Turning Connections into Clients Without the Sleaze

Hello, and welcome

to another episode of

Unleashing Brilliance.

Wonderful to have you

here again this week.

And this week.

I wanna talk about something

that so many brilliant women

struggle with, and that is

how do you turn

great conversations

into paying clients?

Without feeling like a

pushy salesperson from

a nineties infomercial.

You know what I'm

talking about here?

You know, you've done the

work, you've built the

connections, you've shown

up with heart and value

and generosity, but when

it comes to asking someone

to actually work with you.

You freeze.

You second guess yourself.

You worry you are going to

sound desperate or awkward,

or God forbid, salesy.

So what happens, what I

see is people pull back.

You might get vague,

you leave money on the

table, and you leave your

impact on the table too.

Well, not anymore because

in today's episode I want to

share with you how to turn

connections that you already

have into paying clients with

zero scripts and zero cringe.

Just clarity, courage and

conversations that convert.

So let's just start.

Reflecting on the term sales

for a second, shall we?

There is no doubt in my mind

that selling has gotten a

bad rap, because let's be

honest with each other.

Most of us have experienced

it at its worst.

You know, the vibe,

someone you haven't heard

from four years slides

into those dms like, Hey

babe, love your energy.

Have you ever.

Starting a podcast.

Have you ever thought

about writing a book?

It's like, eh,

vomit in my mouth.

Delete, block, run.

So it's no wonder that

we swing so hard in

the opposite direction.

We don't wanna be

that person, do we?

And so what ends up happening

is we end up saying nothing.

We wait.

We wait.

We wait and we just hope,

keep our fingers crossed.

We hope that people will

just know that our doors are

open for business and that

we're available for work.

We give, we give and we

give, and then we feel

resentful when people don't

magically offer to payers.

I wanna say this, once again,

I've said it multiple times

on this podcast before.

Hope is not a strategy.

And your brilliance

deserves to be paid.

I had a client,

recently, and she came

to me totally deflated.

She said something like this.

It was like, Hey, Janine,

I've been having these

really amazing coffee chats.

Everyone says, oh, wow.

I love your energy, or,

you are so inspiring.

But here's the thing,

Janine, nothing ever

comes from it, and it's

getting really frustrating.

The impact of nothing

coming from it was, it

was negatively, in fact,

impacting her sales numbers.

It was negatively

impacting her delivery.

Her calendar was looking

almost empty, actually.

And so what we did is we

unpacked it, and guess what?

We found this person,

this client, I'm trying

hard not to say her name.

She was incredible, right?

She was incredible

in the conversation.

Curious, generous,

really great listener.

But when it came to the moment

of transition, that moment

where you invite someone

to take the next step, she

absolutely froze because she

didn't want to be salesy.

But here's what I said to her.

The problem isn't that

people don't value you

it's that you never

invite them to go deeper.

They don't know how

they're waiting for you.

Within a week of changing

that one thing, this

particular client closed

two new clients for herself.

No pressure, no pitch,

no crazy long pitch deck,

just a shift in her energy

and a simple invitation.

You see, connection

isn't enough.

What you need is conversion.

At the end of the day, it's

the cash in your bank that

pays the bills, that keeps

your business in business.

And I wanna say,

again, being connected.

Doesn't mean

being in business.

Yes, relationships matter.

I talk about it all the time.

I talk about it in my book.

It's who you know.

I talk about it in my

book, be Brilliant.

Relationships matter deeply.

Absolutely.

Yes.

Being of service is key,

but relationships that

don't go anywhere well,

they cost you time.

And they cost you

energy and they cost you

your ability to scale.

What we need is a bridge

between value and conversion,

and here's the good news.

That bridge doesn't

have to be awkward.

In fact, I think it

can be authentic.

I think it can be beautiful.

I even think it can be fun.

I actually to say, when

I'm sharing this with my

own clients, I go, I'm

actually looking to see if.

people wanna dance with me.

I'm looking for that

dancing partner.

I've totally changed the

word in my head from selling

to, "I'm looking to see if

we're gonna dance together."

Beautiful and fun.

I wanna share with you, five

ideas of how to actually move.

Into this more human to

human sales approach.

so the first idea I've

got, so the first thing I

want you to think about is

being crystal clear about

what it is that you do.

Now, this is where so

many of you fall down.

You are brilliant, but

you are messaging, it's

a little bit fuzzy, you

know, empowering women to

step into their purpose.

It's not a value proposition,

it's, that's actually more

of an Instagram affirmation.

