Not one, but two guest posts this week! I’m spoiling you lol. If you missed the guest post on Tuesday you can find it here – you’ll learn 3 copywriting tips to avoid at your peril!
Today I have the lovely Lyn Pornaro as a guest and she’s going to share how selling authentically can be easy – when you know how! Over to Lyn who’s going to tell us the 3 biggest mistakes people make when selling and more!
Growing a business is hard work and takes up lots of time. Three A’s Business Coaching is all about helping you take action so you can achieve your goals. I’m Lyn Pornaro, the Sales Signora, who works with women business owners helping them to find their voice and get seen so that selling, authentically, can become a breeze. As a mum of 5 and gran to 1, I understand the difficulty of the demands of a busy lifestyle and commitments.
Describe yourself in 3 short, fab and fun sentences
A fully Scottish lass (with an Italian flair) who shares the love…..of growing businesses! Actually I am a mum of 5 and a gran of 1 who balances running a business, looking after the kids and who laughs a LOT! I bring fun and ease into the world of selling!!
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
My dad owned his own business when I was a little girl so I got the business bug early on in life. However, I was brought up with the belief that you should get a job after school and stay there. I didn’t as I am fiercely independent and love to prove everyone else wrong! I do, however, love to develop myself and others so what other way than running your own business!
Who has been your biggest inspiration in business?
My partner – who set up food recycling in Scotland – when everyone else was laughing about it saying that will never work!
What’s the best business advice you’ve ever been given?
That’s easy. BE YOURSELF. So many times we try to take on the characteristics and methods of those we perceive to be successful and then wonder why it doesn’t turn out like that for us. We need to find our own way and bring in our personality and values – that way success is definitely within our reach.
What three tips would you give when working on selling?
- Know your target market – if you don’t know who you want to attract/work with, then how can you sell?
- Build relationships – don’t go all out sell sell sell. People want to get to know the real you, trust you and then they will buy from you.
- Have a process – think about what responses you will give when people ask you questions. What information do you want to get across? How much time do you want to spend with them? Do you want to talk it all through or direct them to a brochure/web page etc. Know this from the start so that when you get to that stage of the conversation, you can flow from one aspect to another.
What are the three biggest mistakes that coaches/people make when selling?
- They talk about what they can do for the client – rather than what benefits the client can receive.
- They set up a website, go on social media and hope that the telephone will ring! You need to be marketing constantly in many avenues and it takes time.
- They stop marketing/selling when they gain some clients. Once the client stops working with them, it is panic stations again as to where the next one is going to come from. We need to be selling all the time regardless if we can work with any more people or not.
What if I have no idea where to start with selling, what do you suggest?
Get some help! Ask a peer or someone in your area how they do it. What about watching a webinar or reading a book. Find yourself a mentor or coach who specialises in sales and take your learnings, practice and make it your own.
How much time do I really need to spend on selling?
More than you think! Selling and marketing flow into each other. By marketing and building up relationships and credibility you make the selling part much easier. If you have no clients then all your time should be spend marketing/selling. If you have enough but are just building your pipeline then I would recommend 25% of your time each week is spent on selling.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Remember that it takes time and any sale is a success! When you make a sale, especially if there has been a bit of rejection beforehand, then work out what was different. Did you spend longer getting to know the client, were they recommended to you (and who by), what words you used when asking for the business, did you meet face to face or online etc. Try the approach again – you may just have found YOUR process!
If I wanted to connect and/or work with you where would I find you? (please give link for website)
My website. You’ll quite often find me on Facebook too!
Thanks Lyn, for those that were on my webinar they’ll know that selling is my least favourite so I’m honoured to have you provide that expertise on my upcoming Coaching Rocks Programme and am really super excited to announce this fab course you’re offering to those that sign up.
FREE Bonus Added To Coaching Rocks Programme
Lyn is kindly giving away a FAB bonus, worth £197, to help you get paying clients – FREE when you sign up to my 12 week Build Your Coaching Biz programme. Sign up quick to grab your spot and get this amazing self-study course free at the end of the programme. Not only will you have got your coaching biz up and running, but she’s going to help you create a sales process that she uses herself with her 121 clients.
Over to you…
What do you find challenging about selling? Leave a comment in the post below
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