118: The 4 Most Powerful Words in Sales (That You're Probably Not Using) - Courage & Clarity

Podcast Summary: Courage & Clarity Episode 118 - "The 4 Most Powerful Words in Sales (That You're Probably Not Using)"

Introduction

In Episode 118 of the Courage & Clarity podcast, host Steph Crowder delves into a transformative approach to sales that challenges conventional passive marketing strategies. Released on February 24, 2025, this episode titled "The 4 Most Powerful Words in Sales (That You're Probably Not Using)" offers entrepreneurs actionable insights to enhance their sales processes by leveraging direct personal invitations.

The Power of Direct Invitations Over Passive Marketing

Steph begins by addressing a common struggle among entrepreneurs: reliance on passive marketing tactics such as email blasts, social media posts, and podcast episodes. While these methods are effective to an extent, Steph emphasizes the need for balance by incorporating direct invitations to engage potential clients more personally.

"Passive marketing instead of direct invitations. I've definitely talked about this here on the podcast before, and I just want to come right out and say there's nothing wrong with more 'quote, unquote, passive' marketing strategies."
[00:04]

She clarifies that passive marketing is about pushing out messages, whereas direct invitations involve pulling people in through personalized outreach. The key is to integrate both strategies to maximize engagement and conversions.

Introducing the Four Powerful Words: "I Thought of You"

The crux of the episode revolves around the four powerful words Steph champions: "I thought of you." She introduces these words as a simple yet profound tool to make personal connections that drive sales without appearing desperate or pushy.

"Pop quiz. What are the four most powerful words in sales? Jeopardy. Music. Okay, if you said 'I thought of you,' then you would be correct."
[02:30]

Why Personal Invitations Matter

Steph explains that many potential clients are already interested but are awaiting a personal invitation to take the next step. Without this direct outreach, their interest may stagnate, leading to missed opportunities.

"Many people are interested; they're interested. They're sitting there with interest, and they just need to be invited in some cases."
[08:15]

The Sales Bar Analogy: Drawing Parallels with Dating

To illustrate her point, Steph employs the "sales bar analogy," comparing the sales process to initiating a conversation at a bar. She highlights the courage required to make the first move, reinforcing that taking initiative is crucial in both sales and personal interactions.

"What if you had the courage to walk across the bar, walk across the room and say, 'Hey, I wanted to talk to you. You seem cool. Do you want to go on a date with me?'"
[15:45]

This analogy underscores the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone to foster meaningful connections that can lead to sales.

Personal Success Story: The Impact of "I Thought of You"

Steph shares a compelling personal story demonstrating the effectiveness of her four-word strategy. She recounts reaching out to two one-on-one clients who had attended her webinar but hadn't taken further action. By personally messaging them with "I thought of you," she successfully converted both into ongoing clients.

"I thought of you because of all of the progress we've made together, one on one. And I wanted to make sure that you knew that you were personally invited. I'd love to have you there."
[21:30]

This anecdote serves as tangible proof of how personalized invitations can overcome barriers and build stronger client relationships.

Practical Steps: Homework for Implementing the Strategy

To help listeners apply this strategy, Steph outlines a two-step homework assignment:

Create a List of Interested Individuals:
- Compile names of people who have engaged with your business in any form—webinar attendees, email interactors, social media engagers, past clients, etc.
"Write a big old list of people."
[27:00]
Personalize and Reach Out Using "I Thought of You":
- Craft personalized messages incorporating "I thought of you" to invite these individuals into your offerings.
- End the message with a question to prompt a response, such as "Does it make sense for us to talk?"
"Hey, [Name]. I thought of you because [personalized reason]. I wanted to make sure you knew about [offer] because I think you'd be a great fit. What do you think?"
[29:15]

Overcoming the Fear of Rejection

Steph acknowledges the fear entrepreneurs may have about seeming desperate when making direct outreach. She reframes rejection as a natural part of the process, encouraging listeners to view personal invitations as inclusive and respectful rather than pushy.

"What is desperate about that? What is desperate? It's inclusive. It's loving. It's, you know, it's courageous."
[34:50]

Conclusion: Embrace Courage and Clarity in Sales

Steph wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of taking the first step in sales outreach. She urges entrepreneurs to adopt the "I thought of you" approach to unlock new opportunities and foster deeper client relationships.

