Jean Wright’s Guide to Selling with Confidence and Authenticity | RR286
Is confidence the secret to successful selling?
Jean Wright, a sales confidence coach, joins me to share her passion about helping women break free from the outdated, aggressive sales stereotypes. Jean shares her journey from selling Girl Scout cookies to becoming a sales pro, and how she learned to thrive by building relationships, not just closing deals. Her approach focuses on tapping into your authentic self, believing in your product, and developing the confidence to ask for what you’re worth.
Jean offers practical advice on how to move away from the fear of being "too salesy" and instead focus on the power of genuine connection. We also dive into the importance of trust, confidence, and the ability to stand firm when asking for what you’re worth in any sales conversation.
Highlights:
- Sales success is built on confidence and authenticity, not aggressive techniques.
- Building relationships and trust with customers is key to long-term success.
- Asking for money or closing a deal should come from a place of knowing your worth, not fear.
- Overcoming self-doubt in sales is a skill that can be learned and strengthened over time.
- Women in sales should use their natural empathy and communication skills to their advantage.
Connect with Jean:
Website: https://sellingyourconfidence.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanwright-confidencebuilder/
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Transcript
Jean. Hello everyone, and welcome to this
Janice Porter:week's episode of relationships rule. My guest this week is Jean
Janice Porter:Wright, and Jean and I have had a chance to visit a couple of
Janice Porter:times, and I'm quite excited to share with you Jean's knowledge
Janice Porter:and wisdom around selling, and not just selling, but selling
Janice Porter:with confidence, and selling your confidence. And a little
Janice Porter:bit also about Jean is that she is a well, let me just read a
Janice Porter:little bit about her on her bio before I bring her to the table.
Janice Porter:Jean is now a sales confidence builder, and as a speaker, is on
Janice Porter:a mission to empower women's groups and solopreneurs alike,
Janice Porter:showing them how to tap into their unique strengths and
Janice Porter:become more confident in their sales abilities. She coaches
Janice Porter:female entrepreneurs who are new to selling or feel stuck when it
Janice Porter:comes to asking for the business. That's a big one. I
Janice Porter:think Jean creates impact by transforming their mindset
Janice Porter:around selling, empowering them to develop authentic
Janice Porter:relationship, building skills, and helping them approach sales
Janice Porter:with greater confidence. There is a lot more to Jean to Jean,
Janice Porter:and I'm going to get into that with her. So welcome to the
Janice Porter:show, Jean.
Jean Wright:Thanks so much Janice for inviting me, and I'm
Jean Wright:looking forward to our conversation. Absolutely, I'm
Janice Porter:going to show the audience. I'm not well show the
Janice Porter:audience. I'm going to show it for my purposes. I'm not on
Janice Porter:video. But Jean has written this book called selling your
Janice Porter:confidence forging a successful sales career from mint cookies
Janice Porter:to martinis. And I love that which kind of spills the beans
Janice Porter:about when you first started selling, because I remember
Janice Porter:those Girl Guide cookies. And in fact, I just bought some of
Janice Porter:those mint cookies last week from a Girl Guide locally.
Janice Porter:Those, we call those here the American cookies, because we
Janice Porter:didn't used to have them here. We only had the the chocolate
Janice Porter:and vanilla basic cookies. Do you do you get those two or no?
Janice Porter:Oh, there
Jean Wright:are. There's a variety of choices, and the mint
Jean Wright:is probably one of the most favorite. Yeah, my favorite of
Jean Wright:all the cookies. Yeah.
Janice Porter:So I want to start Jean by reading a little
Janice Porter:quote from the from the preface of your book, because this is
Janice Porter:what grabbed me. What I found is that selling is not about being
Janice Porter:aggressive or shifty like a used car scammer. It's all about
Janice Porter:having confidence in your ability to make connections with
Janice Porter:your customer and sell well. And really making connections and
Janice Porter:building relationships is what I'm all about. And so that just
Janice Porter:sort of, you know, speak, it sings to me when I hear that,
Janice Porter:because selling hasn't always really been that way. And I
Janice Porter:wondered, after reading your book and and talking to you, I
Janice Porter:wondered if, if selling was more in that, in your terminology,
Janice Porter:aggressive, when it was more transactional, and some people
Janice Porter:are still that way, but now it has shifted and it is more
Janice Porter:relational. So I want to know your talk, your take on that.
Jean Wright:I think that our culture, unfortunately has
Jean Wright:cultivated throughout the decades the image of the
Jean Wright:aggressive salesperson, and usually it's a man that we have
Jean Wright:the image of a lot of women I know carry the baggage of the
Jean Wright:experience they've had with the salesman or the salesperson who
Jean Wright:was forcing them to make a decision they weren't ready to
Jean Wright:make. They intimidated them because they had them feel like
Jean Wright:they knew more than they did. So yeah, who am I to not buy this?
