There are many people who consider selling and marketing as essentially dishonest and manipulative. If that’s how you think, the chances are you will resist change. This resistance is expressed in sentiments such as:
- I just don’t do selling and marketing – that’s someone else’s job.
- I feel uncomfortable talking about myself and blowing my own trumpet.
- I sound phoney when I talk about the benefits I offer.
- I’m just not the marketing type.
- I can’t sell.
The best way to get past these quite understandable feelings is to look at business development and the marketing of your services from a new perspective. The most important change is to think in terms of ‘helping’ as opposed to ‘selling.’ If you have knowledge in an area, useful to your client or prospective client, tell yourself ‘I can add value to this person’s business or personal circumstances.’