Ready Set Coach Podcast

High Ticket Sales - How to Sell without Feeling Sleazy

• Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith • Season 2 • Episode 95

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This week’s episode focuses on high ticket sales and how to sell without feeling sleazy. Em and Lex discuss the psychological motivations behind purchases, emphasizing the importance of understanding clients' basic needs. They share insights on improving sales strategies for small business owners and coaches, including personalizing the approach and extending invitations rather than making assumptions or convincing. 


Here’s what you’ll learn: 

  • Tips on how to sell your coaching offering if it’s not selling as hoped
  • What role the logical and emotional sales mindsets have in selling your offering
  • Tips on auditing yourself on how you buy and sell
  • Tips on identifying your trigger moments when selling or buying and why you invested in something for your business 
  • Understanding how trigger moments play into the marketing and sales process
  • The importance of call qualifiers
  • And more! 


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I'm M. And I'm Lex.



Happy Monday to you.


Lexie Smith  

You are sent in by a black, two


Emily Merrell  

right here.


Lexie Smith  

Very Monday, Monday,



happy Monday, happy


Emily Merrell  

Monday. I came on to the podcast y'all I was I have a friend staying with me. And so she's in my guest room slash my office. And so I went into my son's room, and I was sitting in the tent. And I walked out when Lex got on camera. And I said today is going to be an intense call



that she was in in a tent. Yeah, it was. It was great. It landed.


Lexie Smith  

Me. Also I have to apologize for the last two episodes of this podcast me and my audio sounding terrible. My mic was in front of me but not plugged in to the show.


Emily Merrell  

Did you really not have the time


Lexie Smith  

assuming I just checked right now and for the intro of this little this episode, it was not set to on either. So I just changed it. So I think that is what has been going on. And hopefully my audio is phenomenal. Now.



How closer. Talk closer baby talk closer to me. Yeah. Yeah. Baby holding closer.


Emily Merrell  

Okay, it sounds good. It sounds good. Well, we'll see. We'll see when our editor just reams us out with like us not being able to turn on our podcast.


Lexie Smith  

I Kaylee Thank you. It's me. Okay, guys, we're doing something a little bit different today. And we're excited because context, we ran a workshop for our community. Last week, maybe what it's time, and we thought we'd bring that workshop to you. It gives you also an idea of the type of content that we're offering in the community literally for free. So like, what do you do it? If you're not inside, you know?


Emily Merrell  

So we're going to talk to you guys about High Ticket Sales and how to sell without feeling sleazy. Because selling very much is equation equated to like a used car salesperson that word sales. So at least that's for me, Lex, how do you feel about sales? Oh,


Lexie Smith  

I've had a an evolution of, you know, and I'd say at this point in time, I feel pretty dang neutral. Meaning I really just think of it as like an exchange of information of whether or not it's the right fit for both parties. Like I've gotten to that. But I did not always feel that way. I certainly did not always feel that way. I used to have a script that I would like hold shakingly And I didn't do zoom calls, because I didn't want them to see me holding my script. So I did a phone call. And then if they went off script I like in really panicked, right. And I will also note, this is this happened when I sold my own services, not at corporate when I had someone else to hide behind. But when me myself and I as a coach had to sell me myself and I as a coach. Well, that was a whole new ballgame.


Emily Merrell  

We'll also add that selling, being sold to is such a physical feeling like I whenever I'm on a call, and I see that it's turning into a sales call. I feel like my body does two things. It's either like, Oh, yes, I want this and I start salivating or like, I start shutting down, my stomach starts hurting. And I'm like, okay, just smile and grand smile and grin until they get through it. And then I can reject them, and let them know that now is not the right time. And this isn't feeling it, especially if I get onto a sales call. unknowingly. Like I think it's just a connection call and then I accidentally get sold to. It's like, oh, it hurts me so much.


