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Natalie Bullen is a wealth and money mindset coach from Mobile, AL. As the owner of Unapologetic Wealth, she teaches financial empowerment, money mindset, and sales training for BIPOC women entrepreneurs so they can step into the wealth they deserve and desire. An anti-hustle and pro-abundance coach, she shuns traditional personal finance values rooted in shame, guilt and fear and encourages followers to dream bigger, increase their prices and magnify their gifts.
Noticing Trends in the Finance Industry
Natalie first got started in her career working in banks. While there, Natalie noticed a trend among white men—they never came alone. They were supported by another man. This trend didn’t translate to the communities of color or women.
Instead, those communities of people were being turned away, primarily due to lack of knowledge in the banking processes. This brought her on a mission to educate people of color, especially women to be empowered with money and find confidence.
Why You Should Be Asking for the Sale
Many business owners have been taught that asking for the sale should be uncomfortable, which forces us to avoid it. Let’s review why you should be asking for the sale.
We’ve also been taught that we’re harming people by taking their money—this mindset doesn’t hurt them, it just hurts our businesses. People have problems that they need solved. When your business solves their problem, they’d rather part with the money and solve the problem than keep the money and the problem.
Additionally, you may be fearing rejection, but the person on the other end of the sales call is also fearing rejection. By not asking for the sale, you’re inadvertently telling them that you don’t want to work with them.
Potential clients are expecting you to offer them a pitch. When they’re taking time out of their day to show up for a call and you’re not pitching them, then you’re wasting their time and yours. Then think of all of the things they did to save up for your service, the coordination to get on the call, etc. Asking for the sale is simply respectful.
How to Approach Your Sales Calls
Jumping on sales calls can be intimidating and exhausting. To be your best self, make sure you’re hosting them on days and during times that you’re your best self. If you’re worn out by afternoons, make them happen in the morning.
Additionally, get creative in your sales calls—maybe instead of doing 1×1 calls, you host a paid workshop to teach and educate, then your leads are already in your circle. This could also mean warming people up on social media so that they’re ready to pay when they jump on a sales call.
What to Be Mindful of During Your Sales Call
First and foremost, overcome objections before you jump on a sales call—get that negativity out of your mind. Once you’re on your sales call, listen more than you talk and make a firm invitation to work with you by including the pricing. Here is a sample script for this:
“Bonnie, this has been a wonderful chat. I know that I can help you with your sales structure. I see that you’ve got great potential because your tone and your diction is so clear and your mission is so strong and your website and brand photos are beautiful, but I know that I can help you get your conversion rate from 20% to 50%. So I’d like to invite you into my three month private coaching container. It involves A, B, and C and it is $6,000.“
This gives them what they need to know to say yes or no, then you can go from there. Even if they say no, that is still data to get better so that you don’t quit. You can also pose the question of, “Are there any question you want to ask right now while you’ve got me on the phone that can give you the data you need to say yes within the next seven days?”
This also helps you to not get strung along in the decision process.
Finding Confidence in Your Sales Calls
Confidence comes after you do the thing, not before. To help get you there, having a sales script will be beneficial for you as well to help guide the call and build that confidence. If you’re still struggling, you can look into hiring a sales coach.
Encouragement for Sales
Remember that people love to spend money, especially in the US. While people may not love to be sold, they sure love to buy. Additionally, you can collect yes’s from people to build your confidence (ex: Clubhouse likes, newsletter subscribers, etc are all people giving you a yes)!
Catch the Show Notes
Get to Know Natalie (3:01)
Ask for the Sale (12:24)
When You Get Stuck While Asking for the Sale (16:24)
What to Prepare for When Asking for the Sale (23:28)
Connect with Natalie
IG: @unapologeticwealth
Clubhouse: @nataliebullen
Facebook Group: Unapologetic Wealth for Entrepreneurs
FOLLOW ALONG
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Review the Transcript:
Bonnie:
Hi friend, and welcome to the brand strategy podcast. A show created to equip you with the inspiration, encouragement, and clarity. You need to build a brand of your dreams. I’m your host, Bonnie Bakhtiari, brand designer, strategist, and founder of the Illume retreat from sustainable strategy to heartfelt encouragement. Each episode is designed to equip you with the tools you need to chase after your dreams, because you deserve a brand that empowers you to do what you love, connects with your dream clients and offers a deep sense of fulfillment along the way. So grab a cup of coffee and join me on this journey. Won’t you friends.
Bonnie:
Welcome back to the brand strategy podcast, where today we are talking about how to ask for the sale as an introvert with the incredible Natalie Bullen. Natalie is a wealth and money mindset coach from mobile, Alabama, and she is the owner of unapologetic wealth, where she teaches financial empowerment, money, mindset, and sales training for women of color entrepreneurs, so that they can step into the wealthy deserve and desire. I’m really excited to be able to connect with her and have this conversation here on the podcast, because she is an anti hustles and proabundance coach. So she shuns those traditional personal finance values that we see all the time that are rooted in shame and guilt and fear and make you feel less than, and instead she encourages people to dream bigger, to increase their prices and to magnify their gifts. And I, mm. That just resonates with me so deeply. So I’m so excited to welcome her to the show. So Natalie, thank you so much for joining me. I’m really grateful to be able to chat with you today.
Natalie:
I am just so grateful for this beautiful introduction. Not only did you pronounce my new married name correctly, but the, my, my hometown , I mean, I really sounded like a celebrity there. I, I, I might be too humble for this introduction.
Bonnie:
Well, trust me, knowing about the work that you do and, um, you and I both were a part of a, a group program. And so as a part of that Facebook community, I, I see, I see the way you show up for others. I see the way that you start conversations and the way that you support other people. And so I’m, I’m already a, a big fan of yours. So I feel like, uh, I’m very, very honored to be able to have you on the show. So again, thank you for your time. Thank you for sharing your expertise. I know this is gonna be great. And, um, before we get too deep into what we’re talking about today, which is all about asking for the sale, going out and pursuing, pursuing the wealth that we deserve as humans, as introverts as well. Uh, I would love it. If you could share just a little bit more about who you are and what you do, and the incredible work that you’re doing,
Natalie:
You know, it’s, um, I’m in, I’m intrigued by the work that I’m doing. I really think it’s powerful to step into who we are. I think women specifically are told to shrink and to take up as little space as possible, and it doesn’t serve us to be small. It doesn’t serve us to not have wealth. It doesn’t serve us to work for free. Oh man, if I could stop two things in the world, I would end childhood hunger and working for free mm-hmm working for free is a close second. It’s such a plague. It drives me nuts. It’s definitely the endemic. We need to be talking about the, the, the impetus, the feeling, the desire, not volunteer, but working in your business for Free’s just so damaging. It’s damaging to your self-esteem. It’s damaging to your financial future. It’s damaging to your potential client.
Natalie:
Self-esteem how they feel about themselves, how they show up, frankly, no one takes free advice. It’s just bad all around. And I am willing to be scape, go that people blame, you know, I’m okay with, with people tossing stones over here, I can handle it. I’m okay with being the loud mouth. That’s shouting from the rooftops that you can charge, whatever you want to charge for whatever you want to sell. And helping people actually step into a place where they feel wealthy because you can’t outearn how you feel about yourself. So if you feel subpar, if you feel low value, if you, if you have unhealed trauma, if you, you feel inadequate in some way, then your earnings will mirror that. And so I love being able to pull people into a place where they feel safe with their money, so that they can start getting progress and stop getting off. It’s a, it’s a good, it’s a good gig that I have going on.
Bonnie:
Wow. I mean, it sounds, it sounds life changing, not just, you know, to have that, I’m, I’m sure that it’s life changing for you to have that kind of impact with the, with the people that you serve. But when you are able to show up for women, especially women of color and show them that they are worthy of creating whatever wealth they want and, and going after that and pursuing what success looks like to them that has, I can, I’m the kind of person where I, I see a lot of possibility in the world and I appreciate the concept of possibility. And so knowing the work that you do, I just wanna give, I just wanna take a minute to, to call that out, to celebrate it, because it’s so powerful that you are through the work that you’re doing. You’re not only changing your client’s lives, but you’re changing the lives of their family, the lives of the people that they know, the lives of everyone they come into contact with. Right? Because I, I personally believe that when we show up in our, not just in our businesses, but in our lives, in this way, where we are claiming our worthiness and that can translate into the way we’re asking for the sale and the way that we’re generating the wealth that we, we deserve to be generating, that that has just this incredible ripple effect. So I am incredibly excited to hear that that is what you’ve built your business around.
Natalie:
It’s been it’s really is transformative and it’s necessary. You know, I worked in banking for almost seven years and I started to see things and started to see trends. You know, when men would come to open accounts, white men would come to open accounts. They usually wouldn’t come alone. They’d bring a friend, they’d bring their business partner, they’d bring their attorney. Some of ’em would bring their pastor. They always seemed to have a support system. Someone had drafted a, a whole dossier. They would come with a briefcase that would come with those, those accordion files they would come with with three ring binders of documents. And I didn’t see that in the communities of color. I didn’t see my Hispanic clients coming in with support and binders and, and more information that was necessary. And, and I would have clients who look like me, who would get turned away to even open a business account because they didn’t have a credit score.
Natalie:
And they didn’t even realize there was a credit check involved in a checking account. Hmm. But for businesses there often is, and I, I started thinking, you know, why is that, why are we so far behind? And what can I do about it? It’s one thing to identify a problem. I’ve always been a, a problem identifier, but I wanna be a problem solver. What are we gonna do? Not that we’ve, we’ve read all these dooms day things. You know, here’s some statistics you might not know. Um, the average female run business in 2020, I believe the most recent year on, on record, um, data wise made around 150 K um, for black women, that number plummets to $24,000. And yes, that is annual top line revenue, gross revenue, 2, 4, 0, 0, 0 for a year. So you read that statistic and you think it takes it like nots your breath away.
Natalie:
It’s like, what, how could anyone grow or scale or change or learn or pay bills on $2,000 a month. But what are we gonna do about it? I’ve been reading the census since I was a child. And it’s tell me every year, every 10 years black people are poor. What are we gonna do about it? So I’m, I’m elated to be doing something about it for women of any ethnicity, to be able to step up and feel just as good as men do when men start businesses. Cause they don’t typically have the pricing issues and mindset hurdles that we do because they aren’t taught that money is bad and that shrinking back benefits them in any way, men are taught to be braggadocios and it benefits them at every phase of their lives.
Bonnie:
Absolutely. And I can, I can resonate with that. Um, growing up in a conservative, religiously conservative, but also, you know, conservative in a lot of other values, uh, household as a child, it was me and I have one older brother and I noticed the way that my parents talked to me about money and the way they talked to my brother about money. And we did not have the same conversations to my parents’ credit. We were taught a lot of the same, uh, ways to try to manage money, to, you know, be responsible to pair bills, things like that. But I noticed that the conversations that I was having with my mother especially were more around how to be, she was trying to set me up to be a good wife in the future, a good mother in the future to be the kind of woman who is clipping those coupons and is shopping the sales and is at the grocery store, getting the store brand because really you need the name brand cereal, you know, that kind of thing.
Bonnie:
And those were not conversations that my dad was having with my brother. So I can, I can relate to that because there’s, there’s a whole lot that we could unpack there. But also knowing that as an introvert, the way that I talk about, and this is actually something over the 10 years that I’ve been in business, I’ve had to, I’ve had to learn. And actually in some ways unlearn a lot about the way that I, as a service provider, talk to potential clients about my prices, about how they can work with me and about how to ask for the sale and as an introvert. I know that that is well, and to be honest, talking about money, whether you are extroverted or introverted, it can feel a little weird. It can feel a little gross. And especially as women, we find that asking for what we’re worth and asking for what we want to be making can be a bit of a struggle.
Bonnie:
So, uh, personally, I know that that was something that I had to really work on. And it wasn’t something that when I started my business and, and looking back on it, you know, I kind of like laugh about it and roll my eyes because of course, when you’re starting a business, the point is to make money. You’re, you’re doing all this work. You’re setting up this new entity. Of course, you need to be making sales, to have people, hire you to be selling your product if you’re a product based business. But for whatever reason, I wasn’t, it didn’t click in my mind that I needed to actually go out there and ask people to pay me money for the services that I can provide. So, because I know that this is something that you are passionate about. And I actually think that a while back at the time recording, I think it was maybe a couple months ago, you actually taught a, a class. You actually did a training an event on how to ask for the sale as an introvert. So I would love to get your thoughts on how important it really is when we’re talking to a lead, when we’re chatting with a potential client, how important is it really for us to be direct and ask for the sale?
Natalie:
It’s so important. I just want to pause here briefly, let people know a core belief that stops introverts and extroverts from selling people from selling. And that is that we are somehow harming people by taking their money. So I want you to remember that people have problems and that they don’t wanna have problems. And that most people would rather part with a certain amount of their money to solve their problem, then to keep the money and keep the problem. Mm-hmm so just a core belief change. Two people are fearful of rejection. So when you get someone on a sales call, you’re thinking about you and your fear and your anxiety and your worry and that they might reject you, but did it ever cross your mind that the other person is worried about being rejected as well? So when we don’t ask, we’re kind of saying I’m not sold on you.
Natalie:
I don’t know that I want you, I don’t know that you’re a good fit for my program. I don’t want your money, right? If we don’t come out and just say, I have this thing for sale that could help you. What are you saying? Instead, I would be furious. If someone got me on a sales call and didn’t make me an offer, you don’t know what I went through to show up for this sales call. You don’t know what I did today. Do you know, I showed up for sales call today. First thing this morning with my stomach virus, you know why I showed up? Because I was very, very interested in the service that was being offered. I would’ve been irate if they had shown up and not made me an offer with what I went through this morning, to make sure that I could show up for that call. So you don’t know, people impact up their kids got rid of their husband saved up for six months. You don’t know what a person did to be in a position to buy from you and not you too afraid to make an offer.
Bonnie:
Mm. I mean, when you put it that way, like how, how are we not having those conversations? How are we not showing up for people in that way? Because it’s, it’s respecting when we, when we ask for the sale, when we make it clear how people can pay us and hire us and work with us, how, how can we, what better ways is there to respect that person’s time and also respect your own time then by showing up and asking for it, right?
Natalie:
That’s exactly it. It’s, it’s harmful to do anything else. And that’s, that’s just where I live. It is harmful to, to take up people’s time with no intent of helping them solve their problem, just to make them vent about the problem and thank, thank them for their time and send them on their way.
Bonnie:
Hmm. That’s a really valuable point. So where, and I, I should say kind of to, to back up even more before we even started recording, we were talking a little bit about what it’s like, because we both are introverts. And so we both were talking a little bit about what it’s like to just, you know, go through the world as, as entrepreneurs who are introverts. And I know, and I, when I think about conversations that I’ve had with, uh, people who are in my community, um, really especially my community of graphic brand and web designers, I see that so many of those incredible humans are introverted. I think there’s, there’s probably some really powerful correlation between the way that we draw energy, the way that we recharge, the way that we see the world that correlates really well into being artists, into being creative, into expressing ourselves creatively through the work that we do. But I know that what I hear over and over again, is that getting on sales calls, having these, these conversations about what the investment is, what the payment plan looks like asking for that sale, it can get a bit tricky. So in your experience, I know that this is your area, where do you see introverts getting stuck when it comes to actually asking for the sale?
Natalie:
Um, you know, I think you’ve got to do what works best for you and your temperament. Even though I am introverted, I do still have pockets of energy in the day. Normally more in, in the late morning, 10:00 AM to maybe 2:00 PM is my best time. So I schedule my sales calls during those times when I know that I will be on, if that makes sense, I don’t have them on Mondays because Mondays are just blah, from years of working at the bank and maybe sales calls freak you out. Maybe you could have a paid workshop that could be a good way to teach people, get them in your world. That way you’re not having to do like one on one calls. I vote. You do what makes sense for your energy. I think where people go wrong, it’s trying to emulate what someone else told them to do or what they feel like they have to do.
Natalie:
Um, I also think that most introverts underutilized social media, because they hate it because they think it’s, you know, VA or boring or low brow, I think introverted people tend to be more intelligent. Maybe that’s my own bias. I’ve done absolutely no scientific research. So don’t add me, but that’s how I feel. And I feel that we kinda shun social media thinking, oh, that’s not really important if people really wanna buy, they won’t buy from me on Facebook, but I warm my people up with social media. So by the time I get on a sales call, my people are pre-sold. They’re like, Natalie, I’ve been following for years. I love you so much. I’m so excited to work together. You know, I already know what it costs because I already saw that in your application. So when can we get started? I mean like people literally just show up and ask me to take their money. So I, I think, I think as an introvert, you really gotta think, how can my emails be building people’s trust? How can my content build people’s trust? How can my podcast interviews build people’s trust so that you don’t have to do all the heavy lifting on in, in the sales conversation?
