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How can mindfulness and meditation teachers better sell their offerings to decision-makers in the corporate world?
In this episode, Sean Fargo speaks with Danny Grieco, an expert in teaching mindfulness and meditation in corporate settings. Danny shares his journey, experiences, and insights on how to effectively introduce mindfulness practices in organizations. With over 10 years of personal practice and professional experience in both mindfulness and sales, Danny provides valuable advice for mindfulness teachers looking to make an impact in the corporate world.
This episode is sponsored by our Mindfulness Sales Course with Danny Grieco. Learn more about this unique, online program at
mindfulnessexercises.com/mindfulness-sales-course/
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Show Notes:
Two main challenges to selling mindfulness
In Danny’s experience, two main objections arise when selling mindfulness to organizations. The first is corporate skepticism towards mindfulness practices. For executives who live ‘in their heads,’ mindfulness often feels too ‘woo-woo.’ There is also the fear that spending money on mindfulness offers little to no return on investment. Danny offers strategies for framing mindfulness in a way that resonates with corporate clients and helps them overcome these misconceptions.
What makes for a success story
It’s beneficial to measure success in terms of both quantitative and qualitative results. Danny shares a transformative experience from a mindfulness workshop he shared at Facebook, in which an employee recounted how mindfulness helped her better relate to her coworkers. Positive outcomes can also be measured quantitatively in terms of self-reported stress levels, employee engagement, and connection to meaning and purpose.
Effective pitching techniques
In sales meetings, presenters can sometimes feel rushed, anxious to present their case before anyone vocalizes an objection. Mindfulness teachers who embody the practice thus begin with an advantage. Empathetic and compassionate listening can help mindfulness teachers connect with their clients. The best pitches also involve storytelling and speaking to clients in the language they're most likely to understand.
Experiencing versus explaining
Danny emphasizes the skill of helping people feel the benefits of mindfulness in their bodies, versus listening to a cognitively-based explanation. This is something that mindfulness teachers are well trained in, and it’s also a valuable sales skill. We might lead a brief 2-minute practice in a meeting, for example. We could also invite our clients to reflect on a past, mindful experience, or to imagine what a mindful workplace might feel like.
Maintaining authenticity and compassion
It may seem that selling is at odds with mindfulness, but it’s possible to sell mindfulness courses without compromising one’s authenticity and compassion. Danny emphasizes the importance of reconnecting to your ‘why,’ especially before engaging with potential clients. He explains why selling isn’t ‘dirty’ when it’s rooted in purpose and the desire to share these valuable practices with others.
Favorite Quotes:
"The beauty of being a mindfulness teacher is that most of us are practitioners. We know how to feel, and we'll talk about ways to actually get people to feel it themselves as well." - Danny Grieco
"Imagine if even team offsites started with just a few breaths. How do you think that might change things?" - Sean Fargo
"Our embodiment, how we show up to these (sales meetings), our energy going into these is, in a sense, showing what we're going to be bringing to them." - Danny Grieco
"When we start by really knowing what our intention is, we're automatically coming from a place of authenticity." - Danny Grieco
Additional Resources:
About Danny Grieco:
Danny Griego of MindHawk.co has been in the world of tech sales for more than 16 years. He once sold SAAS, hardware, and custom applications across almost every industry, from small startups to Fortune 500 and 100 companies. Now, he trains and coaches both sales and mindfulness skills for companies like Meta, Amazon, and Gusto as well as nearly a dozen Y Combinator startups.
Danny has over 10 years practicing and studying mindfulness and emotional intelligence, including daily practice, silent retreats, and academic study. He received his teacher certification from the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), the science-based program born at Google.
He credits his mindfulness practice with helping him remain relatively sane in the rapidly paced tech scene, achieving greater business metrics as a result.
