How to Find your Aligned Sales Strategy

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Niching in entrepreneurship is a hot-button topic, and in this week's podcast Gabrielle Laura, dishes on exactly why you can't have an aligned strategy without establishing your niche first. If you don't have a defined niche, be sure to tune in as Gabrielle breaks down how to find your niche and create your sales foundation.

Gabrielle is a Niche Expert + Sales Coach and founder of the Niche Clarity Intensive™️ who helps coaches and service providers find their niche and sell in a way that feels good to them so that they can have a thriving business.

Website // Instagram // The Gabrielle Laura Show Podcast // YouTube

The episode:

Katrina Widener: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Badass Business Squad podcast. This is your host, Katrina Widener. I'm very excited because today we have Gabrielle Laura on. Hi, thank you so much for coming!

Gabrielle Laura: Hey, Katrina and everyone listening, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me!

Katrina Widener: So before we dive in today's topic, which I'm really excited about, would you mind sharing with everyone who you are, what you do, what your business is, all that good stuff?

Gabrielle Laura: Absolutely. So my name is Gabrielle Laura. I say Laura, cause I'm from Boston, a lot of people put Laura. And I am a niche expert and a sales coach, I help coaches find their niche and then sell in a way that feels good to them. Very much about honoring who you are, how you work, how you operate. And I'm also the host of the podcast The Gabrielle Laura Show.

Katrina Widener: I was like, "If you weren't going to mention the podcast, I was going to mention the podcast" so everybody could go and listen afterwards. I'm glad that you shared that information. So for everyone, if you love today's episode, you can go listen to her podcast.

Gabrielle Laura: Yes, and Katrina will be on my podcast, so go listen to that!

Katrina Widener: So I'm excited because you really specialize in niching and in sales strategy and I feel like those are two different aspects that people can get really excited by, but also maybe a little intimidated by when it comes to running their own business. So today we're going to be talking about building a sales strategy that feels good to you. So I guess let's just jump right in.

Gabrielle Laura: Yes, do it!

Katrina Widener: When you are working with clients, where do you start? When we're talking about that sales strategy that feels good to you, that feels really aligned. Which everyone listening knows I'm all about. Where does that even begin?

Gabrielle Laura: Yes. So it's with the first question that I ask, and this is like a foolproof question, I will be able to tell if you are lying, if it's not there, cause your energy does not lie. I will be able to tell in two seconds from your answer to this question, "What is your niche?" And if you cannot tell me with full-blown conviction what your niche is, who you serve, how you serve them, you are not ready for an aligned sales strategy. And here's the thing: That's okay. So many people jump to sales, right? Start our business. "Okay. Fine. I'll be a business coach. I have an MBA, fricking hated it, but I'm going to do it anyway cause I can." And then, "Okay, what's my sales strategy?" You don't have one! Because here's the thing, energy sells.

If I'm sitting on this podcast right now and I'm like, "Yeah, you know, I can help you find your niche if you want, but there's also other people who can." Or if I'm like, "Yeah, I'm Gabrielle. I'm a niche expert. I will help you find your niche in my 90 minute session," right? With conviction! But you can't do it with conviction if you are not fully aligned, and this is what I love about your messaging, too. If you are not aligned in what your business is.

It's so interesting because people think, "Oh niche just for beginners." B.S. It is not, niche is for across the board, right? There are people who are very established who revisit their niche, because we grow as individuals and as we grow and as we expand and we refine, so does our business and our interests and what we can help people with. It either expands it, pivots it, refines, it changes, and that's okay.

So the long-winded answer to your question is, what is your niche? So that is how we start. Either we dive into the sales strategy from there, or we go back to square zero.

Katrina Widener: I really love that clarification because it also allows people to understand really how niche and sales strategy work together, right? When someone first meets you they might be like, "Okay, you do both of these things?" When really, finding your niche is part of your sales strategy.

Gabrielle Laura: Yeah!

