She Means Profit

Solving Your Sales Problem: The Foundation of Financial Stability

• Melissa Houston • Season 2 • Episode 167

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Do you think you have a money problem in your business?

What if the real issue is sales?

In this episode, I break down the common misconception that financial struggles are due to poor money management when, more often than not, it’s a lack of sales that’s holding you back. If you’re finding it hard to generate revenue, this episode will give you actionable strategies to prioritize sales and turn your business around.

We start by exploring the fundamental role that sales play in business success. I share personal experiences and client stories that highlight how businesses often focus too much on perfecting their products or operations, only to neglect marketing and sales—the lifeblood of any profitable company. It’s a common mistake, especially among women entrepreneurs, who may feel uneasy about selling or fear rejection. But here’s the truth: sales don’t have to feel “sleazy.” When you focus on serving your customers and solving their problems, selling becomes an authentic part of what you do.

From reframing how you think about sales to practical advice on building confidence in the sales process, this episode covers it all. I also introduce the concept of outreach, which is the third step in the She Means Profit framework. Effective outreach, through marketing and sales, allows you to connect with your target audience, generate leads, and ultimately increase revenue.

Tune in for a deep dive into how sales can transform your business and why it should always be your first priority. Whether you’re just starting out or struggling with a cash crunch, these tips will help you create a sustainable and profitable business. Plus, I introduce the Path to Profit with Sales course, designed to provide a more in-depth guide on building sales strategies that work.

Listen to learn:‌

  • Reframe Sales: Shift your mindset from “selling” to “serving” your clients—focus on solving their problems.
  • Sales First, Then Everything Else: Prioritize sales and marketing before perfecting your product or branding to ensure long-term business success.
  • Confidence in Sales: Overcome fear and rejection by practicing and gaining confidence in your pricing and sales approach.


Links:‌ ‌  

Courses:

Work with me:

Follow me on:

IG: @melissahoustoncpa
LinkedIn: @melissahoustoncpa

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Melissa Houston: Welcome to episode 167. So one of the things I was starting to notice in my business is that people were coming to me seeking solutions to what they believed was a money problem. But often, I found that their financial situation was stemming from a deeper, more fundamental issue, and that was a lack of sales.

And this realization is both a relief and a challenge. So it's a relief because a sales problem can be fixed. With the right strategies and actions, you can fix a sales problem. But it's also a challenge because many overlook the importance of marketing and sales in their business. There's often a focus on perfection, so perfecting your offer, fine tuning your operations, seeing what's going on in the back end, making everything just perfect, and all of that is crucial.

This is smart business, but without sales, none of those efforts will sustain a business. today we are diving into why marketing and sales should be your first priority in your business, especially if you want to build a profitable and sustainable business. Before we get started, let's do a little catch up.

So today is Thanksgiving for us Canadians, and I love this weather. It's still nice enough to enjoy the outdoors during the day. Usually it's sunny and warm. I mean, you still have to wear jeans and a t shirt or whatever, but it's just a beautiful day. But Thanksgiving is kind of sad because it reminds me that the leaves are really at their peak right now and they're just going to fall off the trees and snow will be coming soon, likely at the beginning of November.

And am I ever doom and gloom about this? if you know me, you likely know how much I hate winter, because I complain about the cold often. And I find I just become more fragile as each year passes. I mean, like, ugh, I'm not looking forward to winter. I can handle a week. I love the seasons changing, and I can handle about a week of snow.

Maybe a month, that's a bit of a stretch, if it's nice. But when we hit those, cold Minus 30 days, you know, you can't really do much outside. It sucks And I'm thinking about going to a wellness retreat this year on a solo trip Probably in February and I saw a really nice one in Arizona that looks good But if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear from you I just want a place where I can go for a week by myself not feel too uncomfortable because I'm alone And really, do some things to work on myself.

It doesn't necessarily have to be like, super active, anyways. Okay, let's get into it. if you recall, we are introducing each step of the profit method framework at She Means Profit, and I'm really excited about this new framework. And today we're talking about the third step of profit, which is outreach.

So Third step is the O. O in profit means outreach and outreach is achieved through your marketing and sales. So let's dive into it. you likely started your business with a passion or a brilliant idea, but maybe you underestimated the importance of selling that idea to others. You're pouring your energy into perfecting your product or service, and believing that if that's good enough, customers will naturally flock to it.

But unfortunately, that just isn't how it works. A great offer is only half the battle. The other half is ensuring that enough people know about it, understand its value, and are compelled to buy it. So this is where the confusion of a money problem and a sales problem come in.

