What does motherhood have in common with sales? Everything! We are all selling something at every point in the day, whether it is to ourselves, our children, our partners, or clients. When you are a mom in sales, you get to leverage multitasking abilities and transferable skills to achieve your targeted goals. It requires time management, proactive planning, scripting, and emotional intelligence.
The first thing to know is that compounding strategies to maximize time and effort is key. The goal is to get time on your side–time to meet with clients and time to spend with your family without feeling guilty on either side. This includes a heavy dose of planning, and clarity with a mindset I coined, how to lead your family like a business and lead your business like a family. This is what has worked for me as a mom, but I encourage everyone to find what works efficiently and effectively for them. There is no one size fits all approach. I have implemented four core strategies that help me as a business owner and mom to help me get the most out of my sales efforts and avoid feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
Get practical first.
Batch cook, batch shop, or use automated shopping tools to save time
When your time is limited, using a batch approach will allow you to keep things on track, maintain your household and manage your career. For example, take an inventory of everything you purchase for groceries and household items. Identify repeating patterns and use wholesalers like Costco, Sam’s, Amazon, or any other preferred vendor to place your recurring order of dry goods and necessities, which can include cereals, soaps, laundry detergent, and other non-perishables. Simply doing this on auto-pilot allows you to save time driving to the store, selecting items, and going through the checkout line. It also helps you cut down on unnecessary spending and gives you greater visibility into tracking when you have your items scheduled for order.
In the same way, I batch orders and meals at home, I batch and block times for prospecting, meeting with clients, and following up on deals. Automation is my friend.
Set time for family meals and meetings to keep the lines of communication open
Set specific times for family meals and meetings. In my household, there are four generations. We are all busy with work and extracurricular activities. When the kids were younger, it was easier for us to have scheduled dinners and meals frequently, but as life picked up the pace, it became more difficult. With my eldest child now out of the house, I set a specific time agreeable to everyone where the family comes together to eat a meal. This can be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You get to choose. It can even be dessert. The goal of this is to establish a routine for connection and communication. Families that bond over meals are more likely to be connected when they get older.
As a mom in sales, integrating this step is crucial in avoiding guilt or the feelings of pressure about not meeting societal expectations of motherhood and career. This taps into emotional intelligence and being aware of what is required to build and sustain relationships. Determine if you can accommodate this daily, three times per week, or once per week. When you have scheduled time to connect at home, it boosts self-esteem and confidence when you are at work.
Similarly, set time aside to check in with your clients and prospects regularly. Don’t wait for a renewal or a contract or for something to go wrong in order to connect. This practice helps me to stay top of mind and let my clients know I care beyond the sale. The results of doing this are exponential.
Use a family calendar to avoid confusion and to keep your home team informed
Using a family calendar avoids running into conflicting appointments for your child, partner, or other members of the family. Place all home events on the calendar, including the family meal. Get in the practice of adding this. I love using Google’s Gmail suite and calendar. It’s easy to sync and show at a glance if there will be a conflict. Download the app on your phone to keep decision-making fatigue at bay by quickly glancing at your calendar.
If it were not for my customer relationship management system, and calendar in my business, I would honestly be lost. It is amazing how the same skills we use, technical and soft skills in the business help us to be successful at home and work.
Maximize your digital relevance and presence to increase rapport building.
Have quality images online
As a mom in sales, my job is to manage my digital relevance and presence to remove barriers and open doors. One of the first things people will do when connecting with you or searching in directories or social media platforms is review your professional picture. Sadly, many women in sales leave this part out. It is a missed opportunity to build rapport and connection with your prospects and clients. When you do upload a picture, make sure it represents you well. This means it is clear, your face and eyes can be seen, and you use good lighting. A good quality image vs. a poor quality image can be the difference in someone accepting your outreach message or not. I cannot tell you how many times I have been contacted simply because of my picture and smile. Smile in your picture! It shows you are open to connecting.
Complete online profiles completely as a way to stand out and be ready to engage
In the 21st century, having a relevant digital presence is not nice to have; it is a must-have. But so many moms in sales are ignoring it. This strategy will work for you as it gives you a great opportunity to stand out and differentiate yourself. While others are thinking it is no big deal and carries no weight on their results, we know that the psychology of the virtual audience is influenced by image, voice, and social proof. When you get this done right, you can easily turn likes into loves in your business and life.