Lexie Smith  

Physically. 100% Oh,


Emily Merrell  

yeah. So let's, let's talk about why do people buy? Because I feel like, you know, there's Black Friday, there's Christmas, there's your birthday, and those are all great reasons to buy. But generally speaking, like why do people actually buy? Why would they buy from you? Okay, there


Lexie Smith  

are, I mean, probably 1000s of Google pages, research book studies, programs, you name it right? And if you have not done a deep dive on sales psychology, it is fascinating, highly recommend, but we're going to Give you a little bit of Cliff Notes and how it relates to your coaching business. So people buy to fulfill one of the basic human needs health, wealth, relationships and self spirituality or happiness. Okay, so and take us one, one layer deeper here, what do we mean?


Emily Merrell  

What do we mean lacks? Well, I definitely think about security like to prevent loss or to ensure success in any of these character categories. Or if through selling, we can pinpoint why our programs provide an upside to one of these four human needs and areas of our lives, or prevent a loss or ensure accelerated success, we will have an advantage over others. So basically, what we're saying is thinking about the psychological motivation behind your, your program will be so helpful in crafting the way that you sell, like, is this going to? I like to say like, is this a vitamin or a painkiller? Is this going to? Is this going to enhance their life? Is this going to prevent them from something bad happening in their life? Health Health Coaching is a great example of this, where if you know someone takes care of their health, now, they don't have to hopefully then end up in the hospital and spend lots of lots of money on medication if they get to the root of the cause before that big end result. So yeah, I think the psychology is, is an important thing to consider.


Lexie Smith  

So again, if you haven't done this for your own offering, and business here already is something tactically that you should do figure out what basic need is your offering fulfilling. Okay, so let's go another layer deeper here. People often justify purchases with logic or the masculine, but they buy based on emotion, the feminine, and it is our job to appeal to both in some, some capacity when selling. So for example, logical and masculine people might invest or a person might invest in a virtual assistant to save time, and scale their business, that becomes a very logical purchase for them. When we look at it from the emotional or feminine lens, people invest in a virtual assistant, so they can have time to dedicate to selling and they have the ability to pick up their kids from school, and to be able to attend their basketball games, and they'd feel more supportive, and they've really liked the person when they meet them on the call. So there's a lot more onions to the layer here, right? So if you haven't already, if you have an offering, and it's not selling as hoped, how can what I just said become tangible, what's something you can do, um,


Emily Merrell  

I think there's something, understand what type of buyer you are. Like, I think it's really important to understand what type of buyer you are, because it's also going to be easier to sell authentically from a lens that you emulate from naturally. And this is a conversation Lex and I have all the time because Fun fact, I'm more feminine in my buying, and my selling and Lexis more masculine. And so as partners, we have to always come to a compromise of a little sprinkle of masculine and a little sprinkle of feminine to meet in the middle. So understanding what you are. So you're super feminine, you're trying to sell like a super masculine sales tactic. It's gonna feel so dis ingenuous to who you are as a person. So definitely, definitely take an audit of yourself. And also think back of like your past experiences where you've said yes to something where people have said yes to you, like where? Where was it physically in your body? And how you were articulating things? And what did it look like?


Lexie Smith  

You can also see this evidenced in your messaging, right? Check out your sales page copy, like, what are you highlighting? Are you highlighting stats, data results? Logistics? Are you highlighting how people feel? Usually, at least for the sales copy? You should have a limit of both, but know what feels strongest to you and lead with that?


