And when you’re trying to do it with heart, ethically, without manipulation or hype, it becomes even harder.

The end result is that most heart-centered business owners create sales pages that don’t do their job. I’m going to talk about the two top elements you can bring more heart and presence to in your sales pages to radically increase their effectiveness.

Number One: Where Do They Arrive?

Everyone is trying to get somewhere. One person is trying to arrive at full health after years of being chronically ill. Another person is wanting to arrive in a beautiful home by excavating it from their clutter and poor color choices. A third person is wanting to arrive in the land of easy taxes, after twelve months of stuffing their receipts into a shoebox, and not recording the checks they’ve written.

Whether you’re a naturopathic doctor, a feng shui organizing expert, or a small business bookkeeper, your clients are desperately trying to arrive.

Do you describe to them where your services get them? And does it match where they are trying to go?

Instead of simply saying, “The road to healing,” you could say, “What would it be like to easily sleep a full night’s sleep, to one by one be able to stop taking your medications, and to feel a sense of strength and vitality in your body again? Could you go dancing with your partner? Could you ride your bike again? Could you hike down to the beach instead of having to sit on the bench, far from the waves?”

It’s true you shouldn’t make promises you can’t deliver, and many times healing or transformational services are conditional on what’s possible for an individual person.

But within the limits of what’s ethical, do you list out the results you are wanting for your clients? Do you describe the experience of what that would be like?

Number Two: What’s Included

Perhaps trained by the sterile packaging “AA batteries not included” on store shelves, many people just create a simple bullet list of what’s included in their offer.

Like this:

“This course includes:

• Six 90-minute classes
• Two private mentoring sessions
• A workbook
• Audio recordings of each class
• yadada yadada”

Remember, when someone is reading a page chances are they haven’t yet worked with you. Or, if they have, they forget exactly what it was like. And if they do remember, they could use being reminded exactly how good it was.

Each of those bullet points deserves a paragraph or two describing it, how it works, and ideally an image. And each of those six classes deserves it’s own section.

“When you join the course, here’s what will help you make it work:

“First, there are the six classes, each one focused on a particular topic.

“In Class One we start with digging into “what is.” Until you know “what is,” as in what’s true right now with your situation, you can’t change it. The difficulty most people face is that “what is” often brings up shame, embarrassment, overwhelm and avoidance. Fun, eh? Oy…

“So, with a tremendous amount of compassion, an easy, helpful structure, and the accountability of a group that’s all facing more or less the same situation, you get really clear on “what is.”

“Even more than that, you get a plan to change it, which will create the foundation for the following five classes, including your first two do-able action steps.

“Past participants report a feeling of excitement, lightness, and relief after the first class. Their fears about the whole process melt, and the dig into the rest of the course eagerly. Which leads you to Class Two…”

Do you see the difference? Writing out a description of the experience of each bit means that people really know what they are getting. This does two things:

1) It creates tremendous safety, so all their fears and anxieties about your offer are soothed. In this example, instead of, “Oh, I feel so ashamed! How could I ever bring this issue to a class group?” your reader learns that you get how much shame comes up, and that you have gone to special lengths to make it easy for them to work through it.

2) They taste it. Instead of just looking at the ice cream through the glass, you’ve given them a taster of what it will be like to actually eat the ice cream. This helps them know if they really want more, instead of needing to order ten gallons of something they’ve never had.

Even for something like “audio recordings” you can write a short paragraph, assuring them the recordings are available within hours after the class ends, so if they miss a class or simply want to listen to it again, they’ll have it nearly immediately. And if you do anything special with the audio, for instance if you have higher quality recordings than normal, or if you divide the audio into tracks that load into iTunes easily, so can describe it there.

Drop the idea that you are overwhelming anyone. Your potential clients are desperate to peek inside, to see what’s really going on. Give them the information they need.

Won’t That Make The Sales Page Too Long?

People debate long versus short sales pages. But that’s the wrong question. Instead, think, “complete versus incomplete.” Did you say what needed to be said? Or did you leave something incomplete, so the reader has to guess?

If they have to guess, their anxieties are going to assume the worst, and they won’t buy. So comfort them with complete sales pages.

