“It Feels Salesy.” Maybe That’s the Problem.

You built the offer. You developed the system or expertise. You created something valuable.

You need sales, and suddenly, everything gets uncomfortable.

“It feels salesy.”

I know that sentence because I used to say it too.

Over the years, I have heard versions of it from entrepreneurs, coaches, authors, consultants and experts who genuinely believe in what they offer but become uncomfortable when it is time to ask someone to buy.

For a long time, I was one of them.

Eventually, I had to confront an uncomfortable reality: if business income wasn’t where I hoped it would be, I could not keep treating sales as the part of business I was allowed to avoid.

So I decided to learn.

Years ago, I completed Grant Cardone’s sales training. I didn’t adopt everything. The relentless, push-until-they-buy approach was never going to become my style. But I walked away with something valuable: greater confidence in my ability to sell and the realization that I needed to figure out what sales looked like for my organization.

Because having something valuable and selling something valuable are two different activities.

Even the Widow Had to Sell the Oil

There is a fascinating business lesson tucked inside a familiar biblical miracle.

In 2 Kings 4, a widow is facing a devastating financial crisis. Her husband has died, creditors are coming, and her sons are at risk.

Elisha asks her what she has. Her response indicated she did not see a solution to her money problem. She says she has a little oil.

Following Elisha’s instructions, she gathers containers and begins pouring. Miraculously, the oil continues flowing until every available vessel is filled.

That is usually the part of the story we focus on.

The provision.

The multiplication.

The miracle.

But then comes an instruction entrepreneurs should not overlook.

“Go, sell the oil and pay your debts.”
2 Kings 4:7

The oil was miraculously provided, but it still had to be sold.

The existence of something valuable did not automatically produce the financial outcome she needed. There was another step between having the asset and receiving the economic benefit of the asset.

Commerce.

Selling was not presented as shameful, greedy, or contrary to the provision. It was part of the mechanism through which the provision solved the financial problem.

Read 2 Kings 4:1-7

The Problem Isn’t Selling. It’s Friction.

There is a version of selling that feels uncomfortable because it is uncomfortable.

Pressure.

Artificial urgency.

Relentless follow-up.

Trying to overcome every objection.

Treating someone’s “no” as merely another obstacle standing between you and the sale.

You don’t have to sell that way.

In fact, one of the things I have learned through my work in branding and media is that branding done well greases the sales system.

It reduces friction.

The prospect doesn’t encounter you for the first time when you ask for money.

They have seen you, heard you, read something you wrote, watched you explain something, or encountered your ideas somewhere else. Perhaps someone they already respect introduced you.

By the time the sales conversation occurs, you aren’t starting at zero. You are starting with context, and sometimes, with trust.

Thought Leadership Changes the Sales Conversation

This is not merely a branding philosophy.

The 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that 73% of decision-makers say an organization’s thought leadership is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competencies than its marketing materials and product sheets.

That matters.

Traditional marketing tells the market what you want them to believe about you. Thought leadership gives people an opportunity to observe how you think and hear your perspectives, and begin deciding whether you are someone they trust before a sales conversation ever takes place.

LinkedIn and Edelman describe thought leadership as a way to build trust, differentiate from competitors and reach buyers who may not even be actively shopping yet.

Source: 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report

Stop Blowing Your Own Horn. Let Someone Else Hand You the Microphone.

This is one reason I believe media appearances are so powerful for experts.

Imagine these two situations.

In the first, you walk into a room and announce:

“I am an expert. Here are all the reasons you should believe me.”

Even when every statement is true, there is an unavoidable element of self-promotion.

Now imagine someone else saying:

“Today, I want to introduce you to an expert in this area.”

The expertise may be identical, The perception is not.

You are no longer standing on the proverbial street corner blowing your own horn. Someone else handed you the microphone. That host has created a context in which you are expected to demonstrate what you know.

You get to teach.

Explain.

Challenge assumptions.

Tell stories.

Discuss your methodology.

Share your perspective.

Talk about what you have learned through your work.

And yes, talk about your business.

But you are doing it from the expert seat rather than the salesperson’s seat. That is a very different authority signal.

The Interview Can Become Part of the Sales System

This is where many entrepreneurs misunderstand media. They think the purpose of an interview is immediate lead generation.

“How many people watched?”

“How many people clicked?”

“How many sales did I get?”

Those aren’t irrelevant questions, but they are incomplete ones.

An expert interview can become an authority asset. A prospect discovers you six months later and watches it. Someone considering referring you searches your name and finds it. A potential speaking organization wants to know whether you can communicate effectively and sees you being interviewed. A sales prospect watches you answer questions they were already wondering about.

The interview continues doing work after the conversation ends.

That is especially important in a marketplace where buyers increasingly educate themselves before engaging directly with a seller. Thought leadership allows your expertise to begin influencing the buying process before you even know a prospective buyer is paying attention.

Branding Doesn’t Replace Sales. It Changes the Conditions Under Which Sales Happens.

This is an important distinction. I would never tell an entrepreneur that if their branding is good enough, they will never have to sell.

The widow still had to sell the oil.

You may still have to make an offer, state the price, follow up, ask for the business and nvite someone to take the next step.

But good branding and intentional authority-building can change what happens before that moment.

Instead of:

“Who are you, and why should I trust you?”

the conversation can become:

“I’ve been following your work. Tell me how we can work together.”

Those are dramatically different sales conversations.

The second one didn’t happen without selling.

The selling simply started long before the sales call.

Maybe “Salesy” Isn’t the Opposite of Authentic

Perhaps we have created a false choice.

Either I am authentic and generous...

or I sell.

Either I educate...

or I promote.

Either I serve...

or I make money.

Business doesn’t require that choice.

If you have created something valuable, there is nothing inherently dishonorable about inviting someone to exchange money for that value. There is also nothing inherently noble about having something people need and keeping it invisible because promoting it makes you uncomfortable.

Elisha didn’t tell the widow:

Fill the vessels and hope somebody notices.

He told her to sell the oil.

For those of us building businesses, perhaps the better question isn’t:

“How do I avoid selling?”

It is:

“How do I build enough authority, trust and visibility that selling no longer has to feel like convincing?”

That is where branding and media become part of the sales infrastructure.

And sometimes, the easiest place to begin isn’t another sales pitch.

It’s a conversation.

A host.

A microphone.

And a seat at the table where you were invited to be the expert.

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Ready to Take the Expert Seat?

PSI TV gives speakers, founders, authors, coaches, and experts an opportunity to share what they know through an expert-led television interview designed to become more than a momentary appearance.

Your expertise already exists. The question is whether enough people have had the opportunity to experience it.

Stop trying to tell everyone you’re the expert. Get into rooms, conversations, and media where you can demonstrate it.

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