Say what you actually do and

who you do it for, and also

share what the outcome is

that you help them to create.

For example, I don't know, um,

"I help female consultants

turn their IP into high

ticket offers and land

clients without burning out.

Be more specific.

Own it.

Say it proudly, because

this is what makes it

easy for others to refer,

recommend, and hire you.

So that's step number one.

Second thing I want you

to think about, lead with

curiosity, not pitching.

Instead of feeling like

you have to sell, what

about getting curious?

Ask real questions.

Dig beneath the surface.

What are they

really stuck with?

What is keeping

them awake at night?

What are they already

trying that isn't working?

Listen, get curious about

where they're heading to,

what their dreams are and what

they themselves say are the

roadblocks or the problems,

and then you go, would it be

helpful if I shared how I've

helped someone in a similar

position navigate that?

would it be helpful

if I shared with you

some of the things that

other clients are doing?

You are not pushing.

You are offering insight,

and that's really powerful.

It's generous and it's the

very thing that creates trust.

Third thought is make

your work inviting.

Not intimidating, nobody wants

to be sold to, but everyone

loves to be invited into

something that feels exciting,

clear and purposeful.

So try this.

You know, maybe you say.

Does this sound like

there's some alignment here?

would it be worth exploring

how we could work together?

Are you curious at all

about how I can help?

Would you like to hear what

working with me looks like?

Like keep it really

beautiful and relaxed

versus hardcore salesy?

Remember, we are

looking for people that

we wanna dance with.

Do you see the tone?

It's light.

You are not pitching,

you are actually

creating an invitation.

You are opening the door.

Fourth idea, follow up like

a pro and not a pest, is

you sent the proposal right?

They asked you to,

you sent the proposal.

I don't know what happens.

We hear crickets and

most of us go, now what?

Most people either disappear

entirely or follow up with

a weird, I'm just circling

back, or I'm just bringing

this to the top of your inbox.

One of those email that

makes them feel awkward

and you feel ignored.

here's what I teach instead.

I'd say something

like, Hey Sarah.

Hey, I just wanted to check

in on the proposal I sent.

No pressure at all.

just wanna make sure it didn't

slip through the cracks.

It's what you

were looking for.

Let me know if you have

any further questions or

you wanna walk through it.

I'd love to hear if it's

a yes, not yet, or I need

some more information,

just let me know.

I keep it really cheerful,

really relaxed, versus

I'm bringing this to

the top of your inbox

in case you missed it.

No, we wanna be respectful,

we wanna be professional,

we wanna be human.

And the fifth thing is to

keep showing up as you.

The best business is built

on real relationships.

Be that same person on

a Zoom call as you are

at a coffee catch up.

Let people see you.

Let them feel your fire

because they're gonna buy

your energy, confidence,

clarity, conviction.

You don't need to be polished.

You just need to be, you

turned up all the way.

Right now, trust

is the currency.

People everywhere

are so overwhelmed.

They're over pitched.

They're oversold to, but

they're still investing in

people that they believe

in, in solutions that they.

Trust in leaders like you

who show up like pros,

not like panic merchants.

So if you are relying on

hope, on freebies, on sliding

sideways into inboxes,

hoping that someone bites,

I'm gonna lovingly say this.

It's time to stop hiding.

It is time to start owning

your expertise and lead

people forward, not from

pressure, but from presence,

because that's the energy

people are drawn to.

That's what turns

just a connection

into a paying client.

That's what creates real

commercial traction,

not noise, not hustle.

Just clear confident

leadership.

So here's this week's

challenge, my friends,

I want you to go

through your network.

I want you to look at your

past clients, those warm

leads, even those amazing

coffee catchups that had

you months ago that you,

talked to, and you had

that awesome conversation.

Go back through them all

and ask yourself, "where

have I not invited someone

to take the next step?"

Reach out, reconnect, not

with a pitch, with presence.

And if you're ready to dial

this in, to turn your network

into a client generating

ecosystem, reach out to me,

DM me book in a call with me.

Because you don't

have to do this alone.

I can absolutely show you

the very systems I use to

turn everything that I've

shared in today's podcast.

Into reality.

And if this episode gave

you nudge, or a reframe or

a kick in the butt, please

share it with friends.

Leave a comment.

Let me know.

Let me know because this

is the only way we're

gonna spread this kind of

information through the

ecosystem that is podcast.

Until next week, please

keep showing up and keep

leading and keep leasing

that brilliance of yours.

I look forward to catching

up with you next week.