When you feel uncertain or unsure of yourself you are unlikely to compel anyone else to buy or to accept your advice. The “killer app” in sales and leadership is Confidence. We are drawn to confident people and put off by uncertainty.
Sales Professionals are constantly in the position of gaining the cooperation of others. You too can increase your influence and success by improving your confidence in everyday sales and management situations.
Having coached and trained thousands of sales people and managers over the past 38 years I can show you how to increase your Sales Confidence. Here are a few quick tips to get you started.
1. Know what you are going to say. The more you have thought through your ideas and determined how to best communicate them, the more confident you will be. You’ll speak with conviction and others will see that you mean what you say.
2. Practice saying it well. Role-play or rehearsal is the most overlooked and undervalued form of training. But, just like practicing a song before performing it in front of others, the more you have actually spoken the words, the more smooth and convincing you’ll be when involved in conversation with a customer or coworker.
3. Share best practices. Talk with your colleagues in your industry and your coworkers about how they describe the value of their services, or how they reduce the purchase resistance of customers.
4. Remember, it’s not about making a sale; it’s about helping solve a problem at a profit. Those who say ‘profit is a bad motive’ are not good business people. They fail to realize that without profit you have to stop helping others. Charity is for the churches, not for your shop. Help people and get paid to do so.
5. Learn something new about your products and services every day. Every day! Make it your personal commitment to read an article, listen to a podcast, attend a seminar, call a colleague, study a manual, watch an instructional video or problem solve with a coworker every day. Find one new idea that you hadn’t found before. The snowball effect will make you a national expert in no time.
6. Become a better person. You may already be a great guy or gal but everyone can be even better. So read inspiring books, listen to recordings, watch videos, go to meetings, read magazines, or call experts who can help you understand human nature better and understand yourself too. This will payoff in everything you do.
7. Get tools to compensate for whatever you lack. If you’re not good at accounting you can buy accounting software like QuickBooks®. The same is true if you’re not as naturally successful at other parts of your job. Get the tools others have built that will make your job even easier. The better your tools, the better your work will be. And the greater your confidence will be as well.
8. Become an advanced listener. Don’t just listen like others do, become a master at it! Learn to ask great questions, know what to wonder about, find ways to involve your customers in solving their own problems. Then you can apply the solution and get them back on the road…profitably. Keep a list of good questions and review it often so you don’t have to look at it while chatting with customers.
9. Study yourself. The old advice to “Know Thyself” is still great advice. The better you see and understand your natural communication patterns, the more you’ll identify ways to improve them. Get feedback, take self-assessments, and obtain coaching and training.
10. Read every page of your industry magazines every month. That’s right, every page. Most people only study what they are directly interested in, but the great minds of history have been universally curious. They have intentionally learned things just outside of their own specialties in order to expand their horizons. This entire magazine is built for you, the sales professional. Read the parts you normally skip. Even the ads. Notice the patterns, seek the wisdom, and find the new ideas that are waiting there for you.
This article was originally published on TopSalesWorld.
Jim Cathcart is the bestselling author of 16 books and a “hall of fame” professional speaker. He has worked with 2,800 clients worldwide over his 38 years as a trainer and consultant. Jim is the founder of Cathcart.com and a frequent coach to many of his colleagues and clients.
Kewl you should come up with that. Extlleenc!