Does your stomach and jaw clench when you think about meeting with potential clients? Perhaps your voice bobbles between a dull monotone and a fake fever pitch when you talk to customers? Take heart - there are ways to focus in on your business and the purpose behind it that can make "selling" not feel like sales at all.

So many people make the mistake of only concentrating on getting the order and closing the deal. For some, this can work. But for the majority it puts so much pressure on closing the deal from the first bit of conversation that the customer ends up feeling put off by this approach.

Instead, before you make the call or go into the meeting, take a moment to remember what your company's mission is. Beyond the motivation to be number one in your market, there's hopefully also a sense of what makes your product and your company useful to the world at large. If that isn't included in your mission statement, you may want to revise it.

By anchoring your pitch and your own commitment in how your customer can benefit from your product's sale, you'll find yourself speaking in a more genuine and sincere manner. And even if the buyer doesn't sign on at the end of the conversation, they're likely to be much more open to hearing from you again because they sensed that there really could be something meaningful for them in what your company has to offer.

Is your product an eco-friendly one? Do you make sure the workers making it are treated fairly and paid a good wage? So much the better, because everyone recognizes how vital such things are nowadays and, from a mercenary perspective, it's great for marketing as well. Reporters love to write articles about companies that do business this way.

Contributing part of your sales to a worthwhile organization - one that you truly believe in - can also make it easier to talk to customers. Why? Because you're speaking on behalf of that organization as well as your business when you're discussing your product.

So, if you haven't already, consider aligning your business and product with a mission you can feel proud of. It takes the pressure off talking with potential customers because it doesn't feel like "selling" when you've created something you truly believe in.