MBA2648 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Get Over My Fear of Sales?

If selling makes you uneasy—if you freeze up, avoid the conversation, or worry you’ll sound pushy—you’re not alone. This lesson is here to help shift that mindset and turn hesitation into confidence. Tim sent in this question, wondering how to overcome the fear of sales, and Omar is here with the answer. He breaks down why this fear is so common (and totally normal) for both new and seasoned entrepreneurs. He shares practical strategies, key mindset shifts, and personal stories—including his first nerve-wracking attempt at selling in person. You'll pick up actionable tactics like how to detach your self-worth from the outcome and how to reframe sales as simply helping others make better decisions. Ready to tackle sales with confidence? Hit that play button at the top of the page and dive into this lesson. By the end, you'll be well on your way to mastering the art of selling—without the stress. Influence by Robert CialdiniTo submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q. Watch the episodes on YouTube: https://lm.fm/GgRPPHiSUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:45Speaker 00

  Marketers know that feeling. They optimize for the numbers that look great, like impressions. But then we don't see revenue. LinkedIn has a word for that: bullspend. Instead, you can get the highest ROAS of major ad networks with LinkedIn ads. Cut the bullspend, advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/MBAShow. Terms apply. Let me ask you something. Have you ever had something great to offer, something that you know that can help other people, but the moment you have to sell it, your stomach starts to turn? You hesitate, you freeze, you avoid the conversation altogether. And if that's you, then you're in luck, because today's episode addresses this topic.

• 1:29Speaker 00

  Today, we're going to dismantle the fear of sales. Not with fluff, but with real strategies, real reframes, and personal stories from my own journey, including the time I had to sell something face-to-face for the first time, and I totally blew it, and what I learned from that process.

• 1:53Speaker 00

  Welcome back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenhome, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to help you start, grow, and scale your business.

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  This episode is brought to you by Tim, who asked today's question on Q&A Wednesday, "How do I get over my fear of selling?" This is a great question from Tim, because it's one of the biggest blockers for new and seasoned entrepreneurs, by the way. A lot of people don't reach their full potential because of their fear of sales. And guess what? Business is sales. That's it. It's selling something that people need and want in exchange for their money. That's what business is. And you can't really do exceptionally well if you try to avoid sales. We're going to get through all the details. Hang on with me for the next 10-15 minutes, and you'll get over your fear of sales and become better at it before you know it. In fact, I can almost guarantee that you will feel empowered

• 2:50Speaker 00

  and more equipped to be a better salesperson right after this episode. And of course, if you have a question that you want to ask, don't hesitate to ask it. Just go to 100mba.net/ q, and you can submit your question, that we can answer it right here on Q&A Wednesday. I first want to address why anybody would be afraid of sales, and why that's normal, okay? Fear of sales is not weird. Sales itself is a little bit strange. It's something that we're not used to. We're never taught sales in school. You know, we went to math class, science class, you know, PE, physical education, but never had a sales class, right? So it's not something that we're used to doing. Sales triggers some of our deepest emotional insecurities, right? Things like fear of rejection,

• 3:36Speaker 00

  fear of judgment, fear of looking pushy, or even manipulative, fear of asking for money. A lot of people have this deep-seated fear of like, "I shouldn't be asking for money." Most of us were never taught anything about sales. We were not taught in school, we're not taught by our parents. We associate it with sleazy tactics. But here's a reframe I want to give you upfront. Sales is not about pushing. It's about helping someone make a decision. And you do this every day already, even outside of your business, right? You recommend restaurants to friends. You tell people about your favorite show or movie that you just saw on Netflix. Sales is the same thing, just with a price tag. Okay? You're just cutting out the middleman, right?

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  Instead of you telling your friends about a great restaurant you went to and the restaurant making money, you're just working for yourself and telling other people about what you offer. And in this example, you'd be the restaurant, right? Telling other people about your great food and service. Sales is education. Sales is helping people make a decision. That's really all it is. And I was fortunate enough to learn this from my father. My father was a salesperson. He was a car salesman, right? It's typically what you think about when you think of sales. And I learned this because I used to go to work with him on Saturdays because my first job was washing cars at the wash bay at the dealership. And my job ended at 3:00 PM, but my dad continued to work from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM when the dealership closed and I used to watch and observe him. Now, my dad's an immigrant from Egypt, right?

