As business owners, we get into business with the best of intentions and a passion for what we want to do to earn a living and then we are faced with the reality that we must have sales in order to ring our registers and put food on our tables. And that requires us to sell. Ugg! That ugly word, selling.

Many business owners are not skilled at selling and often fear it because of the negative experiences and impressions they have in their own lives. When you ask one what selling means, you often hear words like sleazy, manipulative and cut throat. Doesn’t sound like fun does it? The truth is selling can be fun but you need to make sure you are selling from a genuine place of wanting to serve your customers versus from a place that is self-serving.

Here are 7 tips on how to sell from your heart and not from your head.

1. Tip 1: Remember why you went into business and the original passion you felt when you came up with the idea. There was an underserved need in your market that you felt passionately about serving. Keep this close to your heart and in your mind.
2. Tip 2: Be clear on who your ideal buyer is. The type of individual you want to attract into your business that you know you can help and you really want to work with. These are the people you resonate with and can easily connect to.
3. Tip 3: Take time to build a relationship with your customers and prospects. People think with logic but act with emotion so if you allow the relationship to grow and make an emotional connection, the sales will eventually come.
4. Tip 4: Ask lots of questions and give your prospect an opportunity to speak. In order to find out specifically how you can serve and what your customers needs are, you need to ask questions to really uncover an area where you can offer assistance and make sure you listen, listen, listen.
5. Tip 5: Come from a true place of serving your ideal market and look for solutions that you offer that help your ideal client and get them quicker to their goals. Be genuine and be authentic and rather than look for how you can close a sale, really focus on them and how you can make them better.
6. Tip 6: Lead with your gifts. Offer your expertise and your knowledge willingly and for free. This will attract people who are interested in learning more information about you and provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your skills.
7. Tip 7: Don’t push the close. If you make an offer of your services to a potential customer, do not chase them for a decision. If they want to work with you they will let you know and remember to continue to treat them in the same manner if they hire you or not.