Emily Merrell  

Yeah, kind of like a hybrid of everything. But I've definitely I don't know about you've Lex, but I've seen, I've seen some sales pages that are very in the feminine, and you're like, wow, I have no idea what I'm getting out of this program, but it feels really good reading it, or like, then you read something that's very masculine. You're like, Okay, I know exactly what I'm getting. But I don't know if I'm going to be held at all in this program. Or it's


Lexie Smith  

almost overwhelming because there's too much information in front of you, that can be both overwhelming in different ways. So, you know, there's an art to strike the balance. But I think a key takeaway for you here, understand who you are, because when we talk about how to sell authentically, you need to show up as you so if you're someone who's more masculine, you're probably going to lead with selling a little bit more masculine. Probably you're going to attract at least that's true for me, Emily, I don't know if you would You know, diagnosed, not diagnosed, like can categorize most of your clients as similar, but mine are largely masculine to be fair,


Emily Merrell  

and minor. Yeah, you're right, that it's more like a feeling that I provide them, like a feeling of safety or a feeling of being taken care of, which can also bring you to that trigger moment. It's like, How many times have you been on a call before, and you might not have been looking for something, but that moment felt right. And you realize you're like, I do need this, this is this is going to be helpful to me, versus the trigger moment where you are actively in a season of looking for a Facebook ads coach. So like every single call, you're honest, specifically with a very type specific type of person. But I think I'm


Lexie Smith  

having a trigger moment right now, because I feel like I'm on a boat watching your screen right now. Oh, my trigger moment is to buy you a flat surface right now.


Emily Merrell  

That I have on Hold on, let me put it on a thing of diapers instead that will find


Lexie Smith  

your diapers. And let me kind of scale back for a second. So something we like to teach it ReadySet coach is identifying the trigger moment. And the trigger moment is really the moment that triggers someone to start looking for a solution or the moment they buy. So we always practice we offer our clients is think of the last big purchase or investment that you made in your business. What started you down that path. Health Coaching, again, is a really good example here. You know, let's say you have a vacation coming up, and you look at the calendar, and you're like, holy crap, this, I'm totally this is something that happened to me, you're like, I have 60 days to get this post baby body, like bikini ready to my standards. That was my trigger moment, or that is an example of a trigger moment that started meet looking for a solution.


Emily Merrell  

And now that we're off the boat, and I love that love that example x because I really remember that trigger moment. So, so plain as day playing it's night. I don't know my brain, especially you guys today. But I remember I remember when that happened. And when that was important, or then similar. Like, I feel like I'll use your example too with clickup. You know, there was a point where the systems that you were using, they were working, but they weren't like super cohesive. What was your trigger moment that you're like, I want to seek out someone to help me get my systems and processes in place.


Lexie Smith  

I believe I signed another client and was getting busier. And the project management between RC the pure burn growth mode was overwhelming me. So I had more capital because I just signed a client. Now I was ready to kind of uplevel my systems. So that that was a trigger moment. And basically guys, it's important, we understand all the potential trigger moments for our clients. Okay, because this is the key to marketing, but it's also the key to sales. It helps us understand what part of the buying cycle they are in. Right. Are they ready now? What would happen if they don't find a solution?


Emily Merrell  

Yeah. I think like, also, are they going through a life event? Are they trying to solve a problem immediately? Is this a need to have an immediately? Or is this something that I want to have for the next year. So maybe it's it's a warm lead, but it's not a right now lead? And and I think another thing to think about too is when if for whatever reason, they don't work with you, letting them know that in this trigger moment, like it's not going to be solved sooner. If you're not acting now, then this is still going to be a problem in six months, just


Lexie Smith  

in the trigger moment. kind of segues us into we're gonna get a little marketing speak on you, but we're gonna keep it high level. The trigger moment equates itself typically to what we call a mo foo or a Bofill, which is just an acronym for middle of funnel or bottom of funnel. So when we look at a sales funnel, high level, there are three components top of funnel, top of funnel is how someone heard about you how they came into your hemisphere, you know, did they hear you want a podcast? Did they come across? You want a Google search? Okay, this is how they you get on their radar. Okay, Mofu middle of funnel is when they enter your world somehow. So they join your email list or they follow you on social okay. Or maybe you've even had a networking call, right? The conversation has started, you're starting to build know like and trust. Then we have Bofu bottom of funnel and this is the moment where someone either is going to buy from you or they're not. Or they're just not right now. And if they're not right now. Right then they go back up to your middle funnel.