Giving yourself the space and words to really show the depth and beauty of what you are offering is going to make it much safer for more of your best clients to purchase from you. Far from insulting them, taking the time to show the details is respectful and loving.

If done well, explaining where they will arrive, and detailing out what is included that will get them to that arrival point will make a huge difference in your effectiveness. Open your heart and get writing!

What’s interesting about this is that Tim and I actually agree on many things, but what happened here was what happens in sitcoms the world over: not being clear who you’re talking about.

You know, Janet starts talking about “him” and Shirley is also talking about, “him.” Only Janet’s “him” is her husband, and Shirley’s “him” is Janet’s brother, who happens to be Shirley’s boyfriend, and suddenly we have a very bad situational comedy on our hands, with gossip, accusations, and a torrid mess of absolutely nothing.

That’s where Tim and I got our wires crossed, and, as it turns out, I’m not dating his wife. Nor is he dating mine. Nor are either of us dating Danielle LaPorte.

Although I rarely write a rant like I did because my mamma taught me to be polite, I do have some very strong opinions about how business works, and how it oughta work. And I can have those opinions because I’m clear who I’m talking to.

Because some of my opinions don’t hold true for everyone. For instance, I have a very strong opinion that someone brand new in business shouldn’t have a really clear business plan, because they are just figuring out what their business. They can’t have a clear plan, because nothing is clear yet!

This opinion only holds because I’m talking about very small businesses, folks who are self-employed, or teams of less than a handful who don’t have large investment costs prior to getting to market, for instance service professionals.

If you have a team of eight people, and five hundred thousand dollars in initial funding, you *better* have a clear business plan about how you are going to get your product or service to market, and start cash flow, or you won’t make it.

But that’s not who I’m writing for, and someone who is self-employed will be, in most cases, unbearably burdened by a detailed business plan.

Ideally, your business wants something as clear as a Who-Who-What, described in The Heart-Centered Answer to What Do You Do, which is, perhaps, one of the more challenging pieces of clarity to wrestle to the ground.

But, oh my Lordy, how good the clarity feels.

I know, I know. Getting clear on your “target market” is something that has been heroically resisted, avoided, fought against, and struggled with since the dawn of time.

But think about it this way: who are you talking to? I mean, in the most basic way? Can you see who you are talking to? Can you understand them? Is your heart open to what’s going on for them?

That’s all that this is about.

The confusion Tim and I bumped into is that I was speaking to people who really need to earn a living, and I don’t want them to go out of business and give up on the dream due to blindly copying of someone else’s business model. Tim thought I was urging people who already had a lot of money to make even more.

My message to folks who are already doing well financially is going to be different than what I’m going to say to those who are still struggling.

I have two questions for you:

1. Are you super clear about who you are speaking to, as a business owner?

2a. If you are, what have you noticed comes from that clarity?

2b. If you aren’t, go read The Heart-Centered Answer to What Do You Do. And report back here.

And all of you, stop spreading rumors about me and Tim. All of it is false… well, most of it.

p.s. Need some heart-centered help getting your business going?

Our two practitioners, Yollana Shore and Jason Stein, have each had a few openings recently. If you’re wanting hands-on, individual, one-to-one support for your business development, then may I recommend the Organic Business Development Program with either of them?

Heart-centered, spiritual, practical, nitty-gritty. Click here to read and then schedule a no-cost conversation with either Jason or Yollana: The Organic Business Development Program: Heart-centered.

First off, I want to honor anyone who does this. The email I sent back thanked her deeply for finding the courage to ask for help, to reach out beyond what was comfortable, and let me know that she needed help.

It’s an admirable quality, and the ability and willingness to ask for help will take you far. I might go so far as to say it’s the number one success indicator in my book.

However, at the same time I thanked her, I also had to say no. What I want to teach you today is how to get a “yes.”

Why I Said No

There were several reasons I turned down her request. One reason was that her event was a health and wellness event–completely unrelated to what we’re doing here at Heart of Business. Okay, you could stretch and say it’s not completely unrelated, but really, if you’re subscribed to the ezine, it’s because you’re interested in heart-centered business, and to send other offers to you is not honoring your request.