Katrina Widener: It's part of figuring out exactly who you're talking to, because if you don't know who you're talking to, then you aren't going to be able to figure out the best marketing strategy that's aligned with them, the best conversation that's aligned with them. Even the wording that you use -- the way to describe your services and offers -- shifts based off who you're talking to. And when you're saying all this, it was making me think of a client that I've had, where we had a clear niche and they were still kind of umbrella marketing, we'll call it. Where it's like, "Well, this is my niche, but I don't trust that I'm going to only be able to bring in just my niche. So I'll just take these other people anyway."

Gabrielle Laura: Right.

Katrina Widener: Which is in and of itself a different sort of self-sabotage. Because you're getting in your own way of making those really aligned connections and bringing in those dream clients.

Gabrielle Laura: A hundred percent. There's one thing to have a niche, there's another thing to have an aligned niche. Huge difference there. Huge difference. When you are in that alignment, hence why I also do the aligned sales strategy, the doors open for you. You're 110% there. But if you're 80% there, you're still tiptoeing.

Katrina Widener: That makes so much sense. It makes so much sense.

Gabrielle Laura: Yeah.

Katrina Widener: So for anyone who's listening to this who's like, "Okay, got it. I don't have a niche." What would you say would be their first steps? If we're talking implementable, "Let's walk away from this with something getting done."

Gabrielle Laura: Absolutely. That's a really good question. So the first thing that you want to do when finding your niche, it's not figuring out what your skills are. None of that. Because a lot of the times we struggle with that. We all struggle with that. Especially women really struggled to hype themselves up and own what they bring to the table. So what I want you to do is grab a pen and a piece of paper, write out your entire story. Start wherever feels natural, write out that story. And then what I want you to do is walk away. Take a break, go check the mail, let the dog out, go for a ride and blast some rap music, whatever you need to do. That's my favorite thing to do, to just like go and unwind. Then come back, and then I want you to pretend that I'm sitting across the table from you. And I say, "Katrina, what could you talk to me about all day, no sweat off your back?" We just met for the first time we're sitting down, we're having coffee. "What could you talk to me about all day, no sweat off the back?" Write out those three to five things, do not judge them.

I have so many people who are like, "Well I could talk to you about emptying the dishwasher?" They judge that, they don't write it down, and then when we figure out their niche, it makes sense, right? Maybe it's organizing their house. Maybe it's getting rid of chaos, whatever it is, it makes sense. So write down, I call them riffs, your three to five riffs. And then go step away again, come back and circle the themes. Look for the transformational experiences in your story. Where did you go from down in the dumps maybe, to just one step higher? One step. And it does not have to be a rags to riches story. None of that. But look for those transformational experiences, look at your rifts and then circle in between.

I know that's a very fast forward explanation, but I have a whole masterclass, a free one on this we could put it in the show notes if you want.

Katrina Widener: That sounds great, yeah. It's also so interesting cause obviously as you're talking I'm like, "Ooh, what would I write down?" and it's all the things that we talk about on this podcast. It's all the things we talk about in my business, right? It's alignment, hello!

Gabrielle Laura: Yes! I was going to say, you're in alignment!

Katrina Widener: Yes, it's Human Design, right? Human Design for me is so tied to that alignment piece, right? It's these things that people don't realize that maybe are their secret sauce. We talk about alignment all the time on this podcast, and I know you talk about alignment all the time in your messaging.

Gabrielle Laura: Yeah.

Katrina Widener: But the thing is, alignment is more than just, "Oh, I like this thing." It's like, "Hmm, this feels really juicy. This feels really, really good to me." I like a lot of things, right? I'm a pretty agreeable person, I like most things, but that doesn't mean that that's that one thing that, like you said, I could speak on all afternoon and never get tired of talking to someone about it.

Gabrielle Laura: Right. No sweat off your back.

Katrina Widener: Yeah, you guys should have seen me when I first learned about Human Design. My sister can attest to this. She's like, "Okay, we don't need to bring up Human Design."

Gabrielle Laura: Yeah hah! "We're good!"

Katrina Widener: "You don't need to talk about this every time we get together as a family." And I was like, "You know what? Shush. We're fine."

Gabrielle Laura: "No, we do actually, but okay." I get it.

Katrina Widener: So in case people are like, "All right, so I already have my niche."

