“Who has confidence in himself will gain the confidence of others.”
- Lieb Lazarow

In corporate lobbies and shiny business buildings everywhere there are people trying to rob you of your self-confidence. There are those people who will attempt to find any crack or weakness to attack, and some with good reason.  Testing your meddle is what they are doing, and it is legal, and you should expect it.

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One day I went on a call to meet a prospect that I had worked on for over 6 months just to get an appointment.  He indicated that we should meet at 9:00A sharp and that I had 45 minutes total appointment time.  That is not enough time to get the information that I needed, but it was a start.  When I arrived at his business at 8:55A, there were two trucks backed-up waiting to get into the loading docks.  I sat patiently waiting for the trucks to move, which would allow entry to the parking lot.  Feeling as if it would be too long, I parked down the street and walked two blocks.

I walked into reception at 9:06A and immediately was escorted in by the receptionist.  My buyer was sitting at a long table in the conference room staring at his watch.  He said, “I thought I specified that you should we would start at 9:00a?”  I apologized without explaining the situation.  He then said, “We are at 9:10 and you are eating away at your own time!”  He then said, “What in God’s name makes you the person I want to buy from?  You seem so young.”  I responded, “I know his industry well, and had some creative solutions that you will find attractive.”  I was on my heels at this point, and that was all that I knew to say.  His expression showed his lack of acceptance.

We rushed through the appointment.  My questions were hurried and his answers were brief, even incomplete.  I continued to probe, although cognizant of my time restraints. I was getting answers, but needed more.  At 9:45A he abruptly stood up, extended his hand and stated, “My next appointment is waiting.  I hope you have enough information.”  As he was leaving the room he parted by saying, “My assistant will make an appointment for the presentation.”  I did not have enough for a quotation presentation, and if I did not get more, it would have been a wasted opportunity.

Never Show You are Shaken

I was late, although only by a few minutes, but was on the defensive and I was young most likely compared to my competition.  Even on top of that, I was Black.  Being Black might not have been the biggest deal in the world, but I was a in a profession that required that you instill confidence in the customer as the product was an intangible.

I am not going to tell you that race was a factor, because I don’t know, but I will speculate below.

This individual was attempting to rob me of my self-confidence and I was not ready to let it go.   You have been in similar situations.  He questioned my professionalism (being late) as well as my age and I did everything that I could do not to appear defensive.

Build a Portfolio of Proof Sources

As you may have seen in BSJ 4/16/12 – Credibility, You Can’t Buy It, You Have Got To Earn It, one of the most effective tools to help establish credibility is proof sources such as letters of recommendation, accreditations, certifications, and other indications of your professional nature and ability to help customers.  Credibility will help give you confidence.  Armed with these, you can answer the questions about experience, age, and knowledge.

If you are new in the sales occupation, you will eventually have these questions so take the opportunity to prepare your portfolio to house these important items:

• Letter from prominent customers singing your praises
• Certifications and designations indicating technical ability and knowledge
• Your reasons why you should be the customers sales professional

These will help, but the most important display is your own demeanor.

Be ‘Cool’ in the Game

If you are new, you may not have all of these items, but whether a novice or a vet, you still need to be look confident and composed no matter what the situation.

Never appear smug but do recognize that you want to portray that the ‘solution’ just walked into the room.  You don’t want to be ‘worshipped’, only believed.  Make solid eye-to-eye contact and put down your electronics, retreating to a reliance on your personal skills.  Remember you listening skills and your ability to show empathy (BSJ – 10/13/2011, Empathy, Put Yourself In Your Customers Shoes) and always deliver solutions…. then sell (BSJ 6/20/2011 -Deliver Solutions…Then Sell).

Something to Think About

He did not involve my race in any of his comments.  He may have been tough, but he was a professional.  Maybe it was not a factor to him.  No matter what, this buyer was a tough one.

Regardless, all a Black sales professional can do is to exude confidence, be ultra prepared, and armed with as much ‘ammo’ in the form of proof sources to deal with perceptions that you might have basic faults.

I always think about being on time and not starting out a meeting with an apology.  Way back then, or even before it, I realized that you start from a weaker position if you ‘begging’ someone’s pardon as the meeting is starting.

In the end, I did not sell this account at this time, although I did sell him in the future.  My presentation was solid according to my manager who was on the call.   This buyer worked with me two years later.  My manager would later say that I ‘developed’ the prospect during that proposal.

