Sales motivation is all about creating confidence in oneself that can then be carried over into more sales. One of the very interesting things I find is how the more confident a person is, the less risk they see in things. This plays out especially in dealing with customers.
I watch salespeople who are afraid of being rejected choose to email a proposal to a customer rather than calling them or even visiting them in person. They do this out of a subconcious fear they have of being rejected and somehow they believe if they email the customer the information, they will not have to face the same level of rejection as they would if they were talking to the customer on the phone. This absolutely drives me nuts, and yet I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen it.
The more confidence a person has, the less risk they will see in anything. The confident salesperson will pick up the phone and have a conversation with anyone, regardless of how big the customer might be or how tight they might be with a competitor.
A salesperson who is not confident is going to do everything possible to not make that phone call. They will rationalize in their mind any number of different reasons as to why they shouldn’t make that call. I watch the same thing with price increases or any number of other issues salespeople typically deal with on a regular basis.
The reason I share this is because I firmly believe a big reason why a salesperson lacking confidence is not more productive is because they spend far too much time rationalizing in their mind why they shouldn’t do something. Conversely, the highly motivated person merely goes out and does it.
If you’re a salesperson reading this, ask yourself if you’re making excuses. Ask yourself if you’re taking on the big challenges. How you respond to what you say you’re going to do is a direct reflection of your level of sales confidence.
If you’re a sales manager reading this, watch your salespeople and listen to what they say when you ask them things. Fortunately, you can determine quickly what their level of risk is toward customers, and this will tell you immediately what their level of confidence is.
In either case drop me an email at ma**@th************.com or call me at 402-445-2110. I’ll be happy to show you some things you can do to either increase your own level of sales confidence or the level of sales confidence in your people.
Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
