Human-First Sales: Connecting with Clients Through Values | Episode 80

Hello hello and welcome back to the Purpose & Progress Podcast.

I want to start this solo episode with a disclaimer. Like the title suggest, this is an episode about sales, but I’ve historically had all kinds of mindset blocks and hang-ups around sales. The ick factor and the unpredictability and the lack of confidence.

So a bit of context before we dig in. I was actually asked to give a workshop about client acquisition by Freelancers Hub, one of my favorite hosts. They always bring such an energetic, engaged community to workshops. And I got a bit of imposter syndrome about it, until I tied it back to values and human connection.

So this is really a conversation about connecting. With real people—normally your clients, but the idea is transferrable to your collaborators and referral partners—around your values. Your values are the parts of you and your business that make you human. And they’re what resonate with other humans.

I talk about human-first business in a few episodes since this is a big feature of how my guests and I do business, but we definitely reference the idea in episode 39, so be sure to give that a listen. It’ll be linked in the show notes.

Ok, so back to “sales”. Even the word itself feels icky or scary or just plain hard for so many of us. (Especially introverts, multi-passionates, and overthinkers. Aka my people.) But by leaning into our values, we’re able to connect with the real people who need and want exactly what we have to offer, all while making our business sustainable and impactful.

So together, we’re going to unpack some unconventional and flexible ways to think of “sales”, like:

• doing attraction marketing (vs the spray-and-pray method) or “converting” someone into a paying customer—hint: it’s really not about convincing anyone of anything
• finding and approaching clients (pitching, cold calling, oh my!)
• promoting yourself in a natural way
• offering out-of-the-box pricing models

These ideas are all about aligning your values with your audience. Because when it comes down to it, you’re not serving anyone (including yourself) if you’re not “making the sale”.

Ok, so let’s dive in. First and foremost, the background, foundational, brand-building work of attraction marketing.

And this is, like I said, in direct contrast to 2 other approaches: 1: the spray-and-pray method where you just post as many times, as explicitly as possible, close your eyes, and hope for the best. This looks like quantity over quality. This looks like internet “best practices” that haven’t been put through a lens of you, your energy, your strengths, your values, your perfect-fit people. This looks like “should” rather than feel-good marketing. This also looks like spamming, blanket and generic cold outreach, buying contact lists and reaching out without their consent or opt-in. (We’ve all gotten that text or email and thought how in the world did this random company find me? And normally it’s NOT the right fit anyway.)

The other sort of opposite of feel-good attraction-based marketing is focusing on “converting” someone into a paying customer. Yes, to make a sale, to keep your business running, you absolutely need to make it known what you do, who it’s for, how they can purchase it, maybe even WHY it’d be the perfect-fit for them. But it’s not about convincing or converting or definitely not about coercing anyone into anything. It’s simply about showing up and sharing how what you have and how you do it and why you do it. Then they, as fully consenting adults with full agency, can decide whether it’s exactly what they need and want. Right place, right time, right personality, right budget, right everything. Or at least, worth taking a leap of faith around.

That latter part is NOT for you to decide, as difficult as it may be, especially when we’re SO invested in our clients’ well-being or success or backstory. And especially when our clients are past or current versions of ourselves in many ways. But their money stories and skill gaps and everything else will never perfectly match YOURS. So use that care to show empathy and to build that base of attraction marketing, but DON’T get so looped in that you can’t separate yourself and your decisions from your clients and their decisions. (A slippery slope, I know. But remember, if it was easy for them like it is for you, they wouldn’t need and be looking for what you have to offer. But they are!)

So, we’re not spraying-and-praying (or spamming). We’re not convincing or converting. We ARE doing attraction marketing with consent. So yes, content will almost definitely need to be involved. And before a collective groan passes through the crowd, let’s talk about content quickly.

It doesn’t have to be on any particular social media platform, or on social at all. It doesn’t have to be any particular from—just because something is trendy or favored by the algorithms doesn’t mean it’s right for you and your people. It also doesn’t have to be any particular schedule (although I do recommend YOU choose a schedule stick to it for the sake of consistency—for you and for your people). (Are you sensing a theme here? You and your people and where you intersect are all that matter.)

It’s been said that the right kind of content is the content you’ll actually create and stick to. Big yes to that.

Attraction marketing is all about putting yourself and your brand and your big ideas and your close-held values out into the world so that people can enter and stay in and spread your orbit. That’s it. It’s just about creating the connection points of real conversation and exchange.

And for most of us, we don’t need 1000 leads a day or whatever that bot in your DMs is promising you. For service providers especially (but even for product creators who can sell to the same people over and over), how many clients do we REALLY need each month or each year? 4? 12? 25? 100? 1000? That’s actually way more doable than an arbitrary “as many as possible” approach.