Jean Wright:Because I don't understand it, so I'll just go with what they
Jean Wright:tell me, and then now they're going to take my money. So there
Jean Wright:is an unfortunate image that remains in our psyche about the
Jean Wright:salesperson. And when women tell me, I am not a salesperson,
Jean Wright:that's what they're thinking of. They're thinking of the sales
Jean Wright:person. They've had the experience went with that was,
Jean Wright:unfortunately, a bad and we're being sold to all the time, but
Jean Wright:when we make the big ticket item purchase, or we're just not sure
Jean Wright:about the product and what it's offering us, and we feel we're
Jean Wright:being forced into a decision, then we get that, oh, that's a
Jean Wright:salesperson. They're forcing me to do something. And women don't
Jean Wright:have to be that way, and most likely, they're not. They're not
Jean Wright:using those personality traits that they think they they're
Jean Wright:really not that person, but they think they have to adopt those
Jean Wright:traits to be a salesperson, and so that's where they have that
Jean Wright:fear of, I'm not. A salesperson. I can't do this, and it's that
Jean Wright:turns into a negative instead of a positive experience,
Janice Porter:for sure. It makes me think back to the the
Janice Porter:door to door sales people and the I mean, they're in your
Janice Porter:home, but they kind of have you can't leave, right? So how much
Janice Porter:that intimidation and so forth goes on back in the day? I'll
Janice Porter:never forget this. This is kind of an aside, but when I was
Janice Porter:young, newly married, and very mad at my husband, and it was my
Janice Porter:starter marriage, not the one I'm in now, I um, a vacuum
Janice Porter:cleaner salesman came to my door, and I was so mad at my
Janice Porter:husband that I bought the vacuum cleaner. Like, that's how, you
Janice Porter:know, like, they they were so, like, overpriced in those days,
Janice Porter:but it was just one of those things. I'll never forget that.
Janice Porter:Anyway, that's an aside. Okay, so you describe yourself as a
Janice Porter:confidence builder, share a little bit about your journey,
Janice Porter:because your book talks all about the different sales roles
Janice Porter:that you've had, and how each one of them really has a played
Janice Porter:a role in building your confidence. And so now you teach
Janice Porter:other women, mostly, I think, to although I know you do sales
Janice Porter:teams, and there may be men on there too as well, right? But
Janice Porter:you teach them how to boost their confidence,
Jean Wright:right? And I don't think that sales as a profession
Jean Wright:has a the reputation as being a noble type of career because of
Jean Wright:that image of the salesperson. So when I was in college and I
Jean Wright:was learning about getting into the field, I wanted to get into,
Jean Wright:which, in my case, was communications and the media.
Jean Wright:You know, it was all about, let's train you to be on the
Jean Wright:air. Let's train you to be in production, all that. But guess
Jean Wright:what? There are people out there that are selling advertising so
Jean Wright:that they'll pay your salary. And so there wasn't the
Jean Wright:description of all the options to all the career paths to go
Jean Wright:into in a sales realm. So I kind of found myself in it by
Jean Wright:accident, you know, working with people who are looking for a
Jean Wright:sales rep, well, what's a sales rep or marketing rep? That was
Jean Wright:like the term. We want you to go out and talk to people in the
Jean Wright:neighborhood or in the city and tell them about our services and
Jean Wright:bring them on as a client. And you have to know that we are the
Jean Wright:best product ever, and we're going to change their lives. And
Jean Wright:it's going to be, we're we're going to compete with everybody
Jean Wright:else, but you're going to tell them we're number one. And you
Jean Wright:know where I had that first opportunity to do that, in
Jean Wright:Washington, DC, in the biggest town I've ever worked in at the
Jean Wright:time, it was one of my first jobs, and I was sent out on the
Jean Wright:street, and there I was knocking on doors, presenting myself, and
Jean Wright:what I realized was the reason I was hired was whenever the man
Jean Wright:who owned the business said to me, eventually, I said, so Why
Jean Wright:don't you hire me? Because I came from out of town. I was
Jean Wright:just looking for a job to get started. He said, You know what?
Jean Wright:You dressed for success. You and in that town, in the town that I
Jean Wright:that I was in Washington town, the city, it's a very
Jean Wright:conservative and very dressy business place. And so I, I
Jean Wright:adopted that look because I knew that's what they're looking for.
Jean Wright:So the dress for success stayed with me, and I felt
Jean Wright:professional. I felt like I was representing his brand the way
Jean Wright:he wanted me to, and I was speaking the way he had. They
Jean Wright:had trained me to speak about the business. So that confidence
Jean Wright:I was given, kind of an approval on how I presented myself, and
Jean Wright:then I took it from there to present my confidence in the
Jean Wright:business that I was representing. So I felt good
Jean Wright:about myself. I got that little bit of approval that helped me
Jean Wright:walk out the door, and then I had to knock on those doors to
Jean Wright:talk to the people about the business. And the more
Jean Wright:experience I had opening the door and presenting myself and
Jean Wright:talking about the business and telling them why we were the
Jean Wright:best in town, was how I just developed my style, why people
Jean Wright:like me. There were things that I just took through my career as
Jean Wright:to why people wanted to work with me. I didn't really know
Jean Wright:what it was, but it was something about how I presented
Jean Wright:myself, my knowledge, my warmth and that I care. About building
Jean Wright:the relationship so that we could work together. Made the
Jean Wright:difference. Okay? So I
Janice Porter:wanted to break that down a little bit, because
Janice Porter:my um perception of sales has always been, well, in one
Janice Porter:aspect, there's I have my own experience in another model of
Janice Porter:selling. But this, I'm thinking traditional. And I'm thinking,
Janice Porter:if you want to make money, this is my head, if you want to make
Janice Porter:money, get into sales, because you're you're not limited, as
Janice Porter:you are, in a salaried position. But some companies it's salary
Janice Porter:anyway, and some companies it's salary plus commission, and some
Janice Porter:is just commission. But the real sales people are on commission.