Bonnie:
That’s a really powerful point because what I see is, is a lot of introverts, especially with Instagram. Like I, I think that, especially as designers, Instagram is, is where we tend to gravitate because it’s, it’s a very easy app to share visual content, like examples of the work that we’re doing, a recent client project, something like that. But where I see a lot of people getting stuck is with, um, feeling like the energy that is required for them to show up on Instagram. It feels draining. And I know that personally, I, I do not have the energy to show my face on Instagram every single day. So I’m very intentional with which days I do choose to spend on that app and how frequently I choose to post. But, um, you actually mentioned, I know that this might have actually been before we started recording, but, uh, I know that you use clubhouse a lot and that’s where you are really qualifying people. So do you find that, um, there are different platforms that lend themselves to be more conducive and compatible with your energy as an introvert?
Natalie:
Oh, absolutely. Clubhouse is great because I don’t have to show my face. No one knows what I look like. Um, I’m married to the best photographer in the United States. Um, his name is Dave Bullen and his work is phenomenal. And so I have the nicest, most consistent, beautiful brand photos ever. So you can look at my stunning brand photo and it promotes both of our businesses as a tourer. And, um, you can hear me speak and I’m a talker. So that works for me. Maybe people could have a podcast like this one and use a wonderful service. Like Zencaster where you don’t have to do video. And if you do video, it’s just for ease of communication. So you can look at each other, but you don’t actually post the video. Mm-hmm , um, Instagram’s not my jam because you have to put photos and you have to do reals and you have to point and dance and I’m not doing any of that crap.
Natalie:
So I only post the Instagram enough for people to know I’m a real person. So I have a profile built and a powerful bio, but I’m not really on Instagram. If that makes sense. My clubhouse grew my Instagram and I just used my Instagram to kind of feed in from my Facebook. So Facebook, you can make a post. And as long as you tag a picture on mobile, you can actually cross post it to Instagram. So I can post in one place and then show up in two. So that’s been really cool, like as a cheat for me to not have to actually be on Instagram. Um, I’ve seen so many clever things. People who use email really, really effectively, um, if you’re good on video, but you’re freaked out by live video. Like if, if the fact that people are watching you is what’s scary, then you could record video and put that on your website or put that on your sales page, or maybe have that as part of your sales process, right?
Natalie:
Depending on the kind of call a client books with me, they may get an email back with a video. And that video outlays, how working with me works. Here’s what it costs. Here’s how that starts. Here’s when I meet here’s what you need to know, pertinent information. So again, by the time people get on sales calls with me, we’re not doing all this song and dance because so much information has already been laid out. So I would ask that person, okay, you’re an introvert, you’ve got limited social battery. It starts at a hundred percent and depletes down to 50%. By what time? How can you use the best of your energy in this time? Do you like to talk? Do you like video? Do you hate lives? Are you gonna dance or you not gonna dance? Just make like your list of what I will do and what I won’t do. And then find the platform that really lends to what you’re willing to do. I’m I will talk your head off. So I’m pod pro podcast pro clubhouse, but I’m not gonna sing dance, do silly stuff. Point do a whole bunch of lives. So I’m anti Instagram and that’s just how it kind of fell out for me.
Bonnie:
Yeah. That makes so much sense. So let’s say that that folks are following the advice you shared. They’re focusing on honing in on what platforms honor their energy, what they wanna do, how they wanna show up there, they’re using those opportunities to attract their ideal client. So they’re attracting these qualified leads who are really excited to learn more and to connect with them. Let’s say, okay, they’ve done all that. Now the sales call is happening, or, um, well, just for this example, let’s just say it’s a sales call when we are getting to that point in the conversation, when we’re actually starting to ask for the sale and we’re taking that action. What are some things that we should be mindful of during that conversation that will better prime the person we’re speaking with our lead to be more receptive to our pitches during these conversations?
