The Four Currencies of Conversation with Liz Dederer
On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Victoria, Financial Trainer, and she is joined by her client, Liz, to discuss the four currencies of conversation.
Podcast Notes
Liz has been an entrepreneur for 20 years, 10 of those as a side hustle and 10 full time, and she has had five businesses over the course of that time.
Ten years ago she was working full time and found out she was pregnant and she was going to be a single mom. She had a franchise business presented to her and she took it.
She started a web design and marketing agency, which got her out of the corporate world. She grew up working in retail in stores and then wholesale, and she finished by working at Carter’s and Oshkosh in their corporate headquarters in Connecticut in the operations department. She had focused on stores, the customer journey, communication, and how people interact.
Behind the scenes it was a mess, but she grew her web design and marketing business, and, over time, her customers wanted to know the strategic part. She started doing coaching with her customers and she eventually transitioned her business into coaching. A couple years ago the Sales School for Entrepreneurs was born.
She primarily works with women who are starting or growing their boutique service businesses. She mostly writes permission slips for people to show up and be human. Liz wants to empower women to be confident. It is a myth that you can have it all together.
Generally speaking, women are nurturers and pleasers and they have never been taught to speak confidently around and about money. It wasn’t until about 1988 that a woman could get a loan without a man’s signature, and it wasn’t until 1974 that a married woman could get a bank account without her husband’s permission.
At first, it was easy for Liz to set her price and ask for it, because she had a team and she could calculate it. It was non-negotiable. When she started to transition into selling herself, it was a different story. Her first coaching package was three sessions for $99 and included lunch and Liz driving to you, which means she was working almost for free.
Liz has gone through all of the feelings and the experience of marketing and setting the price for herself.
It’s okay to be imperfect and to ask for feedback in a networking call with someone. You don’t need your talk perfected before you give it. You will eventually put your foot in your mouth and forget something and that is okay.
If you are getting it right, someone else is getting it in action. You have a responsibility to your future clients to save them from being helped by the wrong person.
The Four Currencies of Conversations were created because Liz recognized that everyone is weird around money. In any conversation, we are exchanging one of these currencies.
TEMP means Time, Energy, Money, People. Soft currency is energy and people, non quantifiable, and hard currency is time and money, quantifiable. We have all of these within us, but it is important to recognize your dominance.
This shows up in intimate relationships too, and there can be a misalignment that is being used. Recognize your dominant currency, either hard or soft, and listen for key words to hear what currency the other person is speaking.
Hard currency people tend to document things and are less conceptual. Soft currency people may want to talk on the phone. The majority of Liz’s clients are hard currency people and their clients are primarily soft currency people.
For hard currency people, there is comfort in the specificity. For soft currency people, there is comfort in the freedom of the abstract. It is our responsibility to own what we need and be specific with other people who don’t speak your currency so they meet your expectations.
With this, you are listening at a nuance level for the purpose of gaining trust and understanding. How can you expect someone to buy from you if you don’t understand them and they don’t understand you?
Hard currency people need to know where their money is going and what they are going to get for it. You need to have what you are delivering bullet pointed and be very clear on the specifications for those hard currency people. In addition, bold each point and add a picture to make it appealing to soft currency people because they tend to skim.
In terms of salary negotiation, we can approach it in terms of salary, but also in terms of negotiating time off, a flexible schedule, etc., and not even touch salary.
Connect with Liz
Private Facebook Group: Entrepreneurs who Overdeliver
Website: Selling with Service
Random Three Questions
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream
If you won a million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it?
If it was your last night on earth, what would you eat?