Janice Porter:They only have themselves to answer, you know, like, right,
Janice Porter:right? It's all related to how much they do and and the sky's
Janice Porter:the limit, and that's where the money is. That's my perception
Janice Porter:that going along the years and and so you have to be confident
Janice Porter:in yourself and in what you can do to be able to be successful
Janice Porter:in that now, when you were doing that particular job, and it was
Janice Porter:you early in your career, were you probably on on salary,
Janice Porter:probably not on commission at that point,
Jean Wright:right? We received a salary plus commission on on
Jean Wright:our accounts, okay, but the
Janice Porter:thing that I'm quite I'm going to ask you is,
Janice Porter:were you that early on, were you not attached to the outcome? Did
Janice Porter:you learn that early on? Because to also be a good salesperson, I
Janice Porter:believe you have to not be attached to the outcome,
Janice Porter:otherwise it can bring you down. And then you you know, like I
Janice Porter:knew someone once who was selling. I think it was life
Janice Porter:insurance. And he'd make a sale, and then he'd go celebrate as if
Janice Porter:it was a like, you know, a big deal. Well, that's his job. He
Janice Porter:was supposed to be selling. So you don't stop and celebrate and
Janice Porter:then do nothing for another month, you know? Yeah,
Jean Wright:right, right. Well, I was the first time, but
Jean Wright:interesting lately enough, I said to this boss I had, it was
Jean Wright:a husband and a wife who owned this big this company, and I was
Jean Wright:so proud of myself that I was bringing a new business. And I
Jean Wright:said to him, Wow, isn't it great, you've got some new
Jean Wright:clients that I brought in. He said, That's what I hired you to
Jean Wright:do exactly. Now continue doing that exactly, and then I kind of
Jean Wright:set the bar, because he appreciated it, but said, Well,
Jean Wright:yeah, that's what I expected. And and I was so excited,
Jean Wright:because, of course, this is exciting. I bring in business.
Jean Wright:So the next level was after I established my accounts, and
Jean Wright:after I was doing well, we have another office. We're going to
Jean Wright:open. We want you to go and run that office right? Do I have a
Jean Wright:choice? No, we have a lot of confidence in you that you can
Jean Wright:do this for us, and we're going to send you there now. And so
Jean Wright:the next, the next level of the bar was set. And you know, it's
Jean Wright:almost like Be careful what you're doing, you're asking for
Jean Wright:the next challenge. But I wanted that, and that's what turned
Jean Wright:into be I love the thrill of the hunt, and I also like the next
Jean Wright:challenge. So it was bring in more. I really love getting, you
Jean Wright:know, bringing in the new clients. But I wanted more
Jean Wright:responsibility, and I wanted to test my skills to lead people,
Jean Wright:to manage a staff and to conquer a new territory. How exciting
Jean Wright:was that I conquered that other one, and now I'm moving on to
Jean Wright:the next one. So that was really wonderful to feel that way in a
Jean Wright:doing this new and I never sold like that before, being
Jean Wright:successful and getting the confirmation from the employer
Jean Wright:that I can even do more, because they saw that in me. They saw
Jean Wright:something in me that they knew I couldn't help them achieve more
Jean Wright:for the company, of course, they want to make money, of course,
Jean Wright:and I wanted to branch out and and see what I could do with
Jean Wright:that. So I was grateful for the opportunity that they offered
Jean Wright:me.
Janice Porter:Do you see today in the I'm sure you're you come
Janice Porter:across a lot of younger people that you're training or that
Janice Porter:you're meeting and that you're speaking, do you see anything
Janice Porter:specific that's different in them today than when you and I
Janice Porter:were younger and when you were first starting out? Do you see
Janice Porter:anything major that's different? Yeah.
Jean Wright:I see and the younger women that I talk to,
Jean Wright:they have they don't always have the support from like how they
Jean Wright:were brought up to feel good about themselves in what they're
Jean Wright:doing to promote themselves, present themselves. They need a
Jean Wright:little more help with that. I was very fortunate, because my
Jean Wright:mother had a business mind, and she was always telling me how to
Jean Wright:dress and look professional, speak the right way, so that
Jean Wright:people understand you're intelligent. And there are women
Jean Wright:that don't get a lot of that really, or just from well, some
Jean Wright:of the ones that I work with, and not that they're not
Jean Wright:professional on how they are now in their career. But we need
Jean Wright:help from every what, every area you know. We need mentors,
Jean Wright:people that we work with. But we also need that basic because I
Jean Wright:can sometimes look at somebody and think to myself, why did you
Jean Wright:walk out the door looking like that today. I would not, I would
Jean Wright:not present myself today looking that way if you were going to a
Jean Wright:meeting. And I don't know if they don't think about it in
Jean Wright:those terms of the professional look. I don't mean to wear a
Jean Wright:jack suit jacket. I know what you mean, representing your
Jean Wright:brand, or, you know, kind of understanding that we're not
Jean Wright:always casual. We need to look the parts, and I find that the
Jean Wright:hardest thing to face with some younger people right now. Well,
Janice Porter:that's interesting, because I wouldn't
Janice Porter:have thought that being that prevalent, but because style is
Janice Porter:different today, for sure, as what is, yeah,
Jean Wright:there's professional casual style too.
Jean Wright:Yes, okay, yes,
Janice Porter:for sure. And I mean, first impressions, right?
Janice Porter:First impressions,
Jean Wright:that's the thing. That's the thing. And if they're
Jean Wright:saying I'm not getting respect in the meeting, or they don't
Jean Wright:seem to want to refer me to anybody, they're not taking me
Jean Wright:seriously. And I think to myself, you're just not looking
Jean Wright:the part. Yeah, so let's that's up. That's up at a bit. And it's
Jean Wright:not because you're a woman, it's, I think men and women, I
Jean Wright:have to be aware of that. But I'm talking to women about
Jean Wright:confidence, and I think if you can feel good about yourself and
Jean Wright:how you look, that's just the first step, for sure.
Janice Porter:I also think, I also think it's different in the
Janice Porter:east to the west.
Jean Wright:We're very different. Yes, we're
Janice Porter:laid back over on the West Coast, you know, we, we
Janice Porter:don't like Vancouver, but we're kind of like Hollywood north.
