Are you a confident salesperson?
I love asking salespeople this question, and the majority of the time people respond with a “yes.” The problem in my eyes is that people are responding with a “yes” only because they know that’s how they should respond.
Let’s now phrase the question a little different. Would you be confident selling “x” if “x” is something you don’t know anything about? What’s your answer? I bet it’s a “no.” That right there tells me something about a person’s level of confidence.
Far too many salespeople say they’re confident salespeople based on what it is they’re selling. They’ve been selling the same thing for a long time to the same type of customer, and as a result, they know what it takes to be successful.
Unfortunately, this does not make them a confident salesperson, what it makes them is confident in their product.
Confident salespeople are confident with themselves.
They’re confident in how they deal with situations no matter the situation, and they’re confident regardless of what it is they’re selling.
About now I know there are a number of people reading this who disagree with my view on confidence. I’m sticking to my guns, because I believe the confident salesperson is confident regardless of what it is they’re selling as long as it’s ethical and legal.
If a person is confident with themselves, then doesn’t that mean they’re confident no matter the situation? Yes! This is why so many salespeople struggle getting beyond what I see as the three big barriers in sales:
- Closing the sale
- Discussing benefits rather than features
- Prospecting
If you or someone you know is challenged in any one or more of the three things listed above, I can guarantee it comes back to their own level of confidence.
The more confident you are in yourself, the less of a problem you will have with anyone of these three items.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
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