• 5:02Speaker 00

  English is not his first language. He doesn't have the gift of gab. He doesn't have, you know, that typical charisma that you would think from a really well-seasoned salesperson. But he was the top salesman for the brand of car that they were selling in the East Coast for 10 years straight. Okay? And what I learned from my dad is that it's not about being slick or being charismatic. It's about helping people. It's about educating people and helping them make a decision, whether the decision is to buy or not to buy. At the end of the day, you really can't force anybody to buy anything. Pressure sales is never a good idea because it results in refunds and a bad reputation, bad reviews, all that kind of stuff. So your best bet is just to be a helper, to be a consultant. But that's not just it.

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  Let me tell you a quick story. Before I launched Webinar Ninja, before I started the $100 MBA, we're talking about over a decade ago, I ran Live Workshops. One day after a two-hour workshop that I was giving on website design, I made an offer for an in-depth weekend where people can go deeper on that topic. And I offered them a course. I was nervous. I remember my hands were sweating and I rushed through the pitch and I said, "So if you're interested, it's $500. I know it's a lot, but it's probably worth it. You can sign up in the back of the room or not, you know, it's totally up to you, no pressure." Guess how many people signed up? A grand total of zero people, okay?

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  Not because my offer was bad. Actually, looking back at it, you know, with hindsight, what I was offering was actually pretty good for $500. Not because they didn't like my workshop that I just did for two hours, right? I actually got really good reviews on that workshop. But because I didn't believe in what I was offering, okay? Very important. Sales is a transfer of confidence. If you sound unsure, they'll be unsure about what you're offering. The holidays are the season business owners get pulled in six directions. More calls, more requests, more chances for things to slip through the cracks. Hoping you catch it all isn't a plan. That's why today's episode is brought to you by QUO, spelt Q-U-O.

• 7:14Speaker 00

  The business phone built so you never miss a call or a customer. Ever have a lead call or text at 10:00 PM? QUO's AI agent handles both 24/7. It answers questions, gets to the details, and can text them a link to book an appointment. By morning, you've got the summary and can jump right in. And nobody should have to ask customers to repeat themselves. In QUO, every call, text, and voicemail lives in one thread. So anyone on the team can jump in already knowing the whole story. If you have a business where your customers call or text you, this is a no-brainer. You must have QUO. Money is on the line. Always say hello with QUO. Try QUO for free plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com/mba. That's Q-U-O.com/mba.

• 8:02Speaker 00

  Today's episode is sponsored by Whatnot. You've probably heard about live selling and it's taking off on Whatnot. Sellers on Whatnot don't need a storefront or paid social media ads to reach customers. This is what I love about it because with live video, you interact and engage with your customers. You just need your phone and buyers can ask questions. They can make purchases in real time. On Whatnot, you could see people selling from living rooms and warehouses, selling sneakers, electronics, vintage, even a guy on a boat selling lobsters he just caught. Thousands of items are sold every minute because customers get to know sellers and see the products live. For many sellers, it's gone from side hustle to full-time job since they're selling 10 times here than on other marketplaces.

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  I've personally shopped on Whatnot and found the whole experience actually pretty fun. I got the bid on a product that I was looking at, which was a little tripod for my phone. And when I won the bid, the seller gave me a shout out and gave me a little demo of how the tripod works. In a couple of days, the tripod was at my front door. It couldn't be easier. Search Whatnot, W-H-A-T-N-O-T, in the App Store, download and start selling right away.

• 9:12Speaker 00

  The next thing I want to share with you is a shift that changed everything for me. And that change was me understanding one simple truth. People are not paying for your product. They're not paying for your service. They're paying for a result, a transformation, a solution. So when I'm selling now, I remind myself, I'm not asking them to buy a course or a ticket to an event. I'm helping them solve a painful problem. I'm guiding them through a better version of themselves. Huge difference. This mindset switch flips the pressure from you to them because your job isn't to sell. It's to present a clear decision.

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  You can say yes and your future, your life, the experience you're going to have will look like this. Or you can say no and things will remain the same. When you do this, you've done your job with integrity. So I want to give you three practical tactics that you can practice now. Number one, start selling in conversations. Don't wait for a launch or a webinar. Just talk to people about their problems. And when your solution is relevant, offer it to people. Keep it casual, something like this. I actually have something that helps you with exactly that. Want me to send it to you? That's a sale. That's not about pressure. It's about clarity.