So when it comes to your attraction marketing (and really, every part of your business), focus on what feels good. If partnerships light you up, lean into that. If you can speak off the cuff, do workshops and podcast guesting and live events and YouTube videos. If you’re a writer at heart, do blog posts and a juicy newsletter (check out mine in the description below), and a solo podcast where you can edit down to the smallest “um” if you want to. If you enjoy short-form content, lean into social and splicing up then repurposing long-form content. (Or the opposite, only create shorts and string them together for a longer-form piece to live somewhere else.)

And if you’re at a loss of what to say, start with the central question of my business, which is “how do you want to be known?” That could be your values. That could be your philosophy or approach. That could be your special features or deep, empathetic connection to your people. That could be your personality or sense of humor. Mind map from there. I have lots of other thoughts around content creation and figuring out what will be sustainable for you, so send me a voice memo or a DM if you have any specific questions or want a dedicated episode.

Anyway, for the multi-passionates, the overthinkers, the introverts, the creatives with 101 ideas but no idea where to start, the people with past trauma around putting themselves out there, the newbies lacking self-confidence, the contrarians who resist run-of-the-mill with every cell of their being—doing attraction marketing will feel better.

You share your ideas into a space where there are hopefully people waiting to receive exactly what you have to offer. You engage on a genuine and deeply human level. You don’t use fabricated scarcity or urgency tactics to convince anyone of anything. And then you sell via an organic exchange of offering what someone has been searching for and receiving what you need to repeat the cycle over and over again.

Ok, but how do find and approach those perfect-fit clients to sell to? There are tons of ways. (Although to be fair, lead generation is one of the hardest things for most of us, so while it’s pretty simple, it’s not necessarily easy.)

Most people’s favorite: referrals! Don’t bank on this entirely (see attraction marketing ideas we just talked about) but doesn’t this just give the warm and fuzzies all the way around? It’s a win for the client, for the referrer (with or without a referral bonus payout) and for you because everyone is getting exactly what they need and want.

Referral partners can be past or current clients, past or current collaborators, people in existing network (even if you’re new to your business, you have a pool of people who know, trust, and care about you).

Make it as easy as possible for people to refer you. When they ask for updates, give them something more than a cursory “business is fine” reply. Tell them what you’re excited about creating and/or who you’re excited about working with. You can also email specific referral partners who have raised their hands and said they WANT to refer you—give them updates, swipe copy, and really specific asks.

Then there are groups—local, Slack groups, Facebook groups, listserves, online communities, everything in between. Often people post RFPs and other calls for projects or collaborators. Reply to those, thoughtfully and by leading with your values as a key differentiator. Sometimes pitching to the group is allowed (especially lead magnets, events, and other free resources, but sometimes also services). And then actually dig in and connect 1:1 with people. Even if you’re an introvert, people are in a community to BE in community, so they’re probably thankful that you make the first move. (As long as it’s non-pitchy, non-weird…we’ve all gotten those generic or creepy or way-off-base DMs. Don’t be that guy.) Worse thing that happens: they don’t reply or you don’t hit it off. Best thing: they become a dream collaborator, referrer, or client themselves.

Ok, then there’s the (potentially dreaded) cold outreach. if you’re REALLY clear on who you serve and how and why you serve them, why NOT reach out to your dream clients? You can do this without being arrogant or icky. We’ve all gotten cold pitches gone wrong, so don’t be one of those people. Use their real, FIRST name. (Always so spammy when it’s just “hey” or “hello Ashlee Sang” or even worse “To Ashlee Sang Consulting”.) Keep it concise and focused, but if you’re naturally verbose and everything you’re including provides relevant, trust-building context, don’t worry about making it as short as possible. Actually include details that make it clear you’ve researched them or have been in their orbit for a while. As a podcast host, I get lots of random pitches and the people who ONLY say they “loved insert-most-recent-episode-here” is an immediate no. Unless they can draw a personal connection to how that episode finally got on their radar (like they knew the guest or have created a similar approach or have been struggling with that for years, whatever). But I can tell when they just looked it up on Apple Podcasts and thought they were showing me how invested they are in the show by naming 1 episode. Also don’t approach cold pitching with “fixing” them or their business, or implying that you know better. Again, we’re aiming to build quick and deep trust, so insulting them is probably not the best way to kick off a relationship. Instead, I’d share WHY they feel like a perfect fit on your end and why you think you’d be a perfect fit for them. That common ground, that mutual appeal, those shared values.