I also turned her down because I just didn’t know her. If I recommend someone, it means that I’m staking my reputation on the quality and integrity of what they do. I’m sure she is an honest, sincere person who is good at what she does. But without knowing her, I can’t in integrity recommend her to you my dear reader.

A third reason I said no was probably one of the biggest reasons. It’s also the reason I said no to a really good friend and someone I would (and have) recommended to you. And the reason is this: timing. We were in the middle of the Heart of Money registration period, and it would be confusing and out of integrity to throw another offer into the mix, especially one totally unrelated to money.

I’m sure that person thought of all of those reasons, which was probably part of the discomfort. And she was really polite in asking. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change the facts.

How to Get A Yes

The term used for these kinds of promotions, where someone will promote your offer to their community, is “strategic alliance.” To create a solid strategic alliance you need to honor all three of those criteria above.

Namely, your offer needs to make sense in the context of their topic and audience, the person needs to know you well enough to trust their reputation with you. And it needs to fit into their schedule.

The first criteria is not something you can change, either your offer fits or it doesn’t. But the other two, timing and trust, can be met fairly simply. It takes a little work on your part, but you can do it.

Research and Time

First I would recommend thoroughly researching anyone you want to reach out to. Read their website closely. Maybe buy one of their products. At any rate be very familiar with who they are and what they do.

You may notice they never promote anyone else, which makes them an unlikely candidate. Or you may notice that when they do promote someone, they often do it in a similar way: a free call, or a guest blog post, or just a simple recommendation.

You also can become aware of their schedule. Do they have any big events coming up?Also, do they have a preferred way to be contacted. Some people have a page explaining who they promote and why. Some people don’t.

Finally, get to know that person before you ask. Build up a relationship over time. Show up on their blog in the comments. Send them an email telling them how much you liked their articles. Buy one of their products if it’s appropriate for you. Also, if it’s appropriate, help get the word out about what they are doing in your own circles.

Do they hang out on Facebook or Twitter? Engage with them there.

Be strategic. Take your time.

And Start Small

The more influential someone is, the larger an audience they have, the more that’s at stake. A single bad recommendation can really hurt all that someone has built over years.

This means that if you don’t have a track record of the quality you provide, you’re new or it’s otherwise a first time, don’t reach for the moon.

Rather, I should say don’t only reach for the moon. Spend a lot of your time connecting with more accessible folks, people with smaller audiences who are still influential but are much more approachable and willing to try something new.

Then, sure, shoot for the moon. Reach out to that best-selling author. Just be aware that it may be harder to get their attention and their commitment to promote you until you have a track record.

Meanwhile, you can be creating that track record, and influential relationships with dozens of people who are more accessible.

Uh… Strategic Friend Building? Isn’t That Gross?

It sure can be. If you do it in a cold, calculating way, with no sincerity or honesty about it.

However, if you are a sincere, open-hearted person it’s actually more open-hearted to do it this way.

Realize that if you have a significant offer to make, an event, a course, a product, then you are going to need help getting the word out. Don’t wait until the last minute to ask for help, because I can guarantee that very little help will come your way.

If you can start six to twelve months in advance cultivating honest, sincere, open-hearted friendships with people, and then give them advance warning that in two or three months you could use some help getting the word out about your event, I’m going to guess you’ll see more people willing to help.

And, if you know them, guess what? It’s not so uncomfortable to ask.

p.s. Need some heart-centered help getting your business going?

Our two practitioners, Yollana Shore and Jason Stein, have each had a few openings recently. If you’re wanting hands-on, individual, one-to-one support for your business development, then may I recommend the Organic Business Development Program with either of them?

Heart-centered, spiritual, practical, nitty-gritty. Click here to read and then schedule a no-cost conversation with either Jason or Yollana: The Organic Business Development Program: Heart-centered.

Really, it’s my wife Holly who only had three hours of sleep. She knew I had to work today, so we have an agreement that she handles the rough nights when my brain needs to function to show up with clients and the business. So I had closer to five or six hours. Interrupted.

Although being up with kids in pain isn’t fun, the overall process is joyful, getting to watch a kid grow up.