Emily Merrell  

I love I love it. You laugh every time you say Mofu and Bofu here I think is so funny. It's so funny. So guys thinking about your funnel what's what's your funnel that look looks good and tastes good and hits the spot. And so we're not going to go into the top of the funnel today because that's a marketing conversation. But it's worth remembering that that's where successful sales start. It starts by attracting the right people. It continues by developing know, like and trust and then getting them into your bottom funnel. That's what we're talking about today, which is the sales.


Lexie Smith  

Hey, everyone Lexie here, and M. And if you haven't heard, we did something pretty darn cool.


Emily Merrell  

We sure did. We launched a completely free community built specifically for coaches. They


Lexie Smith  

eat again, but the people the back,


Emily Merrell  

we launched a free community for coaches. Tell them quickly who it's for and what we're doing inside Lex, your


Lexie Smith  

thing. So if for anyone from the coaching, curious to side hustlers, to coaches ready to scale, and through the virtual platform that we've built, we've created a safe and fun space to learn, launch, grow, connect, ideate collaborate and evolve together.


Emily Merrell  

Nailed it, Lex. Now while it's free, you must apply in order to gain a free membership, you know, so we can make sure everyone inside is awesome. Like us.


Lexie Smith  

Apply today at ruddy sick Coach community.com. And if you were attending our live workshop, you would see that this slide had a really yummy picture of a funnel cake because we're funny funnel cake funnel marketing, get it? Onward. Onward.


Emily Merrell  

Onward and upward. Okay, Lex, I'm curious. Have you ever purchased a $4,000 plus coaching package through an automated sales process? What I mean by that is like no sales call just add to cart?


Lexie Smith  

I have not. But when you ask this of the group last week, we had a couple people say yes. However, when we pushed them to go a step further, we learned they already knew this person, or they'd been following them for a while or they attended a masterclass. So they had already been hanging out in middle funnel in order for that automation to work. But generally speaking, and most people in the room indicated no,


Emily Merrell  

yeah. And then the other question I have for you is, have you ever hired a coach or program through an appointment setter? Or like, by someone who is not necessarily the main coach? I


Lexie Smith  

have not. But I know, again, it can work, a lot of things can work, you guys, a lot of things do work. The key here is figuring out what works for you. For me and I and most of our clients, We're fans of thoughtful high touch. But what I mean by that is actually interfacing with people we're about to work with, in some capacity, the caveat being putting protectors in place. And what do I mean by protectors? What


Emily Merrell  

I mean is that you could do you know, there are the appointment setters, as you just mentioned, there could be applications or some other protectors that you could put into place, that place where you could put pre call qualifiers say that 10 times fast. So that's considered qualifying, who you get on a call with. So some examples of qualifiers we've used are like adding how much your program starts at pricing wise. So before they get on a call with you, they know that like they are going to qualify for a 14 year program or not, you could also put something like they need to be making a certain amount of revenue to be qualified to be in your program. They have to be in business a certain number of years, they have to have had X number of clients. So things like that. So you're getting a certain type of client on the call before you're just accepting everyone in their mom. Yeah.


Lexie Smith  

And a lot of people have opinions on qualifiers, there are pros and cons, but we are of the opinion and experience and what we have seen and what data also supports that. If you you do put these qualifiers in place, you might have a less leads come through but the ones that you will be much more qualified and thus your sales conversation will be much more set up for success. Okay, I would also


Emily Merrell  

wait I want to add to that to Lex, I think in terms of like servicing, which is a whole different conversation. But generally, when those people do become your clients, you're able to then get them to the transformation faster and easier than someone who doesn't have those qualifications. Who


Lexie Smith  

che baybay Okay, so they booked your sales call. Now let's talk about briefly how you rocket. So step one is to own your approach. We've been talking about this a little bit in this episode so far, right? There are many different styles of selling out there, and a lot of different styles work, but ultimately, you need to pick one or land on one that feels good and authentic. natural to you. Yeah,


