How to Get Over the Cringe of Selling

Today marks the last month of the year, so I’m going to just come right out and say the thing you need to hear:

Ouch, right? Well the truth hurts and honestly these type of hard-truths are the only way I have survived nearly 3 years of consulting. Every business owner needs a person in their life who will kick them in the pants every now and then. If you don’t have that person, then you can consider that person me.

Let’s start with stating something I say a lot: a consulting business is not a side hustle held together by luck and good timing. Referrals are nice, but they’re not a strategy. The consultants who build sustainable practices are the ones who’ve figured out how to create their own momentum because they know how to sell.

So, that’s the superpower you need to build for 2026. Learn how to get over the cringe, identify a niche, build a program, and sell your consulting services. Because no one is coming to save you.

So let’s talk about how to sell in a way that doesn’t make you die a little inside every time you put yourself out there. I’ve found these four approaches the most digestable…

Every consultant thinks they can lead with “I can help anyone with communications.” I’m so sorry but that’s not a service. We know you can do it all, but to potential clients, this looks like jack of all trades, master of none. This might sound good in theory, but in reality the ‘jack of all trades’ activities are going to be done by AI. You need to be a master problem-solver for a specific thing, because founders don’t wake up thinking, “I need communications help.” They wake up thinking:

Those are problems. Expensive, urgent, keeping-them-up-at-night problems.

Your job is to connect what you do to one of those problems so clearly that when a founder hears it, they think: That’s exactly what I need.

Try this: Instead of “I help startups with communications,” try “I help Series A founders build the narrative that gets them to Series B. Most founders at your stage have a product story but not a company story — and that’s what’s stalling your fundraise.”

See the difference? One is a capability. The other is a solution to a specific problem at a specific moment.

If every engagement starts from scratch, you’re going to be in a world of hurt for time, happiness, and results. And, here is your tough love moment…. you’re not offering a product, you’re just an employee who invoices monthly and pays for their own healthcare.

The biggest problem with working with a client without a product or repeatable program, is that you’re likely going to end up doing what they want you to do, not what you have advised them to do. It’s a mindset and a power shift (and honestly makes work a lot more fun).

The consultants who have mastered this shift are the ones who’ve productized their expertise. They’ve taken the problems they solve repeatedly and turned them into frameworks, systems, and deliverables that they can execute faster and better each time. This means expectations are easily set, making results reliable and clients excited about your work.

This isn’t about being robotic. It’s about being efficient enough to be profitable while still delivering exceptional, personalized work.

Here’s what that looks like: One consultant I know realized she was doing the same “pre-launch messaging sprint” for every startup client. Same discovery questions. Same framework for competitive positioning. Same deliverable structure. So she turned it into a named program: “The Launch Narrative Sprint — 3 weeks to messaging that actually converts.”

Now she’s not selling hours. She’s selling an outcome. She can scope it accurately, price it confidently, and deliver it repeatedly.

Here’s where your thought leadership comes in. In 2026, let’s adopt the mindset of thought leadership strategies that help us stop thinking about contacting people and start thinking about solving problems in public.

The founders who will hire you in Q2 aren’t looking for you yet. They don’t know they have a communications problem. They think they have a “we just need more leads” problem or a “our pitch isn’t landing” problem.

Your job is to show up in their world through content, conversations, visible expertise and by solving problems before they’ve identified you as the solution.

Here’s what that looks like: Instead of sending cold emails that say “I’d love to help with your communications,” write a post about the three messaging mistakes you see Series A founders make (and how to fix them). Share it where your potential clients actually spend time. Let them see you solving the problem before you ever ask for anything.

When they finally realize they need help, you won’t be a stranger in their inbox. You’ll be the person who’s been useful to them for months.

The consultants who figure out how to use AI aren’t just going to be more efficient. They’re going to eat everyone else’s lunch.

I’m not talking about using ChatGPT to write your LinkedIn posts. I’m talking about building AI into the bones of how you work so you can deliver more value, faster, at higher margins.

Every hour you spend on tasks that AI could accelerate is an hour you’re not spending on the strategic thinking your clients actually pay for. Research. First drafts. Data synthesis. Competitive analysis. Interview prep. Content repurposing. All of it can be faster now. And if you’re not taking advantage of that, someone else is.

Here’s what that looks like: That “Launch Narrative Sprint” I mentioned? Imagine cutting the discovery phase in half because you’ve built a workflow that synthesizes competitor messaging, pulls relevant market data, and drafts initial positioning options before you even get on the first call. You’re not replacing your expertise, you’re showing up to every engagement with a head start that used to take days.

The consultants who treat AI as a “nice to have” are going to get outpaced by the ones who treat it as infrastructure. This isn’t about replacing what makes you valuable. It’s about stripping away the friction so you can do more of what makes you valuable.

Your homework: Pick one repetitive task in your workflow this week. Build an AI-assisted process around it. Time yourself before and after. That gap is your new margin.

Most consultants think business development means “talking to more people.” It doesn’t. It really means solving more problems — visibly, repeatedly, and specifically.

Every piece of content you create should solve a problem. Every conversation you have should uncover a problem. Every service you offer should be framed around a problem.

When you shift from “I need to meet more people” to “I need to understand and solve more problems,” everything changes. Your content gets sharper. Your conversations get more valuable. Your services get easier to sell. Your clients get better results.

And when you solve problems publicly and consistently, the referrals and inbound actually do come. Not because you asked for them, but because you’ve made yourself impossible to forget when it comes to solving that problem.

Now, I know why you’re not doing this. I know because I’ve been there. Literally every single person who is putting themself out there has been there, because putting yourself out there feels gross.

Talking about what you’re good at feels braggy. Selling feels sleazy. The whole thing makes you want to hide behind your laptop and just do the work.

But the cringe is the point. It’s the moat. It’s what separates the consultants who build thriving practices from the ones who are perpetually one bad month away from panic.

Every founder you admire got over the cringe. Every consultant with a full pipeline got over the cringe. Every person who’s built something sustainable learned to be visible even when it felt uncomfortable.

Your ability to tolerate that discomfort is directly proportional to your ability to build a business that doesn’t depend on luck.

If you do nothing else this year, do this:

Remember that, like most things worth doing, it’s not complicated… it’s just uncomfortable. And the consultants who push through that discomfort are the ones who will still be here when the economy has done whatever it’s going to do.

No one is coming to save you. But you don’t need saving. You need a system, a niche, and the willingness to sell.

You’ve spent years telling other people’s stories. It’s time to tell your own.

Want help building your program and finding your niche? At Comms People, we’re building the infrastructure to help you stop waiting and start selling. Join us.