It’s similar with a business, watching your own little business grow up. And… are you up at night as your business gets its financial molars?

Okay, sorry, it’s a bad joke. I didn’t have the absolute best night’s sleep, so forgive me. But, it’s true, if you’re struggling with financial pain in your life, you could probably use some support.

And the solution is not about having your molars grow in. More money doesn’t necessary solve the money worries. If it did, millionaires wouldn’t obsessively seek more, and agonize over the rise and fall of the stock market.

Not that all millionaires do that, but the point is that you can be a millionaire and still be stuck in the money grind. What would it be like to really have peace in your heart around money? A Divinely-inspired relationship with your finances? What if you could make decision from true guidance, instead of getting knocked off course repeatedly by financial worries?

The Heart of Money 2011 live course is sold out, but we’re offering a special on the Home Study version of the course. Click here to go get it.

Only Through Tuesday, April 26

The special will only last through Tuesday, April 26, meaning Wednesday morning, April 27, it’s over.

The special includes:

• Saving one hundred dollars on the price of the home study (which is already less expensive than the live course)
  
• Additional Q&A. The home study comes with Q&A from the 2009 course, but during the special I’m also including the Q&A pdfs from 2010, an additional 120 answers to participant questions.
• Premium session available. You can also get a premium, individual, one-on-one session with one of our star practitioners, Yollana Shore or Jason Stein, for less than it would ordinarily cost.

Click-> The Heart of Money Transformational Journey Home Study

If you have any questions, please ask!

But just because it’s sold out and we have a waiting list doesn’t mean you have to wait until 2012 to take the course.

We have the entire Transformational Journey as a home study, which you can get right now. And for the next week we’re offering a “before the live course” special.

Click here to read about it and order: The Heart of Money Home Study

What’s involved in the special:

• You get everything that ordinarily comes with the home study- the recorded calls, the full color guidebook with exercises, the Partnering, Unveiling Your Jewel, and Pay Yourself First bonuses.
• You save one hundred dollars off what it will cost when this week ends.
• I’m including the additional Q&A pdfs from last year’s live course. I can only answer a limited number of questions on the live calls, so I make sure I answer every single question asked by participants, by writing up a PDF. The Home Study includes the Q&A from one course, but for this week you’ll also get the Q&A pdfs from the 2010 live course, which are answers to more than 120 additional questions.
• The premium version of the home study comes with a support session from one of our Heart of Business practitioners, Jason or Yollana (your choice.) And the cost of the session is discounted off of what you would pay normally.
• It all ends after Tuesday, April 26. Or earlier if…

The “If” you need to know about this special:

Heart of Business is currently working with a designer to make everything prettier and easier to access and use. This includes our logo, our website, and our products.

We already have an inventory of Heart of Money home study programs printed with the current design, so we won’t be reprinting them again until the redesign is done. Once they are gone, the special is over.

Just to be clear, there will not be any extensive content editing for the new design, it’s mainly a look and feel. How do I communicate that our current design looks pretty darn good, and yet we’re wanting to make it even better? There, I just said it.

So, this special runs either through Tuesday, April 26, or until we sell out of the home study programs.

And there you go. If you have any questions, please ask.

Click and go get it: The Heart of Money Transformational Journey Home Study

I was making the point that when we’re afraid of power, we may be blurring lines, because there isn’t just one kind of power, there are many different flavors of spiritual power and presence. So I asked what kinds of power people could name.

One participant named “power over” and “power with” as two kinds of power, saying that “power with” was in alignment and “power over” was from the self and wasn’t really Divine.

In some circles this is a common way of thinking about power. And yet, it’s not completely accurate. For instance, I suggested, is it in Divine alignment to use power over to stop a young child from running into the street?

Or how about a volcano erupting, turning the landscape for miles around into molten lava, without getting buy-in from anyone first?

The truth is, when you express power it’s not always nice-nice. Those of us that are nice, or wish we were, need to come to grips with the truth about power: it impacts and changes things, not always with everyone’s say-so.

Of course that’s scary. Anyone with a heart and conscience would be bothered by the idea of being a volcano all over someone else’s life.

