How to Sell Services Authentically (for Women)

Hello, my name's Frances Pratt and I am the founder of Accelerate Sales, a membership site that I've just launched to help women who hate selling get over their fear of selling and learn how to talk about their business and about their clients in a way that makes them feel proud and confident and successful, and in a way that helps their most loved clients know about them, connect with them, and buy from them. So why, why should I develop this site? What, what's the background to all of this? And I just wanted to spend a little time explaining that and introducing myself and letting you know what it is and who I am. Et cetera. So when I'm working with clients, I always, or often, ask them to start with the problem. What problem are you solving? And so I suppose, uh, to take my own medicine, that's where I'm going to start. So the problem that I see is that there's heaps of sales training and sales coaching and sales material out there. But there's a problem. A lot of it is, not that there's anything against Americans, but a lot of it is very macho, bro, Americanized content written by men for men. And this is not an anti-man rant at all because there's different sales styles and that suits different people. But here's what I know, that a lot of women and some men, the very idea of being salesy, that picture of the used car salesman, actually makes them cringe and run in the other direction. And that's a problem, particularly when you're running your own business. You have to be the sales champion in your business. And so that's the problem that I want to solve, and I have been solving for more than 15 years. And for a long time, I've had a vision of helping women, of seeing women-led businesses really connecting beautifully with their customers and Charging the right price for what they're offering, giving the right amount, being able to have conversations about extra charges, conversations about when things go wrong, conversations about when things go right, conversations about referrals and other parts of business. And I just, there's such a rich tapestry there of women-led businesses. And I've been a part of the Osmopreneur Network and Her Business Network and She's the Boss and so many, so many wonderful supportive groups that just really help women to rethink, redo, re— explore what business means for them and how they can do it in a way that is flexible or not, how they can do it in a way that suits them. And so that's my vision. My vision is a world where women are confidently and gracefully talking about their business, asking people to buy from them, where they understand what that process looks like, the dance of sales as I call it. And a vision where they get to work with clients that they love and they're able to manage those clients in a really constructive and beautiful way. And they can use the rich stories of all the things that they're doing and the value that they're providing to really help people understand what it is they do, really help people understand what value they can provide to them, And if this service or product is actually going to be a good fit for you, your business, your company, whatever it happens to be. So that's my vision. And for a long time, well, for 15 years, I've been working on that. Actually, 14 years ago, I launched an online sales training course, which was then called Kiss to Sell and is now called Accelerate Sales. And in that, I built out all of the things, all of the steps that people need to understand about what sales is, why people hate it, how to overcome that. And even back then, there wasn't material out there that was actually aimed at people who cringe at the idea of selling. So that's why the material that I've created and how I help people is unique. There's lots of people out there that love selling. I'm one of them, but that doesn't work for everyone, that model. or that assumption just doesn't work for everyone. So the people that I speak to are the people who don't feel comfortable or cringe at the idea of being salesy or yuck. So I suppose you're wondering why, why should you listen to me? Who, who is, who is Frances anyway? Well, I've been selling for more than 30 years. So one of the things I love to say to my kids is last century, because that's when I started selling, was last century. So last century I got my first sales job. I was a bit of a natural at selling, a bit bold I suppose, but then about a year in I was very fortunate to meet a sales coach. He wasn't technically a sales coach, but that's what he did. He taught me all about sales strategy, sales process, and he really— I was already successful, but he made me more successful. And so I continued to sell for businesses. for other businesses, not for my own business. And so I sold mostly in the IT arena. So being a woman in IT, a bit novel. Being a woman in sales in IT, novel. And so here's what I learned from, from doing that. Sometimes people will listen to you, sometimes they won't. I've had people ignore me, clients ignore me because I'm a woman and what would I know about IT. But equally, I've had doors open for me because I'm a woman and because people want a different perspective. So what I learned from all of that was, yes, you've got to be speaking to the client and trying to help them in a way that helps them. But ultimately, you have to be yourself. The best sales tool that you will ever, ever have is honesty. I remember I had an experience with a client around that. And what happened was, this was in the '90s, so a long time ago, but he was wanting to buy a big A3 printer, 2-sided, A3, full color. And back then, those printers were hideously expensive. Anyway, I refused to sell it to him, and he couldn't buy it from— he had to buy it from a company like mine. And I made him go and do the research