Gabrielle Laura: Yes.

Katrina Widener: How would this other half of the listeners get started talking about sales strategy or maybe even once someone figures out their niche, how do they get started talking about sales strategy?

Gabrielle Laura: Yeah. So if you can confidently answer that question, "Hey, what's your niche?" And you can tell me, and again I can feel it in your energy, you say it with conviction 110% there. My next question to you is, "How do you best build relationships?" Because the biggest thing of operating in alignment in my opinion is honoring who you are. How do you operate? What do you bring to the table, right? So how do you best build relationships?

And to go a step further than that, let's say you go to a networking event. You don't know a single person, but you were in a room full of people you'd love to have in your network. Let's say other coaches, for example here. How do you navigate that room? Do you stand there and wait for people to come to you? Kind of with a smile on being friendly. "Hey, come into my space." Do you walk around the room and find people that you energetically align with and start a conversation with them? Will you just start a conversation with anyone and confidently make your way through the room? What does that look like?

Because a huge part of your aligned sales strategy is getting the leads, right? It's a lead generation before even having the conversations. How do we generate those leads? So let's say, you could just walk through a room. You love reaching out to people, that is your thing. Then maybe your lead generation strategy is finding five influencers in your niche. Go through their comment section. Find people asking questions, and you wait for the question that like slaps you across the face where you're like, " Oh my God, let me answer this." And then you slide into their DMs with value and say, "Hey, I saw you answer this question on so-and-so's page. I noticed you didn't get a response, so I really wanted to help you out here. XYZ value, value, value. I hope this helps." Don't end with a question because people do not like questions right off the bat, hot tip. And maybe that is your lead generation strategy. That's the first step to your aligned sales.

Or if you're more introverted, you like to kind of hang in the corner, but you love when people come to you? Strong call to actions. You let people know your DMs are a safe space. They are wide open. They're not for you to jump down their throat and sell to them and, you know, be cringy like we've all experienced. It's very much. "Hey, what are your thoughts on this? Slide in my DMs and let me know, I'm here to help you." That's really the first step there.

So that's step one, and then you start having those conversations. Once you start having those conversations, the key here is to really lean into how you genuinely speak. How would you sit down with a friend and have this conversation? Don't run from that. A lot of people feel like they all of a sudden have to be speaking like Queen Elizabeth, super proper in these conversations, when in actuality they just text very casually. That is how to sell. That's like the second phase I would say, or third phase. To sell in a way that feels good to you.

And then to just kind of end it off here, once you're having those conversations, it's transitioning that conversation, once you've given enough value, in a way that feels good to you, right? Something that feels good to me, to give you an example, is when I'm in DMs with somebody and I give them a strong value first. Cause I'm all about serving, serving, serving, and then selling. I position myself as the how, right? I'll give them the what and the why, but I'm the how. "Why do I need a niche? Where is my niche?" "It's in your story, you need one to really have that clarity." "Okay well how do I figure it out?" Then that positions me, and that invites me to say, "That's right up my alley. That's literally my expertise. Do you want to get on a call to talk about how I can help you with that further?"

Transitioning to that discovery call. The more that you break down phase by phase by phase, and I have a quiz for you guys on how to do this, if you want to figure out your aligned sales strategy. Phase by phase by phase, you get deeper into selling in a way that feels good to you, and that's very natural. But if you are a total introvert and I say, "Katrina, you need to go slide into 50 DMs a day," you're not going to do it. Cause you dread that! You'll dread it every single day cause it sucks, cause you don't want to do it. So it's all about finding what works for you and how you best operate.

Katrina Widener: I have to say, I am so excited for everything that you just said, because also while she's talking guys, in my head I'm like, "Ooh, I can see also through the lens of Human Design, how each of these different strategies are so aligned with each of the different types, right?"

Gabrielle Laura: Right.

Katrina Widener: When I talk to people about Human Design I'm like, "There's a different sales strategy for each and every type." And for a projector, there's is literally that introvert example you were giving. They're not made to go out and ask people, "Hey, do you want to work with me?"