"You gotta have the courage to be the one who makes the first move."
[43:10]

She invites listeners to implement this strategy and share their experiences, reinforcing that personal invitations can significantly enhance sales outcomes without compromising authenticity.

Final Takeaways

Balance Passive and Direct Marketing: Incorporate both strategies to engage potential clients effectively.
Use "I Thought of You": Personalize invitations to make clients feel valued and recognized.
Take the First Step: Overcome fear by initiating contact, understanding that rejection is not a reflection of worth.
Implement Practical Steps: Create a targeted list and reach out with personalized messages to convert interest into action.

By embracing these principles, entrepreneurs can transform their sales processes, fostering meaningful connections that drive sustainable business growth.

Notable Quotes:

"I thought of you are the four most powerful words in sales." – Steph Crowder [05:50]
"It's like they had that. They're sitting there thinking, you know what? I did want to join." – Steph Crowder [11:40]
"What is desperate about that? What is desperate? It's inclusive. It's loving. It's, you know, it's courageous." – Steph Crowder [34:50]

Resources Mentioned:

Foundational Sales Training Program: Same Day Sales
Learn more at stephcrowder.com

Connect with Steph Crowder:

Instagram: @StephCrowder
Email: Respond to any emails received from Steph for further engagement and support.

This episode serves as a valuable guide for entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their sales strategies by fostering genuine connections through personalized outreach. By implementing the "I thought of you" approach, listeners can expect to see increased engagement and conversion rates in their businesses.

Transcript

A (0:04)

