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Today’s talking points:

Let me share with you five reasons you might not be making sales in your business. PLUS, I’ll give you action steps for solve each one, so you’ll be making sales in no time.

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A little pop quiz - do you know 3 of the key elements in running a successful, sustainable, online business? Let me tell you:

Bringing in sales consistently
Bringing in consistent leads
Scaling your revenue

I also know that this is what a lot of you want and what a lot of you aspire to achieve. Which is why before we move forward and outline what you need to do to make these things happen, we need to meet ourselves where we’re at and look at why our sales are currently inconsistent.

You’re going to get 5 of the biggest reasons I see why you’re not driving new clients into your business.

PLUS for each one I’m giving you an action step so you can get to work (you know we’re all about implementation over here!)

Making sales is not rocket science. Making sales is a skill and because it's a skill, it means anyone can learn it.

A lot of these mistakes that I’m sharing with you in this episode are mistakes that are made over and over again - they could SO easily be avoided if you just know what to look for.

You might tick the box next to all five of these reasons or there might be one that jumps out at you - either way, this is going to give you something really tangible to go off.

Reason 1) Your messaging is unclear

The first thing that I constantly see online as to why your sales might be inconsistent is that your messaging isn't clear.

When I say messaging, I'm speaking about the words and the language that you're using to communicate with your ideal client or customer.

If you start to sound like everyone else, and you use phrases that everyone else uses, you start to blend in and we don't want that, boss. We want you to stand out. When everyone is going to the left, we want you to go to the right.

Now, let me clarify, this doesn't mean you need to reinvent the wheel. What I'm talking about is, are you saying the same phrases that you just see everywhere? Are you actually using the words that your ideal clients and customers would use? Are you overcomplicating your messaging?

A hugely important part of messaging is keeping it simple and keeping it specific. Focus on one pain point and one core desire and one ideal client.

When you are writing a post or an email, or when you are writing copy for your sales page, each individual point that you're making, should really only contain one pain point and one core desire. The more specific you can be, the better; especially when you're speaking to one person.

We want people to read one of your emails, come across one of your Instagram posts or listen to one of your podcast episodes and think ‘Wow, she is talking directly to me. She's a mind reader, how is that possible?’

Now you can expand as you grow and as you become more advanced in your business with your copywriting skills and your messaging skills, you could probably deviate from this slightly. But generally speaking, keeping it simple, and clear over clever. Simplicity sells. Get rid of any fluffy language and really take note of the language that you're using, are you subconsciously starting to sound like everyone else? If you are, let's change that.

I have a great example for you here. One of my mastermind clients hosted a workshop at the start of this year and it didn't go to plan, she didn't get the sales that she wanted. So we dove into some different things. She did market research to the point of how I teach market research, so she then did the market research with my guidance. She collated it all together and we had a call to go over it. She's doing the same workshop again, with a different title, and different messaging and the difference is just out of this world. So many more sales, so many more people saying yes, and the language she's using is so simple.

What she realised was how she was saying things and describing things that weren't how her ideal client was doing it. They were using different words. But now her messaging is simple and it's straight to the point. It means that people understand it and people know what they're going to get out of it.

I will say too much information is also a turn-off for people. We don't need to know every single little detail about what's going to be inside a programme. We need to know high-level details. We need to know the outcome of what that is going to give us.

Something else I think people get confused about is that our messaging doesn't always need to light us up. Our programmes, products and services need to light us up.

First, our content should light us up and get us excited and within that, our messaging needs to be simple, clear, and to the point.

Action Step

Let's do some market research. Start by getting on calls with people or doing a survey. Do some engagement on Instagram Stories, see what words they are using, and start to incorporate those words into our content, and see how that changes things.

reason 2) Your audience doesn’t trust you

Reason number two, that your sales might be inconsistent is that your audience doesn't trust you yet.

Ouch, I know this sounds kind of harsh. But really, in order for people to buy from us, they need to trust us. We all know this ‘know, like and trust factor’, we've all heard of it. But the reason why people don't trust you necessarily is that you haven't really shown them that you are the person that's going to solve the problem.

They don't fully believe that you are going to solve their problems and that when they do hand over their money to you, they're going to receive a return on investment or whatever their return is.

When I say the return on investment, this doesn't always necessarily mean a monetary return on investment. If you're a fitness coach, the ROI for your clients would be that they've never felt better in themselves.

You really need to show your audience why you are a person that is going to solve their problem. This means social proof, social proof, and social proof!!

This does not mean sharing the same screenshot for five weeks. You can use the same piece of social proof and repurpose it in so many different ways. Whether that be an in-the-wild screenshot, whether that be a Client Testimonial on your website, whether that be sharing that client journey future pacing your audience, using that client story, and pulling different aspects out from it. There are so many different ways you can use social proof, so get creative and have fun with this.

You want to ensure that whilst you are providing a lot of value, you're also pointing people in the direction of your offers. This is a mistake I see a lot, a lot of people get stuck in the friend zone for this very reason. You don't want to be stuck in the place where you want just seen as the helpful one.

You want to be someone that is always leading with value but to also creates an information gap. I always say to my clients with your customer journey, or your funnel, you want each step to solve a problem, but also to create a problem. In order to completely solve that problem, they're going to need to hire you or buy from you. You want to point people in the direction of your offer. You don't just want to be a teacher and an educator. That's it.

