3 STRATEGIES TO BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE IN SELLING

If you are in sales, you have some level of self-confidence. It is a notoriously challenging job and includes a high degree of pressure. As entrepreneurs, we use sales every day as part of our business development, whether we are aware of it or not. That said, the best sales leaders continually take action to keep our confidence high and increase our chances of success. The following are ways you can build your confidence for your next sales call and improve your overall business strategy.

Plan – Take time before each call to plan.

• When you go into a meeting or have a prospecting call, it is critical to have a plan. There are defined steps to each sales call and goals for each client interaction. Everyone’s time is valuable, so don’t waste a call by not being prepared and successfully advancing the sale.
• What point do you want to make? You need to know what information you need to relay to the prospect. Think about the details of your offer that you need to communicate and the best way to deliver the information based on what you know about the prospect and their business strategy.
• What information do you want to gather? There is nothing worse than hanging up the phone and realizing you forgot to ask an important question or gather a specific detail that you need. Take the time to write down the questions you need to ask or make a shortlist of the details you seek to acquire. Make sure you don’t end the call without looking at your notes to be sure you have gathered all critical information.
• What is the desired outcome of the call? Every call should end with a call to action. Knowing in advance what you want/need as the next step will help you guide the flow of the call in the direction you need and ultimately improve your growth strategy.

Practice – Practice your pitch.

• When learning about a new product or solution, it is essential to do some roleplay exercises with your teammates. We all hate it, but it is amazing how helpful they can be and how much it builds your confidence. Even if you know your product or solution in and out, it is always good to take some time to review your strategy and presentation.
• Talk through your strategy with a colleague to ensure your approach is clear and makes sense to someone other than yourself. If you have a trusted advisor that will provide good feedback, you will almost always come away with a tweak to your presentation or proposal that makes it better.
• Practice in a mirror, see yourself giving an excellent presentation. I have practiced my presentation in a hotel mirror more times than I can count. It’s a proven fact that visualizing your success increases your chances of having a positive outcome.
• Conduct a prep call with the team so you know who will cover what topics. When working with a team, it is crucial to know who will cover each area and how you are going to answer questions that will arise.

Relax – Remind yourself, this isn’t life or death.

• Too many times, we put undue pressure on ourselves. This is one sales call in a long career. If you have done the steps above, you have done what you can and should walk in with confidence.
• Have integrity and sincere belief in your product or service. Remind yourself that you are of service and that you sincerely believe your products or services provide value to your prospect. If that’s not the case, cancel the meeting until you can find that value.
• Our products/services aren’t for everyone. You will hear “no” sometimes. A rejection from a single client, or a few, doesn’t mean that your product or service, or you for that matter, doesn’t have value. It just means you didn’t find your ideal client. We have all heard “no” more times than we like, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying again.
• You don’t fail; you learn. If it doesn’t go well, be sure to learn from your mistakes, so you are better the next time. Conducting a post-meeting review to learn what worked and what didn’t will help you and your business strategy improve. After any lost deal, you need to take the time to understand why.

The goal is always to be working to improve your skills and your chances of success to serve your clients. Never take for granted your success. If you have closed the last 20 opportunities, do not get arrogant and stop preparing. Work hard, and you will see the continued positive outcome.

​​If you’re interested in learning more about Angela Rakis and her work at Metis Sales Solutions, please visit her company’s website to learn more! You can also follow her on Linkedin and Instagram to stay connected. Are you interested in growing your business and reaching your entrepreneurship goals with BrainTrust? Visit our website to learn how a supportive and driven community of women can provide the keys to success to thrive in the entrepreneurial journey.

WRITTEN BY ANGELA RAKIS