Sales has a reputation problem.
Most people picture pressure, awkward DMs, cold pitches, and that low-grade dread that shows up when you know you “should” be selling but would rather reorganize your Google Drive instead. Sales can feel exhausting when it’s happening without a system, clarity, or understanding of where someone is in their decision-making process.
And if you’re an online coach or service-based business owner, sales can feel especially confusing, Not because you don’t know how to sell, but because the version of sales you were taught doesn’t translate cleanly to an online business.
I know this firsthand.
Before everything went digital, my entire career was built in outside sales. I worked for myself starting in 2008, selling services to companies and associations. Sales meant in-person networking, referrals, speaking opportunities, and a very clear process for moving conversations forward. Even when clients were out of state, there was still a system. Calls. Follow-up. Decisions.
Then 2020 hit, and suddenly everything moved online.
No networking events with casual conversations that turned into opportunities. Sales didn’t disappear, but the context changed completely. And if you were online at all, you were hit with the same thing I was: a flood of cold DMs and emails from people who clearly hadn’t done five minutes of research.
That’s when I knew one thing for sure:
Cold pitching strangers in the DMs was not going to be my sales strategy.
Connection still mattered. Conversations still mattered. But the way people entered my world had to change.
Sales for online service providers is a different animal.
Posting content isn’t sales. It’s marketing. And followers aren’t leads. If someone is only following you on social, you have no real way to communicate, nurture, or understand where they are in the buying process.
This post breaks down three shifts that help streamline the sales process so it stops feeling like starting over every week or relying on random bursts of motivation.
Step 1: Get People Into Your World (Before You Ever Worry About Conversations)
One of the biggest mistakes with sales is starting at the wrong point. It happens when you jump straight to conversations without first creating context.
Your goal isn’t to convince someone in a DM. Your goal is to make sure that when a conversation does happen, the other person already has a clear picture of who you are, what you do, and how you help.
This is where positioning matters.
One of my private clients found me through a blog post about VIP Days. She didn’t DM me immediately. She read the post, then went looking for me. She checked my website. She glanced at my Instagram. I don’t post daily. I have a simple nine-grid. About 4,000 followers. Nothing fancy.
But everything matched. So when she sent a DM, it wasn’t cold. It was contextual. We still had a phone conversation before she signed, because sales still requires conversation, but the groundwork was already done.
That’s the difference.
For online businesses, Step 1 isn’t “start more DMs.” It’s how do people enter your world consistently?
For me, that looks like borrowing other people’s audiences:
- Podcast guest spots
- Summits and bundles
- Guest trainings and collaborations
This does two things at once. It builds authority by association, and it brings new people into your ecosystem who already trust the room you’re in. Instead of chasing attention, you’re stepping into it.
This is exactly what’s taught inside the Visibility Builders Society. The focus isn’t on selling on social. It’s on growing your email list and leads through strategic visibility so social becomes a place to connect, not convert.
And this is where email list building becomes non-negotiable. Email gives you multiple ways to communicate, helps you understand what someone is interested in based on what they download or click, and creates space to nurture without pressure.
👉 How to Build Your Email List In 6 Easy Steps
Another powerful filter here is buyer behavior.
A low-ticket micro-offer, something in the $7–$9 range, immediately tells you who’s willing to say yes. I just ran a Micro-Offer Sprint for this exact reason. Someone who buys once is exponentially more likely to buy again compared to someone who has only liked or followed.
Followers are not leads.
Email subscribers are warmer.
Buyers are different entirely.
Sales momentum online starts by getting the right people into your world, not by pushing harder in cold conversations.
Step 2: Clarify Your Sales Process (So You’re Not Guessing What to Do Next)
Once people enter your world, the next problem isn’t “more content.” It’s what happens next.
This is where things can get messy, fast, if you don’t have a defined process for moving someone from “nice meeting you” to “I’m interested” to “what does it look like to work together?” And without a process, everything feels like effort.
So before anything else, here are a few questions that will tell the truth quickly:
- When someone discovers you, what’s the very next step you want them to take?
- If someone follows you on Instagram today, how do they enter your world beyond that?
- If someone meets you at an in-person event, what’s your follow-up sequence and timing?
- What do you have in place for someone who is:
- Just noticing you
- Actively looking for a solution
- Already interested but not sure if you’re the right fit
- How are you collecting signals so you’re not guessing who’s warm and who’s just watching?