This is all about the law of reciprocity. In order to gain anything from your audience you need to be giving as well. It's really important to have that two-way relationship.

Another way to build trust with your audience is to define your unique selling point. Why should someone choose you over somebody else?

Action Step

I want you to get a pen and I want you to write out:

Why would someone choose you over someone else?
What makes you different?
What makes you stand out from other people in your industry

So this could come down to the way that you teach, this could come down to some of your methodologies or values, and this could come down to your offers.

reason 3) your sales confidence is shaky

The third reason your sales may be inconsistent is that your sales confidence is shaky. Unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to practice, practice, practice. Eventually, you'll find your unique selling style. But that means you'll probably start feeling like you're doing it wrong, not good enough, and filled with self-doubt. One thing I tell my clients is to be in the moment with it. I know that sounds counterintuitive coming from a planner, but hear me out. When you take away the pressure to be perfect, you'll be less stressed and do a better job.

So, when you practice selling, you'll probably be a bit rusty at first. But you'll improve over time and find your unique selling style. This is the only way to improve your sales confidence. Of course, you can learn how to sell by yourself, but if you invest in someone who knows sales strategies and psychology, you'll get better faster. Choose someone whose selling style and business model you like, and who inspires you.

Having frameworks in place can also help you know what to say when you're getting started. This is super helpful, especially when you're selling on Instagram Stories. People freeze when it comes to pitching their offer. But sales is a skill you can learn. Having prompts and frameworks is helpful in building up your sales competence, along with arming yourself with knowledge and implementation.

Action Step

Your action step is to look back at what's been working. Where have your sales come from? What emails have people opened? What posts have people saved or commented on? Identify what's been the 20% getting you 80% of your results, and double down on what's working for your sales.

reason 4) your content is basic

This leads me perfectly to reason number four why your sales might be inconsistent. This is because your content is too basic.

I'm just calling it like it is - your stuff might look and sound just like everyone else out there. And guess what? That's not gonna help you make consistent sales. Why? Because there's no real reason for someone to choose you over someone else. And this brings us back to Reason number two - people don't trust you enough. You're not doing anything to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd. You might be saying all the same things as everyone else, creating generic content that blends in. Sometimes it takes someone else to point out the obvious. I had a client recently who I had to tell - "girl, I don't see any of you in your content". But don't worry, I say these things with love. It's all about awareness, and sometimes it helps to have someone point out what's holding you back.

So, what's the solution? You’ve got to infuse more of yourself into your content. Where are your opinions, your thoughts, and your stories? I know some people might think this is selfish, but as long as everything you're putting out there links back to your ideal client - their struggles, their goals - then it's not selfish content. Selfish content is all about "look at me", while good content is "learn from me". Always put your ideal client first, and make sure your posts will strongly resonate with them.

If you're struggling with basic content, here's a trick - be more polarising.

Action Step

Your action step for this point is to post something polarising. What do you really think about certain topics in your industry? What pisses you off? Talk about it. You'll start to attract the right people and repel the wrong ones - that's a good thing.

We all want to work with people who share our values and ideologies. So don't be afraid to be disliked - it means you're standing out. And when you do that, you'll actually attract more of who you want. You'll differentiate yourself from everyone else out there.

The bottom line - you don't want basic content. You want engaging content that sells for you without feeling sales-y. That's the sweet spot. When your content stands out, people will know they want to buy from you. You'll have fewer objections and DM conversations that go on forever. People will feel like they know you just from your content. So go ahead, take action - post something polarising and see what happens.

reason 5) you’re not giving people a reason

So, reason number five why your sales might be inconsistent is that there's no compelling reason for people to join.

It bugs me when people say the reason you're not making sales is that you're not talking about your offer. Sometimes that can be true, but not always. You might be talking about your offers a lot, but the sales still aren't coming in. In these cases, it's because there's no compelling reason for people to join. People tend to be fence-sitters, and unless there's a real reason for them to buy, they're likely to continue to sit on the fence. There are very few impulsive buyers, and unless we feel compelled to buy because of an internal struggle or an urgent external factor, we won't take action.

So, we need to give people a reason to buy, by creating urgency and scarcity around our offer. We need to dig into their pain points or deep desires and make it painful or desirable enough for them to take action now.

It's essential to understand sales psychology and why people buy because it informs everything, from our content to our offers. We also need to provide multiple entry points to our products to cater to different budgets and needs. For example, my private client designs wedding stationery and handmade cards, and people who buy cards from her often end up buying her wedding stationery and vice versa. So, when planning your launches, make sure to create urgency around your messaging, offer, or bonus.

Action Step

Your action set with this is when you're looking at planning your launches make sure there's some element of urgency whether it's around the messaging, whether it's around the offer, whether it's around a bonus, whatever it is, make sure you are creating urgency around whatever it is that you are selling.

Let’s recap

So to recap five reasons why your sales might be inconsistent.

Your messaging isn't clear.
Your audience doesn't trust you.
Your sales confidence is a little bit shaky.
Your content is too basic.
Despite talking about your offers frequently there is no compelling reason for people to join

You also have an action step for each point to remedy this. Remember, it does take work and it does take implementation, but I know you will do it, boss.