Welcome to the Courage and Clarity podcast. I'm your host, Steph Crowder. I'm a former sales training director who's helped thousands of entrepreneurs earn a living doing something they love over the past 10 years. On your journey, you'll need the courage to be bold, to take risks, and to do what looks crazy on paper. You'll also need the clarity, the brass tacks, simple strategies that actually work. And on this podcast, we deliver both in equal measure. Oh, and by the way, we've got absolutely no time for bs, gross marketing tactics or get rich quick schemes. Just sustainable business strategies for good humans with big dreams. If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Let's go. Hey there, CNC listeners. Welcome back to the podcast. This is episode number 118. We are talking about the four most powerful words in sales. Did you know there are just four words that are the most powerful as decided by yours truly? Okay, but I've been talking about this a lot, a lot with my clients lately, and I thought it's been coming up so often, and it's been so helpful for the business owners that I coach inside my programs that I really wanted to bring to the podcast because these four words are so simple, so natural, so inviting, and perhaps most importantly, you're probably not using them. You're likely not doing this. So I'm gonna share, of course, what these words are, how you can use them, where you can use them in your conversations, what it sounds like. And you're gonna walk away from today's episode feeling really empowered to call more people in, to work with you in a very direct way that doesn't feel gr. Gross or desperate or like you're begging anyone. All right, so many entrepreneurs struggle with sales because they rely too much on passive marketing instead of direct invitations. Passive marketing instead of direct invitations. I've definitely talked about this here on the podcast before, and I just want to come right out and say there's nothing wrong with more quote, unquote, passive market marketing strategies. What I mean when I say that is I like to think about pushing out as being passive marketing versus pulling in, being the direct invitations. What I mean by that is when you are pushing out, like an email blast, okay, and you're telling people, buy it, the doors are closing now. On sale, right? Pushing that out, Instagram posts, podcast episodes. That's more passive marketing. Now, do not get it twisted. I'm not saying it's not effective here I am recording a podcast episode, okay? But there's not enough direct invitations. Happening. So if you're feeling stuck in your sales process, this could be the shift that changes everything. I've seen it happen over and over again, and we are really gonna get into the brass tacks of how you can implement this. I'm not gonna gatekeep. I'm not gonna gatekeep my four words. I'm gonna share them with you right now. I'm gonna tell you a couple stories, and then we're gonna talk about exactly how this can sound. So my clients already know. Clients listening to this episode. Pop quiz. What are the four most powerful words in sales? Jeopardy. Music. Okay, if you said I thought of you, then you would be correct. I thought of you are the four most powerful words in sales. We're going to get into why, but this episode is really going to be about how you can create non sleazy, non weird, non creepy, non direct personal invitations to interested parties who, for whatever reason, are sitting on the fence. And you know they're sitting, and you know they're opening your emails, and they're not moving. Okay, so let's talk about how these four most powerful words are gonna change the way you move through your sales process with your prospects and your clients. Okay. This episode is really inspired by a conversation I was having with a friend of mine who was recently going through a launch. And the truth is, this is just one friend, but I've coached so many clients on this exact situation. This friend recently hosted a webinar, and during the webinar, she had. So if I'm going off of memory here, which is really never a good idea for me, but just bear with me. Okay? This friend told me that she had 14 live attendees on her webinar. 14 people came. 14 people. I mean, just let's think about that for a second, okay? 14 people who have a whole busy life stopped what they were doing to come to my friend's webinar. It might not sound like a huge number, but if you really think about, like, sometimes I like to imagine, like, a physical classroom. Cause a lot of people are like, oh, only five people came. Only 10 people came. Only 14 people came. And I'm like, yo, if you were teaching a class and 14 butts were in the seats, you would be like, this ain't nobody, right? 14 whole people. Huge. Right off the bat. Okay? And then on top of that, she had something like 20 replay views. So when she sent out the replay after the class, something like 20 people on top of that. Watch the training. Now, my friend's goal was just One sale. This is all she was going for for this particular launch. She's like, if I could just get one sale, it would make it feel like this was this. Doing this webinar was worth my effort. Okay. She was really expecting one sale, and it didn't happen right away. So, of course, naturally, she was feeling stuck and discouraged when no one was taking action. She was following up with emails. She was doing all of the right things. Except when I probed, this is not a new business owner, by the way. Okay. This is someone who really knows what they're doing. And I asked her if she had personally reached out to each of those 14 live attendees and 20 replay viewers, and of course, she had not. Okay. And when I asked her why I wasn't surprised by the answer, she said, you know, I don't. Sure, Steph, I'm open to doing that, but I don't want to be desperate, and I don't want to sound like a loser because no one's buying my program. So we're going to dig into this, right? Many business owners feel this way. You're wondering why people aren't buying, and you don't want to look desperate, but in reality, you haven't actually invited anyone, Right? And you're thinking to yourself, like, no, I'm sending out the email blast. Like, I'm telling them the doors are closing, but have they actually been invited? Here's the mindset shift I want you to think about in terms of why personal invitations matter. Many people are interested, but are waiting for an invitation. Many people are interested. They're interested. They're sitting there with interest. Like I told you, my friend's webinar, 14 people took that time out of their day. You're telling me they're not interested? They're absolutely interested in what it is that you have to say, but they're waiting for the invitation to feel