Today's question has been the easiest one ever to answer that I've seen. I had no answer to the one from last week.
The one area I wish to grow my confidence is at work. Which is weird because I refer to myself as a rockstar at work all the time. I lose all that though in the face-to-face time with my client, feeling the external pressure to sell them a series, some retail products and needing to get their next treatment booked. I dread that moment of walking them out front and chatting with them through the check-out process. I hate the whole thing. I just don't feel like massage should be treated like that.
I love where I work, who I work for, my coworkers ... everything but putting pressure on my clients to do anything after they have had a relaxing treatment with me.
But it's something I need to do, both to keep my bosses happy with me and to improve my paychecks. When I do it, because I don't like it, because I know that it's not an area I excel in (where A leads to B...), I tend to lose my English. English is my only language but I will fumble with words as if I just learned them all last week. This used to happen all the time when I was shy. These days, it usually only happens when I'm anxious, which like shyness, evaporates with confidence.
People lose faith in my rockstar abilities when I can't coherently communicate with them. Which definitely doesn't help with trying to get them to return.
So without further ado, I wish for the confidence to sell products and subsequent treatments to my current and future clients. I hold in faith that with each successful prebook/retail sale/series sale, it will get easier and eventually become second nature.
To give myself a boost, here's another question from Jamie: How would you complete the sentence, “I felt most powerful when…”?
I felt most powerful when I assembled, stood upright and moved a 4x4 set of shelves all by myself. I felt most powerful when I did my own home-blessing ritual. I felt most powerful when I *ahem* solved that most personal problem alluded to in my last post.
Mostly recently, I felt powerful when I had the epiphany about how I got into a funk I'd fallen into recently and quite easily was able to snap myself out of it.
As with Jamie, there was a connection there to something greater than myself, and a great freedom. Especially with snapping myself out of my funk, it was a return to myself.
Mm, and I've just started a new exercise program and am adding 30 days of yoga to that on the 7th. Starting P90X absolutely makes me feel powerful, I am putting myself in charge of my body, where I always should have been. I'd forgotten how much I love a good workout and how much pleasure I find in the sore muscles afterward.
Related, I recently read this post and was fascinated by the last sentence:
Clear a path by walking it, boldly.
So Thursday morning (my next day at work), I will take a deep breath, toss my hair over my shoulder and stride into work with all the calm, easy words to charm my clients into returning to me over and over.
As Melissa wishes for
As Melissa wishes for herself, so do I wish for her also!
I suck at direct sales, so I
I suck at direct sales, so I can feel for you! I hope it gets easier and you excel, you rockstar! As Melissa wishes for herself, so do I wish for her also!
i know that feeling of
i know that feeling of dread...it's why i haven't lasted long in jobs that require sales. just a suggestion...is it possible to reframe the experience so that instead of trying to 'sell' them something, maybe you could go into the encounter asking the universe (or whatever works for you) to open your client to receive what you have to offer? just a thought. as you wish for yourself, i wish for you also. (please let us know next week how it went.) ;)
~Marilyn
http://marilyn.typepad.com/tongueandgroove/
Wish Casting Wednesday
Melissa,
As you wish for yourself, I also wish for you.
As you wish for yourself, I
As you wish for yourself, I so wish for you as well.
You sound as if you know what you're doing...you have the plan.
I add my energy to give you strength and know you can accomplish anything.
Tabitha
http://theknittingjourneymanrefitted.wordpress.com/
As Melissa Wishes...
If this is your passion & you love doing it, accept your greatness, take a deep breath and receive the abundance that is meant to be yours... ALL OF IT!
As you wish for yourself, I wholeheartedly wish for you also... from one massage therapist to another!
As Melissa wishes for
As Melissa wishes for herself, I wish for her also. Keep up with the positive self talk and I hope you find yourself loving that part of your job.
Excellent Wish!
Wow, seriously, you basically wrote what I would have written if I had thought of it. I really like this part: So without further ado, I wish for the confidence to sell products and subsequent treatments to my current and future clients. I hold in faith that with each successful prebook/retail sale/series sale, it will get easier and eventually become second nature.
I hear you. I used to sell a certain make up line that I didn't believe in. I was terrible. But now I have this teeny tiny little Etsy shop that I absolutely love. I want people to know about what I do but I'm so afraid they won't like it. But I make myself send out email newsletters weekly about my new pieces. I make myself tell people about my art. I talk with confidence even if inside I'm shaking and worrying that they'll think I'm a jerk or pushy.
I have this fantastic friend who handles retails sales really well. I'm watching her and learning from her. I think the first thing I've learned is that she just loves what she sells and she wants everyone else to know how she feels when she uses the product. So I started thinking like that. I love what I sell. I wear it. I want others to wear it.
Anyway, as Melissa wishes for herself, so I wish for her also. Good luck! You can absolutely do it!
WishCasting Wednesday
I wish for you as you wish too. By the way, you are a Rockstar!
As Melissa wishes for
As Melissa wishes for herself, I wish for her also ... rockstar! :-)
wish
As you wish so I wish for you!
Ahhhh
Perfectly said. As Melissa wishes for herself, so I wish for her also.
My son has been doing the
My son has been doing the P90X with great results. I SAID I was going to do it- then decided maybe I better stick with the Nintendo Wii..lol
As Melissa wishes for herself, I wish for her also
wishcasting
As Melissa wishes for herself, I wish for her also. You are a Rockstar!
As Melissa wishes for
As Melissa wishes for herself, so do I wish for her as well.
It takes practice before you are comfortable with it. And you can't think that you are trying to talk someone into doing something. Simply present it as an offer and people will accept or not. If you present it with their overall health in mind, people that are able will consider it and make further purchases. I think most of us come to expect it and sometimes it's nice to have someone recommend something to us.
I have a friend who is an accountant trying to build her business. I asked if she had a referral program with her current clients. She said no and wasn't comfortable asking. I told her to just casually ask once to a client and see what happens. Lo and behold, they said yes actually I know someone...
Change the way you think about it and give it a try. See if that helps. I hope your wish comes true!
confidence
I have had trouble with this kind of thing too. It can feel so awkward and uncomfortable.
As you wish for yourself so I wish for you also.
Lynna G
http://morningstarstudio.ca