Emily Merrell  

I mean, Lex and I have had the pleasure of experiencing many different styles of selling over our careers, inclusive of being sold to. So there are coaches that we've seen that address every objection you have, and get that payment on the phone, which, that's a whole story for another day on that one. And then we have others that have more of a laid back approach like no worries, man, or like you don't even feel wanted. There are also people that have those appointment setters or like a sales lead that sells to you on their behalf. And I just wanted to say that there's not a one size fits all strategy that works for everyone. What might work for us might not feel authentic to you. And our goal for you is to find the way to sell that feels the most authentic to you. Selling should be fun and exciting. Versus a scary job in our interview type feeling. Exactly.


Lexie Smith  

We're neutral even, which is kind of the point. Okay, so once you have identified where you feel most comfy, we go into step two, and I arguably think this is the most it's the top three most critical critical parts to sales. And that is shifting your mindset. Right? Emily is a great example here. So I'm just gonna straight on flip this over to you. Okay,


Emily Merrell  

so guys, if you're a Taylor Swift Fan, I just want you to keep this in mind. But we like to think of the entire selling process as you inviting your clients to join you versus convincing. So there is no convincing that needs to be done. You're not having them join a cult, you're extending an Invitation to someone that has a limited timeframe to join. So I like to think of it as inviting your client, your I mean, your friend or client to a concert, you're letting them know that the concert is happening, but it's their decision to buy the tickets and join you. So take swift fans here. If you're listening to this, and you're like, oh my god, Taylor Swift was coming into town. And Lexie had two tickets, but she made an assumption that you couldn't afford it. So she didn't tell you about the concert, you'd be pretty bummed and pretty disappointed. So I think Never assume what someone's situation is, and always extend the invite. I'm going to reiterate, it is their choice, if they can attend or participate or not. Yeah,


Lexie Smith  

because assuming makes an ass out of you and me, bunch. Now, quick little hack here. If the word sales is just something you can't get past, we like to suggest to our clients to try word swapping. Okay, so Emily already touched on one, instead of selling, think of it as inviting someone to join you. Another one informing someone of an opportunity, they might benefit from another one sharing a solution to someone's problem. So they know it exists, should they feel should they feel they want to engage. And then the last one, actually two more discussing whether or not it's the right, next step, or or exploring, okay, so we have inviting informing, sharing, explore, discussing and exploring are five other words, you can interchangeably swap out for sales, if that helps you kind of on the mindset front.


Emily Merrell  

I think another important step to consider when selling is to knowledge up. So what that means is knowing your offer from the inside out, do not find yourself fumbling to remember, X number of hours, or y is included in your package, or how many have y's included in your package. And you also want to really understand and be able to articulate what your ultimate transformation is. So arm yourself with testimonials if you have them available. If not be prepared to speak to your authority on this topic, and have a key set of discovery questions ready to go? Know what information you need to find out in order to truly vet the candidate and take notes along the way. You want to be able to reflect things back to them. And then research who you're talking to ahead of time if possible. So we suggest like looking at their website, we're looking at their LinkedIn, potentially Instagram, and having basic questions outlined in a call form. So you can, at the bare minimum have access to all of these accounts, and then practicing handling objections. So two of the most popular objections that we've encountered include price or the cost of the program and time. And so you want to think through how you will address these objections ahead of time. So you weren't put on the spot while on the call. 100%


Lexie Smith  

I like to think about about it this way too. So you're put on a stage and someone asks you to let me use a different example than a health coach because I feel like we always use that money coach your money coach, you're honest Ah, and someone asks you to present on Kim Kardashians latest cosmetic line, you might just stand there and go, I don't I don't know. But if they ask you something on, you know, how do I invest $100, if it's something you're caught, you know, it's something you have knowledge and you are 5000 times more confident. So don't let any area of your business or your offering be kind of known to you, or you're going to fund that was a terrible example, everyone, but hopefully you get what I'm doing here. Okay, so moving on step four is to know your authority, we suggest keeping a list close by of all the things that make you credible, and give you authority to coach clients. So this can come from a coaching certificate, it could come from years experience in the field, it can come from different stages you've stood on it could come from, you know, degrees. quick hack, once you have that list, it can be physical, you know, it can be informed with pictures on your wall, whatever works for you read that list or visit that list, prior to any sales call, basically, hype yourself up.


