An Introvert’s Guide to Selling, with Christine Pereira

An Introvert’s Guide to Selling, with Christine Pereira

From a shy kid to an inspired entrepreneur, finding liberation through sales

Can being a shy kid fuel an exceptional business passion? How does an introvert excel at sales? Can sales conversations be an introvert’s vehicle for soulful connection? Amazingly, yes! Tune in to find out how.

Finding your focus

I love your focus on introverted entrepreneurs. How did you get into this particular focus?

I was at a conference and someone started talking about “well I’m kind of in introvert."

And I was like “I am an introvert too."  

I started mentioning it to people and I got this amazing feedback.

I made a really simple PDF that I put up on Facebook – “An Introvert’s Guide to Selling."

It got shared by thousands of people.

Once I thought about it, I thought this is what I really relate to.

I realized that was one of the biggest struggles that I overcame.

From shyness to success

What was your own journey? What was your call to adventure?

I was a really shy kid.

I had such a hard time speaking to people but I really wanted to connect with them.

I found that if I had a script where I could talk to people and I knew exactly what to say, it made it so much easier for me.

When I got in high school I joined a business group, and I found “I can really do this."

That started out my love for sales.

Liberation through sales

In the course of nine months, I got fired twice from two different jobs.

This was really a wake up call – I’m really miserable doing this.

In my body, the thought of going back to the industry made me feel like my whole entire chest was constricting.

I knew it was time to start something different.

The challenge of receiving

If I ask for something, I am greedy.

I think as women, we feel that a little bit more.

Even people who are doing something that is 100% helping other people, they still feel a lot of guilt.

What I notice a lot is issues in receiving.

When it comes to receiving, not just money, but compliments, love, acceptance – not just from other people but from ourselves – that is just a whole different story.

I think it starts with self-acceptance.

For a lot of people it takes a lot of time.

To be at our best, we really have to take care of ourselves.

Battle to fight or time to go?

As an introvert and as a woman, what inner barriers did you have to wrestle with on your journey?

Balancing everything.

I went through the process of having both of my kids working in a corporate environment.

It wasn’t just me, it was the messages I got from everyone around me.

“You’re not going to be able to do all of these things because now you have kids."

“You’re going to have to leave early, so I am not going to pick you for these assignments."

The message that you get is not as worthy.

You’re not considered as important anymore.

That was very frustrating.

To have a company where so few women have a voice changes the dynamic.

I was pumping breast-milk in a tiny storage closet, where there was dust everywhere, where there was computer equipment.

I don’t think that would have happened if the CEO was a woman.

I had a very big struggle because I knew I wanted to leave but I didn’t want to give up.

I changed my mind.

I said “I’m not going to take this anymore, this is not acceptable.”

I am going to create a company where this is not the case.

Timing is everything

A year before I had gotten fired.

I started doing a lot of work on myself.

I started working with a coach.

I started reading a ton of books.

I started thinking about what am I really passionate about.

It was two women who were senior to me gave me these overwhelming compliments out of the blue.

It was perfect timing that they had both said it within a few weeks of each other.

I thought “I actually do love selling, and I actually am really good at it."

I was so energized.

The evolution of empowering women

What is your big vision?

An early business mentor told me “you need to get in touch with your big vision, because once you are in touch with that everything else will fall into place."

My vision has always been that I want to create this amazing, empowering conference for young women.

I think college-high school age.

I remember that being a very pivotal time for me.

I did have a decent amount of confidence.

Then all of the self-talk and all of the things that happened in the corporate world and society really confused me.

If I stayed confident and never heard all that noise, I would have been in a different place.

I would love to create a conference to empower introverted young women because that’s who I was.

And help them feel like themselves and accept themselves.

It’s really tough if you can’t tune into yourself.

The take-away top tips

What’s a good way to get started with Soulful Selling, if you were to give three top tips?

The first one is to make a gratitude list.

The impact of sales increased when people created a gratitude list.

It puts you in an openhearted state of mind. It grounds you.

Another one – to know your ‘Why?’.

Why do you do the job that you do? What is your story?

And the other one – selling is serving.

You’re serving people by sharing.

Our favorite tips from Christina

Pay attention to your body to find your path.

To serve best, first take care of yourself.

Test your business idea by talking to people.

Tune into yourself.

Make a gratitude list.

Know your ‘Why?’

Selling is serving.

Resources and Links:

Visit her website: www.soulfulselling.com

Follow her on Facebook @soulfulselling

Quotes

“If you are selling what your real passion is, really selling is serving.”

“Sales is 80% confidence and 20% process. And anyone can learn that 20% process.”

“No one ever is 100% confident or 0% confident. We can all improve.”

Did you enjoy the show? Let us know your biggest takeaways in the comments.

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www.yourtrueselfie.com

www.inchargequiz.com

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I look forward to connecting with you soon!

Until then,

Stay in your heart.

xx

Valerie

In this episode, we talk about: shyness, shy, corporate mom, work life balance, gender equality, gender issues, workplace, confidence, introvert, introversion, sales, soulful sales