"You can be high touch without being high pressure. My goal isn’t to get you to buy—it’s to help you make the best decision for your business.”
Dr. Michelle Mazur - messaging strategist and community builder for experts - has a point of view about sales for experts and other service-based businesses. An, as we say, aggressively human approach to sales.
Because as Michelle covers in this episode, the lower-touch strategies that might have worked a few years ago in sales aren’t working (or working as well) anymore.
“We can't just like hide behind our laptops anymore and think the sales are just going to roll in. It doesn't work. It doesn't work that way anymore.”
Consumers are more discerning - in part, due to Michelle’s co-hosted podcast called Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business.
The economy got weird and the post-COVID stimulus boom is over
The previously mentioned enshittification of the Internet and the “For You” vs. Followers era of social media
And for high-touch services, it’s not about a high-volume or high-pressure process. It’s about making connections with the right humans, who are the right fit (and are the right timing and readiness) for your services.
"The more personal, the more tailored, the more customized you can be right now, the better you’re going to be—because people deserve it.
So in today’s episode, you’ll hear about how Michelle is taking a human-centric approach to sales and community building.
Private tours, 80% conversions, zero sleaze—hear her sales process that is part college tour, part vibe check.
“But it doesn’t scale!!” How to think about sales when you’re selling high-touch, high-value, or high-cost services.
Want to speed up the buying cycle with automation and AI? Maybe not - how slowing down your sales process can actually make you the fastest closer in a weird economy.
“Nobody buys a community”: what happens when you build community people didn’t know they needed—and how fast they connect once they’re inside.
Marketing isn’t guesswork— how the quarterly marketing experiments in the Expert Up Club help her (and her clients) stop wasting time and start seeing results.
Michelle’s “situationship” with Claude AI, and where this tool fits into her marketing system and tech stack
What trends are you seeing (or experiencing) in sales for your business? What’s working - and what are you leaving behind for the next year?
Leave a comment to let us know!
“They said, ‘That’s not going to scale.’ And I said, ‘I’m not worried about scale. I’m worried about my business surviving and thriving.’”
About our Guest
Michelle Mazur’s Three Word Rebellion – Her book that helps experts create clear, compelling messaging.
The Expert Up Club – Michelle’s community for experts focused on "do less but better" marketing.
Resources
The Duped Podcast – Co-hosted by Michelle Mazur and Maggie Patterson, exploring the dark side of online business.
Heidi Taylor – A sales coach mentioned in connection with Michelle’s business journey.
Claude AI – An AI tool Michelle uses to streamline her messaging work, particularly analyzing voice-of-customer data.
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