right for them. Right? And at the same time, us as business owners have that fear of seeming desperate, and it's holding us back. It's like. It's like they're sitting there waiting for the invitation. They're interested, and they just need to be invited in some cases. Not in all of the cases, but I'm about to share with you some examples of how, how, and when this has been true. But that fear is holding us back from making the first move. Right? So let's reframe the idea of direct outreach, and then we're gonna go into some examples. So I want you to have the thought. It's not about begging, okay? There's no begging involved. There's no desperation involved. Instead, it's about making sure that the right people know that this is for them. It's about making sure the right people know that this is for them. Receiving a personal invitation makes someone feel valued. It makes someone feel recognized, and it can be really reassuring. It's like they had that. They're sitting there thinking, you know what? I did want to join. And now that you've reached out and helped me feel validated in taking that step, it opens the conversation and I'm ready. I'm ready to move forward, right? So instead of assuming that no response when you're sending your email or people are passively watching your webinar, whatever it may be, instead of assuming that no response means no interest, you're better off assuming what is actually more likely, which is that they're busy or they're unsure and they're not confident that this is actually for them. So I actually have the perfect analogy for this. And when I shared it with my friend, the one with the webinar, she was like, this is so brilliant. You need to talk about this on your podcast. So here I am. Okay, here's an analogy. We're going to call this the sales bar analogy, all right? I want you to imagine sitting at a bar, okay? You're single, you're sitting at a bar, and across the bar, you see someone attractive, and you're like, wow, that person looks really cool and really cute. And I wish they'd come talk to me. Like, I wish they'd come act, like, ask me out. I'm just gonna, like, kind of try to catch their eye or try to put out the vibe, right? I'm gonna try to, like, bat my eyelashes at them and hope that if I put out enough energy, they will come and ask me out. That's what a lot of you are doing when you're sending your emails, your email blasts, right? Not talking about personal emails. I'm talking about your email blasts, your email campaigns through ConvertKit or wherever, you're doing your emails, right? Your launch emails, you're posting on Instagram. You're hoping that people get the message, right? But instead, what if. And I know this is scary, so bear with me here. What if you had the courage to walk across the bar, walk across the room and say, hey, I wanted to talk to you. You seem cool. Do you want to go on a date with me? Right? In the case of sales, I think you'd be a great fit for this thing. I'm offering. I thought of you. The moral of the story is if you want someone to hire you, you want them to work with you, you want them to take action, you have to have the courage to make the first move. How many of us are waiting for clients, customers, prospects to make the first move? Because we're like, no, no, I can't. I can't risk looking desperate. I can't risk being rejected. It's the same in dating, isn't it? Like, yeah, of course it's nerve wracking and maybe even a little embarrassing to get up across the room and walk over and be like, hey, you seem cool. Like, I noticed that we're both drinking the same drink. We have something in common. I'm wondering if you'd like to go out on a date. On a date with me. I can't even say it. I'm like, you know, tripping over my words. It's a little nerve wracking even imagining being in the situation, right? But no risk, no reward. And if you think about doing it enough times, doing it with confidence, we've all seen that person who has like, no problem asking someone out because you've done it. And they're like, the worst thing that can happen is somebody says no. Right? How often in that situation do you look at somebody and be like, ugh, they were desperate. A lot of times we have respect for that person and we think, wow, that was kind of a bold move. Like, I respect it. Even if I say no to the date, there's a lot of respect for courage. And there's also something that feels really good inside of us when even if somebody asks you out and it's a no for you, kind of feels good to be singled out, right? Kind of feels good to be valued in that way. And so can you have the courage? Can you stop making eyes across the room and hoping your customers get the message? Can you have the courage to get up and walk on over and ask them the question? Right? And to make the first move, let me give you some real life proof of a time that this happened to me, how this worked for me. A couple years ago when I was relaunching my, my mastermind, which is now called sold out group programs, I was working with one on one clients and I actually had two separate one on one clients of mine who I thought would have been a perfect fit for my mastermind. Our one on one time together was ending, so we were no longer going to be working together, just per the terms of our contract. And I was pushing and pushing and promoting and promoting my Mastermind. It was everywhere. With, on my podcast, I had a webinar, emails, Instagram. Like, there was no way that these two one on one clients were not seeing the message. So I assumed that if they wanted to join, they would have. They definitely saw the message after all. But they didn't. They weren't joining. They didn't bring it up on our calls. And I honestly almost let the opportunity pass by. I was like, I don't wanna be pushy, right? But then I realized that this is my job to teach you all how to do this. And I was thinking of my own clients. And I was like, no, no, no. I would never let my clients off if this were their business. I have to reach out personally. And so I reached out and I used my four favorite words. I thought of you. Hey, I've loved working with you one on one. I have this mastermind coming up. I thought of you because of all of the progress we've made together, one on one. And I wanted to make sure that you knew that you were personally invited. I'd love to have you there. Here were their responses, and both of them surprised me. Client number one said, I didn't even think of that. I saw your mastermind. I just didn't even think about it. She ended up signing client number two. I assumed, because you didn't mention it, Steph, you didn't think I was a good fit. How about that? Hey, yeah, I saw you promoting your Mastermind. Looks really cool. But because you didn't bring it up, I