How confident are you at selling, 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? “Full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing (courtesy of Dictionary.com). 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 instil 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 don’t believe in. As a customer I can smell this type of self-focused salesperson a mile off. So, I don’t 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.

For more Selling Strategies advice, click here.

Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of BOOM Sales! a leading sales training and sales development specialist. He is also the creator of The NAKED Salesman, BOOMOLOGY! RetroService, and the Empathy Selling Process.