Be confident in your abilities, even though buyers, and situations work to strip you of your ‘high’.  If you have prepared well, and know your trade, you should walk in with your shoulders high and ask for the business.

Always be prepared!

Your comments are welcome. You can reach me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

It is well known that your ability to communicate will help to give you a solid base to be an exceptional sales professional.  It won’t make you the consummate professional, but it will enhance your ability to perform.  I feel that the professional, in sales or otherwise, who communicates well and also has a “fire in the belly”, has the potential to outperform other professionals.

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Communications and the ability to spin the spoken word is a true asset.  It is an art and a skill that will never abandon you as you go forward, and it will also transform your confidence levels. In this post, we are going to make a suggestion that you find comfort in your ability to “stand and deliver” by rehearsing and practicing frequently.  Know well your strengths and weaknesses and improve to a level that puts you on another level.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I bet that you feel the most boring activity that you feel that you can do is to repeatedly practice your verbal delivery, but I am compelled to advise you to do it.  What I am saying is that you cannot perfect something without the requisite practice.  As a sales professional, everything from your introduction, through your ‘elevator pitch’ (Black Sales Journal 8/11/2011, Know Your Elevator Pitch), to your proposal and your close should be smooth.  There should be no fillers and little chop to your delivery.

So what am I saying?  Do everything necessary to improve your delivery.   Videotape yourself using digital cameras, web cams or otherwise giving speeches and presentations until you have solved you’re your need for ‘fillers’ and until you have reduced any ‘choppiness’.  We have all heard the suggestion that we should be able to sell any object using feature-benefit selling, now is your chance to practice.  Not knowing your material lends to more pauses and fragmentation.  Here is your chance to, while in private, present and evaluate your delivery, and improve.

You can bet that if you videotape, you will find things that you will want to change.

These may include:

• Frequent use of  “Umm” as well as “and uh”
• The annoying use of the phrase “You Know”
• Frequent starting of sentences with “Well…”
• Improper usage of the word “like”
• Talking at “break speed”
• Exhibiting an “I” problem (talking about yourself too much)
• Inclusion of slang and even obscene language

In a very short time I have seen professionals remove “you know” from their delivery even without the videotape.  Consciousness is important, and you will become even more aware if you use your phone, your computer webcam, or a video camera as your observation tool.

With the help of your recording session, you will become quite conscious and truly internalize it, reducing annoying habits, and improving delivery.  It is worth the experiment.

Who Do You Like to Hear?

There are many great speakers out there, and you may find one that you want to model after.  If you are just the best YOU that you can be, that should work for you.

The basic objective of this exercise is to improve your delivery during the sales process, and you will find that it will carry over into your personal conversations as well.

It is sound to model after someone, but you must be realistic.  Almost all great speakers have some weakness or flaw, no matter how accomplished they are.  You are looking to improve the quality of your delivery.  You don’t want to preach, but you need to be able to deliver the ‘word’.  You don’t want to sound like a professor, but you want to sound intelligent.  Lastly, you don’t want to sound like a funeral director, so you must use some personality, humor, and personality.

Almost as good as the videotape for the sake of monitoring is a “partner” or even a listening coach could do the trick if the right person is available.

The Result

There was a sales professional I worked with for several years ago.  He had a nervous, high-pitched laugh that became pronounced when he got …nervous.  He could not hide it, or at least it appeared  he had no chance of controlling it.  We had a call together, and as the account was a big one, and he felt pressed.  I can remember the call as if it were yesterday, the laugh echoing in my ears.  I was only hoping that the buyer was not as negatively affected by it as I was.

When it was over I thought about it over and over, and decided that I needed to talk to the individual as we, undoubtedly would be on a call together at some point in the future.  He did know that it was happening, and did not know how often he was doing it.  I could not put into words for him how much it was happening.  There were few video cameras, and cell phones did not possess the abilities that they do now.  I limited the calls with our clients when possible for this individual, as there were no remedies out there.  This laugh was not going to stop.  Yes…I am saying that some things are deeper than just an ‘I know’, but most can be remedied.  After our discussion he made some changes, and sounded much better.  Maybe at this point in his professional career he has conquered this issue.

Practice definitely makes perfect!  Smooth your delivery and sharpen your skills.  Your relationships and sales will show it!

Your comments are welcome.

You can reach me by email at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.