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How confident are you, really?
| Guest post by: Trent Leyshan |
Article Overview: I have talked at length in my blogs about the importance of being confident when selling. This week I thought I would shed some light on how you can not only build confidence in your sales role but also create a way of being that will transform your sales performance.
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Free Download - Find fear before it finds you By Trent Leyshan |
How confident are you, really?
I have talked at length in my blogs about the importance of being confident when selling.
This week I thought I would shed some light on how you can not only build confidence in your sales role but also create a way of being that will transform your sales performance.
What is confidence? Dictionary.com: full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. What a great definition and way of being to work and live by. Full trust, belief, trustworthiness and reliability! If you give your customer these things you will have them for life, it's that simple.
As a (willing) potential customer I want to trust you and believe in what you are saying and that you will deliver on your promise. You can make the odd mistake here-and-there, because if I trust you it's not a deal breaker-I know you will be the first person to bring it to my attention. You can sell the best product or service in town, but if your salespeople fail to install belief, build trust and deliver on their promises, the success of your business is limited, if not ultimately removed.
Without confidence a salesperson is left second guessing, concocting strategies on the fly and more often than not reinventing the wheel periodically.
Can you be too confident when selling? The short answer is yes. Overconfidence is a sign of incompetence. It shows a lack of humility and you have ceased the willingness to learn and develop knowledge and skills. Overconfident salespeople cut corners and they avoid details and being accountable when things go wrong. While confidence is key, ‘overindulgence,' like most things in life, is ill advised.
Tips to be more confident when selling:
Only sell something you truly believe in
Develop a passion for learning about your product, service and industry
Work for a company you truly believe in
Become an expert at delivering valuable outcomes, not excuses
Create successful habits around your preparation and time management
Exercise the power of saying NO!
Only engage clients you are confident you can deliver for, if not exceed expectations
Try selling your service or product just under market value, or adding more value than anyone else in your space
• Narrow your focus and work with less but more valuable clients
• Speak with your clients regularly for positive and negative feedback
What has worked for me personally over the years is developing an unrelenting commitment to learning about what I do and becoming the best at it. My philosophy is, if you are going to do something -be the best, and if that's not possible be the best you can be. With this type of commitment-confidence and success is sure to follow.
Related ArticlesWhat is confidence? Dictionary.com: full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. What a great definition and way of being to work and live by. Full trust, belief, trustworthiness and reliability! If you give your customer these things you will have them for life, it's that simple.
As a (willing) potential customer I want to trust you and believe in what you are saying and that you will deliver on your promise. You can make the odd mistake here-and-there, because if I trust you it's not a deal breaker-I know you will be the first person to bring it to my attention. You can sell the best product or service in town, but if your salespeople fail to install belief, build trust and deliver on their promises, the success of your business is limited, if not ultimately removed.
Without confidence a salesperson is left second guessing, concocting strategies on the fly and more often than not reinventing the wheel periodically.
I can tell you from experience this is a flawed approach that breeds incompetence, contempt, and underachievement. Give me a confident salesperson willing to learn and committed to never-ending-improvement and I will show you a person with almost unlimited potential-competence breeds confidence.
To be confident in sales you need to believe in what you sell. Too often salespeople sell things or work for companies they dont believe in. As a customer I can smell this type of self-focused salesperson a mile off. So, I dont care what you say-I'm not buying it buddy.
To be confident in sales you need to believe in what you sell. Too often salespeople sell things or work for companies they dont believe in. As a customer I can smell this type of self-focused salesperson a mile off. So, I dont care what you say-I'm not buying it buddy.
Can you be too confident when selling? The short answer is yes. Overconfidence is a sign of incompetence. It shows a lack of humility and you have ceased the willingness to learn and develop knowledge and skills. Overconfident salespeople cut corners and they avoid details and being accountable when things go wrong. While confidence is key, ‘overindulgence,' like most things in life, is ill advised.
Tips to be more confident when selling:
Only sell something you truly believe in
Develop a passion for learning about your product, service and industry
Work for a company you truly believe in
Become an expert at delivering valuable outcomes, not excuses
Create successful habits around your preparation and time management
Exercise the power of saying NO!