Janice Porter:We, we look at, you know, we're west coast, outdoorsy, you know,
Janice Porter:casual. We're not like Washington, DC and New York and
Janice Porter:Montreal, right? I agree with you, different, yeah, but, but
Janice Porter:it's just, and then also you look at, you know, the the likes
Janice Porter:of Steve Jobs and what he presented and and, yes, now that
Janice Porter:kind of the the Silicon Valley. Look, you know what I mean?
Janice Porter:Yeah, well,
Jean Wright:yeah, but, well, I think what I'm getting at is
Jean Wright:more the confidence in no idea how you feel about yourself. But
Jean Wright:I do agree with you, because I did work on the West Coast. I
Jean Wright:worked in LA for one of my jobs, for a year in Hollywood,
Jean Wright:actually. And there I was coming from Washington, DC, all
Jean Wright:buttoned up a few decades ago, but, and I'm looking at this
Jean Wright:executive that I'm speaking with, and she's just a whole
Jean Wright:different style and a look. And of course, it's the
Jean Wright:entertainment industry, yeah. But it was shocking and it was
Jean Wright:different. And then I had to adjust myself into, okay, this
Jean Wright:is how I'm going to dress myself. And it was so
Jean Wright:professional, but it was a different style. Yeah, totally,
Janice Porter:yeah. That's why they call them the suits, right?
Janice Porter:Because the executives are the only do that in, right, right.
Janice Porter:Okay, so confidence and trust go hand in hand. How do you help
Janice Porter:people foster genuine trust in relationships, whether personal
Janice Porter:or professional and and what tips do you have for maintaining
Janice Porter:trust over time?
Jean Wright:I think trust occurs with Okay? In an
Jean Wright:interaction when you're speaking to somebody, and you, first of
Jean Wright:all, if you're representing a product or a service, you have
Jean Wright:to believe in it, and you have to understand how it works, so
Jean Wright:that you know what it is that you're presenting to them is
Jean Wright:going to help them and it's going to solve their problem.
Jean Wright:Okay, so right away, when I'm being open and honest about
Jean Wright:that, not thinking, Oh, I'm going to make a commission off
Jean Wright:of this, and I better get through this quickly, because I
Jean Wright:just want them to buy it. That's not the way you want to come
Jean Wright:across. You want to you want to be able to listen first to what
Jean Wright:their problems are. Are how you can solve that with the products
Jean Wright:or services you're offering. And that, I think, is the beginning
Jean Wright:of developing the trust and explaining to people that you
Jean Wright:have clients that have found your product to help them as
Jean Wright:well. And you know, talk about the story that you can relate
Jean Wright:to, who you've helped, how they've improved their life, or
Jean Wright:whatever it is that you're offering that's going to make a
Jean Wright:difference. And having that one on one and that direct. And then
Jean Wright:here's another thing about just being in person is that eye
Jean Wright:contact and showing people that if I'm talking to someone and
Jean Wright:they're not looking at me and they're looking down and they're
Jean Wright:trying to convince me to do something, it's just really hard
Jean Wright:for me to trust them and being sincere. And I think women have
Jean Wright:the ability to have that sincerity and empathy, and they
Jean Wright:should use it to their advantage to pull people in, so that you
Jean Wright:can start developing that trust and that relationship that bonds
Jean Wright:people together, and they feel that okay, they've explained
Jean Wright:everything to me. They're looking at me. They're, they're,
Jean Wright:they're feeling my pain, and I think I'm going to trust the
Jean Wright:fact that they're going to help me. And there's a lot of body
Jean Wright:language involved too. So, yeah,
Janice Porter:totally. But if you're not in person, then it's
Janice Porter:your voice and your influence. Yeah,
Jean Wright:exactly right. Yes. It's
Janice Porter:funny. I went to my husband, I went to a store
Janice Porter:the other day to I have to get new tires for my car. And we
Janice Porter:went to this place that was he'd been to a few places to check
Janice Porter:out or he called to get pricing. And then we went to this place
Janice Porter:that was close by, and the woman that helped us at the service
Janice Porter:desk, young woman, and she started telling us the
Janice Porter:difference between the different tires and what she recommended.
Janice Porter:And I loved her confidence in what her and she knew her
Janice Porter:products, that that's what convinced me, that that's where
Janice Porter:I wanted to bring my car. And yeah, and you know, in that
Janice Porter:environment, she was a woman, which was unusual, and she, she
Janice Porter:really knew her stuff. So I, when I phoned to make the
Janice Porter:appointment, I made sure that I talked to her again, and I asked
Janice Porter:her a couple other questions and and what she, you know, I just,
Janice Porter:I was impressed with that confidence.
Jean Wright:Because, number one, you didn't expect in that
Jean Wright:industry, right, there would be a woman who was so knowledgeable
Jean Wright:about that, and I have talked to women who own businesses. They
Jean Wright:they are businesses that you would not be traditionally,
Jean Wright:yeah, be run by a woman, or work there. And they do have and then
Jean Wright:those women, sometimes, you know, they come from a diverse
Jean Wright:background, and then that's another thing that's not in
Jean Wright:their favor. When they're trying to talk to people and be like, I
Jean Wright:know my stuff. I am knowledgeable. And really you
Jean Wright:have to look past my you know, my color, or that I'm a woman,
Jean Wright:my gender, you know, and that is very difficult for many women
Jean Wright:today, who are owned businesses that are unconventional for a
Jean Wright:female to be part of, and it's, it's a bit of a struggle, but
Jean Wright:they're the ones that I know that that do these businesses,
Jean Wright:that run these businesses. They are straw. They are women that
Jean Wright:have a purpose, and they're just going to keep you know, showing
Jean Wright:that they they are confident about what they know about their
Jean Wright:product, and that they're going to help you, and that you know,
Jean Wright:you don't have to think about the fact that a woman is, you
Jean Wright:know, and it's a non traditional role, right, right? There's a
Jean Wright:lot of things people overcome today that's an issue, but I see
Jean Wright:some confident women out there that are very successful. And I
Jean Wright:I'm just like, you. I'm like, yay. This is great.
