Build Your Self Confidence When Selling …

1. Focus and Build Upon Strength Areas

Confident salespeople know their strengths and they work to develop them. This comes from being self-aware, not from being arrogant.

So identify an area you or your team naturally excels at, and then get coaching to develop it even further.

This will help you or them improve in that area. But even more, it will help them build self-confidence when they’re faced with areas they find challenging (for example – delivering a sales presentation.)

2. Replace Negative Energy with Positive Influences

One of the best ways your salespeople can build their confidence in sales is to surround themselves with successful, goal-oriented people.

The sales manager should set the example by being positive and confident themselves, and avoiding negativity when possible.

Positive, optimistic people motivate us to achieve. Try pairing up new sales reps with a mentor who can help them develop their skills and build their confidence.

3. Learn from the Success of Others

A mentor is great for this. However if you are a team leader then you should work to build a culture where your members regularly share “tribal knowledge.”

When a member of your team achieves success, recognize it and ask them to present their success story at your next team meeting.

They’ll own that area of expertise and increase their own confidence level. At the same time, they’ll  help their team members to achieve the same success.

4. Learn from Successes and Failures

We will all experience success and failure. They’re both a necessary part of life.

It’s how we react and learn from our successes and failures that makes the biggest difference.

When you or your team fail at something, be coached or coach them to use it to their advantage. They should learn from it, brush themselves off, and go back out there stronger than before.

When you experience a win, you should do the same thing. Examine what went well, and replicate it in the future.

While a win can provide a confidence level boost, you should learn to always be thinking about the next opportunity on the horizon.

5. Develop a Strong Positive Self-Image by Seeing Yourself as an Expert in the field

See yourself as a bearer of good news, a problem solver, and a competent, knowledgeable expert. Realize that you have information and ideas that will add value for your prospect.

6. Visualize Success

Many Olympic athletes use visualization techniques to become medal winners in worldwide competition. Close your eyes and imagine that you’re having a successful interaction with your prospect. Imagine feelings of positivity happening as you see yourself winning in your mind’s eye.

7. Realize that your Good Ideas can Help the Prospect.

People are hungry for ideas, and a prospect is likely to be interested in an idea that’s going to be of benefit to him or her in some way. Instead of seeing yourself as selling a product, see yourself as giving away good ideas.

8. Feed your Mind with Positive Thoughts

Classic motivator Zig Ziglar once said;
“…that being selective about the things that you choose to read, look at, or listen to is a key way to guard against negative thinking.”

If you change the mind’s input, you will change your emotional output.

9. Start Each Day Congratulating or Thanking Somebody

It’s amazing how your outlook will change when you start each day thanking someone else.

We make better decisions when we have a clear mind, and the best way to clear your mind is to focus on expressing gratitude to those people around you. Along the way, we feel much better about ourselves as well.

When you take the time to notice what another person is doing and you congratulate them, you’ll suddenly find yourself being more aware of your own talents and accomplishments.

10. Set Weekly Goals

These goals should be ones you know you can achieve early in the week.

Success breeds success.  Some may see this as being contrary to being successful, but I see it as a valuable tool that works.  Each week, set yourself one or two goals you know you can accomplish early in the week.

When you accomplish them, congratulate yourself. You will be amazed at the impact this method will have on your level of confidence.

This does not mean you shouldn’t also have big long-term goals. What this means is the weekly goals you intend to accomplish early in the week should help move you closer to achieving your big long-term goals.

11.Think Long-Term

When we allow ourselves to focus our attention on short-term things, we are more likely to view things as being overwhelming. Thinking long-term allows us to put what seems like a bad situation into context.

Think back a few months or a few years and remember what it was you were worried about. Fast forward to today and most likely you’ll find yourself wondering why you would have been worried about something that small.

Time helps put everything in context, reduces pressure and allows you to be more confident.

12. Don’t feel that Your Success is Dependent on Someone Else

Only you can define confidence and success.  It’s a personal decision you have to make.

Negative people allow themselves to be seen as victims. Confident people do not allow the concept of being a victim to enter their thinking.

13. To be Confident, You Must See Yourself as Confident

Ground yourself in your beliefs and your personal integrity. There is no way others will see you as confident unless you see yourself as confident.  In the end, you’re the one who will determine your level of confidence.

Going around comparing your level of confidence to how other people see themselves will only lead to arrogance.

Arrogant people are those who view themselves as no longer needing to learn from others, and when this happens they will quickly find themselves isolated from others.

Ask yourself, “How successful will I be in sales if I’m isolated from others?” 

When you look at the above 13 ways to boost your confidence, which ways really resonate with you?

Don’t delay in building confidence that will positively impact not only your sales career, but more importantly, your life overall!