• 10:38Speaker 00

  This could be you actually selling your thing, your product or service. Or it could just be you selling somebody on an idea. Okay, this could be something outside your business. For example, a buddy of mine could say, hey, I got a planned date night this week. I don't know what to do. What should I do with my wife? They have a problem. They don't have a good idea for date night. Maybe they've tried the dinner and the movie. Maybe they're on mini golf already twice this month. So a solution might be, hey, I just saw MJ the musical. It's an incredible play. You should check it out. I just saw this three weeks ago. It was so high energy. It was so entertaining. The music's fantastic. I don't really like musicals, but this was pretty entertaining. I think tickets start at like $99.

• 11:22Speaker 00

  So why don't you pick up a pair of tickets? And actually, I know a pretty good restaurant that's around the corner that we went to beforehand. So you see how I'm selling this idea to somebody? I'm just getting that muscle used to just being exercised. That, hey, I have a solution to your problem. Let me offer it to you. Second tactic, use the damaging admissions technique. This comes from Robert Caldini's book Influence. And I've talked about this in a previous episode. The idea is be honest about what you offer and what you can do and what you can't do. For example, this program isn't for you if you're looking to get rich overnight. It takes real effort, but the results are worth it.

• 12:03Speaker 00

  When you say that, people actually lean in because now they trust you because you're actually admitting what you don't do. You're not desperate. You're transparent. So for example, if I was selling a used car, I would say to the buyer, hey, this car doesn't do great gas mileage. It does like 21 miles per gallon. It's not so great, but the zero to 60 is four seconds. It's so fast and it's so fun to drive. Third tactic, detach your worth from the outcome. This one's big. If someone says no, it doesn't mean you're not good enough. It means they're not ready. It's not the right fit. That's it. Nothing deeper than that. I've had people say no to every offer I've ever made. That's just how business is. You're gonna get some no's.

• 12:47Speaker 00

  And I've also had the same people come back that said no to me before. Six months later, they come back and they're ready to buy. Your job is not to close everyone. Your job is to present the opportunity with clarity, with integrity, with confidence. So I want you to get better faster. So this is what I recommend. Start small. Pick one product that you have, maybe a low-priced offer, and challenge yourself to make 10 personal offers. Listen, the sales are really not in your control, but the offers are. You can make 10 offers. You can make 20 offers. Start with 10. Email 10 people, DM 10 people. Have a webinar with at least 10 people on it and make an offer. Call them up if you want to.

• 13:31Speaker 00

  Don't worry if you fumble. Don't worry if they say no. The goal isn't to sell. Right now, the goal is to practice, is to make an offer. Because business is a numbers game. The more offers you make, the more sales you make. And the fastest way to get over your fear of sales is, you guessed it, is to keep selling. Fear of sales is not a flaw. It's a sign that you care. It's a sign that you're maybe a little bit outside your comfort zone. That's fine. You care about how you're perceived. You care about not letting people down. That's a good thing. Now, use that care to serve people by giving them the opportunity to say yes to something that will improve their life or their business. And if you want to build something great, truly great,

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  then you really need to work on this. If you want to build something that lasts, you need to master the skill. Not perfectly, just confidently. You have to just get into the groove of making this part of your regular practice in life and business. This is just like getting into exercise, okay? This is just like you building that muscle of offering what you have for people, making that recommendation, educating people about how to solve a problem. Thanks so much for being a subscriber, for being a listener. If you made it to the end of the episode, I know you're a doer. I know that you are serious about building your business.

• 14:56Speaker 00

  If you want to take things to the next level, then I highly recommend you sign up to our Three Things newsletter. Our newsletter is absolutely free. And what I like to do with this newsletter is I like to go a little bit deeper. I like to coach you from afar by sending you three things every single week. One, something to think about to build a stronger mindset. Number two, something to do so that you are progressing week after week. And lastly, something to learn, which will allow you to make sure that you are skilling up, that you are improving every single week. All you got to do is go to 100mba.net, sign up for any of our free guides or any of our freebies, and you get added to our newsletter automatically. That's it for today's episode. Big thanks to Tim and his question, and I'll see you in the next episode. Take care.

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