Janice Porter:That's really good. I remember few years ago,
Janice Porter:several years ago, I did some teaching up at an extension
Janice Porter:program up at the local college, and it was an entrepreneur group
Janice Porter:of people, and one of the I was asked to come in and talk about
Janice Porter:networking. And I'll never forget this, because I had the
Janice Porter:the class break out into groups. This is in person. And you know,
Janice Porter:as if they were at a networking event, and I would go around and
Janice Porter:sort of talk to each group and see what they were up to. And
Janice Porter:there was a woman in this small group of people who kind of
Janice Porter:stood back a little bit, and. She was from Iran. I think it
Janice Porter:was. And so there's a lot of Iranians that had moved to
Janice Porter:Vancouver. A lot of them had come from Uganda and whatever at
Janice Porter:this later times. And so they were here, and she was, she, I
Janice Porter:said something to her about, you know, not taking part, and she
Janice Porter:wasn't. It was a cultural thing that she that I hadn't learned
Janice Porter:about at that point, and I realized how strong it was for
Janice Porter:her, and that she had to be behind the men, she had to be
Janice Porter:deaf, deferential. Is that the word Yeah, yeah to them, and to
Janice Porter:be in North America and learn those customs is hard and
Janice Porter:difficult and brand new for women in that that come from
Janice Porter:those kinds of cultures. So that was a real eye opener for me
Janice Porter:back then, that you know, that woman could be a real confident
Janice Porter:woman in certain areas, but she'd never been able to be that
Janice Porter:way. So when they come here, it's very interesting, I think,
Janice Porter:to see so many women. In particular, I have this thing
Janice Porter:about when, you know, when in Rome do as the Romans do, but
Janice Porter:it's very hard for a lot of them to do that, because they go home
Janice Porter:to to their family, in their home in, you know, Vancouver, or
Janice Porter:wherever they are, and it's still traditional cultural so
Janice Porter:they don't, yeah, so do you ever come across that today, even
Janice Porter:with women from other cultures, because they're everywhere. So I
Janice Porter:just wonder,
Jean Wright:well, yeah, I know a woman who is from South
Jean Wright:America, and she worked in a construction she came up to the
Jean Wright:United States and started like in Florida, and then she kept
Jean Wright:going north, but she talked about working in an office in a
Jean Wright:construction kind of business. And then she got to really
Jean Wright:understand the inner workings of how the construction business
Jean Wright:is. And she felt very confident that she could maybe go out on
Jean Wright:her own and build a business of her own. And so she, she did
Jean Wright:that. And so she had to overcome those stereotypes first that,
Jean Wright:yeah, she she had a, you know, she has an accent. She's from
Jean Wright:that country. So right away, a lot of people just think maybe
Jean Wright:you're not educated, and that's not the case at all. And then
Jean Wright:that she was a woman, and what did she know? And she really
Jean Wright:felt like there was a lot to overcome as an immigrant and
Jean Wright:then as a woman, and then in the construction industry. So wow,
Unknown:a lot of No, yeah,
Jean Wright:there's a lot. There's a lot. So I've seen
Janice Porter:that in the automotive industry too, where
Janice Porter:women right? Just yeah. So you must speak to, do you talk to,
Janice Porter:like the sales managers? Do you talk to the business owners who
Janice Porter:are looking to help their teams increase?
Jean Wright:I focus more on entrepreneurial women, okay,
Jean Wright:because I find they wear so many hats. They have a passion for
Jean Wright:their product, and they're really excited about it in the
Jean Wright:market, putting it in the marketplace, and then they say,
Jean Wright:oh, but I've got to sell it. And that's where we get that fear of
Jean Wright:I don't have time to be a salesperson. I don't have money
Jean Wright:to hire somebody to sell for me, but I have to do it, and I have
Jean Wright:to figure out a way to sell, and it's frustrating to them. So
Jean Wright:it's a little bit sorry.
Janice Porter:I'm sorry. I
Jean Wright:know that's fine about this,
Janice Porter:because, um, if it's their own business or their
Janice Porter:own service, their own product, you would think that they were,
Janice Porter:they're certainly passionate enough about it that they would
Janice Porter:that that would come naturally. But I guess it doesn't.
Jean Wright:They don't want to ask for the money. They don't
Jean Wright:that's the worth. Am I worth it? How much do I charge for this?
Jean Wright:There are a lot of women out there who coach. There are a lot
Jean Wright:of women who have businesses that are service oriented. They
Jean Wright:have to set pricing. They don't know for sure. If it's where am
Jean Wright:I in the marketplace? Maybe I'll just start them out for free
Jean Wright:first and see where it goes. I mean, we all like to give
Jean Wright:something. Oh, you're so right. You're so right, yeah, okay. And
Jean Wright:I think it's how we grow up, like, don't ask for money for
Jean Wright:that. Like, what do you know? You don't have all that
Jean Wright:education that you should feel worthy to ask for that. And I
Jean Wright:think even when we're doing our our life dream you think, Oh, I
Jean Wright:know so much. I just give it. I'll just give my knowledge away
Jean Wright:for free. And that's not fair. Think of how much your knowledge
Jean Wright:and experience is worth.
