathing gets faster. We build another funnel. We buy another course. We convince ourselves the answer is somewhere outside of us.
[00:07:34] But often, the answer, much closer than we think. Sometimes it's in the way we're having conversations. Sometimes it's in the way we're following up, or lack of. Sometimes it's in the way we're presenting our offers. Sometimes it's in the systems sitting in the background. So the next time you catch yourself thinking, "I'm not very good at sales," I want you to pause and ask yourself, [00:08:00] "What's the evidence?
[00:08:01] What would Emma say?" And then ask yourself, "Could this be a process problem rather than a people problem?" Because if you're having conversations with the right people, if you genuinely are offering something that helps them, and if you care deeply about the outcomes that they achieve, there is every chance that a few small tweaks could create a very different result.
[00:08:24] You don't always need to reinvent the business. Sometimes you simply need to redesign the conversation. And if today's episode has got you thinking about your own sales process, whoa, you're not alone, or your conversion rates, or your own client journey, man, oh, man, I'd encourage you to spend some time reviewing some of those this week.
[00:08:44] Look at the evidence, look at the process, look at what's actually happening, because the answer might be much simpler than you think. I hope this helps. Just remember, you don't need longer sales conversations. No one wants to sit there for an hour. Just make sure they're really clean Thanks for listening to Tea With The Queen.
[00:09:06] If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It really does help to get the word out. For more about me, please visit emmamcqueen.com.au and I look forward to your company next episode.