Natalie:
That’s a good question. I vote that you overcome objections before you ever get on the phone, but while you’re on the call, I want you to be focused on two things. One, I want you to listen more than you talk. I want you to let people run down all the reasons why they need your service. And if your pre-call questionnaire is adequate, if your sales script works, then that shouldn’t be hard. Two. I need you to make a firm invitation to work with you say the amount of money and then shut up. okay. That sounds like Bonnie. This has been a wonderful Chad. I know that I can help you with your sales structure. I see that you’ve got great potential because your tone and your diction is so clear and your mission is so strong and your website and brand photos are beautiful, but I know that I can help you get your conversion rate from 20% to 50%. So I’d like to invite you into my three month private coaching container. It involves B and C and it is $6,000.
Natalie:
And shut up. I love that. Shut up and let the person decide whether they want to do it. And you might say, well, yeah, it sounds great. Actually, I would love to sign up. So what are the logistics? Perfect. Um, here’s the deposit? Here’s the link. Here’s the information. Here’s the contract. Here’s when we can start here are your next steps, or you might say, Hmm, I don’t know that I had really budgeted for $6,000. And that’s a good thing for people to say, because now you can go back and figure out where that information could have been placed. Right? I don’t get price objections because my price is in my application. so no one gets on the phone thinking it’s $500 when it’s actually 5,000. But if you get a lot of price, objection, that’s actually good information. I want people to remember a no is still data.
Natalie:
Maybe it’s not the data you wanted. Maybe it’s not gonna pay your bills, but it is still information that you can use to get better if you don’t quit. So if you hear no and quit, you failed. That’s the only time you failed is when you quit. But as long as you take that, no, and move forward, you know, someone starts asking questions. That’s not a rejection. If somebody comes back and says, you know, I’m not really sure if I wanna move forward right now. Um, but, but thank you for the information. I’ll get back to you. Don’t just say, oh, OK. No problem. Bye. No, no, your, your, you got bills. Your bills. Can’t be contingent on. I’ll get back to you. That’s not good enough. right. Mm-hmm you need to set a firm expectation. Hey, thank you so much. I, I invite my clients to sleep on it. Talk to their spouse, pray about it. It’s no problem. I do wanna let you know what working with me looks like though. So my proposals are good for seven days. So that’s the amount of time that you have to lock in this pricing and the timeline that we discussed. Is there any question you wanna ask right now while you’ve got me on the phone? They can give you the data you need to say yes. Within seven days.
Bonnie:
Ooh. I love that question.
Natalie:
Cause then they’re like, oh, oh, she’s for oh Z. I can’t you along for weeks and weeks, I gotta like, oh, I gotta. Oh, wow. Okay. Um, questions, questions. Well, well, yeah, I do have a right. Like it, it forces them to see you as a professional, not a person that they can string along and decide if they wanna pay you or not. Cause you’re busy. You’re an expert, right? You’re amazing. You’ve got a pipeline full of clients. You don’t need her. And that’s, you gotta start thinking and believing like you can’t hinge all your hope on one sales call. If all your H your hope is hinged on one sales call, you don’t have a sales problem. You have a leads problem. And guess what? Get more data you solve that problem. So I don’t let people off the phone with vague. I’m gonna think about it.
Natalie:
I’m gonna get back to you. I’m gonna talk. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t play that. Everything has a finite deadline and every, we talk about, you know, how my clients are on automatic payment. I don’t chase down payments. I think the, the more specific you can get with your onboarding process and what it looks like to work with you, the, the less objections and problems in mayhem you’ll have, and you’ll be able to, to get off that revenue, roller coaster, and, and really streamline. It’s also impressive to clients. I’ve been on the receiving end of a sales call like that. And I felt really supported and protected with a person who knew how to run their business, because I was like, wow, she’s she has so many policies and structure. I, I know that I’m gonna be in good care with her because this isn’t gonna be LAE fair. Like she knows what she’s doing. So you actually set a good precedent with your client by being firm upfront. Then by letting them lead, when you let the client lead, you don’t know where they’re going. And it’s really hard to try to corral people once you’ve let them take the lead.