Janice Porter:I actually experienced this yesterday. I
Janice Porter:had been referred a client, a prospect, had been referred to
Janice Porter:me, who owns he's a doctor, and he. He, He owns a clinic, a
Janice Porter:couple of clinics, and we were talking about LinkedIn, and what
Janice Porter:I could do for him to help him with this LinkedIn, because of a
Janice Porter:project that was going on. And I said, this is what it would cost
Janice Porter:to do my to do your profile. And he, he said, he, said, What did
Janice Porter:he say? He said something about, oh, that's a little high, or
Janice Porter:something like that. And I said, I said, really. I said, I tell
Janice Porter:you what. I said, I am not the the lowest price, but I'm not
Janice Porter:the highest price either. And I said, I think you'll get great
Janice Porter:value out of what I will do for you. And I think you'll, you
Janice Porter:know, whatever, but that, that's the long time coming for me,
Janice Porter:because couple of years ago, if he'd said that to me, I might
Janice Porter:have said, well, let's do it for such and such instead, I could
Janice Porter:bring my price down, right? But it I didn't. And then he said to
Janice Porter:me, he said, I'm from Nigeria, and I have to, I have to say
Janice Porter:that. He said they're taught
Jean Wright:to do that, barter, negotiate, that's the thing.
Janice Porter:And I said, Thank you for sharing that. I said,
Janice Porter:but I think that you'll find that it's worth it. And that's
Janice Porter:all I said. So I have not job yet, but we'll see. You know
Jean Wright:that's like when people say that's too expensive,
Jean Wright:well, but what? What were you expecting? How? What is
Jean Wright:expensive to you? Because, and there are also people with
Jean Wright:preconceived notions about when I was selling advertising for
Jean Wright:television and then also advertising for print, and a
Jean Wright:client that I'd been working with for print and then I
Jean Wright:switched jobs, they'd say, Oh, I'm never gonna be able to
Jean Wright:afford you. I can't pay for television. Do you even know how
Jean Wright:much it costs? Well, I just know it's gonna be expensive. So
Jean Wright:let's just talk, and it's educate you about what it is
Jean Wright:that you're getting for the money you're spending. And
Jean Wright:expensive to you, maybe 10s of 1000s of dollars. And that's
Jean Wright:really what it was. They were thinking 1000s of dollars more
Jean Wright:than it actually costs. And you need to have a conversation,
Jean Wright:absolutely. Let's get down to what this is that we're
Jean Wright:offering, and then what it's the value that you're going to
Jean Wright:receive for that.
Janice Porter:And I love that, though, that that's a big issue
Janice Porter:for women and their confidence is knowing what to charge and
Janice Porter:being and standing in their power, yes, standing in their
Janice Porter:car and asking for the sale. Yes.
Jean Wright:And you know, I'm happy to negotiate a bit on a
Jean Wright:price point, but I don't want to devalue my product, because it
Jean Wright:comes to a point where once I give it away, then what value is
Jean Wright:left? Well, they're not. They're just getting a deal. And there's
Janice Porter:always benefiting you, and there's always that,
Janice Porter:that thing, like yesterday, I had a little toddler, my
Janice Porter:granddaughter's bike, her old bike has been sitting in the
Janice Porter:garage at my house, and I said, we have to sell it. Let's get it
Janice Porter:out of here. So I sold two of them, but the second one I was
Janice Porter:saving because this guy said I'm coming next Saturday to get the
Janice Porter:bike. I said, fine, no problem. Then he tells me his old girl
Janice Porter:didn't want that color. So I put it up on Facebook marketplace
Janice Porter:yesterday. In half an hour, I had six people that wanted the
Janice Porter:bike, and this first one, the woman said, I'm coming to get
Janice Porter:it. I'll be there in 20 minutes. I said, Fine. And it was like 50
Janice Porter:bucks. And then when she came, gave me the $50 never even
Janice Porter:looked much at the bike, other than my son already has a red
Janice Porter:one. He'll love this red bike. And I thought, could I have sold
Janice Porter:it for more? Like, you know, it's so
Jean Wright:funny when you go through and high so that when
Jean Wright:you have to go down, it's you're still making, yeah, you know,
Jean Wright:bit of a profit. I was just happy that it was
Janice Porter:going to a good home. But don't get me wrong,
Janice Porter:but, but the thing is that you start to question, right? You
Janice Porter:start to question yourself. Yeah,
Jean Wright:that was too easy. Wow, did I devalue that really
Jean Wright:quickly. But, yeah, I think it just depends on your
Jean Wright:circumstance. But I always feel that you can never go up, you
Jean Wright:can always go down. And then you know how low you can go before
Jean Wright:you have to say, That's my final, you know, call. So, yeah,
Jean Wright:it's, it gets to be a little tricky sometimes. But the value
Jean Wright:is, you definitely have to remember there is value
Janice Porter:so do you. Can you recall a story that one of
Janice Porter:your clients went from non confident to confident and
Janice Porter:shared with you something that was a big aha moment for them.
Janice Porter:Does anything come to mind with one of your, your recent
Janice Porter:clients,
Jean Wright:oh, I have some, someone I'm working with who was
Jean Wright:transitioning from a job that thought you were
Janice Porter:gonna say, transitioning from male to
Janice Porter:female. Oh, no, no, no. She
Jean Wright:was transitioning, which is fine. Yeah, that a job
Jean Wright:that was uh. Uh, not going the direction she wanted to, and it
Jean Wright:was a smaller practice, and she felt like it was a little more
Jean Wright:male dominated, and she was being seen for who she was. And
Jean Wright:she's young, but she has her credentials, and she has
Jean Wright:opportunities that she was exploring. And she said to me,
Jean Wright:you know, we talked about, how do you feel about yourself when
Jean Wright:you're presenting yourself and standing up to people who are
Jean Wright:should be treating you at their level, at the level you deserve,
Jean Wright:and speak up about it. And she started doing that with the
Jean Wright:person she was working for, and then she had an opportunity to
Jean Wright:look into another position for a bigger company that would give
Jean Wright:her more opportunity to show that her worth and to be on that
Jean Wright:level that she needs to be. And I even helped her with her
Jean Wright:resume, to to really just help her shine more, because she
Jean Wright:needed that to present to the interviewer, and she just said,
Jean Wright:I have to be honest with you, I don't get and this is the thing
Jean Wright:about the support network that she needed to talk to, people
Jean Wright:that loved her, that weren't there for her, you know, like
Jean Wright:people that she Were in her family, she needed to look out
Jean Wright:elsewhere to find some type of mentor that has been out there
Jean Wright:doing things in the business world, like me. And it was I was
Jean Wright:just doing what I felt was going to be helpful to her in every
Jean Wright:way, to stand up to people, to show her value, because she has
Jean Wright:value and to pump up her herself, but she talks about
Jean Wright:herself and her resume and how she appears, even on LinkedIn.