It’s Not Yours

The great thing about Divine expression is that it’s not yours. You receive it, you express it, but you don’t own it. Instead, it requires a certain humility and tenderness in yourself to surrender to what’s coming through, even if it is volcano-like.

This approach to power assures that it comes from love, from humility. It also helps to safeguard against your ego piling on and amplifying something beyond what it really needed to be. The Divine is very precise, and our egos can be brutes.

So instead of trying to be powerful, instead reach for empty. Be humble. Be weak and tender. And notice that your heart is a vessel and, once empty, can be filled with amazing Divine qualities.

The Flavors of Power

Traditionally Sufism talks about the 99 Names of God, which are also referred to as Divine Qualities. Innate, foundational, elemental qualities like Mercy, Love, Compassion. Included in this list are types of Power.

The Invincible in Might
The Dominator
The Destroyer
The Builder
The Able
The Remover of Obstacles

What other kinds of power are you aware of?

Ready to Power Up?

First, connect with your sincerity, you humility, your desire to serve. Take a moment, feel it.

Now connect to the heart of your business. Take a moment, feel it. For real. It’s there. Third, think of a situation in your business where you feel powerless, stuck.

Now ask, willing to be surprised, what kind of power is needed here?

Ask for that power in your heart. Not for you, not to own. But in service. Drink it in. Feeling that inside you, what’s your next step? How does that quality of power move you?

Share. I’d love to hear what you got from this little exercise. Has it changed your relationship to power at all?

p.s. You Can Still Get the Heart of Money

The course sold out before the early-bird deadline, but you can get the home study course now while it’s on special. You save one hundred dollars, plus you get the Q&A from the 2010 live course, more than 120 additional questions from participants I answered personally.

The special lasts through Tuesday, April 26, so if you want to transform your relationship with money, go get it now! Or at least read about it and see if it’s for you: The Heart of Money Transformational Journey Home Study Special.

This is the opening question in Money/Power: The Problem, The Connection, and Four Steps Forward. It’s a gift from me to you.

Please go ahead and download it. Read it. Share it. Share this blog post. It’s important to me that we, as heart-centered entrepreneurs, don’t shy away from our strength, our power, and our ability to impact the world around us.

Click on the cover, or just click here. Enjoy

p.s. Money and Power, Power and Money

The connection between money and power is a strong one. Beyond the Money/Power download above, The Heart of Money Transformational Journey is a two month healing journey, intended to free you from restrictions and upset around money.

Imagine what your marketing, your client conversations, your business would be like if you weren’t constricted about money and had clear access to your true power and guidance?

Join me. Limited spots. Early-bird price now available. Check it out: The Heart of Money Transformational Journey.

I’m sure you’ve experienced your own power before as well. But where does it go when it counts, when you really need it in your business?

This came into a focus when a client of mine reported back from a conference she’d been at, “The people who were showing up really powerfully didn’t seem to be spiritual. And the ones who were showing up as spiritual didn’t seem to be that powerful. What gives?”

Your business needs you to express and channel power. Without power you go nowhere, the lights remain dark, and the heat off. Plants don’t grow without power, the wind doesn’t blow without power.

You have an imperative to access your power.

Okay, Fine, What Now?

Accessing power is perhaps a bit grand to aim for within the scope of a simple article, but let me give you some insights.

First Power Insight: It’s Not Your Power

Picture yourself as a lamp. You’re all plugged in, ready to go, someone turns your switch (don’t go there, keep it clean, people) and whoosh, you flood the room with your light.

The power that enabled all that to happen? It came out of a wall. It came from being plugged-in, connected. And more than that, it also came from being “turned on” (simmer down).

I think you’re making the connection, so to speak. One of the reasons I support you in connecting to your heart.

What if you stopped trying to “be powerful?” Instead try allowing power to move through you. Hint: this takes being smaller and more humble. Strange, but it’s more effective this way.

Second Power Insight: Power Feels Different Depending On Where You Are

I was standing in front of an audience giving my all. I felt great, I felt solid, I could feel the power coming through. And yet I also felt tender.

I know from what folks have reported back to me that it was a “powerful” presentation. Out of that time came strategic alliances, clients, all kinds of connections.