Emily Merrell  

I love it. And I think that is such a good one just to remind yourself of, especially if you've had if you've come off like a crappy sales call before you crap come off, come off of a client that didn't go the way that you wanted, just revisiting successful clients and successful transformations and where they're at now. And then step five. And this is a huge one that I think Elsa knows best, but release expectations and let it go. And this one can be easier said than done. But if you can release the expectations or the need, and that scarcity of like I need to close this client, or else, then your entire energy is going to shift. So rather than showing up from a place of panic or coming across as desperate, you will automatically appear calmer and more confident to the buyer, and one of our favorite mantras that we like to tell ourselves when selling and it might sound cocky. But if if they don't buy, it is their loss, because really it is if someone doesn't sign up with you, it is their loss, they are the ones missing out on the epic transformation, not you. So to bring it back to dating because they love a good dating metaphor. The feeling should be mutual, you don't want to convince them to date you. And you're both getting the opportunity to get to know each other, you won't be the person for everyone. And your offering won't be the solution for everyone. So let it go. If it doesn't go the way that you want. Damn


Lexie Smith  

straight. I'm going to wrap us up guys, this was a very long presentation that we gave and we went into like the nitty gritty of the sales call, we went into follow up we went into concrete objections, but we don't got time for that. However, what we do have time for is to harp on and review. Probably the biggest pieces piece of advice that is transferable across any type of selling. And that's the number one sales skill to develop. And that's listening. sales calls are not an opportunity for you to fill up space, it should be an opportunity for you to thought to ask thoughtful strategic questions. And listen because you guys if you listen, if you truly listen, they're going to they being the prospect going to deliver on a silver platter, what you need to close them.


Emily Merrell  

And lacks I think that is such an important thing that so many people are already thinking in their brain the next thing they want to say back, but listening and reflecting is such a powerful tool tool. And then I want to share one more powerful tool two, which is the follow up and this is a again, watch our presentation, you can see more of it. But I want to I want to share these stats with you guys. 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect. And I'm gonna jump to the bottom 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact 80% of sales are made on the fifth to 12 contact to also reminding you the aspect of it's not usually just one sales call that ends it. Oftentimes there is a continuing relationship, there is a continuing follow up. Like I would love to say that every sales call is going to be a win and it's going to be a closed but realistically to give yourself grace and know that there is a lot of power and following up.


Lexie Smith  

Yes. So we talked a lot at you. But this is a podcast. So that's what we do. Your homework was sprinkled throughout I think you know, take a listen back pause. Pause on a concept you haven't heard before or you need a reminder of for example, have you taken the time to think about are you a masculine or feminine buyer? Have you audited your sales copy? Have you Who what else?



But also


Emily Merrell  

understanding your trigger moment like what is what is the trigger moment that a client might and might have when buying your product? Like, are they not making sales? Are they not closing? Are they not closing clients? Are they not dropping pal? Dropping? LB is like what are the things that could make them say hello frickin yes to what you're offering. And


Lexie Smith  

then also if you haven't thought about where your by your buyer, where your offering sits in a basic human needs perspective, those are health, wealth, relationships and self spirituality and happiness. So basically, we just gave you 16 hours worth of homework. Have fun with that. No, I'm just kidding. But hopefully you guys, you guys found something today.


Emily Merrell  

I will see you the next time on The really sad Ready Set coach podcast. If you're enjoying the ReadySet coach podcast, please leave a review wherever you are listening. For more information about ReadySet coach, visit ReadySet coach program.com