Jean Wright:We talked a little bit about that, and she just told me how
Jean Wright:much everything that she learned from me and my book was so
Jean Wright:helpful to her, and I just feel I'm doing it's good when you
Jean Wright:have someone outside the box looking in, and I feel like I
Jean Wright:did what I could that she asked me to do, and I did give her
Jean Wright:what she needed, but to her, it was like a million dollars that
Jean Wright:I gave her To help her feel more confident.
Janice Porter:So, yeah, that's the special kind of work that
Janice Porter:you do, yeah.
Jean Wright:So I think the whole thing about selling is, I
Jean Wright:encourage people to take a course on the basics of sales,
Jean Wright:you know, networking, prospecting, present, presenting
Jean Wright:a product, closing, asking for the money, follow up, customer
Jean Wright:service, all that. But what they don't tell you. When you take
Jean Wright:this training classes, and I've took many, taken many of them,
Jean Wright:wherever I've worked, everybody has their way that they want you
Jean Wright:to sell, right? But how do you really feel about it? You know,
Jean Wright:it's a it's a lonely sport, I feel that whenever I've been on
Jean Wright:a sales team, we're all in our we're on a team, but we're doing
Jean Wright:our individual thing, and it's good. You're out there, yeah,
Jean Wright:you're out there in the territory, or you're making the
Jean Wright:calls, or you do but it's you have to motivate yourself. Yeah,
Jean Wright:you have you get those days where you're not getting
Jean Wright:anywhere, and you have to, you're constantly thinking and
Jean Wright:doing that introspection of, what did I do right today? What
Jean Wright:did I do right? How did would this have gone better? And
Jean Wright:that's good, but you do have to work it on, it yourself a lot.
Jean Wright:It's a lot of self motivation. And you know that you have to
Jean Wright:report in you have quotas, you have team, Team contests, you
Jean Wright:have all those things, but in the end, it's you that has to
Jean Wright:produce. And how do you feel? And sometimes I speak with women
Jean Wright:who look from the outside, they have it all together. They have
Jean Wright:a professional feel about them. They seem to be successful in
Jean Wright:their businesses, and then they tell me, you know, I really have
Jean Wright:trouble asking for the money. It is the worst part of my job. And
Jean Wright:I'm thinking, Well, you seem like you know what you're doing.
Jean Wright:Yeah, not this inner thing. Or I can't do follow up very well.
Jean Wright:I'm afraid to call people back. How long do I wait? Are they
Jean Wright:ghosting me? Forever? Will I be able to close it's just and
Jean Wright:nobody's really helping them with that, especially if they're
Jean Wright:on their own and they have their own business, or they're one of
Jean Wright:just maybe a couple people in an office that's small business. No
Jean Wright:one's there to really train them and explain to them. Well, this
Jean Wright:is how it works. This is what happens sometimes with people.
Jean Wright:This is how you should think about it. And here are some tips
Jean Wright:for doing some follow ups, and how to reach people and maybe
Jean Wright:get an answer faster because you're asking the right
Jean Wright:questions. So you know, those are the things that people need
Jean Wright:help with.
Janice Porter:Yes, and it may seem really Elementary to you or
Janice Porter:I, in some of those cases, I remember when I learned that and
Janice Porter:I didn't formally learn how to be a salesperson. I did those
Janice Porter:things that you did. I've taken a couple of sales courses, and
Janice Porter:I've, you know, I've tried to learn, but it one was about I
Janice Porter:mentioned earlier about not being attached to the outcome,
Janice Porter:and the other one is, don't leave a meeting without booking
Janice Porter:the next meeting, because it takes a while to the sales cycle
Janice Porter:in different things is, is, you know, longer or shorter, and
Janice Porter:with different people, it's longer or shorter, depending on
Janice Porter:who's making the decisions. So, yeah, the follow ups easier if
Janice Porter:you book the next meeting. I
Jean Wright:always say, once they walk out that door, they
Jean Wright:may be gone forever, because you either did not set a mutual time
Jean Wright:to reconnect, you didn't have a, you know, an idea of where you
Jean Wright:stood in the process with them, and they're gone, or I'm just
Jean Wright:going to take this I used to do some home based business
Jean Wright:selling, and there would be women that would come to the
Jean Wright:event, this is many years ago, but they would sit there and
Jean Wright:say, um, I'm not ready to place an order, but I'm going to take
Jean Wright:the catalog Home, and I'll call you. And I knew that was it.
Jean Wright:They weren't going to I was probably never going to hear
Jean Wright:from them again. I could call them and I would, but that was
Jean Wright:their non committal. I don't think I can. I don't know what
Jean Wright:their reasons were. They either couldn't afford it, they
Jean Wright:couldn't decide, or they had a question about something that,
Jean Wright:if I could answer it would help them make a decision. Yeah. So
Jean Wright:there's so many reasons why people don't make a decision or
Jean Wright:walk out the door, but you may never see them again. That's so
Jean Wright:true. That's what I always say. Have that mutual agreement to
Jean Wright:reconnect? Absolutely, one of the best tips I can provide.