to justify to me The return on investment for buying that computer printer. And so he did. He went and did the work. And so I did. I sold him the printer. But here's the thing. In sales, sometimes you need to protect the client from themselves. Sometimes you need to defend the company because the client's not being very nice. So Sometimes you need to protect the client because the company's not being very nice. So it's a critical role, that client guidance role. So while I was working for other people and also while I was part owner in an IT business, I also did a graduate certificate in change management. And I really loved that because Selling is about asking people to change, change what they're doing, change how they're doing it, change why they're doing it. And if you can understand how to change people, then you can understand better how to talk to them about what that might look like. After that, because I got a bit of the study bug, I did a master's, an MBA. And I'm not telling you that to skite. I'm telling you that because what those 2 experiences gave me were some thinking models, some business models, financial skills, other skills that really honed in what I was able to achieve and do and understand when I was talking to businesses. So once people have an MBA, they have to be a consultant. And I didn't really want to work for anyone else, so I had to set up my own consulting business. So 15 years ago, that's what I did. And, you know, the fascinating thing that I learned from being a part of that business was— oh, I'm still a part of that business. What am I talking about? What I learned in the early days was just what great selling really was, because I started teaching my clients about selling, and things that were— I thought were obvious or common sense just didn't make sense to people, or they didn't understand how it worked. So every time they said to me things like, Fran, you ask the best questions. I'd go, oh, tell me about that. What, what does that look like? And I suppose they helped me unpack all of the things that I was able to then put together into the sales course that I now offer. And so I want to fast forward a bit. I've had this burning vision about helping more and more women. I want to, I want to help more women than I'm able to do one-to-one or I'm able to do in small groups. And I've recently decided that I also want to expand outside Australia and help women globally. And so how am I going to do that? And that's when I came across Stu McLaren and what he was doing. And that was an introduction from Susie Daphnis from her business. And I thought, yeah, this model actually makes sense now for me in my business and for the vision that I have to help more women. And I think the other thing that I've been seeing over the last few years is just a massive increase in the uptick of women-led businesses. And there's still lots of problems out there. I mean, look at the venture capital funding for women-led founders. And, you know, there's still problems that we need to solve. And I was chatting to my 11-year-old about that. And he said to me, he said to me, hey, Mum, do you reckon that one of the reasons that women aren't being supported might be that men are scared because they're losing control? And I looked at him and I thought, you're 11. Wow. And I said to him, yeah, maybe. Maybe. And so maybe this is a changing time where women are not exclusively, not to the exclusion of men, but women are taking their rightful place at the head of business as well as other areas of life. So that's what I see. I see a future where women and men, the people who have the desire, and the heart of service, where I see a future where they're able to find customers and let those clients know what it is that they do and how they can work with them in a way that is bold but feminine. So it's an ask, not a demand. It's about listening and helping, not about pushing and tricking. So that's why, that's why I've built the Accelerate Sales Hub. And that's why I'm super keen for women who are ready, women who, know that this is a sticking area in their business, women who know there has to be a better way to trust me and to work with me and to help me form the hub, the Accelerate Sales Hub, in a way that's going to serve them so beautifully. And that's why I'm looking for founding members. This isn't for everyone. This is for people who, or women who want to give feedback. This is for women who want to be part of making a difference. And I'm just so excited. And I've had some wonderful feedback from the women who've already said yes about the value that I've already given them, but also about That they're excited about the future. So if this sounds like you and you've listened this long, then connect with me. I'm open to being asked questions. I'm open to answering them. And yeah, if, if you're keen to know more, Then connect with me. Ask me to know more or ask me to sign up. So this, this is time-bound. I am closing the founding member doors at the end of May. And, and then I'm putting the price up because I just, Not because I need to put the price up, but because there's so much to what I'm offering and the founding member price is discounted because of the fact that I won't have everything perfect. I'm still creating it. Whilst I've got 15 years of sales material and scripts and masterclasses and so many things. I wanna curate all of that around the women who trust me to start with me. So thank you for listening and thank you for being part of this journey. And I really look forward to working with you. And if you're just keen to watch the journey and watch it continue, Then subscribe here because I'll be putting updates on YouTube, and I would— yeah, I'd love you to follow my journey and obviously the journey of the women who are with me. All right, take care. Thank you.