Selling with Confidence: The Honest Truth About Making it in Sales

Approaching your parents to ask for money was always frustrating. Before the words were even out of your mouth, the answer was already no. How could they respond without even listening? From your eye contact to the way you walk, body language and facial expressions are powerful ways of persuading your prospects into saying yes. To avoid turning off your customers or getting a quick rejection, learn what it takes to build sales confidence today.

How salespeople can build sales confidence

1) Be grateful for the challenges

Part of selling with confidence is believing you’ve won the fight before even stepping into the ring. Every day, sales development reps face new challenges on the sales floor that strike them in their guts. Usually these challenges are objections or rejections that question their integrity or the product’s quality. When this happens, and a prospect starts to grill you, don’t let them see you break-not a crack in your voice or sweaty, quivering hands. Instead, handle the situation with gratitude. Gratitude is being thankful for whatever comes your way, good or bad, because you will always learn, grow and improve yourself from the experience.

Selling with confidence tip: Focus on your average numbers. If you get a string of “not interested” from prospects one day but are flooded with opportunities the next, then don’t worry about the rejections.

2) Master your facial expressions

Body language expert Dr. Donna Van Natten explores the science behind facial expressions and nonverbal communication. In her book Image Scrimmage , she explains that when people are first sizing you up, they look at your eyes and smile.

“Eye contact is a sign of trust,” she says, and smiles are the universal indicator of “it’s okay, I’m safe.” Trust and safety are two important decision-making factors when making a purchase. So, it’s important to be mindful of your facial expressions on video, calls, and in photos.

Selling with confidence tip: Practice making eye contact with others, softening your expressions, and sprinkling in a genuine smile throughout conversations. Always have a clear headshot on your social media, and don’t forget to smile even when speaking over the phone, as research shows that people can changes in a voice when someone smile s !

Speaking concisely means giving all relevant information clearly and succinctly. During dodgeball, it’s a natural instinct to run away when you have ten balls flying at your face. The same goes for a cluttered sales pitch that focuses on ten features or solutions at once. Being concise allows for the customer to follow along easily and you won’t waste time by having to elaborate or repeat yourself.

Selling with confidence tip: A confident sales person speaks without the “uhs…” and “umms…” These placeholders not only make your pitch less impactful by slowing it down, but they also make you seem uncertain.

Exercises to prevent looking or feeling defeated
(i.e. “Sales Confidence 101”)

Football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “ practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect .” Perfect practice consists of learning battle-tested methods from your peers on building confidence in sales. It also includes rehearsing, role-playing scenarios, and getting constructive feedback on how to up your game. By themselves, it may be difficult to practice properly. Iron sharpens iron, right? Here are three team exercises to try:

1) Role-play objection-handling

Have your sales rep explain the #1 reason for someone rejecting your product or service. Then, put your team in groups to brainstorm answers to these objections, identify the top responses, and demonstrate how to deliver counter-responses to these common complaints. Then, role-play these situations. The more realistic the scenarios, the more comfortable sales reps will be in front of customers.

2) Practice non-verbal communication

Sales confidence is about mastering control over your body in every situation. Using your common objections list from the previous exercise, have reps think of ways to communicate responses without speaking. For example, when the “your price is too high” conversation arises, does your rep unconsciously slump over in defeat?

Teach your team how to convey compassion for their customer’s financial issues with eye contact alone. Demonstrate your attentiveness with frequent nodding of your head. And most importantly, don’t change your body language to show disagreement. Always stand strong with your chin up, and keep your body open.

Liked what you’ve read?

Check out the full blog post on Lusha’s blog.

Originally published at https://www.lusha.com on August 20, 2020.