Do you love what you do but hate the thought of having to "sell" your services?

Do some of these fears arise when you think of selling?:
* fear of rejection
* fear of being thought of as pushy
* fear of getting a "no"
* fear of being seen as a salesperson
* fear of .....................

Do any of these fears resonate with you?

What impact is your fear of selling having on your business? Your fears and unease around selling are no doubt holding you back from having conversations with potential clients. Or, if you are having these conversations, you can feel your fears negatively impacting your results.

Just imagine if all your fears around selling were eliminated.

I invite you to think about this for a minute. How would having no fears of selling make you feel? What difference would that make to your business?

Would you feel more confident and relaxed? Would you speak to more people about what you have to offer? Do you think you would attract more clients?

The question then is what are the steps to overcome all your fears of selling?

The first step is to identify all your fears of selling. I'd encourage you to make a list right now before reading further.

Some of your fears arise because of your perspective on selling and some of your fears arise from simply not knowing how to sell - you don't have a selling skill set.  So your fears can be classified as either "perspective fears" or "skill set fears".

With respect to each of your "perspective fears", it is your perspective (or viewpoint) that is giving you these fears. Change your viewpoint, change your perspective, and you will reduce or even eliminate your fear.   To overcome your "perspective fears", the process is to simply change your perspective to one that empowers you rather than one that makes you fearful and holds you back.

For example, a lot of people fear getting a "no".  This arises from the perspective that a "no" is a bad thing.  I'd like you to try on the perspective that a "no" can be a very good thing and that you are sometimes grateful when you get it.  In fact, I would encourage you to be in active search of a valid "no".  The sooner you find a valid "no", the better it is for both you and your potential client as you will save each other a lot of time.  How does this perspective on a "no" make you feel?

Can you see how powerful it is if you change your perspective on a "no"?  The same process can also be used for your other "perspective fears" around selling.  Look at each "perspective fear" and ask yourself what perspective you can take so that you are empowered rather than fearful.  Hint:  try the direct opposite and explore what it would be like if you took on that perspective.

There will be some fears that will not be altered by changing your perspective and these are the selling "skill set fears". These are the fears that arise because you do not know how to have a sales conversation as you have simply not learned and acquired the necessary sales skills.   These "skill set fears" can be overcome by increasing your competence in selling and learning the skill of having a sales conversation.

Find and learn a simple process for having a sales conversation so you can become skilful at it.  Be careful because you absolutely must find and learn a process for having a sales conversation that is in alignment with who you want to be.  If you learn a process for having a sales conversation that is in alignment with who you want to be, you will enjoy having sales conversations and your fear of having these conversations willbe reduced and even eliminated.

If you work on your "perspective fears" and your selling "skill set fears" as I have outlined above, you will find yourself not only having more sales conversations but you find yourself actually enjoying them too.  I have a hunch that you will also start to get a lot more clients!

(c) 2007, Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. You are welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end).

Tessa Stowe teaches small business owners and recovering salespeople 10 simple steps to turn conversations into clients without being sales-y or pushy. To learn her 8-step process for overcoming all your fears of selling, get a copy of her free ebook at http://www.salesconversation.com/overcomefears