Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com March 2, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 23 T he biggest issue with sales- people is lack of confidence. While most of them deal with it in quiet desperation, there are also the loud egomaniacs who, while seeming to have too much confi- dence, really don't have enough and are simply over-compensating. This leads to a fear of making phone calls, knock- ing on doors and otherwise doing whatever it takes to be successful. So, if you sell, here are five rules to build your confidence. Stop making excuses and develop your sales skills. Recently, someone told me the only reason he lost a $250,000 deal is because his was $2,000 higher than the competition's. He added that his area is different and people really do buy solely on price. I hear that excuse about once a week. From what I've seen, the top company is always selling more expensive prod- ucts to the same people who suppos- edly buy only on price. The truth is: Your market is not the exception to the rule! Price is simply an excuse for not doing the hard work of developing sales skills and learning to sell value. Get completely sold on your product, your company and you. I have seen the most timid people become the most confident, persua- sive salespeople when they believed in their product and what they were doing. I once watched a young stock- broker who had only opened three accounts in four months open three in an hour when news broke on the stock he was pitching and it started to go up. He was possessed and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. He knew people would benefit. Prepare. The more prepared you are, the more confident you'll be. Know your product and be ready for anything that comes up on the sales call. You must have solid answers for every question, objec- tion, issue and customer situation you might run into. Commit the answers to memory to a point where, if someone were to wake you at 3 a.m., you'd be able to answer immediately. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, and face and conquer your fears. This will do much to build your con- fidence and self-esteem. In the most important times in your life, you'll be uncomfortable and also a bit fearful. Look for uncomfortable situations, put yourself in them, and embrace them. What you'll realize is that very few things in life are, in fact, a matter of life or death. When you realize this, you'll simply take a deep breath, relax, and do and say what's necessary. Work on motivation and self-discipline The fastest way to motivation is to realize why you're doing what you're doing. What's the ultimate goal and pay- off? To find your why, decide what you really want out of life. What do you want it to ultimately look like? What do you want for your family and your kids? What do you want to be able to do? Self-discipline is getting in the habit of doing what you need to do every day whether you feel like it or not. If you can get into a daily routine and make everything you have to do a habit, the locked-in habits will usually be enough to keep you going and on track. n John Chapin, who is based in Auburn, is a motivational speaker and trainer focusing on sales. Contact him at johnchapin@completese By Cristina Hatem Cristina Hatem is corporate communications manager at Preferred Mutual Insurance Co., of New Berlin, N.Y., which sells policies in Central Massachusetts. Contact her at Cristina.hatem@ preferredmutual.com. 10 Things I Know About... Building your selling confidence KNOW HOW 10. Know when to say when. Know when your company needs a new brand. Does your current image resonate with your target consumer? Does the 50-year-old tagline still reflect your company today? If not, it's time to rebrand. 9. Do your research. Today's brands don't just reflect the company; they also represent their consumers. Research how your current brand fares and what customers want from businesses like yours. 8. Check out the competition. Look at rebranding as a business strategy: Know your opponents' weaknesses and strengths. How would your brand compare? Will yours stand out? 7. Make the investment. Rebranding is much more than changing the logo at the top of your stationery; it's a major corporate initiative. Be prepared to invest money, time and attention to do the job well. 6. Make room for growth. While you may want to incorporate your company's history into your new logo or tagline, consider the future and where your business will be in 10 to 15 years. Choose a brand that has the potential to grow with your company and adapt with technology. 5. Develop a timeline. While it may seem tedious at first, develop a specific timeline to implement the new brand into every aspect of the company's business. 4. Make it exciting. Generate excitement around the unveiling of your new image with your employees and customers. 3. Employees as brand advocates. You can pay for all sorts of marketing and advertising, but nothing beats old-fashioned "word of mouth." Do all you can to ensure your employees feel connected to the new brand. 2. Use social media. Most consumers research a company online first before purchasing anything, often resorting to social media sites for more information and honest, customer reviews. 1. More than a logo. A brand is a culture. Even after all the stationery, wall hangings and advertisements have been updated, incorporate its message into employee communications, community programming and business presentations. n Rebranding H ow can we get employees or team members to be more cohesive as a group, more motivated, and improve on performance goals? It comes with getting their attention, yet that effort often gets overlooked with other supervisory concerns, such as delegating and decision-making. Here are three ways to make employees sit up, take notice and achieve more: Stimulate curiosity. Don't always try and suggest answers to the issue at hand if you're trying to get a point across. Pose questions and prompt team members to investigate. In an article at Time.com, Annie Murphy Paul quotes Dan Willingham, a cognitive scientist at the University of Virginia: "It's the question that piques people's interest. Being told an answer doesn't do anything for you." Limit your availability. This advice goes against the accessible- manager ideal. But John Hagel and John Seely Brown of Harvard Business Review believe that if you're skilled at exciting the imagination and connect with too many people, the message wears thin. "Be more selective in your availability — you will often provide even greater incentive to tackle the problems, rather than simply engaging in conversations," they say. Personalize the message. A great way to do this, says Stephen Denning at Monster.com, is to start by telling a story about your employees' problems. The theory is that if you start talking about the issues they're worrying about — describing them in stark detail — you'll have them hooked. "Suddenly, they're not just interested in what you have to say: they're riveted. Now you can press ahead with what you want to talk about, with a good chance that they will register it, remember it and execute on it." Many managers, Denning says, make the mistake of starting a meeting with what's going on in the organization, which makes employees tune out, he says. n 101: GETTING THEIR ATTENTION >> BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal BY JOHN CHAPIN Special to the Worcester Business Journal

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