If you are a member of any professional organization, or listed in a directory, or attend a digital conference, take a few minutes to complete your online profile fully–the more complete and personalized, the better. When I join a digital community, I start to filter people out who do not have full profiles. If someone took the time to complete their profile, they are more likely to be interested in networking and engaging with my outreach message. It makes me more efficient in my process and increases the success of my results. I once had two very large organizations request for me to speak at their organizations. When I asked how they found me, they mentioned an online directory I registered for two years before. Not only did I take the time to register in the directory, but I also used a brightly colored picture, and instead of using my first and last name only, I used the name field to speak directly to my target audience. It made me stand out.
Produce relevant content with an infusion of your personality
You may have heard content is king, but I am sorry to say content is queen! You do not have to create content every day, but going from a lurker to an active participant can easily help you win business. I have had direct pieces of content be the result of inbound leads and clients. Avoid simply sharing common quotes and articles that everyone shares. Add what you think about the quote or article and share that.
Identify your unique story and determine which parts connect with your audience.
Strengthen self-awareness
Becoming a student of yourself maximizes self-awareness and ultimately makes you more effective at home and work. This means gaining an understanding of times where you are most productive, how you make decisions, what frustrates you, what motivates you, what your strengths and weaknesses are, your sleep cycles, active listening abilities, coping mechanisms, and more. Strengthening my self-awareness is a competitive business advantage. It allows me to be more empathetic and compassionate with others and to listen intently to their needs.
Become a more effective storyteller
Once you strengthen your self-awareness, you now have many relatable stories, examples, and connection points for clients and prospects. Mastering the art of storytelling combined with self-awareness allows me to attract prospects and clients who see relatability in my experiences and stories. This can work for you too. Listen to the episode on Intentional Presence to learn more.
Prepare for media and increased visibility.
Even if you have no desire to be interviewed by the media, embarking on a journey to prepare yourself has advantages. Because I am a communications expert, I am constantly sharpening my skills in this area and teaching others how to do the same. When you embrace this approach, you develop the ability to think quickly on your feet, field off intrusive and difficult questions, and use the external and internal presentation to connect with multiple audiences simultaneously.
Embrace sales as something you are, not what you do.
Create your sales identity and determine your lane
When I encounter sales methods and training, most of it is the same. As a business owner and communications expert, I have learned that one size fits all does not always work. There is more than one path to sales success. Set your sales identity and sales vision. Determine what type of salesperson you are and what your area of expertise or specialty is.
Identify which communication method of delivery you are great at and leverage it (video, writing, interviewing, etc.)
When you engage in content creation or have meetings, use the delivery method that maximizes your strengths. You must keep in mind your audience or client’s needs; however, avoid using a quicksand method that does not present you in the best light. Let me explain. I have determined that professional speaking and video is strength for me. It’s what I can do in my sleep or at a moment’s notice. If I have to give a presentation, I will use every opportunity to use the best methods for me. This may not be the same for you, so identify if you prefer audio interviews, written interviews, short posts, video blogs, etc., and choose the method of delivery you feel most comfortable.
Build a continuous development plan
As a mom in sales, continuous growth and development in every area of life is a must. Classes that allow me to feel like I am growing in my home life and professional life help create a feeling of fulfillment and joy. Life is not all about work, even if you are like me and love what you do. Plan ahead of time which events, conferences, training workshops, or books you will consume as a part of your growth plan. This is not just to be a better working professional but also to be a better mom, friend, sister, or partner. One of the personal development workshops I took was Understanding the Teen Brain. This workshop allowed me to be more aware of my teen’s development and my approach as a mother.
Plug into a professional and personal development community
Building a business is not easy, no matter how much success you experience. Connecting with professional and personal communities is essential to integrated growth as a human being. The communities can be related to any aspect of your identity; faith, fitness, career, hobbies, wealth, etc. You get to choose.
Review these core strategies and determine which one/s you feel comfortable implementing. It is better to have a plan and not be able to execute all of it for whatever reason, mental, physical, or emotional overload, than not have a plan at all. Perfection is never the goal. Good and great enough each day is.
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Monique Russell teaches women leaders and teams how to turn likes into loves in their business and life with effective communication skills and strategies. She is a professional speaker and an inspirational teacher helping professionals embrace conflict, improve productivity, and boost the quality of professional and personal relationships. She is the managing partner of Clear Communication Solutions, the author of Intentional Motherhood: Who Said it Would be Easy, the Ultimate Speakers Guide, and the host of the Bridge to U: Understanding and Black Unity podcast.