I don’t think of myself as a salesperson. I sucked at retail, I hardly ever raise my fees, and I’ll sell a prized home furnishing for pennies on the dollar to make room for the new chair or table I’m coveting.
Nonetheless, I’m in the business of sales. But not in the way you might think.
Sure, I sell coaching packages and counseling sessions, but I’m really selling change. Life change.
My business is to sell you on life change. Your life and the changes you want to make.
I recently heard preeminent psychotherapist and creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Marsha Linehan, say that “therapists sell behavior.” Specifically, we sell the idea that new behaviors are required to yield new results – results you want in your life.
If you want something new/different/better - if you want a change – you have to do something new - feel a new emotion, practice thinking a different thought, speak up about something. Those are all behaviors, and they’ll get you the change you’re seeking.
The problem is that behavior change is a tough sell. It’s not sexy or fun. It doesn’t taste good or feel good, and it often doesn’t look all that good. Not at the beginning anyway.
When’s the last time to tried out a new behavior? Not cute, right? You were awkward, uncomfortable, fumbling, and worst of all, not even sure it would work.
That’s where I come in! That’s where the magic of coaching or counseling comes in. My job as your coach is to sell you on the new behavior. To sell you on why the new behavior is what you need to do to get from where you are now to where you want to go.
My job is to get you bought into the process of change.
And what is that process? Bill O’Hanlon, coach and author of Do One Thing Different, has a super simple 3 P’s model of effective life change…
Problem – you must have a clear problem you want to address.
Promise – you must have a clear vision of your future beyond the problem.
Program – I must have a plan to get you from one to two.
As your coach, I’ll help you get clear on your problem and the promise of what’s possible. And then I’ll say something like “I have a program to help you!”
The program I’ll sell you involves mindfulness, self compassion and mindset shifts to help you get unstuck and past limiting fears so you can feel great about yourself. It has vision setting practices, relationship-improving tools and meaning-making exercises, among others, to get you living the life you want, doing what you most care about and surrounded by people you love.
My program works. I've been selling it clients like you since 2005. I know how to get you from where you are to where you want to be.
I’m a pro at helping you change. A better life salesman.
So...ready to buy into changing your life?
Ready to sell you on it,
Buck
