Women's Economy - Women's Commerce by Brenda R. Bryan
The other day, I was in a Marketing Mastermind networking group I belong to.
What came up in that session was the awareness that most of us see selling as sleazy and awkward.
Did you know that women open 52% of all new businesses? The bad news is that those businesses only claim 4% of the profits.
The root cause of this is the conditioning we are unaware of. What is this condition? Until now, we did it the way it’s always been done, defined by the male-driven sales attributes.
We, as women, have had too much sleaze getting pushed on us. The traditional sales approach is about being aggressive and competitive. The clash occurs because women’s ideology comes from co-creation, cooperation, and collaboration.
This belief is based on training and programming set by the male-dominated rules we have been subjected to (I think we all have been subjected to). We may need to realize or recognize that this conditioning is a significant part of our hesitancy to sell.
As women, we must believe in and see ourselves as part of the economic system that drives our world. We have to be part of a commerce system of exchange. When we enter the economy with our skill set, we change how it can work when we bring our innate qualities and skills to the table.
This is where using the DreamBuilders tools I teach can support that reprogramming and help you design a fun, easy vision that gets you the desired results.
Here’s our struggle: Women come to the business world with different viewpoints and skills. We must reframe our beliefs and behaviors around sales to match our core values: lean into the values, power, and contributions you bring to your clients’ lives. When your passion drives you, you will be the woman who knows her worth.
As women, we have been put on the sidelines.
Did you know that women were not allowed to open a credit card or bank account without a man’s approval till 1972? They needed a man to cosign the document; it could be a brother, husband, uncle, son, or a total stranger as long as he agreed to be the co-signer. We have been kept out of board rooms and denied access to leadership positions because of gender bias. We, as women, have been excluded from the conversation. Is it any wonder we fear asking for our worth when we have been told in so many ways we have no worth?
This is why tapping into the power of breathing can turn all those old patterns into patterns of success.
What will it take for women to own their role in setting a new behavior model beyond the present standards of aggression, push, and sleaze?
The model used until now differs from who women are and what we cherish as qualities within ourselves. We choose to nurture and prefer collaborative efforts as part of our work values.
“Female sales leaders only comprise 26% of the industry, yet studies show that women-led teams often perform better than their male-led counterparts.” – Mailshake.com
What will it take for women to design a new model?
What could you do to invest in your self-worth—to step into, lean into, and own your abilities as someone who builds trust, understands customers’ needs, and provides value-based solutions?
You got into business because you have a gift; your desires and passion matter to you and your customers.
What will it take for you to recognize your power? What you bring to the customers is what they need. They need a problem solved, a pain healed, and an opportunity for you to serve your special sauce for the win/win solution.
You, as a woman, can choose what you bring to the table. You can simply show up. Inherent in your nature are the abilities to be an effective communicator, empathic collaborator, and, let’s not forget, your emotional intelligence.
And yet, the minute we forget those talents, we turn into believers, falling back to not-enoughness and feeling sleazy because of the prevailing systems in sales. We fall back to our defense position: fear, worry, and shirking ourselves down to not get a refusal.
By the way, all sales are a number game, so no matter how amazing you are at defining your produce or serves, you will get No’s. When doing multilevel marketing, I would hear, “Every NO gets you closer to a YES!”. With my work, you learn the process of reframing and recalibrating and the language of success.
Since studying with Brave Thinking Institute and becoming certified as a DreamBuilder Coach, I have learned that I can change that narrative. So here is where you get to step into reframing your response to sales.
What if: Every time you connect with someone, you come from the intention to serve, and you intend to create value. Those values that resonate with your women’s values.
What if?
Now is the time for women to be the change agents the world has been waiting for.
In my vision, women owning their power means owning their economy, owning their agency, building their business through ownership of their value and worth, learning to ask for it and expect it, and designing their success with passion.
Do you remember I said that women are receiving 4% of the profits?
That makes me furious!
Why? Because you and I have more power than we have been claiming! We have been sidetracked by all the conditions and circumstances that we have come to believe. We must reprogram and reframe who we are and what we get to have by our birthright. We can recognize our abilities, and the fact that they are different from men’s does not make them less valuable. They make them the needed tools to save lives and our planet.
This awareness can be the skills needed for a new sales model and achieving more remarkable results in our business and our new economy.
As women increase their presence in the business world, many industries are experiencing a creative explosion.
Women have brought innovation and creativity to problems that needed new solutions. No more cutthroat competition to optimize quotas, no more lone-wolf salespeople, no more hard-sell tactics; traditional sales stereotypes are dying out, and this is very good for businesses, customers, teams, and communities.
Because women are seeking sales positions, this is happening. Welcome to collaboration, teamwork, problem-solving, value-based solutions, sustainability, gender equality, diversity, human decency, and respect as the emerging norms in sales practices, strategies, and sales leadership if we want highly productive, profitable, respectable, and resilient businesses.
So, if you are afraid of seeming sleazy when promoting your business or offering your produce or services, here are a few things that you can consider:
- Set your intention to be of service; how can you support this person or business?
- Pay close attention to your skills and how you can use them to better your client. (These skills include effective communication, co-creation, intuition, and collaboration, to name a few.)
- Recognize that, as a woman, you can innovate and change how sales are done by staying true to your abilities.
- Do your inner work and pay close attention to how you talk to yourself. How you stand for your value has a direct impact on how your customers will value you.
- Build a DREAM worthy of your precious life energy. When you come from the intentions generated by your passion, you will be more in tune with what you seek. Thus, make your offer from the frequency of what you love. People will feel it and want to be part of it.
Today, customers, employees, and suppliers want more human-centered, respectful, productive, trustworthy, and sustainable ways of selling and doing business.
As a woman in business, you can bring your desire and compassionate heart to the art of sales. You can nurture and support your clients with the core values you express. Your ability to stand for the best in yourself and the best in and for others will take away the feeling of being sleazy. You come from service, and your intentions to provide the best you can offer will support the dreams you have and the dreams of your clients.
Women matter. Diversity matters. Human decency matters.
Smart businesses know this. Despite the depressing statistics, change is happening.
Wise leaders know that it pays to sell like a woman if you want to excel in sales and business.
I invite you to step into your power and the strengths and attributes you bring to your business. Most of us can not see our blind side, which keeps us from fully embracing our gifts.
I invite you to step into claiming your power by attending a DreamBuilders workshop. Come find out what you could be doing to live in your passion and design a life you love.
Let’s get started! Here is a link to schedule a Free Consultation. Let’s act now to achieve the DREAM within.Calendly.com/brendarbryan
You can even place quotations!
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