Jean Wright:Like you said,
Janice Porter:yeah, exactly. Well, this has been great. I
Janice Porter:have one, two more questions for you. One is, what advice? What's
Janice Porter:your biggest piece of advice? What's the one thing that you
Janice Porter:love to share with people who struggle with self doubt and its
Janice Porter:impact on their ability to market themselves or or sell and
Janice Porter:build me meaningful business relationships. What's the one
Janice Porter:thing for you? So this
Jean Wright:is just like a few sentences that I can tell you
Jean Wright:that all kind of mean the same thing, but it's all about
Jean Wright:understanding that you're selling every day, and just feel
Jean Wright:positive that your sales skills are good, and just let go of
Jean Wright:those sales images that are negative and holding you back.
Jean Wright:And so as long as you're authentic and know that you're
Jean Wright:the expert about what it is you have to offer that helps build a
Jean Wright:more confident mindset, it's all about just talking to yourself
Jean Wright:that you are the expert you you're selling every day,
Jean Wright:whether you know it or not, and your persuasive skills will, in
Jean Wright:the end, be helpful to you to get an answer make the sale. Use
Jean Wright:that ability as a woman to be empathetic and and solve
Jean Wright:people's problems. It's you have it and use it. It's there.
Janice Porter:Thank you. Okay. Last question, um, I love the
Janice Porter:word curiosity. I think um, Curiosity can be the backbone of
Janice Porter:good sales can be. I'm not saying it's the only or has to
Janice Porter:be, but my question for you is, do you believe that curiosity is
Janice Porter:innate or learned? And part two is, what are you most curious
Janice Porter:about these days?
Jean Wright:Well, I think we all can be curious, but I don't
Jean Wright:always think I am curious enough. I I've always interested
Jean Wright:in learning, if that's being curious. I guess inquisitive is
Jean Wright:another word for that. Just kind of wanting to know a little bit
Jean Wright:more about something that I've heard about, or I love listening
Jean Wright:to podcasts, so I want to I delve into, I really enjoy sales
Jean Wright:podcast, believe it or not, and I like to learn more to help me
Jean Wright:feel even more confident about what I'm telling people. Because
Jean Wright:if I can get something I'm curious about, like, how do they
Jean Wright:feel about this one particular aspect of selling? And I try to
Jean Wright:match it and see if I'm also on that same wavelength, because we
Jean Wright:all need a little bit of confirmation that what we're
Jean Wright:talking about is true and it's also valid. Validates. Valid.
Jean Wright:The more curious I am about well, how do they feel about it?
Jean Wright:And there are some people that are writing books about this
Jean Wright:too, where they're speaking about it, and I want to be sure
Jean Wright:that I feel. Validated and also curious about their thoughts. So
Jean Wright:I'd like hearing what people I love opinions. So I like hearing
Jean Wright:other people's opinions so I can form my own opinion or change my
Jean Wright:mind about something. So that's where my curiosity comes in.
Jean Wright:Okay, in those areas,
Janice Porter:do you think it's innate or learned?
Jean Wright:I think it's more learned. I think you have to
Jean Wright:work on it a little bit. Okay, that's
Janice Porter:cool. All right. So thank you again for being
Janice Porter:here. Thank you to my audience. I'm going to put your book up
Janice Porter:again for those who actually will see this, and for those who
Janice Porter:don't. Jean's book is called selling your confidence, forging
Janice Porter:a successful sales career from mink cookies to martinis. And I
Janice Porter:would, I will put the link in the in the show notes so people
Janice Porter:can buy it. It's worth it. It's a quick read, and it's
Janice Porter:enjoyable, and it's really tells Jean story of how she learned to
Janice Porter:be a great salesperson and and teach others how to do the same.
Janice Porter:By the way, one last thing, I was at the grocery store the
Janice Porter:other day, and there were two girls, they are selling mint
Janice Porter:cookies, Girl Guide cookies. One was outside and one was just
Janice Porter:sort of in the entrance. And I always watch these young girls
Janice Porter:to see who's selling and who's just standing there. And it's
Janice Porter:really a shame when they're just standing there and not
Janice Porter:interacting with people because they haven't had any any advice
Janice Porter:or training from their moms or the the leader to not be
Janice Porter:aggressive, but show some personality and sell those
Janice Porter:cookies so
Jean Wright:well. Yeah, in my opinion, too, I find more girls
Jean Wright:seem to be more passionate about the cookies. I always tell
Jean Wright:people, I wish we could continue to be 11 year olds as we get
Jean Wright:older. For the girls who are just so they have no baggage,
Jean Wright:they're just saying, buy those cookies. I love them. You're
Jean Wright:going to love them too. How many boxes you want and asking my
Jean Wright:favorite Yep, ask my favorite one. Yeah, exactly. So for the
Jean Wright:girls that are putting themselves out there, I commend
Jean Wright:them for just being themselves, being authentic, and if we could
Jean Wright:carry that through our lives, I do meet some women today that
Jean Wright:say I hated selling girls got cookies, and that's okay. I
Jean Wright:mean, that just wasn't their thing. I guess they didn't get
Jean Wright:trained, or they feeling like they had the support. But on the
Jean Wright:whole, I do see a lot of excitement and enthusiasm from
Jean Wright:the girls, and I feel that they need to bottle that and keep
Jean Wright:that because in 20 years, they're going to need that
Jean Wright:energy again, exactly,
Janice Porter:exactly, well, this has been delightful. Thank
Janice Porter:you, Jean. Thank you again. And to my audience, if you like,
Janice Porter:what you heard, let us know and remember to stay connected and
Janice Porter:be remembered. You.