And inside I felt tender. Power feels powerful to those on the receiving end. When you are feeling and expressing your power, you might feel… vulnerable… tender… open.

The secret of vulnerability is letting yourself access that tenderness so the power can keep flowing. When you try to feel invulnerable inside you, that will shut down your flow of power.

Third Power Insight: There Are Different Kinds of Power

The world’s spiritual paths have defined many different kinds of power. There is the power to grow, the power to destroy, the power to overcome, the power to do, the power to withstand opposition, and on and on.

Each of these is a different flavor of power. If you lump them all together, you can really trip yourself up.

Instead, in any moment when you’re needing power, ask your heart, what kind of power is called for here? Sometimes the power to destroy is absolutely healthy and appropriate, such as when weeding your garden or your business. If you access the true power to destroy you can feel the love and clarity that comes with it, even as it’s so strong.

Now Go and Express Your Power

If you’re willing, take a few minutes now and face your business with your heart. Where do you feel a lack of power? Can you connect with your own tenderness and vulnerability? Can you discern what kind of power is called for?

Can you let it through?

Where do you lose touch with power in your business? And what kind of power can you discern is actually needed there? Share, please. Tell me about it below in the comments.

p.s. Money and Power, Power and Money

The biggest issue most business owners don’t face is…. (drum roll, please) MONEY! Do you feel clean, clear, unburdened by your relationship to money? Can you price yourself easily? Can you face debt without shame? Can you avoid spending money in crazy ways when it does come in?

Are you profitable?

Part of the problem could be how you are running your business… and if you’re honest with yourself, does any of it have to do with your relationship to money? And, incidentally, to power?

The Heart of Money Transformational Journey is an eight-week healing for your heart and your finances. Spiritual, practical, and time-tested over nearly a decade with hundreds of clients and participants. Is it time to finally have a healthy, inspired relationship with money?

Limited spots. Early-bird price now available. Check it out: The Heart of Money Transformational Journey.

“Hmmm… that seems pretty clear to me. And good. I’m not really getting where you’re stuck.”

As he started to explain, I interrupted him (rude, I know, but hey, I’m not perfect.)

“I totally get it. I see where you’re stuck. Tell me if this clicks for you…”

So I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him. Tell me if it clicks for you.

You’re Trying to Convince The Wrong People

Actually, anyone you have to convince is the wrong person. But what my friend was doing, and you might be doing, too, is crafting your message with the least likely, most-resistant person in mind.

You know, that person who is skeptical of everything you do, on the outer edges of your market, who probably won’t like anything you say?

One metric ton of fear offgases every second from the countless hordes of entrepreneurs across all the continents on the globe who do just that. “Oh my God, I can’t say that, they’ll hate me!”

Don’t do that. Don’t write, speak, or teach to that person. You don’t have to ignore them, just don’t make them your main audience.

For a little more, let me explain something about magnetics and groups.

The Magnetics in Group Dynamics

When I was going through my Sufi spiritual teacher training, I learned that in every group, when an issue comes up, individuals will “pole” that issue. Someone will pole the “negative” and someone will pole the “positive.”

Let’s say you’re teaching about spirituality in business (strange topic, I know), and the whole “resistant to spirituality” issue comes up in the group. What will generally happen is that one or two people who hold that issue the most strongly will then magnetically scoop up all the odds and ends of that issues for the group.

If you try to confront those people head-on, or if you just try to be nice-nice and teach to those people hoping to convince them, it’s like battling the entire group. Because you are.

Don’t do that. Instead, find the folks who are the most open to what you’re doing in the group, the ones who are receptive and eager, and teach to them. That will help to balance out the energy, and all what you’re teaching to enter the group heart.

You don’t have to ignore the people who are resistant, you can witness and empathize with those who are struggling. Just don’t treat them like they are the most important people in the room.

Scale It Up

From a smaller teaching situation to your entire market, it’s the same dynamic. Who are the people who are most receptive to what you want to say, the true message of your heart and business? Think of them, and then craft your message to reach them.

It’s so much easier to speak to people who are eager for what you have than to be so rude as to cram something down someone’s throat. Since I’ve already interrupted somebody in the third paragraph, let’s lay off the rudeness for now.