When your business isn't generating the income that you need, it's easy to assume that you're not managing your money well. But more often than not, the issue is that you're not bringing in enough sales to cover your costs and turn a profit.

Because you can chip away at your expenses all you want, but at the end of the day, it costs money to run a business. So you need to be aware of how much money you need to make each month in order to hit your profit targets. So remember, without sufficient sales, even the best financial management will not save your business.

Sales are really the of any business. Without sales, there's no revenue. And without revenue, there's no cash. And without cash, because cash is queen, without cash, there's no business. It's as simple as that. You need the sales to convert to cash. Every successful entrepreneur understands that selling isn't about pushing your offer.

It's about solving the problem for your customer. So when you shift your mindset from selling to serving, sales become a natural extension of your business activities. But Sales can feel intimidating. Many women shy away from sales process because of the fear of rejection.

They don't want to come across as pushy or they lack confidence in their pricing. Now believe it or not, Actually, I had a hard time believing it because I didn't realize, you know, being such a money person, I didn't realize when I started my business that I would have so many issues around sales, and I did.

It took me about two years to work through my fear of rejection, and the fear of coming off as pushy. And Like I don't judge anybody for being in this position. If you are in this position, I am here to support and help you because I understand I have been through it. It's very natural, especially for us women to have issues around sales.

But the truth is, if you believe in your offer and you know it can benefit others, you have a responsibility to get it in front of as many people as possible. So sales are not convincing someone to buy something that they don't need. Sales is about connecting with people who need what you offer and show them how it can improve their lives.

So marketing and sales are two sides of the same coin. Marketing creates awareness and interest and paves the way for sales to happen. So think of marketing as the process of planting seeds and nurturing them, while sales are the actual harvest, right? The fruit or whatever you want to call it. Without effective marketing, you won't have enough leads or potential customers to convert them into sales.

So you want to ensure that you find Fill your funnel with a ton of leads and that happens through marketing. effective marketing requires a deep understanding of your target audience. You need to listen to their needs, their desires, their pain points, their behaviors, listen to it all. When you know who your customers are and what they care about, you can craft messages that resonate with them and position your offer as the solution they've been looking for their whole lives.

So one of the most significant barriers to success in business is the misconceptions that sales is sleazy. And I used to feel that I used to feel very sleazy. If I was trying to sell something or that selling is somehow. just dirty for lack of a better word. this belief can hold you back from reaching your full potential.

So it's essential to reframe how you think about sales. Sales are about creating value for your clients and customers, not just for your business. if you make sales all about your business, your potential clients will realize that they will feel it and they will feel ick. And they will turn away from you.

So when you make it about them and how you're helping them, that's creating a relationship.

When you make a sale, you're providing something that meets a need or solves a problem. And what you're doing is you're exchanging value. Your offer, For their money. And this exchange is the foundation of your business. And it's something to be proud of, not to shy away from. Another misconception is that if you're not a natural born salesperson, you will never sell anything.

But the reality is that sales can be learned and developed over time. You don't have to be pushy or aggressive. You just need to be confident. Confidence sells. And the more you practice, a lot of times, you're putting yourself out of your comfort zone. Right? But the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

So let's talk about why sales should be your first focus. When in business, it's tempting to focus on your branding, your product development, your operations, or whatever else that you're focusing on. And these are critical, but they won't matter if you don't have customers. So if you're starting your business, or if you're in a cash crunch in your business, I highly recommend that you start focusing on the marketing and sales first before anything else.

That has to be your number one priority to get the cash coming in in your business. So here's why sales should be your first priority. Here's some tips. I've got five of them. The first is validation. Sales validate your business idea. So when people are willing to pay for what you offer, it's proof that there's demand for your product or service.

This validation is absolutely essential before you start investing too much time and money into other areas of your business. So focus on sales number one. Two is cashflow. Your sales generate cash. Cash is queen in your business. Cashflow allows you to reinvest into your business, right? So you're gonna have your cash coming in from your sales, you're gonna pay all your bills,

And don't forget to pay yourself. List yourself as one of those bills, and then with the money left over, you should have a profit if you've planned correctly and reinvest that profit into your business. So if you need to get some marketing help or maybe some paid ads, that is the time to do it with that extra money that you're bringing in.

without a steady cash flow, even the best businesses are going to fail. And 82 percent of businesses fail. you've read Cash Confident, you would know that. 82 percent of businesses fail due to financial mismanagement. So managing your finances is really important. But getting those sales in as part of your finances.

