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Monday, 19 May 2014

Selling Confidence Matters - 5 key actions to build up your selling confidence


Oliver Moody of the London Times provocatively headed his piece on Saturday 17th May on some recent behavioural research  from the USA

“ FORGET TALENT, IT’S CONFIDENCE THAT MATTERS”

Perhaps we should not be surprised after all we have seen those TV shows where an amateur can pass off as a professional with suitable training at least in the short term. 


We also know how a supremely confident person  can  ‘get away with it’. ( for a while)

So in the movie world. Leonardo diCaprio /Tom Hanks' 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can is a  biographical crime drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale. It tells the story of Frank before his 19th birthday, successfully performing cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor in addition to financial frauds.

None the less a study from the Universities of Pennsylvania and California have done some work on the importance of Confidence and published in the journal  “ Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision processes.” ( Elsevier publication) 

“ Confidence is compelling to observers because in the absence of information to the contrary observers assume it reflects superior ability”

“It is important to note that being perceived to possess these valued characteristics is the key to attaining higher status . It is not necessary to actually possess these characteristics.”

Mr Moody’s article also suggests that  the gloss of competence lingers  after it is shown to be a found out.

One the study’s conclusions suggests in  persistent peer impressions of social skill and task ability, groups may not penalise a confident individual, even if their confidence is revealed as being unjustified by their actual task skills.

So for some, an overestimate of one’s abilities is seen as an advantage as a persuader.

But what of those of us who may not be like that?

 Perhaps we have been raised up on the virtues of humility and modesty? We must build our confidence

What will make us come across as confident ?

1.       Thorough Knowledge  such as :-
Product Knowledge what it is, does and means to your cleint
Company Knowledge
Client’s Needs
Client’s Company
The Client’s Clients ( Top 5)
2.       Developing those communication skills of Listening , Questioning and Presenting
3.       Training and practising those communication skills
4.       Persistence
                                                               Persistence
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

- Talent will not
Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent

-Education will not
The world is full of educated derelicts

-Genius will not
Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb

- Persistence and determination alone are all powerful !

( This quote has been in my little black book for many years.  I can't remember where I first saw it .no attribution sorry !)


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