For all of these scenarios, this is where a really buttoned up elevator pitch that you feel confident in comes in handy. Listen to episode 63 for my frameworks around introducing yourself and download my free guide in the description below or at ashleesang.com/podcastfreebie.

And then of course, the let-them-come-to-you attraction marketing piece is also always working in the background. Everything from SEO to your presence on social or Substack or whatever content sandbox you like to play in to speaking engagements to in-person networking. It all counts and it all adds up.

Whether it’s pitching or promoting in a group, in a cold email, in your content, in-person, or anywhere in between, simply stand firm in what you believe and what you’re offering.

You can promote it (and yourself!) in a natural, organic way because you’re genuinely excited. To be offering the thing, creating the impact, connecting with the person. It actually lights you up and that will absolutely be contagious. And memorable. And just nice to be around.

I have a whole episode about Leaning Into Your Values For Unconventional Impact (Episode 65, linked below) if you want more ideas around how your values can shine through your copy, content, conversations and in all your decisions across your business.

And then because we’re talking sales, we have to talk about money. Yikes, I know. But also, get comfy because money matters.

For more of a pep talk around money and your business, listen to my solo episode about how your Brand Values Determine How You Make and Spend Cash and the recent Pricing Panel I did with 3 awesome coaches and consultants (episodes 7 and 78).

Anyway, I’m really not a fan of sales or pricing gimmicks, discounts, scarcity psychology, 17-email-campaigns, or anything in between.

Instead, I’m more about organic, empathetic, attraction-based marketing that boils down to aligning with the right place, right time for my perfect-fit people. (And, of course, our shared values.) Basically what this whole episode is about.

I’m also really not great with “goals” in the traditional sense—I’m more of a general trajectory or massive, seemingly random leaps kind of person.

But I’m not stuck in my own ways to be anti-experimentation, anti-reflection, or anti-new perspectives.

In fact, exploration is one of my core values and it manifests in almost every single business decision I make.

By my definition, for my business, exploration means creating space to experiment and staying open to different perspectives.

[Side note: Highly recommend you not only establish your core values, but also define them, and actively apply them. Listen to Episode 59 for a whole framework around that idea.]

And one way you can experiment with your sales is by offering out-of-the-box pricing models. If it’s aligned with your values, it won’t be gimmick-y, it’ll be interesting and appreciated.

Also important to note: we’ve probably ALL taken on a project (or 100) that we underpriced and then we were just resentful and burnt out and found it hard to deliver or pay the bills or anything else. Underpricing isn’t good for anyone, as difficult as that is for empaths, creatives, and deeply caring people to come to terms with sometimes.

But here are some compromises or solutions that could feel good for everyone.

You can do sliding scale, for everyone or for a certain identity (racial, immigration status, age of business, family situation, income level, whatever).

You can do a scholarship fund where you have a pro bono option at whatever interval and level feels right to you and your bandwidth. In my business for example, I offer 1 Quick Win Consulting Call per quarter and 1 Messages That Matter Intensive per year. I’ll have that scholarship fund linked in the show notes.

You can do a pay-it-forward option where your own community is funding other people just like them to be able to work with you.

You can do a tiered access option where the more someone pays, the more access they get to you and your brain and your calendar. But they can still be in your orbit for free or low-cost in a group setting or on your email list or with some other configuration.

You can offer a discount or a bonus, just tread lightly because not only does that potentially drag down YOUR perceived value, it also has a ripple effect across your entire industry if you’re only lending yourself to those race-to-the-bottom-price-shoppers.

You can also poll your audience and talk to peers (beyond “market research”) to set prices so it’s not some arbitrary number pulled out of your own head.

There are probably tons of other ways you can think about pricing and sales that might work for you. I’d actually love to hear what you’ve tried or seen other people do, so send me a voice memo (linked below) or a DM!

So that’s my take on Human-First Sales. If you keep the real people on the receiving end in mind, you’ll likely feel a lot less icky, stressed, or whatever other negative emotion you’ve felt coursing through your body.

Lead with your values to attract people who appreciate the exact way you think and act. Connect with clients and partners through those values. Set prices that feel fair all around. Sell, rinse, and repeat!

And if you feel overwhelmed or excited by any of what we talked about today, let’s chat about it 1:1 in a free Alignment Call! We can talk through all the ways I can be by your side as you share your ideas and connect with your dream clients. Grab some time at ashleesang.com/align or via the link in the shownotes!

Be sure to check out all the other resources I talked about in the show notes below or at ashleesang.com/podcast.

And come back next time (in 2 weeks!) because we’ll be in conversation with another ambitious and inspirational woman entrepreneur.