thought that you thought I wasn't a good fit, right? So basically, so because you didn't ask me out, I figured you didn't want to go out with me. How incredible is that? That client ended up signing. Actually, both of these clients are still clients today. This is years ago. So the takeaway is, what if your potential clients are waiting for you to personally invite them? What if that's the missing step? What if it's not that you messed up your webinar? It's not that you did anything wrong. It's not that, you know anything else has happened other than they haven't been personally invited. So how can you use this in your business? Here comes the homework. Here comes the tactical, practical. Right? Their first step is I want you to make a list of people who have engaged in any way. I'm always talking to my clients about how another analogy about dating is like, have you ever been in a situation where you were talking to somebody. And then you go like, your friends observe. Like you're talking to a stranger in a place, okay? And then your friends are like giggling. And you go back to your friends and you're like, what? And they're like, you were flirting with that guy, right? Or you were flirting with that girl, she was flirting with you. And you're like, no, they're not interested in me. And your friends are like, yeah, they were right? A lot of you are not recognizing interest in your business. People are interested, they're trying to flirt with you. They're like putting the moves on you, and you are not getting it. My friends, okay, so anytime, make no mistake, anytime anybody does anything related to your business, they send you a dm. They come to your webinar, they click your email, They're a past client. Any behavior in the busy world we live in is interest. So I want you to make a list of anyone who has expressed interest in any way, any kind, commenting on your posts, sending you DMs, telling you they liked your podcast, coming to your webinar, writing in your Facebook group, anything you can think of and write them down, okay? Write a big old list of people. Step two is to personally reach out with a message like this. Here's a little bit of fill in the blank for you, okay? Make this your own short and sweet. Hey, name. I thought of you because personalized reason, right? Because I saw you on my webinar. You stayed the whole time. That was awesome. Because you were a past client, we made so much progress together because we've been having so many cool back and forth conversations on. On Instagram. Because you liked that one post where I talked about the thing, right? I thought of you because blank, it can be simple. Don't overthink this. I wanted to make sure you knew about offer because I think you'd be a great fit. Right? And then I personally always like to end on a question and I'll say, what do you think? Does it make sense for us to talk? You could even say like, no pressure at all. Just wanted you to know that I was thinking of you. Just wanted to make sure you knew you were invited. Sometimes I've even said, hey, this offer is about to wrap up. Like, the card is closing, the doors are closing. I'm not sure if you've seen we're wrapping this thing up and I just had to make sure that if you were meant to be in this room, that you knew you were invited. I wanna make sure I'm not leaving anybody behind. Who is meant to be in this room? Tell me, my friends, what is desperate about that? What is desperate? It's inclusive. It's loving. It's, you know, it's courageous. And of course, like, most people are gonna not reply or be like, yeah, not right now, or whatever. It's not about everybody saying yes, but even the people who say no will be grateful that you reached out. I have never. And I do this all the time. Years and years of doing this, I cannot think of one time where someone's like, no, I'm not interested. And by the way, I'm offended that you asked. It just hasn't happened. Okay, so you're not going to be desperate. The rejection, it might be. It might. It might not feel amazing, but you gotta crack some eggs to make an omelette here, right? So normalize that. People are gonna say no. Also, you might get a yes or a yeah. Actually, I would like to talk to you. Can we set up a call? Right? And then you can go deep with them and do your sales call and get their objections, and you're off to the races. So my final takeaway for you on this is you gotta stop waiting for people to come to you. You gotta stop. If you are saying you want more clients, you have to have the courage to be the one who makes the first move. My friend that I told you about with the webinar was like, why didn't I think of that? You're right. I do need to take the time to end. And by the way, she's an advanced business owner. This is not for beginners. I mean, it is for beginners, but this person makes over 500k a year in her business. Okay, this isn't just some, like, little beginner strategy. This is an advanced strategy, too. Right? I want you to try using I thought of you this week and see what happens and tell me what happens. I'd love to hear from you. You can tag me or reach out to me on Instagram at Hey, Steph Crowder, you can reply to any of my emails that you get in your inbox. I'd love to hear what happens. I want you to really ask yourself, who do you need to reach out to today? Make sure you make your list. Start using this, and never assume that just because you're putting it out there with that passive marketing, you gotta go the extra mile and really think about how to integrate personal invitations if you want more help with personal invitations and how to do direct outreach and how to find more clients within your network that you literally have people in your network right now. Your Instagram following your email list also offline. In your everyday life, there are clients lurking in there that you just haven't closed yet. And I teach people how to find them, how to close them, what to say and how to say it, including templates for all of this inside of my foundational sales training program called Same Day Sales. So you can go to stephcrowder.com and check it out. We are going to be doing a pretty like a, like a bigger launch for Same Day Sales soon. But you can read about all of the details and come join us inside of Same Day Sales where you can really master this skill as well as so many more. You would be amazed at how many clients you have that are watching and lurking and they're just not converting. And in a lot of cases, you just haven't done the right things in terms of actually reaching out to them and converting them once and for all. Okay, my friends, I hope you love this episode. Please let me know if you do. And until next time, I'm wishing you the courage and the clarity to go after what you love.