Because “sales” online isn’t one action. It’s a path.
Here’s the simplified awareness map I use:
- Unaware: they don’t realize they have a problem (often passive social followers)
- Problem-aware: they know something isn’t working
- Solution-aware: they know the result they want and are looking
- You-aware: they know you, trust you, and are deciding
If you talk to four stages the same way, you’ll feel sales resistance because about 3% of your audience is ready, willing, and able to buy at any given time.
Instead, a real sales process answers this question:
How does someone move from one stage to the next in your world?
Example 1: The in-person connection
Even as an online business, in-person connections still matter. I meet people at events too. Sometimes it turns into a client, and sometimes it turns into something just as valuable: a collaborator who opens doors to new audiences.
So what’s the process?
- If you meet someone in person, what do you do after you exchange info?
- Do you have a reason to stay connected besides “great meeting you”?
Because if the only plan is “hope they remember me,” the process ends the second the event does.
Example 2: Borrowed audiences as a sales engine
This is why bundles, summits, and podcast guesting work so well. They don’t just “get your name out there.” They put you in trusted rooms and bring people into your world faster (like hundreds of email subscribers and leads in a week faster)
And here’s a move a lot of people miss:
If there’s an influencer or expert serving the same audience in a different way, pay attention to who follows them. Those followers are giving away information for free:
- Casual followers of you may be unaware
- Followers of the influencer are often problem-aware or solution-aware
- The people engaging in comments and conversations are usually closer to decision mode
That’s not “being creepy.” That’s being strategic.
Where More Leads, Less Hustle fits
When I hosted my More Leads, Less Hustle micro audio summit, it brought almost 500 new people onto my email list.
And three of the guest experts I invited didn’t know me from Adam. I did the research, reached out intentionally, made it easy to say yes, and built the relationship. That outreach wasn’t “salesy.” It was collaboration.
And that’s exactly what led to the creation of The Yes Playbook: the process for getting a “yes” from people who don’t know you yet, so you can step into rooms and audiences you wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
That’s sales, too. It’s just not the version people think of.
The point of Step 2
A sales process isn’t a funnel diagram. It’s a decision path.
It’s knowing:
- How someone finds you
- What they do next
- What earns trust
- What signals interest
- What prompts a real conversation
Once that’s clear, everything else becomes easier to build and measure.
Step 3: Organize and Track (So Interest Doesn’t Slip Through the Cracks)
This is a critical part of the sales process. Not because tracking is glamorous. Because without it, even strong visibility turns into guesswork.
Once people are entering your world through collaborations, content, launches, or referrals, the question becomes simple: can you tell what they’ve already told you?
Interest doesn’t always show up as a direct “I’m ready.” More often, it shows up in small signals over time. Clicking a link. Downloading something. Replying to an email. Asking a question. Buying a low-ticket offer.
Those moments matter.
Tracking isn’t about being rigid. It’s about being responsive.
For me, that means paying attention to behavior, not just headcount. I want to know how someone entered my world and how they continue to engage, because that context changes the conversation.
At a minimum, I track things like:
- What someone opted into
- What links they clicked
- Whether they replied to an email or message
- What they purchased (especially micro-offers)
That’s enough to tell me whether someone is casually interested, warming up, or actively raising their hand. This is also why I don’t rely on a single tool to tell the whole story.
Most of the time, I use FG Funnels because it’s my all-in-one platform (CRM, landing pages, etc.) During launches, I’ll use a Google spreadsheet to see patterns at a glance, especially since I use gamification to increase engagement. Trello is another great option.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s creating a simple system you can use on repeat.
When someone opts into a summit, downloads a resource, clicks through multiple emails, or buys a $7–$9 micro-offer, that’s not random. That’s information. And when you can see it clearly, follow-up becomes obvious instead of awkward.
This is where the sales process starts to feel lighter because you’re no longer trying to remember who’s interested. You’re responding to what people have already shown you.
And that’s the difference between chasing attention and building momentum.
The Real Goal: Make Sales Sustainable
Sales doesn’t have to feel like a grind.
When real connection, a clear process and a simple system work together, momentum replaces pressure. Follow-up becomes obvious instead of awkward. Conversations make sense in context. Next steps are clear without overthinking.
That’s when sales stops draining your energy and starts supporting your business.
And that’s the point.
If you need help getting out of your head, read:
3 Unexpected Ways to Shift Your Mindset to Get Better Results.