Bonnie:
Mm, absolutely. Uh, one of the things that really resonated with me when you were sharing that is this is being able to kind of rest confidently and to experience that assuredness of taking yourself seriously as a business owner and viewing yourself as a professional, who knows their stuff, who knows what they’re doing. And so that energy comes through and the conversation you’re having with a potential client. And I think that this is something that when I look back on, on my journey in the way that I started to become more confident on sales calls, or just in any conversation with a potential client, uh, that practice helped me to build confidence, just doing it over and over and over again. Like I don’t, I don’t get nervous the way that I used to, you know, way back when, when I was starting my business. But I know that experiencing that confidence can be key in the way that these conversations go. And that’s something that takes time to, to create. It’s not necessarily as easy as like snapping your fingers and then boom, you’re super confident. So, uh, what would you say to in introverts who are wanting to really follow the advice you’re sharing, but they know that they need to beef up their confidence a little bit in order to have these conversations and to do it in a way that really serves them? Well,
Natalie:
That’s a good question. One confidence comes after you do the thing not before. Mm. So I think we ought to change our expectation and stop waiting for more confidence to move forward and accept that moving forward is what’s gonna give us confidence. That’s one, two, they should follow a sales script, whether that’s posted notes, you know, what are you gonna do when you get people on the phone? How many minutes of rapport building are you going to do? How many minutes of listening to their problems? Are you gonna do? Are you gonna guide them with questions? Are you gonna let them kind of free form? How many minutes are you going to discuss your expertise and how you could help? At what point are you going to make an offer? Are you gonna leave time to answer objections? What are the most common objections you get?
Natalie:
Maybe you need to create a, a Google doc of common objections and start answering them on sales calls or better yet put them in the FAQ on the sales page. So maybe people won’t even have objections. They’ve already worked through them before they get you on the phone. But I think having at least a loose sales script so that people don’t get off tangent will help, um, hiring a sales coach. If they’re able to that that could be an option for them as well. But the, the number one is gonna be the mindset shift, accepting that doing the thing is what builds confidence, not the other way around.
Bonnie:
Mm. That is so powerful. And wow. I, I feel like that’s also something that even, even though I’ve been, you know, in this business for a while now, that’s something that I can even benefit from reminding myself of. So I really appreciate you sharing that with us. One question that I always love to ask during every conversation comes back to, uh, a piece of encouragement or a piece of advice that you would wanna share to those who are, who are listening today, who are tuning in and they’re resonating with what you’re sharing. And they’re ready to start to take that action to ask for the sale unapologetically. What, what sort of encouragement or advice or next steps would you wanna share with them?
Natalie:
I would remind them that people love to spend money. If you’re in the United States, you’ll be scared and comforted to know that we have a negative savings rate in this country. That means that we actually spend every dollar we earn plus some for every a hundred dollars we make, we spend 101 by the use of credit. So people might tell you, they don’t like to be sold, but they sure love to buy. They’re not spending it with you. They’re spending it with someone. So that’s the good news that people love to spend money. The next piece of good news is that you can collect yeses from people to bolster your confidence. So for instance, if someone listens to me on this podcast and follows me on clubhouse, that’s a yes. If they later shoot me a DM because they liked some of my content or friended me on Facebook, that’s another yes.
Natalie:
If they share my post out to their community or watch my lives on Facebook, that’s a yes. So by the time they book a sales call, they’ve already told me yes, 3, 4, 5, 6 times, maybe you’re down and don’t feel confident cuz you’re not counting your yeses. Mm-hmm how many, how much affirmation have people already given you that you just didn’t notice? Maybe they were buying signals in the comments on your post that you just kind of misread because you were in a funk about how you haven’t closed the sale in a month, but maybe somebody wanted to pay you and you just missed it. Why don’t you go back to all the people who booked sales calls with you last year and go, Hey, last year we talked and you said that you had this problem. I was wondering how you were coming with solving it since you didn’t move forward with me. I’ve got some time on my calendar actually, tomorrow I’d love to chat. What could happen? They’ve already told you no, they tell you no again, you’re not any worse off
Bonnie:
. That is such fantastic advice and such game changing reminders to keep top of mind for us. As we focus on showing up for these conversations, showing up for the people that want to hire us that want to pay us the money so that we can do the work that we love to do and get paid for it. Right? Cuz we all have bills. We’re not running expensive hobbies. That’s not , that’s not what we do here. So Natalie, I, man, I could just sit here and talk to you all afternoon. And I know that everything we’ve covered today, it has been of such immense value. And so I’m pretty confident that the people that are tuning in today are going to follow along with you and your business and connect with you. So where can people find you online?
Natalie:
Um, I live on clubhouse. They should pay me. Um, you can follow me on clubhouse at Natalie Bullon. Um, the website is under, but we’ll have a landing page on the URL very soon. So you can go to Natalie bullen.com and check me out there. Um, I’m also on Instagram lightly, as I mentioned at unapologetic wealth, or you can free me on Facebook until that hits the max. They really ought to raise that. Max. It’s crazy that it’s 5,000. I might need to switch it where people can follow me. I think it’s also important for you to follow people who speak to you and who are doing well. You need to normalize wealth. So in addition to following me, you probably ought to unfollow at least five or 10 people whose content you hate or who make you feel jealous or who make you feel bad about yourself. So it’s great to add me, but you also need to start subtracting things that are keeping you stuck.
Bonnie:
Mm yes. Let’s start normalizing, creating that space and what we’re consuming and whose voices we’re allowing into our lives. Because I, I personally know how powerful it’s been for me to kind of reclaim some of that. Some of that, you know, space on the internet of what I’m following, who I’m listening to, what I’m taking in. So I really, um, personally appreciate that very valuable reminder, uh, friends for those who are tuning in today as always everything that Natalie shared a full transcript of today’s episode, along with all of her links so that you can follow her, you can hire her, you can work with her, we’ll be at brand strategy, podcast.com. And if you click on the latest episode link, you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for. Natalie, thank you so much for joining me for this conversation. I am incredibly grateful that we’ve had a chance to talk about how to ask for the sale as an introvert. And we’ve been able to explore, uh, more about how we can show up so that we can start to generate the wealth that we deserve as introverts and as women and as humans. So thank you so much. And I really appreciate your time today.
Natalie:
I appreciate being here. I think it was amazing. I think I hope that people got something out of it. You know, I want people to feel empowered that they can move forward and you know, everything is possible for us. It, it really is not in the strategies and the tactics. That’s what people think that they need. And that’s what people hire me for. They go, Natalie, teach me the sales script. I want the tactic. I want the strategy I wanna learn, but we really need to embody the type of person with whom funds are trustworthy. We really need to embody being the type of person that folks would want to pay embody the type of person that doesn’t take failure as an option. Because at this point I, I don’t, I don’t. I expect people to say yes, I think that’s what I want people to leave here with today.
Natalie:
Step into expectancy. What would happen in your life? If you started expecting people to like your posts and take action people to book calls and say yes, people to go on your site and fall in love with what you do, what would happen if you expected to succeed and just making that shift will make everything else fall in alignment for you. When I had a funky mindset and was worried about what people thought about me and worried about what people will pay, nothing was working out in my favor. It wasn’t until I decided, you know what? I’m a child the most hot God, I’m amazing. And this is going to work out that everything started to work out for me. So thank you for allowing me to speak to your audience today. It’s been fun.
Bonnie:
Mm wow. I mean, gosh, like we just gotta wrap it up there. There’s nothing else I can say because you just went ahead and said it all. I’m friends as always thank you for tuning into this episode of the brand strategy podcast. If what Natalie has shared today resonated with you, please feel free to reach out, share that with her. I, I believe she’d love to hear that from you, that her message is resonating, that she’s having this incredible impact in our industry and in the world. Um, if what she shared today is a message that, you know, your biz best needs to hear or someone in your community needs. Police pass this along because we over here at the BSP, we are all about sharing this kind of free quality content so that we can just continue to elevate the industry and show others. What’s possible. So thank you again for tuning in and as always, I’m cheering y’all on from Waco.
Bonnie:
Thank you so much for joining me today. Friends, before you go, I would be so grateful to receive your feedback on the brand strategy podcast. If you enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general has helped you grow your brand. I’d really appreciate it. If you left us a review in iTunes, your positive reviews enable the brand strategy podcast to continue to grow and reach like-minded creatives. Just like you. Thank you for all your support and encouragement as together. We pursue building brands with purpose and intention until next time I’m cheering you on from Waco.
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