I mean that's really, really giving us a really small example of what you're talking about, but the point is more so just that there are these intricacies and there are these teeny tiny parts of each of us that build up who we are. And when we approach what we do from who we are, it feels more aligned just innately, right? But there's always that other part where it's like, "But I need to do this strategically," or "I need to do it the right way," or "I need to figure out that magical sales strategy" and so by following really everything that you've been talking about, I've really loved the example of how do you navigate a networking event? Everyone's like, "I can put myself there immediately and know how that happens." Being able to have someone say, "Okay I can listen to this, and then I can walk away and actually figure this out," can be super empowering for people, because it is that "magical sales strategy."

Gabrielle Laura: Right. It's all about what works for you.

Katrina Widener: Exactly, exactly. But it's not something that someone else is just telling you, "This is what to do. This is how it worked for me."

Gabrielle Laura: Oh BARF! That's my biggest pet peeve cause when I was an aspiring entrepreneur, I bought all of those, "Here's how I made $500,000 overnight. Here's how I have a seven figure business." Here's what I learned, none of that works because you operate differently than me. And that's a beautiful thing about this industry, is we all operate as our own individuals, we all have something to bring to the table, right? And you find your people through owning that. Through owning that uniqueness that you bring to the table. And the more that that shines through in your niche and your messaging, in your business and your programs, the more that you find your people.

Yes, please run from anything that's like "I made $5 billion in eight seconds, and here's how you will too." Because odds are, it's probably not going to work for you and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with you if it doesn't work for you. I really needed that pep talk back in the day.

Katrina Widener: Well, and the thing that I want to remind everyone too is if you take a step back from it being like, "Okay, I need to figure this out or else I'm not making money," whatever feels scarier or bigger for you, and you're able to say, "I'm just a person trying to connect to other people and provide a service that could maybe help them, or provide them with a product that could maybe help them."

In reality, when we look at it from that angle of, "I'm just someone trying to help other people," it feels so much less escalated. It feels like the stakes are not quite so high, and it also makes it easier to go about having that conversation.

Gabrielle Laura: It's such a good point. I love how you said, it's just kind of taking yourself out of it. How much of a disservice would you be doing to this person that you have a relationship with? And I want to preface now that it's the end of the conversation, but kind of, if you guys could just like, remember this from the beginning, every single sale starts with the relationship foundation. Build your relationships. Your people not paying, people ghosting you, people trying to leave your program halfway through will be so much lower. The odds of that happening are so much lower when there is a solid relationship foundation built, right?

When you have those solid foundation relationships and you're getting to know this person, and you're going back and forth with this person, how much of a disservice would you be doing to not offer to help them? You see them struggling, you see them wanting an answer. How much of a disservice would you be doing to not say, "Hey that's right up my wheelhouse. Want to chat about how we can partner? How I can help you get there. But first, let's see if we're a good match for one another," Right? You're doing them a big disservice.

So really try to remove yourself from it and not operate in, "I need this money. I'm desperate. I got to pay these bills. I got to make my mortgage, my rent, whatever." And say, "How can I make an impact?" And when you lead with impact the game changes. Don't operate out of desperation.

Katrina Widener: Yep. I love that so much. I think that's also an amazing place to kind of wrap things up at. So thank you so much for coming and sharing all this. I feel like this is a conversation that people are going to be really excited about. I'm really excited about it.

Gabrielle Laura: Thank you so much for having me on and for everyone listening. Thank you so much for the past 20 minutes of your day.

Katrina Widener: Yes! So before we officially hop off, can you tell everybody where to find you afterward? I will put that masterclass you mentioned, and the question she mentioned in the show notes, but just in case people are like, "I want to continue this conversation."

Gabrielle Laura: Absolutely. So my website is www.gabriellelaura.com, and then you can also find me on Instagram, I'm super active there at @gabrielleelaura. Gabrielle has two E's because of course, Gabrielle Laura was taken, so I had to throw two E's in there. But I am on Instagram there and I would love to connect with you guys. So Katrina, thank you so much for this opportunity. I really, really appreciate it.

Katrina Widener: Thank you so much for coming on and sharing all of your magical goodness with us.

Gabrielle Laura: Of course.