Okay, three is market feedback. Early sales provide valuable feedback from customers. This feedback is going to help you refine your offer, improve your marketing message, and better understand your target audience. So the more you sell, the more you learn. The more market feedback you get, the more you are going to understand your target market. Market. Okay, four, building momentum. Sales creates momentum. The more you sell, the more confident you become, more your business grows. This momentum is crucial for scaling your business and achieving long term success. And then the fifth one, financial stability. A strong sales strategy ensures that your business is financially stable.

When you prioritize sales, you're less likely to rely on loans or external funding. You can bootstrap your business and that gives you more control over your business and its future.

Now let's talk about the long term benefits of prioritizing sales. When you make sales your primary focus, you set yourself up for long term success. I'm going to list out a few benefits. One of them is sustainable growth. Consistent sales leads to steady revenue, which fuels the growth of your business.

So remember I said, you've got that profit and you can reinvest that profit into growing your business. With a solid sales foundation, you can invest in scaling your operations, hiring team members, and expanding your offers. Customer loyalty. When you focus on serving your customers through the sales process, you build loyalty.

Satisfied customers are more likely to return for repeat business and refer others to your business, and that will create a cycle of ongoing revenue. Another benefit is market leadership. Businesses that excel in sales often become leaders in their market. By consistently delivering value and meeting your customer needs, can position yourself or your brand as the go to solution in your industry.

Another one is financial independence. Strong sales performance reduces your reliance on external funding and debt. With a healthy cashflow, you have more control over your business's financial future, and you can reinvest your profits into future growth. When you are at a, At a level where you actually feel comfortable with your business and the growth level and you're like, okay, this is about as big as I want to get.

That's when you start investing that profit profit into your net worth. Okay, you're building your business, you, your business is going to increase your net worth because your business is a financial asset that has value. And you can sell it. But when you hit that point where you're like, okay, I'm good.

That's where you start building your personal net worth through investing in other ways. And that's where cash catalyst comes into play. Okay. Let's. Look at a real world example of how focusing on sales really does transform your business. So one of my clients, and we will call her Sarah, she started a boutique consulting consultancy offering specialized services to small businesses.

Despite her expertise and well defined niche, she struggled to make ends meet and believe she had a money problem. So she came to me, I looked at it, didn't take me long to figure out that It wasn't about her expenses, but it was about her lack of revenue. She wasn't bringing in enough sales to cover her costs and generate a profit.

Her marketing efforts were minimal, and she was relying on word of mouth and referrals, which just didn't do the trick to sustain her business. So together, we worked on shifting her focus to sales. We started refining her, refining her target price. Market and creating a more compelling value proposition.

So Sarah invested in a targeted marketing campaign, developed a seer, Uh, excuse me, developed a clear sales process and began actively reaching out to potential clients. You really have to take charge of your marketing. You can't wait for sales to just come to you. You've got to get out there, put the word out there.

If you don't let people know you're there, they will never know that they need to come find you. So within a few months, Sarah's business turned around, her sales increased significantly, and that led to steady cashflow. And it allowed her to feel financially confident, right? And she was able to reinvest that profit into her business to grow her business.

So not only did she resolve that perceived money problem, but she also gained confidence in her ability to sell and grow her business. So that is that story is a testament to the power of prior prioritizing sales. When you focus on generating sales from the start, everything else in your business will fall into place.

So as a woman entrepreneur, it's natural to want to perfect your product, create a beautiful brand, you know, focus on that. But remember, without sales, Sales, none of these efforts will sustain your business. Marketing is the engine that drives your sales forward. And you need to make that a top priority.

If you want to build a profitable and sustainable business. Remember, a sales problem is not a reflection of your worth or abilities. It's simply a challenge that must be overcome. And you can overcome that with the right mindset and strategies. So focus on serving your customers, build those relationships, and continually improve your sales skills.

And when you do that, you can create a business that financially thrives. So the next time you feel like you have a money problem, take a closer look at your sales. Chances are with that renewed focus, what you've learned today is absolute gold. And with that renewed focus on marketing and sales, you will find the solution that you need.

So if today's episode really resonated with you and you think that you need more help in this area, I recommend that you check out our Path to Profit with Sales course. Do not let sales hold you back. I have left a link in the show notes to the course, so be sure that you check it out. I have worked with tons of clients who are experiencing sales problems And this course is a direct result of their problems, right?

So this will help you understand what you need to focus on. And it's not just about the marketing and sales. It's also about knowing your numbers and that course is packed with that as well. So you have to have a really good understanding of what you need to sell, what your sales targets are each month.

So you can hit your targets. And hit that profitability goal. And remember the key to a thriving business starts with making sales your priority and everything else will follow.