Two questions to answer in the comments: who was the person you were writing to that had you paralyzed- sketch that person out for us. And then sketch out the receptive audience member, the person who is eager for your message. I’d love to see both side-by-side.

Tell me about it below in the comments.

p.s. Still scared about selling?

There are about a dozen or so little shifts that help make selling, and charging your right price, an easy thing for your heart. Learn them, and you can start gaining new clients immediately who want to pay you what you really want to charge.

Come join us at the Sacred Moment Seminar here in Portland.

Read all about it, and register here.

The energy changed in the conversation, in ways both subtle and dramatic. Nothing you said, nothing they said. But suddenly, you’re in a different conversation entirely.

It’s real. It happens. And It’s called “The Pivot.”

The big question: can you pivot without going over the cliff edge?

If you keep talking as you were, you’ll shoot right past the Pivot and the energy between you and your potential client will go completely dead. (Which isn’t a disaster, you can recover, if you stop in time.)

If you lose your confidence here and start to stutter, stammer, or hem and haw about what’s next, you’ll sink all the great rapport and trust you’ve already built up. This is called “unselling them.”

I call it unselling because often, when you reach the Pivot, if your client is destined to hire you they’ve already decided “Yes.” Yet, they are waiting to see, usually subconsciously, if they can trust that decision.

Hem and haw, stutter and stammer, act indecisively, and you’ve unsold the yes.

Before we talk about what you do with the Pivot, let me explain what’s going on.

What Is The Pivot?

In any effective sales conversation, the majority of what’s happening is that you, the business owner, are asking the potential client lots of questions. They’re asking questions, too, but you’re asking more.

You’re asking about the past, the trouble, the struggle. Anything you need to ask them to understand their situation, to discern whether you can help them, and if you can, how you would help them.

This eventually gets you to the Pivot. There’s more to what I call Compassionate Questioning than just throwing questions at them, but let’s stay focused on the Pivot.

The shift of energy represents a shift of focus. The reason most business owners are uncomfortable is because they conceive of it as a shift from talking about the potential client, to talking about themselves.

Of course a shift from “you” to “me” is going to feel uncomfortable. “So, enough about you. What about me? You want to hire me?” Smooth…. doesn’t that feel icky?

It’s good if you’re uncomfortable! It means that your heart actually suspects the truth, and knows that talking about yourself isn’t what’s needed.

The shift from “you” to “me” is a tragic misunderstanding of the Pivot, because that’s not what’s going on. The shift is actually one from talking about the Past and the Present (the past struggle and the current situation) to talking about the Future.

Because the energetics of the conversation is now living in the future, continuing to talk about the past or present feels dead. And, talking about yourself is uncomfortable, because it misses the point.

The point is, where do we go from here? With an emphasis on “we.”

Weeeee Into the Future

Now that you know what has happened, what do you do? You ask the question that is poised on the Pivot, which is what you’re wondering, and what you’re prospective client is wondering… “What now? Where do we go from here?”

This is what some traditional sales people call “The Close” where you hone in for the kill, extracting cash from your hapless prospect…

Actually, I call it “The Opening” because, if this person is meant to be your client, it’s the beginning of a very fruitful relationship for all concerned.

Imagine yourself in the Pivot with someone you know is your right client, that you have great rapport with already, and what would you say or ask to move into the future?

There’s no one right answer or magic script, although there are some risk-free variations on a future-oriented question I teach in the Sacred Moment Seminar that helps to negotiate the Pivot without any awkwardness whatsoever. But right now I’m curious, what would you say to pivot with them, and to keep from going over the cliff edge?

Listen to your heart, and let it speak or ask what is true.

p.s. Want to get to the heart of effective, spiritually-based, non-manipulative selling?

February 25-26 myself and the Heart of Business team will be leading about 40 heart-centered business owners into tremendous effectiveness in enrollment. It’s happening live, here in Portland, Oregon.

There are limited seats, more than 30 are already taken. Are you going to be one the last ten to join us? Check it out for yourself, and learn how to actually get paid by the people who really want to pay you.

Click to read or register: The Sacred Moment Seminar

If you any questions, read the page, and please ask us!