Only engage clients you are confident you can deliver for, if not exceed expectations
Try selling your service or product just under market value, or adding more value than anyone else in your space
• Narrow your focus and work with less but more valuable clients
• Speak with your clients regularly for positive and negative feedback
What has worked for me personally over the years is developing an unrelenting commitment to learning about what I do and becoming the best at it. My philosophy is, if you are going to do something -be the best, and if that's not possible be the best you can be. With this type of commitment-confidence and success is sure to follow.
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Article Tags: Sales Training
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About the Author: Trent Leyshan RSS for Trent's articles - Visit Trent's website Trent Leyshan is founder, CEO of BOOM! A leading international sales training company that specialises in the development of inspirational sales cultures, leaders and salespeople. Early in his career Trent was head tradeshow spruiker and sales manager for Australia's most flamboyant TV salesman, Big Kev. He has since driven two of his own companies from lounge room operations into market leaders. And led sales teams in leading new media and advertising agencies. Trent is a sought after expert and facilitator on sales performance and strategy. He is the Author of sales book, The Naked Salesman: How to walk the talk and sell your way to success! BOOM! develops sales training strategies and delivers inspiring learning experiences for some of the world's most successful and demanding sales driven organisations. Empowering them with modern skills and tools to effectively engage with customers and build stronger and more valuable relationships.
Click here to visit Trent's website   Cut the dead wood Chance favours the prepared Are you Hard Scrambled or Soft My Sales team arent getting along am I doing anything wrong Are you really listening |
Related Forum Posts
Re: Secret Success of the Coin Toss
- How one can let a coin to decide, I think a person should be self confident & decision making power..
Everyone has different skillsets
- Hi Kevin
It totally depends on the persons confidence with handling the technical side of the business such as web hosting. For example I tend to make a profit of $50 - $100 a year for handling one of my clients (business management industry) web hosting requirements. However if I didn't help him out he would most certainly spend more than $50 - $100 of his time during the year trying to figure out FTP settings, name servers, configuration options etc so it's more economical for him to pay a little extra and not have to worry about it.
It's also something that differs from person to person and the industry they are working in. If the person is computer literate and are confident in learning new technical skills on the computer I would be confident they could handle their own web hosting etc and I know of entrepreneurs who do this.
For me, I would say I am the same when it comes to servicing my vehicle. If I had to do it myself I could save a little extra money but it's not worth the risk that I could do something wrong and have to spend more time fixing the problem I created. I'd rather just pay someone a little extra to do the job efficiently and correctly.
Re: Not bothered
- [quote="ms-independence":2mcny2u4]It doesn't really bother me because I can do anything a guy can do ...backwards and in heels! Hey, I can even multi-task!
Seriously, I'm confident in who I am and in my abilities so I don't mind being referred to as a 'girl' at all. And, I've often heard guys refer to each other as "boys", as in "one of the boys" or "good old boy".
For the record, I'm 52 (but just celebrated my 32nd birthday), and worked in a Fortune 500 company for 15 years as a software designer.[/quote:2mcny2u4]
Great attitude. I've dealt with many women who didn't mind being called one of the girls or one of the guys. I've never meant that in a derogatory way and no one has ever mentioned it as being a problem for them. The confident women I know in business don't have a problem with either term. If someone is being derogatory - that's different, but that's hard to determine unless you're talking to them in person and can still be misconstrued. Now I will admit that I know some women who dislike being called ma'am - but that's because it makes them feel old...
Chris
Re: Ever been scammed...
- Sometimes it's just too hard to avoid being scammed. People are thinking of new ways to get one-up on you, and will always try to take advantage of a vulnerable customer.
All I can advise is that you appear as confident as possible when speaking to traders etc, so they don't feel an inclination to try and rip you off. If someone spots an opportunity, they are more than likely to take it.
Re: Would you pass on a media opportunity?
- I guess my answer would have to depend on why I was offered a media opportunity.
Some people are born to be confident in front of cameras, and I am surely not one of them, but if it ha something to do with politics, I'm surely gonna pass on that one.
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