This past weekend I had many opportunities to see how people offer their services and products.  Some immediately brought me in as a repeat customer, and others had me turning down a sale of something I actually was thinking of buying.

Let me give you one example.   I was at an art fair recently checking things out.  I love to support local artists if there is something that I am looking for and it is made locally.  I came upon a woman selling her own herbal products.  I looked at the labels and read the ingredients (since I know a fair amount about plant medicine).  We talked about how amazing it was that she worked 7 years to perfect these products.  As I was talking with her about needing a new organic product for my skin, she immediately began to take out a bag, anticipating the sale.

She didn’t get the sale after all.

Why?  She wasn’t truly listening and observing.  She was intent on her agenda and not mine.  And yes, it came from a place of passion for her product, and yet it didn’t fully honor me.

Here are some learning lessons.

1. She talked about all the ingredients and how they helped using scientific jargon.  Yes, I do know the power of certain plants, but hearing the scientific pieces of it brought me back to my mind.  I wanted to know what it would do for my skin with simple language, and results and benefits I could understand. 
2. I told her that I was using an amazing organic rainforest product and it was discontinued.  I was looking for something else.  Immediately she got defensive and talked about how local is the only way to go.  Basically, she was letting me know that what I had been purchasing was wrong.  That amazon products are not to be sold here.  She didn’t know the whole story, the company, and how they were sustainably harvesting and giving back to the indigenous to purchase their own lands from governments trying to take away their land.  I know she didn’t mean it, but she came off as knowing more than me.  Again, her passion of her beliefs took over.
3. She put down other companies who made products from places that were not locally sourced.  As she began to let me know how others were doing wrong, she could not share the amazing benefits of her product.  The energy shifted, and I could feel it.   I put down the bottle and left.

Everything has an energy.  Words have power.  When you let judgment creep in to your sales conversations, on public forums, in telephone conversations, you block the opportunity to truly listen to what the other person needs and believes.   You might be doing all the right things in your sales conversations, but if you are not aware of how energetically you are engaged with the person, you might not get the sale either.

No matter what it is you are offering, be it a service or a product….people always buy you.

So, be the best version of you possible, and really listen.