3 Building Blocks Sales Professionals Use To Strengthen Their Confidence

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

Dale Carnegie

Sales is hard. It’s definitely not for the weak at heart. It requires a laser focused mindset to really be successful.

One often overlooked factor to becoming a great sales professional is confidence. The confidence and believability you have in yourself.

You must believe in yourself first.

How much of what you will achieve in sales, depends on how much you believe in your abilities. 

How many of us, me included, often lack self-belief during the times when we need it the most?

Insecurities in times of uncertainty and doubt, make us believe we are not capable of achieving whatever it is we have set out to do.

Successful people have the confidence to take risks that unsuccessful people try to avoid.

When was the last time you double-downed on yourself?

“When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”

Honore de Balzac

CONFIDENCE IS CRITICAL

In research conducted by Steve Martin for his book, "The Sales Strategy Playbook, The Ultimate Reference Guide to Solve Your Toughest Sales Challenges.", his goal was to understand what’s really on customers’ minds.

I would like to bring you to two questions he focused on...

What are their perceptions of the salespeople they meet, and how do they ultimately choose between them?

• Only 31% of salespeople converse effectively with senior executives
• 54% of salespeople clearly explain how their solution positively impacts a customer’s business

Startling isn't it?

How much do you believe that a lack of confidence played a significant factor with these percentages?

How can your clients or prospects trust you if you don’t communicate like an expert?

Increase your confidence by:

• Valuing yourself
• Finding your passion
• Changing your mindset
• Building genuine and authentic relationships

BUILDING CONFIDENCE

How do you build confidence in a genuine and authentic manner in a sales world where one gets rejected frequently?

Words matter and your message matters... Sales is about accomplishing a transfer of confidence.

DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS

The comparison game, especially in sales, is as old as humanity. Comparing yourself to others does absolutely nothing but place the power with the other person. Channel the focus and attention on you!

Stop comparing yourself to every other sales rep's highlight reels

The comparison game is a mental game and is a waste of your time. It mentally drains you. Seek to catch yourself and avoid comparison triggers if the activity doesn’t add meaning or any real value to you.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the sales comparison fence. It all depends on how you view yourself.

INVEST IN YOURSELF

Hands down, investing in yourself has one of the best returns on investments. A true sales professional takes responsibility in developing their gifts and talents, in order to best serve their clients.

You must love yourself before you can expect your clients to love you.

Look in the mirror and repeat after me...

• I'm worth it
• I'm of value
• I will create the best version of me

Then repeat, repeat and then repeat some more...

I am a value creator

Investing in yourself, it sends a powerful message not only to you but to the business community. When you’re willing to say 'YES' to confidence and invest in yourself, your clients and prospects will provide you with amazing rewards.

LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE

Don’t let the voice or opinions from others squash your inner voice. 

Dig deep and develop the courage to follow your heart. Get real with yourself and ask yourself tough questions. Turn up the inner voice and get radically honest with who you are.

"If you can't get real yourself then how can you get real with your clients?"

Listen to your inner voice and accept you for you. Self-acceptance allows you to slow down, pay attention, and take note of what is going on inside of you.

Heartfelt sales professionals take responsibility for their choices and actions. They know they're the authors of their own sales lives.

GET REAL

Uncovering the real you is scary, but well worth the journey. You must get real and radically honest with who you really are.

Rip off the mask you're wearing. You can't wear the mask forever. It gets old and eventually it will destroy your authentic self.

Be the real you, not an imposter. Lord knows, there are enough empty suits running around the sales world.

Be yourself and quit trying to be someone else

I encourage you to build confidence in your abilities.

I challenge you both personally and professionally in these 5 areas:

• Seek to become an expert
• Consistently crave feedback on YOU
• Become radically honest with yourself
• Create a morning ritual
• Never ever, ever, ever, ever stop learning

YOUR HOMEWORK: BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE

Develop a morning routine, ritual and self-reflect.

Building a self-confidence routine may be as simple as spending the first 45 minutes of every morning in solitude.

Asking yourself these questions...

• What am I grateful for?
• What am I proud of?
• What is my purpose?
• What went well for me?
• What lights my fire?

Projecting just enough confidence helps you gain credibility, makes for a good first impression and helps you to deal with pressure that comes with being a sales professional.

What daily confidence building questions do you ask yourself?

“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”

Vince Lombardi