Want more confidence? Don’t we all?
“We chose John Doe’s product over his competitors’ because he really believes in himself!”, said no buyer ever. Make no mistake, self-confidence is important. However, focusing on it alone starts you in the middle of a 3 phase process. Begin by building your own confidence in your company and what you offer. Only then should you move on to believing in yourself. Finally, with the first two confidence pieces locked in place, work on your customer’s confidence.
Phase 1: Believe in what you offer.
Be positive! Think positive! We all get tired of hearing it from our managers. You probably don’t want to feel good about your job, it’s just not possible to force it on yourself. Ask yourself, instead, if you’ve given your own product a chance. Are you really sold on what you sell? A good model to use is David Hoffield’s “Six Why’s” in his book, “The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal“. Be a customer for moment and attempt to answer the following questions about you product or service:
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Why change what I’m doing?
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Why now?
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Why your industry solution?
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Why you and your company?
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Why your product or service?
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Why spend the money?
No. Your own company’s training is rarely provides enough objective information to answer adequately answer these questions. In training, they are attempting to sell you, a non-customer, on SELLING their product, not on BUYING it. Having an objective view on your product may not be as uplifting to your personally. To your customer, you have just become more trustworthy and a lot more valuable. Sorry, your product will never be ideal for every customer. Still, you may find that a specific customer type (often more specific than what your company tells you) that really connects with the benefits you offer.
Phase 2: Believe in yourself
Confidence in yourself is trickier than you think. Customers are turned off by reps who skip Phase 1 and believe in their product simply because it’s THEIR product. I call this the “Trust me” approach. Ironically, it makes customers more suspicious. No, this mistake is not restricted to used car salesman. Do not start or end your personal development with this Phase of confidence. Explaining why you have the best solution shows your customer a baseline level of respect. Customizing your offering to their needs shows them more. Finally, allowing them to question your product and have an opposing view shows them even more respect.
This is when your true confidence shows through. When a customer sees that you can handle hearing negative feedback they may open up to telling you how they really feel. Those opinions are exactly what you need to address in order to make a sale. Many of my non-sales friends say they lack confidence to do this job. Yet, ask them about their favorite TV show, favorite beer, restaurant, etc. and they will sell you like a pro!
You may also require some soul searching. Do you have self-limiting beliefs? If so, think back to the work you did in Phase 1. Even if you determined your solution is just good and not great, don’t you have an obligation to present it to your customer? Again, allow yourself to risk being questioned by being direct and frank about your product’s benefits. You want to HEAR their objections – not avoid them. For your customer, the sales process is about solving their problem, not passing judgement, good or bad, on you.
Phase 3: Inspire you customers to believe in themselves.
Often a strong conviction in your product and yourself is all you need to make the sale. Sometimes, more effort is required. Most customers do not have the thick skin that sales people develop. Even high-level executives may secretly fear rejection of their ideas at the hands of their superiors, co-workers, and customers. This is when you step in and remind them their company gave them the authority to choose and why other stakeholders stand to also benefit from your product.
It’s easy to overlook that our decision-makers can play the role of salesman themselves throughout their day. I’ve heard well-respected physicians confess apprehension at making firm treatment recommendations to patients. In essence, they need to be convinced to use their own authority. One caution with this approach, is to avoid being overly complimentary and insincere. Encouraging a client to make decisions above their pay grade will backfire – for both of you.
Can you admit your product isn’t perfect? Can you admit you don’t know everything? If so, you’re on the right track. Confidence for the sake of protecting one’s ego or towing the company line helps no one. Remember, your customer makes the purchase – not you, and definitely not your manager.
Regards,
Meaning2work
Ps. To check out David Hoffield’s book on Amazon, <a href=”http://The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal
Pss. If you’re wondering what think BACk means. Be A Customer. Get it? B.A.C.? I knew you’d get it!