034: Relationship Selling with Nikki Rausch

How do you approach selling, whether it’s your product/service or yourself for speaking engagements? Do you schedule time and make it a priority or do you tend to procrastinate on it because you don’t like “sales” and you’re not sure what to do or say?

In this mini-training, my guest Nikki Rausch, founder of the Sales Maven, walks us through how to do the sales process, from prospecting to closing, in a way that feels good for both you and the other person and builds a relationship, not a transaction.

We talk about what to say so you can get to the next step with a prospect, why you need to take the lead, and why you should offer clients several options for your product or service (you’ll hear why this works so well!).

About My Guest: Sales Maven founder and bestselling author, Nikki Rausch, is an award-winning sales executive with 23+ years of sales experience selling to organizations such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett Packard, Seattle Public Schools, & NASA. By combining her sales experience with her master certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Nikki teaches simple, yet powerful techniques anyone can use. Entrepreneurs hire Nikki to learn how to sell in an authentic way without being pushy so they build relationships and close more deals. Her two books, Six-Word Lessons on Influencing with Grace: 100 Lessons to Genuinely Connect with Colleagues, Friends, Family, and Lovers and Buying Signals, How To Spot The Green Light & Increase Your Sales are both available on Amazon.

Highlights:

• Why many of us don’t like selling
• A better way of looking at selling
• Prospecting and setting up the first call
• Phone vs video vs in-person
• Getting to the next step with the prospect
• Ways to close without feeling icky
• Why you need to take the lead in the sales process

Links:

Sign up for Nikki’s newsletter (it’s one of my favorites) at http://yoursalesmaven.com/sales-resources/

Connect with Nikki on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Join the free Speaking Your Brand community at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/join/.

Say hi to me on Twitter @CarolMorganCox

Subscribe to the podcast and leave a review!

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable